Why the saints passed on Petracca. Inside story

[saynta]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 6a2ebf2c97


More on the same subject.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 7fe1a6ec2f

[The Fireman]

so what was the reason ?

[Secret Kiel]

The Petracca/Billings cup this round.

Both clubs are desperate for these two to overcome their biggest weakness, downhill syndrome.

Both clubs need these two to make a contribution that influences a win.

Both clubs are nervous.

[Ghost Like]

so what was the reason ?

A subjective assessment made by a pseudo psyche. What is damming were the assessments and ratings by other clubs in terms of football abilities, followed by beliefs of senior players after seeing Paddy "apply" himself.

[st.byron]

What a massive stuff up. Petracca in our mid field....... sigh

[BonoRocks]

if we had pertracca probably we dont have king..
just add some free agent and move on..

where has this article been the last 6 years

[johnearljames]

All history.

Go through every draft and we could have picked many better players in hindsight. Same for every club.

[desertsaint]

given he was number one and hence paid more than all bar nineteen others, and given the medical expenses incurred, mr mccartin was probably the worst pick in the draft.

[sunsaint]

All history.

Go through every draft and we could have picked many better players in hindsight. Same for every club.

of course it is history - that is mostly what we talk about here as none of us are making the decisions
And it just smacks of success is either a birthright or just plain luck ( although AFL conspiracy theory is gaining popularity)

The better clubs make more right decisions than wrong
The better clubs find it easier to maintain success rather than the bottom out method

[skeptic]

What’s interesting is the body of information that was out there at the time

Personally, I paid little attention to McCartin in the lead up to that draft as it seemed to be an absolutely monty that Petracca would go first
Seems as though there was a lot of... iffiness about Paddy at the time. Hadn’t necessarily played enough, ppl weren’t convinced of his form, questions about his size etc unsure about the impact of diabetes.

I remember a lot of ppl here were unimpressed with the footage after we picked him.

[Secret Kiel]

Jack Billings and Zac Jones is an interesting comparison in terms of drafting hits and misses.

At pick 15 Zac is ahead of Billings AND Petracca in terms of always playing at a high intensity and giving a full 4 quarters everytime he plays.

[SuperDuper]

So we passed based on junk science. And we probably paid decent coin to the psych. Brought snake oil and we are suffering the consequences.

We would be in with a big shot at the flag even this year if we added Petracca to this team. Absolutely in it up to our eyeballs.

[perfectionist]

I think the story is all BS.

The discussion in the media, and here, at the time was around the simple choice between a tall forward or a midfielder. Nick was nearing the end of his career so some thought that Paddy could come in and learn from the master and then takeover. A fair argument.

On the other hand, a strong midfielder never goes astray. Some thought, however ,that since we had "you know who", an almost certain triple Brownlow medalist and someone who would lead us to nirvana, then another midfield was not needed. No surprises that I wanted Christian Petracca then.

I knew nothing about either and had never seen either of them play. There were two problems that I saw with Paddy. First, his diabetes. Whilst there are a few athletes who have managed to perform with the illness, it is only a very few. Perhaps it was the reason that he was never anywhere near fit. Plugger got away with that for years but Paddy was no Plugger. Second was his height. As we saw, he simply wasn't tall enough (194cm) to take a standing mark and didn't have the leap that enabled Nick (193cm) to do it. Just four years later, unless the forward is 200+cm tall, then he will need to rely on leads or a big leap. Most of Paddy's marks were from leads. But that could leave him a long way out and on an angle. That explains why his proportion of goals to behinds was so poor (49%).

[johnearljames]

All history.

Go through every draft and we could have picked many better players in hindsight. Same for every club.

of course it is history - that is mostly what we talk about here as none of us are making the decisions
And it just smacks of success is either a birthright or just plain luck ( although AFL conspiracy theory is gaining popularity)

The better clubs make more right decisions than wrong
The better clubs find it easier to maintain success rather than the bottom out method

We got the Coffield, Clark and Paton draft right.
Plus the trade period last year.

[SaintPav]

Didn't he come across as a dick in the interview?

[Trixilver]

It's painful to see my uninformed opinion on this draft from 2014 come true. I mean I was a naive 23 year old from Adelaide who knew it was the wrong choice.

But let's not forget that McCartin was an excellent player and could have been something.

[Mr Magic]

Melbourne were never interested in McCartin as they had already grabbed Jesse Hogan as their next generation Key Forward
They were only interested in Petracca and Brayshaw

[fugazi]

All history.

Go through every draft and we could have picked many better players in hindsight. Same for every club.

of course it is history - that is mostly what we talk about here as none of us are making the decisions
And it just smacks of success is either a birthright or just plain luck ( although AFL conspiracy theory is gaining popularity)

The better clubs make more right decisions than wrong
The better clubs find it easier to maintain success rather than the bottom out method

We got the Coffield, Clark and Paton draft right.
Plus the trade period last year.

Great Call..deserves it's own thread.
2017 draft looks to be a bonanza.
3 x 200 game players by the looks of it.

[skeptic]

All history.

Go through every draft and we could have picked many better players in hindsight. Same for every club.

of course it is history - that is mostly what we talk about here as none of us are making the decisions
And it just smacks of success is either a birthright or just plain luck ( although AFL conspiracy theory is gaining popularity)

The better clubs make more right decisions than wrong
The better clubs find it easier to maintain success rather than the bottom out method

We got the Coffield, Clark and Paton draft right.
Plus the trade period last year.

Great Call..deserves it's own thread.
2017 draft looks to be a bonanza.
3 x 200 game players by the looks of it.

