News - Seeing it differently: Inside the Saints’ draft plans

[silverhalo]

Brett Bowey was a clever little player and if Jake's anything like him, I'd be happy to take him despite his lack of height. It does seem though that we will be targeting a tall forward, and if that's the case, I consider Jackson Callow to be a great option if he's still there in the low 20s - a big bodied forward who takes a great mark and is quite agile for his height - can play back as well.

I'd see him as the permanent full forward allowing Winx to move to Centre Half Forward where he can really showcase his great agility like the previous number 12...

[silverhalo]

Go for Max Heath if still available at our first pick. Nothing against the kid but if we take him with our first pick we have lost the plot. If he is still there at our second pick by all means take Bowey. Imagine him in the centre for a ball up and he ends up against Cripps of the Carlton variety. 194 cm vs 174 cm.

I know Max Heath's mum pretty well, and without giving too much away, there are a heap of clubs that have been talking to him but I don't believe we're one of them.

[ace]

Go for Max Heath if still available at our first pick. Nothing against the kid but if we take him with our first pick we have lost the plot. If he is still there at our second pick by all means take Bowey. Imagine him in the centre for a ball up and he ends up against Cripps of the Carlton variety. 194 cm vs 174 cm.

I know Max Heath's mum pretty well, and without giving too much away, there are a heap of clubs that have been talking to him but I don't believe we're one of them.

Buckenara mentions 66 players, Max Heath is not one of them.
Bowey is outside his top 50.

[saynta]

You guys might be interested in this article. Max gets a mention.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/ruc ... 56kof.html

" December 4, 2020 — 2.17pm

Clubs are in a quandary about what to do with ruckmen ahead of the national draft.

The draft pool carries just four ruckmen clubs rate as genuine prospects, Riley Thilthorpe, Kalin Lane, Max Heath and Henry Walsh, as well as category B rookies Geelong and Richmond have already signed, former basketballers Paul Tsapatolis and Mate Colina.

Unfortunately, according to one club recruiting manager, footballers with the endurance, athleticism and courage to play in the ruck are thin on the ground at underage level.
Fancied draft prospect Riley Thilthorpe.

Fancied draft prospect Riley Thilthorpe.Credit:Getty Images

If they are exceptional and have shown they can play forward too, clubs will use a high pick to get them, as they will with Thilthorpe next Wednesday and Melbourne did with Luke Jackson.
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If they are just very good ruck prospects, as Lane, Heath and Walsh are, clubs are unlikely to strike until the end of the second round, somewhere late in the 30s, or even find a place on their tight rookie lists.

Others such as Tsapatolis, Colina and Melbourne's Austin Bradtke are found through basketball.

Then what happens? A rethink is needed to ensure the development of such prospects accelerates because at the moment there is an issue that shrinking list sizes and reduced interchange rotations only exacerbates.

Ruckman are taking up vital spots on lists without giving clubs the return they need.

Perhaps it's time the AFL looked at creating a path within their system that replicates, to some extent, the road St Kilda's Rowan Marshall took to the AFL.

Before Marshall made it on to the Saints' list he played for Sebastopol in the Ballarat League while on North Ballarat's list, developing his body and footy smarts. His education then accelerated as soon as he was placed on the Saints' list as a rookie.

Perhaps clubs could list a ruckman and pay them a rookie wage but have them allocated to a local club just below the state league to play their footy when necessary, and swing them into the state league occasionally so they get the best of both worlds.

Why? Because at the moment many clubs have too many ruckmen on their list - which they inevitably need as insurance against injury - meaning multiple talls are sometimes squeezed into state league teams hindering their development as they are played out of position.

Clubs who don't have enough ruckmen risk burning out a young ruckman who gets buffeted and bashed while they put on weight, size and strength, affecting confidence and longevity.

Perhaps the league could develop a ruck academy where developing ruckmen across the competition train collectively under an expert ruck coach or three to develop their craft, pooling resources across the competition rather than each club needing a part-time ruck coach that no one can afford or understand.

Some might argue such ideas would disconnect ruckmen from the club but they are guns for hire who should be given every chance to go into a system that helps them be as good as they can as quickly as they can. Those who develop their ruckmen well, such as Richmond under Ivan Maric, might be disadvantaged too. That argument is not strong enough as the Tigers will still have an edge on other clubs with Maric in the camp.

That doesn't happen now as key people at clubs look at ruckmen as unwanted necessities that, in the main, take up list spots and money for little return. If that thought continues to fester and no one is around to prove the sceptics wrong rucking will be downgraded as a role.

Rucks are the game's characters, the big fellas everyone looks to for direction, but they remain endangered and a shift in thinking is required to shake the process up.

Thilthorpe, Heath, Walsh, Lane, Tsapatolis and Colina deserve the opportunity to be as good as they can be as quickly as is possible."

