VFL Draftees

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footyman

footyman

Norm Smith Medallist
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Dec 21, 2001
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Melbourne
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Gold Coast
Fair to say that with just two players being selected - Will Johnson from Sandringham and Luke Markovic from Box Hill - the VFL was underrepresented at draft night.

AFL Victoria keep pumping out the line that the VFL is the best pathway for non-drafted players to turn, and we keep hearing that more and more mature age players will be drafted as the new teams enter the VFL. I'm certain there is talent in the VFL that is capable of playing AFL footy, what are peoples thoughts on guys like Sam Dwyer, Jarrod Dalton, Cam Pederson, Michael Barlow, Patrick Rose and Marcus Marigliani who all went to state screening but were overlooked last Thursday night?
 
Silvagani was talked about as a possible draftee-I believe he was training with the Dockers. You would think more and more VFL players will get drafted with the compromised drafts in upcoming years.
 
I agree that the VFL was definitely underrepresented last Thursday night and in my opinion it's not through a lack of talent in the competition.

What really hurts the VFL is that because the the way the VFL fixturing is, recruiters find themselves having to choose between watching TAC footy and VFL footy - and logic dictates they go to where there is more young talent which is obviously the TAC Cup. So recruiters (particularly the higher ups) don't get to see much of the VFL players, they tend to slip through.

If the VFL wants more draftees, they need to start working on increasing the alliance with the TAC clubs and work on fixturing more double/triple headers like they do in the WAFL.

What did hurt the VFL though is that there were significantly less live selections in this year's draft which obviously makes it harder.

However, with clubs now able to select 2 mature-age rookies on their rookie list, being able to have up to 2 nominated rookies depending on the veteran situation and the increased size of rookie lists I expect there to be quite a few VFL players to be rookie listed this year. Particularly as the Gold Coast have said they'll be looking for experienced players with their first 5 picks. There are also a few whispers on the Dogs board that both Rose and Rampe could be rookied by them with Willi paying some of their salary, which is excellent to hear also :thumbsu:
 

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footyman said:
Fair to say that with just two players being selected - Will Johnson from Sandringham and Luke Markovic from Box Hill - the VFL was underrepresented at draft night.

AFL Victoria keep pumping out the line that the VFL is the best pathway for non-drafted players to turn, and we keep hearing that more and more mature age players will be drafted as the new teams enter the VFL. I'm certain there is talent in the VFL that is capable of playing AFL footy, what are peoples thoughts on guys like Sam Dwyer, Jarrod Dalton, Cam Pederson, Michael Barlow, Patrick Rose and Marcus Marigliani who all went to state screening but were overlooked last Thursday night?
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We keep getting told that but its the same answer every year but very few go.. There are enough examples of vfl players going on to make it but it seems the best pathway comp is actually the wafl. They have probably had more taken than vfl off top of my head.

Of this years crop sewell and barlow definetely. Pederson a possible for mine. Rose should have gone 2 yrs ago and suspect time has passed. Sam would be a chance whilst jarryd and marcus unlikely.
 
macca69 said:
What really hurts the VFL is that because the the way the VFL fixturing is, recruiters find themselves having to choose between watching TAC footy and VFL footy - and logic dictates they go to where there is more young talent which is obviously the TAC Cup. So recruiters (particularly the higher ups) don't get to see much of the VFL players, they tend to slip through.

If the VFL wants more draftees, they need to start working on increasing the alliance with the TAC clubs and work on fixturing more double/triple headers like they do in the WAFL.
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I agree with you on that. Too often there are too many choices and too many clashes. A club can send the work experience kid or a retired volunteer to VFL game after VFL game, but it means nothing if the men who make the decision can't get there for a look. The removal of the U23 VFL Rep game at the end of the season, in my view, has also harmed the chances of VFL players as it did give them one last chance to shine.

Triple headers are a good idea, even perhaps the odd TAC Cup game under lights after a VFL match at Werribee or Casey. AFL Victoria really do need to make some drastic improvements to their programming to make the VFL more appealing and convenient for everyone interested in Victorian footy.
 
footyman said:
Triple headers are a good idea, even perhaps the odd TAC Cup game under lights after a VFL match at Werribee or Casey. AFL Victoria really do need to make some drastic improvements to their programming to make the VFL more appealing and convenient for everyone interested in Victorian footy.
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Agreed - Likewise, with Collingwood VFL games, we don't have a reserve's side, so they could slot in TAC Cup games as curtain raisers on occasion, which would consequently make the VFL game likely worth watching for the recruiters there.

