Stephen Silvagni was the man who drafted both Sam Petrevski-Seton and Paddy Dow to Carlton with top 10 draft picks in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Fast forward to 2021 and the former has requested a trade to West Coast after spending most of the year in the VFL and the latter is in and out of the side, also struggling to hold his spot.
On Petrevski-Seton, the former Carlton list manager believes the club has played him out of position since 2019.
The West Australian was drafted as a midfielder and showed early promise in the role, before being reinvented as a lockdown small defender and half back in his third year.
They ultimately gave up on that change halfway through 2021, moving him to the wing before coach David Teague immediately dropped him to the VFL.
“I think at his best (Petrevski-Seton) is a really good player. He certainly hasn’t played at his best over the last 12 to 24 months. Who’s responsible for that? Ultimately it’s the player, but I certainly think he’s been played out of position,” Silvagni told the Trade Radio launch.
“He was brought to the club as a midfielder-forward and he’s been playing half back for the last 12 to 24 months. That doesn’t help him.
“What’s he worth? I don’t know. It’s a real difficult one because his ceiling is very high, but he hasn’t reached that at present.
“Whoever gets him, I think they’ve got a player they can really work with, but I’m really unsure what he’s worth. I’d play him half-forward and midfield.
“There was a particular game against the Bulldogs where he had 32 and kicked two goals as a midfielder.
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“I think the difficult thing for him and a number of their youngsters is when they’ve played well they haven’t been able to stay in there for a long time.
“They tend to stay in the midfield for a week or two and then they’ll have an off game and they’re probably out of there. A lot of that might be to the mix of players they’ve got on their list.
“We’ve seen it happen with Paddy Dow and even Will Setterfield. Setterfield’s last four or five games of 2020 were probably his best for the club, yet he’s struggled to get into the midfield as that taller inside mid.
“They’ve struggled with the balance of being able to develop their young players through there.”
Silvagni believes the Blues have not been patient enough with the two young midfielders and feels they have not been given a fair chance to develop on-ball.
Dow in particular was thrust out of the midfield under Teague and used in a more half-forward based role. He finally got a shot on-ball in the second half of 2021 and showed signs, but was ultimately omitted again in Round 23 – Teague’s final act at the selection table.
“I think Dow has been a little bit harshly done by,” Silvagni added.
“Last year he was pretty much injured for the whole year, came back into the team and really, off playing 12 versus 12 footy up on the Gold Coast, and then probably struggled when he came in.
“And then had a good start over the pre-season and then got in the midfield after the halfway mark and showed you what he can do.
“He’s still got to work really hard at his game as most players do.
“They (Dow and Petrevski-Seton) have been inconsistent in terms of the way they’ve played and they’ve got to take some responsibility on that, but the patience I don’t think has been there in the midfield where they’ve been able to string games together.
“That’s been the issue I think with those two players.”
While Petrevski-Seton has requested a trade, Dow is contracted at Carlton for 2022.
Blues fans will be hoping their new coach gets the most out of the former top three draft pick.
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