Three draft blunders cost the saints dearly

[saynta]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 5a63aed87c

As written by the FF, so blame him if you disagree not me.

[bigcarl]

Hindsight is a wonderful commodity. If only the club could have it in advance. No use beating ourselves up on what is past. Just got to get it right from here on in.

[saynta]

Hindsight is a wonderful commodity. If only the club could have it in advance. No use beating ourselves up on what is past. Just got to get it right from here on in.

My thought too.

[desertsaint]

any copy-pastes for non-vics and non subscribers?

[saynta]

any copy-pastes for non-vics and non subscribers?

I pm 'd you a copy.

[damienc]

Yes. Hindsight is a wonderful commodity. But the club can't use that as an excuse.

Petracca stuck out like the proverbial as number 1 pick.

It was rank stupidity that let him slip to Melbourne.

Similarly the Bont would have been on our radar but the club opted for the more flashy Billings. Naughton I am less certain.

We had bad recruiters. The only good to come from this. They no longer have a job at our footy club.

[The_Dud]

Bad recruiters and equally bad developers.

[maverick]

Tired of this hindsight BS
Petracca yes - there were reasons as to why at the time, but many thought it was a mistake

Billings one is BS - Bont was a big risk and full kudos to the doggie for this one. We wanted Kelly and missed by one.

Naughton was a defender who was a dodgy kick - kudos to the dogs for developing him, but Clark and coffield are not busts. Why not single out paddy Dow or LDU both taken before us as well

No need to bash saints to make the point
Flog

[saynta]

Tired of this hindsight BS
Petracca yes - there were reasons as to why at the time, but many thought it was a mistake

Billings one is BS - Bont was a big risk and full kudos to the doggie for this one. We wanted Kelly and missed by one.

Naughton was a defender who was a dodgy kick - kudos to the dogs for developing him, but Clark and coffield are not busts. Why not single out paddy Dow or LDU both taken before us as well

No need to bash saints to make the point
Flog

Yes he is a flog.

[older saint]

Hindsight expert. Apart from Petracca which was a bad mistake based on character opinion and being spooked by what happened with Boyd.

We had Carlisle and needs mid type players , hence clark and coffield

Most had Boyd, Kelly, Billings 1,2&3. Bont was a bit of a late bolter perfect for a pick 4 in the draft as no obvious pick at that spot as opposed to taking at 2 or 3 and getting the obvious wrong.

Robinson trying to remain relevant

[B.M]

Petracca definitely a blunder

Others were fair enough at the time

[Gershwin]

This is what I wrote after the 2017 draft:

"Personally I am disappointed we didn't take Naughton at 8. I think he would have leapfrogged Goddard and even Brown as a key Defender. We would have lost Coffield but could have taken Constable at 36."

I haven't changed my mind.

[B.M]

Would have been an astute pick

[repta]

Picking flashy skinny kids is hard. Billings just hasnt filled out yet. Bont has filled out.
I believe with the right environment Billings could be much better than he is. He appears to play without confidence (eg goal kicking last year). Has been better this year but also looks to have one leg out the door.

Clarke and Coffield were surprising to pick similar players and not a key position player with at least one of the picks. Both I believe will come on (well Clarke has and Coffield has a way to go).

Even a blind 3 legged dog would have picked Pettracca over the fat diabetic kid.
The saints were a bit like the current Government - listen way too much to the medical staff and not use their head.

[samuraisaint]

Billings, Clark and Coffield are all very good players.

They are different to the players the article is referring to, but all have shown that they are certainly excellent footballers.

[magnifisaint]

Robinson is a fool. Because of him I don’t watch 360. He creams his pants too much over Clarko, Fages, Dimmer. He’s the ultimate tosser.

[happy feet]

Petracca definitely a blunder

Others were fair enough at the time

It’s great to see Petracca going so well. But his first couple of years just about drove the Demon’s nuts.

[saynta]

Robinson is a fool. Because of him I don’t watch 360. He creams his pants too much over Clarko, Fages, Dimmer. He’s the ultimate tosser.

That's the reason.I call him FF. (Fat f***).

[Impatient Sainter]

Whether you agree with the article or not hopefully the club has learnt from past mistakes? We can't deny it Pelchen & Elshaugh caused a lot of years of the club under performing. Our recruiting held us back for decades and is the main reason clubs acheive any form of sucess. Some will say it was also our lack of development which is the case for kids taken later in drafts but not 1st round draft choices.

The McCartin decision was catastrophic given they really picked him on potential.
If the Saints had of done their home work Bontempelli proved to be a late bloomer, having 40 touches and kicking 10 goals in a game late in the season.
Coffield was always another reached pick given that he hadn't played anywhere other than a HBF.

Billings, Clark & Coffield are solid players but neither are match winners!

Libarote has been at the club for over 10 years and has had time to learn from Pelchen & Elshaugh's mistakes. In more recent years our drafting has improved, but there is still room for improvement IMO.

[B.M]

Has our drafting improved

Or trading?

[Devilhead]

Bont had 40 and kicked 10 goals in a school game

He was a speculative top 10 pick for nearly all clubs

[SaintPav]

Why is he picking on the Saints?

The Petracca miss was a colossal f*** up but we weren’t the only clubs who missed out on the others.

Click bait St Kilda bashing as usual.

Lazy and unimaginative fat Kent.

[Devilhead]

Yes. Hindsight is a wonderful commodity. But the club can't use that as an excuse.

Petracca stuck out like the proverbial as number 1 pick.

It was rank stupidity that let him slip to Melbourne.

Similarly the Bont would have been on our radar but the club opted for the more flashy Billings. Naughton I am less certain.

We had bad recruiters. The only good to come from this. They no longer have a job at our footy club.

We have bad recruiters yet we made the finals last year and won one - both Melbourne & Bulldogs finished below us ...... remember that?

Would it have been been rank stupidity if Paddy was still playing kicking 3 to 5 a game?

Before his concussion issues he was tracking along the same lines as Hawkins & Josh Kennedy at the similar stage of their careers

Was it rank stupidity we choose Paddy after Petracca did his acl?

Seemed a pretty good decision we choose Paddy after Petracca did his knee

Thing is hindsight is about as useful as a dead elephant or a punch in the balls

Petracca could have gone to the Saints and then his whole life would have been different - good & bad

He might have done 2 knees or no knees

No one could foresee Paddys concussion issues

Personally i wanted Petracca at the time but for most clubs it was a 50/50 decision

Hindsight is the biggest bulls*** argument/discussion platform

[Impatient Sainter]

Bont had 40 and kicked 10 goals in a school game

He was a speculative top 10 pick for nearly all clubs

Yes it was an APS game where 80% of the Victorian draft recruits come from. The recruiters watch as much of the school footy as they do NAB and state games these days.

In Elshaughs defence Billings had made the All Australian side in both his U18 years.

[B.M]

Spencer White kicked 10 in a school game playing in the ruck