Reasons For Our Draft Picks

[The Coon Dog]

I attended the Draft tonight along with Mantis, The Bulldogs Bite, TAMA, Sockeye Salmon & TCP.

I must say it was very different from previous drafts in that it was much more a TV spectacle with a cast of thousands attending. Previously the Draft was held in the Victory Room at Etihad Stadium, where there was only room for a handful of guests.

We were on the second level & were fortunate enough to be sitting behind a row of staff members from the various TAC Cup teams & were able to listen in on their comments about the various players from their clubs that were selected.

Personally I didn't like they way the first 10 picks were announced,; in reverse order with Andrew Demetriou announcing which players were drafted by which clubs.

Melksham at 10 to the Bombers was the first name called out, hardly surprising, though it did confirm Port had overlooked him.

Andrew Moore at pick 9 & it was clear the top 10 wasn't going according to script, many supposed experts having him going to us at pick 15.

As expected Sheppard went to West Coast & the top 6 went according to the script.

Melbourne caused a surprise at pick 11 by selecting Jordan Grysberts as did Carlton at pick 12 who selected Kane Lucas. It meant Talia, Jetta, McMillan-Pittard & Black were in the mix (sorry Mantis).

Adelaide & Sydney took 2 of those out of the equation by drafting Talia & Jetta with the next 2 picks.

"Pick 15, Western Bulldogs, player number --------, Christian Howard, Glenelg".

Christian Who???????????

The look of complete bewilderment on Sockeye Salmon's face was worth attending tonight just to see.

Straight to the Burgatron Draft to read up on him. He had us taking him with pick 31.

Consensus was that Throughandthrough might just have blown a gasket by now!

McMillan-Pittard taken next pick by Port Adelaide & Black slipping to pick 25 & taken by the Kangas. Ball to Collingwood at pick 30.

Burgatron had us taking Jason Tutt with our 3rd pick, we took him with our 2nd at pick 31. 2 for 2 for the Burgatron, just the wrong order. Had us wondering if we had started the draft a round late.

Rhan Hooper to Hawthorn at pick 58 & supporters of every other team breathed a collective sigh as they all felt they had dodged a bullet.

Lukas Markovic to the Bulldogs with pick 63. Great, he wasn't even in Burgatron's draft, so we knew nothing about him until the good folk sitting behind us filled us in.

Shane Thorne with our last pick, so TCP was a bit annoyed as wanted us to draft Majak Daw. GVGjr was on the money.

So it finished & we all scratched our collective heads, wondering whether we did well or not. Oh well, let's go downstairs & talk to our recruiters & find out a bit more.

Rocket was caught up with the media, but he got Adrian Caruso & Greg Boxhall, 2 of our recruiters to talk with us & answer our questions.

We obviously wanted to know why we had taken Christian Howard so highly & whether there was anyone else in we were thinking of.

We would loved to have had the ability to draft Melksham, Jetta, Talia & Moore, but thay had been taken. It then came down to a choice between Howad & JMP. The recruiters felt Howard was a much better kick, infact they said he had exquisite kicking skills & had a stronger body, enabling him to keep his feet.

Jason Tutt was likened to Chance Bateman in the way he played & was also a very polished user of the ball by foot.

Very happy to select 2 players with our first 2 picks who had good kicking skills.

Lukas Markovic had been rookied previously by Hawthorn & had broken an ankle which set him back. Has great leadership skills & is a 194cm defender who isn't blessed with great speed, but cuts the angles well & can play on the bigger full forwards. Handy to have if Brian gets injured.

Shane Thorne was likened to Lewis jetta (albeit a poor mans one) who likes to run with the ball & can do the mercurial.

James Fantasia then joined us & said that we were very happy with what we were able to secure, particularly the first 2 picks.

He then made it very clear that clubs are going to have major headaches with the money that Gold Coast & West Sydney are going to be able to throw at players, mentioning an absurd figure of $1.5M a season for Gary Ablett.

I'm sure I've missed some things that others will cover.

[DOG GOD]

Thanks for the insight TCD, it mustve been a cool experience to have been there. Myself like you guys I'm sure said Christian WHO? at pick 15, especially when JMP and Black were still available. Hopefully it all pans out and those first 2 selections become diamonds.

[Scorlibo]

Great read TCD! Thanks very much. Interesting to hear that we would have loved the ability to draft one of Moore, Jetta, Talia or Melksham - were they considered to be an echelon above the likes of Howard? Or was it more like if one of them slipped we would have had a serious decision on our hands?

