Draft Watcher eDPS Draft Watch 2018

[HedgeFund]

DPS, does that mean that if 19yo play VFL that they are ineligible to play TAC cup finals?



On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

No - 19 years olds who remain on TAC lists whilst playing VFL are able to return to TAC when AFL Victoria permit them.

Several did it last year (eg. Bailey Morrish, Hamish Brayshaw, Louis Cunningham)

 

[eDPS]

My first lot of notes for ADC are included in this, plenty of future AFL stars on display

 

[eDPS]

 

[Resigned]

Do you have any thoughts on Joel Randall? was named in the best for the Knights on the weekend.

 

[eDPS]

Do you have any thoughts on Joel Randall? was named in the best for the Knights on the weekend.

He wasnt a player i had planned notes for before the game so i didnt get to focus on him and i cant recall anything that he did that stood out to me.

 

[HedgeFund]

He wasnt a player i had planned notes for before the game so i didnt get to focus on him and i cant recall anything that he did that stood out to me.

That’s understandable. FYI - Randall had zero kicks and 2 handballs for the day. He did register 4 tackles.

 

[Zurgblade]

That’s understandable. FYI - Randall had zero kicks and 2 handballs for the day. He did register 4 tackles.

Best for the Knights with those stats? really??

 

[HedgeFund]

Best for the Knights with those stats? really??

Can confirm he was named 3rd best for NK and Champion Data clearly states 0 kicks 2 handballs and 4 tackles for the day.

I’m the first one to say stats can sometimes be misleading but this one is extraordinarily odd.

 

[Draft Potential]

Hi all - this is my first post so please be gentle.
First the intro - I have been employed in AFL club land for a number of years and that ceased at the end of last season. Was in recruiting and talent id and emphasis was on observing players from U16 year through to Draft year - but mainly through APS/AGSV and TAC systems.
So now I am just an observer and these are just my opinions...

I believe the 2018 Draft crop - other than the first say 10 picks - will end up being a very disappointing group.

I base this on the fact that all great draft's have historically had a strong emphasis on the strength on the Vic Metro/Vic Country groups and i am putting it out there that the 2018 groups are very, very thin...
I base this on my initial observations from 2016 U16 Nationals - VM did not win a game and VC only beat VM in a very lack lustre game and lost other 2 games. This was early indicator of the weakness of this group from a Victorian standpoint. I also dont want to take away from strength of other states - as SA this year is as strong a group as i can remember - its just that i am making the point that all good draft crops rely on the largest pool of its players coming from Victoria and i believe this years Vics are very average. The AFL Academy intake at this year level also further backs up my point - the King brothers are covering the weakness in this group.

As mentioned earlier i have been a close observer of APS/AGSV over last decade and my concern with 2018 crop was further heightened during last years private school season. Sticking just with APS to make my point - 2017 was a really interesting year - with Haileybury with about best team in private school history (Brayshaw, Constable, Davies-Uniacke, Bonar, etc...and the Kings), Geelong Grammar had the fab four (Dow, Brander, O'Brien and Daniels), Caulfield were incredibly strong and Carey were brilliantly coached etc...but the thing i noted with great interest was the distinct lack of quality year 11's in a lot of the teams. To emphasize my concerns further i want to highlight 2 boys in particular that have recruiters very concerned about 2018 and very excited about 2019. In all my years of watching APS footy i have never seen year 10's come in and influence games as much as Matt Rowell (Carey) and Jack Mahony (St Kevins) did in 2017. History tells me that many year 10 boys play - but i have not seen young players do what these boys (and Noah Anderson from Carey) did consistently and that makes me think that they are simply a lot better than this years year 12 boys.

So that is my quick observations on last 2 years but what about this year - and round one of TAC i think further confirms my concerns. If you go through teams i simply cannot remember a Round 1 that had so many bottom age players. If you ignore the 19 year olds - which btw are becoming a joke as they were originally were meant to be either under developed bigs or injured players and now they have become just guys unlucky not to be drafted and coming back to assist teams to win games - the volume of bottom ages was very concerning from a 2018 draft perspective. Just look at Vic Metro TAC teams - bottom agers everywhere like never before in round one. I got told on weekend that initial VM squad for 2018 has 29 players - this includes 7 AFL Academy bottom agers and 3 19 year olds - so i ask the question is this really the year on the super draft ???

