The introduction of two brand new clubs in the last five years has seen the importance of pro scouting blossom. All clubs dedicate varying degrees of time and energy scouring the land in search of readymade products at state league level and also on other AFL clubs lists.
 
With the talent in the draft pool being affected in recent years by the introduction of Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, clubs have been forced to look outside the box to secure talent.
 
An example of the use of pro scouting is Western Bulldogs acquisition Shane Biggs. After managing six games in two years at Sydney, he was traded to Whitten Oval at the end of 2014 where he played the final eight games of last season at half back, including the narrow elimination final loss to Adelaide.
 
Gold Coast’s recent signing of Dan Currie is another example of how pro scouting is used to fill a need, with the SUNS immediately filling the gap left by Zac Smith in the form of another readymade replacement.
 
Whilst some clubs have recruiting staff solely dedicated to the art of pro scouting, the Gold Coast SUNS list management and recruiting team are all involved in identifying readymade talent through their various roles.
 
“We haven’t necessarily got someone dedicated to pro scouting. It comes to all of us, it is really a whole team mindset,” Ambrogio told goldcoastfc.com.au in the lead up to the draft.
 
“Kall Burns (Recruiting & Football Analyst) does a fair bit because he splits his time between opposition analysis and recruiting. So Kall’s got a nice blend of watching opposition teams and then relating it back to the draft and then relating it all back to the numbers.
 
“Brett Munro is another one whose role overlaps into the pro scouting category. As our opposition analysis, he consumes more AFL football than anyone in our team and is therefore exposed to a large volume of opposition players, so he is constantly monitoring the market and reporting back.
 
“During the year no one has a day off; there’s always footy to watch; there’s always something to do. Yesterday I watched two VFL games to go through a couple of players.
 
“So by doing that you see a lot of listed AFL players and you report on all that’s sort of stuff. That way things overlap, recruitment and pro scouting are so closely related.”
 
SUNS list manager, Scott Clayton, oversees the entire recruiting operation. It is his role, in consultation with the senior coach Rodney Eade, to identify specific needs that need to be filled, as well as assessing readymade options from either rival clubs or state league level versus underage draft picks. It’s a fine art, but all part of being in the recruiting business.
 
“We trawl the whole market including the AFL – we all do it. List spots are important so you’ve got to judge whether to bring in that player versus pick 56 or 29,” Ambrogio said.
 
“You need to have the whole picture going here, which is why Scotty’s role is so important. He sits across everything, so all the information that we collect we then try and distil down and filter to him. Then he can make the call whether we are using 56 or is it going on a delisted free agent, for example.”