Re: poll: Shaun Hampson
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
He's the right age for a ruckman for where the list's at, so if the club's identified him then go for it. But not at any price.
The right price in this instance is most definitely not a second rounder, peripheral players like Hampson should be targeted through free agency or player swaps. The last time we traded a second rounder it was for Maric, a player who was second in line in Adelaide's pecking order. Hampson is ranked third at Carlton for both ruck duties & tall forward duties, and the guys above him aren't necessarily superstars either.
Depth is fine but let's not sell the kitchen sink to get it, I could accept giving away a pick around the 40-50 mark but using a pick around the 30 mark is greatly underselling this year's batch of juniors. We could even grab a player like Apeness who plays in a similar manner to Hampson but has a much greater ceiling.
I also hope Blair and co. have done their homework and have a plan to sort out Hampson's frequent yips in front of goal and his tendency to drop the occasional sitter. His form last season was pretty awful and it was no surprise to see Malthouse playing Warnock, Rowe & Casboult ahead of him.
We also need to consider the fact that Hampson is a magnet for injuries, he's never played a full season and his best return has been 15 games, for a grand total of 63 matches over a 7 year period.
I guess the one thing going for him is his age, he's just entering his prime years as a ruckman and may be a late bloomer. It's a pretty big risk however given he's only ever taken a game by the scruff of the neck on a few occasions, the rest of the time it's been a history of pedestrian performances with numerous interruptions due to injury and poor form.
Blair needs to stand firm in the face of Carlton's demands, if the White compo pick is a third rounder then I could live with a straight swap, if we plan on using a pick around the 30 mark then I think we're being bent over.
