Matt Parker

[saintkev]

Any chance we could redraft Parker mid-year? Here’s part of an article on South Frematle’s win over West Perth in today’s Sunday Times:

“Parker looked a class above in his return to South Fremantle after 19 games in two seasons at St Kilda, with his elite work rate and pinpoint disposal on display.
He left the WAFL as a forward, but looked right at home in the midfield, giving the Bulldogs forwards some silver service, in the final term especially, finishing with a game-high 11 inside 50s to go with 26 possessions.”

[Fugazi1966]

I would've preferred to retain him.

[evertonfc]

Wasn't good enough. Expect he'll dominate the WAFL this year, because it's nowhere near AFL level and he's been trained in an elite system for two years.

Don't forget, Paul Hunter dominated the SANFL last year and was obliterated so badly in his first two AFL games that you've got to question the judgement of the club's recruiters (who have a habit of making these terrible errors).

[B.M]

No enough meat and potatoes in his game

[mad saint guy]

He certainly has more upside than Dean Kent. He might not have made it in the end if we stuck with him, but he had attributes that made him stand out.

[B.M]

What were they, tatts??

I thought he was average at best. Good first game, petered out after that.

Took one nice mark, but didn’t really find the footy.

[WellardSaint]

Wasn't good enough. Expect he'll dominate the WAFL this year, because it's nowhere near AFL level and he's been trained in an elite system for two years.

Don't forget, Paul Hunter dominated the SANFL last year and was obliterated so badly in his first two AFL games that you've got to question the judgement of the club's recruiters (who have a habit of making these terrible errors).

Clint Jones won the B n F (twice) at Perth Football Club, in the WAFL.
2019 was the second one, and he retired end of that yr.
Medal is named 'The Butcher Medal' (I am serious)

So don't look at WAFL form as anything important, hey

[B.M]

Clint was 36 in 2019

[magnifisaint]

Unfortunately Clint was a shocking kick on his preferred left and had no right side of his body but was super fit and tried his guts out.

[B.M]

Great tagger at AFL level

Incredible ball winner at state league level!!!

The year he played for Sandy he averaged nearly 40 per game!!!

[bangaulegend]

IMO offers more than Lonie but thats IMO only

[evertonfc]

Wasn't good enough. Expect he'll dominate the WAFL this year, because it's nowhere near AFL level and he's been trained in an elite system for two years.

Don't forget, Paul Hunter dominated the SANFL last year and was obliterated so badly in his first two AFL games that you've got to question the judgement of the club's recruiters (who have a habit of making these terrible errors).

Clint Jones won the B n F (twice) at Perth Football Club, in the WAFL.
2019 was the second one, and he retired end of that yr.
Medal is named 'The Butcher Medal' (I am serious)

So don't look at WAFL form as anything important, hey

I am quite a fan of state league recruits, especially ruckmen, inside mids and KPPs.

But they need to have obviously transferable qualities that will work in the AFL. That's why I was so keen on Sam Collins, who developed in a "total" defender at VFL and I was very keen to jump on him.

Or you develop a single quality that is absolutely elite by any measure (inside work - Matt Priddis/Sam Mitchell, gut running - Clint Jones, marking - Ben Brown) that will give you a point of difference in the big league.

As it turns out, Wilkie's incredible ability to read the play is what elevates him to AFL standard.

Unfortunately, Parker's "unpredictable brilliance" was more just straight out inconsistency at the highest level of the game. He will absolutely destroy the WAFL this year though.

My personal pick was always Jacob Koschitzke, who I think was a smarter pick than Parker (largely based on him being an U/18 All Australian) and will play more AFL games. I'd have been happy with Parker as a rookie selection.

[repta]

Ahh Clint Jones. One of the best run with players the Saints for the Saints.
A unique ability to kick the ball out on the full from any position on the field.

Great comparison between Parker and Jones. Both struggled with the speed of AFL. Good players that ultimate lack something in their games to take the next step. Either Clint or the Coaches recognised the deficiency and moulded position (tagging) for him. He did very well at being a stopper, run with player.

Parker doesnt have the tank for being a tagger. Unfortunately cursed with the X Factor issue. Players with X Factor are expected to consistently bring X Factor. No player can consistently bring it.
Parker just didnt do the basics well enough or find the ball enough.

