Well. I beg to differ, after selecting Fiora over Pavlich I would have thought the club might try something different? Perhaps grab Buddy instead of Tambling? Hawthorn had inferior picks yet set the club up for a dynasty, we also knocked back a player who would be a six time All Australian. Part of effective list management is assessing the draft & establishing whether the cattle is superior to the open market, we clearly got that part horribly wrong.
1. Deledio
5. Franklin
Traded in Enright & Moloney
20. Maric (instead of Patto)
The fact we made the same mistake with JON in 2005 is not only a comedy of errors it's bordering on criminal. We missed out in a draft that was akin to shooting fish in a bucket, imagine adding Hurn or Birchall to the mix above, or even Varcoe who was part of the conversation.
Things only improved with the arrival of Frank, you couldn't get a better illustration as to the impact a different set of eyes can have on a list. We went from the laughing stock of the competition to genuine contenders in the space of 4 drafts, that is how quickly things can change with astute recruiting.