3 Decisions That Cost The Club History

[ashjam]

Recruiting is the making & breaking of a football club.

I have rated the 3 worst decisions in drafting for us in the last decade that have cost our club so much.

1) 2001 - Pick #2 Luke Ball
Aside from Luke now being at Collingwood, the fallout from the decision not to select Chris Judd with this pick is dramatic and will continue.
Judd was a Sandringham Dragon and a Caulfield Grammar boy.
The most frustrating thing with this selection was that had we rolled the dice and taken Judd with this pick, it is almost certain we still would have got Ball with pick 5 as the two WA clubs were desperate for Polak and Sampi at the time, and would not have taken Ball as he was still staying at school in Melbourne for all of the next year.
Had Judd been a Saint we would have almost certainly been premiers in 2005, 2009 & 2010, and possibly 2004.
This decision alone has cost us at least 3 premierships.

2) 2006 - Pick #9 David Armitage
Whilst Armitage still battles away on our list, the decision not to take Jack Riewoldt defies any logic.
His cousin is a St.Kilda legend, captain and multiple best & fairest winner.
It was good enough to draft Raphael Clarke to join brother Xavier a few years earlier, it should have been a no-brainer that Jack Riewoldt should have joined his cousin at the Saints.
Jack wanted to come to St.Kilda.
Can you imagine our forward line with him in the goalsquare for the next 10 years?

3)2007 - Pick #9 Ben McEvoy
I rate McEvoy and think he is going to be a pretty good player.
However, next player chosen in that draft was Patrick Dangerfield followed 2 picks later by Cyril Rioli.
Ask yourself now if either Adelaide or Hawthorn came to us now and wanted to trade Dangerfield or Rioli for McEvoy would we do it??
Both of those players are lightning quick and imagine either one of those in our side now.

Can you imagine where we would be as a football club had we got these 3 decisions right?

[Dr Spaceman]

Been done to death. Ain't hindsight a wonderful thing!

Realistically we've never recovered from taking Jody Arnol at pick #3 in the 1989 Draft

[satchmo]

Been done to death. Ain't hindsight a wonderful thing!

Realistically we've never recovered from taking Jody Arnol at pick #3 in the 1989 Draft

No way!

Arnol > Matera

[rogerwa]

as its turned out kossi before didak,clarke before fn bartel,beetham armitage clarke before 3 witches hats , a tackle bag & 1/2 doz training footy's

apart from reiwoldt & goddard every first rnd pick has ended up either a gop or dud

imagine if we had really farked up & taken bloody wells before goddard

[MadSaintFan]

What about the mulitple decisions made that almost brought the club 2 Premierships:

Nick Dal Santo at pick 13 approx
Leigh Montagna pick 20-30 approx
James Gwilt pick 70 approx
Sam Fisher pick 40 approx
....and theres many more which could be named.

No one mentions those much.

[SaintPav]

Recruiting is the making & breaking of a football club.

I have rated the 3 worst decisions in drafting for us in the last decade that have cost our club so much.

1) 2001 - Pick #2 Luke Ball
Aside from Luke now being at Collingwood, the fallout from the decision not to select Chris Judd with this pick is dramatic and will continue.
Judd was a Sandringham Dragon and a Caulfield Grammar boy.
The most frustrating thing with this selection was that had we rolled the dice and taken Judd with this pick, it is almost certain we still would have got Ball with pick 5 as the two WA clubs were desperate for Polak and Sampi at the time, and would not have taken Ball as he was still staying at school in Melbourne for all of the next year.
Had Judd been a Saint we would have almost certainly been premiers in 2005, 2009 & 2010, and possibly 2004.
This decision alone has cost us at least 3 premierships.

2) 2006 - Pick #9 David Armitage
Whilst Armitage still battles away on our list, the decision not to take Jack Riewoldt defies any logic.
His cousin is a St.Kilda legend, captain and multiple best & fairest winner.
It was good enough to draft Raphael Clarke to join brother Xavier a few years earlier, it should have been a no-brainer that Jack Riewoldt should have joined his cousin at the Saints.
Jack wanted to come to St.Kilda.
Can you imagine our forward line with him in the goalsquare for the next 10 years?

