10 International footballers/athletes invited to National Draft Combine

[Tigerbob]

Seen Gideon play. Can play. Very excited to see him develop. Positive signs he will make the grade. The main reason despite his athletic attributes is his understanding of the game. Very high Footy IQ.

Good luck to all these guys. Good initiative.

 

[j0rdy1]

Like the sounds of Yoshi Harris and Chen Shao Liang.

 

[MiloStedman]

somee of these guys are athletic freaks, and mature bodies at 22 y.o. Most of our talent is taken in the national draft, and rookie list spots are always a long shot, why not take a punt on one of these type of guys as a "project player", can't be any worse than the last round of rookie selections, surely?

Give me one of these guys (especially one of the Americans) over the last few rounds of draft picks and/or pre-season draft picks? Why choose some local flog who's just going to take up space on your list and wither up and die in one of the state leagues when you could have a supremely talented American athlete, or one of the best footy players in another country?

 

[Alfonz]

For the two US athletes who are >195cm and >100kg ... there's been quite a few talls (e.g. Watts, Naitanui, Schoenmakers, Sam Reid, Kersten) with better sprint times, but they wouldn't have been nearly as heavy. I wonder what they'd do now after bulking up. Watts the only one who could match it in the agility stakes. The guy with an 8.08 agility (at 102kg) would be an interesting proposition if he shows some semblance of ball skills.

http://www.topendsports.com/sport/afl/testing-draft-results.htm

 

[Raymond Rougeau]

International players is great, I'd love to see how west Africans / southamericans and even Mediterranean types would go ...

You would think the physical tools of a west African in ruck or key position could be scary imagine drogba as a full forward or a Leo messi fwd pocket even a c.ronaldo wingman/ hff !

 

[StKildaUSA]

Nice to see Americans invited to the National Draft Combine. Really good for the future of footy in the US.

 

[Oneiros]

Nice to see Americans invited to the National Draft Combine. Really good for the future of footy in the US.

It would be good to get someone onto a senior list from a nation that isn't Ireland (not that having more Irish players isn't good) if only to show that yes it's possible.

 

[carltonsux]

Definetly hope we don't rookie any of the chinese players.

 

[worthy]

A big concern of mine is the possible language barrier.

Other sports experience it all the time and have found ways to overcome the issues, but we've never had that problem; even an indigenous player from the most remote community would have more than adequate English skills.

Give them time, but i'm sure the New Zealanders will overcome it

 

[Cmarsh]

Definetly hope we don't rookie any of the chinese players.

Um, there's only one of them dude.

 

[Seldom Seen Kid]

Seems like an apt time to plug the article I wrote for BFN on the whole area of international recruitment a few months ago! Obviously the odds are against any of them succeeding but the reduction in the number of available rookie spots means the international route is one that will be explored extensively in the next few years IMO.

Anyway here is the article

http://www.bigfootynews.com/2012/04/5-steps-to-successful-international-recruitment/

 

[I Remember Bluey]

I hope Collingwood snaffles up one of the young super athletic americans, a lot to work with

The one who had 40 steals in a season would have no trouble fitting in at the Pies, the other 2 would have to lift their steal rate before being considered as Pie material .

 

[Buddy Guy]

Shifter Sheehan has rated Heatherley a first round prospect if he was available in next years draft.

 

[blaze036]

The one who had 40 steals in a season would have no trouble fitting in at the Pies, the other 2 would have to lift their steal rate before being considered as Pie material .

clever

 

[blaze036]

A big concern of mine is the possible language barrier.

Other sports experience it all the time and have found ways to overcome the issues, but we've never had that problem; even an indigenous player from the most remote community would have more than adequate English skills.

i heard when jurrah got picked up he couldnt speak english

 

[savagelunchbox]

A bloke who's played footy all his life deserves the opportunity more than someone who's never played it. It's a pointless exercise: You need to develop a footy brain at an early age, otherwise you'll just be useless. That's not to mention the mammoth task of getting their skills to a decent level.

That's a real dipstick analysis. In fact why don't you tell this theory to Dean Brogan and see how he reacts?

Don't worry I'll come back in 2 days when you've replied having used all that time to think of witty and long words to use to give the false impression you're smart, intelligent and hip.

 

[savagelunchbox]

As for Heatherly, he played for BHH in that curtain raiser game in rd1 against the AIS u/18 and looked impressive against players his own age. Played in defense and wasn't beaten too often. Wasn't scared to throw his body around either.
He was the first player to start cramping so hopefully he's been working hard on getting AFL fit.

 

[Hodge is God]

A big concern of mine is the possible language barrier.

Other sports experience it all the time and have found ways to overcome the issues, but we've never had that problem; even an indigenous player from the most remote community would have more than adequate English skills.

Amos Frank could hardly speak any English when he came across to Hawthorn.

 

[ilikepotatoes]

As for Heatherly, he played for BHH in that curtain raiser game in rd1 against the AIS u/18 and looked impressive against players his own age. Played in defense and wasn't beaten too often. Wasn't scared to throw his body around either.
He was the first player to start cramping so hopefully he's been working hard on getting AFL fit.

This game:

He features form 4.37

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Great initiative, but I don't think any from that lot will be picked up (on senior lists, at least).

Someone forgot to tell Hawthorn and Heatherley.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Definetly hope we don't rookie any of the chinese players.

Reason being?

 

[MR]

Someone forgot to tell Hawthorn and Heatherley.

Richmond and Gideon Simon too

 

[thejester]

That's a pretty transparent PR exercise. Four of the ten are on international scholarships and playing club footy in Australia already, which in turn begs the question - why have they been invited to the combine? Of the remaining six, two are Irish and four are 'elite' athletes-cum-basketballers. Particular kudos to Shifter for reeling off their basketball stats like they're actually relevant.

I'm all for the AFL's little exercises in promotion, but when the spots of actual footballers are getting taken in blatant marketing ploys it's a bit farcical. You'd think they'd have learned from Folau, but apparently not.

 

[savagelunchbox]

This game:

He features form 4.37

BHH = Box Hill Hawks. It was the curtain raiser game in rd1 for Richmond vs. Blues at the MCG.

 

[carltonsux]

thank christ.