News Media Thread, 2023: Insightful, Inciteful and Incomptent

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Got to laugh with the HUN and Chris Cavanagh. His draft article today is headlined “”Defender linked to Dons, could Curtin go No. 1”

read the article and Chris reveals

1. The Drug Rats are keen on O’Sullivan and unless they are trading up, all power rankings and mocks I’ve seen have him off the board before they get to pick

2. No other source on Curtin other than quoting Jason Bendover (Curtin’s manager) from the SEN interview that in his mind - Curtin is a generational talent. His only reference to a club in Hawks at 4 and Dees at 6.

So for those bagging the Worst Australian, it is right up there with the HUN
 

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2. No other source on Curtin other than quoting Jason Bendover (Curtin’s manager) from the SEN interview that in his mind - Curtin is a generational talent. His only reference to a club in Hawks at 4 and Dees at 6.
Headline should read

"Man With Vested Interest Says Thing"
 
I hate to ask, but does anyone have access to the following two articles: My attempts at using 12ft Ladder and other sites to avoid paywalls fails on code sports 😥

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First article

All the talk leading up to this AFL national draft has been about whether West Coast will blink and trade the number one draft pick that would give them Harley Reid, to get their hands on multiple picks, one of which would get them local boy Daniel Curtin.
What West Coast should be considering is whether they would be able to cash in next year’s first round draft pick and get their hands on both Reid and Curtin this year.

They should certainly be considering it if the late mail on the draft is right and Curtin slides from where he was in reckoning two months ago, as high as pick three and no lower than five, to where recent predictions have him which is no higher than six and as low as nine.

The biggest question West Coast must answer is whether they can find a trading partner for a deal that gets them high enough in the draft to give them confidence they would secure Curtin.

We might have to wait until draft night to know because “high enough” really should be very high in this draft. When you look at list requirements, why would North Melbourne with Ben McKay gone and Griffin Logue rehabilitating a knee reconstruction, walk past Curtin with one of their top five picks?

Hawthorn are next at pick four and could certainly use a tall intercept defender, as could the Western Bulldogs at five if Curtin got that far.

One of the more extraordinary things that happens around draft time is the risers and sliders effect in the perceived draft order. It starts happening after the kids have actually finished playing footy and pundits and perhaps some recruiters start talking themselves into and out of how good some kids are.

When Curtin graduated from colts to league football late in the season at Claremont after comfortably being Western Australia’s best player at the National Under 18 titles, he was, if anything, rising through the draft order towards the top three.

He played six league games including two finals. His debut, a 21 disposal effort against eventual Premier East Fremantle, was later described by one good judge at Claremont as “as good a league debut as you would wish to see”.

He followed that with 20 disposals against beaten Grand finalist Peel the following week when Peel had 11 Fremantle listed players on the park.

And the solid senior form continued all the way until the first semi final loss against Subiaco at Leederville Oval when, it must be said, Curtin looked a little tired.

He had every right to be tired. He had a massive 2023 football program and it had come off a season in which he had barely played at all.

In 2022 a finger tendon injury all but wiped out his season. But he was still picked to play in a grand final curtain raiser where he was judged best on ground in a game which showcased the best 17 year old talent in the country.

Curtin regrouped to have 23 disposals for Claremont in their colts grand final win against Perth on a day when he copped more opposition attention than teammates.

History has taught clubs some very harsh lessons about overlooking quality tall talent in AFL drafts.

The player Curtin is often compared to is Fremantle champion Matthew Pavlich. Pavlich had starred in SANFL senior football in his draft year of 1999 but a moderate National under 18s carnival saw him slip to pick four in the draft.

Richmond took Aaron Fiora at pick three – a selection that didn’t age well. Five years later the Tigers opted for Richard Tambling at pick four ahead of Lance Franklin at pick five – that didn’t age well either.

Almost 20 years and three premierships later you can discuss these picks with a Richmond fan without them microwaving their membership and heading off for counselling but it took a while.

