In a career spanning more than 30 years, legendary St Kilda recruiter John Beveridge has seen it all.
He’s recruited Nick Riewoldt and Brendon Goddard with the prized No. 1 pick and unearthed hidden gems like Sam Fisher and Jarryn Geary much deeper down the order.
He’s seen recruiting evolve from a part-time role into a team full of full-time recruiters, who now have pro scouts whose focus is to mine opposition lists for undervalued talent.
Unlike when Beveridge started in 1983, recruiting teams are now comprised of four or five full-time recruiters, as well as 15 to 20 part-timers spread all over the land.
But while the landscape has changed, the rewards have not.
Ahead of Friday night’s NAB AFL Draft, where St Kilda’s hold two top ten picks – No. 7 and No. 8 – for the first time since 2001, Beveridge identifies the three best value for money picks during his time in recruiting.
Sam Fisher (West Adelaide – pick No. 55, 2004) 228 games
“Why a South Australian club didn’t pick him will always be a question? He hadn’t played much footy because he’d been a golfer growing up. He wasn’t drafted until he was 22 and he didn’t come across to West Adelaide until he was 20 or 21. He hurt his shoulder and didn’t play a lot of footy that year but we liked what we saw.”
Lenny Hayes (NSW/ACT Rams – pick No. 11, 1998) 297 games
“Lenny Hayes at pick No. 11 is one of our best picks. We thought Sydney would pick him because he’s from up there and they had three picks before us at 11. They ended up picking Jude Bolton and I knew that Jude was a St Kilda supporter and we would have picked him if we missed out on Lenny. It worked out pretty well for both clubs didn’t it?”
Leigh Montagna (Northern Knights – pick No. 37, 2001) 287 games
“It’s hard to believe he lasted until 37 when you think about it. I remember seeing him play a championship game on the MCG and he just stood out with his evasion and his ball use. He was a little bit small but his coach at the time just had so much faith in him as a player and he was one person I really trusted. Nearly 300 games from a pick 37
