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Good recruiting wins premierships, and Carlton are a perfect example of why money doesn’t.
The Blues have tried to buy success with players and coaching staff in lieu of a good recruiting system in recent years. It hasn’t worked.
It’s hard to see the club improve in the next few years as their better players are entering the twilight of their careers.
Chris Judd, Jarrad Waite, 2013 best and fairest winner Kade Simpson and 2012 best and fairest Heath Scotland are all over 30 years old.
No early draft picks from recent seasons have shown enough to indicate they are going to help replace the void left by these players when they retire in the coming seasons.
Compare that with the greatest team of the last decade, Geelong, or any premiership team of the last 10 years.
Collingwood are the only team in that ten-year period to recruit players that immediately helped bring a premiership, namely Luke Ball and Darren Jolly. But the Pies also added draftees and rookies into the mix.
League leaders Port Adelaide are possibly the best example of not needing money to turn a club’s fortunes around. The recruiting in the last few seasons has been soundm with Ollie Wines and Chad Wingard perfect examples. And there was also the addition of a good coach, not just one with over-inflated credentials – remember, Malthouse was the longest serving coach at a club without a premiership in history before the 2010 premiership triumph.
In 2007 Carlton brought in Chris Judd for a bazillion dollars, and also got him a job at Visy. In the trade with West Coast to secure Judd, Carlton gave up drft picks No. 3 and 20 along with a player selected with pick No. 4 in the 2005 draft, Josh Kennedy.
Kennedy kicked 11 goals in West Coast’s thumping of GWS in round 8 and was recently named as the third best full forward in the competition by fellow Roarer Nash Mitchell.
Carlton president Stephen Kernahan recently spoke of his regret in giving up Kennedy in the deal that brought Judd to Carlton. It has seriously cost the Blues.
The teams that have been around the top of the ladder in recent seasons have been there for quite a while, thanks mainly to the performances of their recruiting staff. Geelong in particular, along with Hawthorn, Collingwood and Sydney, get A+ grades for their recruiting over the past few years. Each club has added new players through the draft, from under-18 players and rookies along with mature players from the various state leagues, and managed to stay around the top 8.
James Podsiadly, 28 years old when he was added to Geelong’s senior list, helped the Cats to an unexpected flag when most had thought their dynasty was over. Podsiadly is no longer at Geelong but they are still contenders, with younger key forwards who were drafted into the team now stepping up.
Collingwood rookie-listed Jack Frost from the VFL two years ago and he has been playing like an All-Australian full back heading into Collingwood’s first bye. Marley Williams and Sam Dwyer were also rookie listed players, Dwyer via the VFL).
At the end of 2013 Carlton added Dale Thomas at $700,000 a year from Collingwood via free-agency. Thomas missed most of 2013 with a questionable ankle injury. It’s believed Collingwood weighed up the risk of re-injury versus the price to match Carlton’s free agency offer and decided it was too big a risk.
Surely a club struggling with poor draft and recruitment strategies shouldn’t take a risk like that?
Somehow Hawthorn, the reigning premier, were able to select Billy Hartung with their first pick in the 2013 national draft, No. 24 in total. Hartung broke the record for the beep test at the draft combine, showing he has enormous endurance.
Hartung made his debut in the Hawks’ Round 7 demolition of St Kilda and racked up 23 disposals in three quarters. He also showed great poise and endurance in the Hawks’ narrow loss to Sydney in Round 8, finishing with seven disposals after replacing Cyril Rioli as the sub in the third quarter.
Carlton’s first-round selection Patrick Cripps has also played two games. He gathered 17 disposals in his first game, the Blues Round 4 loss to Melbourne, and followed that up with seven in Round 5 against the West Coast Eagles before being replaced by Chris Judd in the third quarter. He has been out of the senior side since.
These are Carlton’s first round draft picks for the past 10 years.
2013: Patrick Cripps (pick 13)
2012: Troy Menzel (11)
2011: Josh Bootsma (22)
2010: Matthew Watson (18)
2009: Kane Lucas (12)
2008: Chris Yarran (8)
2007: Matthew Kreuzer (1)
2006: Bryce Gibbs (1) and Shaun Hampson (17)
2005: Marc Murphy (1) and Josh Kennedy (4)
2004: Jordan Russell (9)
Jordan Russell, Josh Kennedy and Shaun Hampson are no longer at the club. How would you rate the performances of the others?
Murphy, the current captain, gets a definite tick. Carlton fans are frustrated with the performances of Gibbs, while Kreuzer can never stay fit. Yarran showed flashes of brilliance in his first few seasons but has tapered off. Kane Lucas is a bit-part player. Matthew Watson played five games in 2013 and only one so far in 2014. Josh Bootsma is stick thin and yet to play a game in 2014.
Troy Menzel is probably the only shining light for the Blues in the past five years of draft selection. Menzel had LARS surgery on his right knee when he was 16, and his brother Daniel has ruptured four ACLs in succession at the Cats, but as long as his knees stay together he will be a good player for the future.
It’s also worth mentioning that Sam Jacobs, star ruckman at the Adelaide Crows, was selected by the Blues at No. 1 in the 2007 rookie draft, then promoted to the senior list in 2009 with pick 72. Jacobs was traded to Adelaide for picks 33 and 67 in the 2010 draft.
Changes are already happening at the Blues. President Stephen Kernahan is stepping aside, while CEO Greg Swann is tipped to leave for the Brisbane Lions.
One of the first things on the agenda for the new president should be to ensure the recruiting team has more of a focus on drafting and nurturing talent rather than trying to buy it in from other clubs. They need to look at building a good strong list from the ground up, as the time for quick fixes has passed the Blues by.
I hope they keep getting it wrong, because there’s nothing better than seeing my team give Carlton a flogging.
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