Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
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- White Winmar
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Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Don't know that I'm over the moon about this one. I guess we'll have to wait and see. From The Age tonight.
"St Kilda are expected to hire former Carlton recruiting boss Wayne Hughes in a new role overseeing the club's recruiting of seasoned players.
Hughes, who worked at St Kilda in the late 1980s and early '90s in recruiting, is close to being appointed to a role as the club's "pro-scout" in which he will assess potential free agents and other AFL-listed players.
The imminent appointment is part of a revamp of St Kilda's recruiting department, which will also add another full-time scout who focuses entirely on junior, untried talent – the vast majority of draftees – for the 2015 season.
Hughes was head of recruiting at Carlton for several years until 2011, before the Blues promoted his understudy Shane Rogers to the head job after the 2011 national draft, retaining Hughes in recruiting until he was made redundant early in the 2014 season.
The hiring of a "pro-scout" recruiter focused on seasoned talent – such as those AFL-listed players in the VFL, the WAFL and the other second-tier competitions – is a recognition by the Saints that they will need to recruit more players with AFL experience in the coming years.
The Saints have been open about their intention to prioritise untried kids from the national draft in the early phase of their rebuilding, and that they would not pursue expensive free agents or highly sought AFL recruits until after they had brought in a certain number of youngsters and had the foundations in place.
The Saints' focus on the national draft and on improving their base of young talent has seen them trade or relinquish a number of experienced players, including Nick Dal Santo and Ben McEvoy last year and Rhys Stanley this year, with Brendon Goddard leaving as a free agent after 2012.
The loss of so much experience means the Saints will have close to the competition's lowest player payments next year, affording them significant space to pursue recruits from other clubs, if they wish. The role of pro-scout is becoming more commonplace in the AFL, as clubs recognise that greater movement of players – caused in part by free agency – means there is a need for more rigorous assessments of proven talent.
Hughes had also worked at Fremantle in recruiting prior to joining the Blues, whose drafting and trading have been heavily scrutinised in recent years. St Kilda made another late addition to their 2015 coaching panel, appointing former Carlton player Rohan Welsh as defensive coach.
Welsh was replaced as coach of the VFL's Casey Scorpions at the end of the season. Welsh, 44, played 43 games with Carlton between 1992 and 1997, and was part of the Blues' grand final side that lost to Essendon.
It has been a year of significant change in the Saints' football department, headlined by the appointment of Jamie Cox as football manager after the departure of Chris Pelchen. The Saints had also appointed development coach Peta Searle, part-time defensive coach Danny Frawley and part-time ruck coach Adam Skrobalak while promoting Ameet Bains to chief operating officer, Danny Sexton to director of coaching and Simon McPhee the head of its academy. "
"St Kilda are expected to hire former Carlton recruiting boss Wayne Hughes in a new role overseeing the club's recruiting of seasoned players.
Hughes, who worked at St Kilda in the late 1980s and early '90s in recruiting, is close to being appointed to a role as the club's "pro-scout" in which he will assess potential free agents and other AFL-listed players.
The imminent appointment is part of a revamp of St Kilda's recruiting department, which will also add another full-time scout who focuses entirely on junior, untried talent – the vast majority of draftees – for the 2015 season.
Hughes was head of recruiting at Carlton for several years until 2011, before the Blues promoted his understudy Shane Rogers to the head job after the 2011 national draft, retaining Hughes in recruiting until he was made redundant early in the 2014 season.
The hiring of a "pro-scout" recruiter focused on seasoned talent – such as those AFL-listed players in the VFL, the WAFL and the other second-tier competitions – is a recognition by the Saints that they will need to recruit more players with AFL experience in the coming years.
The Saints have been open about their intention to prioritise untried kids from the national draft in the early phase of their rebuilding, and that they would not pursue expensive free agents or highly sought AFL recruits until after they had brought in a certain number of youngsters and had the foundations in place.
