Did we get it horribly wrong?

[Darrel Baldock]

I was satisfied that the Saints had selected wisely after the various drafts. I was happy about Lovett and what he would add to our side. From the perspective of recent inspirational Saints draft picks, this draft appeared to simply deliver more of the same
Trouble is, I now see thare were so many "if onlys". Jesse Smith would be a great get if only we could get him fit. Tommy Walsh will be fantastic if only he can learn how to play the game! Andrew Lovett will be fantastic if only we can can get him to pull his head in and grow up.
I was supremely optimistic given the Saints recent record in both recycling players and in keeping players fit. Look at what we did with bad boy Gardiner! Then there's Farren Ray. Didn't Kozza stay fit all year?
Trouble is , maybe I had just that little bit too much faith and there's the problem with Lovett that he started misbehaving before the new and improved Saints culture had a chance to "take". Extrapolate this out and we have recruited a commited miscreant in Lovett, a crock in Smith and a complete unproven novice in Walsh. Could this be the year our recruiting all comes apart?
I certainly hope not. Much better would be a reformed character, receiving a pinpoint kick from the miraculously fit and handballing off (after a blistering run) to a very fast learner with great body strength who drills yet another one from thirty out at an acute angle.
Ah..... Saints fans and our capacity to dream!

[quidnunc]

I do not look too kindly on the recruiting year when we selected Ball, Clarke and McGuire - all gone!

[borderbarry]

And for the three of them we got.....Pick 60.

[saintlee]

Far too early to tell for Walsh and Smith....they may well turn out to be guns.............but for mine, Lovett is a major disappointment, even if he manages to stay at the Saints and play good footy, his behaviour and lack of respect for himself and the club is massively disappointing....

[joffaboy]

When is there a cast iron guarantee that any player will give you service?

Jesse Smith could play 100 games or not one, same with Tommy Walsh. Likely for Lovett that he wont play any.

Sam Fisher could get picked up at #53 and become an AA. Dawson cut from Hawks, rookied at Saints, plays in a GF.

McQualter becomes a regular after being cut, Allen plays a handful of games and has to retire through injury.

Didn't get it horribly wrong, just seems like we got it wrong on Lovett. No biggie, got plenty right.

[stinger]

Lovett is a major disappointment, even if he manages to stay at the Saints and play good footy, his behaviour and lack of respect for himself and the club is massively disappointing....

and that's saying nothing about his lack of respect for the opposite sex either....

[BigMart]

Obviously IMO we did....

does everyone realise that there is a huge ???? over J.Smith's application aswell.....he was not well liked at North...

the boy could play though.....can he again...hopefully

[borderbarry]

Maybe down the track our bright light from this years recruiting may be our new Nick, or one of the rookies. Who knows.

[saintsRrising]

The sky is not falling.

Walsh is only a rookie... ie is meant to an "if ony" pick

Jesse was a late pick ina very VERY weak draft.. Again is meant to be an "if only" pick. We took if at 60 and other clubs starting passing at 66!!!! That is there was not much left..

A bit of perspective would be good.

One can complain about Lovett more reasonablly...but again it was pick 16 ina weak draft...and nota top pick.

So have a go at Lovett's pick up if you want but please spare me the pretty unfounded criticism of walsh and smith being wasted picks.

[plugger66]

Obviously IMO we did....

does everyone realise that there is a huge ???? over J.Smith's application aswell.....he was not well liked at North...

the boy could play though.....can he again...hopefully

Who says he isnt well liked at North. Maybe he isnt now because of what he said when leaving but I would love to know who thought that before he left. Seems like a made up comment to me.

[linz]

When is there a cast iron guarantee that any player will give you service?

Jesse Smith could play 100 games or not one, same with Tommy Walsh. Likely for Lovett that he wont play any.

Sam Fisher could get picked up at #53 and become an AA. Dawson cut from Hawks, rookied at Saints, plays in a GF.

McQualter becomes a regular after being cut, Allen plays a handful of games and has to retire through injury.

Didn't get it horribly wrong, just seems like we got it wrong on Lovett. No biggie, got plenty right.

Exactly. We were two goals away from a flag. If one of these so called hacks can live up to their potential we'll all be calling our recruiters as geniuses for delivering our 2nd flag. Lovett may not work. (Pick 16 for a 3Y dev. player who cares). Walsh may or not be good but I'm excited by the gamble.

[Con Gorozidis]

shame we didnt land andrejs everitt....

would have been a 100 gamer for saints.