There are plenty of ways they could be taking better advantage of the different levels of Victorian footy.
 
GC will probably take a couple.

We are on Barlow, I'm told. Not sure it's the best decision, but with young ones likely available in the RD and the GC targeting older blokes I guess taking a maturer body with our PSD has merit.
 
Apparently there are a few heading over to SA if not rookied this year. I personally spoke with one from Willimstown last week and he had been spoken to by 5 AFL clubs this year (more than when he played TAC) but did not go in the draft. If not rookied he is off and also 3 Coburg boys. Sorry can't name them until later in case their clubs are unaware of it.

A big loss to the VFL
 
WatchOut said:
Apparently there are a few heading over to SA if not rookied this year. I personally spoke with one from Willimstown last week and he had been spoken to by 5 AFL clubs this year (more than when he played TAC) but did not go in the draft. If not rookied he is off and also 3 Coburg boys. Sorry can't name them until later in case their clubs are unaware of it.
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Dylan Joyce, Andrew Horne and Nick Liddle are three of them. They've already been announced as having signed at South Adelaide.
 
Mature-age rookie spots are basically made for VFL and other state league players.

Kris Pendlebury and Daniel Frost from the Pies VFL team are still training with the main group and would be considered for the rookie draft.

I'd think Frost is more likely, he played some very good finals (but missed the VFL prelim to play in the Eastern GF) and is only 20-21. I think Kris Pendlebury is a couple of years older than Scott which could count against him if they are fighting for one spot.
 

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IMO the issue is the mindset of AFL recuiters.

There are probably 4 to 6 VFL players who are ready made AFL players.

These are role players who could fit in to the bottom 8 players in many AFL teams.
 
Pods to Geelong is still being mentioned as a possibility by the club.

Although it does throw up an interesting dilemma, I'm sure as VFL captain and AFL fitness coach he'd be on considerably more money than a rookie.
 
macca69 said:
Great to see quite a few VFL players rookied this morning :thumbsu:
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I'm sure that'll give Schwab, Hook and their lackeys something to crow about. Reality is that the numbers are still not great. If you take away AFL clubs drafting players from their aligned VFL club the numbers still aren't strong. They need to do more to promote the VFL to recruiters and encourage all AFL clubs to look at all VFL clubs, and draft players from other clubs by providing better vision and better programming of games.
 
Know what you're saying and definitely agree that the VFL need a serious re-think about how they structure the competition if they want to maximize draftees.

However, that's not going to happen overnight and this rookie draft should see a lot of the mature-age players taken succeed which will force clubs to cover the VFL more thoroughly regardless of whether AFLVictoria improve their game or not. So I think this morning's result is a step in the right direction.
 
macca69 said:
So I think this morning's result is a step in the right direction.
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You're right, let's hope those guys taken today do have an impact at AFL level next year and create some more interest in the VFL. Its surprising that so many clubs ignore ready made players who dominate the VFL week in, week out in favour of highly speculative players. There needs to be a shift in the thinking of AFL clubs and the decision makers particularly. As you say, if a few of them quickly have an impact at AFL level then everybody will be flocking to the VFL to try and find the next one. The funny thing is if you look back through the list of VFL draftees, a very high percentage of them do play end up playing AFL footy.
 
footyman said:
You're right, let's hope those guys taken today do have an impact at AFL level next year and create some more interest in the VFL. Its surprising that so many clubs ignore ready made players who dominate the VFL week in, week out in favour of highly speculative players. There needs to be a shift in the thinking of AFL clubs and the decision makers particularly. As you say, if a few of them quickly have an impact at AFL level then everybody will be flocking to the VFL to try and find the next one. The funny thing is if you look back through the list of VFL draftees, a very high percentage of them do play end up playing AFL footy.
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This is exactly what I said in Post 14 of this thread.

Although you stated it more eloquently:)
 
footyman said:
Its surprising that so many clubs ignore ready made players who dominate the VFL week in, week out in favour of highly speculative players.
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The thing is, dominating in the VFL doesn't mean a thing at AFL level. Surely every AFL club has now, or has had a guy who tears it up in the VFL, and every time he finally gets a game in the AFL he's too slow or his disposal is terrible or whatever, I know the Hawks have had in the past.

Certainly I hope these guys are getting looked at and I hope some get a chance, but often they are being passed over for a reason.
 

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