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Macca

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Everything posted by Macca

  1. Macca
    All the top draftees convey the right attitude - otherwise they wouldn't be top end picks. I still maintain that the recruiters can only go on what they see. What they can't foresee is how good a draftee is going to be 3-5 years down the track. Even the best talent spotters get it horribly wrong on a number of occasions over time - the draft results back that up. It's an intelligent guess at best (based on games seen, aptitude and psyche tests, draft camp results, beep tests etc etc etc) They've got a lot of information at their finger tips these days and that's why drafting has improved from being godawful to how it is now. All that and the clubs are still drafting busts. Perhaps it's best we agree to disagree anyway on this one Wyl - often, we're on the same page on a number of other issues.
  2. Macca
    I'm just as disappointed as you or anyone else when a top end draft pick doesn't cut it - you think it doesn't annoy me? Of course it does. We're we are diametrically opposed is who should cop the blame. I didn't just start blaming the drafting system we have recently - I've had these beliefs for well over 20 years. Drafting has improved a lot but it will never be what people want it to be. The Americans have the very same issues with their drafts yet on many occasions, they are drafting players who are a lot older. Busts everywhere yet the same principles apply. I'm just astonished that more people here haven't come to terms with drafting decisions that go pear shaped later on - maybe they just want to preserve their right to moan down the track
  3. Macca
    And until this saga broke, none of us would probably have had any suspicions about his playing career I know I do now but I'm also suspicious of the goings on at other clubs.
  4. Macca
    And how do you propose we do that? More aptitude or psyche tests? More beep tests? What you need to accept is that a bad system is prone to spitting out poor results. We've all seen bad systems in our working lives on a constant basis and the draft is no different. In the meantime, you will just continue to slag players off who don't come up to your totally unrealistic expectations. All based on a draft pick number that that player never bestowed on himself anyway. With you, your venom is directed at the club first, then the recruiter, then the player ... then you start carrying on about the player we should have picked instead. .
  5. Macca
    ... and if Hird was just an average or reasonably good player and not an absolute champion of the game, most of the Dons fans would have probably turned on him long ago - being great gets you lots of brownie points. Let's not forget that less than 2 and a half years ago, Hird had the utmost respect and admiration of most people in the football world. Hard to believe now but that's how it was. I can fully understand Essendon fans still standing by him even now. Because they don't want any of this stuff to be true, they probably just can't process things like they normally could. That's my take on it anyway.
  6. Macca
    It's very interesting isn't it? The problem is now far worse - WADA have got their back up and things are now out of the AFL's hands. If Essendon and it's players had sat down with the AFL & ASADA and nutted out some sort of deal early on, this whole thing would now be a thing of the past (albeit with the players doing some sort of time for transgressing the drug code) Whilst ASADA & WADA supposedly don't do deals ordinarily, I reckon with the circumstances of this situation, a deal could have been done - especially with Paul Little's history of brokering deals.
  7. Macca
    I agree bb ... maybe not all ignorant though. The extreme love of the game coupled with a pro Essendon media lends itself to wanting the whole thing to just go away. The convincing lies coming out of Essendon has influence too ... the good news is that won't matter a fig now that the whole thing is in the hands of the CAS. We will hopefully now see transparency, fairness & justice. I only hope it is an open hearing so we can finally hear all the nitty gritty details. Justin Quill (the lawyer) was on SEN tonight and he had some very interesting things to say - hopefully SEN post the segment up soon but he did indicate that the CAS may still be able to subpoena witnesses via the supreme court. He also indicated that the last minute appeal was no surprise to him at all as that sort of thing happens quite frequently with appeals.
  8. Macca
    ... or he has just become a brilliant liar over time. Lance turned it into an art form and obviously James was taking notes.
  9. Macca
    Ha! So glad we settled all that ... but just one more thing ... Can someone please explain why Chris Grant went at pick 105 :-)
  10. Macca
    Yes the draft results are much better than they once were but that still doesn't make those more recent results satisfactory. Which brings us all the way back to my original point.
  11. Macca
    You're being selective though - my argument centres around the draft from it's beginnings up until around about 2009. We probably should stop now because we're not on the same page and we're having 2 separate arguments within the one topic. Drafting is a complex concept that can't be explained away easily. I don't trust the draft but I have come to terms with it - busts are going to happen going forward because of the way the draft is set up. I can deal with busts but many people here can't - and that is the issue I'm arguing In this thread I started ... Bad Luck or Bad Recruiting I make mention of all the top 5 picks that have become busts from the drafts 2000-2009 inclusive. It didn't get a lot of traffic nor did I think it would. However, it's a good reference point in terms of highlighting how hit and miss drafting is. I acknowledge your list of players but do you think it's fair that a club has just as much chance of drafting a bust with a top 5 pick as it has of drafting a good player or better?
  12. Macca
    Have you studied all the results from all the drafts? I suggest you do so and get back to me Also, a top 5 pick is viewed a lot differently to a pick 20 (Fyfe should have been pick 1 if we're being fair dinkum) Do the research and you'll see things differently - and not selectively either ... a macro approach is needed.