The Saints' focus on the national draft and on improving their base of young talent has seen them trade or relinquish a number of experienced players, including Nick Dal Santo and Ben McEvoy last year and Rhys Stanley this year, with Brendon Goddard leaving as a free agent after 2012.
The loss of so much experience means the Saints will have close to the competition's lowest player payments next year, affording them significant space to pursue recruits from other clubs, if they wish. The role of pro-scout is becoming more commonplace in the AFL, as clubs recognise that greater movement of players – caused in part by free agency – means there is a need for more rigorous assessments of proven talent.
Hughes had also worked at Fremantle in recruiting prior to joining the Blues, whose drafting and trading have been heavily scrutinised in recent years. St Kilda made another late addition to their 2015 coaching panel, appointing former Carlton player Rohan Welsh as defensive coach.
Welsh was replaced as coach of the VFL's Casey Scorpions at the end of the season. Welsh, 44, played 43 games with Carlton between 1992 and 1997, and was part of the Blues' grand final side that lost to Essendon.
It has been a year of significant change in the Saints' football department, headlined by the appointment of Jamie Cox as football manager after the departure of Chris Pelchen. The Saints had also appointed development coach Peta Searle, part-time defensive coach Danny Frawley and part-time ruck coach Adam Skrobalak while promoting Ameet Bains to chief operating officer, Danny Sexton to director of coaching and Simon McPhee the head of its academy. "
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- White Winmar
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
I was thinking the same thing, Moods. Had a stint with us in the 80's as well, which is enough to put a shiver down the back of any saints' fan.Moods wrote:Very strange appointment. Carlton one of the worst if not THE worst at drafting and recruiting in the last 15 years
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
yep met the guy many years ago with Bevo. Doesn't inspire me with confidence.
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
He was my Under 16's coach in 1980.
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- Enrico_Misso
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Was Wayne the genius who recruited Luke Livingstone?
The rest of Australia can wander mask-free, socialise, eat out, no curfews, no zoning, no police rings of steel, no illogical inconsistent rules.
They can even WATCH LIVE FOOTY!
They can even WATCH LIVE FOOTY!
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
On the other hand maybe we can use his expertise in NOT picking any of his recommendations.
As ex-president Peter Summers said:
“If we are going to be a contender, we may as well plan to win the bloody thing.”
St Kilda - At least we have a Crest!
“If we are going to be a contender, we may as well plan to win the bloody thing.”
St Kilda - At least we have a Crest!
Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Well the role will be as a pro-scout, which is a brand new way of thinking in recruitment at afl clubs.
Trout and the existing staff are all over the kids and killing it. It's a new role, maybe he had a lot to do with getting Judd on board (in addition to the Visy contracts) - who knows, but I have faith we are recruiting the right guys for the right roles.
Trout and the existing staff are all over the kids and killing it. It's a new role, maybe he had a lot to do with getting Judd on board (in addition to the Visy contracts) - who knows, but I have faith we are recruiting the right guys for the right roles.
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Go those mighty Sainters!!
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
We are also looking at appointing a full time scout ......just for the kids / untriedSt Ick wrote:Well the role will be as a pro-scout, which is a brand new way of thinking in recruitment at afl clubs.
Trout and the existing staff are all over the kids and killing it. It's a new role, maybe he had a lot to do with getting Judd on board (in addition to the Visy contracts) - who knows, but I have faith we are recruiting the right guys for the right roles.
I mentioned in another post Con may not like where this person is coming from.....
but I am sure the person will be in CONTROL of the situation.
saint4life
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
I do worry the very closeted AFL world sees funds recycled...
Carlton have been deplorable...... getting the right experienced talent in to compliment a young talented list is so vital - why not focus cash /efforts on Hawks and Swans who do this so well....??
Carlton FFs?
Carlton have been deplorable...... getting the right experienced talent in to compliment a young talented list is so vital - why not focus cash /efforts on Hawks and Swans who do this so well....??
Carlton FFs?
