Recruitment

[Cyclops]

There are a lot of interesting posts coming in about us getting Everitt, Stafford, Jade Rawlings, that Freo kid etc. I would love to see any of them at the Pies, but my feeling is we won't see any big names traded to Pieland this year. In the past we snagged huge names like Buckley and A. Rocca in multi player blockbuster deals. Maybe the focus on the big deals meant a little less effort went into work-a-day deals for work-a-day players.

The more recent trend for us has been for smart trades, giving up big names or draft picks for youngsters and middling players (e.g. Williams to Sydney for multple players, or the Molloy/Michael swap). Even when we had the box seat with the first pre-season pick in 2000, we went for O'Bree (who's a top player, but was relatively untried at the time) instead of trying to lure some disgruntled star in a bidding war.

This year we'll have less currency to offer in player trades-our higher finish robs us of the magical top three draft pick, and because our list is so young we don't have a lot of "established names" to tantalize other clubs. The reason why names like Lockyer and Tarrant crop up in trade rumours is they are the players the other clubs want. My feeling is we don't want to break up the core group we have-if we let them mature and add suitable middling players (in the vein of Clement and Molloy-what great recruits they've been)we can expect some success.

I like the current trend in recruiting at Collingwood. I think Judkins has done an excellent job, especially under McGuire's reign. I find myself having faith in less popular players like McKee-if Judkins picked him, maybe the kid is worth a punt. I reckon we'll see more of the same at this year's draft-a few canny swaps for rough diamonds and a couple of pinpoint drafts to fill future needs. I much prefer that approach to St Kilda's direction. We tried the "Buy-a-Flag" method under the new Magpies and it nearly sent us to the wall.

[B.MAN]

i totally agree with you,there,i dont think we need big named players at the club,we have had little known players come into the club,and have turned out to be absolute stars,like lockyer,obree,the 2 davis,and players like that,i think the players we have can turn out to be stars,i think what we have done is great recruiting known or little known players like we have just done in the last player trade period,if we continue to do that i think the pies have a great future,does anyone agree here??

[Brown26]

There is no doubt that we can't buy a flag - it has very rarely worked, and under the new(ish) draft rules it wont work.

I agree with the drafting process, Judkins is a gun, since Tony Shaw's time we've got a lot of great young guys, now we need to consolidate, we've got a bit of experience, (holland, clement, etc), a few more guns coming through (BIG raps for Cloak - last years TEAL cup final he dominated across half back) Kinnear, Didak, etc. We'll be good next year.

BUT... there's always a but, bringing in a good player, established player, for two / three years in a position we need to fill until the young guys come through, will make us incredible next year! The positions are obviously Ruck help for big Josh and another Tall back to help Richo, Presti and Wakelin (Richo's injury hurt us this year, no question).

Now, if Kinnear can step into the Back role, let's go with him. That'd be awesome - he certainly showed enough in the last game I thought. And the ruck, McKee was good before the shoulder injury - very good - hopefully he can get back to that form. It's up to Judkins and MM to decide!

If we get Everit or Stafford, etc, it's only a two / three year thing. whether we trade after that or get them to change positions, whatever, we only NEED them for two / three years. That said, how good was Porter / Alan combination this year?

Heath Black is a different issue. If we're talking about getting the best 22 we can on the turf for next year, he would be in it. So would Everit or Stafford, etc. But he will also be a great asset in the future, adding more run off half back to help Burnsy and Lonie. He's only young, had incredible potential, and is a ball magnet. He'll be a champ. The price is the only thing that worries me - Locks is what's being bandied around by some people - I question that.

It'll be very interesting. I think we're in a good position in that we don't need much - we will be good next year (again), the question is how good?

[MarkT]

Most of the big names or profile deals of the past were due to Gubby Allan. Since his departure we haven't been able to get the profile players we have targetted.
The Buckley and Rocca deals turned out to be good ones so I don't see why you don't think we should chase these types of players. I agree that we should be catious about trying to buy a flag though because history says it rarely works.

It's a question of the quality of the recruit and the cost in terms of drafts or players exchanged. We will only have a problem if chase the wrong profile player. We can't ignore a deal because the player has a high profile, wants big bucks or had a high trading price. Take the big and the small deals as they come and assess the relative merit.

[Cyclops]

I take the points about having to look at all deals big and small, but I think the big deals are harder to make these days. Once again the Saints and Freo have less than five wins, so they have the box seat for pre-season drafts, as well as tradeable commodities for the October draft. All these priority picks lead to "draft inflation" where the club that comes 9th feels like they came 7th, only didn't get to play in September. For us to snaffle Heath Black pre season he'll have to weave his way throught the clutches of the Saints (twice) and five other hungry clubs to get to us.

I think the Saints will go on a huge plunge like last year, grabbing everyone in sight and muddying the waters for clubs with half a chance. Likewise, the players that may be leaving the Saints are sought after by a lot of clubs, so to get them we'll have to win a stiff bidding war. For an star ruckman like Spider you're talking one or two top players plus on or two draft picks. I don't like that price.

I reckon we'll improve next year-that means finals. If we want to win a final I agree we need a tall defender with a fat arse. Our young midfield stocks are maturing nicely, (plus we have the best ruckrover in the game). We have an adequate balance of tall and small forwards (and one potential star), and Mckee/Fraser/Rocca just covers the ruck (I see Fraser in attack eventually). Our defence has skill, dash and balance, but lacks a brutal pig a la Craig Kelly or Greg Phillips. If Jason Cloke is it, I hope he comes good before Bucks retires. Boy does our captain deserve to win a final.

[Brown26]

What's tis finals S**T - he deserves a premiership!!

Plus we only need to do a deal with Freo - tehy can sign Black to our terms, then trade him to us. He doesn't have to go in the draft.


Pies for Premiers 2002, 3, 4, 5, 6....

[Cyclops]

I agree that Buckley deserving a premiership, brown26, but I can't help thinking of those champs who never won one- Gary Ablett, Doug Hawkins, Bob Skilton, Jason Wild (joke), Des Tuddenham (in fact the whole 1970 side) spring to mind. I hope the current crop ripens before the best apple we have falls off the tree.
As for trading with Freo, I wouldn't have the heart to send any Magpie to that lost cause, and they've got plenty of good draft picks already.