[boydogs]

Thanks TCD. What was the knock on Black? mjp speaks very highly of him

[Sedat]

Thanks for the write up TCD, much appreciated.

Elite kicks - hardly terrible to have them on our list. We aren't exactly flushed with consistently elite users of the ball by foot down back. Some cover for Gilbs in this area is essential for the future.

[Dry Rot]

He then made it very clear that clubs are going to have major headaches with the money that Gold Coast & West Sydney are going to be able to throw at players, mentioning an absurd figure of $1.5M a season for Gary Ablett.



Thanks.

IIRC Cooney and Griff are about to come off contract. Scary stuff.

Can you please elaborate on the reasons we took Howard?

[The Coon Dog]

Thanks.

IIRC Cooney and Griff are about to come off contract. Scary stuff.

Can you please elaborate on the reasons we took Howard?

Best that was available was the reason. His major strength is his left peg.

[GVGjr]

Best that was available was the reason. His major strength is his left peg.

The write up's I have seen in the last 2 hours have given him a glowing endorsement and I'm genuinely excited by his inclusion to the club.

For him not to score an invite to the National or State screenings but still get picked up in the first round is impressive. From memory I don't think Minson was screened at either draft camps.

[Dry Rot]

Best that was available was the reason. His major strength is his left peg.

Thanks.

Interesting that our recruitment guys see him very different to everybody else (as in worth re draft picks).

Any goss where they see him playing?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Thanks TCD. What was the knock on Black? mjp speaks very highly of him


They did say, but I just can't remember for the life of me, hopefully one of the others listened better than I did.

They said they simply didn't rate Black that highly to take him at 15.

Seems a few other clubs agreed as Melbourne, Richmond and Fremantle overlooked Black despite an apparent need for KPF's.

[Scorlibo]

Interesting that our recruitment guys see him very different to everybody else (as in worth re draft picks).


They might not have, I assume that if we didn't pick him that he would have been taken before our next pick, and so theoretically we only rated him maybe ten spots higher than the average club. As for people like Matt Burgan and Emma Quayle, they're not talent idetifiers, they're media, trying to suss out who's interested in who etc. so their placing of Howard may not be at all reflective of their personal opinion, and same goes for BF phantom drafts.

[LostDoggy]

As TCD mentioned, we would have loved to have picked up a Talia, Moore or Jetta, however when our pick came it was between McMillan-Pittard and Howard as our next best available options.

Our recruiters believed that Howard was a better skilled footballer with 'elite kicking ability', courageous with a much better all round game. We were obviously desperate to get this guy and the club sees massive upside to him. If his second half of the year is anything to go by we mave have picked ourselves up a steal.

[hujsh]

Our recruiters believed that Howard was a better skilled footballer with 'elite kicking ability', courageous with a much better all round game. We were obviously desperate to get this guy and the club sees massive upside to him. If his second half of the year is anything to go by we mave have picked ourselves up a steal.

The draft is so confusing. We've gone from overpaying to finding a steal in about 4 hours.

I suppose only time will tell.

[Remi Moses]

Can someone remind Nathan Thompson that we did recruit tall forwards last season,as he is surprised we hadn't picked a key forward:rolleyes:

[Sedat]

Can someone remind Nathan Thompson that we did recruit tall forwards last season,as he is surprised we hadn't picked a key forward:rolleyes:
We got a key forward with our first pick in 2007 as well. Nathan Thompson - the bloke who could never understand why Cam Wight and Wayde Skipper weren't getting regular games :rolleyes:

[mjp]

They said they simply didn't rate Black that highly to take him at 15.

Seems a few other clubs agreed as Melbourne, Richmond and Fremantle overlooked Black despite an apparent need for KPF's.

Yes - but to be fair, Melbourne, Richmond and Fremantle are completely ******** and if they don't like you it should be the green light for every single other club.

[LostDoggy]

Yes - but to be fair, Melbourne, Richmond and Fremantle are completely ******** and if they don't like you it should be the green light for every single other club.

Exactly what I thought when I read that....:rolleyes:

[Mantis]

They might not have, I assume that if we didn't pick him that he would have been taken before our next pick, and so theoretically we only rated him maybe ten spots higher than the average club. As for people like Matt Burgan and Emma Quayle, they're not talent idetifiers, they're media, trying to suss out who's interested in who etc. so their placing of Howard may not be at all reflective of their personal opinion, and same goes for BF phantom drafts.