  13. Macca
    Game on!
  14. Macca
    My post was never intending to single Morton out anyway ... I used him as an example of how we initially view draftees - which is nearly always with excitement and anticipation. Later on a number of people here think they can use hindsight to indicate that the thinking at the time was far different. Outside of the internet, these types have selective memory but here on this site, we only have to pull out the old threads to see what people were thinking at the time. Morton was just one of a long long list of "recruits" that never made it - I don't lose any sleep over such occurrences and nor should anyone else. What's done is done and those who want to bleat on about such things should save their breath. .
  15. Macca
    I agree and that's why it's so difficult to understand the tribunal decision - well, it's not that difficult if one is to take a cynical view. So, which way are WADA going to go? Appeal or no appeal? If the information is right and WADA have enough to nail the Bombers through the CAS, then you'd reckon they're obligated to appeal. So it's an appeal from WADA for me but not with any real confidence at all. .
  16. Macca
    Yep, we've a long way to go but we've seen some positive signs in all 6 games thus far (albeit in patches in some games) I'm hopeful that by the end of next season we'll have a near full list who've at least got the basics of modern footy down pat (save for the rookies and the more recent draftees at that time) Hopefully we'll have close to 30 AFL ready players on our list by then (we need to add 3-4 AFL ready players to the list in each of the next 2 off-seasons) What we really need to make a leap up the ladder is some ready-to-go A grade talent. That may come from within and/or via free agency. Having 5 or 6 genuine top players in the side would make so much difference.
  17. Macca
    Hindsight has taught us that footy took a dramatic turn around '04 - '06. But again, I'm saying that now. Not many were saying it back then even though it was staring us in the face. I reckon a number of us thought that flooding, the forward press, 2-way running and a heavy emphasis on defence were things that most footballers could adjust to - the truth is, we had any number of players on our list back then who not only weren't being taught how to play the modern brand, many weren't capable of doing so.
  18. Macca
    I wasn't here at the time but I would have almost certainly joined the ranks with the praise for Morton if I was here ... however, I've since learned to not make too many big statements about young players - I got it horribly wrong with Tapscott The old threads can often be very entertaining. I reckon we're pretty safe with Hogan, Brayshaw, Salem & Viney though. The other young blokes have it all in front of them (and there's a few there) .
  19. Macca
    In that thread, nearly every poster had something positive to say about Morton and there were 181 posts ... also, many of those posts were from quite a number of people here who know their footy. That thread highlights the ups and downs we have here with draftees. From initially being really pleased to have them on board to the harsh criticism and/or heavy praise (often all that within the space of 2 years) Hindsight highlights the mistakes that are made with drafting but the recruiters do not have that benefit of hindsight ... they have to make decisions on the spot which are final. All after judging these kids at under 18 level (which is a long way away from the cauldron of AFL footy) .
  20. Macca
    That was way later FD (IIRC) The point I'm trying to drive home is that we can't change what happened with our drafting and looking back and trying to reconcile things using hindsight is not only wrong, it's pointless. It's an 8 page thread and you read it in less than 10 minutes? Go back and have another try.
  21. Macca
    Just for you h_h ... The following thread is about Cale Morton towards the end of his first year - absolutely no thoughts about delisting him from anyone ... quite the contrary - most were extremely enamored by his footy ... Cale Morton - Rising Star Nomination Some notable quotes ...
  22. Macca
    So how do you explain an extreme majority being quite happy with the Morton pick? At the time.
  23. Macca
    Instead of doing what Roos is doing (keeping hold of our experienced players and putting the onus on them as I suspect he does) we couldn't wait to get rid of our experienced players during that time. We still don't have much depth but at least a lot of our depth players have a bit of go in them. It might have had a slight chance of working back then if a number of our draftees had become A graders quickly ... but what are the chances of that happening? As it was, most of our draftees during that time became busts. Roos is having to play some of the draftees before their time but I'm quite confident he will manage their game time properly. That's the beauty of having an experienced coach.
  24. Macca
    So 'binman' could well be right if WADA doesn't appeal? You're effectively saying that WADA still have a strong case and have no alternative but to appeal - for what's it's worth, I'm inclined to agree with you but what if there is information there that we're not privy to? (and possibly never be privy to) binman and others with that side of the argument have made some good points all the way through and the other side of the argument has made some equally good points In the end, it will come down to what level of burden of proof is needed. And there are no winners or losers. Hopefully, we never see this sort of thing happen again.
  25. Macca
    Barry should have shown a bit of foresight shouldn't he? I mean, we all knew that Scully was a C grader before we drafted him didn't we? We also all knew that he was going to take off to GWS after 2 years for 6 million bucks. What were you thinking Barry? As for Trengove --- how did dear old Barry not realise that Jack was going to break his navicular bone on numerous occasions? You've just gotta know these things if you want to be known as a top recruiter. On a serious note, It's hard to believe that Morton ticked all the same sort of boxes as Judd & Hodge. But he did. Highly touted junior exhibit A - Fails in the big time. Highly touted junior exhibit B - Exceeds in the big time.
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