Collingwood Crackerjack wrote:piedys wrote:Born to Pie wrote:
Pick #4 1990 draft
We expected McCartney to go to Fitzroy, but they took David "Dennis" Donato;
we were going to take Allen Jakovich. Wish we f&cking had done so instead.
There's a sliding doors moment for you.
Here's a hypothetical; do we win the final against St Kilda in 1992 with The Show Pony in our forward pocket?
Good question CC; and one i've actually asked myself before.
Firstly, let's go back to late 1990, and piss ourselves stupid that Richmond thought Terry Keays was worth swapping their first draft pick for, allowing us to sneak into 4th place in the upcoming draft, in the biggest bounty of fool's gold we are ever likely to see in our lifetime.
And you can have Mrakov and Athas in the PSD for shit and giggles too. The 1991 May Mother's Day Massacre aside [cough, splutter], we did very well out of the deal indeed!
Secondly, let's go back to 1991. Jakovich's 2nd half to the season was off the charts, and Melbourne swept into the finals on his momentum.
Had we selected him, we would have made the top 6 with him firing as an immediate replacement for BT. He probably would have worn either #9 or perhaps 11. Not sure why the club thought Tarpey was going to do the job.
So by 1992, we've lost Millane, and our biggest losing margin was what 33 points to Carlton, of all our 6 losses. I reckon we win the May Centenary game for a start if Jakovich plays ahead of that shit thing Shane Watson.
That extra win would have been enough to see us sitting in either 1st or 2nd place, and not 3rd. And of course there would have been no Russo-gate finish at Vic Park against Melbourne, where he kicks Pert's arse.
Would he have been the difference in rolling Hawthorn in either losses? Dunno. Who else beat us on the siren in the H&A; oh, St.Kilda and Fitzroy.
So if Jakovich plays in 1992, we finish close to the top, and I can't see us not making the Prelim as a minimum that season. West Coast; what a farce.
Anyhow, had we still found ourselves facing St.Kilda at Waverley on that shit EF day [yes, I was there...], would Jakovich made the difference?
Unlikely; that game was lost in the midfield, and the backline couldn't repel all the ball coming in that frequently. The forward line did okay IIRC?
Needed an MCG QF to advance deep into September, which we would've, had we been able to secure another win during the H&A season, sabotaged by unbelievably biased umpiring in all of our close losses.
So the question is really: Would the presence of Jakovich halted or derailed the emergence of Rocca? Rocca was a revelation in the 2nd half of 1992, and went from strength to strength until the end of 1995. Most seasons after that he was very unpredictable from week to week.
Yet Jakovich was often injured in those later seasons at Melbourne, so allowing for that same injury run at Collingwood, perhaps those weeks would have been the window Rocca needed to make an impact.
Would have been a nice problem to have; guess we'll never know.
McCartney was serviceable during 1992, particularly in the final round against Adelaide at Vic Park; that was a classic game.
He would ultimately crack the shits with Matthews and leave at the end of 1995, ironically, Matthews would be out on his arse right behind him.
So thanks for that Fitzroy; glad you're gone.