Opinion North Melbourne Priority Picks Part 2 - 2023/2024

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

We recruited Pink, Will Dawson and Ngyuon.

How can you possibly say we didn't recruit any key backs?

As I said, Biggie and Comben had excellent games on the weekend, key backs weren't the issue.

Further, Fisher was recruited as a half back, not a winger.

You need experience, not random delistees from other clubs and a young kid who wont play this year.

You conceeded 139 points and 13 goals to there 3 main taller forwards. They were a issue

Fisher was recruited to play a role he cant play is something im aware of. Now he has failed as a half back he is now going to have to go back to his real spot as a winger, or into the VFL for another 3 years ala Polec

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I know its unfair to go over individual draft picks and every club has misses BUT i just want to emphasise your overall long-term lack of spending any draft capital on key position players.

2017 - LDU, Will Walker with pick 23 (Straight after him come Balta, Sam Taylor, Tom De Koning, Tom McCartin and Harrison Petty).

Very unfair to look at it this way every club would have multiple times they could have picked this or that! Look at the Swans first rounders lol

 

[WillHayward]

They could come with the dogs r1 as sweetener though

Would need to.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Fisher was recruited to play a role he cant play is something im aware of. Now he has failed as a half back he is now going to have to go back to his real spot as a winger, or into the VFL for another 3 years ala Polec

He's been better than Stephens at least lol

 

[Jeremias]

Inside mids and half forwards they have aplenty. McKercher offers a point of difference for them, with his outside run and carry, but they haven't picked up any top end talls for an eternity and seem to rely on picking them later in the draft.

They picked one in the first round of last year's draft.

Who do they have like McKercher and Duursma, that makes you think they should have passed on them in the draft?

I'm not saying they 'reach' for players, I'm suggesting they should've shopped their picks around, if they didn't already.

Yeah and again, I'm suggesting those conversations would have been had.

At least banking some top-end KPP talent would give their supporters that the club is actually addressing list deficiencies.

But they have more list deficiencies than that. It's not as though a key defender is going to turn their fortunes around right away.

They needed more talent in the areas McKercher and Duursma play. And despite picking both of them up, I'd argue they still do.

You only have to look at their overall sentiment regarding Rawlings to see this doesn't appear to be the case.

I don't think a Daniel Curtin (for example) waiting in the wings would have any impact whatsoever on North supporters' thoughts on Brady Rawlings.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

You are cherry picking one year here. Its not unfair when you look at it over a 5 year period.

They went 5 years in a row and had 12 top 30 draft picks and didnt use a single one of them on a KPP. I mean come on. Seriously. Thats incredible. Think about it from a big picture list management position. Its just ridiculous. Look how many small guys they picked up in that 5 years.

They have to be worth the pick and I do feel you can eliminate the covid draft and the one after to criticise them. The one that stands out is the Will Phillips decision. That's about it

 

[apollo_creed]

How is this thread still going?

This was a 2023 thing and apparently, it's still relevant now? Plenty of other things to talk about.

 

[Sphynx]

You need experience, not random delistees from other clubs and a young kid who wont play this year.

You conceeded 139 points and 13 goals to there 3 main taller forwards. They were a issue

Fisher was recruited to play a role he cant play is something im aware of. Now he has failed as a half back he is now going to have to go back to his real spot as a winger, or into the VFL for another 3 years ala Polec

Our issue was the amount of inside 50's we conceded and the way the ball was waltzed from back to forward.

But but but, we never replaced Ben McKay.....

The only other defender apart from Sam Taylor to to be averaging 3 contested marks per game so far this season is Comben.

Anyone who is still going on about McKay has clearly not watched more than 1 minute of our games for the last 2 weeks since he's been back.

 

[Ambrosia]

I know its unfair to go over individual draft picks and every club has misses BUT i just want to emphasise your overall long-term lack of spending any draft capital on key position players.

2017 - LDU, Will Walker with pick 23 (Straight after him come Balta, Sam Taylor, Tom De Koning, Tom McCartin and Harrison Petty).

2018 - Pittard, Polec, Hall, T Thomas, Curtis -

2019 Comben (31) , Mahony

2020 Philips, Powell, Lazzaro

2021, JHF, Goater

So in summary - with 12 high draft picks the only one you use on a KPP is Comben and this is still only a pick 31.