3)2007 - Pick #9 Ben McEvoy
I rate McEvoy and think he is going to be a pretty good player.
However, next player chosen in that draft was Patrick Dangerfield followed 2 picks later by Cyril Rioli.
Ask yourself now if either Adelaide or Hawthorn came to us now and wanted to trade Dangerfield or Rioli for McEvoy would we do it??
Both of those players are lightning quick and imagine either one of those in our side now.

Can you imagine where we would be as a football club had we got these 3 decisions right?

You're a genius....were where you in Oct 2007 when the ASX all ordinaries topped out?

[Dr Spaceman]

What about the mulitple decisions made that almost brought the club 2 Premierships:

Nick Dal Santo at pick 13 approx
Leigh Montagna pick 20-30 approx
James Gwilt pick 70 approx
Sam Fisher pick 40 approx
....and theres many more which could be named.

No one mentions those much.

But it's not as much fun to talk about those ones

[MadSaintFan]

Hindsight makes people geniuses Spaceman.

[SaintPav]

What about the mulitple decisions made that almost brought the club 2 Premierships:

Nick Dal Santo at pick 13 approx
Leigh Montagna pick 20-30 approx
James Gwilt pick 70 approx
Sam Fisher pick 40 approx
....and theres many more which could be named.

No one mentions those much.

Fisher was a fourth round draft pick #55...

[lefty]

Yes, in hindsight... but s*** doesn't always go the way you want it.

We needed a young ruckman, not a forward pocket in 2007. I'm fairly sure I saw a lot of whining here saying that GT never rated ruckman, so we get one, but now I read complaints of "but we could of got..."

Armo, I like him. Just give him some time. Its not like we are at the bottom of the ladder and in a re-building stage. We've been up the top of the ladder for a while, its quite hard to be a star when your not given faith/opportunity and your a young bloke trying to crack into the top 22. Whilst you state we could of taken jumping jack with pick 9, so could of the other clubs ahead of that.

On Ball and Judd, two different types of players. Sure, Judd is ahead, but you can't win them all. What do you want people to say exactly? Its like betting $x amount, then loosing and stating, I shouldn't have put it on "y", but on "z"

[rogerwa]

good point about jagging something out of a few later picks ....its the wasted early picks that have cost us a couple of flags

all we needed was to get one right & we'd have those flags

[dcstkfc]

What about the mulitple decisions made that almost brought the club 2 Premierships:

Nick Dal Santo at pick 13 approx
Leigh Montagna pick 20-30 approx
James Gwilt pick 70 approx
Sam Fisher pick 40 approx
....and theres many more which could be named.

No one mentions those much.

Think Montagna was 43 and Fisher 55


SamGilbert- pick 33
Stephen Milne- rookie
Clint Jones- rookie
Zac Dawson- rookie

[fingers]

Didn't cost the club history at all...we still have history.

[SydneySainter]

3)2007 - Pick #9 Ben McEvoy
I rate McEvoy and think he is going to be a pretty good player.
However, next player chosen in that draft was Patrick Dangerfield followed 2 picks later by Cyril Rioli.
Ask yourself now if either Adelaide or Hawthorn came to us now and wanted to trade Dangerfield or Rioli for McEvoy would we do it??
Both of those players are lightning quick and imagine either one of those in our side now.

Can you imagine where we would be as a football club had we got these 3 decisions right?

I think what we continue to overlook in McEvoy's case is that while Rioli and Dangerfield are superior players, St Kilda wanted to draft a quality ruckman. Kruezer was always going to be gone by pick 9 and since we traded pick 26 for Schneider and Dempster, our next pick was in the high 40's/early 50's and McEvoy would have been long gone by then.

[degruch]

Whoever picked Michael Frost is probably sighing with relief.

[MadSaintFan]

How McEvoy is someone mentioned as a poor pick I have no idea. The kid (yes, kid) is still only 21 and plenty of development left. Personally I see him as a future leader of our club. Massive tank, big heart, great skills and improving tap work - give him 2-3 years and by the time hes 25 he'll be a gun.

[Dr Spaceman]

Whoever picked Michael Frost is probably sighing with relief.

