simonverbeek wrote:
The jury is well and truly still out on Wayne Hughes as our chief recruiter.The truth is we can't assess him for a few years yet.
Our success with 2nd and 3rd round picks has been minimal so far compared to other clubs (even though it's very early days).
Hartlett, Bower, Edwards, Hampson, Grigg, Austin, Benjamin - it's these types of players that will define Hughes' legacy (not Murph or Gibba). My main concern with some of these blokes (include Russel too) has been that they look unnatural playing footy compared to other clubs' recruits who just slot in. Development contributes to this
The scary thing is that it takes 3-4 years to work out if they're any good, and if they're not then the next 3-4 drafts will be engineered by a guy that might be no good. It's that recruiting 'lag' that makes any decision on a recruiter difficult
Personally, I'd still hang on to Hughes but with a very watchful eye, mainly because we just don't know yet.
And BTW, as nice as it was to see Hampson do a few decent things on Sun, it was the most uncompetitive game in VFL/AFL history and nothing that occured should be held in any regard. I like the look of Hammo but the jury is still out on him (and we won't know till he's 23-25)
Good Post...my thoughts as well, the jury is still out on our recruiting.
Hawthorn picked a coach who could teach his players and Melbourne have also gone the same route with Dean Bailey.
I will be interested to see what sort of coach Brett Ratten is as i think Wayne Hughes selections need a teacher type coach to get the best out of them...only Murphy and Gibbs are ready mades.
Bower for example has the tools to be a good player, good size, is brave as he showed in his first couple of games but some of his decision making is poor and his handpassing technique need some real work.
He often fails to make good contact with the footy and the ball almost falls of the end of his hand or fails to reach its target.....
Hampson, Aisake and Jacobs need a ruck coach to get the best out of them.....it wont be Wayne Hughes fault if they dont make it...
Benjamin is a freaky type of athelete with a great leap and nice skills but didnt have a clue how to get a kick when the ground was wet and heavy when I watched him player earlier in the year.....he needs remedial work in the art of playing on heavier grounds but that gets back to the coach and his team of assistants....
Be waiting a couple of years to see the results......