Jack Riewoldt (pick 13 in 2006), Charlie Curnow (pick 12 in 2015), Aaron Naughton (pick 9 in 2017) and Oscar Allen (pick 21 in 2017) all slid further down the draft order than they should have and several of the clubs that looked in a different, often smaller direction, now wish they hadn’t.

Curtin’s manager, TLA’s Jason Dover went on SEN radio this week to proclaim his client the best talent to come out of WA in 10 years. Dover said the Eagles wouldn’t lose anything if they overlooked Reid with pick one and took Curtin instead.

That may be a manager speaking from the heart or it may be a manager, bemused by Curtin’s slide in draft reckoning post season, sticking up for his boy.

Either way it was no small statement. Fremantle’s Luke Jackson is one of the players Dover manages and has seen come through the WA system in the past decade.

It will be fascinating to see how twitchy the Eagles recruiting team gets on draft night if Curtin somehow drifts beyond Hawthorn’s first pick.

And it will be equally fascinating to see if a club is willing to take the bait if it is offered.

A club’s fortunes can change dramatically in 12 months but how many AFL insiders would bet on the Eagles winning more than seven games next year? Not many.

And if we use that as a guide then the last decade tells us that the Eagles ladder position next year is likely to be 13th at the absolute highest and more likely somewhere south of that. Which would put their draft position somewhere inside the top five and possibly at the very top again.

From West Coast’s perspective there is no West Australian currently ranked anywhere near the top five in 2024 draft reckoning.

So the discussion this year – about whether they could draft and retain Reid, a young Victorian, would be a discussion again next year. They could accelerate their rebuild by drafting a key strategic component – an intercept defender – now instead of waiting to see what’s around next year.

Is it doable? Not necessarily, perhaps not even likely. But it is certainly a lot more likely to be doable than North giving up the second and third best kids in the country to get their hands on the best, which is the current price tag the Eagles have on Harley Reid’s head.

Second article is by Jon Ralph but you asked for it

series of terrible on and off-field decisions have turned West Coast from the game’s most respected club into a veritable punching bag.
A club that worked so hard to shed the bad boy reputation by overhauling its culture lifted the 2018 premiership.

Then amid the calamity of Covid-19 the Eagles endured the hub shemozzle and Jack Darling’s vaccine delays and finally hit rock bottom.

Somehow despite seven wins in the past 54 encounters Adam Simpson kept his job as Don Pyke replaced CEO Trevor Nisbett and a heap of football positions were turned on their head.

Put simply the Eagles have lost respect through the men’s and women’s program.

So for Simpson and Pyke the climb up from the deep pit of despair will be gradual but also long.

So time to start making a series of bold, innovative decisions for a club pitched as arrogant and out of touch.

TRADE PERIOD

Rating: 6/10

The question is not about the quality of the inclusions, it is whether the Eagles needed something more radical given their talent issues.

But they kept all their established, highly-paid stars - Darling, Barrass, Dom Sheed, Liam Duggan, Andrew Gaff, Jeremy McGovern and Elliot Yeo - and went for smart acquisitions.

They held out despite Fremantle’s interest in Tyler Brockman and should get 150 quality games out of the quicksilver small forward from Hawthorn after giving up only 44 and 63.

The Matt Flynn ruck acquisition might be one of the best value decisions of the free agency period.

The GWS ruckman is only 26 and ranked elite for hitouts to advantage and won 3.7 clearances a game before the Kieren Briggs steam train took all in its path, shunting him back into the VFL.

Both should improve the Eagles, and yet if they take Harley Reid their current draft hand is 1, 23 and 37.

Clubs bounce back taking multiple early picks in multiple drafts - sometimes as many as five picks within 30.

As we speak they need three Harley Reids, not a single player as their saviour.

LIST HOLES

Let’s talk glass half full.

