Opinion Commentary & Media VIII

[The Warlord]

There was no chance we weren't taking Horne. He basically would've had to admit to having killed a man for us to go off him. The club left him to room with CCJ in its worst year since the 60s, he behaved like a right little weasel from about R8 onwards, it was a match made in shitsville. Can we please leave it in the rear view mirror

Yep, this - its water under the bridge

 

[Colby Cheer Squad]

I must've missed all the BF experts screaming "due diligence" while they were salivating over his SANFL finals in 2021. Sometimes, I'd guess, you have to roll the dice on any character concerns if you think they're the best player. The return we eventually got from his trade was worth more than the next layer on our board in 2021.

I dare say, if we'd taken Adelaide's pick trade offer and then offered up the excuse to supporters that we'd done our due diligence and didn't think JHF was a good cultural fit, supporters, including myself, would have stormed the castle. We were all in on JHF, all of us.

 

[Black Diamond]

Sorry, but moronic is trying to blame the club for JHF's behaviour.

If he was a speculative pick in the 60's and went off the rails after one season, then you can accept that.

High risk, high reward....

But you expect Pick 1's to carry themselves differently. Pick 1's are supposed to be high character, super professional and future captains.

Not whinging undisciplined and unprofessional, who dont follow team rules.

That is on JHF himself, not the club.

A pick in the 60s would actually be low risk-high reward.

It is all well and good to say pick 1 should be this and that, but JHF never had those qualities. That is on us for drafting him.

 

[toepoker]

A pick in the 60s would actually be low risk-high reward.

It is all well and good to say pick 1 should be this and that, but JHF never had those qualities. That is on us for drafting him.

Have you seen him play? Who would you have drafted instead to guarantee a better overall outcome for us?

 

[Black Diamond]

Have you seen him play? Who would you have drafted instead to guarantee a better overall outcome for us?

The point if we’re drafting someone like that, we need to put the proper guardrails around.

Just assuming he would act like Sheezel for example is really naive.

 

[North1411]

A pick in the 60s would actually be low risk-high reward.

It is all well and good to say pick 1 should be this and that, but JHF never had those qualities. That is on us for drafting him.

I disagree, there are basic professional standards he just did not meet. Possible we should have picked up on those traits in the interviews before hand, but there was no noise of that from anywhere before the draft. He just made a plan to dog us and he executed it

 

[Passmore]

There was no chance we weren't taking Horne. He basically would've had to admit to having killed a man for us to go off him. The club left him to room with CCJ in its worst year since the 60s, he behaved like a right little weasel from about R8 onwards, it was a match made in shitsville. Can we please leave it in the rear view mirror

The housing situation wasn’t ideal. But he (or Team HF) wanted nothing of being put in with a family. What can you do?

 

[Black Diamond]

I disagree, there are basic professional standards he just did not meet. Possible we should have picked up on those traits in the interviews before hand, but there was no noise of that from anywhere before the draft. He just made a plan to dog us and he executed it

You’re not contradicting my point.

 

[Colby Cheer Squad]

I disagree, there are basic professional standards he just did not meet. Possible we should have picked up on those traits in the interviews before hand, but there was no noise of that from anywhere before the draft. He just made a plan to dog us and he executed it

We can never really know if he planned to dog us all along. That may well be the case but he could also have come over with the best of intentions and it just didn't work out. It's perfectly feasible that he just didn't cope with moving interstate away from family for the first time. The fact that he was number one pick and it was assumed that he would be better prepared is of no consequence. It would surprise no-one if, say, an 18 year old indigenous kid taken in the rookie draft from NT, WA or SA struggled to settle in Melbourne without family around him for the first time in his life. Why should football talent have anything to do with a kid's ability to adapt to a strange new environment?

 

[Samsquanch]

I dare say, if we'd taken Adelaide's pick trade offer and then offered up the excuse to supporters that we'd done our due diligence and didn't think JHF was a good cultural fit, supporters, including myself, would have stormed the castle. We were all in on JHF, all of us.

Not everyone.

Not to say I wasn't hoping we'd draft him (I was on board with that) but I couldn't see anything worthy of pick one in any game he played for North. Sure, a few good kicks, a cameo here and there and glimpses of a good footballer, but I was having serious doubts about my eyesight when I saw how some people here rated him after some small positives mixed in amongst some miserable efforts. I am absolutely certain I didn't post anything here that indicated any enthusiasm for him.

And I admit, my wife was complaining about him by round 2. She was right.

 

[LuvtheKangas]

Not everyone.

Not to say I wasn't hoping we'd draft him (I was on board with that) but I couldn't see anything worthy of pick one in any game he played for North. Sure, a few good kicks, a cameo here and there and glimpses of a good footballer, but I was having serious doubts about my eyesight when I saw how some people here rated him after some small positives mixed in amongst some miserable efforts. I am absolutely certain I didn't post anything here that indicated any enthusiasm for him.

And I admit, my wife was complaining about him by round 2. She was right.