Now my disclaimer - the top end of 2018 draft is seriously elite - i am just questioning the depth...

 

[mattyc75]

Hi all - this is my first post so please be gentle.
First the intro - I have been employed in AFL club land for a number of years and that ceased at the end of last season. Was in recruiting and talent id and emphasis was on observing players from U16 year through to Draft year - but mainly through APS/AGSV and TAC systems.
So now I am just an observer and these are just my opinions...

I believe the 2018 Draft crop - other than the first say 10 picks - will end up being a very disappointing group.

I base this on the fact that all great draft's have historically had a strong emphasis on the strength on the Vic Metro/Vic Country groups and i am putting it out there that the 2018 groups are very, very thin...
I base this on my initial observations from 2016 U16 Nationals - VM did not win a game and VC only beat VM in a very lack lustre game and lost other 2 games. This was early indicator of the weakness of this group from a Victorian standpoint. I also dont want to take away from strength of other states - as SA this year is as strong a group as i can remember - its just that i am making the point that all good draft crops rely on the largest pool of its players coming from Victoria and i believe this years Vics are very average. The AFL Academy intake at this year level also further backs up my point - the King brothers are covering the weakness in this group.

As mentioned earlier i have been a close observer of APS/AGSV over last decade and my concern with 2018 crop was further heightened during last years private school season. Sticking just with APS to make my point - 2017 was a really interesting year - with Haileybury with about best team in private school history (Brayshaw, Constable, Davies-Uniacke, Bonar, etc...and the Kings), Geelong Grammar had the fab four (Dow, Brander, O'Brien and Daniels), Caulfield were incredibly strong and Carey were brilliantly coached etc...but the thing i noted with great interest was the distinct lack of quality year 11's in a lot of the teams. To emphasize my concerns further i want to highlight 2 boys in particular that have recruiters very concerned about 2018 and very excited about 2019. In all my years of watching APS footy i have never seen year 10's come in and influence games as much as Matt Rowell (Carey) and Jack Mahony (St Kevins) did in 2017. History tells me that many year 10 boys play - but i have not seen young players do what these boys (and Noah Anderson from Carey) did consistently and that makes me think that they are simply a lot better than this years year 12 boys.

So that is my quick observations on last 2 years but what about this year - and round one of TAC i think further confirms my concerns. If you go through teams i simply cannot remember a Round 1 that had so many bottom age players. If you ignore the 19 year olds - which btw are becoming a joke as they were originally were meant to be either under developed bigs or injured players and now they have become just guys unlucky not to be drafted and coming back to assist teams to win games - the volume of bottom ages was very concerning from a 2018 draft perspective. Just look at Vic Metro TAC teams - bottom agers everywhere like never before in round one. I got told on weekend that initial VM squad for 2018 has 29 players - this includes 7 AFL Academy bottom agers and 3 19 year olds - so i ask the question is this really the year on the super draft ???

Now my disclaimer - the top end of 2018 draft is seriously elite - i am just questioning the depth...

Another reason the eagles shouldnt have traded out their first rounder this year

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[eDPS]

Hi all - this is my first post so please be gentle.
First the intro - I have been employed in AFL club land for a number of years and that ceased at the end of last season. Was in recruiting and talent id and emphasis was on observing players from U16 year through to Draft year - but mainly through APS/AGSV and TAC systems.
So now I am just an observer and these are just my opinions...

I believe the 2018 Draft crop - other than the first say 10 picks - will end up being a very disappointing group.

I base this on the fact that all great draft's have historically had a strong emphasis on the strength on the Vic Metro/Vic Country groups and i am putting it out there that the 2018 groups are very, very thin...
I base this on my initial observations from 2016 U16 Nationals - VM did not win a game and VC only beat VM in a very lack lustre game and lost other 2 games. This was early indicator of the weakness of this group from a Victorian standpoint. I also dont want to take away from strength of other states - as SA this year is as strong a group as i can remember - its just that i am making the point that all good draft crops rely on the largest pool of its players coming from Victoria and i believe this years Vics are very average. The AFL Academy intake at this year level also further backs up my point - the King brothers are covering the weakness in this group.

