Hadley, who has been at the forefront of the Lions’ recent successes at the draft table, used the example of the 2008 AFL National Draft to explain the unpredictable nature of recruiting young talent.
“Good planning will enable good decisions, and also the ability to respond to unexpected decisions from other clubs at the draft table,” Hadley said.
“Why luck? Because unless the Lions have the very first pick, there are no certainties in the Draft.”
“There have been a number of instances where popular pre-Draft opinion has been completely wrong.”
Hadley used the case of Daniel Rich and Jack Redden’s recruitment to the Club back in 2008 to illustrate his points.
“The football world predicted Daniel would be drafted to a West Australian club somewhere inside the top three picks. And even if he wasn’t picked up by either Fremantle or West Coast, four other clubs had selections before us at Pick No.7,” Hadley said.
“The Lions’ recruiting team had obviously done their due diligence on Daniel, but hadn’t done the same extent of research as they had on the other highly rated players because it was considered to be too much of a longshot for him to be available at Pick No.7. The Lions recruiters were not alone in this belief.”
“In this instance, the recruiters had a selection priority order for their first pick. Daniel was highly rated in this order, but was also considered out of our reach.”
“A player of Daniel’s calibre doesn’t present at Pick No.7 in every Draft, so the response from the recruiters when he was still available was predictable…call his name out! What a stroke of luck.”
“Getting Jack Redden to the Club with our second pick was a completely different scenario for the recruiting team.”
“The recruiters had identified Jack very early in the 2008 season and began monitoring him very closely.”
“There were little bits of luck along the way, particularly as Jack was used only sparingly in the National U18s Carnival. Jack’s form remained steady for Glenelg after the Carnival, but he finished the season playing finals football and caught the eye of many recruiters.”
“There was no doubting Jack’s stocks rose throughout the finals series. But exactly how much we weren’t to know…”
“The Lions recruiters therefore had to make a decision about Jack, factoring in the late surge in his form. The Club was also aware that there was some interest in him from other clubs.”
“So it was decided that we would take him as early as we could - and that ended up being with Pick No.25. The planning worked.”
“The Lions recruiters made a concerted effort to draft Jack to the group by taking him slightly higher than the educated view, and catching a few other clubs by surprise. But if a young player is highly rated, you sometimes need to take him slightly above his public rating - that is where the planning and forecasting plays a part.”
Hadley also provided an insight into the Club’s plans surrounding last year’s AFL National Draft which delivered them Jared Polec, Patrick Karnezis, Ryan Lester and Josh Green.
Hadley on Jared Polec
“Jared was always very highly rated, so it was no real surprise that we took him with our first round selection.”
Hadley on Patrick Karnezis
“Patrick started 2010 in brilliant fashion, and was rated comfortably inside the top 10 by Lions recruiters at that stage.
But his form tapered off a little later in the season due to a debilitating illness, which meant his Draft rating slipped a little. But the fact he continued playing through the illness also showed us how committed he was to his team - the Oakleigh Chargers.
Having had very little exposure to weights, he was considered very light by many informed judges - but the Club expects he should develop his body strength quickly.
Patrick was therefore an attractive option at Pick No.25.”
Hadley on Ryan Lester
“Ryan was discovered by a Lions staffer in 2009, when he was playing mainly across half forward as a bottom age Oakleigh Charger.
We followed him closely at the start of 2010 and, ironically, he broke his thumb early in the first quarter of his first game.
He recovered in time to represent Victoria Metro in the U18 Championships where he played as a key defender for the first time in his career. He acquitted himself very well, showing great versatility and adaptability.
He was an attractive size (191cm), showed great versatility, had excellent game understanding and was considered value at Pick No.28 - which edged out Essendon who were potentially looking at drafting him with their Pick No.31.”
Hadley on Josh Green
“Josh enjoyed a celebrated junior footballer career with Clarence FC - achieving the rare feat of playing in consecutive winning senior Grand Finals in the Tasmanian Football League.
He was an All Australian boy, genuine midfield ball-winner with an appealing work rate and game consistency. He proved an excellent pick with our fourth selection and added another dimension to the Lions’ 2010 intake.”
Stay tuned to lions.com.au tonight for LIVE updates on the Club's selections from the 2011 AFL National Draft in Sydney.
