BlueMark wrote:
The flaw in the Play for Picks arguement, is that for it to work is that you need to stay on the bottom for a number of years to access enough stars to challange for the flag. If you do this then you need to get your recruiting absoloutly right, becaue if you make a mistake than you are doomed to even longer on the bottom.
It is a high risk strategy with the downsides I have highlighted previously with a narrow focus upside.
What I have always argued is that development is more important. ie we get the players and we develop them, but we aslo recruit experience at the same time to bolster the youngsters (This is the prime reason St Kilda recruited Hamill and Gherig).
Having spoken to recruiters aligned with both AFL and VFL clubs, the primary consideration in recruiting now is character, temperment and willingness to improve rather than pure talent. Having been involved in sport all my life I have seen literally dozens of highly talented athletes not succeed because they lacked work ethic. But I seen literally dozens of good to average athletes make and become stars because they worked unbelievably hard at thier sport.
In short what I advocate is a wholistic approach to rebuilding a side that encompasses not only the draft and development but also a leavening of experience to allow the 'kids' to learn.
We are expecting a lot from our early picks and I really hope they become superstars because if they don't make it, there will be a lot of very dissappointed and pissed off people. And it would not suprise me that those who advocate the Playing for picks method will be the first sharpening thier knives.
I don't see how getting the priority pick, and recruiting and developing players with good work eithic plus trading for experience, are mutually exclusive. Surely more draft picks enables you to do more of both of the latter?
And if work ethic is more important that natural talent, then why are you pro-whitnall and Campo? Are you saying their experience is worth enough that the club should put up with their questionable work ethics?