Brad Howard...

[FullMonty]

Agree that it is working out as one of Bevo's worst so far.

Athletes don't necessarily have what it takes to be good footballers.

[sainta]

I remember an article earlier in the year when Ross said he likes to give the kids from the draft a 4 year apprenticeship instead of the compulsory 2 the AFL imposes. So that would be why he has another 2 years to go.

[Con Gorozidis]

I hope you guys are right.

Because if he shows nada in 2009, he'll be given the treatment Fiora is getting now.

at last fizz has 150 odd games to his name. This guy has 0?

he will be awesome in 2028 when he is 42. just needs time to develop.

[Brooksy_Babe_24]

This crap about the younger players and people saying they are crap has to stop.
I feel Unless you have seen a player play more than 5 games you have not got any right to comment on or base an opinion on a certian player.
Brad Howard has worked very hard since last year and has cemented a place in the casey senior side he polled very well in their best and fairest and was highly rated and commended on his efforts this year from Hutchy.
The kid will continue to grow as a player next year.
Give him a go before saying his not good enough.

[evertonfc]

So are we allowed to have an opinion on Phil Raymond, BB24?

I didn't see him play five games.

[FullMonty]

Hope you are right BB24 and he proves us all wrong.
I for one will be happy to admit it if he starts holding down a spot in the saints line up.

From memory he was pick 27 at the time and seen as a real smokey when other players were picked after him and have gone on to hold spots.

Happy to back off and hope he comes back next year ripped and ready to go!

[vacuous space]

From memory he was pick 27 at the time and seen as a real smokey when other players were picked after him and have gone on to hold spots.

There are a lot of guys holding spots, not a lot of guys who have had a real impact yet. Looking at the list of guys taken between 27 and 59, there aren't really any that I really wish we'd taken. There's a couple that are handy, and a couple that have shown a lot of potential, but nobody who really makes you go, 'how could they pass up on him for Howard?'

He made a lot of positive steps this year and the club was obviously impressed enough to offer two years. I wouldn't second guess that, because he's a guy with elite level speed and endurance. If his footy ever gets close to his athletic ability he's going to be a good one.

[BallBanger]

I was on here when he was selected in the draft

The moaning and groaning from a couple of the "I know better than the recruiting Dept" types was shocking

For that reason alone I hope he kicks ass in 2009

Bullshi1t 66au...it had nothing to do with the player.
ffs he was a smokie we could have taken later and also had our regular rated 27 player.
It was bull (copout/excuse) footscray were looking closely at him. Dogs said they may have taken him as rookie.

[saint66au]

This crap about the younger players and people saying they are crap has to stop.
I feel Unless you have seen a player play more than 5 games you have not got any right to comment on or base an opinion on a certian player.
Brad Howard has worked very hard since last year and has cemented a place in the casey senior side he polled very well in their best and fairest and was highly rated and commended on his efforts this year from Hutchy.
The kid will continue to grow as a player next year.
Give him a go before saying his not good enough.

Yet its quite OK to savage our Senior coach after Round 11 and demand he be sacked immediately, right there, mid season????

[vacuous space]

Dogs said they may have taken him as rookie.

When and where did they do this? I don't remember the Dogs confirming interest in him one way or another.

[saint66au]

I was on here when he was selected in the draft

The moaning and groaning from a couple of the "I know better than the recruiting Dept" types was shocking

For that reason alone I hope he kicks ass in 2009

Bullshi1t 66au...it had nothing to do with the player.
ffs he was a smokie we could have taken later and also had our regular rated 27 player.
It was bull (copout/excuse) footscray were looking closely at him. Dogs said they may have taken him as rookie.

I know what I read..and what I read was a totally uncalled for sledging of John Beveridge and his staff..i belive someone called him a "rampant egomaniac" ...among other things.

Now that 2 seasons have passed and he hasnt cemented his place, the "See we told you he'd be crap" brigade all come storming in

If he never plays another game, if he is delesited in a few weeks, if indeed JB and the team made an incorrect call, the fact still remains that our recruiting staff have more facts and experience at their fingertips and more knowledge of their craft, than anyone on this Forum

A few people I think need reminding of that from time to time

[BallBanger]

Dogs said they may have taken him as rookie.

When and where did they do this? I don't remember the Dogs confirming interest in him one way or another.