So the mess you are in now can be traced back to that 5 year period if complete ineptitude (and so many dwarves)

Incredibly you went five years without using a single draft pick in the top 30 on a KPP. This is almost beyond belief.
-

They were burned by investing too heavily in KPDs in the preceeding drafts though. Durden, Neilson, EVW and Mckay

 

[WillHayward]

They have to be worth the pick and I do feel you can eliminate the covid draft and the one after to criticise them. The one that stands out is the Will Phillips decision. That's about it

I think 2017 stands out - Will Walker ahead of Balta, T McCartin, H Petty, S Taylor.

 

[Philhawk]

This is where North supporters are pulling their hair out.

It’s going to be a long rebuild but being forced to trade picks doesn’t work.

Respectfully, the issue was talent identification (yet again). Blowing your picks on sub standard players isn’t the fault of the AFL.

If anything, you should have floated trading pick 3 + the PP’s to other clubs to actually bring in a high quality older player.

As myself and others have said in this thread as nauseum, rewarding failure with more picks wasn’t the solution. Soft cap increases for North for recruitment and development was the solution. But now, there’s zero chance of any more extra compensation.

 

[big_e]

Respectfully, the issue was talent identification (yet again). Blowing your picks on sub standard players isn’t the fault of the AFL.

If anything, you should have floated trading pick 3 + the PP’s to other clubs to actually bring in a high quality older player.

As myself and others have said in this thread as nauseum, rewarding failure with more picks wasn’t the solution. Soft cap increases for North for recruitment and development was the solution. But now, there’s zero chance of any more extra compensation.

Gotta convince the player first. That's where the plan always falls down.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

And they (and West Coast) are gonna miss out on the best talent again this year since a team that'll finish in the top three or four will just need to trade away picks 40 and 50 to have enough points to jump everyone to bid on him. Father/Son and Academy is a blight.

 

[big_e]

That's more the criticism the mid range PP's they should have been used better, Logue has been fine you can't predict an ACL that's just unlucky. Ask any Swans fan what we thought of Stephens and the word "soft" comes up a lot. Hamling would have cost them zilch and would be playing for North now, very happy with him as depth for us.

A 30-year-old with six games in three years is something you can get away with when your club is consistently high-performing. Which North Melbourne is not.

 

[big_e]

Why didn't they look to split the pick for more first rounders and look to scoop up a Caddy & O'Sullivan combo, for instance?

I mean, all we heard was how WCE should split pick 1 to bring in more talent yet nobody talked about it with North.

I know there's an element of shit-stirring in this post but it still raises an interesting question. I think round five is far too early to make a judgement but I'd have preferred we ignored Fisher and Stephens and turned those picks into additional first-rounders.

 

[WillHayward]

North are 3 and 0 in the VFL and that has to mean something is going ok at the club and the list is coming along.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I think 2017 stands out - Will Walker ahead of Balta, T McCartin, H Petty, S Taylor.

Half of those were seen as reaches at the time. You don’t get every draft decision right

 

[sr36]

I know its unfair to go over individual draft picks and every club has misses BUT i just want to emphasise your overall long-term lack of spending any draft capital on key position players.

2017 - LDU, Will Walker with pick 23 (Straight after him come Balta, Sam Taylor, Tom De Koning, Tom McCartin and Harrison Petty).

2018 - Pittard, Polec, Hall, T Thomas, Curtis -

2019 Comben (31) , Mahony

2020 Philips, Powell, Lazzaro

2021, JHF, Goater

So in summary - with 12 high draft picks the only one you use on a KPP is Comben and this is still only a pick 31.

So the mess you are in now can be traced back to that 5 year period if complete ineptitude (and so many dwarves)

Incredibly you went five years without using a single draft pick in the top 30 on a KPP. This is almost beyond belief.
-

Other than a father son, the reigning premiers have gone 15 years without spending a top 30 pick on a KPP - and stuff all in trade either.

 

[windyhill]

Harley Reid going fantastically. Makes that r24 meaningless win over Gold Coast, played in front of two men and a dog even more ridiculous.

 

[adammania9]

Harley Reid going fantastically. Makes that r24 meaningless win over Gold Coast, played in front of two men and a dog even more ridiculous.

Staggering opinion that continues to be regurgitated.