That doesn't come into it.

We rated as the next best player when it came to our first rd pick so we were never going to take another player in front of him.

[Mantis]

Any goss where they see him playing?

They think he will play HB or even in the midfield, probably a wing and is seen as a bit of a replacement for Eagleton.

I asked if it could be as soon as next season.;)

[Bulldog Revolution]

I asked if it could be as soon as next season.;)

Nobody could acuse you of not being consistent Mantis

I wonder not having been a U18 Champ player how far advanced Howards running and fitness will be

For those that attended, was there any talk of his engine etc??

[The Pie Man]

Thank-you TCD & Mantis for posting the background info from the draft, really appreciate it.

Mulligan's promotion has been mentioned in relation to Markovic's selection, though I imagine this could potentially impact Edwards' rookie chances as well - thoughts?

[LostDoggy]

There is an article in today's Age newspaper about the top four teams (Collingwood, St Kilda) and potential top 4 next year Hawthorn and Brisbane, stocking up on recycled players. We on the other hand apart from getting Hall, don't have the salary cap to do this, so we have gone for the next best strategy, which is recruiting mature bodies and adult playing experience with our last two picks. And a succession plan for Gilbee and Eagleton with our first two picks.

Now that I have had time to digest it, it would seem a very smart move:) I do hope that Grant, Roughy and even Boumann get some game time to develop in 2010.

[bornadog]

There is an article in today's Age newspaper about the top four teams (Collingwood, St Kilda) and potential top 4 next year Hawthorn and Brisbane, stocking up on recycled players. We on the other hand apart from getting Hall, don't have the salary cap to do this, so we have gone for the next best strategy, which is recruiting mature bodies and adult playing experience with our last two picks. And a succession plan for Gilbee and Eagleton with our first two picks.

Now that I have had time to digest it, it would seem a very smart move:) I do hope that Grant, Roughy and even Boumann get some game time to develop in 2010.

With Picken, Thorne and Markovic, I think we have now balanced the side a bit in the 21 to 25 age bracket.

[LostDoggy]

Great report thanks alot

Bit confused about Thorne, have read that he is a running backman but other reports suggest he could be a crumbing forward.

Anyone know what he really is?

[bulldogtragic]

Thanks lads.

[mjp]

With Picken, Thorne and Markovic, I think we have now balanced the side a bit in the 21 to 25 age bracket.

Well, we have if it turns out that Thorne and Markovic play and contribute. If they dont then we have done something quite different...

Sorry, but to me Markovic in particular is a perfect rookie selection - available in the event of injury - but I dont understand why he has to be on the main list...that selection kind of baffles me.

[LostDoggy]

There is an article in today's Age newspaper about the top four teams (Collingwood, St Kilda) and potential top 4 next year Hawthorn and Brisbane, stocking up on recycled players. We on the other hand apart from getting Hall, don't have the salary cap to do this, so we have gone for the next best strategy, which is recruiting mature bodies and adult playing experience with our last two picks. And a succession plan for Gilbee and Eagleton with our first two picks.

Now that I have had time to digest it, it would seem a very smart move:) I do hope that Grant, Roughy and even Boumann get some game time to develop in 2010.

I agree with the strategy going for mature bodies with the last 2 picks. Still a lot of work to ensure the the first 2 picks work to plan though.

[MrMahatma]

Well, we have if it turns out that Thorne and Markovic play and contribute. If they dont then we have done something quite different...

Sorry, but to me Markovic in particular is a perfect rookie selection - available in the event of injury - but I dont understand why he has to be on the main list...that selection kind of baffles me.
Maybe the club has less confidence in Williams getting 'right' than we do? If he gets soft tissue injuries, he won't be on the long term injury list, so we couldn't elevate a rookie.

I like having the back up on the main list.

[Twodogs]

Well, we have if it turns out that Thorne and Markovic play and contribute. If they dont then we have done something quite different...

Sorry, but to me Markovic in particular is a perfect rookie selection - available in the event of injury - but I dont understand why he has to be on the main list...that selection kind of baffles me.



Is he more of a 'stay at hame, man on man' defender? We have Lake who attacks the ball rather than mind his man and it tends to get left to Morris to be accountable for an opponent. This is a great statergy until someone like Fev, Petrie or Reivoldt gets on a roll and Morris doesnt have the size to go with them. The only other alternitives are Lake-which robs us of his creativity out of defense or Shaggy-who is a lousy decision maker when it comes time to spoil or outmark.