I listened to the draft on radio...was pssd that we took a smokie so early giving up any advantage of having a smokie cheap...
Beveridge is a somewhat media favourite because of his unorthadox selections. It was Sat my wife was in the biggest shopping ctr in Melb and I sat in the car listening for 3-4hrs.
At first even sheehan had not heard of him but then they reseached and found little interest in him at best.
He did not nominate for the draft the yr before, thought he was not ready.

[bobmurray]

Occasionally i read the AFL stats book and go over all St Kilda's draft picks and make a mental note of all the wasted picks,no.27 from that draft is one of the picks i think was wasted on Howard.......

If he had have been rookied instead,would we still have him at the club..

If he comes good and becomes a player of some ilk then good on him...

I hope Lyon is right in what he thinks he sees where Howard is concerned,he's got 2 more years to show what he's got....

[The Saintsational Man]

Can't stand this 4 year bullsh*t....

Sure every now and again it might pay off, but the other players that never quite cut it take up 2 years on the list that we could've been developing other kids.

Sure it's harsh, but if they're not good enough, stiff sh*t.

[saintspremiers]

If he never plays another game, if he is delesited in a few weeks, if indeed JB and the team made an incorrect call, the fact still remains that our recruiting staff have more facts and experience at their fingertips and more knowledge of their craft, than anyone on this Forum

A few people I think need reminding of that from time to time

"Facts and experience".

So what???

Lots of corporate CEO's that have helped create the global meltdown also have those attributes, doesn't mean we need to believe or trust in all of them eh?

In the perfect world, I agree with you 100% though!!!!

[mightysainters]

Beveridge in his later years was very average and was trying to always pick up the smokies and I feel is a key person in the lack of young guns coming through.... He was a very good servant to our club but should have retired or been let go well before last year....
Howard just isn't up to it unfortunately... is very average in AFL and in the pre season you could tell lacked alot

[maverick]

Beveridge in his later years was very average and was trying to always pick up the smokies and I feel is a key person in the lack of young guns coming through.... He was a very good servant to our club but should have retired or been let go well before last year....
Howard just isn't up to it unfortunately... is very average in AFL and in the pre season you could tell lacked alot

Quite possibly right I reckon.
Kept recruiting the same type of player as well, too many of this type just haven't made it...

[bobmurray]

Beveridge in his later years was very average and was trying to always pick up the smokies and I feel is a key person in the lack of young guns coming through.... He was a very good servant to our club but should have retired or been let go well before last year....
Howard just isn't up to it unfortunately... is very average in AFL and in the pre season you could tell lacked alot

Quite possibly right I reckon.
Kept recruiting the same type of player as well, too many of this type just haven't made it...

Whats done is done....

Lets hope Peake cuts the mustard and knows what skill sets a recruit must have in order to succeed in todays AFL,i hope good foot skills are part of his recruiting criteria.....

[Eastern]

he will be awesome in 2028 when he is 42.

With his lack of feathers, he looks 42 now. By the time he really is 42 he'll be looking like saint66au !!

[BigMart]

I was the one who was disgusted by his selection, having known a player who played against him, as a direct opponent in the forward pocket for Tas U18 in the champs the year before he was drafted - he was passed over that year. his selection as a 19yo after playing seniors in a piss poor QAFL just shows that our some of our recruiting budget was spent in Qld - we have a heap of them, and kids from Gippsland. Getting back to the bloke who told me that he had NO f***en idea, he also said he was pretty easy to beat one on one because of his body size.
I have watched Howard struggle in VFL ressies in 2007 when he couldn't get a game, because the Casey coach was selecting the best team, and not the saints ressies. This season that changed as Hutchinson was appointed by the saints, so he got a game in the seniors....played some OK games, but by and large is a run-with defender, with some speed....avg disposal and poor decision making skills.
He will play less than 10 AFL games......the younger Armo, Steven, Geary, Eddy have already flown past him as will the top couple of draft kids this year and another rookie or two.

Bevo made some woeful decisions in his last 4 drafts, but at least he generally wasted late picks....this one was a silly call.

If he has a great season and makes the grade, I will be gob-smacked, because he can struggle to get a kick in general

[evertonfc]

I wish the forum hadn't been wiped Marto because I think you started the thread and I seconded it

My gripe is not with Brad Howard as a person. I'm sure he's a lovely young fellow with a great personality and fine demeanour. Nor is it that we took him.

