- Banned
- #51
Threads like these are a good example of how sooky-la-la modern football fans have become.
There is only one thing that people respect: success.
It doesn't matter how it is attained.
Carlton, Collingwood and Richmond used to buy their way to premierships, pinching good young footballers from rival clubs.
In the 1970's, North milked the short-lived "10 year rule" to buy their first two flags, while Hawthorn cleaned up with their country recruitment zones.
Later on these five clubs (plus Essendon) were the leading Victorian clubs at plundering the talent from WA and SA.
Geelong always had the natural advantage of their semi-rural environment in attracting country boys who found the pace of Melbourne too difficult. They also had a goldmine of talent to draw upon from the Western Districts.
The "socialism" of the AFL/VFL (draft and salary cap) undermined these advantages to the top clubs and helped poor clubs like Melbourne, Footscray and St Kilda to compete with the big boys. They have received numerous top 5 draft picks and priority picks.
St Kilda's under Malcolm Blight and Tim Watson were massive under-achievers from 2000-2002. They should've been in the hunt for a top 8 finish in those years. Instead, they finished 16th, 15th and 15th and received great assistance at the draft table, plus they were able to use Butters' cash and their position in the Pre-Season draft to leverage themselves advantageous trades (Hamill, Gehrig, Lawrence, Powell, Gram, etc)
West Coast were gift-wrapped their flags in 1992 and 1994 when the VFL admin handed them the WA state team.
Both Adelaide and Port Adelaide hid a number of players away from their rivals when they first entered the competition - their flags of 1997, 1998 and 2004 were full of players from their initial lists from their inaugural season.
Brisbane received their pick of Fitzroy's list in 1997, plus they given extra salary cap space.
Sydney was also given extra salary cap space - the spuriously named "cost of living" allowance - which they used to recruit a number of good recruits as well as hold onto their stars.
People have said that Geelong have proved you don't need top draft picks to succeed, but this gives a false picture. As many people have said, Geelong have hit paydirt with the father son rule. Imagine their list without Gary Ablett, Nathan Ablett, Matthew Scarlett, Tom Hawkins and Mark Blake. Then throw in all of their top 8 picks: Jim Bartel, Joel Selwood, Andrew Mackie, Joel Corey and Steven King from the Supplementary Draft of 1994. Geelong have profited from the rules and bottom 8 finishes more than most people think.
Good luck to them and every other premiership side. I don't bring this up because I'm jealous or because I'm trying to detract from their successes.
To achieve the ultimate success, clubs have to build their list in whatever way they can.
Whether they have the "respect" of a handful of peanuts or sooks on Big Footy is irrelevant.
There is only one thing that people respect: success.
It doesn't matter how it is attained.
Carlton, Collingwood and Richmond used to buy their way to premierships, pinching good young footballers from rival clubs.
In the 1970's, North milked the short-lived "10 year rule" to buy their first two flags, while Hawthorn cleaned up with their country recruitment zones.
Later on these five clubs (plus Essendon) were the leading Victorian clubs at plundering the talent from WA and SA.
Geelong always had the natural advantage of their semi-rural environment in attracting country boys who found the pace of Melbourne too difficult. They also had a goldmine of talent to draw upon from the Western Districts.
The "socialism" of the AFL/VFL (draft and salary cap) undermined these advantages to the top clubs and helped poor clubs like Melbourne, Footscray and St Kilda to compete with the big boys. They have received numerous top 5 draft picks and priority picks.
St Kilda's under Malcolm Blight and Tim Watson were massive under-achievers from 2000-2002. They should've been in the hunt for a top 8 finish in those years. Instead, they finished 16th, 15th and 15th and received great assistance at the draft table, plus they were able to use Butters' cash and their position in the Pre-Season draft to leverage themselves advantageous trades (Hamill, Gehrig, Lawrence, Powell, Gram, etc)
West Coast were gift-wrapped their flags in 1992 and 1994 when the VFL admin handed them the WA state team.
Both Adelaide and Port Adelaide hid a number of players away from their rivals when they first entered the competition - their flags of 1997, 1998 and 2004 were full of players from their initial lists from their inaugural season.
Brisbane received their pick of Fitzroy's list in 1997, plus they given extra salary cap space.
Sydney was also given extra salary cap space - the spuriously named "cost of living" allowance - which they used to recruit a number of good recruits as well as hold onto their stars.
People have said that Geelong have proved you don't need top draft picks to succeed, but this gives a false picture. As many people have said, Geelong have hit paydirt with the father son rule. Imagine their list without Gary Ablett, Nathan Ablett, Matthew Scarlett, Tom Hawkins and Mark Blake. Then throw in all of their top 8 picks: Jim Bartel, Joel Selwood, Andrew Mackie, Joel Corey and Steven King from the Supplementary Draft of 1994. Geelong have profited from the rules and bottom 8 finishes more than most people think.
Good luck to them and every other premiership side. I don't bring this up because I'm jealous or because I'm trying to detract from their successes.
To achieve the ultimate success, clubs have to build their list in whatever way they can.
Whether they have the "respect" of a handful of peanuts or sooks on Big Footy is irrelevant.
