Veteran AFL talent scout Simon Dalrymple is noticing some strong trends in recent years that have changed the way clubs draft players.
Dalrymple, who now works at St Kilda as the talent identification and player movement manager, has also worked at the top level for over a decade with both the Swans and Bulldogs.
The recruiter believes that clubs are no longer simply taking the best player on the draft board, with clubs now preferring to target players that have specific traits to fit into the coach’s game style.
This new outlook on drafting could see draft bolters and sliders become more of a thing as teams have wildly different rankings.
“There’s certainly a lot more structure now in terms of specific traits for specific roles,” Dalrymple told SEN Afternoons.
“We’re really homing in on that part (of recruiting) and then also getting alignment with the club, coach, and the game style, and making sure that there's really strong alignment between recruiting and coaching.
“That’s so that we're identifying players that can fit into the coach’s game plan.
“I think that's probably really drilled down over the last few years compared to early days where it was just looking at just best players available and thinking, ‘Ok, their talent should get them through’.
“Now, it's more specific around traits for roles.”
Another change that Dalrymple has noticed is that clubs are no longer drafting players purely on their athletic ability.
While athletic traits are still without doubt important, he feels it’s a correct statement that clubs are putting a player’s football ability first when assessing draft prospects.
“I think that’s a correct statement and I reckon it was even more like that around the early 2000s,” Dalrymple said.
“I think back to Sam Mitchell. I was involved with the Eastern Ranges when Sam was coming through.
“I was an assistant coach, and I was a referee for him, and we wrote to every club and not one club would let him turn up and train for a pre-season.
“That was because the (Anthony) Koutoufides type of players were the flavour of the month, and it was completely different then and there was only one recruiter per club.
“We're getting a lot more data now, the vision's a lot better and there are three or four full-time recruiters at every club.
“The industry has certainly improved over that time.”
Dalrymple left the Swans at the end of 2023 to join St Kilda. He worked at the Western Bulldogs from 2011 to 2017 where he helped cultivate the club’s 2016 premiership side.
