WESTERN Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia says there is nothing to worry about with long-time recruiting manager Scott Clayton still heading up the club's talent identification program, despite being appointed to the same position with the Gold Coast.
Clayton will leave the Bulldogs at the end of the year and start his role with the new south-east Queensland AFL team on January 1. But Fantasia said there are no concerns about Clayton's situation.
"It's an interesting situation that we had to think through. Are we allowing him any additional intelligence, but the reality is that they [Gold Coast] don't come in until 2011 and we're not really in the same market space," Fantasia told afl.com.au.
"Their whole concessions and target market are 2009 and beyond. We felt with his knowledge that it was important we kept him, two thirds of the way through the season.
"His approach to it is extremely professional and from that point of view, all parties are comfortable. He's certainly taken a back step to trading. He's not playing a role and his role is shaped into the talent ID and drafting, so that's certainly a chance for him."
Fantasia confirmed he will take over more of the list management/trade duties next week.
Still, the former Adelaide recruiting manager said he was excited by the prospect of unearthing a new recruiting manager for the Western Bulldogs in 2009.
"We've advertised nationally and we've got a number of positions at the club that we're addressing. There are two pretty critical roles and one is the national recruiting manager's position and the other is the physical conditioning position," Fantasia said.
"So we're going through that process at the moment and I must say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality and level of applicants. That's been quite interesting and there is a good field and it shows that the industry is alive and well and dynamic.
"There are some quality people getting well educated and getting great experiences, so we're confident that we're going to get some great people."
But Fantasia is genuinely pleased with how Clayton has left the club's list, especially the group of tall forwards emerging.
"Right now, we think we've got a very good developing group. In particular, we've got three players who are genuinely exciting in the area that we're looking for – young Jarrad Grant will be like a new recruit, because he only played half a year last season," he said.
"He's a lead-up forward who is 192cm and then we've got Jarrad Boumann, who is also a tall lead-up forward and he finished the year off really strongly.
"And then we've got Ayce Cordy, who at 202cm will come in as a father/son selection, so they're all lightly built and have got some development left in them. So from that point of view, we've really got some genuine young men waiting.
"In the ruck, we've got James Mulligan and John Shaw from our rookie list and they're developing nicely and they've got a few years of development to come."
Fantasia said there was also a group of Bulldogs who had yet to play 100 matches, but were continually improving.
"There are 24 players that are signed to 2011 and they're all young and below the age of 26, so we know there is a nucleus there that we can work on. And a lot of them played this year, so there are some positive signs," he said.