[stinger]

Exactly. We were two goals away from a flag.

one point actually...if the world was fair....but it's not...one of their goals was a point...and the goal after the siren doesn't count.....there was no one on the mark and the opposition player......i still can't bring myself to say that "g "word....ran over the mark....can't play on after the siren....so 1 point...imhfo....

[rodgerfox]

The sky is not falling.

Walsh is only a rookie... ie is meant to an "if ony" pick

Not really.

Drain said that the reason we weren't overly concerned with trading pick 16 for Lovett was that we knew we were getting Walsh. A player who the club felt was better than anyone we could have got at pick 16.

So really, with pick 16 effectively a fart in the wind, and Lovett worse than that, I'd say the recruitment dudes would be feely a bit of pressure over Walsh delivering.

[Milton66]

The sky is not falling.

Walsh is only a rookie... ie is meant to an "if ony" pick

Not really.

Drain said that the reason we weren't overly concerned with trading pick 16 for Lovett was that we knew we were getting Walsh. A player who the club felt was better than anyone we could have got at pick 16.

So really, with pick 16 effectively a fart in the wind, and Lovett worse than that, I'd say the recruitment dudes would be feely a bit of pressure over Walsh delivering.

Let's revisit that comment in 3 years time when the kids had time to develop.

RE: Smith... Nth stated that they were dissapointed that he left and didn't give the new facilites a go.

[rodgerfox]

The sky is not falling.

Walsh is only a rookie... ie is meant to an "if ony" pick

Not really.

Drain said that the reason we weren't overly concerned with trading pick 16 for Lovett was that we knew we were getting Walsh. A player who the club felt was better than anyone we could have got at pick 16.

So really, with pick 16 effectively a fart in the wind, and Lovett worse than that, I'd say the recruitment dudes would be feely a bit of pressure over Walsh delivering.

Let's revisit that comment in 3 years time when the kids had time to develop.

RE: Smith... Nth stated that they were dissapointed that he left and didn't give the new facilites a go.

Sure.

No-one would expect him to have a significant input this year, or perhaps even next - the same as with a Pick 16.

But to say he's a 'what if' isn't the case. He was basically our Pick 16.

Really, I think the club wouldn't be too fazed about the whole 'we gave up pick 16 for nothing' becuase they saw it as giving up nothing in the first place - due to the fact they believed Walsh is a Top 10 standard pickup.

Forget Lovett and Pick 16, we've picked up a dude who many believe to be a Top 10 draft pick.

[cwrcyn]

All the more important for the likes of McEvoy, Armitage, Geary, and Steven to start shining. If they do, then we have a bridge to the the next good draft and beyond. If they fail, that bridge is burnt and there's a gaping chasm between our seasoned players and those who are just out of nappies. And the outcome would be two more years of top four finishes followed by a rapid decline to the nether-world.



.

[Con Gorozidis]

The sky is not falling.

Walsh is only a rookie... ie is meant to an "if ony" pick

Not really.

Drain said that the reason we weren't overly concerned with trading pick 16 for Lovett was that we knew we were getting Walsh. A player who the club felt was better than anyone we could have got at pick 16.

So really, with pick 16 effectively a fart in the wind, and Lovett worse than that, I'd say the recruitment dudes would be feely a bit of pressure over Walsh delivering.

Let's revisit that comment in 3 years time when the kids had time to develop.

RE: Smith... Nth stated that they were dissapointed that he left and didn't give the new facilites a go.

Sure.

No-one would expect him to have a significant input this year, or perhaps even next - the same as with a Pick 16.

But to say he's a 'what if' isn't the case. He was basically our Pick 16.

Really, I think the club wouldn't be too fazed about the whole 'we gave up pick 16 for nothing' becuase they saw it as giving up nothing in the first place - due to the fact they believed Walsh is a Top 10 standard pickup.

Forget Lovett and Pick 16, we've picked up a dude who many believe to be a Top 10 draft pick.

i cant follow this argument from drain. tommy walsh and pick 16 were not related in any shape or form. entirely separate deals. ok we got walsh. good job on that. but surely drain is bound to do the best with pick 16 as well? not to mention 25 for ball that we never got to use...

for pick 16 + luke ball we got bubkus - and the season hasnt even started.
crap outcome from drain.

at least if we had another kid we could at least get a year of hope - even if he turned out crap.... and what if he turned out to be lenny hayes. this whole "weak draft" thing is also crap and a cop out. what it is is a pre packaged excuse dressed up as opinion...

u just get the best available and the get em in the system and develop them. why comment on weak v strong draft when u cant assess them until after 5 years. have these guys got crystal balls? ur job is to get the best available then give them every opportunity and coaching resource to become good. talk of good draft bad draft is best left to the media to comment on.


