Success comes to clubs that recruit well

As all new recruits have started at their new clubs with the NAB Challenge officially underway, I want to look back on recruiting and the impact a good or bad recruit can make on a football team.

As a general thought among all football enthusiasts and analysers, Hawthorn are arguably the best recruiting team across the competition.

Clearly this was represented when in the most important game of year, Brian Lake stepped up to take the Norm Smith Medal as the Hawks grabbed a well deserved premiership, their second under Alastair Clarkson.

Firstly, it needs to be said that recruiting is an art at which needs to happen in order for a team to improve significantly and rapidly.

When coaches and boards choose a recruiting team their instructions should always be clear and precise, as this new recruit should be able to help the team rebound from a weakness or build on a strength.

Take Adelaide for example, this year they have recruited free agents Eddie Betts and James Podsiadly to build up their forward line after it got totally abolished last year.

With Taylor Walker out for the first few games and Kurt Tippett over at the Swans, this was arguably a good move for Adelaide however maybe it isn’t after all.

Betts still has a while left in his career and Adelaide do need a quality small forward after Ian Callinan and Porplyzia had a lean year, however the J-Pod is getting on.

Surely by recruiting him they have therefore felt they might have a premiership window sooner rather than later?

This brings me to my next point.

Recruitment is all about finding players who will build your team up in the present and not the future.

This year the main recruits have been Dale Thomas, Lance Franklin, Betts, Podsiadly and Nick Dal Santo just to name a few.

These players have not been recruited to impact in the future, but to impact now.

Recruiting a good player like this is always a risk though, as you must be able to improve your position as with a very decent recruit, you are arguably more likely to win a premiership with them then without them.

Then there is buying a recruit for leadership.

This has been seen this year at GWS, with the arrival of Heath Shaw.

We have seen this frequently throughout the years of 2011 and 2012, as the Australian Football League’s newest franchises recruited senior players to help with leadership and building a team work ethic and bond nurturing first and second year players into the business.

Therefore with a good recruit brings good hope for all players, coaches, staff and supporters. This is the same in any sport, in fact arguably any of these points are but especially in such a passionate game like AFL.

Take the arrival of Lance Franklin at Sydney this year and the impact he has already had on the game, as media and fans of the Swans have watched him intently in just internal trial games hoping to see a glance of Buddy before he turns up to the real stuff in their colours.

Just ask Brian Lake about his transition from taking September off with the Dogs, to holding up the premiership cup just twelve months later and being adjudged best on field.