Relax. We Did Good.

[damienc]

Draft time always brings out the SS crazies. 2024 was no exception.

Predictably, the club gets pilloried for its selections by all the keyboard warrior, expert assessors of football talent who’ve never attended a game of Under 19 footy in their life.

So, let’s try to be sane and sensible for a brief moment.

The first six draft selections went as predicted. All the talk about pick swaps including the possibility of the Saints splitting pick 8 was just talk.

It was never going to happen. Our only chance of getting one of those premium midfielders rested on the forlorn hope of someone slipping through. It didn’t happen. It was never going to happen.

We were left with the next best available and we took them. The two Ts. No doubt Travaglia and Tauru were the next best available. No doubt whatsoever. The two clubs who had picks after St Kilda would’ve selected both in a heartbeat had we not taken them.

What’s interesting for me about our 2024 draft haul is the template that it followed for all of the selections.

Versatility, uber competitiveness, running capacity, physicality, offensive and defensive pressure and X factor. There is a bit of mongrel about all of our selections.

In truth we should all be a bit excited about the young guys coming into our footy club. In all of their descriptions there is a lot of upside. In the case of Travaglia and Tauru they could be anything. The two Ts.

They can play back. They can play forward and take big grabs and kick goals. They can play in the midfield and make an impact. They are physical, competitive, bring pressure and hate to lose.

A lot of clubs had these guys targeted and we were the ones to grab them.

I like what we’ve done and why we did it. So should you

[silverhalo]

Agree 100%, I think our recruiters have done a fantastic job!

[The_Dud]

Like all things, I guess time will tell.

We've seen top 10 picks be nothing and rookies become stars.

Hopefully we get a bit of luck.

[cwrcyn]

On balance, we selected well. Finally we've recruited a highly rated ruckman. We got a spring-heeled CHB. When was the last time we drafted one of those? We also got a strong swingman who can play key defender or key forward, who's agile, quick and aggressive. There's your Josh Battle replacement

Don't underestimate the potential in Boxshall and Said, either. Boxshall is a competitive beast who is fearless. Said has the qualities to become a creative midfielder, not just a small forward. Has a nice side step and is a beautiful kick.

The bottom line is you can't get everything you want. Those late pick swaps were done because we identified targets and got them. Good strategy on the night

There are never any guarantees. Wilkie was playing SANFL and he came in and looked the part on day one. Some on here were disappointed in our selection of Wanganeen-Milera. He's turned out to be be one of the best three players of that draft. Last year it was Hugo who? The kid has shown he's already got what it takes

Whatever club it is, there will be hits and misses

[St.Swannie]

I completely agree with you we did good. If you look at the balance of what we lost vs what we got, then we definitely did well at the draft.
I mean just look below at what we lost vs what we got in the draft and trade periods.
And with the players we still have in our side, I reckon we will look far better

What we lost:
Matthew Allison (del) – back/fwd - didn't really amount to much
Josh Battle (FA) – key back - free agent gone because he wanted to
Riley Bonner (del) - back - didn't really make a huge impact
Tom Campbell (FA) - ruck - Awesome journeyman but getting up there in age
Jack Hayes (del) – ruck/fwd - great player but too many injury concerns
Olli Hotton (del) - mid - just didn't seem to click for him
Tim Membrey (del) - fwd - I dont know how we didnt keep him for how good he is
Ben Paton (del) - back - just didn't click
Seb Ross (del) - mid - getting up in age, was not a great disposal
James Van Es (del) – key back - concerns around injury but could have been great

What we got:
8. Tobie Travaglia – back/mid - huge tank, can run all day, fantastic disposal
10. Alix Tauru – Key back/forward - solid marking target down back and forward, brilliant interceptor and kick
32. James Barrat – Key back/forward - solid marking target back and forward, huge thumping kick
45. Hugh Boxshall - mid - solid mid, can run, and win his own ball
53. Alex Dodson - ruck - looks like an athletic follow up ruck who is a smooth mover
60. Patrick Said – mid/fwd - looks like an electric high half forward type
Jack McCrae - mid - genuine ball winner and ball magnet, still has heaps to give
Jack Carrol - mid - smooth operator, can win the ball and push forward
Eamonn Armstrong - mid - sounds like a quick and electric irish option
Brad Crouch - mid - injured but might still have some gas left in the tank for at least one more year

[DJ Higgins]

I think we just did not quite ok and no matter how you try and spin it we really needed a mid. Tobie isn’t one yet and may never be one eg nick coffield. But on paper best pick at that stage along with the flying Viking. But I don’t get why we didn’t a mid at pick 32 as there were heaps to choose from. No disrespect to barrat but we didn’t need a back picked them.

I don’t know enough about all the later picks but I am pumped about another ruck, that was a stellar pick that late so kudos for that pick, well done

[Otiman]

But I don’t get why we didn’t a mid at pick 32 as there were heaps to choose from. No disrespect to barrat but we didn’t need a back picked them.

Which mids did we miss between Barrat and Boxshall? Best check in 2 years to see where they're at.
Jack Ough
Christian Moraes

I also guess we could have also taken these players picked after Boxshall and before Said if we didn't pick Barrat.
Tom Gross
Lucca Grego
Luke Urquhart

[DJ Higgins]

But I don’t get why we didn’t a mid at pick 32 as there were heaps to choose from. No disrespect to barrat but we didn’t need a back picked them.

Which mids did we miss between Barrat and Boxshall? Best check in 2 years to see where they're at.
Jack Ough
Christian Moraes

I also guess we could have also taken these players picked after Boxshall and before Said if we didn't pick Barrat.
Tom Gross
Lucca Grego
Luke Urquhart

I hope all our picks go on to be legends but that doesn’t mean we didn’t go about this draft in a questionable manner. Lots of if buts and maybes can be said but yes we could have taken ough but we also could have taken boxshall at pick 33 as well. Imagine if boxshall went before we got him, then what?

Bottom line is there are right ways to do things and personally I didn’t agree with another defender at pick 33

[SaintWiki]

But I don’t get why we didn’t a mid at pick 32 as there were heaps to choose from. No disrespect to barrat but we didn’t need a back picked them.

Which mids did we miss between Barrat and Boxshall? Best check in 2 years to see where they're at.
Jack Ough
Christian Moraes

I also guess we could have also taken these players picked after Boxshall and before Said if we didn't pick Barrat.
Tom Gross
Lucca Grego
Luke Urquhart

I hope all our picks go on to be legends but that doesn’t mean we didn’t go about this draft in a questionable manner. Lots of if buts and maybes can be said but yes we could have taken ough but we also could have taken boxshall at pick 33 as well. Imagine if boxshall went before we got him, then what?

Bottom line is there are right ways to do things and personally I didn’t agree with another defender at pick 33

Well, I think that the club did an amazing job, time will tell how amazing - but some people just have to have a winge.

[saynta]

Yep. Happy as a pig in muck. No complaints from me. Sorry for Cole and Elwood though.