As mentioned earlier i have been a close observer of APS/AGSV over last decade and my concern with 2018 crop was further heightened during last years private school season. Sticking just with APS to make my point - 2017 was a really interesting year - with Haileybury with about best team in private school history (Brayshaw, Constable, Davies-Uniacke, Bonar, etc...and the Kings), Geelong Grammar had the fab four (Dow, Brander, O'Brien and Daniels), Caulfield were incredibly strong and Carey were brilliantly coached etc...but the thing i noted with great interest was the distinct lack of quality year 11's in a lot of the teams. To emphasize my concerns further i want to highlight 2 boys in particular that have recruiters very concerned about 2018 and very excited about 2019. In all my years of watching APS footy i have never seen year 10's come in and influence games as much as Matt Rowell (Carey) and Jack Mahony (St Kevins) did in 2017. History tells me that many year 10 boys play - but i have not seen young players do what these boys (and Noah Anderson from Carey) did consistently and that makes me think that they are simply a lot better than this years year 12 boys.

So that is my quick observations on last 2 years but what about this year - and round one of TAC i think further confirms my concerns. If you go through teams i simply cannot remember a Round 1 that had so many bottom age players. If you ignore the 19 year olds - which btw are becoming a joke as they were originally were meant to be either under developed bigs or injured players and now they have become just guys unlucky not to be drafted and coming back to assist teams to win games - the volume of bottom ages was very concerning from a 2018 draft perspective. Just look at Vic Metro TAC teams - bottom agers everywhere like never before in round one. I got told on weekend that initial VM squad for 2018 has 29 players - this includes 7 AFL Academy bottom agers and 3 19 year olds - so i ask the question is this really the year on the super draft ???

Now my disclaimer - the top end of 2018 draft is seriously elite - i am just questioning the depth...

Plenty of good players through the years haven’t played in under 16 champs so those results I wouldn’t put much stock in, depth is still questionable but it’s too early in the year to say for sure, I feel it’s deeper at this stage but that’s factoring in players i was impressed with this year that I haven’t seen this year yet. Also 2019 looks impressive and wouldn’t suprise me if it is better than this years and this weekends games in the TAC would back that up.

 

[The Defender]

Can confirm he was named 3rd best for NK and Champion Data clearly states 0 kicks 2 handballs and 4 tackles for the day.

I’m the first one to say stats can sometimes be misleading but this one is extraordinarily odd.

How did you get access to those stats? No stats on TAC website yet.

 

[eDPS]

How did you get access to those stats? No stats on TAC website yet.

Doesn’t look like they will be puting any up this year

 

[Zurgblade]

Hi all - this is my first post so please be gentle.
First the intro - I have been employed in AFL club land for a number of years and that ceased at the end of last season. Was in recruiting and talent id and emphasis was on observing players from U16 year through to Draft year - but mainly through APS/AGSV and TAC systems.
So now I am just an observer and these are just my opinions...

I believe the 2018 Draft crop - other than the first say 10 picks - will end up being a very disappointing group.

I base this on the fact that all great draft's have historically had a strong emphasis on the strength on the Vic Metro/Vic Country groups and i am putting it out there that the 2018 groups are very, very thin...
I base this on my initial observations from 2016 U16 Nationals - VM did not win a game and VC only beat VM in a very lack lustre game and lost other 2 games. This was early indicator of the weakness of this group from a Victorian standpoint. I also dont want to take away from strength of other states - as SA this year is as strong a group as i can remember - its just that i am making the point that all good draft crops rely on the largest pool of its players coming from Victoria and i believe this years Vics are very average. The AFL Academy intake at this year level also further backs up my point - the King brothers are covering the weakness in this group.

