The Good and Bad of the 2003 AFL Draft - St Kilda
8 - Raphael Clarke
55 - Samuel Fisher
65 - Craig Callaghan
71 - pass
74 - pass
77 - pass
From The Age: Who your team picked
Sam Fisher has made this a very good draft by the Saints. While he has not become the "marking forward" they thought he would, and he didn't need to because they had Riewoldt, S Fisher has become a very impressive marking, running, long-kicking key defender.
Maybe R Clarke is "a lovely, graceful player" but to win a premiership a team needs more than love or grace, they need strength and ferocity. For a top 10 pick, R Clarke is just not good enough.
The Saints do like to delist someone and then redraft them. While some teams have been successful doing that, like Sydney with Buchanan, it hasn't produced anything great for the Saints, Callaghan then was just as useful as M Ferguson is now for St Kilda. Better to bring in someone new.
Sam Fisher was a steal, Raphael Clarke would have been a good selection at number 30 but not at number 8 and Dirty Harry would have been just as good as Craig later in the draft. Not the worst result from this draft, as a lot of teams came away with nothing, but if the Saints had found just one more star player from this draft they might have played in a Grand Final recently.
The Good and Bad of the 2003 AFL Draft - Richmond
55 - Samuel Fisher
65 - Craig Callaghan
71 - pass
74 - pass
77 - pass
From The Age: Who your team picked
The club says "We’re very pleased to get young Raphael Clarke, he’s a very promising player. Most clubs would have rated him in their top group of players, he’s a lovely, graceful player. He’s played almost continuous footy for the past couple of years. Sam Fisher, he’s a good marking forward. You worry at 55 that you get to pick someone who you’re not too keen about, so this is good."
John Beveridge, recruiting manager
Sam Fisher has made this a very good draft by the Saints. While he has not become the "marking forward" they thought he would, and he didn't need to because they had Riewoldt, S Fisher has become a very impressive marking, running, long-kicking key defender.
Maybe R Clarke is "a lovely, graceful player" but to win a premiership a team needs more than love or grace, they need strength and ferocity. For a top 10 pick, R Clarke is just not good enough.
The Saints do like to delist someone and then redraft them. While some teams have been successful doing that, like Sydney with Buchanan, it hasn't produced anything great for the Saints, Callaghan then was just as useful as M Ferguson is now for St Kilda. Better to bring in someone new.
Sam Fisher was a steal, Raphael Clarke would have been a good selection at number 30 but not at number 8 and Dirty Harry would have been just as good as Craig later in the draft. Not the worst result from this draft, as a lot of teams came away with nothing, but if the Saints had found just one more star player from this draft they might have played in a Grand Final recently.
The Good and Bad of the 2003 AFL Draft - Richmond