[shanegrambeau]

Ahh Clint Jones. One of the best run with players the Saints for the Saints.
A unique ability to kick the ball out on the full from any position on the field.

Great comparison between Parker and Jones. Both struggled with the speed of AFL. Good players that ultimate lack something in their games to take the next step. Either Clint or the Coaches recognised the deficiency and moulded position (tagging) for him. He did very well at being a stopper, run with player.

Parker doesnt have the tank for being a tagger. Unfortunately cursed with the X Factor issue. Players with X Factor are expected to consistently bring X Factor. No player can consistently bring it.
Parker just didnt do the basics well enough or find the ball enough.

I hoped Parker could become our version of Mitch Robinson. Not to be.

[B.M]

Again, was it the tatts that made him a tough guy?

Because I didn’t see it

He was a flashy half forward with a few tricks, but didn’t have a great deal of substance

[evertonfc]

My personal pick was always Jacob Koschitzke, who I think was a smarter pick than Parker (largely based on him being an U/18 All Australian) and will play more AFL games. I'd have been happy with Parker as a rookie selection.

Little bit surprised we overlooked Koschitzke when Parker almost certainly would have been available later. It's another cross against a recruiting staff that has persistently tried to "outsmart" the development system.

I don't know if it was because of the Nicholas Winmar debacle - getting sucked in by a famous name - but I thought Koschitzke was a lay-down top 50 pick, with seriously good junior credentials.

It's yet another in the trend of unnecessarily speculative picks in the 25-50 range. Our history of it - think of names like Brad Howard, Oscar Clavarino, Parker and Winmar - doesn't seem to generate results. We've gone for another 'reach' with Matthew Allison (not a judgement on the young man, hopefully he proves the critics wrong who had him as going later in the draft). IMO, it's a low percentage gamble.

My gut feel is that we tend to do much better when we stick to getting highly rated players who slip through: Josh Battle, Jack Bytel and Ben Paton all spring to mind as well-rated players (who we were able to take in this range) who were generally tipped to go higher based on strong junior careers.

Our "speculative pics" seem to fare better when we do it via the Rookie Draft (Marshall, Geary, Sinclair, Wilkie, etc) and that's probably where we should focus our efforts going forward, rather than trying to game the system. That's where we should have gone for Parker (or at least bumping him back to the Robbie Young pick, and taking Young in the Rookie Draft).

[mad saint guy]

My personal pick was always Jacob Koschitzke, who I think was a smarter pick than Parker (largely based on him being an U/18 All Australian) and will play more AFL games. I'd have been happy with Parker as a rookie selection.

Little bit surprised we overlooked Koschitzke when Parker almost certainly would have been available later. It's another cross against a recruiting staff that has persistently tried to "outsmart" the development system.

I don't know if it was because of the Nicholas Winmar debacle - getting sucked in by a famous name - but I thought Koschitzke was a lay-down top 50 pick, with seriously good junior credentials.

It's yet another in the trend of unnecessarily speculative picks in the 25-50 range. Our history of it - think of names like Brad Howard, Oscar Clavarino, Parker and Winmar - doesn't seem to generate results. We've gone for another 'reach' with Matthew Allison (not a judgement on the young man, hopefully he proves the critics wrong who had him as going later in the draft). IMO, it's a low percentage gamble.

My gut feel is that we tend to do much better when we stick to getting highly rated players who slip through: Josh Battle, Jack Bytel and Ben Paton all spring to mind as well-rated players (who we were able to take in this range) who were generally tipped to go higher based on strong junior careers.

Our "speculative pics" seem to fare better when we do it via the Rookie Draft (Marshall, Geary, Sinclair, Wilkie, etc) and that's probably where we should focus our efforts going forward, rather than trying to game the system. That's where we should have gone for Parker (or at least bumping him back to the Robbie Young pick, and taking Young in the Rookie Draft).

Agree mostly with what you've said, but just wanted to say that Clav doesn't belong in that list - he was actually a fairly highly rated junior who went in the predicted draft range. Also I have never been able to understand how Young ever came into consideration for an AFL club. He was a 10 disposal, 1 goal per game mature age small forward in the SANFL. Absolutely absurd pick.

Parker and Hind actually had some upside and I would have kept both ahead of plenty still on our list. I'm concerned about Allison as well. 6 disposals in the VFL this week is a worry