You’ve got to remember, at the time we needed outside run not inside mids. Watson, Hocking, Howlett and we’d drafted Myers, Melksham and Heppell. It was outside run we were screaming out for. Parker would still have been a good fit because he could do both, but he was also taken at #40. It wasn’t like he was rated that highly outside of Blitz. Sydney drafted Jed Lamb 19 spots before Parker.
From the outside in we’ll never know the whys of each selection. Lual definitely needed more development. But if the coaching team was saying they needed more athleticism, Lual ticked a lot of boxes and he went roughly where he was rated in the draft.
But is one pick a trend? I’d be staggered if any team isn’t taking some players based on their upside potential.
Sure, except it was clear at the time our issue was with KP forwards and outside run. And with Ross, we’d just drafted Heppell earlier in the same draft who would become a 189cm inside midfielder.
I’m not as sold on Robey as others - I can see some appeal but there is an awkwardness to how he moves in traffic that really has me questioning his effectiveness as a mid at the next level.
I really like the thought of using this draft to get best in class role players that fill needs:
Cumming - dynamic mid/half forward
Dovaston - agile And creative small forward
Taylor - aggressive and versatile defender who can hurt the other way
Lindsay - best kick and designated distributor (I don’t think Rosa will value this having listed him)
I would consider Sharp if he slid on leadership abilities alone.
There was an old footballer, can’t remember who he played for long time ago, named Billy Samson. He was an absolute gun then cut his hair and was never the same again
I am in the Lindsay and Farrow camp. To me. this opportunity represents more than a rebuilding. It is a reimagining of our game plan. We have the opportunity to pick players that aid ball movement and these 2 are prime ball movers. Lindsay is the best kick I’ve seen coming through the ranks since Daniel Rich and Farrow is the most underrated player in this crop. Farrow plays like Hayden Young and has the scope to become something special.
It’s not really 14 of course ( Uwland , Annable, Patterson, Dean all bids in the top 10) but they have Grjl , Schubert, Phillipou , Lindsay all taken before him.
I kinda think Dodoro’s main weakness was failing to pick upside in 1st round draft picks. Our high picks were always very safe, consensus selections that closely mirrored phantom drafts. Like phantom drafts, our picks seemed based more on an amateur’s observation of recent performance than an expert’s assessment of potential. As a player’s early promise gave way to mediocrity, it was easy to point the finger at development until the pattern became obvious over time.
I’d say the player that developed the most was Draper. I remember watching him do kick to kick with Bellchambers before a game and it was terrible. It was a real credit to Draper and the club how far his skills developed every year he was on the list.
Interesting, if by some miracle come draft night we’re in that position, i think we could give some credence to aces point made weeks ago, take sharpe and cummings, I think players having existing relationships and synergies are exactly what we need at this club.
Caddy and Kako play well together, sharpe and cummings do as well.
the prolific example right now is probably rowell and anderson.
buying in with someone you know is a lot easier than with strangers.
I always laugh long and hard at people who justify a selection based on a bunch of random phantom drafts.
The goal is not to pick the best u18 player. It’s to pick the bloke who will have the best future career… and people don’t seem to realise how weakly correlated those 2 can be.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be going back to fill in early season games for some of the top prospects in the pool to give a fuller picture of their journey and development this season.
It’s instructive to go back and have a look at how far Xavier and Eastern came over the course of the season, from this first game where they struggled to overcome the Knights to ultimately taking out the CTL title.
