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I brought up Holmes for that exact reason. If we were going to take a bolter, it might have been nice to take the one who is now in All Australian discussions, just turned down multiple million dollar per season offers to stay at Geelong, instead of the guy who can’t get a game ahead of Harry Schoenberg, Sam Berry, Lachie Murphy, present day Rory Laird or Ned McHenry, and apparently was Nicks’ idea of a Tom Stewart stopper (note: Stewart played arguably the best game any defender has played this season).Pedlar/Holmes comparison is a weird one if you do care about those rankings. Both players were listed as 'Bolters' on the draft coverage. RookieMe listed Holmes as a potential late/rookie pick. Cal had Holmes as a surprise pick in the 20s.
The reason you bring up Holmes is he is maybe the only other option taken after Pedlar? Bruhn was not an option, Powell? Gulden at 175cm?
I think Pedlar was the right guy for us.
Pedlar has played 32 SANFL games and 30 AFL games in a tick over 3.5 years. Injury issues overstated?
And look, player development is clearly a major issue for us so if we had taken Holmes he’d probably be 1/4 the player he now is at Geelong, but still, look at the speed and endurance he has. Pedlar looks horrendous, and if anything has gone backwards in the last 24 months. To say his 32 AFL games have been a tick is staggering. Maybe 8-10 of those 32 have been of an acceptable standard. And his injury history, before even being drafted, was a blood red flag. He’s now running around missing targets at will in the SANFL, and quite frankly doesn’t deserve an AFL call up to the injury-ravaged 15th placed side that has no midfield.
Bruhn - sure there was a major go-home factor, but at least we would’ve gotten something back in a trade. If we traded Pedlar now we might get pick 45-50 if we’re lucky. Personally I think he’s heading for the delist pile at the end of his current contract. The only thing that might save him is just how terrible the rest of our list is.
As for others that we could’ve taken…
Tom Powell - has shown far more than Pedlar at the top level, despite some flaws in his game. Has passed 50 AFL games, despite every player on North’s list being a mid. And is from SA. Would be a starting stoppage mid for us right now and absolutely shits on all of Schoenberg, Berry, Pedlar and Laird.
Heath Chapman - list management wouldn’t be discussing Petty as a defensive option right now if we had this guy on the list. Solid as a rock.
Oli Henry - again, go home factor. Again, the trade haul would’ve been far better than owning Pedlar.
Finlay MacRae - looks a far more accomplished mid than Pedlar.
Obviously Holmes
Reef McInnes - I’d take him over Pedlar in a heartbeat, and we were heavily rumoured to be into him at the time (AND Twomey thought the Pies wouldn’t match the academy bid). Can play forward or as a mid. Has height.
Pedlar was a swing for the fences, high risk, potentially high reward pick. Unfortunately it hasn’t panned out, just like every other midfielder Hamish has ever drafted in the first round of any AFL draft in history.