so lets get this straight, when you said geelong saw quality to go with quality, that's not really what you meant?
Do you really think that if we had recruited pods in 2009 he would have had the same impact at richmond as he did at geelong, even though there is no way in hell you could argue we would have been recruiting quality to go with quality?
I'm not sure how you can be talking about a vfl player and then talk about "any proven AFL player" as if they are the same thing?
yes because hes a damn good player. he dominated in the vfl didnt he.he walked straight into geelongs team and performed didnt he. he would have given us more thaqn post griffiths vickery in the short term.but your right perhaps pods was a bad example of a proven afl player. but the main point was pods was 29 when taken his age was not a barrier to a side who had most of its list in the 25 plus age bracket.
its a simple criteria and i thought it was pretty easy to follow how we get bogged down in these discussions is beyond me.
1/ the older player you are taking is proven and can do a job for you. i have no doubt pods if taken would have done a job for us. he was a proven vfl player in fact one of the best in that comp for yrs.
2/ you are not taking that player and foregoing your future quality 10 yr players to get him, ie giving up 1st and 2nd rnd picks for a mature player.
3/ ask yourself does your list lack experience and will the player help alleviate this probnlem ie a player like pods would be invaluable even at age 29 if jack went down. a simple spread sheet will tell you where you lack and how much depth you have in each area.
4/ always remember an older player based on age alone cannot harm your list as long as you look after the youth side of it first and the player in question can play.
you are arguing over one point that pods was not afl quality fair enough but that is not what the post is about. tell me what do you disagree with in those 4 points. tell me my you think taking a mature player or two who fit within those 4 points will hurt us.
forget pods all you are doing is detract from the main points im trying to make.i dont want to get caught up on how clubs or us rate players your dud may be my good player.thing is pods was a top notch vfl player and had been for yrs. a club like geelong full of ageing players saw fit to take an experienced mature player at age 29. we and all other clubs ignored him because he was too old apparently. well i hope at richmond we have lernt something from that.
maybe you disagree that we have very few in the 25 plus age brackets. maybe you disagree we have few 100 gamers. you probably disagree with the very point that getting a proven mature player who will cost little like merrett ie thru free agency is not going to harm us. if you dont disagree a cant see the point of your post.
i ask how can taking a good player be harmful to our list or any list if you have few experienced players and you are not paying much for them. the age is not important as long as we are not getting a dud and selling the future away. the state of the list says we can do with a few more seniors who can play.
at 29 straight out of the vfl pods would have filled a role but pods is probably one who should be left for the why dont we take more mature players out of state leagues debate. pods fit a lot of good criteria to get drafted and it was a disgrace by all clubs that he had to wait so long to get a chance.
just as an example merrett would fill a need and offer something we have no depth in. his age should not be a barrier to us taking him, its not as if we are overflowing with older players and older players who are any good.
the only way taking a 25 - 28+ yo can hurt us is if we give up 1st and 2nd rounders to get them or they are high risk underperformers.
