NATIONAL recruiting manager Barry Prendergast discusses the next phase in talent identification following the recent NAB AFL under 18 championships

AS WE MOVE towards August, our recruiting phase takes somewhat of a different tack.

 

While we’ve tracked and seen a lot of players at the NAB AFL under 18 championships - and taken a glass half full approach towards the talent pool - we now identify those who may have attributes to play in the AFL.

 

It’s important to hone in on the players we’ve identified and understand if their attributes are strong enough to become AFL players in the positions that we see them.

 

Sometimes we see 193 cm ruckmen running around - and they might be good at elite under-18 level - but they probably won’t survive in that role in the AFL.

 

The combination of attributes - in terms of being able to play in the AFL - is the most important part of the decision-making process.

 

From this point, we’ve got to maximise our viewings and schedules, so we can watch those players we’re trying to make final decisions on, as many times as possible.

 

Then it comes down to rankings and ratings. It’s the final drilling down of who is better than who? And where a particular player sits in the talent pool?

 

Scheduling can take you all over the country.

 

As a recruiting team we need to work hard to finalise our opinions. This can take us all over the country. Our recruiting team has really worked hard over the last couple of years in this phase.

 

For example, one weekend last year, I was in Adelaide on Friday night, flew to Brisbane the next morning and drove to Redlands, south of Brisbane, to watch a game. Then I drove to Noosa, north of Brisbane, to watch a game and flew back to Victoria on Sunday to watch a TAC Cup match.

 

That weekend, I was able to watch some players and make definitive decisions.

 

Another weekend last year, I flew to Alice Springs to pick up a guy who knew Liam Patrick (who is now with Gold Coast and is a cousin of Liam Jurrah). From there, we flew to Darwin and drove to Katherine. I stayed there on the Friday and watched Liam play at the Katherine Showgrounds in about 35 degrees on Saturday.

 

Then I had a few hours sleep at the airport hotel in Darwin, before flying back overnight to watch Jordan Gysberts play in the TAC Cup finals. His running patterns in that game was important in projecting him into the AFL. Jordan was outstanding in the finals and that was a key component in us selecting him. 

 

In that circumstance, I made the commitment to chase a player - in this case Liam Patrick - and in doing that, sacrificed other viewings. It changed my schedule, so you’ve got to decide if it’s worth missing out on other games.

 

In the end, we didn’t take Liam. But I remember sitting down with Liam and his father saying ‘you need to go to Darwin to play’ and that’s when he became really exposed.

 

Two years ago, I watched Nic Naitanui in a night match over in the west and flew back the next day to watch Jack Watts and Jordie McKenzie play for Sandringham Dragons and Geelong Falcons respectively. That’s when the decision to draft Jack Watts with the No.1 pick really started to crystallise. 

 

Jack’s work in the midfield was dominant and it turned the game. Jordie also tagged Jack and his efforts also gave me a stronger eye. I had been monitoring Jordie, but his work really helped forge a strong opinion.

 

We have a strong recruiting team who will be making similar efforts to help paint the final drafting picture for us over the remainder of the year.

 

Over the coming weeks, we also need to be aware of those playing finals and those who aren’t. Although we’ve always got the benefit of vision, live viewing is better, particularly for seeing who does what off the ball.

 

The last two years we’ve had the No.1 draft pick, so a lot of time and effort went into making sure we maximised those selections. They’re the players who should be long-term AFL players.

 

But as we move further into the draft, the picks become more speculative, so we try to maximise those selections. It’s also important to know who is going to be around our picking range and who won’t be.

 

For instance, we had pick No.1 and No.17 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft. It was obvious that we weren’t going to have calls on guys like Chris Yarran or Michael Hurley, who we ruled out of the No.1 pick, but weren’t going to be there at No.17.

 

You’d love to be able to rank the draft from No.1 to No.80, but it’s not a smart use of time and at some point in the meeting, you have to select needs.

 

At the moment, we have plenty to consider and August will be a critical month in shaping our decisions for November - and the long term.