What the ?

The draft may well have been ‘compromised’ by the Suns’ plethora of early picks — we’re not entirely convinced on that score — but we can’t help feeling there are some other issues.

 

From The Age’s report of the draft:

 

Luke Mitchell: “Missed much of the year with a shoulder injury. . .”

 

Wayne Hughes, Carlton’s recruiting manager: “Luke Mitchell is a centre half-forward who missed most of the season with a knee reconstruction.”

 

Some anatomy classes are in order for either Wayne or The Age’s reporter!

 

Adrian Dodoro (Essendon’s recruiting manager): “It was a year where we consulted our coaching staff. . .”

 

Gee, that’s an explanation of the Bombers’ woes we hadn’t counted on! In what circumstances would you not consult the coaching staff on the draft?

 

Neil Balme (Geelong football manager) apparently dribbled this into his bib about choosing to use the Ablett compensation pick this year: “Probably the logic is if you've got a player you can spend a couple of years working on him, you'll get a better player probably than a first-round pick at the time. . .”

 

And how good would the first-round pick be after spending a couple of years on him, Balmy? Or should we say, Barmy? And let’s just quietly gloss over the fact that, at 15, Billie Smedts is a first-round pick.

 

The draft is really like Christmas time for the clubs, except that they get to pick their own presents having previously had the chance to push, prod, poke, shove and x-ray the packages. The uniformly positive reviews from club spokespeople, when intelligible, have much in common with toddlers mauling the latest grant from “Santa”.

 

The list of probably now–ex-AFL players who had nominated, but were not chosen, casts a momentary pall over the raucous enthusiasm. Some, like Jay Neagle, have another possible lifeline, but for most last night was the end of their glory days. We feel for them and hope their resilience allows them to weather this blow to self-esteem. In our dotage, we envy them the experience of even having been part of an AFL locker room. Had Lucifer asked, we probably would have given our left leg for the chance to run out just once. . .  [Sigh]