This year we looked at Richards. We took Cartledge is is pretty close to the 'rubbish 25yoa' bracket. We also went after the 24 year old Greg Tivendale - Cam Howatt. This might not be massive mistakes, but we have a history of following Knobel types - C grade footballers in the mid age bracket.
We should be moving away from the Frawley type Morrison chasing. Graham was handy, yes - handy in comming 9th, perhaps not the best thing for the club long term? If we played Moore all those games perhaps we would know if he is going to make it not now, rather than going into his 7th pre-season at 24yoa and we still don't know if the kid is any chop.
Kingsley didnt make it somewhat because he was always off the track, but there are 2 major things you must try understand:
- he had an aging body which was prone to getting hurt at that stage of his carrer, it was a very real risk before he was drafted
- many people thought he simply wasnt much chop, topping up a developing list with an average 29 yoa. Rebuilding?
McMahon was intersting. If any of Pears, Ward, Selwood turn out superstars then we stuffed up, but it doesnt seem a bad move. If he can get to his 2006 form he will decent cog of our side.
If our renaissance does come around from drafting Howatt, Cartledge, Knobel, Kingley and co. then they should be applauded as heros. However, at the current moment in type they are very questionable selections.
I still beleive the long term future of the club might have been better served chasinh a different type of player.
It's all about list re-structuring and development. Managing an AFL list would have to be one of the hardest juggling acts around and when you compound that by trying to come back from many years of pee poor list management then the job was always going to be just that much harder. It is very easy to make the mistake of looking at each selection/trade/delistment as an isolated case and make a judgement that doesn't reflect the worth of the original decision.
With regard to the players you mention above:
Richards/Cartledge - this season highlighted a lack of genuine ruck height on our list when we were exposed through injury. We had to take immediate steps to redress that because it would have been bad management to trust in the 2008 gods. No good ruck prospects were available in the PSD, Putt was a good get in the ND, Richards couldn't be rookied, Cartledge is AFL (body wise) ready, and is the cheapest possible form of insurance against 2007 revisited. Simmonds, Patto, Graham, Putt all stand up - Cartledge not required, costs us bugger all but if........... then we don't have the farce of Polak, Richo and Tuck having to ruck. A very sound decision if you ask me.
Howat - he disappointed this season after showing some promise as a rookie in 2006 and apparently training the house down over summer. Subsequently he was delisted but invited to train on. After the draft dust had settled the club would have noticed that we only had one experienced/match hardened of the 'Tivendale' types that are genuine receivers. Like him or not, Tiv has a role in the structure and balance of the team and most teams have one or more of his type. We have already identified the lack of core players in our list, think 2007 and Tiv goes down, we have no-one ready made to step into the role. Howat has already played a number of senior games, is older (especially body-wise) to cope with an increased role, comes as insurance at the bargain basement price of rookie, and allows the club to see if he can learn from last season and show the potential he had shown previously. Another decision I have no problem with.
Graham - drafting him was exactly the opposite of the Frawley years. Spud was all about drafting castaways and has beens to fill perceived small gaps in what was considered a list "one small forward" away from a flag. In his era the Morrison types were drafted to take up key critical list positions with little consideration to the long term effect or possibilities of failure. The Graham choice was exactly the opposite. Miller realised we were light on for strength and experience after phase one of our list cull. Graham was recruited at bottom dollar price to look after some of these kids as they took their first tentative AFL steps. Both him and the club were under no illusion that it was anything else and from the club's perspective it received terrific service/value from him. Moore had not shown anywhere near enough form or maturity to suggest that he was capable of stepping up in that season. Another good decision to suit the time/situation.
Kingsley - yet another who was recruited as a very cheap insurance to 'poo happening'. Yes, he had been injury prone in the past, yes he had a chequered career form wise, but due to the ongoing list cull we had become a very very young list. An injury to Richo and/or Pettifer would have been catastrophic, especially with Browny already out. 2007 was a harsh reminder of the risk of having no Plan B. Kingsley stands up (and remember that clubs put all potential draftees through stringent medicals prior nowadays), we have a more potent forward line or we have Plan B, either way it would have been looked back on as a sound decision. Hindsight says he didn't stand up but I am looking at the decision from a forward looking perspective and it was sound.
McMahon - I will answer this one with a question. If pick # 92 becomes the next Chris Judd then should we be down on every list manager and recruiter that overlooked him? Drafting is a very inexact science with little chance of success and much chance of failure. We had a gap in our list that badly needed filling, McMahon has all the attributes to fill the gap and fit the game plan, Wallace and Royal have both coached him and know him, he has no history of injury problems. Much less risk in using a draft choice for him, especially when he immediately fills a list hole. I'm more than happy with this decision.
Renaissance - this will come about over an extended period of time after making many, many decisions. The key to success will be making more right than wrong, especially at the appropriate times. Height, age, skill, attitude, salary, harmony - all these are just some of the factors to be considered when building and maintaining a list and thats where it gets very frustrating to hear supporters can a decision or bag a player based on the supporter's needs for immediate gratification. Any Tiger supporter who thinks that we are failing or that last year was a step back is not looking at the bigger picture. A horrible cliche I know but thats how it is. I have barracked for the Tigers for nearly 50 years, have ridden the highs and lows, but in the last 20 years I have never been more confident than now that we are finally taking positive, concrete steps to climb out of the pit we dug for ourselves with our arrogance and failure to face reality.