Come on, he's proven many times over at Port that he was a worthy pick 1. He didn't show his best with us, sure - I suspect because he had mentally checked out very early. But surely it's obvious that he has pick 1 talent.

 

[LB2Snake]

Come on, he's proven many times over at Port that he was a worthy pick 1. He didn't show his best with us, sure - I suspect because he had mentally checked out very early. But surely it's obvious that he has pick 1 talent.

Was Finn Callaghan pick 2? I reckon he’s been just as good.

 

[LuvtheKangas]

Was Finn Callaghan pick 2? I reckon he’s been just as good.

Perhaps, even probably. Is it really the point, though?

 

[Hotham FC]

Was Finn Callaghan pick 2? I reckon he’s been just as good.

Pick 4 also goes pretty well. Yes, was only available to one team, surely deserved the #1 status.

 

[ferball]

Was Finn Callaghan pick 2? I reckon he’s been just as good.

Pick 3. He and mac Andrew would have been nice instead.

 

[LB2Snake]

Perhaps, even probably. Is it really the point, though?

I think so. I think Callaghan just as worthy as pick 1, as was Daicos. We clearly didn’t put enough time into Judas, as we would’ve worked out he had a tendency to be a petulant flog. That still hasn’t gone away with 2 further seasons of maturity.

 

[LuvtheKangas]

I think so. I think Callaghan just as worthy as pick 1, as was Daicos. We clearly didn’t put enough time into Judas, as we would’ve worked out he had a tendency to be a petulant flog. That still hasn’t gone away with 2 further seasons of maturity.

We knew Daicos was generational talent, and many suspected Darcy would be also (he is, IMO). Given those two were unavailable, I still think JHF was the clear number 1. Callaghan has surprised a little and his career to this point has been at least as good as JHF's. In the hypothetical situation of knowing what we know now, it's Daicos just a tiny bit ahead of Darcy, then a gap, then JHF and Finn = 3.

 

[Ball Dont Lie]

There was a poster here changed names a few times but most recently posted as Mav that had doubts on JHF and his desire to always go back to Adelaide.

 

[LB2Snake]

We knew Daicos was generational talent, and many suspected Darcy would be also (he is, IMO). Given those two were unavailable, I still think JHF was the clear number 1. Callaghan has surprised a little and his career to this point has been at least as good as JHF's. In the hypothetical situation of knowing what we know now, it's Daicos just a tiny bit ahead of Darcy, then a gap, then JHF and Finn = 3.

Agree re Daicos and Darcy, but disagree re JHF. I think, even since then, the person the individual is has become even more important. JHF has shown that he isn’t/wasn’t mature enough to be the clear number one. I’d still have traded pick 2 this year with GWS for Finn, if it was a possibility. JHF might do some amazing things, but he also does some unbelievably selfish things, that cost his team goals. So his good somewhat gets undone by his bad. He’s got sensational ability, beautiful player in full flight, but by god he does some sh!tful things on the field as well. He’s not a patch on Harley Reid IMO. There’s a clear number 1.

 

[amaz199]

However, I like to stick it in to the leadership group, particularly Jy and Luke as often as possible. I think they have been an absolute disgrace to our club.

Now look Jy and Luke haven't been what we'd hoped, but this is pretty strong language on two players who have been subjected to utterly horrendous mismanagement of the football department to say the very least.

Jy has been concussed multiple times now and may not play midfield full-time ever again because of it (let's not forget he was our best player for a pretty long stretch when we gutted the list). Lmac is the last player left from our finals years and unfortunately got very little (if any) player development work until Shaw gave him something to work with up the ground (and won a B&F from it). At this point, all we can do is hope Lmac becomes a serviceable player (whether that's in the VFL or AFL).

Whip them as much as you like, but calling them a disgrace is disgraceful. They've been through horrific times and went through a rebuild whilst they couldn't go outside to get fresh air.

 

[spurs]

Like intervening so the kid isn't eating uber eats for dinner every night for several months...

Living the dream

 

[North1411]

You’re not contradicting my point.

To clarify then, he was not a high risk high reward pick. He was the clear number 1 pick outside of Daicos who was not available to us. We made no mistake in the pick, no red flag was raised by anyone before the pick. The bigger risk was not picking him. Even in hindsight, I am happier trading him 1 year later essentially for wardlaw rather Adelaide's pick that year, Rachele

 

[LB2Snake]

To clarify then, he was not a high risk high reward pick. He was the clear number 1 pick outside of Daicos who was not available to us. We made no mistake in the pick, no red flag was raised by anyone before the pick. The bigger risk was not picking him. Even in hindsight, I am happier trading him 1 year later essentially for wardlaw rather Adelaide's pick that year, Rachele

There was something about we’d only met him for the first time just prior to the draft wasn’t there?
You’d assume we’ve been a lot more diligent when practically investing a million dollars in a prospect. I reckon these days, you meet a young JHF there’s no way he’s a pick 1.