The Eagles seem light years away from competing again because Shannon Hurn, Luke Shuey and Nic Naitanui are all gone, Elliot Yeo is injury prone and Andrew Gaff is a shadow of his former self.

But if the Eagles can finally overcome their injury issues on paper their team is passable.

The very best forward line on paper has talls Oscar Allen, Jake Waterman, Jack Darling and smalls Liam Ryan, Tyler Brockman, Jamie Cripps and Noah Long (with Jack Petruccelli and Jai Culley as depth).

The best defence has talls Jeremy McGovern, Tom Barrass, Rhett Bazzo and mediums and smalls including Alex Witherden, Brady Hough, Tom Cole, Jamaine Jones and dasher Jayden Hunt with the club needing to replace Hurn’s class and poise.

The best midfield now has two good ruck options - Bailey Williams and Flynn - plus Tim Kelly, Yeo, Sheed, Duggan, Reuben Ginbey (playing an 80-20 midfield-defence split) and second-year mid-forward Elijah Hewett.

Every single decision Simpson makes must have a development focus.

And there are 25 players 25 and under who must make huge and rapid advances.

They include 186cm wingman Campbell Chesser (a rare high selection at pick 14), 202cm ruck Harry Barnett, 189cm defender Luke Edwards and mid-season picks Jai Culley and Ryan Maric.

So the club clearly needs running depth and another key position defender for the long-term to replace McGovern.

The problem for West Coast in previous years is they have so often been ravaged by injury and lacking in intensity.

But there are kids with talent.

DRAFT STRATEGY

West Coast has picks 1, 23, 37.

North Melbourne could be bluffing but believes the Eagles will hold onto pick one, having offered but been knocked back on an offer with one of pick 2 or 3 as well as two of selections 15, 17 and 18.

West Coast want picks 2 and 3 if they are to give up pick 1 but the Roos have ruled it out emphatically.

Hawthorn offered pick 4, Brockman and a future first-rounder but the Eagles declined.

Melbourne offered 6, 11 and a future first and the Eagles said no.

One recruiter said on Monday he would be “staggered” if the Eagles gave up Reid given a mandatory three-year deal and the reality he would be worth more next year anyway if he decided to return to Victoria.

The Eagles are interested in Gold Coast’s pick 24, so could find a way to get a third pick within 25 but rivals including Fremantle and Richmond are also keen on that pick.

In a perfect world there is a scenario that gets everyone what they want if only the Demons had some more draft capital.

In that scenario Melbourne gets pick 1 (and Harley Reid), West Coast shuffles back to pick 2 (and gets another top 10 pick) and takes local Daniel Curtin, and the Roos get picks 3 and 4 but get an additional early pick for shuffling back one spot.

But West Coast and the Roos would want the world to shuffle back, and the Demons have only 6, 11 and 42 this year and next year’s future first-rounder.

Rivals believe the Eagles are hugely keen on exciting home-grown goalsneak Lance Collard, an NGA talent linked to West Coast but certain to be taken in the top 25 picks where they lose access to him (they can’t bid on him inside 40).

The only benefit of splitting pick 1 is that it might give the Eagles the picks to take WA teens Curtin and Collard.

WHO’S UNDER THE PUMP

It is low hanging fruit, but Andrew Gaff needs to find a new string to his bow.

He was slightly better after being used as the sub in round 18 against Richmond - he had 30 touches and 376 metres gained against Carlton - but he is an accumulator who doesn’t damage with his disposal and lacks physicality.

The Eagles are aware he entered the season with an ankle injury that he played through but can a leopard change its spots at 31 years of age.

PREMIERSHIP WINDOW

The Eagles would seem unlikely to play finals again in the Adam Simpson reign.

McGovern, Gaff, Cripps and Darling are all 31. So they might all be gone in two years when the kids are emerging. It’s why the Eagles could still be 4-5 years from finals contention.