When I looked at our list before the draft I thought a glaring deficiency(?) was the lack of a stay at home defender(a defensive defender if you like) in the style of Presti at Collingwood. Hopefully we have addressed tha now.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Is he more of a 'stay at hame, man on man' defender? We have Lake who attacks the ball rather than mind his man and it tends to get left to Morris to be accountable for an opponent. This is a great statergy until someone like Fev, Petrie or Reivoldt gets on a roll and Morris doesnt have the size to go with them. The only other alternitives are Lake-which robs us of his creativity out of defense or Shaggy-who is a lousy decision maker when it comes time to spoil or outmark.

When I looked at our list before the draft I thought a glaring deficiency(?) was the lack of a stay at home defender(a defensive defender if you like) in the style of Presti at Collingwood. Hopefully we have addressed tha now.

Some of the Hawthorn fans who have commented on him say that he is much like Lake in that he does go for his marks.

The knock on himk is his pace so I'd suggest Fev would not be the best match up for him.

[OLD SCRAGGer]

Anyone know if and when the NEW draftees will be at club? Would love to go down there to have a look at em:)

[Templeton31]

Anyone know if and when the NEW draftees will be at club? Would love to go down there to have a look at em:)

Tutt was on Canberra radio on Friday saying he was skipping his last day of school (today) to make sure he was at WO reporting for duty today.

[OLD SCRAGGer]

Tutt was on Canberra radio on Friday saying he was skipping his last day of school (today) to make sure he was at WO reporting for duty today.

Thanks for that T31. I'm liking the sound of this kid more each day.:):)

[jazzadogs]

Tutt was on Canberra radio on Friday saying he was skipping his last day of school (today) to make sure he was at WO reporting for duty today.
Does that mean he'll be at school next year? Because all the Year 12's have finished now, so he'd have to be on his last day of Year 11...although it might be different seeing as he lives in Canberra?

[LostDoggy]

Thanks for that T31. I'm liking the sound of this kid more each day.:):)

Massive sacrifice to give up his last day of school to attend the Club.:D

[alwaysadog]

Well, we have if it turns out that Thorne and Markovic play and contribute. If they dont then we have done something quite different...

Sorry, but to me Markovic in particular is a perfect rookie selection - available in the event of injury - but I dont understand why he has to be on the main list...that selection kind of baffles me.

Me too, I don't mind us having different opinions from others about the players we choose, but I have always thought that Rocket's line was that there is no place on the main list for depth players, if you were there we thought you could be or would be competing for a first team place not waiting for someone to fall over.

The only reasons I can think of why we have apparently diverged from this is that we have identified something others can't see and are really keen on him and thought we might lose him to another club or that we are going to take a totally different approach to recruiting rookies this year. If it's the latter we won't know till after the rookie draft.

[Scorlibo]

Does that mean he'll be at school next year? Because all the Year 12's have finished now, so he'd have to be on his last day of Year 11...although it might be different seeing as he lives in Canberra?

Neither Year 11 or Year 12 are still working in the ACT. I'm guessing that today was when he was to get his marks back.

[boydogs]

Me too, I don't mind us having different opinions from others about the players we choose, but I have always thought that Rocket's line was that there is no place on the main list for depth players, if you were there we thought you could be or would be competing for a first team place not waiting for someone to fall over.

The only reasons I can think of why we have apparently diverged from this is that we have identified something others can't see and are really keen on him and thought we might lose him to another club or that we are going to take a totally different approach to recruiting rookies this year. If it's the latter we won't know till after the rookie draft.

We may have been thinking that Hawthorn were going to draft or rookie him before we had the chance

[Dry Rot]

Well, we have if it turns out that Thorne and Markovic play and contribute. If they dont then we have done something quite different...

Sorry, but to me Markovic in particular is a perfect rookie selection - available in the event of injury - but I dont understand why he has to be on the main list...that selection kind of baffles me.

Have you seen any of our picks in action? It would be interesting to read your view of them.

[Mofra]

Me too, I don't mind us having different opinions from others about the players we choose, but I have always thought that Rocket's line was that there is no place on the main list for depth players, if you were there we thought you could be or would be competing for a first team place not waiting for someone to fall over.
He didn't subscribe to the theory this year - Skipper was clearly ruck back-up to Minno & Hudson.
Given Williams' injury history, Markovic must think with a bit of hard work he can debut this year. Harry Taylor worked for Geelong.

[Dry Rot]

Funny thread, given the best available vs needs arguments we've had over the years.