BlueBlood15
All Australian
- May 25, 2020
- 641
- 3,242
- AFL Club
- Carlton
You are absolutely right BB. There’s nothing wrong with a coach pushing for a player to win now and the list management team wanting to take a longer term strategy.Personally, I don't see an issue with this. I'm sure some will.
The coach's job is to win games and, by extension, flags.
The list management team's job is to balance the immediate needs of the list with the future list strategy, and ensure that the finite resources (cap space, draft picks, list spots) are utilised efficiently.
There will naturally be times that the preferences of each department clash. Neither side is necessarily right by default either - maybe this is the year that an elite ball user will catapult us into a GF appearance, but maybe it won't and overcommitting resources to that signing will hamper us in years to come.
I expect there will be robust discussion between the two departments. The LM team has the final say, so the onus is on the coaching group to convince them. Likely outcome is some kind of compromise - where the LM team commit to trying to secure Houston is the price fits within certain parameters, and if not then they will work to draft or recruit an alternative player who potentially brings some of the same skills.
However, why such a tension may be problematic for us is that it needs to be resolved by a quality head of football who oversees both the coaches and the list management team. Unfortunately at Carlton we’ve got Brad Lloyd.