2019 trade for Hill haunts St Kilda

[Sanctorum]

St Kilda has a well documented penchant for making incredibly poor/uinlucky decisions at the draft tables and player trades in the past 16 years, highlighted by David Armitage/Jack Riewoldt, Billings/Bontempelli, and McCartin/Petracca, the mind boggles how vastly different the club's history would be if just those 3 last mentioned champions of the game had been wearing the Saints tri-colours since 2007!

To this list we can now add the 2019 trade by the club with Fremantle to secure the services of Bradley Hill.

It is difficult to work out exactly why this former Hawthorn multi-premiership star has failed to match his previous illustrious career in the past 2 and a half seasons at St Kilda. Clearly the football department decided after 2108 that with the failed gamble to buy Dan Hannebery from the Swans to lead the Saints, due to chronic injury issues, that they had to go for another experienced champion to complete the list and targeted Hill as it had been reported his wife was keen to move back to Melbourne from Perth. Needless to say Fremantle drove a really hard bargain, they held all the aces, and eventually agreed to let him go in exchange, inter alia, for St Kilda's first round draft pick in the 2019 NAB AFL draft.

That roll of the dice was obviously a huge call because the 2019 draft was long considered to feature some really classy midfielders and "running" players, starting with St Kilda's original pick 7:

7 - Hayden Young (Fremantle)
8 - Caleb Serong (Fremantle)
10 - Tom Green (GWS)
12 - Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne)
13 - Will Day (Hawthorn)
15 - Codey Weightman (Footscray)
39 - Chad Warner (Swans)

Green was not an option as he was at the GWS Academy, but the other six were all up for grabs and have become very good players for their respective clubs.

Of course it is entirely possible that the recruiters would have ignored them all, that's happened a lot over the years, but all the same no matter how we look at this the "Hill experiment" has failed dismally because up to this point he has not made the impact that he was expected to have on transforming this team into a successful unit.

Is history about to repeat itself at the end of this season? Let's hope they consider very carefully that the team does not need a fading superstar from another club, least of all in exchange for a first round draft pick!

To those who feel I'm inconsistent in this view by recently advocating the recruitment of Eagles skipper Luke Shuey - this is an entirely different scenario: Shuey is not a superstar, he is a very strong and "lead by example" experienced midfielder and is not going to cost an arm and a leg to secure, and would immediately fix a chronic lack of on-field leadership on the current list.

[longtimesaint]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
What the recruiters really need is a crystal ball but they are very hard to come by!

[nostalgicsaint]

St Kilda has a well documented penchant for making incredibly poor/uinlucky decisions at the draft tables and player trades in the past 16 years, highlighted by David Armitage/Jack Riewoldt, Billings/Bontempelli, and McCartin/Petracca, the mind boggles how vastly different the club's history would be if just those 3 last mentioned champions of the game had been wearing the Saints tri-colours since 2007!

To this list we can now add the 2019 trade by the club with Fremantle to secure the services of Bradley Hill.

It is difficult to work out exactly why this former Hawthorn multi-premiership star has failed to match his previous illustrious career in the past 2 and a half seasons at St Kilda. Clearly the football department decided after 2108 that with the failed gamble to buy Dan Hannebery from the Swans to lead the Saints, due to chronic injury issues, that they had to go for another experienced champion to complete the list and targeted Hill as it had been reported his wife was keen to move back to Melbourne from Perth. Needless to say Fremantle drove a really hard bargain, they held all the aces, and eventually agreed to let him go in exchange, inter alia, for St Kilda's first round draft pick in the 2019 NAB AFL draft.

That roll of the dice was obviously a huge call because the 2019 draft was long considered to feature some really classy midfielders and "running" players, starting with St Kilda's original pick 7:

7 - Hayden Young (Fremantle)
8 - Caleb Serong (Fremantle)
10 - Tom Green (GWS)
12 - Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne)
13 - Will Day (Hawthorn)
15 - Codey Weightman (Footscray)
39 - Chad Warner (Swans)

Green was not an option as he was at the GWS Academy, but the other six were all up for grabs and have become very good players for their respective clubs.

Of course it is entirely possible that the recruiters would have ignored them all, that's happened a lot over the years, but all the same no matter how we look at this the "Hill experiment" has failed dismally because up to this point he has not made the impact that he was expected to have on transforming this team into a successful unit.

Is history about to repeat itself at the end of this season? Let's hope they consider very carefully that the team does not need a fading superstar from another club, least of all in exchange for a first round draft pick!

To those who feel I'm inconsistent in this view by recently advocating the recruitment of Eagles skipper Luke Shuey - this is an entirely different scenario: Shuey is not a superstar, he is a very strong and "lead by example" experienced midfielder and is not going to cost an arm and a leg to secure, and would immediately fix a chronic lack of on-field leadership on the current list.

Every single team in the top 8 has traded for players. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

Hill is not our issue, lack of depth in our midfield is our biggest issue.

No point reverting to the draft unless you're wanting to wait another 5+ years to compete. I'd be aggressively targeting quality between the ages of 22 and 28.

[Ghost Like]

The only aspect of the Hill trade that haunts me is that prior to tearing his hamstring Acres was closer to a AA squad than Hill has been during that period.

