rjay

No, round 2

I was going to let this slide but surely other recruiters must have seen problems with his kicking and noted it. I don't think we can say for certain that Scully would have been taken by every other recruiter in the land, we just don't know. The hype was there that's for sure, the really good guys are not going to let you know what they were thinking, that's why they're the really good guys.

That we will never know 'nut'. It was certainly the conventional wisdom at the time, but lets say for example the Tiges really wanted Martin do you think they would have come out and said that. Although having a look at that draft, apart from Martin the best players were all selected in the 20's...

...back on the topic. No preseason has been used as an excuse for many players and often lets them off the hook. In Salem's case it is more about the medical condition he had which must have taken a fair bit out of him so I'm happy to cut him a bit of slack this year. Finding enough of the ball has been an issue with you and I can understand that. I think he hasn't got enough in the tank at the moment to get a lot of ball at AFL level and that's why he has often found himself as the sub. The downside or catch 22 of that is he doesn't get enough consistent game time to build match fitness. I was concerned early about his ability to get the ball but when he started getting 30 plus in the VFL I realised this wasn't going to be an issue. I think you might be jumping at shadows a bit here 'olisik' and that's very understandable given our recent history with drafting. In Salem's case I would see how he comes up next year before getting too concerned, there are legitimate reasons for him not showing us as much as some of his contemporaries.

Yes 'jazza' , the board have a lot to answer for and I don't like that some of the old board still remain...

Agree 'titan' Lyon and insight are polar opposites, in fact that goes for a lot of the football media.

I don't share your faith in the system anymore 'bub'.

I reckon this is now becoming a Chinese whisper.

It's not a lottery, particularly at the top end. It doesn't mean you get it right and we have a real history of getting it wrong. The ones we got really wrong as you've outlined before are where we've gone for needs over best available...so that for a start pushes the odds of getting it right against you. Luck plays a significant part. If you are Hawthorn and get a PP in particularly strong draft years as they did it doesn't hurt their chances. Roughy and Hodge are pretty decent PP's I would think. At the moment we have an unproven recruiting dept. so we won't know for a few years yet if they are any good. I would have preferred us to have someone with a proven track record in this area. That's one way you get better. The other is something I strongly believe in and that is bringing on board an astute experienced football person like a John Northey to work with the recruiters, give feedback and insight on what they see. He doesn't need to be full-time but would come in on key meetings and cover the championship games.

Don't bother either watching or trying...

I'm not looking at our club either here 'macca', it's just an example of how things work if your club is out of contention early in the season and we are the poster boys for that. I don't like the idea of the no.1 pick going to 13th place though. I think they will need to be creative about how to make that part of the draw work.

They talk everyone up. Have you seen a comment that says a player is no good and not a chance to make it in AFL footy.

As it is at the moment 'macca', our season has been over pretty much after the first game for how many seasons now. People often talk about the EPL and how only the big clubs can win but they do have other competitions running not the least being promotion & relegation that keeps interest for the fans. Now I don't want to see promotion/relegation but it would be good to have something to follow for the full season, as a game we need to be inclusive and give teams something to play for and win for rather than thinking of losing and draft picks. This could at least be a start.

Only because it's the last draft. These clubs have all built a solid list based on the draft then added players from there. Geelong have also had the father/ son advantage. It's to easy for them to say they wouldn't take high picks, they have and they would if they were available. Gotta go....

They haven't had the picks available to them, so no they didn't have a choice. You don't think Hawthorn, Geelong or Freo would have picked Boyd, Aish and Kelly for example if they had the pick available.

They have had no choice...and they've all built their success on the back of the draft.

If we can't get it right now, we should shut up shop.

So I guess they were against drafting Roughy, Buddy, Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Cyril, should I go on. They've cherry picked some players over the last few years because their access to the draft was limited by them finishing top 4 and the introduction of expansion teams. Don't let them fool you with this dribble. Never listen to board members, they are full of their own importance and have nothing to do with list management anyway. This might be what they believe but it's plainly wrong. They topped up a good list that was achieved through the draft and that is a clever strategy given the conditions.

Yep, I know what you were saying 'old dee'. ...and a statement taken out of context to suit an agenda. Very strange world we live in.

...but a damned good operator 'old dee' and screwed over by the powers that be.

That's what worries me, Neeld was Micks 2IC at Collingwood and look where that got us. Taylor and Viney are still unproven in my eyes. I would have been happier if we had of chased Rendall after he got flicked from Adelaide.

That is very interesting. Waldron is a bit of a smart.....but he makes some good points. I think the jury is out on our recruiting team, the old mob definitely a fail, this lot who knows. I'm not sure about shifters credibility either, he seems to close to the kids if his spin is to be believed.

I'm starting to think Essendon will get away with little or no penalty. I think this is wrong but my faith, well I have none in the integrity of the AFL and the competition nor the politicians that run our country (both parties)...

Smoke and fire 'Redleg'...I would hope the players were the only ones consulted, the club have no place getting in the middle of this. Well not only in the middle but at the head of the cue. My point is that the media seem to think this is all happening but surely these discussions should only be taking place with the players if they are happening at all.

Of course the gap is huge, some step up to the mark in their first year, others don't, some never do. Let's hope Salem comes up in the next couple, I would start to be concerned if he doesn't show marked improvement next season.