Another year, another lack of rising star nominations

[Otiman]

So, is it the recruiters, the development staff, bad luck, or just not giving the kids enough support when they do get picked.

Players over the past 2 years that have been eligible. (Not including rookies)

Class of '06
Armitage - 11 games this year, could have been picked once or twice but consistency got the nod over Armo. Averaging 10.8 disposals this year from low TOG.

Howard - 0 games this year, 2 games last year (due to huge injury list). May have been selected mid-year when his form was good but has tailed off since.

Allen - 3 games, 0 goals, average of 7.7 disposals per game. Has provided good structure, but nowhere near rising star material.

Class of '07

McEvoy - 1 game, did not a lot, except get a falcon for his first possession.

Steven - 0 games, wasn't expected to play

Connors - 0 games, wasn't expected to play, compounded with season ending shoulder injury.

That's 15 games total from 6 players, in 2008.

[ThePunter]

I wouldn't read a huge amount into this. Armitage, Eddy & Geary all could have been nominated at various stages, but they didn't.

The flaw in the system is they have to be nominated for a particular game. I didn't have much of a problem with Carlile being nominated over Eddy this week.

Remember Nick Dal Santo and Matt Maguire didn't manage Rising Star nominations, but Caydn Beetham did.

Next year we'll have two nominees (McEvoy and Steven).

[True Blue Sainter]

It is a little concerning, but as punter rightly pointed out, nominations are generally for individual performances, rather than a collection of solid performance (see: Armo, Eddy).

Hopefully, the likes of Big Mac and Steven can step up next year, as can Howard!

[Solar]

we are a top 4 side

we have not had a top 5 pick in how many years...

I would be worried if we had finished last and then not having any rising star nominations....

[Eastern]

Next year we'll have two nominees (McEvoy and Steven).

THREE

You forgot our 1st pick this year !!

[sainter123]

we are a top 4 side

we have not had a top 5 pick in how many years...

I would be worried if we had finished last and then not having any rising star nominations....

if we were finishing last and had no one then that would be bad.
if you look at the years that we got nominations were after thoes horrible years at the bottom of the ladder.
this year their were no geelong players given a rising star nomination.

[The Saintsational Man]

Not suprising.....we haven't finished lower than 9th since '03.

'04 - 3
'05 - 4
'06 - 6
'07 - 9
'08 - 4

And our players that we did pick up before that time, have all matured into awesome footballers;

Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Montagna, Fisher, Koschitzke, Goddard, Ball.

So it's going to be hard for players picked at those later positions in the draft to get a spot in the side, even though some of those names mentioned, we picked very very late ie. Sam Fisher pick 55.

In the end it's not all that suprising, our current team is good enough to have a dip at the cup, lets focus on that.

[Otiman]

Doesn't necessarily need a top 10 draft pick to get a rising star nomination.

There are 22 nominations per year.

[LTN16]

Class of '06
Armitage - 11 games this year.
Howard - 0 games this year.
Allen - 3 games this year.
Van Rheenen - 0 games this year.
Eddy - 10 games this year.
Geary - 10 games this year.

Class of '07
McEvoy - 1 game this year.
Steven - 0 games this year.
Connors - 0 games this year.
Chivers - 0 games this year.
Haretuku - 0 games this year.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

I can't honestly see why people get overly worried about rising star nominations.

The nomination is for excellence in a single round. The award is for consistent high level performance over the course of a year.

While a Joel Selwood will occasionally come along - and indeed if an eligible player can win a core role in a good team, the award will favour them - by and large the award is going to predominantly favour players who find themselves in it up to their neck and loving it.

If you're a good team, you're unlikely to have a player who meets the criteria find themselves in a key role. Sometimes that glaring role will exist - e.g. Rioli and the Hawks, sometimes the youngster will create their own opening, Selwood with the Cats, but if you look at a team like the Saints, the opportunities created have been due to injuries, and the fillers have been ineligible even if they did hit the level.

IMO, it's far more important to have a Clinton Jones, a James Gwilt, or even in recent weeks a Raph Clark - the guy who's not of eligible age, but is just that step away and awaiting a chance - more than capable given the chance. Looking at our list, we'd be able to expect more competitive years from Armitage and Mini - neither of who is eligible.

So call it lack of opportunity, but that lack of opportunity isn't symptomatic of anything. We may have had poor development processes in the past (not trying to re-open THAT can of worms!) we MAY have better ones now - rising star nominations are not a measure of team success, drafting success... or even development success.