As you pointed out, no guarantees about who we would have drafted. The bright side is that in our rich history of trades, the Hill one doesn't even make the podium.

[bangaulegend]

As I've said many times Hill is handy player in a good team & we payed way overs for him . He has been ok but nothing special & not worth the money he is on IMO

[whiskers3614]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
What the recruiters really need is a crystal ball but they are very hard to come by!

Didn't need a crystal ball to see that STATISTICALLY Hill was almost identical to NEWNES who was more or less shown the door!
On another note despjte playing in better sides , to the end of 2019 he had 17 Brownlow votes to Jack Billings 28!!!
As for his heart size......

[cwrcyn]

Our list was on a mess at the time. We got Howard, too, and even the naysayers would now admit that we desperately need him in our team.

Hill is still a good player

[Waltzing St Kilda]

HIll a decent player but monstrously overpriced. We would have been better retaining cheap-as-chips Hind and Acres.

Plus Hill's over-the-top salary means the club has been desperate to get some perceived "value for money" to save them from humiliation.

As a result "Get the pill to Hill" seems to be one of the only definable facets of our game plan.

[Yorkeys]

At the same time I wouldn't be surprised if Brad sometimes has the haunts about joining the Saints. Certainly the way he has been abused by some supporters is disgraceful. But there you go.

Not sure how many have seen him in action up close, if not - fyi, he is a sublime handler of the ball and his kicking is so skillful and penetrating. Its not his fault he is not perfect and some of our chaps think blocking is a tv show.

If our forwards are too thick to lead as soon as he is near the ball they are wasting golden opportunities, probably for the rest of their carreers no one else is going to kick to them like Brad. If they did instinctively lead he might not ever get caught with the ball .

[WellardSaint]

HIll a decent player but monstrously overpriced. We would have been better retaining cheap-as-chips Hind and Acres.

Plus Hill's over-the-top salary means the club has been desperate to get some perceived "value for money" to save them from humiliation.

As a result "Get the pill to Hill" seems to be one of the only definable facets of our game plan.

I suggest one reason for fractured and unhappy team morale is the idea that the overpaid golden child seems to be beyond reproach.
He's enjoyed a bit of favour, hey.
His milestone game comes to mind.

[B.M]

Paid massive overs

[Impatient Sainter]

Totally agree, Freo & Bell absolutely fleeced us. It's even more damning that Acres has had a breakout year, but interestingly at this stage Freo are only offering him a 1 year contract extension. Apparently there are eastern state clubs interested...

[desertsaint]

quality player. one of very few. yes, cost too much, but was a bargain in comparison to hannas. far better player than any of our high draft picks so a long bow to draw that we would've drafted better.

[The Fireman]

quality player. one of very few. yes, cost too much, but was a bargain in comparison to hannas. far better player than any of our high draft picks so a long bow to draw that we would've drafted better.

Spot on

[lewdogs]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
What the recruiters really need is a crystal ball but they are very hard to come by!

Didn't need a crystal ball to see that STATISTICALLY Hill was almost identical to NEWNES who was more or less shown the door!
On another note despjte playing in better sides , to the end of 2019 he had 17 Brownlow votes to Jack Billings 28!!!
As for his heart size......

All that serves to tell me is how useless statistics are.

[CURLY]

Hill plays well we win more often than not.
Hill gets the ball more often than not we are in up scoring or in a position to do so.

Hill isn’t our problem.

[bangaulegend]

quality player. one of very few. yes, cost too much, but was a bargain in comparison to hannas. far better player than any of our high draft picks so a long bow to draw that we would've drafted better.

Spot on

I agree he was a quality player when we recruited him for sure but payed way too much & has been handy but at least he has played a lot of footy, Hanna's on the other hand hasn't but IMO both are picks that smell of desperation that havent solved any of our on field issues & amount of money we are paying these two guys is IMO ludicrous

[B.M]

He is not worth (on StK form)

900k

Not even close!

[B.M]

Played out of position to

[bangaulegend]

He is not worth (on StK form)

900k

Not even close!

Current form BM not even 500 K IMO

[leighsaintsince66]

He is a highly skilled player.
Although not as good as Shaun Burgoyne, he offers a level of silk that is missing in other players on our list.
On the negative side, his body language is annoying at times.

[Sainternist]

Why didn’t persist playing him on the HFF? He played there against Hawthorn and that was probably his best game in a St.Kilda guernsey.

Yeah, he hasn’t exactly shown that he’s worth his salt. But hey, he has turned out to be a better acquisition than Hannebery lol

[whiskers3614]

Why didn’t persist playing him on the HFF? He played there against Hawthorn and that was probably his best game in a St.Kilda guernsey.

Yeah, he hasn’t exactly shown that he’s worth his salt. But hey, he has turned out to be a better acquisition than Hannebery lol

Sure, better than Lovett too!
Arguably better than Bill Barrott and Freeman also!

[CURLY]

With Hill playing I believe Sinclair is often left alone. What price do you put on that?

[wally]

Unfortunately for him and us ….. he’s not our savior. As with most of our players , put them in a genuine top 4 team and he would be the cream.
We did give up too much and pay him too much but that’s done, move on just try not to do it again.
As for pick 7 well Sarong at Freo goes ok as does Warner at Sydney doesn’t mean they would in our team.