Of the 35 players who have joined the club since the 2015/16 off season, I have categorised as Bust (10), Jury out (11) Pass (9) and great (5). Which is not really a very good result, I have also tried to assign who the failed party is, Coach, recruiter or medical staff, anyway here’s the complete list.
2015 Traded to Fremantle
Harley Bennell – Bust, blame medical staff
2015 National draft
27: Darcy Tucker - pass, just due to shallow draft
38: Harley Balic - Bust blame recruiters, should have done more research
55: Sam Collins – Bust blame the coach, we should still have him on the list
61: Shane Yarran – Bust, no blame just a very sad story
2015 Rookie draft
16: Matt Uebergang – Bust, blame coach, never got a chance
34: Ryan Nyhuis – Pass, should get more opportunities.
2016 Traded to Fremantle
Cam McCarthy - Jury still out,
Bradley Hill - Great recruit – Doig medal winner
Joel Hamling - Great recruit
Shane Kersten - Bust, blame recruiters & Medicos
2016 National draft
8: Griffin Logue – Jury still out, long time out due to injury, blame medical staff.
38: Sean Darcy – Great recruit, second only to Ryan in draft steal
41: Brennan Cox – pass, shows potential, long time out due to injury.
66: Luke Ryan – Great recruit, steal of the draft
2016 Rookie draft
3: Taylin Duman – good rookie pick
21: Luke Strnadica – Bust, but only wasted a rookie pick
2017 Traded to Fremantle
Nathan Wilson – Jury out, could be great but stifled by coach
Brandon Matera – Jury out but 30 goals in 2019
2017 National draft
2: Andrew Brayshaw – Pass, great young leader, is he worth pick 2?
5: Adam Cerra – Pass, great potential but stifled by being played in back line
44: Hugh Dixon – Jury out, not enough opportunity
59: Mitch Crowden – Jury out, good first year, development plateaued
65: Tom North – Bust, hasn’t played a game in two years, blame recruiters
69: Lloyd Meek – Pass, Young ruckman worth persevering with
73: Sam Switkowski – Pass, plenty of potential for a pick 73
75: Scott Jones – Bust, blame recruiters, not AFL standard, barely WAFL standard
2017 Rookie draft
5: Bailey Banfield- Great rookie pick, sensational first year, stifled by coach in second year.
21: Stefan Giro – Jury out, medical staff can’t keep him on the park, has potential.
2018 Free agent recruits
Reece Conca – Bust, recruiters to blame, cost nothing but taking game time away from younger mids.
2018 Traded to Fremantle
Jesse Hogan – Jury out, recruiters didn’t respect injury, neither did coach or medical team
Rory Lobb – Great Recruit, exceptional first year
Travis Colyer- Bust, recruiters to blame
2018 National draft
17: Sam Sturt – Jury out, no senior games in first year is concerning
32: Luke Valente – Jury out but looks like recruiters may have failed to respect injuries or medical staff fail
57: Lachie Schultz – Jury out, not sure if he’ll make the grade though.
59: Brett Bewley – Pass for pick 59, should get more opportunity once B Hill is gone.
2018 Rookie draft
22: Tobe Watson – Pass, promising looking rookie pick, needs to fill out
2018 Category B nomination: Jason Carter – Pass, exciting speed.