2009 Nationa1 U/18 Champs - Vic Country Team

[soupy66]

Butcher injured but there. No Rhys Ellis or Mat Pianto

Saw the team board but more names I didn't know than I could remember. Anyone else help there?

Fraser Russell and Richie Langham with the Falcons anyone else add? Next get together apparently will be after the 3rd round TAC game at Bendigo when all country teams will play at QE oval on the Saturday in a triple header then stay over.

 

[twinkles]

apperntly metro onlly had18 or so there but already looking to haveavery strong core group

 

[giveusatraveller]

Andrew Hooper Ben Peters Lucas Cook Jandre Slabbert
David Astbury Oliver Tate Shane Page Kallen Geary
Troy Davis Dustin Martin Luke Thompson Fraser Russell
Ben Cunnington Tom McKenzie Allen Christensen Callum Bartlett
Richard Langham Jack Weston Koby Stevens John Butcher
Mitch Golby Nathan Vardy Edward Carr Nick Sing
Brayden Salton Dyson Heppell Farran Priest Brad Mangan
Sean Atley Alex Keath Ryan Bastinac Riley Heddles
Matt Shaw Mitch Hallahan Myles Pitt James Hallahan
Corey Millard

This is the 35 invited to initial intro day

 

[its game on]

One player who was in VC under 16's in 2007 and the VC under 18's training squad in 2008 was Scott Oakley from the Pios.

Haven't heard the name mentioned for ages, maybe he's injured, does anyone know what he's doing footy wise?

 

[footyman]

Ryan Bastinac
Riley Heddles
Myles Pitt
James Hallahan
Corey Millard

They've really benefitted from having the Stringrays in their zone haven't they!!!

You'd think at least two of that five will get drafted. Certainly a few of them are of interest to me already.

 

[Hunch]

Andrew Hooper Ben Peters Lucas Cook Jandre Slabbert
David Astbury Oliver Tate Shane Page Kallen Geary
Troy Davis Dustin Martin Luke Thompson Fraser Russell
Ben Cunnington Tom McKenzie Allen Christensen Callum Bartlett
Richard Langham Jack Weston Koby Stevens John Butcher
Mitch Golby Nathan Vardy Edward Carr Nick Sing
Brayden Salton Dyson Heppell Farran Priest Brad Mangan
Sean Atley Alex Keath Ryan Bastinac Riley Heddles
Matt Shaw Mitch Hallahan Myles Pitt James Hallahan
Corey Millard

This is the 35 invited to initial intro day

watch out for Sean Ately very impressive bottom ager ais member he's one to jump over lots in the draft .Tom mckenzie has had a bad run early so hell be looking for a good year. Stevens is the big mail . Vardy is a terrifc size and should have filled out a bit this year making him very competetive.
Christiansens a ripper , Mangan looks very strong , cunnington should be good priest will be lively ,and alex kieth is a good player and eveyone knows what butcher hooper etc can do.Adding bastinac millard pitt and shaw they should be fairly competetive.
Should be fairly competetive i believe

 

[ravarma]

What possie will Keath play???????? he's big and good enough to play in the ruck, yet for school he played on the wing due to his mobility. For U16 state champs he played CHB and CHF

 

[Bourky23]

What possie will Keath play???????? he's big and good enough to play in the ruck, yet for school he played on the wing due to his mobility. For U16 state champs he played CHB and CHF

i think he'll play up forward with Butcher. Butch to probably play out of the goalsquare and Keath to roam around.

 

[vandelay]

i think he'll play up forward with Butcher. Butch to probably play out of the goalsquare and Keath to roam around.

I'd like to see them the other way round.

We know what John Butcher can do from the square, I'd like to see what he can do in the spotlight pushing off half forward.

 

[vandelay]

Andrew Hooper Ben Peters Lucas Cook Jandre Slabbert
David Astbury Oliver Tate Shane Page Kallen Geary
Troy Davis Dustin Martin Luke Thompson Fraser Russell
Ben Cunnington Tom McKenzie Allen Christensen Callum Bartlett
Richard Langham Jack Weston Koby Stevens John Butcher
Mitch Golby Nathan Vardy Edward Carr Nick Sing
Brayden Salton Dyson Heppell Farran Priest Brad Mangan
Sean Atley Alex Keath Ryan Bastinac Riley Heddles
Matt Shaw Mitch Hallahan Myles Pitt James Hallahan
Corey Millard

This is the 35 invited to initial intro day

Really disappointed to see Rhys Ellis miss out.

I reckon there's plenty of upside with that kid, and it's not as though they're brimming with key defenders.

There are a few other selections I'm not too crash hot on, but at the same time I'm happy to see the faith put in the underage kids, they certainly haven't held back with them.