If North Melbourne tanked that game and it was uncovered, they’d have been fined a million dollars, key figures probably suspended for some time, draft picks stripped and the club barred from future draft assistance.

 

[windyhill]

Staggering opinion that continues to be regurgitated.

If North Melbourne tanked that game and it was uncovered, they’d have been fined a million dollars, key figures probably suspended for some time, draft picks stripped and the club barred from future draft assistance.

Had to be smarter like, say your mob in 2005. Threw away a lead against north and Lo and behold got an extra pick for falling under the required amount of wins. Very smart pies. Played in two recent g.f’s, have one shocking year, use the rules to their advantage, hello Pendlebury hello Daisy Thomas. Very smart pies.
carlton did it, their assistant coach has come out and said it, or words to that effect. Melbourne did it. Clubs that are no chance send their players in for surgery and “ play the kids”;
Don’t be naive adam.

 

[adammania9]

Had to be smarter like, say your mob in 2005. Threw away a lead against north and Lo and behold got an extra pick for falling under the required amount of wins. Very smart pies. Played in two recent g.f’s, have one shocking year, use the rules to their advantage, hello Pendlebury hello Daisy Thomas. Very smart pies.
carlton did it, their assistant coach has come out and said it, or words to that effect. Melbourne did it. Clubs that are no chance send their players in for surgery and “ play the kids”;
Don’t be naive adam.

We aren’t talking about a priority pick though, we’re talking about having pick 1 instead of pick 2. Harley Reid looks great. But he and McKercher have played 5 games.

Any club would be a fool to a tank after the Melbourne dealings.

 

[wagstaff]

I mentioned in another thread they have won 10 of their last 87 games, you’d be struggling to find the last side who had a sustained run with so few wins from that many games, maybe saints in the mid 80s?

Even Saints in the 80s weren't that bad; probably Fitzroy back in the mid-60s you have to go back to.

 

[tazaa]

this dude was half decent for collingwood and was bit of a good value recruit for north at the time. what happened to hm

Had a decent 2023 but seems way off the pace now.
Like the cliff came and took him and he's still only 24.

Slow, double grabs the footy, amazing fall from grace.

 

[tazaa]

I know its unfair to go over individual draft picks and every club has misses BUT i just want to emphasise your overall long-term lack of spending any draft capital on key position players.

2017 - LDU, Will Walker with pick 23 (Straight after him come Balta, Sam Taylor, Tom De Koning, Tom McCartin and Harrison Petty).

2018 - Pittard, Polec, Hall, T Thomas, Curtis -

2019 Comben (31) , Mahony

2020 Philips, Powell, Lazzaro

2021, JHF, Goater

So in summary - with 12 high draft picks the only one you use on a KPP is Comben and this is still only a pick 31.

So the mess you are in now can be traced back to that 5 year period if complete ineptitude (and so many dwarves)

Incredibly you went five years without using a single draft pick in the top 30 on a KPP. This is almost beyond belief.
-

Its terrible list management all round. Either go all in on a tall or all in on mids.
We went and got Luffy from Champion Data cause he spoke well on SEN and could make a set of stats sound good. Added bonus was being a North man.
Disastrous pick up.

Then we thought getting Rawlings to the club was king of big get when really if he didn't have a contract at North he'd managing Ferntree Gully.

They were burned by investing too heavily in KPDs in the preceeding drafts though. Durden, Neilson, EVW and Mckay

Thats the black hole of drafting there.

Respectfully, the issue was talent identification (yet again). Blowing your picks on sub standard players isn’t the fault of the AFL.

If anything, you should have floated trading pick 3 + the PP’s to other clubs to actually bring in a high quality older player.

As myself and others have said in this thread as nauseum, rewarding failure with more picks wasn’t the solution. Soft cap increases for North for recruitment and development was the solution. But now, there’s zero chance of any more extra compensation.

We tried mate. No ones wants to come unless there is a long term deal and money on offer.
Hence the appalling deals to mercenaries.

Post Covid we were never going to ger soft cap concessions, which is something I do agree with.
Caveats on trading is a bullshit Brad Scott mantra that just does not work and that fraud hasn't achieved success anywhere since he stopped playing.

But thats it, just have to wait for our A Graders and potential A Graders to get older and carry us through.