2023 PLAYER RATINGS AND A 2024 BOLTER

Tim Kelly (35th), Tom Barrass (69th), Bailey Williams (142nd)

Bolter: Jamie Cripps (157th)

CAP SPACE

West Coast rewarded its premiership stars and is only now easing the pain that it caused.

Shuey, Hurn, Kennedy and Naitanui’s cash is off the books but they all played for much less in their later years.

Gaff and Yeo are contracted for 2024 and Darling and Kelly are signed up to 2025, Kelly on a deal averaging $850,000.

Barrass has four years on a deal of $750,000.

So there is finally cap space to dangle a monster contract in front of a WA-raised talent at the end of 2024, but not as much as you would expect for a side that has won five games in two years.

TRADE TARGETS FOR 2025

Dogs ruckman Tim English is the obvious candidate as a WA-raised free agent (with the Dockers about to sign Sean Darcy) but would a player in a flag window really move for five years of rebuilding?

Sydney forward Logan McDonald has been linked to the Dockers but West Coast isn’t seen as a suitor yet.

To be honest the Eagles would need to make vast improvement to secure quality free agents by the end of next year.

TRADE BAIT

West Coast might be on the nose, but it just doesn’t lose players.

Only a handful over the last decade. So while Yeo will be out of contract he ignored suitors this year despite being injured at least once when Adam Simpson played him past a minutes-based restriction put in place to help him avoid more soft-tissue concerns.

So the Eagles will be confident of signing Duggan and out-of-contract ruck Bailey Williams aware Reid would be locked away to 2026 if they selected him.

WEST COAST CRYSTAL BALL
2024 FINISH
18th. The question isn’t whether they finish bottom two, it’s whether they can eke out six games with real development from some future stars.

2024 BEST AND FAIREST
Oscar Allen. Tim Kelly won by 37 votes this year. But Allen (53 goals) will hope to flip the script if he can get enough supply after his runner-up finish this year.

2024 LEADING GOAL KICKER
Oscar Allen. He kicked goals in every game except the Carlton clash and was remarkably accurate with 53.23. Can the Eagles open a finals window when the 24-year-old is at his peak?

PLAYER ON THE RISE
Reuben Ginbey. The Eagles gave up the No.1 pick - which could have secured Harry Sheezel or George Wardlaw - but the two-for-one deal secured flint-hard Ginbey and Hewett. For all his tackling prowess (5.9 a game) he still needs to win more easy ball after only 13.7 touches a game. He could still be anything.

PLAYER ON THE EDGE
Jack Darling kicked only 26.19 after entering the season with a syndesmosis issue and never quite hitting his straps. The pattern of the Eagles recent seasons has been the stars never quite getting fit or giving their best. Can he buck the trend?

random lurker we’re these the articles you were referring to?
 

AFL Draft 2023: Talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan says Harley Reid the most hyped draftee he’s ever seen​


AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan says he’s never seen a draftee more hyped than Harley Reid as the Victorian teenage marvel seems certain to land at West Coast.

The Eagles have retained the No.1 pick despite attempts from other clubs to land it in the picks-only trade period which ended at 2pm on Friday.

It means the Eagles will take the first pick on the first night of the draft on November 20 and almost certainly recruit Reid unless they live trade it when they are put on the clock.
Sheehan, who is seen as the foremost expert on draftees in the country, said Reid could not have done much more to prove himself as the elite talent he’s predicted to be.

“The amazing part with Harley is I haven’t seen anyone as hyped but he’s ignored the hype and he’s gone on with performance. And he’s an awesome prospect,” Sheehan told The West Australian.

“He’s performed in front of our eyes for virtually three years … he can’t have done much more.
“I think there will be massive upside in terms of his improvement when he gets into a professional environment, so he’s as exciting as I’ve seen in the history of drafting.

“The way Harley appeals to me as a boy that will just get on with it. Be patient fans that do watch him whether it’s at West Coast or anywhere else – don’t expect him to do it from game one.
“He’s a unique talent and can play at any spot on the ground, will influence the outcome of games and will be exciting to go and watch play.”