 

[footyman]

Squads at this stage mean zilch anyway, remember last year they had Chris Curran in there before the season had started, he couldn't get a kick at the Rebels, lost confidence and was swiftly dropped from the first Vic Country squad.

Many doors will open to those not currently in there between now and the first trial game on Anzac Day weekend. Who is in there now and who isn't doesn't worry me too much. It's like the first draft of a 5,000 word essay - the foundations are there but plenty will be added to it and shuffled around before the deadline.

 

[its game on]

Very happy to see David Astbury from the Rebels in the squad.

He's one who will really kick on with VCE over and out of the way and an uninterrupted TAC season and training. One to keep an eye on.

 

[vandelay]

Squads at this stage mean zilch anyway, remember last year they had Chris Curran in there before the season had started, he couldn't get a kick at the Rebels, lost confidence and was swiftly dropped from the first Vic Country squad.

Many doors will open to those not currently in there between now and the first trial game on Anzac Day weekend. Who is in there now and who isn't doesn't worry me too much. It's like the first draft of a 5,000 word essay - the foundations are there but plenty will be added to it and shuffled around before the deadline.

You are, of course, very much correct.

Where I'm coming from is mainly from the kid's point of view. I think a lot of them appreciate having the faith shown in them from the start. Some of them go away with a stealy determination, others think the dream's over. Afterall, they're only 17.

 

[footyman]

Some of them go away with a stealy determination, others think the dream's over. Afterall, they're only 17.

That's exactly my message as well. If you're 17 and aren't in the Vic Country squad at the moment don't get down about it cos theres a stack of time left. That squad at the moment doesn't mean much at all.

And while some guys get down and feel the dreams over if they aren't in the early squad, some who are selected go the opposite way and think they're a bit further ahead than they realise. Being in a summer training squad aint anything to get a big head over!!! Plenty of hard work ahead for all.

 

[Bourky23]

I'd like to see them the other way round.

We know what John Butcher can do from the square, I'd like to see what he can do in the spotlight pushing off half forward.

look he's actually got elite endurance for a bloke his size, but the fact he is already well know/been injured for a lot of the pre season means that he'll pretty much do as he pleases (as arrogant as that sounds).. Although John is as skinny as a rake, he is such a powerful contested mark. i seriously think he'd be wasted anywhere else outside the forward 50.

he's similar to buddy franklin in his positions. (not for a second comparing him to buddy skill wise) but like Buddy, John stays in the forward 50 for most of the game until he feels the need to leave it... the type of forward who does what he wants (really good footy smarts etc..) expect a quiet start from Butch, that injury was not the most ideal to have at his age, but he'll pick up when it matters.. absolute jet of a player. absolute jet of a kid.

 

[ROYAL EAGLE]

look he's actually got elite endurance for a bloke his size, but the fact he is already well know/been injured for a lot of the pre season means that he'll pretty much do as he pleases (as arrogant as that sounds).. Although John is as skinny as a rake, he is such a powerful contested mark. i seriously think he'd be wasted anywhere else outside the forward 50.

he's similar to buddy franklin in his positions. (not for a second comparing him to buddy skill wise) but like Buddy, John stays in the forward 50 for most of the game until he feels the need to leave it... the type of forward who does what he wants (really good footy smarts etc..) expect a quiet start from Butch, that injury was not the most ideal to have at his age, but he'll pick up when it matters.. absolute jet of a player. absolute jet of a kid.

Bourkey if you had pick 1 2009 as it stands now would you go for Butcher,
Scully or Lucas there ?

And who do you think Melbourne would pick Butcher ?

I think Melbourne would go Butcher as it would set up there foward line for 10 years with Watts and Butcher.

West Coast I think would go Lucas first but seriously consider Butcher as well.

 

[Bourky23]

Bourkey if you had pick 1 2009 as it stands now would you go for Butcher,
Scully or Lucas there ?

And who do you think Melbourne would pick Butcher ?

I think Melbourne would go Butcher as it would set up there foward line for 10 years with Watts and Butcher.

West Coast I think would go Lucas first but seriously consider Butcher as well.

they are all fantastic players. right now on a 'rating' type system you'd have to go

Butcher
Scully
Lucas

purely because quality KP prospects are harder to find and Butcher has kicked a number of big bags in important fixtures (and when there is clearly so much physical development left in him)

but whether that's the way the draft turns out is another question entirely. every single year players expected to go top 3 drop (ala Rich) and we get bolters from nowhere (ala Hill).. Aaron Cornelius was almost unarguably a top 10 pick for 08' this time last year.. look where he went (around pick 50 IIRC?)

as far as recruiting goes i'd say St.Kilda wouldn't hesistate in taking any of those 3 given the chance but i reckon Scully or Lucas would be our priority.. we need that zippy midfielder who can kick goals and has elite skills.. both Scully and Lucas show a lot of those attributes. (I'd probably say Scully is quicker and has silky skills, but Lucas seems like a midfielder who always kicks a goal or two, [not too dissimilar to Koby Stevens] and yeah Lucas's skills are also top notch).

