Geelong empire built at super drafts (Herald-Sun bagging Richmond's recruiting)

[one-eyed]

Geelong empire built at super drafts
Sam Edmund From: Herald Sun December 19, 2009

IT IS the powerhouse that Stephen Wells built.

Frank Costa and Mark Thompson may be the toast of Geelong, but it is the shrewd recruiting chief who really deserves the keys to the city.

It was Wells' ingenious selections in the 1999 and 2001 national drafts that laid the foundations for the Cats' 2007 and 2009 premierships.

The 2010 AFL Prospectus - the ultimate number-cruncher for football's stat fanatics compiled by Champion Data - has laid bare the phenomenal strike rate of the Skilled Stadium talent scout.

Wells nailed two drafts in three years. Of his 15 picks, eight have developed into elite players. That is a staggering return.

From the 15 selections in those two draft meetings, Geelong has so far yielded a total of 1640 games - 495 more than any other club.

Of those 1640 matches, 1335 have come from Cameron Ling, Joel Corey, Paul Chapman, Corey Enright, Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, James Kelly and Steve Johnson.

The lesson is obvious: pick wisely and be patient.

Corey (1999, pick No. 8 ), Chapman (1999, No. 31), Ling (1999, pick No. 38), Enright (1999, No. 47), Ablett (2001, father-son), Bartel (2001, No. 8 ), Kelly (2001, No. 17) and Johnson (2001, No. 24) all played in the 2007 and '09 premierships, and have accumulated two Brownlow Medals, two Norm Smith Medals, 13 All-Australian selections and three AFLPA MVP Awards between them.

Richmond made it to the 2001 preliminary final, but hasn't played in September since.

The story could have been far different had the Tigers picked well at the draft table.Compare Richmond's 1999 and 2001 selections to Geelong's and the vastly different fortunes of the two clubs since seem inevitable.

In 1999 the Tigers selected Aaron Fiora (3), Ezra Poyas (22), Scott Homewood (39) and Andrew Mills (52). They took Adelaide's Clay Sampson at No. 6 in that year's pre-season draft.

In 2001 David Rodan (33), Adam Houlihan (63) and Martin McGrath (77) came on board.

It is a massively different batch of draftees to those who moved down the Geelong Highway.

And the statistics put paid to any argument from those who claim the draft is overblown and overrated.

The fifth edition of the AFL Prospectus will also include SuperCoach positions for the first time, with Swans coach Paul Roos earmarking Adam Goodes as a centre half-forward in 2010.

The AFL Prospectus (cost $39.95) will be available in book shops from early February, but can be ordered at www.championdata.com.au with free postage and handling.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/geelong-empire-built-at-super-drafts/story-e6frf9jf-1225811885996

[yellowandback]

We may be getting bagged but it's hard to argue.
Some of our fringe selections - thursfield, white, mcguane, Graham, foley, Moore are going to determine the legacy of our recruiting from the immediate era beyond this article.

[Francois Jackson]

the story just got worse for us in 2002 and beyond, particulary in 2005 and 2006.

Lets face it we deserve all the critisicm we get

That being said Hardwick is not spud or the tanned one, he is doing what those other 2 never did

[Infamy]

the story just got worse for us in 2002 and beyond, particulary in 2005 and 2006.

2005 you have no argument from me (or anyone really) 2006 we got Riewoldt, Edwards, Connors & Collins, hardly a bust only Peterson is gone, Riewoldt & Collins look like certainties to make it, Edwards has shown glimpses and Connors has a make or break year coming up but appears to be showing good form over preseason.
It was the preseason & rookie drafts that were the disappointments of that year

What's interesting about 2006 is that in the lead up it was meant to be a super draft, however at the moment its looking nothing like one. This was mainly due to the amout of quality talls early, however so far Riewoldt has been the best of them, others like Thorp and Gumbleton have been a complete bust. Perhaps its too soon to really judge, however Richmond have done pretty well out of it compared to others.

[WA Tiger]

 

Oh yes what could have been, HELLO, lets move forward, stuffing press, next year it will still be "ex Eagle, drug reformed, bad boy, in remission, Police evading...etc..etc... Ben Cousins" but it won't be champion Cousins !!!!

stuff they poo me up the wall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Darth Tiger]

Decent advert for Champion Data and reinforces the need to invest in the draft for a sustained period.

Rebuilding via retreads is simply not the way to go, and hopefully RFC continue to adopt the policy as practice for the next 20 years.

[mightytiges]

We deserve the criticism for how poorly we have recruited but funny how Richmond is the club once again mentioned when say North did even worse out of those two drafts going by the table in the actual paper. Want a public reaction then use the Tigers  .

The other thing not mentioned in the article is how off-field decisions and poor TPP management can affect draft choices. It wasn't as simple as poor draft choices in 2001. Gas and Dutchy demand more $$$ which forced Benny Gale into retirement because we could no longer afford to fit him inside our salary cap. So combined with needing to offload Daffy's big contract we panic because we've lost one of our only two ruckmen and so w give up our first round pick for Stafford. Add in also Spud saying we were only a couple of midsize goalkickers away from seriously challenging (so we end up with a finished Hudson and Houlihan) when blind freedy knew our midfield was good enough. And that was before Brodders retired as well. Just one mistake after another compounded. The Club had no idea.