Adam Cerra vs Archie Perkins. What would you prefer your club to do?

[Soggy2112]

Geelong's policy is to pick local if we can.

The if we can part is important though I think. If you have two similar players of course you take the local boy, but if you thought Cerra was the best talent you still take him.

 

[CharacterFirst]

The if we can part is important though I think. If you have two similar players of course you take the local boy, but if you thought Cerra was the best talent you still take him.

Sure.

But we do tend to push it a bit past just two similar players as a choice. Some of our local picks are Wells Specials that don't always work out, and can even surprise supporters when they are drafted.

The club will phrase it as between two similar players (and it generally is), but we really do seem to look for local talent first, and if we miss them we track them closely and hunt them down later - Danger, Higgins, Henderson, Cameron, Dahlhaus, Junior, Rohan.

 

[Farm Boy]

I think you just back yourself and hope the players are cut from the old cloth. Every now and then you’ll get a mummy’s boy like Perkins, Wingard or Polec, but overall I think most players are willing to stay if provided the right environment.


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[Soggy2112]

Sure.

But we do tend to push it a bit past just two similar players as a choice. Some of our local picks are Wells Specials that don't always work out, and can even surprise supporters when they are drafted.

The club will phrase it as between two similar players (and it generally is), but we really do seem to look for local talent first, and if we miss them we track them closely and hunt them down later - Danger, Higgins, Henderson, Cameron, Dahlhaus, Junior, Rohan.

True, I guess that’s the luxury you have being such a strong well run club that you can fairly confidently say that players will want to come back, while also knowing that the need to get elite young talent in ASAP is not as urgent as it is for a bottom club.

 

[RAPPA]

Geelong's policy is to pick over 30s if we can.

EFA

 

[Bunk Moreland]

telling club that in an interview - sure its disappointing, but ok

going on national radio before the draft and announcing you have told clubs you want to stay in victoria - not ok

He was asked. He didn’t go on and make an announcement. The presenters obviously did their research.

Again, if you don’t want the answer, don’t ask the question.

Why do you want him to lie? A kid telling the truth about where he wants to play footy is a very strange thing to be “not ok”. It’s ridiculous.

 

[Soggy2112]

He was asked. He didn’t go on and make an announcement. The presenters obviously did their research.

Again, if you don’t want the answer, don’t ask the question.

Why do you want him to lie? A kid telling the truth about where he wants to play footy is a very strange thing to be “not ok”. It’s ridiculous.

Maybe the AFL needs to look at what you can and can’t ask players pre draft.

It’s one thing for a club to take the risk on a kid that is a good chance to want to leave, it’s another thing if it’s been blasted through the media that he doesn’t want to play for your club.

This isn’t a knock on Perkins btw, as you said all he did was answer questions honestly.

 

[74561347]

He was asked. He didn’t go on and make an announcement. The presenters obviously did their research.

Again, if you don’t want the answer, don’t ask the question.

Why do you want him to lie? A kid telling the truth about where he wants to play footy is a very strange thing to be “not ok”. It’s ridiculous.

yes, he was asked, but sometimes



he could have lied, or said what he said in a meeting with clubs is private. by coming out and saying what he did, and the afl taking no action, sets a precedent where this kind of thing is ok. if you go into a draft you accept the fact you could go anywhere in the country. now young kids just have to say on radio (if asked) that they want to stay in their home state and i told clubs that and the chances of you staying go up. very few clubs are going to take a risk on a top talent who might leave after 2 years.

im not angry at perkins, im angry that the afl did nothing about it.

 

[Tim Evans Beard]

Bit more to do with Fyfe then FFC.

 

[Inspecta Gadget]

I'm sure Sydney or GC would have preferred Perkins lie and then spend the entirety of his first contract planning his departure

 

[74561347]

I'm sure Sydney or GC would have preferred Perkins lie and then spend the entirety of his first contract planning his departure

im ok if they tell clubs they dont want to go there, you dont want to be screwed over.

if the media asks, lie or dont answer

 

[Soggy2112]

I'm sure Sydney or GC would have preferred Perkins lie and then spend the entirety of his first contract planning his departure

I think there is a difference between saying it in a private interview and in the public. It’s one thing to roll the dice that you can provide a good environment that a player will choose to stay in because you think they’re talented enough, it’s another to carry around the baggage of it in the media the entire time.