As mentioned earlier i have been a close observer of APS/AGSV over last decade and my concern with 2018 crop was further heightened during last years private school season. Sticking just with APS to make my point - 2017 was a really interesting year - with Haileybury with about best team in private school history (Brayshaw, Constable, Davies-Uniacke, Bonar, etc...and the Kings), Geelong Grammar had the fab four (Dow, Brander, O'Brien and Daniels), Caulfield were incredibly strong and Carey were brilliantly coached etc...but the thing i noted with great interest was the distinct lack of quality year 11's in a lot of the teams. To emphasize my concerns further i want to highlight 2 boys in particular that have recruiters very concerned about 2018 and very excited about 2019. In all my years of watching APS footy i have never seen year 10's come in and influence games as much as Matt Rowell (Carey) and Jack Mahony (St Kevins) did in 2017. History tells me that many year 10 boys play - but i have not seen young players do what these boys (and Noah Anderson from Carey) did consistently and that makes me think that they are simply a lot better than this years year 12 boys.

So that is my quick observations on last 2 years but what about this year - and round one of TAC i think further confirms my concerns. If you go through teams i simply cannot remember a Round 1 that had so many bottom age players. If you ignore the 19 year olds - which btw are becoming a joke as they were originally were meant to be either under developed bigs or injured players and now they have become just guys unlucky not to be drafted and coming back to assist teams to win games - the volume of bottom ages was very concerning from a 2018 draft perspective. Just look at Vic Metro TAC teams - bottom agers everywhere like never before in round one. I got told on weekend that initial VM squad for 2018 has 29 players - this includes 7 AFL Academy bottom agers and 3 19 year olds - so i ask the question is this really the year on the super draft ???

Now my disclaimer - the top end of 2018 draft is seriously elite - i am just questioning the depth...

A top end basketball coach said to me on the weekend, that WA's top 10 talented basketballers can match it with any other state. Its just most other states have greater depth then us.

As time moves forward, I think we'll see a change from the regular VIC dominance in underage competition as most states will eventually catch up on player development which is what we might be seeing now?

 

[Draft Potential]

A top end basketball coach said to me on the weekend, that WA's top 10 talented basketballers can match it with any other state. Its just most other states have greater depth then us.

As time moves forward, I think we'll see a change from the regular VIC dominance in underage competition as most states will eventually catch up on player dominance which is what we might be seeing now?

Maybe that's true...but point i am really making is that from a Draft 2018 I believe VIC crop is not as strong as previous years - particularly Vic Metro.
That said 2019 draft will be strongest in years for VIC.

 

[DaveLister]

Hi all - this is my first post so please be gentle.
First the intro - I have been employed in AFL club land for a number of years and that ceased at the end of last season. Was in recruiting and talent id and emphasis was on observing players from U16 year through to Draft year - but mainly through APS/AGSV and TAC systems.
So now I am just an observer and these are just my opinions...

I believe the 2018 Draft crop - other than the first say 10 picks - will end up being a very disappointing group.

I base this on the fact that all great draft's have historically had a strong emphasis on the strength on the Vic Metro/Vic Country groups and i am putting it out there that the 2018 groups are very, very thin...
I base this on my initial observations from 2016 U16 Nationals - VM did not win a game and VC only beat VM in a very lack lustre game and lost other 2 games. This was early indicator of the weakness of this group from a Victorian standpoint. I also dont want to take away from strength of other states - as SA this year is as strong a group as i can remember - its just that i am making the point that all good draft crops rely on the largest pool of its players coming from Victoria and i believe this years Vics are very average. The AFL Academy intake at this year level also further backs up my point - the King brothers are covering the weakness in this group.