RL and Drain talk some crap on occasion...

BUT - i reckon we did good in the rookie draft. they look pretty good so i have some hopes there...

[bobmurray]

There seems to be a lack of star material coming through.....it may well pan out that we got it wrong.....lately....consistently.......time will tell....

[stinger]

i cant follow this argument from drain. tommy walsh and pick 16 were not related in any shape or form. entirely separate deals. ok we got walsh. good job on that. but surely drain is bound to do the best with pick 16 as well? not to mention 25 for ball that we never got to use...

for pick 16 + luke ball we got bubkus - and the season hasnt even started.
crap outcome from drain.

this whole "weak draft" thing is also crap and a cop out. what it is is a pre packaged excuse dressed up as opinion...




RL and Drain talk some crap on occasion...

gawd...i'm glad you said that....i thought it was just me......when drain first came out with that crap...repeated by ross i might add..i though...wtf.....

[st_Trav_ofWA]

shame we didnt land andrejs everitt....

would have been a 100 gamer for saints.

or he could of done his knee and never played a game for us ... who knows .. Fergus watts was ment to be a 100 gamer for us as was Barry Brooks ... its all a gamble ... some pay off some dont ... no one could predict the lovett deal would end up like this not even Lovett would of though this would happen .. Smiths chances are no worse then Trengoves chances or Scullys chances.. ppl complain we lost Xman , he didnt play at all last year and struggles to play more the 6 games a year , they also complain about Goose he hadnt played for 2 years .... worst case we lose lovett , its no diff then having Hamil on the LTI for 2 years getting paid $500k , we lost Ball cause he wanted out we offered him a contract he rufused nothing the saints can do about that .... on the possitive we still ahve all except ball from a g/f 22 still on the list .. we have blokes like Big MAc Lynch and hyne waiting for a chance and guys like armo and geary ready to make that next step ... all is not doom and gloom

[Zed]

Obviously IMO we did....

does everyone realise that there is a huge ???? over J.Smith's application aswell.....he was not well liked at North...

the boy could play though.....can he again...hopefully

He nominated Hawthorn as his preferred club if i recall which tells me he wanted to not just play finals football but also have a crack at a flag. He'd be thinking we have the potential to go all the way and he will want to be a part of that. His application will be fine.

[rodgerfox]

i cant follow this argument from drain. tommy walsh and pick 16 were not related in any shape or form. entirely separate deals. ok we got walsh. good job on that. but surely drain is bound to do the best with pick 16 as well? not to mention 25 for ball that we never got to use...

I think the thinking was that considering we got Walsh, we didn't have to treat Pick 16 as our 'never trade away your first draft pick' sort of thing.

Under normal circumstances (ie. no Walsh) I really doubt we would have traded Pick 16.

[Milton66]

There seems to be a lack of star material coming through.....it may well pan out that we got it wrong.....lately....consistently.......time will tell....

This is what shytes me...

What exactly is star material?

Firstly, when you'e up top you don't get the real quality draft picks.

Secondly, guys like Judd and Selwood are the exception and not the norm.

People appear to write players off far too quickly aorund here.

Zac was a dud, so was Ray, so was Mini etc.

Sheeesh, talk about a lack of patience.

Now, I'm not targeting you BM with this, but I simply do not buy into this line of thought.

Players like Lynch, McEvoy, Steven and co have shown more than enough IMO.

[linz]

Exactly. We were two goals away from a flag.

one point actually...if the world was fair....but it's not...one of their goals was a point...and the goal after the siren doesn't count.....there was no one on the mark and the opposition player......i still can't bring myself to say that "g "word....ran over the mark....can't play on after the siren....so 1 point...imhfo....

I'm trying to relieve the pain by saying we weren't good enough to win the effing thing. Stinger we should have won it because we were the better side on the day just like Geelong were better than the Dorks the previous year. The better sides take their chances however.

I knew we were screwed when I went to the dunnies at 3/4 time and every Saints supporter there was singing the song. It made me nearly pewk because I knew we were about to lose. (Deja Vu)

At 3/4 time the song was also sung in '71 & '97. I was also there.