2013 U18 Championships

[Yoda_]

Vic Country have released their squad here. I'll update it properly when I get home.

At a very quick glance, it looks to be a pretty short squad. Thought Patolo would have got a gig, purely on the need to add some size. Another big bodied defender to help out Gardiner wouldn't have gone astray either in my opinion. Matthew Boag could count himself unlucky too, given his early season form. But otherwise, it's largely as expected.

Thoughts?

Couple of surprise ommision for mine. Talk out of the Stingrays was that the younger Bastinac may have gotten a gig (purely on the back of his surname IMHO). Doesnt get huge numbers and no real standout feature to his game.

The other was Nathan Gardiner who has started the year of superbly for the 'Rays. Kicked 7 two weeks ago and is that real new age medium forward who can run through the midfield. Surprused for sure he didnt get selected.

 

[Sin City]

Vic Country have released their squad here. I'll update it properly when I get home.

At a very quick glance, it looks to be a pretty short squad. Thought Patolo would have got a gig, purely on the need to add some size. Another big bodied defender to help out Gardiner wouldn't have gone astray either in my opinion. Matthew Boag could count himself unlucky too, given his early season form. But otherwise, it's largely as expected.

Thoughts?

Goddard, Willsmore, Scott, Herbert, McCartney, Taylor.

Exciting forward line if they can get it to them enough.

 

[Chris25]

Herbert has transformed into a half back I believe? Good move too, just didn't have the size or overhead marking to be that third tall. Problem is that they can only play two 19 year olds in each game, and they have a few to choose from.

 

[Chris25]

Once again, I'll update it properly later on, but the Vic Metro squad is here. And once again, it looks a little short to me. Which seems to be a common trend. I like the fact that Le Grice and McStay were both included, they are two of the more interesting talls in my opinion. Apeness too. But I wanted to see some others named too - Orr, Armstrong Weston and even Dawam would have benefitted.

Thoughts?

 

[Sin City]

Glad to see Alex Spencer in there, something about him.

Walker, Curnow, McStay, Greiser, Keedle all interesting prospects.

Very disappointed that Jake Kalanj wasn't selected, really don't understand that one.

 

[Stingray LT1]

Couple of surprise ommision for mine. Talk out of the Stingrays was that the younger Bastinac may have gotten a gig (purely on the back of his surname IMHO). Doesnt get huge numbers and no real standout feature to his game.

The other was Nathan Gardiner who has started the year of superbly for the 'Rays. Kicked 7 two weeks ago and is that real new age medium forward who can run through the midfield. Surprused for sure he didnt get selected.

Agree about Nathan Gardiner, he has started this year very well. Word is the selectors thought he wasn't tall enough to fit into their forward structure??
Any opinions on stingrays Nathan Foote? Word is he was also stiff to miss the vic country cut. He had a great season last year as a 17yo and has started this year very consistantly. A good inside small defender who wins plenty of hard ball and sets up lots of play.

 

[Nightwolf]

Havent seen TAC cup matches for a few weeks, but suprised Julian Soccio was left out. Handy backman in games ive seen.
Love Jesse Tardio and looking forward to seeing Max Hayes go about it. Should be good viewing.

 

[Chris25]

Updated the squads for Vic Metro, Vic Country, NSW/ACT and what has been released of WA with clubs, heights and weights. And because I'm such a nice guy, I even ordered them from shortest to tallest for you all.

Just a quick thought Chris25, perhaps with that NSW Squad you might be able to put a disclaimer on the scholarship kids? (ie: Jedd Clothier is tied to Essendon should we nominate him).

There is probably a dozen or so kids in that squad that are tied to particular clubs.

I had a go, but I'm sure there are some I've missed.

 

[bjlucas]

Vic Country

Josh Maishman (Geelong) 178cm, 71kg

Chris25, since you have copied the names etc. from the shit tac cup website, it's actually Joe Maishman not Josh Maishman. Cheers Bjlucas

 

[Chris25]

Apologies to Joe.

 

[diehard_sainter]

Glad to see Alex Spencer in there, something about him.

Walker, Curnow, McStay, Greiser, Keedle all interesting prospects.

Very disappointed that Jake Kalanj wasn't selected, really don't understand that one.

Alex Spencer is a very good player IMO, lovely size can be used in the middle, up forward or running back. Also has quality foot skills as well.

