As an organisation the Blues seem very risk averse (from an outside-looking-in) and have been post-Elliott. I'm curious (not hinting anything.... curious) how much of that culture has flowed into the recruiting team. And, I'm not saying its a BAD thing if thats happened... just curious.
Good question.
What is the answer?
If he cautious? Yes & No. He looks long and hard at the whole package of a player. Not just whether the lad can mark and kick but - will he be a good fit at CFC, will he be happy at CFC, will he knuckle down to get the best out of himself, does he have any issues that will stopping him committing 110%, does he have family support, etc, etc, etc.
You, I and the gatepost know of CFC's recent failures in the those areas, so WH knows he must get it right time and again for CFC to get better. Some clubs up the top end can perhaps take a chance with a player who has some ???? but CFC can't.
He is well aware he can't afford to make any mistakes with the position CFC is currently in. Having said that, it is obviously not an exact science. You are dealing with human nature and as a result some lads will simply not have the longterm commitment required, no-matter what they tell you face-to-face. Others get injured, others get unexpectedly homesick and others start to grow up and their interests head elsewhere from time to time.
How does a recruiter project those human traits/issues 2 to 3 years into the future ???? The only way is to ask alot of questions of alot of people and hope you have asked the right ones and gotten truthful answers in response. Believe it or not some tell fibs. WH experience helps him sort the wheat from chaff and he knows who to trust.
I believe WH is his own man. He knows the buck stops with him and he has total faith in his own abilities/methods of finding talent. He works long hours and fly's many miles around Australia to do the job properly.
He likes to keep his own council most of the time and rarely gives his personal thoughts away. I have come to understand that he doesn't voice his opinions on players to any great extend because A) he doesn't want to influence the thoughts of others he works with and B) he doesn't like sneaky-leakers who may spoil his plans.
Experience has proven to him that it is best to keep them all guessing right until the end (unless it suits his purpose otherwise) to get what he wants. Anecdotally from him it appears several players over the years have been lost to teams who inadvertently made their intentions known before the day.
Having said all that I believe there are no real risks between any of the top 5-7 in 2006.
As I have said previously, Gibbs, Leuy and Lachy all player different positions and each would be wonderful assets to any team for 10 years. Gumby, Thorp and Selwood are right their with them IMHO. It just depends what you want in a player.
It still takes 22 to win a premiership and even Gibbs with a big red 'S' on his jumper couldn't win a premiership without help from 21 team-mates.
Regards Cazzesman
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