They're probably still in therapy!

[saintsRrising]

2) 2006 - Pick #9 David Armitage
Whilst Armitage still battles away on our list, the decision not to take Jack Riewoldt defies any logic.
His cousin is a St.Kilda legend, captain and multiple best & fairest winner.
It was good enough to draft Raphael Clarke to join brother Xavier a few years earlier, it should have been a no-brainer that Jack Riewoldt should have joined his cousin at the Saints.
Jack wanted to come to St.Kilda.

What utter rubbish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1/ Jack was not rated a low pick. Armo was thereabouts. Based what was known at the time it was a fair enough pick.

To say it defies logic is just ridiculous.

2/ To assert that one should recruit a player because his cousin is very good is just stupidity. Not even worth discussing.

[SaintPav]

Yes, in hindsight... but s*** doesn't always go the way you want it.

We needed a young ruckman, not a forward pocket in 2007. I'm fairly sure I saw a lot of whining here saying that GT never rated ruckman, so we get one, but now I read complaints of "but we could of got..."

Armo, I like him. Just give him some time. Its not like we are at the bottom of the ladder and in a re-building stage. We've been up the top of the ladder for a while, its quite hard to be a star when your not given faith/opportunity and your a young bloke trying to crack into the top 22. Whilst you state we could of taken jumping jack with pick 9, so could of the other clubs ahead of that.

On Ball and Judd, two different types of players. Sure, Judd is ahead, but you can't win them all. What do you want people to say exactly? Its like betting $x amount, then loosing and stating, I shouldn't have put it on "y", but on "z"

Thomo didn't rate lumbering ruckman who didn't contribute.

It only came across that he didn't rate ruckman because we didn't have a decent ruckman at the time. It was a throw away line to a media question about our ruck weakness and it is a myth.

[ralphsmith]

We got gwilt at pick seven thousand and he's turned himself into a solid unit.

Look, its such a roll of the dice the draft.

Luke ball WAS a great player until something crippled him. He used to have a springiness and bounce that was selwood esque.

Jack riewoldt has turned into a superstar and armitage is just a battling hack.

It's too hard to predict. Nick riewoldt turned into a superstar, Kosi just became a good ordinary player.

AFL level football and the pressure that comes with it separates the men fro the boys. It separates the players with the will and mental strength to excel, from those who want to dawdle and do just enough to get by.

At junior level i think these distinctions are not so noticeable and don't get exposed.

[The Fireman]

I like this thread and I also like the way the OP put it out there.
**** hindsight, it is still interesting to imagine what may have been if certain draft picks had of been made.

I wonder why some posters have appeared to have been a bit upset by this thread.???

Insecure?

[MCG-Unit]

Maybe because the only way some know is to go on the assault - slam the poster rather than debate his point - that's why some have left these boards or hardly post

It's a wonder the great defender of the club hasn't come on the thread

The OP's no1 point is 100% IMO - they could have had both
Not sure about 2-3

[degruch]

**** hindsight, it is still interesting to imagine what may have been if certain draft picks had of been made.

Oh, of course it's interesting...but to hold them against the club is drawing a long bow. **** hindsight alright.

[bigred]

Who the fcuk is Luke Ball?

[Mr Magic]

Maybe because the only way some know is to go on the assault - slam the poster rather than debate his point - that's why some have left these boards or hardly post

It's a wonder the great defender of the club hasn't come on the thread

The OP's no1 point is 100% IMO - they could have had both
Not sure about 2-3

Every time this topic comes up I post what John Beveridge had to say about it (to a room of about 50 people)

WE wanted both Ball and Judd.
WCE let it be known that they were going to take Ball at pick #3 and that they were not interested in Judd because of his 'bad shoulders'.
We were aware that they were going to take Sampi and that Freo was going to take Polak with their next picks, so we took Ball at #2 thinking we had Judd with our pick #5.

History will show that WCE took Judd at pick #3 adn 'screwed us over.

We didn't rate Ball over Judd or Judd over Ball. We wanted both adn thought we were going to get both.


Some may want to diselieve what Beveridge said publicly.
Not me. I've got no reason to not believe him.