 

[diehard_sainter]

Chris25,

What type of knowledge do you have on the Vic Metro players?

 

[Chris25]

Oh, I like to think I know a little about them. I've certainly seen more of the Metro boys than I would have previous years.

 

[Chris25]

I ended up just updating the first page with the squad that Tasmania was using for their TAC Cup games, figured it would be the same. Also added in four players to watch for each side.

 

[truepride]

Now that

Alex Spencer is a very good player IMO, lovely size can be used in the middle, up forward or running back. Also has quality foot skills as well.

Spencer is getting over alot of those injuries that have held him back I believe he can give it a real crack this year. Saw him play a couple of games and just looked so versatile. Was used as a key forward, then as a key defender and then to top it off was used as a sweeping defender. Shows a lot of promise hopefully he can continue to improve this year.

 

[Sin City]

Alex Spencer is a very good player IMO, lovely size can be used in the middle, up forward or running back. Also has quality foot skills as well.

Yeah he's a really nice mover. It'll be good to see how he goes against the best juniors in the country, wouldn't be surprised if he's the one who really steps up.

Reckon there will be a lot of interest in his testing.

 

[Offsider]

The Queensland Squad I think is:

Lewis Radford
Riley Blundell
Bill Pendlebury
Matthew Hammelmann
Hayden Bertoli- Simmons
Josh Stiller
Sam Gribble
Nick Jackson
Isaac Conway
Aden Rutledge
Jonathon Freeman
Jacob Watson
Liam Dawson
Steven Coutts
Braydon Preuss
Luke Rogerson
Jack Goodall
Archie Smith
James Holland
Tyler Cornish
Steven Mills
Darcy Trask
Lachlan Weller
Caleb Hay
Jack Taylor
Isaac Rokeby
Jarred Ellis
Darcy Cameron –Reeves
Cain Tickner
Lachlan Niland-Rowe

I would expect Queensland to perform reasonably well this year, although they lack a fair bit of depth particularly through the midfield. A lot of the kids are going to be tied to either Brisbane or the Gold Coast via the academy system though. The midfield should be pretty well led with Conway, Weller, Gribble and Rogerson. Defensively Rutledge and Radford should provide excellent drive from the half back line, tall defenders are an issue this year, Tickner might be played at CHB (better as a CHF imo), and Dawson might also be pushed back (more of a medium defender though). The forward line looks solid with Freeman being overaged and looking a good target and Hammelmann being an excellent prospect as an underaged player.

A few notes on some of the players:

Lewis Radford - Small mid/HBF, generally an outside player but capable of winning his own ball, has elite speed, disposal decent. Has a huge scope for improvement as he played rugby union last year. I will be interested to see how he goes this year.

Isaac Conway - probably the best known QLD player at this stage and imo one of the best inside mids this year, reads the play very well and has excellent hands and ball winning ability in close. Disposal is improving and his outside game appears to be developing nicely in the Brisbane Lions reserves. He could be getting tagged potentially after dominating some games as an underager last year so it will be interesting to see how he deals with that.

Aden Rutledge -medium sized utility who plays mainly as a HBF, has good natural ability but needs to work harder on the field imo. Finds the ball ok and uses it well but needs to work on getting more involved, should have a pretty good U18 champs. May be caught out defensively on occasions, yet can impact contests well as the third tall.

Sam Gribble - Outside/inside mid who can find the ball well, did quite well last year. He finds the ball well, runs hard and plays that link role well, just needs to improve his skills and just eradicate the bad errors from his game. Looks like a rookie option imo unless he improves a lot.

Lachlan Weller - Brother of Maverick Weller, similar game style but the better prospect imo. Has that same hard edge and has good athleticism, but skills are a lot cleaner and his decision making looks good. One for 2014 for the Gold Coast Suns.

Archie Smith - 200cm ruckman who is very new to the game, comes from basketball and has excellent athleticism (Nic Naitanui level athletic ability). From all reports has looked good so far in practice matches, will be interesting to see how he goes, a real dark horse imo. His tap work and effort are apparently very good. Will be be the next Shaun Hampson/Zac Smith/Zac Clarke type who are athletic rucks converted from other sports? Will go to Brisbane definitely.

