RB wrote:Lots of talk about Port lacking depth. Given they've also got some really top players and a number of All Australians, it suggests a weirdly structured list. Not sure that they're getting much in over the next few years either unless they trade for it.
Which leads me to the question - do they need to consider trading the likes of Butters who's surely worth 2 or 3 first-rounders and commence a proper rebuild?
This is what happens when you try and evolve ( not rebuild ) on the run and not bottom out. We're one of the most active traders every trade period and we're willing to give up top end picks for established / high end talent. There's risk associated with top end picks, they don't always work out so our philosophy has been to target recruits to cover needs instead of going to the draft
except where we've seen talent we want.
In 2018 we moved Polec, Pittard and Wingard out to get to Rozee, Butters and Duursma.
In 2019 Howard and Ryder got moved out to get Bergman and Georgiades.
You'd have to say they've all worked out pretty well.
What that has done has put and emphasis on our talent development and it's one area we've lacked in for some years. Good clubs turn players taken in the 30's, 40's and 50's into 200 game players. So where you say our list looks unbalanced it has been that way for a while. Our top end talent for the last 10 years, say top 4-6 on the list, have been elite.
All Australians -
2015 - Gray and Wingard
2016 - Pittard
2017 - Gray and Ryder
2018 - Gray
2019 - N/A
2020 - Byrne-Jones, Boak, Dixon
2021 - Aliir, Wines
2022 - Rozee
2023 - Houston, Rozee, Butters
2024 - Houston, Butters
What we haven't done is bring players in from the 30-60 draft pick range and make them into regulars. Thus our list looks unbalanced.
Drew (pick 33), Byrne-Jones (52) the only two that played on the weekend
that we drafted out side of the top 30. Moreas (38), Lord (49) Visentini (56) all played but I'm not calling them established like Drew and DBJ are, I hold hopes for all of them though.
We've also been able to bring many of our first round draftees straight into the side.
Rozee, Wines, Butters, Sinn, Boak, Bergman, Georgiades, Berry, Marshall, Jones, Powell-Pepper all made ground very early so our talent ID at draft time is good when we get first rounders, the talent development of the later picks leaves something to be desired.
Unbalanced.
We're not alone in this and it goes someway to reinforcing why our executive have kept Hinkley going for as long as we have. Year after year we hear how our list doesn't have depth yet ( in the last 5 years anyway ) we keep finding ourselves in the top 4. He's done alot right but he's been afforded every opportunity with around 6 list transitions on his time. That time needs to come to an end. ( Should have 3 years ago but that's history now ).
If you want to go quickly, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.