Countdown to D-Day (afl site)

[Infamy]

Infamy I agree that you can trade them for decent picks..ala Pies gave away pick 14 for cameron wood in 07 and then again pick 16 for Jolly in 09, obviously their recruiting manager had no qualms about trading away first round picks for a ruckman and then unearthed a kid like beams at #29 or whatever number he was

but it takes soooo long to develop a decent ruckman

smaller players come in and can have an immediate impact

That's a very short term view
As Blair Hartley said on that RFC chat, draft for talent, trade for need
Take the best talent available and if you still have holes on your list then target specific players

That is the way it should be and in no way should we be discriminating who we take at our pick other than them being the best available

[Con65]

Infamy, I said best available for pick 6 and referred to Blair's comments - scroll up.

In my view the TV pick was a draft for needs pick and not best available talent at that time, as RFC knew that TV would not be there at pick 26.  IMHO zieball or sidebottom were better talents at TV's pick.

Let me be clear that I am not knocking the TV pick.  I think Tyrone has shown enough in his 20 plus games to suggest he will be a very good long term player for RFC but will not be hitting his straps for a couple of years yet.  Also, the new substitution rule may hinder his development as a ruckman as RFC may opt to only play 1 ruckman with a shane tuck or a post doing the back up ruck work.  Where would that leave TV?

[Infamy]

In my view the TV pick was a draft for needs pick and not best available talent at that time, as RFC knew that TV would not be there at pick 26.  IMHO zieball or sidebottom were better talents at TV's pick.

I disagree, Vickery showed plenty in his final U18 year to warrant his selection at Pick 8 especially as he was coming back from a knee reco. He was seriously considered by Port Adelaide with Pick 4 and would have been taken if Hartlett was gone. He outrucked Naitanui in the U18 champs and showed he could also play forward.
There is a couple of Ziebell or Sidebottom type midfielders available in the Top 10-20 of every draft, there's not always a quality ruckman, especially when we were in dire need of one getting him with 8 was completely justified and was in no way a reach.

[tiga]

Have to agree with infamy on this one as the buzz around Vickery at the time was that he was the best available come our pick and we were delighted that he made it through to us. Personally I think he is building nicely and we have nothing to worry about. He is quite mobile and has excellent hands so he will be far more versatile for us than your traditional plank type ruckman who will be affected by the new interchange rules.

[3rogerd]

best is yet to come with this
kid and he likes to box on....

[tony_montana]

aren't there question marks over atley's kicking?

[Heart of Darkness]

Think the TV pick was perfect at the time for both the need and talent issue. Hopefully his development continues next season would love to start seeing some grunt.

[Mr Magic]

My preference is Gaff followed by Heppell if unavailable.