Luke Rogerson - good mid prospect that can go both forward and back, has time with the footy and makes good decisions. Looks like a hard worker and is decent defensively so he could be played at half-back. Disposal is excellent and rarely misses targets, just a classy player, needs to dominate games and work on getting more of the ball though. I hope he has an excellent U18 champs, because he has serious potential.

Cain Tickner - Along with Conway the other well known Qld prospect, can play as a tall forward or defender and was the CHB for the AIS side and performed well. He is a very good mark, decent athlete, and has great hands and skills. He had a good couple of games last year so it will be important to improve this year and he could dominate, might be played in defence some games though.

Matt Hammelmann - Underage KPF prospect who has a ton of potential, high level athlete with good marking skills and works hard defensively. Plays mainly deep as a FF, he needs to find more of the ball but he is a great prospect and might have a good champs although he may be blanketed easily by the good defenders as he is a bit raw.

 

[steveyjayxo]

How do you think SA's Squad will perform this year Chris?
Who were the unlucky ones to miss out?

 

[TheSunGod]

Cheers Offsider. Do you know anything about Darcy Trask? Apparently can be picked up by the Suns through their Academy - not sure if this year though. Was highly rated by a poster on our board some time ago. 6'3", runs like the wind, booming kick.

 

[offshore]

Vic Country have released their squad here. I'll update it properly when I get home.

At a very quick glance, it looks to be a pretty short squad. Thought Patolo would have got a gig, purely on the need to add some size. Another big bodied defender to help out Gardiner wouldn't have gone astray either in my opinion. Matthew Boag could count himself unlucky too, given his early season form. But otherwise, it's largely as expected.

Thoughts?

Chisari ? http://boundforglorynews.com/jacob-chisari-leads-list-of-puzzling-vic-country-omissions/

 

[Chris25]

Thanks Offsider. I'll add that squad to the first page.

How do you think SA's Squad will perform this year Chris?
Who were the unlucky ones to miss out?

I think SA will do really well, hopefully this will be their year. Just the way they're coached, I think they play the most AFL-like game style. And they always have a lot of physically developed players, this year being no different. For those outside SA, the majority of the squad would be unknown but they have depth at all positions.

Just off the top of my head, Henry Voigt and Luke Andruszkiewicz were two KPPs who could consider themselves unlucky. Caleb Daniel and Jack Donkersley are both underaged, but could have been in there. The Central Districts trio of Bradley Bain, Brae McConnell and Luke Buckby too, if only they played for a better team and weren't smashed every week.

Chisari ? http://boundforglorynews.com/jacob-chisari-leads-list-of-puzzling-vic-country-omissions/

Based purely on weight of numbers, Chisari should probably be there. If he weren't 176cm, he probably would be there too. But I imagine the reason was that only so many players under 180cm can fit in the one midfield - and guys like Taylor, Hartung and Tsitas would all be picked ahead of him. Plus, then there are other similar players in Crouch and Lang. Also, from what I've seen this year, his kicking still has a long way to go.

But, all of that aside, he did deserve a spot.

 

[Offsider]

Cheers Offsider. Do you know anything about Darcy Trask? Apparently can be picked up by the Suns through their Academy - not sure if this year though. Was highly rated by a poster on our board some time ago. 6'3", runs like the wind, booming kick.

Isn't he next year? Not sure to much about him as I haven't seen a lot of him or heard much. From what I gather he seems to be play as a utility type a fair bit as a forward, excellent athleticism, needs to win more of his own footy and get more of the ball, has a fair bit of development left but looks a likely type.

I doubt that the Suns would get much this year from their Academy, next year though they have Weller who has first round potential and Trask who has got good potential as well.

 

[Chris Grant]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-05-22/aflcomaus-top-20-draft-prospects

Acres seems a bit unheard of on here. Anyone know anything more about him?

 

[diehard_sainter]

Yeah he's a really nice mover. It'll be good to see how he goes against the best juniors in the country, wouldn't be surprised if he's the one who really steps up.

Reckon there will be a lot of interest in his testing.

He had groin issues in the past not sure if it was OP or not but that really hindered his performances.
I would compare him to Adam Goodes sizewise as well as positions he can play however he is not as athletic as Goodes, but he does have amazingly good skills when fully fit.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-05-22/aflcomaus-top-20-draft-prospects

Acres seems a bit unheard of on here. Anyone know anything more about him?

See the WA thread.

He's rated highly, a very classy tall outside midfielder.