Certainly does deserve its own thread...
maybe one specific about that draft rather than one about the Petracca and McCartin one

[Yorkeys]

Imagine if guys that did not come across as any of self important, cocky, smartass, arrogant and self absorbed were the only players recruited. We would have a humble, insecure and troubled lot taking the field. Your mark, no your mark, no I insist, your mark, well if you insist...But it would solve those off the ball punches incidents.

I think this media story is rubbish reporting. Mr Elshaugh decided we needed a Reiwoldt v2.0 and Richo did not have the strength of character or knowledge to over ride, just went with the flow. Mr Elshaugh, I assume, is no sports health expert. Paddy is very unfortunate but it seems now he has his health back. All water under the bridge for fans. Ironic isn't it, to pay a psych to assess Christian but not a sports medicine expert to assess Paddy? I wonder what due diligence was done, ring around the rent a docs? If it was done carefully then take the expert that gave the thumbs up off the preferred provider list, I'd suggest.

[Trev from the Bush]

Jack Billings and Zac Jones is an interesting comparison in terms of drafting hits and misses.

At pick 15 Zac is ahead of Billings AND Petracca in terms of always playing at a high intensity and giving a full 4 quarters everytime he plays.

Without intending to offend, I say crap.

[Secret Kiel]

Jack Billings and Zac Jones is an interesting comparison in terms of drafting hits and misses.

At pick 15 Zac is ahead of Billings AND Petracca in terms of always playing at a high intensity and giving a full 4 quarters everytime he plays.

Without intending to offend, I say crap.

As Pauline would say, please explain.

[ace]

I think the story is all BS.

The discussion in the media, and here, at the time was around the simple choice between a tall forward or a midfielder. Nick was nearing the end of his career so some thought that Paddy could come in and learn from the master and then takeover. A fair argument.

On the other hand, a strong midfielder never goes astray. Some thought, however ,that since we had "you know who", an almost certain triple Brownlow medalist and someone who would lead us to nirvana, then another midfield was not needed. No surprises that I wanted Christian Petracca then.

I knew nothing about either and had never seen either of them play. There were two problems that I saw with Paddy. First, his diabetes. Whilst there are a few athletes who have managed to perform with the illness, it is only a very few. Perhaps it was the reason that he was never anywhere near fit. Plugger got away with that for years but Paddy was no Plugger. Second was his height. As we saw, he simply wasn't tall enough (194cm) to take a standing mark and didn't have the leap that enabled Nick (193cm) to do it. Just four years later, unless the forward is 200+cm tall, then he will need to rely on leads or a big leap. Most of Paddy's marks were from leads. But that could leave him a long way out and on an angle. That explains why his proportion of goals to behinds was so poor (49%).

You forgot to mention how his leads were slow allowing the full back to regain ground and contest the mark.
Then when the ball hit the ground the full back became a loose running player because McCartin was unable to chase.

How disgusting was the behaviour of the psychopaths Tony Elshaug, Ameet Bains and Alan Richardson in rejecting the best available player for a speculative pick.
Petracca just put St Kilda's finals chances in jeopardy and who do you see in the Melbourne coaches box the useless Alan Richardson who rejected him.

[ace]

I love St Kilda, I saw them win the 1966 grand final and been waiting ever since.
But if another bunch of psychopaths allow Paddy McCartin back onto the St Kilda list my membership will be cancelled.
I have access the the MCG and Docklands via other means.
My membership is simply a donation.
I will NOT help finance any more stupidity.

[ace]

Inside story: Why the Saints didn’t draft Christian Petracca with the No. 1 pick in 2014
Christian Petracca finished the 2014 season in pole position on St Kilda’s draft board. But the Saints changed their opinion for reasons unrelated to football. Sam Landsberger explains what really happened.


If the 2014 draft was held straight after the season St Kilda would’ve used its No. 1 pick on Christian Petracca.

The explosive match-winner topped the Saints’ talent board for most of the season, with their rankings taking shape from July.

In the trade period they knocked back Greater Western Sydney’s offer of picks four and seven for No. 1, with Petracca in pole position.

And if coach Brett Ratten could cherry-pick a rival star to help transform his team from likely finalist to premiership threat, there wouldn’t be many players in front of Petracca, who they will confront in Alice Springs on Saturday night.

Petracca is the dynamic bull who puts bums on seats, and both his career trajectory and playing style are starting to fit Dustin Martin’s mould.

So with the goalposts removed and cricket pitches uncovered, why did the Saints swing towards Paddy McCartin?

The consensus has long been that the Saints were spooked by the inflated price of key forwards.

In the space of 12 months Sydney signed Lance Franklin on a nine-year deal worth $10 million and Western Bulldogs poached reigning No. 1 pick Tom Boyd on a seven-year deal worth close to $7 million.
“If we go for the best player and we think Petracca is in front, we’re going to have to pay a million plus to get the forward we need,” former coach Alan Richardson said before the draft.

“The market is saying that. So let‘s get one in now and get him to fall in love with our footy club.”

Chief executive Matt Finnis played devil’s advocate, arguing that if Petracca immediately improved the Saints then perhaps they could buy a full-forward for cheaper as a destination club.

But there was another off-field factor contributing to the bold draft call.

In 2014 the Saints hired former AFL Players’ Association well being services manager Matti Clements.

The AFL had recently banned clubs from issuing written psychology tests, however this was loosely policed and many continued to do so.

But it was not a breach of the rule to conduct verbal tests, which Clements did for the Saints.

McCartin passed in flying colours. Petracca didn’t.

“ (McCartin’s) personality and the way his teammates talk about him reminds me a lot of Luke Hodge,” Richardson said.

“He‘s probably not as blunt as Luke, but he comes across to me as someone who’s honest in what he says and does.”