Who knows, Perkins may well have found that he actually loved being in Sydney (probably not Gold Coast if we’re honest) and stayed, and the Swans probably back themselves to provide that culture. If you listen to Dyl and Friends he talks all the time about how as a younger player he never would’ve thought about leaving Victoria and thought staying in Melbourne was the dream, but when he actually moved interstate to play it’s the best thing he did (admittedly different circumstances) and that more players should do it.

This isn’t a knock on Perkins either, he gave an honest answer to a direct question, but I feel the AFL needs to perhaps look at what constitutes draft tampering in this regard.

 

[faible]

yes, he was asked, but sometimes

View attachment 1216150

he could have lied, or said what he said in a meeting with clubs is private. by coming out and saying what he did, and the afl taking no action, sets a precedent where this kind of thing is ok. if you go into a draft you accept the fact you could go anywhere in the country. now young kids just have to say on radio (if asked) that they want to stay in their home state and i told clubs that and the chances of you staying go up. very few clubs are going to take a risk on a top talent who might leave after 2 years.

im not angry at perkins, im angry that the afl did nothing about it.

Perkins didn't come out and declare it post-interviews. It was leaked, he was then asked about it on-air in an interview, where he told the truth. If you listen to how he explained it, it was pretty boring.

Sure, clubs can take the chance on drafting a kid who's answered honestly that they don't feel like it would the best environment for them to move and back their system and culture to retain the kid. Sydney, West Coast & Port Adelaide seem to have a pretty good track record of this.

Or, you can decide that as one of a myriad of factors in assessing who you take, you take the player who doesn't have doubts about their ability to move interstate away from family and friends.

The whole Perkins thing was blown way out of proportion given it was always a response he gave to a question asked by a club interview, and he was one of a number of players considered to go in that 5 - 15 range of the draft after the clear Top-5 + JUH & Campbell academy selections.

 

[WilloTree]

It depends on the player. Brayshaw looking like a future captain. Games record-holders at Freo are Mundy (Vic) and Pav (SA).

I do agree with others on here that players need to stop with the 'just happy to be drafted' crap and be honest at the interview.

 

[Ambrosia]

It’s worth pointing out that Freo probably haven’t lost out on Cerra. They’ll get compensated well in a trade with multiple assets I’d expect.

What if Freo had overlooked Cerra for a local player lower on their draft board who turned out to be a bust?

As soon as you stray from picking the best available player on your draft board especially at the pointy end of the draft you’re opening yourself up to get burnt badly.

 

[Goosecat]

It's multi factorial obviously but as much as anything it comes down to the environment in and around the club IMHO and that can go through stages.
Brisbane went through a terrible stage of players wanting out, that's not the case now for example. If a club is going through a phase of losing numerous interstate players, I believe it is indicative of some underlying issues at the club, usually directly affecting the player group synergy. A tight playing group, usually end up supporting each other and wanting to stick together. There are exceptions obviously where genuine family issues or desires change etc but overall players will stay at clubs with a great synergy, where they truly feel included, supported and part of a tight "family" etc. That is mostly affected by player/club relationships and leadership.

 

[Tulip]

To sink a high draft pick, 4 years of development and resources into him only for him to play for another club is a bit of a joke, to put it lightly

I mean, Jesse walked from us to you around the same time frame. Weller walked from Freo to the Suns in similar fashion. Its only really a joke if you don't get currency/can't develop other players.

 

[HirdyLannister]

Saw the news about Cerra requesting a trade today. As a Freo supporter this incredibly frustrating and disappointing. To sink a high draft pick, 4 years of development and resources into him only for him to play for another club is a bit of a joke, to put it lightly. However the situation reminds me of the Archie Perkins story last year. Perkins came out and said he would prefer not to be traded interstate. If you're an interstate club on draft night and Perkins is at the top of your list on talent, do you just let him go to another club and pick the lesser player? What if Perkins is a future All Australian etc? You'd look pretty silly not to pick him. It's a bit of damned if you do, damned if you don't situation; burned either way. So I want to open up the discussion and see what bigfooty thinks. If you were a list manager on draft night and the kid you want most prefers not to be drafted to your home state, what would you do?

Unforeseen covid probably pushed Cerra to request a trade with dumb state premiers locking boarders and people can't see family freely.

