i like the process we went thru in getting derickx and morris.
over looking state league players while hanging onto long tem underachievers has been a bug bear with me. we do need to target blokes like derickx who have done really well at their clubs and in their competition and have enough of the required attributes. ie athleticism skills nouse etc to play afl. target blokes who have high b&f finishes at their clubs and in the league.
you wont always find a player who works out but you give yourself a good chance.
i wanted us to draft very late or rookie a bloke called tom lee last yr just 21 this yr. he ticks most boxes very athletic good kick and a damn good size at 196cm. this bloke would have been handy at chb or chf for us this yr.
i would prefer we did this than use a rookie pick on a kid who has done nothing is usually so skinny hes 3 yrs away from playing and has obvious deficiencies that will take time to fix and at the end of the day is more likely to go by the way side than make it.
yep weather derickx makes it or not hes basically a rookie pick the process is right.
the only time i have real issues with us taking mature players is if we use 1st 2nd or even in some cases 3rd round picks to get them. use these picks on quality kids take enough kids each yr as well and you can then value add with senior players until your hearts content.
finally while it doesnt look great atm big tom may well still manage to make the grade.
You make some good points claw. One thing I heard on the radio the other day, Was about how clubs draft. Some like Sydney recycle many players and do really well at it, some like Geelong build their own and rarely recycle, the conclusion whatever path you go, do it well. I think sydney are unique in the way they go about it, because they have to. Recycled players are more likely to stick in Sydney too. I think we should go more the Geelong route and develop our own, something we have not been good at since the 80s. But with our increased football spend we are developing some good players under hardwick like Rance.