As mentioned earlier i have been a close observer of APS/AGSV over last decade and my concern with 2018 crop was further heightened during last years private school season. Sticking just with APS to make my point - 2017 was a really interesting year - with Haileybury with about best team in private school history (Brayshaw, Constable, Davies-Uniacke, Bonar, etc...and the Kings), Geelong Grammar had the fab four (Dow, Brander, O'Brien and Daniels), Caulfield were incredibly strong and Carey were brilliantly coached etc...but the thing i noted with great interest was the distinct lack of quality year 11's in a lot of the teams. To emphasize my concerns further i want to highlight 2 boys in particular that have recruiters very concerned about 2018 and very excited about 2019. In all my years of watching APS footy i have never seen year 10's come in and influence games as much as Matt Rowell (Carey) and Jack Mahony (St Kevins) did in 2017. History tells me that many year 10 boys play - but i have not seen young players do what these boys (and Noah Anderson from Carey) did consistently and that makes me think that they are simply a lot better than this years year 12 boys.

So that is my quick observations on last 2 years but what about this year - and round one of TAC i think further confirms my concerns. If you go through teams i simply cannot remember a Round 1 that had so many bottom age players. If you ignore the 19 year olds - which btw are becoming a joke as they were originally were meant to be either under developed bigs or injured players and now they have become just guys unlucky not to be drafted and coming back to assist teams to win games - the volume of bottom ages was very concerning from a 2018 draft perspective. Just look at Vic Metro TAC teams - bottom agers everywhere like never before in round one. I got told on weekend that initial VM squad for 2018 has 29 players - this includes 7 AFL Academy bottom agers and 3 19 year olds - so i ask the question is this really the year on the super draft ???

Now my disclaimer - the top end of 2018 draft is seriously elite - i am just questioning the depth...

Thanks for the insight, do you mind commenting on last year's draft crop?
strength of the top 10, depth and maybe a top 5-10 ranking, would love to hear your opinion.

 

[Draft Potential]

If looking at Top 10 I think history will show that 2016 & 2018 will be the more successful groups when compared to 2017.
Recruiters look at AFL traits - and definitely not stats so good on TAC if they don't post individual stats this year as they are so wildly inaccurate they are not worth looking at...
And AFL traits required are quickness (movement and thinking), clean hands and efficient disposal - if you can do that and have breakaway speed clubs will love you. With regards to 2017 I would have had Top 5 as - Dow (a star), Brayshaw, Rayner, Stephenson & Coffield. The others though all will have good AFL careers (again just my opinion).

 

[eDPS]

If looking at Top 10 I think history will show that 2016 & 2018 will be the more successful groups when compared to 2017.
Recruiters look at AFL traits - and definitely not stats so good on TAC if they don't post individual stats this year as they are so wildly inaccurate they are not worth looking at...
And AFL traits required are quickness (movement and thinking), clean hands and efficient disposal - if you can do that and have breakaway speed clubs will love you. With regards to 2017 I would have had Top 5 as - Dow (a star), Brayshaw, Rayner, Stephenson & Coffield. The others though all will have good AFL careers (again just my opinion).

Spot on with that, that describes Andy McGrath to a tee and he surprised many going at pick 1 when you think of where he was rated at this time of year in 2016

 

[Draft Potential]

Spot on with that, that describes Andy McGrath to a tee and he surprised many going at pick 1 when you think of where he was rated at this time of year in 2016

Thanks DPS.
So on that point - look at Walsh, Rankine, Rozee and Hill this year.
Bailey Smith has been spoken about a lot here lately and was great on weekend - but compared to others just needs to sharpen his quickness of disposal. He tends to hold on to ball a touch too long and disposal by hand is a clear second option. If he learns to give without thinking will have a great year for Dragons & Xavier.
BTW the smart recruiters are very much on the size doesn't matter anymore - so if quick, clean, efficient and breakaway all are big ticks - and these guys just have to continue to develop their contested ball winning traits to become elite AFL players.

Also not saying that taller players are not important because Lukosius is a clear No 1 and will be a star, Kings are both going to be very good AFL players and i think Nick Blakely is being under-rated by many as well at this point.

 

[eDPS]

Thanks DPS.
So on that point - look at Walsh, Rankine, Rozee and Hill this year.
Bailey Smith has been spoken about a lot here lately and was great on weekend - but compared to others just needs to sharpen his quickness of disposal. He tends to hold on to ball a touch too long and disposal by hand is a clear second option. If he learns to give without thinking will have a great year for Dragons & Xavier.
BTW the smart recruiters are very much on the size doesn't matter anymore - so if quick, clean, efficient and breakaway all are big ticks - and these guys just have to continue to develop their contested ball winning traits to become elite AFL players.

