There is a point to be made that "back in the old days" when we could travel interstate and purchase the cream of the crop, a good percentage of those footballers were ready to go players. I remember when we recruited Peter Bosustow and was thinking who? But I had little doubt if we have picked him, he must be good, and good he was. Ready made player slotted in beautifully.
Picking up players who are ready to go from the draft is an art form / bloody science these days. If they are worth a pinch, GWS or GCS will know about it, as will half the bloody country, and they'll get first crack at them too. Speaking of first cracks, that too doesn't guarantee anything other than your shaving your odds at picking up someone serviceable at the least, and a dead set champion if your lucky, barring injury and form. Bryce Gibbs is a classic example of a #1 who hasn't lived up to expectations. And many a player well under his "draft price" who have been more serviceable for their respective clubs.
I don't think its as easy as this one goes, and this one stays. This one is untouchable and this one isn't.
Kind of heading off in a slightly different direction for a bit, imagine for a minute there were no interstate clubs. Just 12 Victorian teams in the comp with good old Fitzroy and South Melbourne. Imagine taking the cream of Westcoast, Freo, Port, the Crows, GWS, GCS, Brisbane and Sydney. Take all that cream and spread it out amongst the 12 Victorian clubs. For starters the sheer scope of class throughout the entire league would be mouth watering. But the cream aside, take one good player (not the cream, but good) from each of the interstate clubs, and slot them into our current list.
That's eight GOOD players, not champions (don't have to factor in that) just good serviceable players, eight of them into our current list. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
These days, with so many teams in the league and the "talent" so spread out, and so complex to secure, simply saying that guy should go, and that guy is untouchable is so far removed from reality it ain't funny. It really comes down to taking a massive gamble on any player, and securing a prized recruit is no guarantee either. Its such an unknown factor in today's game. Clubs that recognized this earlier than others and went about the science of recruitment are reaping the rewards. Carlton have been extremely slow on the uptake and are suffering the consequences. But even still, there are no guarantees, just shaving the odds if the science is correct and a bit of luck mixed in too.
Shuffling a deck of cards until you get SO many factors right, its amazing it even happens at all. But it does, and it should be Carlton's number one priority. Not to mention its the priority of every other club in the nation. So from the get go, its on, every man and his dog scouring the nation for talent. So many factors involved with no guarantees anyway, pick a needle from a hay stack.
The moving on and moving up of our list should be handled with such care and precision that whoever is on our list, its never going to be as simple as saying he is untouchable. How many of our already listed untouchables would be GOOOORRRRRRNNNN!!! if we could take our pick from interstate clubs? Not their #1 champions, just their good players. How many of our untouchables would become very touchable in that scenario ...
Disney Land aside, the reality is a nightmare at the best of times. I would HATE to be a club president, CEO or in any position where this one factor influences so much of a clubs fortunes. What a complete and utter nightmare. Good players don't grow on trees, and if they did, the garden doesn't produce enough quality produce to meet the demand. Plain and simple. Competition for the few morsels of quality produce is hampered even further by the "Office of Agriculture" who's appetite for profit keeps opening new markets for the produce to be sold. AND of coarse those new markets will be propped up and given every opportunity to flourish at the expense of existing markets.
In that environment throwing good food away is insane, hell even throwing half rotten anything away is insane. There simply isn't enough to go around, and you want to throw what we have away? In this environment getting anything with a glimmer of goodness is worth persisting with, especially when you factor in whats on offer, and what it cost you to begin with. The balance, the art, the science of recruitment, to me at least is a nightmare I wouldn't touch with a 40 foot pole. If good players grew on trees and the garden was full of quality produce, yeah, easy pickings. But in this environment? All I hope is Carlton have the BEST people at hand to do this monumental task. And if we don't, they need to make it the clubs number one mission. I think its the most important factor in today's game.
Untouchables? Tread very carefully ...
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