Recruiting priority. Get Wells or Beatson!

[GregPackhamsHeadband]

There's been a lot of speculation about who we need on field in order to take the next step. Yes, Kelly or Martin would be great, just what we need for the playing list. What of the people who pick those who will represent us? I say we make a huge play for one of the top two recruiters in the game, Kinnear Beatson from the swines, or preferably, the number one man, Stephen Wells from Geelong. I remember our own John Peake, who worked under Wells before becoming our chief, spoke with awe of Wells ability to make good long term calls on players.

I know the cats had some luck with father son pick ups, but they have absorbed the loss of a dozen A grade players in the last 6 years with barely a hiccough. Even missing the finals in 2015 was turned into a plus with the acquisition of Dangerfield. Smart trading and recruiting. The only other top ten pick they've had since 2006 was used on Joel Selwood. Since then, they've traded and developed players very shrewdly. Amazingly, they've stayed at or near the top for a decade, defying conventional wisdom that dictates the best way to rebuild is through the draft. Rather than rebuild, the cats are in constant renovation mode.

Same with the Swines. They have an uncanny ability to pluck players from local comps, the VFL and the like, and turn them into good players. Dane Rampe springs to mind. Again, the Academy and the COLA helped, but they keep finding gems where no one else is looking. If they make it again this year, that will be finals 12 times in the past 13 years. Extraordinary. It starts with recruiting. They have great development sysystems, but you can't make strawberry jam from pig shyte.

I believe we had a gun recruiter in Matt "Bundy" Rendell. A bit of an eccentric, he had a great eye for player potential. Our record in recruiting during the GT era, especially in the trading area was outstanding. Remember, apart from high draft picks, we got Hamill, Gehrig, Penny, Black, Voss, Lawrence, and a real Bundy special (despite GT's protests), Guerra. Coupled with good draft pinches in Dal, Goose and Joey, we did exceptionally well. We've done nowhere near as well since. Unfortunately, Bundy had a habit of giving very direct feedback to whoever required it, no matter what their position or standing in the club. That, coupled with his loyalty to GT, saw him lost to us. He's done very well at Adelaide, I'm told.

So let's spend the dough where it may end up giving us the best return. When you consider every draft choice costs you a minimum of 350K, it makes sense to have the best making the choices. If we have the spare change, and the AFL allows it, I say we go for it.