The next-door surf pool needs mascot and Waterman is the obvious choice
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I will convince myself he’s the missing ingredient for us to be a top 4 team.
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Probably doesn’t come from a good family 
You mean top 14 team!
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What I’m not thrilled about with either Baker or Waterman is their age. Not that I’m against drafting them if good enough, but where the hell are the youngsters to train and review? Surely there are a bunch of bottom-agers who because they have 6 months less of development in 2019 only showed a few signs, but some of them would have stepped up in 2020.
We need to be trying to find the guys who would have gone top 30 in last year’s draft that didn’t due to not playing. But we don’t seem interested.
Has the AFL restricted these kids from training with teams? Or is it just us?
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just us…Maher training with blues…
there is 17 other clubs for kids to train at as well.
doesn’t help not having VFL sorted either.
Ants I agree. I think we should have at least tried to bring in a kid or two to training that missed out in the draft. I doubt anyone would have turned down the opportunity. At the very least, we get a good read on someone before they sign with a VFL club or as an over-ager in the TAC Cup and if they perform, pick them up in the MSD. Alternatively, just rule them out and find another youngster for the SSP.
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Seems like Briskey will sign at the Pies.
We missed out on inviting all top kids that missed out on the draft… it’s what happens when you’ve sacked the Football department manager and are unorganised.
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We can still take any of them if we want, they don’t need to train with us.
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Perhaps the thinking is that a couple of training sessions won’t answer the question of who those guys are, and we need to position ourselves to get those in the msd.
With 3 spots potentially available there is still plenty of room for a 22 - 24 if we like them enough.
Well, maybe it’s cheaper (free) to let them develop themselves in state leagues while we develop the ones who are more likely to make it.
In this situation, I think it’s better to take a punt on mature age like Baker and Waterman who had to take the long road - it shows their commitment to make it in the league. Better than the Houlian/Gown types.
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The irony is we could sign these guys to play in our VFL/NEAFL team. They’d fit the age demo, but we are so far behind the 8 ball there it’s pretty much anyone who looks good for Calder we could try.
Zero foresight here. New GM of footy really needs a rocket up his ■■■■.
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In which case they’ll go into the mid-season draft, of which we’ll have 1 or 2 picks (in our turn). While if any other teams identify the talent first, they may not even be available for the mid-season draft.
You may be right but we took a few mature age player in the draft last year. Where are they now?
I think it can work but it is other clubs who seem to have success doing this.
I think the idea here is that we need to see these bottom agers play first to identify talent, which is why we’re keeping a list spot open for the MSD. Low intensity training drills and a couple of preseason games won’t tell us whether they’ll be good or not, whereas we can assess mature-aged recruits more accurately if they train with us.
Waterman and Baker are decent mature depth options in areas of need with plenty of form to go off. Whilst it would be nice to try and identify the hidden gems, we’re just as likely if not more likely to get a bust if we use all 3 picks to recruit 18y/o players. Not only that, but we won’t know if they are a bust for the next 4 years. We have plenty of F/S coming up that we’ll hold onto for at least another 4 years so we don’t need more list cloggers.
I’m perfectly fine with mature-aged stop-gap selections.
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I don’t understand how people can complain that we are poor at player development and then get upset when we outsource our player development.
Smart move.
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If recruitment team simply don’t feel comfortable picking kids off zilch exposed form and would rather look at some slightly older & physically mature players with some level of exposed form against men (and Waterman having already been on an AFL list) so be it.
Our depth is pretty shallow. Having a few players who are far more likely to be able to step in a play a role is probably preferable. Both of them still have a lot of upside. Both will be desperate for the chance.
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We should not be recruiting for depth.
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I disagree. It’s unrealistic to recruit 3 A-grade players with SSP selections. That’s just not going to happen. Realistically, we should be recruiting players who have the potential to be solid best 22 players that can cover for injuries in areas we’re under-resourced. Both Waterman and Baker fit the bill. Recruiting for depth doesn’t mean we’re recruiting spuds. It means we have a larger pool of players to choose from.
No depth means you end up like Carlton and Gold Coast the last 5 years.
We’re most likely going to select one of Baker and Waterman (I think it’ll be Baker) and take 2 selections into the MSD, but I wouldn’t mind us taking both if they impress.
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