AFL draft strategy has to be on finding sustained success, not a warm fuzzy feeling on the night
When building a successful franchise, the romance of drafting a son of a former star must be weighed up against the needs of the team, writes Michelangelo Rucci
IF only he was just draft nominee “Number 141098”.
Instead, he is Ben Jarman, son of Adelaide (and Hawthorn) premiership hero Darren Jarman. And nephew of inaugural Crow, Magarey Medallist Andrew.
He also is the first genuine father-son prospect for the Adelaide Football Club after 26 years in the national competition (although the Crows have wished for sons of SANFL greats who never wore the Adelaide jumper … and they missed on the sons of inaugural coach, Graham Cornes).
And this is where the usually clinical approach to draft candidates for Friday’s annual player lottery in Sydney becomes misguided by sentiment and the “romance of Australian football”.
If he was “141098” the debate on how Adelaide uses national draft picks 13, 43, 53, 66, 82 and 90 would focus solely on basic football questions. How does “141098” fit into the Crows’ needs to enhance its position in the AFL premiership race (more so considering Adelaide has not won a flag since Jarman was born in 1998)?
His speed, his skills, his versatility, his durability, his character, his personality and his leadership qualities — and how he fits in the profile of the Adelaide list — would be assessed, graded and given a draft rating.
Instead, he is “Ben Jarman”. And now the argument changes to those intangible, emotional measures that can easily derail a carefully prepared list-management strategy.
There are Crows fans who have never seen Ben Jarman play — but well remember how Darren tore apart opponents with his pristine kicking and uncanny ability to read the play as few others could — demanding Adelaide recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie call Jarman’s draft number in Sydney on Friday evening.
Some say they will tear up their membership cards if this is not the case.
But do they really expect Ogilvie, list manager Justin Reid and newly appointed football chief Brett Burton to tear up their recruiting strategies to make a sentimental call at the draft table?
No longer does the draft system live in the era when clubs gave up second or third-round draft picks for a father-son call. Now there is bidding, draft-value index points assigned to picks and nomination guidelines that reaffirm list management is a clinical process.
Adelaide’s recruiting team would have mapped out how the profile of the Crows’ squad changes for the next five years — and how this draft allows the Crows to cover the needs of the holes that open up in the next five seasons.
Ben Jarman, who is not forecast as a top-40 draft contender, may simply not fit Adelaide’s immediate needs.
But there are Crows fans who remember that being said at West Lakes in 1998 when Adelaide famously misjudged the prospects of Matthew Pavlich, who left SA to become an AFL great and 300-game stalwart with Fremantle.
Ben Jarman may be a late bloomer too. He may be the ultimate example of a player who benefits from, as Adelaide describes it, “organic growth”.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
