Roos..Excellent coach, Lousy recruiter

[ernie koala]

[QUOTE=liz;429152]Malceski, Vez and Bird all have 200+ games written all over them, injuries permitting. And for many of the others it is far too soon to say they don't have 200 game potential.
QUOTE]

Bird was effectively a first round pick, Ves was a first round pick. ( Picked ahead of Rioli may I add). I'm not saying we haven't picked up any decent players, just it appears our cupboard of youngsters is less impressive than what I've seen of most other sides. I agree with Legs, too many left field gambles and too many taken on body shape and athletism...not enough natural footballers.

[mcs]

sounds like Ernie you have it all worked out.. perhaps you should give the Swans a ring and say you want to be the recruitment manager???

I'd like to see a proper breakdown of our youngsters vs. every other teams youngsters before such a general assumption is made as to how good or how bad our youngsters are. I'd be suprised if our is not at a similar level to at least say 1/2 the teams in the league. Granted others have had better runs with youngsters etc, but there are a lot of factors in play to say the least.

[ernie koala]

sounds like Ernie you have it all worked out.. perhaps you should give the Swans a ring and say you want to be the recruitment manager???

I'd like to see a proper breakdown of our youngsters vs. every other teams youngsters before such a general assumption is made as to how good or how bad our youngsters are.

Firstly I don't profess to have much about AFL recruitment worked out. I'm simply commenting on the fact there appears to be very little to get excited about in our recent recruits, going on this preseason, compared to other clubs. Of course this may well change, and some of our young players may blossom, I don't read the future, I'm commenting on what I'm seeing and reading. An example: have a look at how well many youngsters played for Adelaide on Friday, they had plenty of guys putting their hand up for senior sellection. Who put their hand up for the Swans? .... all veterans, not one kid. Same can be said for the previous preseason games.
I don't appreciate your simplistic snipe, that my commenting on our recruiting somehow means I think I know it all, I don't, but I will continue to comment on what I see, that's what this forum is for.

[Nico]

Firstly I don't profess to have much about AFL recruitment worked out. I'm simply commenting on the fact there appears to be very little to get excited about in our recent recruits, going on this preseason, compared to other clubs. Of course this may well change, and some of our young players may blossom, I don't read the future, I'm commenting on what I'm seeing and reading. An example: have a look at how well many youngsters played for Adelaide on Friday, they had plenty of guys putting their hand up for senior sellection. Who put their hand up for the Swans? .... all veterans, not one kid. Same can be said for the previous preseason games.
I don't appreciate your simplistic snipe, that my commenting on our recruiting somehow means I think I know it all, I don't, but I will continue to comment on what I see, that's what this forum is for.

Well said Ernie.

[mcs]

Fair enough Ernie when you put it in those terms.

But my point (And I apologise for the swipe, as always the sarcastic overtures don't really work particulary well on the net and I should of reviewed it before I posted it anyway) is that there is a far amount of ground between saying that there appears to be little to get excited about with our recent recruits and saying that Roos and co are lousy recruiters full stop.

Its drawing a bit of a long bow imo to conclude that unless you are willing to delve into it properly and show that there is significant evidence to support it. I'm not doubting that it could possibly be the case, but there is just so much more to factor in when considering the progression of younger players into the AFL then solely whether we recruited well or not. It is an important factor no doubt, but its not one that you can simply analyse in isolation without considering a lot of other ones as well.

[ernie koala]

But my point (And I apologise for the swipe, as always the sarcastic overtures don't really work particulary well on the net and I should of reviewed it before I posted it anyway) is that there is a far amount of ground between saying that there appears to be little to get excited about with our recent recruits and saying that Roos and co are lousy recruiters full stop.

Apology accepted.
If you read my first post, I said Roos and co's recruiting," had been ordinary at best, lamentable at worst". I stand by that.
The thread heading is just that...a heading for discussion.
The essence of what I'm saying is, recruiting is vitally important, we have a team of well paid coaches and recruiters to do the job, they need to be scrutinised, just like players are, for their performance. Looking at the drafting and trading generally, do you really think the Swans have recruited well over the past 6 years ??

