Former Hawthorn coach Peter Schwab has suggested that clubs at the foot of the AFL ladder should look to accelerate the rebuilding of their lists by adding players of great experience in exchange for late draft picks.
Brisbane did just that in last year’s draft, recruiting Hawks champion Luke Hodge to compliment the plethora of young talent, a list management decision that has proved successful so far.
Schwab has urged the Gold Coast Suns to consider looking at acquiring the services of Sydney veteran Jarrad McVeigh in a player/coaching role, similar to that of Hodge’s at the Lions.
“How do they (Gold Coast) build a footy club?” He told SEN Afternoons.
“It’s not always going to be built on continually drafting just young players all the time through the draft, because eventually, you don’t have any senior type of experience.
“What I suggest was maybe at the back end of the draft where your picks aren’t as valuable, that you do look at players like Jarrad McVeigh who may or may not finish at Sydney, like what Luke Hodge has done at Brisbane.
“I think you need to look at two or three older players and try and get one or two years out of them every year.
“I’ve got a soft spot for Brisbane of course because I’ve been there and I’m really positive about what I see.
“But at the same time they’re still working really, really hard to lift themselves out of the bottom four, and the Gold Coast are in the same position.
“For the welfare of the competition, we can’t have the same sides sitting in the bottom three or four or even bottom two spots on the ladder every year. It’s just not good for the game.
“It’s hard, it’s really hard. Once you’re down the bottom to keep players firstly and to attract players to come to you.
“I don’t think there’s an easy fix because football is such a hard game to make massive changes to your list to get that upsurge.
“You still need to go to the draft to get the best talent. I look at Brisbane I think they’ve done well in that regard, but there still wise enough to know that experience does help you and it’s a nice balance to get.”
Listen to Peter Schwab's chat on SEN Afternoons with Andy Maher in the player below