21
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: List Building - More than one way to skin a cat
Last post by DJC -
They wouldn't have kept their jobs if they weren't!
A couple of months back there was a flurry of excitement about the prospect of Graham Wright taking over and, if not sacking our list management team, taking control of our list management. Not only did Austin, Agresta and co survive, but Wright was in there with them as they negotiated terrible trades and pick swaps and drafted the wrong players. Either Austin and Agresta managed to corrupt Wright or they have been on the right track all along.
Let me put it to you this way.
Every club has list managers.
Every club has people who kept their job.
Does that mean every club has competent people at the helm?
We have had list managers for decades. How has our success gone over that same period.
I put to you that having a job, or even having someone with credibility overseeing them in that job, does NOT equal competent list managers, or any particular role.
.....and....even if they are deemed competent in that role. Does competent win you flags?
I don't share the blind faith that a lot seem to. Why? Because there is no evidence that they are any different to anyone else we've had and nobody else has been able to give us success.
What is it about the current crop that sets them apart from....
a) Previous people in the same role at this club
b) Their equivalents at other clubs currently.
Provide an answer to them and convince me.
The fact of the matter is that you have a fixed opinion on list management. Some would call it an idiosyncratic opinion, some may think you're on the money, some may think that you're partly correct and others may think that you're completely wrong.
I, for one, appreciate how difficult AFL list management is. Do our list managers get it right all of the time? No, none of them do. Do our list managers get it right most of the time? Yes they do.
Would I like to see another gun KPF on our list? Of course I would. Do I understand that gun KPFs are as rare as rocking horse dung? Yes I do. Do I think that our list managers are doing everything within their power to give Vossy the most potent forward line possible? Yes I do. Do I think that we should have drafted any of the KPFs that were available at our picks. No I don't.
Do I think that our club's ranking of A- for our list management team's work at the draft is fair? Yes I do; it was a job very well done in terms of the players drafted, the strategy we followed, our pick trades and our much strengthened hand for the 2026 draft. That's what sets them apart from other list managers.