Top interview from the Richmond Tiger Talk website
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RTT interviews Richmond recruiting officer Richard Taylor about kids we selected in the national draft, the evaluation process, the ones that got away and the rookie draft. AUDIO:
http://richo.podbean.com/------------------------------------------------
Some of things discussed:
* We have a specialist areas (TAC Cup, SANFL, WAFL) but full time recruiters need to be aware of every kid so they can compare say a 18-year-old from Oakleigh with a 22-year-old from Swan Districts. We've had 3 full-timers since 2009 and added Williams (from Carlton/Geelong) this year.
* 80 names at start of 2014 which we considered were potential draftees. This expanded to 120 by April.
* 40-50 individuals reports on Corey Ellis. Coded every game of his from the past 3 years. Also had Psych reports, reports from coaches, teaches, parents, etc. It's $100k investment so you want as much info as possible to make a informed decision.
* Pleasantly surprised Menadue was still available at 33. Thought he was a late teen/early 20s pick. Great fit combined with Corey Ellis.
* McKenzie - tall forwards need to be able to push up into the midfield so that was the question mark on him. However, he has other elite traits. Late picks all have flaws but if they have elite traits then you hope with development they can turn into an AFL player. Already, he has shocked some of our big boys at training Townsville by outmarking them.
* Obviously, as you go later in the draft, the chances of a kid becoming a 150-game AFL player becomes less and you need the kid to have the right work ethic etc. However, in saying that, we are quite bullish about this draft. Afterwards, we went through every pick of each club and said this club has 2-3 players we rated and so does that club. So most clubs will be bullish as are we about our selections. Kids will come in with their flaws but we are bullish as we have a great development staff now.
* Menadue - has the speed and endurance to cope with the demands of AFL in 2015. He'll get knock off the ball currently and won't be at his best until he adds 10kgs but I wouldn't rule him out playing AFL next year.
* Drummond - see him as modern day high forward where he pushes up the ground then high tail back using his speed. He's up there with Brandon Ellis and Gordon in terms of endurance. At U18 he played half-back and this year pushed into the midfield. So he can play wing, half-back and has the body to play in the centre square.
* Conscious about needing some speed but we wouldn't have put our draft selections at jeopardy chasing it. The cards fell our way from the need for speed perspective.
* Rated Corey Ellis inside top 10 (including Heeney & Moore). We also rated Laverde & Weller but we can only pick one of them and had Ellis slightly ahead of those two.
Listen to the whole interview here: http://richo.podbean.com/