[SaintPelican66]

If we can somehow snag Heath with our first pick and Bowey with our second pick I will be over the moon. I would be prepared to say that 2019 and 2020 Trade and Draft periods combined are the 2 best periods we have ever had. By a mile I might add and we will look back on these 2 years that spawned a 10 year domination of the AFL with at least a couple of flags.

[Saintmatt]

Go for Max Heath if still available at our first pick. Nothing against the kid but if we take him with our first pick we have lost the plot. If he is still there at our second pick by all means take Bowey. Imagine him in the centre for a ball up and he ends up against Cripps of the Carlton variety. 194 cm vs 174 cm.

I know Max Heath's mum pretty well, and without giving too much away, there are a heap of clubs that have been talking to him but I don't believe we're one of them.

Buckenara mentions 66 players, Max Heath is not one of them.
Bowey is outside his top 50.

Poor old Bucky thought that Tim English was an A grader but Paddy Ryder and Sam Alabakis are both C graders. Bucky can get in the bin

[amusingname]

Go for Max Heath if still available at our first pick. Nothing against the kid but if we take him with our first pick we have lost the plot. If he is still there at our second pick by all means take Bowey. Imagine him in the centre for a ball up and he ends up against Cripps of the Carlton variety. 194 cm vs 174 cm.

Didn’t you claim a few weeks ago (before you ‘left’) that Jake Bowey would be definitely available for our second pick as no other club would even talk to him due to lack of interest?

[Devilhead]

Oi Jaxons ....... St Kilda choose .............

[fugazi]

Looks like a good top 30.
Great effort from Gags to maintain a FRDP with who we managed to snag in the last 2 years.

Higgins for a pick slide and future second is good trading.

[Junior]

If we draft Max Heath with our first pick then Liberatore is incompetent and should be sacked. And I dont think there is a chance in hell that he does pick him.

This draft is weak for rucks, Heath at best should be a late pick/ rookie.

[Impatient Sainter]

Twomey has suggested today we are trying to edge our way up the draft order, looking at who is anyones guess. Gut feel now is best available midfielder with our first, perhaps ruckman later.

[SaintPelican66]

Twomey has suggested today we are trying to edge our way up the draft order, looking at who is anyones guess. Gut feel now is best available midfielder with our first, perhaps ruckman later.

Did Cal say how we would do that? You would would think it would involve our future picks!! If we did do this then that would suggest we know that we have another FA in the bag next year.

[Impatient Sainter]

Twomey has suggested today we are trying to edge our way up the draft order, looking at who is anyones guess. Gut feel now is best available midfielder with our first, perhaps ruckman later.

Did Cal say how we would do that? You would would think it would involve our future picks!! If we did do this then that would suggest we know that we have another FA in the bag next year.

You are right - are we able to trade next years 1st rounder etc with a lower finishing club? We already traded the 2nd round to Richmond in the Higgins deal.

Also isnt next years draft class meant to be far superior to this years?

It's obvious Gags & Satan arent frightened to roll the dice when it comes to draft picks. So they will have it well planned no matter which way it goes.

[SaintPelican66]

Twomey has suggested today we are trying to edge our way up the draft order, looking at who is anyones guess. Gut feel now is best available midfielder with our first, perhaps ruckman later.

Did Cal say how we would do that? You would would think it would involve our future picks!! If we did do this then that would suggest we know that we have another FA in the bag next year.

You are right - are we able to trade next years 1st rounder etc with a lower finishing club? We already traded the 2nd round to Richmond in the Higgins deal.

Also isnt next years draft class meant to be far superior to this years?

It's obvious Gags & Satan arent frightened to roll the dice when it comes to draft picks. So they will have it well planned no matter which way it goes.

Yes, you can trade future picks.

They might be looking at something like this.....

This years picks 64 (101 points) and pick 67 (69 points) = 170 points + our third round pick for 2021 (assume we finish fifth), pick 50ish (273 points).
This would end up being 170 + 273 = 443 points. Pick 40 is worth 429 points so maybe we check with Adelaide if they would do that swap. If they did then that would give them a profit of 14 points and enable us to get back into the late second round. Doubt they would do it by the way but you never know. They might view it as a chance to even up the Crouch situation.

[saynta]

This is just f****** wrong.

"Gold Coast - 'steal of the draft'
Emily Benammar

Gold Coast may have landed the steal of the draft hours before the event.
The Suns have signed junior stars Alex Davies, Joel Jeffrey, Rhys Nicholls and Aiden Fyfe as pre-draft selections under concessions handed out by the AFL.
Davies, a clearance specialist from Cairns, and Jeffrey, an athletic utility from the Northern Territory, were considered potential top-20 talents in an open draft.
The four are all members of the Gold Coast academy.
Davies and Jeffrey have been added to the club’s primary list, while Nicholls and Fyfe have been added to the rookie list.
Gold Coast has pick 5 tonight and it is likely to be the Suns' only live pick. "

[cwrcyn]

More gifts for the Suns. How long is this going to go on for?
Getting very tired of compromised drafts. Throw in the ridiculous Academy picks, and the situation has become farcical. We have a joke of a situation this year where the Bulldogs get gifted the best young player in the land when that player should be going to Adelaide.

