Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory

[The Kings Ransom]

Hello people of the Sun. Jed Walter had a pretty huge game on the weekend but definitely needs to work on his set shot kicking.



I'll be doing the Ethan Read and Jake Rogers games some time this week.

Looks like a decent kicking action. Laying back on the ball a bit though. Probably explains why he kept missing to the right!

 

[OB11]

Looks like a decent kicking action. Laying back on the ball a bit though. Probably explains why he kept missing to the right!

I'm seeing a bit of a hitch as he gets into his kicking stride

 

[RedmanWasHere]

I'm seeing a bit of a hitch as he gets into his kicking stride

Is it a bit Paul Salmon like?

 

[The Kings Ransom]

I'm seeing a bit of a hitch as he gets into his kicking stride

Yeah, on second watch definitely decelerates the last step.
Needs to continue momentum through the ball.

Doesn’t look unnatural though. You feel though it would be correctable.

 

[sunsofanarchy]

Walter looks like a star! Young Tom Hawkins

26

Tom Hawkins

Age

36

Ht

197cm

Wt

105kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.2

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

4.4

3star

M

5.5

5star

T

1.9

4star

G

2.1

5star

D

12.7

3star

K

8.6

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

5.1

5star

T

2.1

3star

G

1.6

5star

D

7.8

2star

K

5.6

3star

HB

2.2

2star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.0

3star

G

2.2

5star

meets Charlie Curnow

30

Charlie Curnow

Age

27

Ht

194cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.3

3star

K

9.7

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

5.3

5star

T

2.2

4star

G

1.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

10.8

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

4.4

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.8

4star

On Nokia C2 2nd Edition using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[MarcLocksCrustySock]

Walter looks like a star! Young Tom Hawkins meets Charlie Curnow

On Nokia C2 2nd Edition using BigFooty.com mobile app

Whilst I agree with you, seeing someone post from a Nokia is questionable. At least you never have to charge your phone before posting.

 

[sunsofanarchy]

Whilst I agree with you, seeing someone post from a Nokia is questionable. At least you never have to charge your phone before posting.

My Samsung died on me on the weekend 1 month after the warranty expired so I got this burner. It is an absolute piece.

On Nokia C2 2nd Edition using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[MarcLocksCrustySock]

My Samsung died on me on the weekend 1 month after the warranty expired so I got this burner. It is an absolute piece.

On Nokia C2 2nd Edition using BigFooty.com mobile app

Does it have the Snake game?!

 

[GcSuns2021]

All 5 allies boys picked for the game this weekend except leo Lombard who is the emergency

 

[noobermensch]

Jake put in a typically hard working display in this one. Didn't get as many opportunities to show his breakaway speed.

 

[TheSunGod]

Jake put in a typically hard working display in this one. Didn't get as many opportunities to show his breakaway speed.

Jake has some great attributes that should add nicely to our list. So clean with his hands below his knees.

 

[OB11]

Yeah, on second watch definitely decelerates the last step.
Needs to continue momentum through the ball.

Doesn’t look unnatural though. You feel though it would be correctable.

I'm sure a hitch in a kicking action is easier to correct than a hitch in a basketball shooting motion, especially given his kicking motion on the run is fine.

 

[GC2015]

All 5 allies boys picked for the game this weekend except leo Lombard who is the emergency

Facing Western Australia this time. Not sure of WA's strength this year but they're usually really solid so it'll be a good test for the boys. Get the win this Sunday and it leads into a massive clash against Vic Metro at the Lions' training ground in early July. I'm not sure if the Allies have ever won an U18 National Championships before but it feels like this season is as good a chance as any and our academy boys will be instrumental if it happens.

 

[noobermensch]

Ethan Read playing for the Allies on the weekend. Solid impact around the ground, but I felt that he was soundly beaten in the ruck on the day. I don't include every ruck contest as that would make the videos too long, instead I look for those in which a player gets a clean and clear hit out to advantage, and as you can probably tell in watching the video, I struggled to find many for Ethan.

Edit: this might sound a bit overly critical. I thought he had a solid game overall, I was just left with some question marks about his potential impact as a ruckman specifically at the next level.

 

[Bjo187]

Read strikes me as a guy that would be a perfect CHB at AFL level. Particularly with a lot of the young tall forwards now being over 200cm.

 

[Scotty_222]

Jake has some great attributes that should add nicely to our list. So clean with his hands below his knees.

