No more 'safe' drafting thanks

[Devil Fish]

Time to roll the dice and trade/draft to get PACE and SKILL into our list. In the last 2 drafts we have passed on Gary Rohan and Isaac Smith - guys who I would've thought were no- brainers to add to our list. Sure, the guys we drafted instead might end up being wise choices (and hall-of-famers if you believe all the hype here on BF) but gee, surely we just have to draft to cater for our needs rather than making 'safe' choices. 'Safe' choices will keep us competitive but not win us a flag. Just ask Laidley.

 

[Teffy]

What value is pace when crabs like Dempster and Polo are allowed to hang off blokes all night?

Forget pace, we need strength and mongrel.

 

[Scallop Industry Thug]

I say we need skill.

First 3 posts all say we need different things.

We are a fair way off.

 

[Shagga is all Class]

Atley, Speight, Richardson, MacMillan, Wright did not play last night. Or Anthony.

Harper and Mullet did.

It is not as if we do not have any pace or skill on our list.

Scott has chosen to play young mids and senior players down back in Rawlings, Firrito, McMahon and to a lesser extent Pratt.

Smith at pick 19 was hardly a bargain for a bloke who had played a handful of VFL games.

North would have had to be insane to not pick up Atley and Harper. They were exactly what we needed and we had already picked up Richardson with 35.

 

[Teffy]

Atley, Speight, Richardson, MacMillan.........did not play last night.

....and just about every one of them would have been better match ups for Milne and Schnieder.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

....and just about every one of them would have been better match ups for Milne and Schnieder.

You were posting on the main board about McMahon being considered for AA a couple of weeks ago. Now he has a shocker and it's "so and so would've been a better match up".

Sums you up as a poster to a tee.

 

[Kangalicious]

Did anyone else hear the angry North supporter caller to SEN tonight who called for Atley to be traded, based on his useless 12 possessions? I wasn't at the game, but I was impressed that Ats had managed a BOG up in Ballarat, and turned it round to make it to Docklands with enough strength to rack up 12.

Clearly delist.

 

[r_boy]

Time to roll the dice and trade/draft to get PACE and SKILL into our list. In the last 2 drafts we have passed on Gary Rohan and Isaac Smith - guys who I would've thought were no- brainers to add to our list. Sure, the guys we drafted instead might end up being wise choices (and hall-of-famers if you believe all the hype here on BF) but gee, surely we just have to draft to cater for our needs rather than making 'safe' choices. 'Safe' choices will keep us competitive but not win us a flag. Just ask Laidley.

Broken record... pound for pound we had way more pace ffs.

 

[Shagga is all Class]

....and just about every one of them would have been better match ups for Milne and Schnieder.

And all of the 8 players mentioned can play more than one position.

As can some of our small forwards.

As can some of our talls.

As can some of our mids.

People on this board have asked why we have Edwards, Warrren, McKinley which only lasted until Rd 1.

Can remember games this year we had Firrito, McMahon, Rawlings, Pratt in the same team.

 

[Teffy]

You were posting on the main board about McMahon being considered for AA a couple of weeks ago. Now he has a shocker and it's "so and so would've been a better match up".

Sums you up as a poster to a tee.

Unbelievably Distorted bordering on downright fabrication.

A person with a miniscule amount of perception would deduce that when I intimated that, "Scott McMahon would be in AA contention if he played in a midfield that didn't leak like a sieve", they would further draw the conclusion that there was resistance to the opposition ball moving the ball forward. They would then further deduce that the opposition ability to utilise pace would be somewhat hindered.

I stand by that comment 100 percent.

You are a classic example of the myopic football reactionaries that I combat around here on an unfortunately all too regular basis. Try as you might, you just don't have a clue.


White noise, delist.

 

[THRILLHO]

Pace is useless if you spend the whole night chasing the opposition's arseh*le because you can't hit a target 20m away.

 

[jezaroo]

Did anyone else hear the angry North supporter caller to SEN tonight who called for Atley to be traded, based on his useless 12 possessions? I wasn't at the game, but I was impressed that Ats had managed a BOG up in Ballarat, and turned it round to make it to Docklands with enough strength to rack up 12.

Clearly delist.

Lol, he must of caught the fast train

 

[Moti]

Pace is useless if you spend the whole night chasing the opposition's arseh*le because you can't hit a target 20m away.

Cunnington may be The only pick that might bite us on the bum as long as the midfield develops as expected. I can't see a spot for him ATM and he is a number 5. But drafts are overrated, I wouldn't trade any of our surplus to gain one of our needs.

 

[Teffy]

There'll be no worres with Cunners.

He's just another 12-18 months away, just like Jack and Spitta.

Flossys kid didn't appear to do much yesterday, but I would still consider him for a late pick. He can obviously clunk the thing.

Any reports for D-Macs kid at Princes Park this morning?

 

[Egga]

Against the top sides we seem to be competitive on contested possession (until we throw in the towel) but killed with turnovers and pace. Other than Harper, wells and boomer, I rarely feel comfortable as the ball is being delivered inside fifty. We have plenty of honest battlers but need to add speed and skill.

 

[CamTinley]

If you take Rawlings and Harvey out of the stats, North only had two players who averaged more than 20 possessions per game in 2011. That is your main problem (and Fremantle's ).