Asked whether he believed the Eagles should split the pick or take Harley, Sheehan said “There’s a line somewhere” but was unsure if another club would be willing to pay it.

“It depends on what someone is offering you,” Sheehan said.
“There’s no doubt he’d be taken as the first player but if someone is offering you three other picks in the first round and they’re early enough or even four – there has to be a line somewhere.

“If there are multiple picks on offer it might tempt you to take a group rather than one so that’s up for them to analyse and see what sort of offer might come.

“The beauty of this is it can happen on the night with trading, a package might come up that does appeal enough to cross that line that they have in their minds for what it’s worth.”
 
What do Fox Sports, the Hun, Sydney Tele and Codesports have in common? Apart from being mostly crap at sports reporting.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 

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First article



Second article is by Jon Ralph but you asked for it



random lurker we’re these the articles you were referring to?
Hey Keys, thanks heaps! The first one was, I thought Duffield had another one as well but yeah it might just have been this Ralf thing. Much appreciated :thumbsu:
 


At least they can't be wrong with this one


That bloke is a twit, looks like he’s lost all confidence now as he has been wrong about most things all season so is just making pointless articles about nothing or just copy and pasting from SEN. He’s getting an absolute bath on twitter😂
 
That bloke is a twit, looks like he’s lost all confidence now as he has been wrong about most things all season so is just making pointless articles about nothing or just copy and pasting from SEN. He’s getting an absolute bath on twitter😂

At least we have a replacement for Tom Browne's hot takes on Twitter now
 

There should be no separate category for AFL rookies | Graham Cornes​

The AFL has proved it doesn’t lack compassion — except when it comes to its rookies, writes Graham Cornes.


The AFL is a great organisation. It is the best professional competition in the country.
Apart from the obvious sporting entertainment it provides, the AFL, its clubs and its players give great inspiration and contribute immensely to social welfare.
A great number of charities benefit from the support of the AFL industry, be that by the AFL’s endorsement, or that of the clubs or individual players.
It can be argued that no other organisation has contributed more significantly to major social issues like reconciliation and gender inclusion than the AFL.
The point being made here is that the AFL as an industry does not lack compassion.
Why then, does it condone the bizarre and cruel treatment of the club’s rookie-listed players? Why do we even have a category such as “rookie”?
It seems that the only reason is that it allows clubs more access to players without having to pay then a fair wage and not have to adequately compensate them when they are summarily dumped as James Borlase was recently.

It’s not as though he had been languishing on the Crows list with no prospects of getting an AFL game. Borlase played the last four games of the season and looks ready to consolidate a position as a defender.
Given the Crows shortage of key defenders that seemed increasingly likely.
It might be some consolation that the Crows have said they will redraft him.
They cut Will Hamill too after 38 games and a good contribution from him in the second half of the season.
Adelaide has also told him they’ll redraft him – as a rookie – but that won’t ease the humiliation and the uncertainty.
The rookie contract comes with significantly less money and virtually no security.
Port Adelaide delisted three of its rookie-listed players: Trent Dumont, Brynn Teakle and Nathan Barkla.
They don’t seem as hard done by as Borlase and Hamill.
Trent Dumont has been in the system for 8 years now, having played over 100 games for North Melbourne. Brynn Teakle has had his injury problems and Nathan Barkla, having come from Woodville-West Torrens through Port’s next generation academy, never threatened for selection at AFL level.
Still, it’s tough to hear the words and realise that the dream may be over.
The AFL has never fully explained why there needs to be a separate category for rookies. Complicating it further, there are three different categories of rookies and those categories have been changed over the years.

Initially, back in 1997, there was a rookie draft which enabled clubs to list players between the ages of 18-23.
The rationale was that they could replace players who were struck down with a long-term injury.
Ten years later, the AFL introduced a mature-age rookie program for players over 23 who had not been previously drafted.
Three years later they removed any age restrictions.

