Barack Obama wrote:
I am a passionate supporter and signed up member. I also want what will give us the best opportunity to come out of the darkest period of our history and win two or three flags in a row. I don't want four meaningless wins this year at the expense of two of the most promising young players in the history of the draft.
If people honestly think Jordan Russell, Adam Hartlett, Jake Edwards, Paul Bower, Eddie Betts and some of our other what I would call lesser players can help us get multiple premierships I accept that. But those of you who acknowledge that a Natinui or Hurley or Daniel Rich are better than that lot, but still want to criticize me, I accept that too. But the latter should at least be able to see my point.
Everyone loves getting elite kids to the club, but there is enough quality in this draft to ensure that a top 10 pick will get you a quality kid. It may mean that you don't get Natanui or Rich, but there's also Hartlett, Swift, Hurley and Cornellius. Playing a season and being as competitive as we can be will be infinately better for the club and the talent that we have already recruited than finishing last and getting another first pick.
Learning to accept the draft and using it to your benefit is certainly the best way to manage your list, but hoarding number 1 picks is not the answer. Look at West Coast or Brisbane, they have succeeded by mixing elite talent from the lower stages of the draft with full rookie lists and the ability to snare players of AFL quality at all rounds of the draft and creating a winning and competitive culture.
There is no question that teams who have had success have managed to draft a large group of players in successive drafts and brought them through as a team and waited for them to mature. The Cat's Premiership was built largely on the 2001 draft. Bartel, Kelly, Ablett, Johnson. Those guys were added to Corey, Enright, Chapman, Wojo and Ling from the previous years. It took them until 2007 to show that it wasn't a failing list but when they peaked they took the chocolates. We are building a similar group of young players who will all come through together and will learn from Judd as their captain, but just remember it took the young cats 6 seasons to get it together and you're wanting to cut the project short when our players are still teenages.
Login
Register
FAQ