Finding the football is a skill just as much as hitting targets.

Since this is a drafting thread I think you should try to get Shane Tuck from Richmond. He's clearly on the outer there and will consistently get you 30 possessions per game.

If he is the difference between finishing 9th and in the finals it will be worth taking the punt even if you only get three/four years out of him. The experience of finals is important and you are not that far away obviously.

There is no way North can make the finals in 2012 with just two players averaging 20+ possessions per game, regardless of how "quality" those possessions are. Your competition in 2012 will have multiple midfielders averaging around 30 possessions per game (Collingwood, Carlton, Geelong, Hawthorn)

There are plenty of ball magnets in lower grades who could also improve things for you.

If North start winning more games, the umpiring decisions should start to swing in your favour and things should turn around pretty quicky. You have been absolutely shafted this season by the umpires and even more that your own supporters realize.

I backed North pretty heavily to finish ahead of Melbourne this season and also backed North to make the eight on Thursday, so I've been following NM very closely throughout the season.

 

[AGC]

Don't care about pace, just want a bloke that can hit a target.
The reason we are the Saints bitches is because they play that crappy 15 man flood stuff, and we just can't penetrate it. We kick poorly at blokes feat, over their head, or not on the advantage side. And when we turn it over our defence is left susceptible.
When we dominated the Saints last night, we were hitting our targets and carving them up. We lost it because of 15minutes of mind-boggilingly shit football, where we couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo, and they got the momentum back.

 

[John Dorian]

A Goddard like half back flanker would be nice, or just one with good skills and plenty of pace.

I think we have the midfielders we wanted now, over the next few years I think we will see the holes in the team filled, starting with defenders.

 

[DarwinRoo]

Time to roll the dice and trade/draft to get PACE and SKILL into our list. In the last 2 drafts we have passed on Gary Rohan and Isaac Smith - guys who I would've thought were no- brainers to add to our list. Sure, the guys we drafted instead might end up being wise choices (and hall-of-famers if you believe all the hype here on BF) but gee, surely we just have to draft to cater for our needs rather than making 'safe' choices. 'Safe' choices will keep us competitive but not win us a flag. Just ask Laidley.

How was Atley a safe option? Jesus Christ you are pathetic. Alrighty hating on the kid because we didn't draft the person you wanted.

And while you are at it explain what Ronald MMcDonald has done?

 

[scottywiper]

Tell me some Freo fan did not suggest we get Shane Tuck.

 

[Daz]

Cunners was a safe pick.

Atley, Bastinac and Black were sliders.

Harper was not a safe pick.


Our drafting recently has been good. We've been lucky that the sliders have usually fitted our needs as well.


To the Freo fan talking about 20+ disposals getters, we have Swallow and Wells who everyone knows about. Ziebell, taking out the injury game, has averaged 25+ a game in the second half of the year. Adams and Bastinac are also currently going at 19 a game each.

I expect improvement in the numbers of Bastinac and Greenwood next year, I hope Liam Anthony returns to his pre-injury form and I'm fairly certain Cruize Garlett can find plenty of the ball at AFL level. Throw in improvement from the youngsters Cunnington and Atley and I don't think we'll have much trouble finding the footy. Disposing of it is going to be another thing.

 

[Teffy]

Too may people are looking at components and ignoring the system.

It was our system that did not hold up.

 

[Firebat]

Pace didn't kill us last night. Jack Steven isn't that quick, he just has SKILL and can pin point a pass. That bloke violated us last night.

I think a fair few people on here weren't at the game and have no idea who did some of the more pathetic acts. Wells' lack of chasing was disgusting, as was Thomas and Boomers. Jack Steven, Brett Peake and Clint Jones constantly ran off them and did damage.

Its not like we've passed up on injections of pace in previous years of drafting. Harper isn't that fast but he's slick as hell as seen last night.

Very smart footballer of the ball, creates space for everyone. We're a better team with him in it, and he brings players into the game. Just needs a bigger frame and a bigger tank and he'll be fantastic.

Busta isn't that fast, but he can gut run. He was terrible last night though. We passed up Smith for Atley... not like we passed up speed there.

Get a grip. We were smashed by a side that out coached us and killed us on the rebound, nothing new.

 

[r_boy]

Too may people are looking at components and ignoring the system.

It was our system that did not hold up.

Yep. Personnel not a major concern for mine, it's our structures basically all over the field and the way we move the ball. Don't ask why our bloke can't spot up a forward amidst a sea of defenders, ask why we never have a guy in space delivering to an easy lead.

We clearly haven't worked much on it, and it has to be done over pre-seasons and then rehearsed continuously. I'm willing to not judge considering some other improvements made this season. However if there is not significant improvement made on it over the next two seasons then it'll be pretty like, f***ed.

 

[Devil Fish]

Broken record... pound for pound we had way more pace ffs.

I hear ya. I lost count of the number of times we streamed forward and caught StK out on the counter-break. And the number of times we broke the lines and carved them up through the midfield, well, we made Ussain Bolt look like Cliff Young. We just need a few more tough nuts to help Ziebell, Swallow, Greenwood, Cunnington etc.