We then had two categories of rookie: the category A rookie who was eligible for AFL selection; and a category B rookie who was eligible for AFL selection as a replacement for a player with a long-term injury.
Why the difference?

Then, following the concessions that had been granted to the teams in NSW and Queensland to establish Next Generation Academies, all clubs were allowed to establish Next Generation Academies, the objective of which is to increase the talent pool of indigenous and multicultural players.
James Borlase, by that strange quirk of fate was drafted through the Crows Next Generation Academy because he was born overseas.

Despite the sporting backgrounds of his famous parents, Jenny and Darryl, four-time Port Magpies premiership player and captain, the Crows were able to list him and select him through its Next Generation Academy.
Then the AFL introduced this much-criticised, and hopefully short-lived, mid-year rookie draft that so upsets our local competitions.
The one burning question that the AFL has never satisfactorily answered is: “Why do we need separate categories for rookies anyway?

AFL clubs are allowed a total list size of 44 players, including primary list and categories A and B rookies.

They are allowed a minimum of 36 and a maximum of 38 “primary-list” players.
If the primary-list consists of 36 players a club is allowed six category A rookies and two category B rookies.
If the club has the maximum 38 primary-list players they are allowed four category A rookies and two category B rookies.
Confused? Who wouldn’t be?

The only conceivable reason for such a complicated system is that it allows the clubs to pay the rookie less than a listed player.
In a system where the average wage is now over $400,000 it is a disgraceful exploitation of a footballer’s desperate ambition.
It would be much simpler and fairer if the AFL did away completely with rookie lists and increased the number of players a club can have on its primary list – and paid them appropriately.
Anyway, if the recruiters and list managers were doing their jobs properly they wouldn’t need a safety-net of rookie lists.
So many great players have emerged from rookie lists when they clearly should have been on a club’s primary list.

At the Crows, Rory Laird a three-time club champion was a rookie. Port’s retired captain, Tom Jonas, was a rookie, as was all-Australian Dan Houston.
Across the broader AFL competition some of the very best were rookies.
Six-time all-Australian Dean Cox was initially listed as a rookie, as was Brownlow Medallist, Matt Priddis. Premiership captain Nick Maxwell and the spiritual leader of the Swans in their 2005 premiership, Brett Kirk were rookies.
There is absolutely no justifiable reason to have a separate category.
All it does is allow a club to easily delist a player with little regard for consequence or expense.
Away from match-day, the toughest job a coach has is to tell players they are no longer wanted.

But coaches don’t always do it.
In this day and age of football managers, directors of football and list managers, the responsibility can fall to one of those club officials, but it should be done by the coach.
Some players accept the news in good spirit, realising that their time has come.
Others are angry and bursting with the frustration of not getting a “fair go”.
They leave seeking new opportunities at another club, determined to prove you wrong.

The toughest ones to handle are those whose emotions override control and break down. It’s understandable. Their dream has been shattered, sometimes unfairly taken away. AFL clubs today have counsellors to deal with mental trauma of being sacked from the job they love and have been well paid for.

Dr Dan Pronk, a retired army doctor who served five years in special operations, including four tours of Afghanistan, with more than 100 combat missions, spoke on Friday morning at the Military and Emergency Services Health Australia’s Remembrance Day Breakfast on the topic of transitioning from defence forces to civilian life.
Soldiers belong to their “tribe” and their need to belong is fulfilled.
One couldn’t help but make the comparison.
Footballers, or any athlete in a team sport, have a similar sense of belonging.
Suddenly it is taken away. If they are lucky they get a chance to say goodbye, but that doesn’t ease the trauma.
If they are really fortunate the club will re-list them as the Crows have told James Borlase and Will Hamill they will.
If they are worthy of relisting, they are worthy of a spot on the primary list.
There should be no separate category.
 
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