Does he become a buderick clone seeing as their is limited opportunity in the midfield?

 

[Southern Sun]

Agree with read at chb. Rogers seems like he could play half fwd almost straight away next year and become a midfielder later. Has that speed and agility that someone like Flanders doesn't have for that forward half role.

 

[Jirik13]

Not best picture but surely Read is more than 200cm if Walter is 195cm (or even 197cm according to Twomey).

 

[Jirik13]

 

[Emerald Sun]

Not best picture but surely Read is more than 200cm if Walter is 195cm (or even 197cm according to Twomey).

In both photos he looks a half head taller than Walters. Thats at least 10cm

 

[Jirik13]

On latest Gettable, Twomey has Walter as a challenger for pick 2, and also Read in top 10.

 

[GC2015]

On latest Gettable, Twomey has Walter as a challenger for pick 2, and also Read in top 10.

Unbelievable to think we potentially have the second best junior in the land playing for our academy this year as well as another top 10 junior in Read AND a third first round pick in Rogers. Add in another potential draftee in Graham and I can't help but think back to 2018 when the AFL Commission announced they were going to commit an extra $400k into our academy pathway (per year) when we had just received the keys to our new training & admin facilities post-Comm Games. That was five years ago which means this '23 crop of academy players is the first to go through our academy pathway with the extra funding and elite facilities available to them throughout their whole journey.

Is that a factor here or did we just get lucky? We know the Swans put an enormous amount of money into their academy and they've been reaping the rewards for close to a decade now with elite talent being produced like Heeney, Mills, Blakey, Gulden, Campbell etc. We also know we had several other All Australian juniors at the lower levels in our academy last year with Lombard & Nancarrow being named in the U16 AA team as well as Addinsall & Murray being named in the U15 AA team. So I'm inclined to think we've finally turned a corner here with our academy and it comes back to that 2018 season when we arguably hit rock bottom as a team but were able to secure more academy funding from the AFL + getting out of the demountable training sheds and into elite facilities that were initially built for the Comm Games.

It's all about creating an environment that's conducive to high level development and I would even argue we've seen it with our AFL players as well. Look at the guys who started their careers with us in that 2018 season - Wil Powell, Charlie Ballard and Nick Holman. None of those guys were highly rated going into that draft and now they are arguably three of our most important players. How does that happen? Exceptional player development must be the answer and I think it's fair to say that having access to elite facilities for the entire time they've been with us has made a HUGE difference. I think the same can be said about this new breed of academy stars we're seeing come through.

Now I'm going to re-ask a question I posed at the start of this season. Is Jed Walter the best junior to come out of the Gold Coast (Queensland?) since Nick Riewoldt? If so, my second question would be - is Jed Walter more highly rated than Nick Riewoldt at the same age? It seems the only junior in the country that is widely accepted as better than Walter right now is Harley Reid but that could change if Jed keeps this kind of form up. The second last game of this year's U18 National Championships that sees the Allies play Vic Country at Moorabbin in July is going to be a VERY interesting watch!

AFL U18s Player Focus: Jed Walter (Allies)

Jed Walter kicked off his U18 National Championships campaign in style on Sunday, spearheading the Allies to a win over South Australia.

central.rookieme.com

 

[TheSunGod]

Unbelievable to think we potentially have the second best junior in the land playing for our academy this year as well as another top 10 junior in Read AND a third first round pick in Rogers. Add in another potential draftee in Graham and I can't help but think back to 2018 when the AFL Commission announced they were going to commit an extra $400k into our academy pathway (per year) when we had just received the keys to our new training & admin facilities post-Comm Games. That was five years ago which means this '23 crop of academy players is the first to go through our academy pathway with the extra funding and elite facilities available to them throughout their whole journey.

Is that a factor here or did we just get lucky? We know the Swans put an enormous amount of money into their academy and they've been reaping the rewards for close to a decade now with elite talent being produced like Heeney, Mills, Blakey, Gulden, Campbell etc. We also know we had several other All Australian juniors at the lower levels in our academy last year with Lombard & Nancarrow being named in the U16 AA team as well as Addinsall & Murray being named in the U15 AA team. So I'm inclined to think we've finally turned a corner here with our academy and it comes back to that 2018 season when we arguably hit rock bottom as a team but were able to secure more academy funding from the AFL + getting out of the demountable training sheds and into elite facilities that were initially built for the Comm Games.