Also not saying that taller players are not important because Lukosius is a clear No 1 and will be a star, Kings are both going to be very good AFL players and i think Nick Blakely is being under-rated by many as well at this point.

Yep that was another reason I had 2nd thoughts on Brent Daniels late in the year and ranked him higher. Also Smith seemed to move the ball pretty quickly on the weekend, maybe I’m mistaken but he looked very sharp on the weekend by hand and foot

 

[Draft Potential]

Would be good to see some detail published but if it is, people need to understand there might be some real fast kids, or some great endurance runners, but unlike the Combines this isn’t the AFL club “cherry picked” most likely draftees.

Heaps of good runners (speed/endurance) make TAC lists because they’re also good to very good footballers. Most won’t get a combine invite, let alone get drafted, because they’re aren’t excellent/elite players.

 

[jjami15]

Thanks DPS.
So on that point - look at Walsh, Rankine, Rozee and Hill this year.
Bailey Smith has been spoken about a lot here lately and was great on weekend - but compared to others just needs to sharpen his quickness of disposal. He tends to hold on to ball a touch too long and disposal by hand is a clear second option. If he learns to give without thinking will have a great year for Dragons & Xavier.
BTW the smart recruiters are very much on the size doesn't matter anymore - so if quick, clean, efficient and breakaway all are big ticks - and these guys just have to continue to develop their contested ball winning traits to become elite AFL players.

Also not saying that taller players are not important because Lukosius is a clear No 1 and will be a star, Kings are both going to be very good AFL players and i think Nick Blakely is being under-rated by many as well at this point.

Just want to say a big thanks for sharing your insights here. It's greatly appreciated I'm really liking Walsh and Rozee at the moment as for who I would be happy to draft at the end of the year, eventhough it's a long way off.

 

[briztoon]

Thanks DPS.
So on that point - look at Walsh, Rankine, Rozee and Hill this year.
Bailey Smith has been spoken about a lot here lately and was great on weekend - but compared to others just needs to sharpen his quickness of disposal. He tends to hold on to ball a touch too long and disposal by hand is a clear second option. If he learns to give without thinking will have a great year for Dragons & Xavier.
BTW the smart recruiters are very much on the size doesn't matter anymore - so if quick, clean, efficient and breakaway all are big ticks - and these guys just have to continue to develop their contested ball winning traits to become elite AFL players.

Also not saying that taller players are not important because Lukosius is a clear No 1 and will be a star, Kings are both going to be very good AFL players and i think Nick Blakely is being under-rated by many as well at this point.

Thanks for joining and providing some insights.

Guess I’ll be the first to ask about a kid.

What are thoughts on Thomas Berry?

 

[The Defender]

If looking at Top 10 I think history will show that 2016 & 2018 will be the more successful groups when compared to 2017.
Recruiters look at AFL traits - and definitely not stats so good on TAC if they don't post individual stats this year as they are so wildly inaccurate they are not worth looking at...
And AFL traits required are quickness (movement and thinking), clean hands and efficient disposal - if you can do that and have breakaway speed clubs will love you. With regards to 2017 I would have had Top 5 as - Dow (a star), Brayshaw, Rayner, Stephenson & Coffield. The others though all will have good AFL careers (again just my opinion).

enjoying reading your posts.

The occasions I have taken stats of TAC cup players, they have been very close to matching the TAC website.

the general fan of TAC footy, family, friends of players, actual players I'm sure would like to view them.

 

[eDPS]

2 disposals probably wouldn't come under your notice.

I find it interesting that you have pre-conceived ideas about who you plan to focus on.

It’s too hard to focus on every player, you don’t get a good enough evaluation on players like running patterns and work rate. That’s doesn’t mean I don’t focus on players I didn’t plan on, just a few names I didn’t plan on that I ended up paying attention to where Jack Ross from Oakleigh, James Blanck from Eastern and Lachlan Potter from Northern