Who was minding the recruiting store?

Amongst all the draft-related news and seemingly endless — and pointless — draft prognostications over recent weeks, there was one truly startling piece of information.

In a story likening Richmond’s current plight to Geelong’s at the turn of the century, Jake Niall noted that Richmond did not have a full-time recruiter on staff in 2005. You don't need to be a ‘rocket surgeon’ to be aware that the Tigers have burned almost countless recruiting opportunities in the past couple of decades, not to mention letting go a player like David Rodan. It beggars belief that a club in the AFL competition could have its head so far into the sand that recruitment was not a number one priority. And it’s not like they were travelling well at the time.

Of course, recruiting is a subjective process at the best of times. With the benefit of hindsight, one can wonder how the Tigers selected Deledio and Tambling ahead of Franklin and Roughhead — faith in Richo was probably a big factor. Recruiters spend time watching games to evaluate a wide selection of potential recruits — unlike the ubiquitous draft previews that litter the blogosphere — but, ultimately, make subjective judgements based largely on perceptions of their list’s future weaknesses. In short, none of this is an exact science. Nevertheless, Richmond’s situation in 2005 is extraordinary.