[magnifisaint]

It doesn't matter. We're in the same boat as the other 17 clubs. How about winning another premiership!

[ace]

More gifts for the Suns. How long is this going to go on for?
Getting very tired of compromised drafts. Throw in the ridiculous Academy picks, and the situation has become farcical. We have a joke of a situation this year where the Bulldogs get gifted the best young player in the land when that player should be going to Adelaide.

Next generation academies are a total farce.
Stupid AFL introduced them because they allowed Sydney and Queensland based clubs to have academies and priority picks.
Instead of securing the integrity of the draft by abolishing them, they doubled down to protect these existing academies by offering all clubs academies.
Now they have suddenly realised that they have donated the best recruit in the land to the Bulldogs, they have decided to make future changes instead of abolishing the stupidity.
This is level of incompetency only seen at BHP who have succeeded in maintaining the level of earnings per share after 10 years of the biggest mining boom in history
Both criminally incompetent.

Then in attempt to donate a premiership to Gold Coast they violate the draft massively.
They breech the salary cap by the AFL paying players to remain at Gold Coast through "ambassadorships'
Call it by its real names subsidy plus breach of salary cap - penalty for AFL should be exclusion from first and second round for three years, multiple times.

Then they give then a couple of priority picks to Gold Coast despite clubs finishing beneath Gold Coast.

And just now they have breeched the draft rules again by allowing Gold Coast to preselect two would have been first round draft picks without Gold Coast even having to bid for them or give up any picks.
The AFL are cheats. Gold Coast are their vehicle.

[ace]

The two pre draft picks to the Gold Coast for zero draft points means Gold Coast won't need to bid for them by queue jumping.
It means that instead of around pick 28, St Kilda's first pick will move in to around pick 26.
But St Kida will still only get the 28th best player.
Quite possibly the beginning of the bottom half of the draft.

[ace]

Wrong

[SaintPelican66]

It doesn't matter. We're in the same boat as the other 17 clubs. How about winning another premiership!

It does matter because when we play in the finals and potentially the GF in the next few years the chances are that we will playing Gold Coast.
You can take this to the bank, you can bookmark it or whatever else you want.

We already had the 2009 flag stolen from us from a team that were gifted Father Son picks. 2010 as well to a lesser extent with Cloke and Shaw. That has been fixed up now but what's done is done regarding 2009/10. Imagine if in 2024 we lose the flag to the Suns and all and sundry say they won because all of the gifts they got. The AFL will probably fix that too but again it will be too late for us.

This bulls*** has to stop and stop now. The only concessions and or discounts that should be allowed is Father Sons. Nothing else.

[saynta]

It doesn't matter. We're in the same boat as the other 17 clubs. How about winning another premiership!

It does matter because when we play in the finals and potentially the GF in the next few years the chances are that we will playing Gold Coast.
You can take this to the bank, you can bookmark it or whatever else you want.

We already had the 2009 flag stolen from us from a team that were gifted Father Son picks. 2010 as well to a lesser extent with Cloke and Shaw. That has been fixed up now but what's done is done regarding 2009/10. Imagine if in 2024 we lose the flag to the Suns and all and sundry say they won because all of the gifts they got. The AFL will probably fix that too but again it will be too late for us.

This bulls*** has to stop and stop now. The only concessions and or discounts that should be allowed is Father Sons. Nothing else.

No, we lost in 2009 and 2010 because we had a f***wit coach and also it is highly suspected that Girlong was on the gear and the filth on steroids.

[SaintPelican66]

It doesn't matter. We're in the same boat as the other 17 clubs. How about winning another premiership!

It does matter because when we play in the finals and potentially the GF in the next few years the chances are that we will playing Gold Coast.
You can take this to the bank, you can bookmark it or whatever else you want.

We already had the 2009 flag stolen from us from a team that were gifted Father Son picks. 2010 as well to a lesser extent with Cloke and Shaw. That has been fixed up now but what's done is done regarding 2009/10. Imagine if in 2024 we lose the flag to the Suns and all and sundry say they won because all of the gifts they got. The AFL will probably fix that too but again it will be too late for us.

This bulls*** has to stop and stop now. The only concessions and or discounts that should be allowed is Father Sons. Nothing else.

No, we lost in 2009 and 2010 because we had a f***wit coach and also it is highly suspected that Girlong was on the gear and the filth on steroids.

I cannot believe you really think this.

[ace]

It looks very much that the time left clock is an absolute FRAUD.
The clubs picks are being delayed until the discussion and interviews by FoxFooty ch 504 are complete and ready for the next pick to be declared.

[ace]

St Kilda's pick will be around 9:20PM.
Wake me up at 9:15.
The draft picks are being delayed to suit TV.