Rioli (vs Vez)

[eggbeater]

Was just about to create a new thread, until I saw this.

What a ripper season Rioli has had. Works hard, tackles hard AND scores the occasional goal - which passes the criteria of being a Swan's forward.

Got me wondering, IF we had taken Rioli instead of Vez, would he have played in seniors this year and how much of an impact would he have had with us?

A lot of hypotheticals and what ifs.

In hindsight, we would of taken Rioli instead? (Admittedly havent seen Vez play and I know that you can't really compare them until Vez plays seniors)

[Dogzbody]

Agree partly with Bedford....the CBR comp is not the place to be fostering stars of the future, I know I live here (and Hird and Bolton dont count, as they could have played on Mars and still been awesome).

Hopefully the introduction of the 2nd Sydney team will offer the opportunity for a stronger local comp to develop.

On Ves, sit tight...he'll be awesome.

[AnnieH]

All I know about Vez is that all the young girlies think he's hotter than hot (quite rightly).

Can he play firsts footy?
More the question is will he get a chance to play before at least 2010?

[mcs]

I love these threads- pop up nearly every year "Why didnt we pick up *Insert young player having a great year name*. Its simple- the draft is more about luck then shrewd planning.

You can go and watch all the potential draftees as much as you want and apart from the top few who most years turn out to be very good afl standard players, you are pretty much taking a punt on who you pick. Hawthorn got lucky and got a player in Rioli who has slotted in straight away and is doing well, but who knows Vez might turn out to be 10x the player he is or might turn out to be an absolute dud who can't even make it in the Canberra league.

Thus imo, threads like this are totally pointless as its all hypotheticals and what if's. You cant say oh we'd take Rioli if we had another go- who knows what would happen? Maybe Freo wouldnt have picked up Rhys Palmer and we could of got him etc etc etc!

[Plugger46]

Impossible to judge for at least another 2 years.

[Donners]

Geez, if we're going to go through all the players we missed with draft picks, it'd be a long list. Same with every club.

[hammo]

Impossible to judge for at least another 2 years.

This is true and certainly judgment should be reserved until Vesz has a few games under his belt.

Certainly for the Hawks Rioli has been the perfect pick up for them as he slotted into the one position they needed to fill. Apart from being a dynamic player anyway, that is the chief reason he's playing in his first year.

[Mr Magoo]

Geez, if we're going to go through all the players we missed with draft picks, it'd be a long list. Same with every club.

What about that Goodes bloke that went at No 55 a few years back ? A few clubs missed him (more than once if he went at 55).

[AnnieH]

What about that Goodes bloke that went at No 55 a few years back ? A few clubs missed him (more than once if he went at 55).

As MCS said, the draft is more about luck than shrewd planning!

We were EXTREMELY lucky with that little draftee.

[Chookbilly]

not to mention a certain Ryan O'keefe who we picked up at about pick 60 (from memory).

Not a bad little effort that.

[ScottH]

not to mention a certain Ryan O'keefe who we picked up at about pick 60 (from memory).

Not a bad little effort that.

56

[hammo]

Malceski at 64, taken in 2002, is probably our last genuine smokey that has come off. In the wake of Goodes and O'Keefe lies a miriad of careers that never got going including Matthew Davis and Andrew Ericksen.

Roos has demonstrated enough times, and also said it publicly, that the draft is a lottery. But he's tried to apply some science to it be steering clear of KPP players for early picks. Instead we place an enormous importance on the rookie list to develop talent and use "shrewd" late picks to go for a Jesse White for example. It remains to be seen if this policy would remain should be get a top 5 pick.

However I wonder if our aversion to the draft is simply a smokescreen for the fact we aren't any good at it. Roos said (I think before the last draft) that we needed to draft more skillful players. Had we chosen more wisely in the past could our current problem of having woeful skills through the midfield have been averted?

Under Paul Roos, the following are our first draft picks and the number of games they've played.

2002 - Jarrad McVeigh (pick 3) - 98 games
2003 - Josh Willoughby (16) - 0
2004 - Jarred Moore (31) - 26
2005 - Matthew Laidlaw (51) - 1
2006 - Daniel O'Keefe (15) - 0
2007 - Patrick Veszpremi (11) - 0

It's hardly an inspiring record. Obviously there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account such as the premiership, and injuries to Laidlaw in particular. But in comparison to the rest of the AFL, Sydney would probably get the least number of games out of its top draft picks. Hopefully Vesz can buck the trend.

Not sure if this proves anything - and I'm certainly not trying to bash Roos - but it does make for some interesting reading.

[Old Royboy]

Later round draft choices are always a lottery, the bigger the draft number, the longer the odds get of picking a winner. But right now I am pretty comfortable with the high picks the Swans made in 2006 - Currie at 49, Faulks at 65 and White at 79. Plenty of potential in all three.

[floppinab]

the clear answer is that we already have a highly talented small forward, that bloke we picked up from the Pies...... what's his name...........

[Triple B]

What about that Goodes bloke that went at No 55 a few years back ? A few clubs missed him (more than once if he went at 55).

43, but don't let facts stand in the way of a good argument though.

As for Rioli v Vespa. Rioli has been good no doubt and his game against the Cats was awesome

BUT

I've seen plenty of both this year and I can honestly say that I wouldn't swap if we had the chance today. And I've got a funny feeling Vespa may make his debut this week.