“Yeah….nah””
Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Not surprising but good to know nonetheless. Let's just hope we make the right decisions there.White Winmar wrote:"The loss of so much experience means the Saints will have close to the competition's lowest player payments next year, affording them significant space to pursue recruits from other clubs, if they wish."
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
So far finniss backed the wrong government, appointed a cricketer to run the football department, got rid of pelican in peculiar circumstances, backed us to go against the grain with the obvious no 1 draft choice for a 1980s full forward, and now he's put the worst recruiter of the modern era in charge of recruiting.
He gives good corporate speeches but...
He gives good corporate speeches but...
Bring back the Lockett era
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
I know it's Xmas but I have to say, what a load of bollocks. How do you pin this on Finniss., he didn't back the wrong party, he backed the party that committed to us, he appointed a person to manage our elite performance team because that's what Cox does, plus Cox Was also a decent footballer. No one knows why Pelchin was released but this has also happened at a few other clubs so I'll back the club on this one, and I'm sure Finniss had nothing to do with the recruiting of McCartin, he's the CEO and not the recruiting boss.jonesy wrote:So far finniss backed the wrong government, appointed a cricketer to run the football department, got rid of pelican in peculiar circumstances, backed us to go against the grain with the obvious no 1 draft choice for a 1980s full forward, and now he's put the worst recruiter of the modern era in charge of recruiting.
He gives good corporate speeches but...
However, I will give Finiss credit for getting our memebersh to its highest level ever by Xmas, improving the communication between members and club, giving far better access to the playing group, improving the vibe around the club. This is what he gets paid to do as our CEO and is doing a fantastic job of
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
I would have to agree with most of your points but I think Cox will be a good fit as he is from an elite sporting background.. no idea why the pelican was sacked.. no idea why we didnt pick petracca over mccartin.. Mccartin will be a very good player but Petracca would be heaps better, hopefully I'm proved wrong thojonesy wrote:So far finniss backed the wrong government, appointed a cricketer to run the football department, got rid of pelican in peculiar circumstances, backed us to go against the grain with the obvious no 1 draft choice for a 1980s full forward, and now he's put the worst recruiter of the modern era in charge of recruiting.
He gives good corporate speeches but...
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Agree, an extraordinary outburst by Mr Jones.
Ah well, back to Christmas festivities.
Ah well, back to Christmas festivities.
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Carlton had 14 top 20 picks in his time and are still crap - so very dubious on this Hughes bloke.
Worst strike rate in AFL/VFL history.
Worst strike rate in AFL/VFL history.
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Here we go again. Name dropping again. Look at me. Look at me.plugger66 wrote:yep met the guy many years ago with Bevo. Doesn't inspire me with confidence.
If someone like you is in any way connected to the inner sanctum at the club - the club really is a 4th rate suburban joke doomed for failure.
Thankfully I know you are full of crap.
As for Bevo well his 'performance' from 04-10 leads us to where we are right now. 18th from 18.
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Con Gorozidis wrote:Here we go again. Name dropping again. Look at me. Look at me.plugger66 wrote:yep met the guy many years ago with Bevo. Doesn't inspire me with confidence.
If someone like you is in any way connected to the inner sanctum at the club - the club really is a 4th rate suburban joke doomed for failure.
Thankfully I know you are full of crap.
As for Bevo well his 'performance' from 04-10 leads us to where we are right now. 18th from 18.
The Saints are under review, will it make any difference to the underachievers ?
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
A bit cryptic for me. Are we getting Maxwell Smart? Did Con want someone from KAOS?chook23 wrote:We are also looking at appointing a full time scout ......just for the kids / untriedSt Ick wrote:Well the role will be as a pro-scout, which is a brand new way of thinking in recruitment at afl clubs.
Trout and the existing staff are all over the kids and killing it. It's a new role, maybe he had a lot to do with getting Judd on board (in addition to the Visy contracts) - who knows, but I have faith we are recruiting the right guys for the right roles.
I mentioned in another post Con may not like where this person is coming from.....
but I am sure the person will be in CONTROL of the situation.
Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year for 2023 "Kosi Lives"
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Part of your question is very warm.kosifantutti wrote:A bit cryptic for me. Are we getting Maxwell Smart? Did Con want someone from KAOS?chook23 wrote:We are also looking at appointing a full time scout ......just for the kids / untriedSt Ick wrote:Well the role will be as a pro-scout, which is a brand new way of thinking in recruitment at afl clubs.
Trout and the existing staff are all over the kids and killing it. It's a new role, maybe he had a lot to do with getting Judd on board (in addition to the Visy contracts) - who knows, but I have faith we are recruiting the right guys for the right roles.
I mentioned in another post Con may not like where this person is coming from.....
but I am sure the person will be in CONTROL of the situation.
saint4life
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
I think it was obvious Pelchin was getting very well paid and the club thought they could fill a number of roles with the same money! Pelchin had sorted out the TPP and set up a solid recruitment plan so I guess he had become expendable.
I am amused by the Hughes appointment as he hardly has a sucessful recruiting history! Surely the current recruitment team can monitor the oppositions and state league players without another recruiter - but obviously Bains & Elshaugh think there is players slipping through? Time will tell I suppose!
I am amused by the Hughes appointment as he hardly has a sucessful recruiting history! Surely the current recruitment team can monitor the oppositions and state league players without another recruiter - but obviously Bains & Elshaugh think there is players slipping through? Time will tell I suppose!
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
I reckon you can put a positive spin on just about all our decisions/ appointments of the last 3 months, but I have yet to read anywhere why this Hughes fella from Carlton is a good fit for the job. I don't kno who at the club was involved in the appointment , but you would hope it was a reasonably structured and governed process and certain criteria had to be met.BringBackMadDog wrote:I know it's Xmas but I have to say, what a load of bollocks. How do you pin this on Finniss., he didn't back the wrong party, he backed the party that committed to us, he appointed a person to manage our elite performance team because that's what Cox does, plus Cox Was also a decent footballer. No one knows why Pelchin was released but this has also happened at a few other clubs so I'll back the club on this one, and I'm sure Finniss had nothing to do with the recruiting of McCartin, he's the CEO and not the recruiting boss.jonesy wrote:So far finniss backed the wrong government, appointed a cricketer to run the football department, got rid of pelican in peculiar circumstances, backed us to go against the grain with the obvious no 1 draft choice for a 1980s full forward, and now he's put the worst recruiter of the modern era in charge of recruiting.
He gives good corporate speeches but...
However, I will give Finiss credit for getting our memebersh to its highest level ever by Xmas, improving the communication between members and club, giving far better access to the playing group, improving the vibe around the club. This is what he gets paid to do as our CEO and is doing a fantastic job of
Just would like to hear some of the highlights in this guys track record that might give us some reassurance that we aren't going to be chasing mature age duds just because this guy has recommended them.
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Actually if you read carltons recruiting and trading record for the 5 years prior to 2011 ie when he was in charge, it is frighteningly bad - especially some of those trades for 'experienced' players .. Which our 'pro-scout' will be making recommendations on.
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
Why would you need to employ a separate person to look into free agency players? Seems like a massive waste of money for a club strapped for cash. Hell. it should be pretty damn obvious who's available and who's worth pursuing. Surely Tony Elshaug could have fitted this into his role.
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Re: Saints to appoint Wayne Hughes to Recruiting Department
If this is his job (and I'm not really sure what his job is) then as you say the identification of talent of existing players is easy.cwrcyn wrote:Why would you need to employ a separate person to look into free agency players? Seems like a massive waste of money for a club strapped for cash. Hell. it should be pretty damn obvious who's available and who's worth pursuing. Surely Tony Elshaug could have fitted this into his role.
So perhaps Hughes real job will be more dealing with the player managers, and seeing who is really available and for how much etc.
So less an identification of talent but more backroom wheeling and dealing to get people to come, rather than just saying "Sloane is a good player".