We had our final Blue Suits function last night.

Guest speaker was Wayne Hughes. Gave a great overview of the recruiting processes he and his team go through. A few points that came through (that I can divulge)...
- Marc Murphy is better than he thought. Exceeded all expectations.
- Bower will most likely play on Sunday
- Josh Kennedy, after being released from hospital, arrived at the club and someone mentioned that he looked taller. Out came the tape, and he has grown about 2cm since arriving. He's now approaching 198cm!! Wayne said that he may be our future ruckman.

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“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Thanks BlueBern,

Always good to get a report regarding Blues functions, especially when it's a type of forum where the atmosphere is a little relaxed, and some open discussion is encouraged.

Wow...he's still growing...that's great news. Now he has to fill out that newly grown space with more muscle.

Yep I agree Murphy has exceeded expectations...we all knew he was good, but not this good.

So can you fill us in as to some of the points made regarding the recruitment process? eg how many recruiters, where are they, have they increased the head count in the recruiting dept, what types of players they are looking for, what his view is on last year's recruits?...

Cheers, thanks for the update.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

If they turn him in to a ruckman, then we have seriously lost the plot.

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

Totally agree PJ! It's a worry that they are even thinking about it!

Not necessarily PJ. If we draft another CHF option or depending how JK develops, he may be a Kosi type ruckman. Big, strong mobile. And the old type CHF seems to be disappearing. How many of the top sides have the traditional CHF. WCE and Adelaide barely have decent tall forwards, Hall plays as a runing full forward, don't think the Dees have a genuine CHF. The Bullies have midgets. The Saints have Riewoldt who is a star but more a running CHF than a pack marking target.

I actually think JK will be a gun CHF but maybe in the future he and Aisake might rotate through the forward line and the ruck depending on who we play and how we play

Would we have?

My first reaction to that post was similar phoenix but what if Kennedy was able to play ruck for the next 15 years with the sort of talent he has. There isn't a ruckman in the competition at the moment with Kennedy's natural all round footy ability. Perhaps Jeff White comes close but he just doesn't have the grunt that Kennedy seems to have.

It'd be nice to have two of them and play one in the ruck and one at CHF but just because he played most of his junior football at CHF doesn't mean that he should be stuck there forever.

I don't really know what to think about this one at the moment but I also don't think we have to make a decision one way or another really.

If he's 198cm and playing in the forward line he'll be doing his share of rucking duties anyway. If we find he's dominating in that side of his game why not play him on the ball and see how he goes?

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

You make a good point, GWS, but I'd hate to see him struck down by injury after injury by being played in the ruck.

We have the opportunity to build a forward line, and possibly a future premiership, around Kennedy. Yes, we will probably have the opportunity to draft another key forward perhaps this year or the next, but I'd rather JK be played in his natural role as a pack splitting centre half forward.

If we are that desperate for a ruckman, which we are, why not do something that Denis hasn't done for awhile and actually draft one in November.

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

A pack splitting centre half-forward isn't a dangerous injury prone position?

Not many of them play into their 30s. Plenty of ruckmen do.

I think we should draft footballers and keep an open mind on what they can do afterwards. If Kennedy becomes the next Kernahan/Brown/Brereton/etc then I'm happy. If he becomes the next Fitzpatrick/Nicholls/Dempsey/etc then I'll cop that too.

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

I don't think that Denis rates them! French started really well last week but we eventually were smashed in the ruck yet again!

If that's true then what chance of him ever putting Kennedy in the ruck?

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

That would be true. He played McKernan in the forwardline and made do with Ischenko (sp?) Capuano and Burton in the ruck. Was never one for drafting rookie ruckmen, always recruiting from other clubs to top up.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

If St.Kilda have taught us anything, it's that not having a dominant ruckman is suicide and will almost prevent you from winning a flag.

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

So now you want Kennedy in the ruck...?

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

The ruck is the most overrated position in football. All you need in there is a good honest trier. I dont want salary cap tied up in a ruckman. 198 is an awkward height, I hope he shrinks a couple of centimetres.

Most people who follow Clubs with serviceable ruckmen (at best) feel that way. Those who follow Clubs with very good ruckmen rave about them.

I'd rather rave about a very good CHF. With the salary cap you can't have every position filled with a gun player.

Not at all.

I like to stick to the method of "if they're drafted in a certain position, play them in that position".

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

Kennedy did play his junior footy in the ruck, but I think the club would be best served polishing his forward line skills, his marking is great but kicking is scratchy and he'll have to learn how to fit into an attacking zone with Fevola's dominance. Having a bloke who's big enough to handle the stoppages in the forward 50 is handy tho, and pretty much makes teflon deluca redundant.

Did anyone else have the same first thought when Bluebern said Hughes had said Kennedy may end up a ruckman:

Kennedy to the Ruck, Gumbleton to CHF

Too crazy a thought? Perhaps. But what if come draft day Josh has kept growing and is 200cm? would that change anyone's thinking about the the Gibbs/Hansen question? After all, the reason most of us have not seriously considered Gumby a possibility for the no.1 pick is because he is a CHF forward, and we drafted Kennedy to play CHF last year.

But given Gumby is, according to the experts, a better CHF than Kennedy, and Kennedy has played most of his junior footy in the ruck ...... hmm the plot thickens. Somehow I doubt this will be the last time the club has the measuring tape out before November 25.

Kids come onto the radar at the National U16s titles. A squad of about 30 are given AIS scholarships, and from that group a team is selected to play the Irish (Murph was vice-captain of his team). Aside from footbal ability they look at other aspects such as character traits. See who puts their own bags on the bus instead of waiting for someone to do it for them, who adapts to sudden changes in training schedules etc.

Wayne has people watching all the major competitions around the country. Although they may not be employed directly by Carlton, many have jobs within the AFL development area, so they are very knowledgable about all the juniors in their states. Recently one of his spies was sent to a QAFL game to watch a kid touted to have a fair bit of talent. Nobody but Wayne and his "spy" new he was going.
Back page of Gold Coast Bulletin on Monday "Carlton looking at ?????"
There's very few secrets left out there.

All teams keeping their cards close to their chests now.

When Wayne was at Freo in charge of their first draft, they had selections 2, 4 & 5. They knew Collingood was going to take Fraser at #1. They rated Pavlich at 2, but they heard from an inside source that Richmond was going to take Fiora at #3 no matter what. So Freo took Paul Hasleby at #2, Richmond then took Fiora, and Pavlich was theirs at #4.

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“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.