5 hours ago, BAMF said:

I wouldnt say i'm an expert, but I do get into the draft heavily once the season ends.

Latrelle played for Norwood in the SANFL in 2023 and then went home to Tumby Bay at some point. While it was never explicitly explained, the suggestion is that he didnt have the maturity to cope away from home or in an elite pathway for an extended period.

In 2025 he returned to the SANFL for Glenelg reserves and did the work, proving he was now mature enough to make it. Latrelle has touched on this himself in interviews on draft night without going into the details.

There are interviews with Jason Taylor post draft saying that we had kept an eye on him over the years, which suggests that he likely would have been given a list spot by us or another club earlier if he had stuck in out at Norwood in either 2023 or 2024.

He bolted up draft boards after displaying his talents in the Glenelg seniors and kicking four goals in a game. Glenelg were an excellent side in 2025 so it was a hard team to get into.

Early phantom drafts (July) suggested he would be taken at around pick 30. By November it was clear he would be taken earlier with suggestions a number of clubs were keen. Of note that I can remember being rumoured were GWS, North and ourselves.

We certainly shocked most draft "experts" by taking him as high as pick 12 but we knew he would not make it to our next pick with GWS and North interested. North in particular are of interest as they took Dovaston with their pick who many on here were keen on (not me).

The criticism of reaching for him has its points. He played the majority of 2025 in the SANFL reserves. There were also some teams on the phone during the draft offering us good future picks in exchange for pick 12 with Dyson Sharp in demand (Adelaide all but confirmed and Collingwood rumored).

While at the end of the day we picked up Latrelle at pick 12, its doubtful he would have lasted much longer, but we will never be sure.

In a draft which was rumoured to be shallow, our true draft expert who we pay to do these things picked his man.

If Latrelle doesnt make the grade you will be hearing about it ad nauseam on here for the next 20 years.

Fingers crossed for the boy.

It is easy o forget the dynamics between teams at things such as drafts. I'm sure at times teams jumpin early or wait longer for players due to "market value". At the end of the day teams just want to get the best players they could. If they overpay on one and underpay on another so be it. Ultimately it's still the same outcome.

7 hours ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

Why was he picked up so early this year by us, and no one took him last year?

Like I said, no clue how draft works. Was he injured or another reason teams passed him up last year?

I guess I’m curious why we took him early when we had later picks and I do recall people saying he would not be an early pick.

Sounds like either way, it’s gone really well in our favor and that he’s a jet, just curious on how it works and why really..

If I recall correctly, it was something of a surprise that we went so early with Kossie himself (I seem to recall some concerns on here that we'd used such a high pick on a small forward). Similarly Clayton Oliver was something of a surprise pick. Both were shown to be shrewd picks in the fullness of time.

I think simply in both cases what it was, is that our recruitment saw something in them, that others didn't and were prepared to back themselves and take a risk. Also with Clarry, I seem to recall that we were satisfied that he had responded to feedback to lift his professionalism and get fitter (somewhat ironically in the end). In the same sense, we probably had a better personal insight into Trelly than most via Kossie.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

I would think that his joining us makes Kossie very happy, and I imagine that was a factor in us selecting him. This might lead to a very good outcome for us: Kossie secure and happy, and an underestimated player to join him.