what i've been hearing (take this however you want, could be crap, could be true) heard it from people/players who would have more of an idea than me (mind you it is still all on the gossip tree, no hard proof).. Melbourne are keen on Butcher as they plan to emulate Hawthorns success (Buddy/Roughy) with both Watts and Butcher.. it does make sense but i can't see Melbourne passing up on the quality midfielders on offer. of course a heck of alot of water has got to go under the bridge between now and november but that's how i see it now.

i don't know if this years crop will be as good depth wise as the 08' draft but i'm pretty sure this years top 10 will be up there with the best of them.

 

[ravarma]

Has anyone heard of a guy by the name of Bradyn Sultan???? He is a new kid at MGS year 11 i think. he's a big unit and apperently plays Gippy power and is a great player!!

 

[footyman]

What possie will Keath play???????? he's big and good enough to play in the ruck, yet for school he played on the wing due to his mobility. For U16 state champs he played CHB and CHF

That's a very good question. Not one I know the answer to...time will tell I guess.

 

[its game on]

What possie will Keath play???????? he's big and good enough to play in the ruck, yet for school he played on the wing due to his mobility. For U16 state champs he played CHB and CHF

Would like to see Alex get maybe 10% of the rucking and let the top agers who need to impress the recruiters do the other 90%, plenty of time next year for rucking if that's where they reckon his future lies.

He's versatile enough to play anywhere, saw him play CHB in Shepparton and even though he probably preferred to play CHF or RR, he still dominated. So really anywhere except too much time in the ruck position for me, it's more a taste and then all about 2010.

 

[its game on]

Just had a look at the sizes of the U18 Academies for Country and Metro talls/rucks.

From the TAC site.

Country

Nathan Vardy 198cm
John Butcher 197cm
Brayden Salton 196cm bottom ager
Alex Keath 196cm bottom ager
Lucas Cook 195cm bottom ager
-- nil -- 194cm

Metro

Tom Nicholls 202cm bottom ager
Jack Fitzpatrick 200cm
Tom Hill 199cm
Ben Griffiths 199cm bottom ager
Tom Campbell 198cm
Nathan Burnage 198cm
Jake Walsh 197cm
Sean Tighe 196cm
Daniel Talia 195cm
Kyle Hartigan 194cm

Gee the VC ruck stocks look thin, as most would consider Butcher as KPP.

 

[footyman]

Country

Nathan Vardy 198cm
John Butcher 197cm
Brayden Salton 196cm bottom ager
Alex Keath 196cm bottom ager
Lucas Cook 195cm bottom ager
-- nil -- 194cm

You're right, they are light on for rucks. Again. Like they often are.

The fella from Geelong Thomas Mackenzie plays ruck, that list you're working off has him at 192cm, but last year he was 194cm in the footy record. I dont know how a more recent measurement could show that he's shrunk but anyway he's in that initial squad and if he's grown a few more cms he'd be another in the mix for Hydey.

Unfortunately for Vic Country, Josh Hamilton from Murray would be a NSW/ACT player as his local club is Lavington.

 

[its game on]

Just had a look at the sizes of the U18 Academies for Country and Metro talls/rucks.

From the TAC site.

Country

Nathan Vardy 198cm
John Butcher 197cm
Brayden Salton 196cm bottom ager
Alex Keath 196cm bottom ager
Lucas Cook 195cm bottom ager
-- nil -- 194cm

Metro

Tom Nicholls 202cm bottom ager
Jack Fitzpatrick 200cm
Tom Hill 199cm
Ben Griffiths 199cm bottom ager
Tom Campbell 198cm
Nathan Burnage 198cm
Jake Walsh 197cm
Sean Tighe 196cm
Daniel Talia 195cm
Kyle Hartigan 194cm


Also short on talls.

Andrew Browne (202cm) was a real workhorse last year when Ayce Cordy got injured. I hope Nathan stays healthy.

There's some real talent in the rucks/talls in that metro team, also Scully would've been very hand for VC.

Any other 198cm+ players for VC around?

I hate to be negative so early,.... but that's still looking a hard match up IMO.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Will be watching with keen interest to see how James Hallahan goes considering he was in my Year 12 class last year. However I would imagine he is turning 19 this year so I don't know how he could play in U/18s unless he was allowed as an over-age player??

 

[its game on]

Will be watching with keen interest to see how James Hallahan goes considering he was in my Year 12 class last year. However I would imagine he is turning 19 this year so I don't know how he could play in U/18s unless he was allowed as an over-age player??

James Hallahan from Dandy born 4/2/91, you didn't get an invite to the 18th?

Another Hallahan from Dandy, Mitch born 23/8/92