[The Big Cat]

Drafting O'Keefe in the 06 draft is probably the worst decision made from a drafting sense since Roos has been at the helm. He wasn't expected to go in the first round so it makes you wonder why they took him. He wasn't one of the better performers in the under 18 carnival that year. I really don't know what they saw in him.

He's been injured virtually since he arrived. He had the most possessions in the U18 comp the year he was drafted. Give him a go! When he's played for a year uninterrupted and proves to be no good then we'll judge.

[Xie Shan]

I think we thought we were closer to another flag in 2007 than we actually were.

It's understandable, given we were a point away from going back-to-back (which was a bloody brilliant effort given we really did come from nowhere to win it in 2005), and I didn't get to see much of us that season, but I'm not sure we were THAT good in 2006 as we only just scraped into 4th?

[thejones,s]

He's been injured virtually since he arrived. He had the most possessions in the U18 comp the year he was drafted. Give him a go! When he's played for a year uninterrupted and proves to be no good then we'll judge.

But the question is how long can the club afford to hang onto kids that may or may not eventuate as half decent senior players. i get tired of seeing how well other clubs pick in the drafts yet we seem to have this she'l be right mate mentallity..

[goswannie14]

But the question is how long can the club afford to hang onto kids that may or may not eventuate as half decent senior players. i get tired of seeing how well other clubs pick in the drafts yet we seem to have this she'l be right mate mentallity..

But for every success story at other clubs there are a number of kids who don't make the grade either. In the other thread about young kids underachieving, there is a list of those taken after O'Keefe in the draft. Someone commented on the amount of talent there. On the flip side is the fact that the majority of those on that list I have never heard of and probably will not play more than a handful of games at senior level. The draft is a lottery, sometimes you pick a winner, the majority of times you don't.

[thejones,s]

Maybe so ,,but we constantly rely on our ageing senior list to get us home where as other clubs seem IMO to pick and pick well,,,take a look at the way we kick goals or lack of them epsecially on the run ,dont mention how badly we go on set shots..yet other clubs seemily have a never ending suypply of talented players both young and old that hardly miss shots particurlary on the run..

[Dalai Lama]

roy boy

As an old Roy Boy Roos knows how to pick a team for a belting. Maybe he's setting up such a squad?

[ernie koala]

The draft is a lottery, sometimes you pick a winner, the majority of times you don't.

I keep reading this view that the draft is a lottery.. If this is so, why does every club in the league waste so much money on recruiting staff, and countless hours researching potentual recruits???? .. The answer is.. because the best recruiters, and recruiting stategies, get it right more often than wrong, and give their club an advantage.
Every club will make DOK type blunders and Mal type jackpots, the trick is to get the ratio of success over failure higher than most of the other clubs. I don't think the Swans have done this in recent times.

[liz]

Every club will make DOK type blunders and Mal type jackpots, the trick is to get the ratio of success over failure higher than most of the other clubs. I don't think the Swans have done this in recent times.

I am starting to wonder whether 2005/6 really happened. Maybe it was all just a dream.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Drafting O'Keefe in the 06 draft is probably the worst decision made from a drafting sense since Roos has been at the helm. He wasn't expected to go in the first round so it makes you wonder why they took him. He wasn't one of the better performers in the under 18 carnival that year. I really don't know what they saw in him.

Maybe it was the breathtaking mullet?!

Daniel O'Keefe's hair do is up there with Frazer Gehrig's in the category 'ski jump'.

I'm still surprised the club has never really tried to draft tall defenders both internally & externally. It has been our major Achilles heel since we won the flag & is only going to get worse as Craig Bolton & the Lewis Moppet-Thompson get older & slower. Mattner & Richards were ready made aquisitions who have largely been successful. But we are still wafer thin on the ground for tall defenders. Am not convinced about Grundy at all. He is a forward pocket/half forward played chronically out of position.

JF