It's this: we took him at Pick 27.

He was a complete and utter gamble - and you don't gamble with top 50 picks, especially midfielders (KPP is slightly different). We could have easily taken another player at that pick and then opted for him in the last round of the draft if we were that keen on him - nobody else would have taken him. Rookie draft? Sure, he may not have lasted.

If our recruiters think Essendon or the Dogs might have taken him - well, why didn't we take that chance and wait given his pedigree? Shouldn't our recruiting staff have been aware of where he would go in the draft? If they really thought he would go so early, I'm gobsmacked.

An extra reason for the discontent was that JB was rapidly developing a trait of taking speculative, outlandish picks based on other people's advice. It was like he was trying to pull a swifty on everyone else and show he could pull gems from outside the system - James Gwilt and Justin Sweeney, for example.

Now, that's all well and good taking a punt when they're the last player around. I don't like it, but I can stomach it. (Prefer to rookie them - like you might with Van Rheenan, for example).

But it was a very dangerous sign that our recruiting had morphed away from taking the best kids to something else. I'm sure JB wanted that, but I can't help but feel - just a fraction - he wanted to maintain his position as a 'master' of his craft by not doing what 'average' recruiters did: playing safe.

To be fair, he's pulled in some absolute stormers over two decades. But I feel our recruiting since 2003 has been awful - how many have kicked on and become solid senior players? Trade week and PSDs emerged as a better source of depth.

Those who say 'how dare you criticise the almighty!', well, sorry - but we're only asking the questions because we want success.

And year after year of kids failing to make it with us is starting to grate on me. We need kids, more than ever. But ours just don't seem to be stacking up.

Brad Howard himself is not the problem. It's the process that came to his selection that represents the problem. Don't make the mistake of blaming the kid - he's trying his hardest. Marto isn't, neither am I.

In defence of the club, they have recognised our recruiting issues by purchasing Wells's assistant at Geelong as well offering better funds for our recruiters to move around the nation to find prospective talent.

A big tick in that regard. Let's hope the investments will bear fruit soon.

[St Fidelius]

I was the one who was disgusted by his selection, having known a player who played against him, as a direct opponent in the forward pocket for Tas U18 in the champs the year before he was drafted - he was passed over that year. his selection as a 19yo after playing seniors in a piss poor QAFL just shows that our some of our recruiting budget was spent in Qld - we have a heap of them, and kids from Gippsland. Getting back to the bloke who told me that he had NO f***en idea, he also said he was pretty easy to beat one on one because of his body size.
I have watched Howard struggle in VFL ressies in 2007 when he couldn't get a game, because the Casey coach was selecting the best team, and not the saints ressies. This season that changed as Hutchinson was appointed by the saints, so he got a game in the seniors....played some OK games, but by and large is a run-with defender, with some speed....avg disposal and poor decision making skills.
He will play less than 10 AFL games......the younger Armo, Steven, Geary, Eddy have already flown past him as will the top couple of draft kids this year and another rookie or two.

Bevo made some woeful decisions in his last 4 drafts, but at least he generally wasted late picks....this one was a silly call.

If he has a great season and makes the grade, I will be gob-smacked, because he can struggle to get a kick in general

Thanks for that info...

The question still remains as to why he was given a two year contract and Eddy the 1 year???

[evertonfc]

The question still remains as to why he was given a two year contract and Eddy the 1 year???

I believe Eddy was worth only one, but how Howard nailed two is beyond belief.

We could have easily done a McQualter (delist then rookie) with him. Why we didn't...I'll never know.

[St Fidelius]

Yes, I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but what about foresight???

The club needs to spend more money in the recruiting department IMO...

A second round draft pick is very high IMO and I hope Howard gets their...

But players that were picked up after him have already played good senior footy...

Reimers, Kurt Tippett, Josh Hill, Alwyn Davey and Justin Westoff to name a few.

We've got to spend more money in this area IMO

[tgf]

hi new to the forum but have been a long time reader. there are 2 points that i can think of 1. the club sees something in him or 2. the gc17 can trade for players in 2 years and have to give better draft picks to clubs. so if they give him 2 years and he comes good then that is a bonus if he dosen't gc17 may wont him and we may get something for him.