Yeah of course, by no means I’m saying every kid coming in after missing their whole draft year will perform like him. I just think recruiters/ clubs looking at those kids will be able to use him as a measuring stick of some sort, for the kids that tick boxes a,b,c,d ( athletic ability, professionalism, drive to succeed etc) that they won’t have to much of a disadvantage in their development having missed a year. Technically they are kids coming of a 12 month injury (Hollands, Perez etc), but physically they are fine.
Yeah i think they both would be a good fit in at the saints, although i think its most likely that saints used their first rounder during trade week to top up again. Yeah i like Powell, he's been in a rich vein of form and absolutely dominating the under 18s. While only slight in size he's a see ball get ball type of player who just continually finds the footy. I still have him outside the top 30 as i want to see more of him, but his form in the last month would almost have him as the best midfield prospect coming out of SA this year. Has good testing results aswell so athletically a tick, will just need to put on some size to be effective once he gets drafted.
Someone mentioned to me, his best is Daisy Thomas like. Hasn’t shown the consistency or has the body of work as a junior. But his best is eye catching.
Yep Ford is an interesting prospect, he’s probably one of the most talented in the draft but hasn’t put it all together yet. Played mostly as a high half forward last year that got up the ground as a link player but is also very good at the contest and uses the ball well in close. He would’ve played more minutes in the midfield this year, so no one really gets to see his progression unfortunately. Great mark overhead, penetrating kick (dual sided often uses his left to get out of trouble or open up the ground), good hands in close and rarely burns a teammate. He only kicked 7 goals I think last year, but at times was unselfish and gave many off to teammates inside 50 when most others would take the shot, could’ve easily had 15 or so. He’s nothing like Robbo or Caddy, he played like a more contested Curtis Taylor last year, even a bit like Cam rayner at times. If he makes a successful move into the midfield that will set him apart and then the comparisons get interesting. At his size and ability to take high flying/
I don’t really see that as Thomas did his best work moving the ball on the outside. I feel as if once Fords body matures, his best work will be done on the inside.
Yeah the Taylor comparison was more the roll he played at western last year, nothing to do with the aggression. There is a bit of de goey in him, but I’d want to see more explosive play when being sat deep and the Jets didn’t use him like that last year. He didn’t test this year due to a niggle (like many of the boys). I’ve heard last year his standing/ running verticals were both impressive, low 3s on the sprint and mid 8s on agility.
Good sized outside mid, 188cm currently. Has had an extremely impressive season in the colts to push his name into first round calculations. Can roll through half back as well as his usually wing position. Smooth mover with elite foot skills and screams class. He’s one of those players that looks to have endless time on the field and is not rushed trying to find the right target. Needs to work on his contested game but I’m sure that will come with time.
Yeah I had him too high last month and I think there’s little chance he’s goes near 10 on draft night. I know his kicking isn’t an issue for others, but going back and watching his games again, it’s an area of his game he needs to improve to be afl standard. Also whispers that he had grown to 191-192cm got me excited for what he could become at that size. Too see he was still 187cm at testing was a tad disappointing, hopefully he still has some growing left in him.
I’ll be putting out a 1st round mock draft tomorrow and my next rankings will be going up in a week or so, and I was thinking of extending it out to 40.