It's all about creating an environment that's conducive to high level development and I would even argue we've seen it with our AFL players as well. Look at the guys who started their careers with us in that 2018 season - Wil Powell, Charlie Ballard and Nick Holman. None of those guys were highly rated going into that draft and now they are arguably three of our most important players. How does that happen? Exceptional player development must be the answer and I think it's fair to say that having access to elite facilities for the entire time they've been with us has made a HUGE difference. I think the same can be said about this new breed of academy stars we're seeing come through.

Now I'm going to re-ask a question I posed at the start of this season. Is Jed Walter the best junior to come out of the Gold Coast (Queensland?) since Nick Riewoldt? If so, my second question would be - is Jed Walter more highly rated than Nick Riewoldt at the same age? It seems the only junior in the country that is widely accepted as better than Walter right now is Harley Reid but that could change if Jed keeps this kind of form up. The second last game of this year's U18 National Championships that sees the Allies play Vic Country at Moorabbin in July is going to be a VERY interesting watch!

AFL U18s Player Focus: Jed Walter (Allies)

Jed Walter kicked off his U18 National Championships campaign in style on Sunday, spearheading the Allies to a win over South Australia.

central.rookieme.com

Not sure what it’s like overall these days but back in the 80’s at school, whenever we had those inter-school sports days and carnivals, the Gold Coast teams and athletes in all sports used to regularly smash their Brisbane counterparts. I remember playing a footy match between PBC SHS and Macgregor SHS where Macgregor had a very good side with a few state reps (and even one who made it to the AFL) but PBC absolutely smashed them. I think the climate and beaches here really assist in getting kids outdoors and active, helping to produce lots of great sports people. We were always outside either playing sports or going to the beach surfing, swimming etc. Other places don’t always offer that.

 

[Supersuns]

If we make finals and all 3 players are bid on in the top 20, we are only able to match on 2 of those players.

 

[Supersuns]

Unbelievable to think we potentially have the second best junior in the land playing for our academy this year as well as another top 10 junior in Read AND a third first round pick in Rogers. Add in another potential draftee in Graham and I can't help but think back to 2018 when the AFL Commission announced they were going to commit an extra $400k into our academy pathway (per year) when we had just received the keys to our new training & admin facilities post-Comm Games. That was five years ago which means this '23 crop of academy players is the first to go through our academy pathway with the extra funding and elite facilities available to them throughout their whole journey.

Is that a factor here or did we just get lucky? We know the Swans put an enormous amount of money into their academy and they've been reaping the rewards for close to a decade now with elite talent being produced like Heeney, Mills, Blakey, Gulden, Campbell etc. We also know we had several other All Australian juniors at the lower levels in our academy last year with Lombard & Nancarrow being named in the U16 AA team as well as Addinsall & Murray being named in the U15 AA team. So I'm inclined to think we've finally turned a corner here with our academy and it comes back to that 2018 season when we arguably hit rock bottom as a team but were able to secure more academy funding from the AFL + getting out of the demountable training sheds and into elite facilities that were initially built for the Comm Games.

It's all about creating an environment that's conducive to high level development and I would even argue we've seen it with our AFL players as well. Look at the guys who started their careers with us in that 2018 season - Wil Powell, Charlie Ballard and Nick Holman. None of those guys were highly rated going into that draft and now they are arguably three of our most important players. How does that happen? Exceptional player development must be the answer and I think it's fair to say that having access to elite facilities for the entire time they've been with us has made a HUGE difference. I think the same can be said about this new breed of academy stars we're seeing come through.

Now I'm going to re-ask a question I posed at the start of this season. Is Jed Walter the best junior to come out of the Gold Coast (Queensland?) since Nick Riewoldt? If so, my second question would be - is Jed Walter more highly rated than Nick Riewoldt at the same age? It seems the only junior in the country that is widely accepted as better than Walter right now is Harley Reid but that could change if Jed keeps this kind of form up. The second last game of this year's U18 National Championships that sees the Allies play Vic Country at Moorabbin in July is going to be a VERY interesting watch!

AFL U18s Player Focus: Jed Walter (Allies)

Jed Walter kicked off his U18 National Championships campaign in style on Sunday, spearheading the Allies to a win over South Australia.

central.rookieme.com

Jed is not more highly rated than Roo was, what a ridiculous claim.