2008 Recruiting Requirements

[linuscambridge]

If we did end up with a PP, would anyone be against trading 17 or 18 + maybe Pettifer or another player to upgrade to a higher first rounder.

Just an example...................Pick 18 + Pettifer for Pick 7?

Pettiefer is okay.

He is soft and wont win the hard ball. But he can kick long goals and will lead all day and has decent leg speed and is fot now. Will kick 30 to 40 goals from the flank and given space and a bit of a plodder will dominate. He requires a good lock down player and is a decent mark on the lead.

He wont win games or influence them much but he is a good player now.

I know he can be frustrating going to ground and playing for frees but anyone who can kick goals from 50 and do it repeatedly and can get the ball with a lock down opponent on him is a pretty valuable player. Especially with Brown unlikely to play a long time into the future if you are being realistic.

Use the pick to maybe leverage a ruck in a trade who can come in right away if Knobel cant get himself right. Its exactly the vacuum of quality middle tiered players who have 80 games undetr the belt and can play week in week out who are the problem with the Tigers.

The kids need mature bodies around them who set the tone and can play so they can develop and not get burnt at the stake. The middle tier also has to be able to actually play and not be a hard worker and trainer. Pettifer is no star but he can play and has shown it for a while now.

Tivendale is no star but he is a good solid AFL player these days. No more and no less. Against elite runners he looks poor but then so do 80% of AFL midfielders up against Kerr and Judd.

Its all about a balance. Trading anyoine half good who is 25 for draft picks is not the answer. Its something to look at if the cap is tight or the player wants out or a club puts a great offer in. Its good internet fodder but realistically its not the way to go unless those 3 things happen and there are good reasons.

I would just stay away from the Chris Egan, Jordan Russell, JON type of kid in the draft with early picks. Great athletes and 6 foot 2 and can be anything or nothing and go for the more traditional footballer like Monfries, Lewis, Jones, Armitage etc who are ball magnets and hard at it and have "game" right now and give leadership and hardness and bring an overall game to the table and help the team by chasing and blokcing and being very coachable.

These types also seem to flourish more often than not under pressure and up at the next level and live to play football and love a bit of verbal and the push and shove.

Such a balanced opinion on PRE is a breath of fresh air. I hope a few other posters who call for trades with players like Schulz, Pettifer and Meyer, will take your obviously educated opinion and realise that these sort of players are worth next to nothing in the market, probably only just surpassing the next to nothing we got for trading away our number 4 draft pick, Fiora.

For my money, these days the trade bargains are purely opportunistic, you can't go and target a player and move hell and high water to get them regardless of the consequences. I think the Polak trade was the bargain of the century, perhaps only surpassed by the Simmonds trade, both occasions where Miller recognised an opportunity and swooped. Both of them looked like gambles at the time, Simmonds with the contract length and Polak with the luggage. However looking back, an elite ruckman like Simmonds and a six and a half foot bloke with a great pair of hands have fallen our way with very little outlay.

Perhaps this good fortune will again fall our way, more likely we will have to do it the old fashioned way and take a big bloke high in the draft and develope him ourselves.

In the meantime, can we stop being tight arses with our rookie list and fill it full of ex-basketballers who at 6 foot 9 were never going to be tall enough to make the NBA, and try and teach them how to kick.