 

[Chopperdave]

People were already talking about a Viney - Wines midfield on draft night because everyone was so sure Wines would be back in Melbourne in 2 years.

Wingard basically did what Perkins did to ensure he went to Port, not GWS, and what ends up happened... he moves to Melbourne.

So really it can go either way. I say pick the best player you can and back your club into keeping them.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

yes, he was asked, but sometimes

View attachment 1216150

he could have lied, or said what he said in a meeting with clubs is private. by coming out and saying what he did, and the afl taking no action, sets a precedent where this kind of thing is ok. if you go into a draft you accept the fact you could go anywhere in the country. now young kids just have to say on radio (if asked) that they want to stay in their home state and i told clubs that and the chances of you staying go up. very few clubs are going to take a risk on a top talent who might leave after 2 years.

im not angry at perkins, im angry that the afl did nothing about it.

The thing is... this sort of thing is ok. Whose possible ends does it serve for him to tell the truth privately and lie publicly? It's madness.

Kids will have their preference and they'll state it if asked. If it's not an issue then don't even ask the question. What... if a kid this year has a preference to stay home, you want to encourage him to lie by "not setting a precedent" publicly? I thought you wanted them to be honest privately?

It's pretty ridiculous to suggest that the footy public and everybody else can't handle it. If Perkins was drafted by West Coast he'd be playing for them right now. The rules of the draft are clear and there was never any suggestion he'd dodge them. He'd have to sit out of footy if he did, so the joke is on him.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Plus there'll always be plenty of kids who genuinely don't care and are happy to go interstate. All kids are wired differently.

Other kids have mates in the draft and you hear them say they'd love to go to the same club, no matter where it is.

Hell, I even remember from that draft doco back in the day that Ramanauskas (a top 10 pick) was telling clubs he preferred to go interstate! Must be an adventurous soul. Poor bastard wound up at Essendon, though he did win a flag.

 

[fsdgf]

I honestly don't know if Fremantle made the wrong choice at the time in drafting Cerra. If we hadn't had two COVID affected seasons, if he wasn't based in a state with the most extreme border protection and quarantine laws and if he and his girlfriend didn't have family in a state that is the most frequent target of those laws, I think he still would be playing for Fremantle. If he was completely against playing interstate, he would have requested a trade far sooner and it probably would have come up in his interview with the club.

The idea that WA teams shouldn't draft Victorians doesn't really hold water either. Look at Freo's best side. Serong, Brayshaw, Darcy, Mundy, Schulz, Ryan and Young are all vics. There's a fair few South Australians mixed in (Frederick, Cox, Aish) and Pearce is a Tasmanian. Granted a few of those are new to the club, but there isn't really any indication that they're just waiting for a chance to return home. There's only really talk around Lobb leaving right now, and he's a Western Australian. Darcy and Brayshaw for example both said they didn't even consider returning to Victoria when offered an extension.

Looking at the recent departures too, it's only really Cerra and Weller that left because they wanted to go home. Brad Hill was local and left because his girlfriend wanted to be back in Melbourne. Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

31

Ht

178cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

moved to a different state because he disliked attention in Perth and the culture in the club at the time.

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

Geelong's policy is to pick local if we can.

I heard Chris Scott interviewed a couple of years back and he said 3/4 of their list where from rural/regional areas across Australia, they actively target country kids.

They also target recruits who where local, ie
Danger, Rohan, Dahlhaus etc

Its a smart strategy to be honest, there a lot of areas surrounding in and around Geelong that are affordable and offer a good small town lifestyle.

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

My 2c on Cerra:

I empathise with the OP but my biggest beef is with the trading system, it’s an embarrassment.

2nd, 3rd, 4th year AFL players essentially have the same rights as a free agent, they can go to the club of their choice and that to me is wrong.

IMO free agency should be earnt, clubs should have full rights to a player for the first 5-6 years of their career. If good enough to get through that period, regardless of how many clubs they have played for, then they should have free agent rights.

Not after a couple of years because they miss home. Harden up.

Rant over

 

[bungalow_bill]

Playing finals is also pretty important if you're an interstate club taking on a Vic kid.

McCluggage also looked disappointed on draft night, but Brisbane have risen quickly since he's got to the club and he wouldn't dream of moving back while they're in their premiership window.

Hugh is also Vic country (less risk than metro) and we drafted his best mate Berry at the same time