Draft Watcher Knightmare's 2019 Draft Almanac

[andleanback]

If we are talking 21 I'd struggle to name 2 players at essendon who look like becoming stars .

McGrath, zerk-thatcher developing nicely as a key back, draper, ridley. Then Francis, redman and parish as 22 year olds

 

[PMBangers]

McGrath, zerk-thatcher developing nicely as a key back, draper, ridley. Then Francis, redman and parish as 22 year olds

Didn't Zerk-Thatcher get towelled by Cam McCarthy in round 22?

 

[Knightmare]

Who are your early tips for fantasy cash cows and long term keepers?

Rowell, Green and Anderson are the three big pieces. Robertson, Stephens, Flanders, Young, Serong, Ash, Jackson and Gould also looking good.

Thoughts on Flynn Perez? Reminds me a bit of Adam Cerra in his draft year from what I've seen, albeit less developed at this stage. I feel like he could go a bit earlier than predicted given his mix of attributes + likely upside.

I don't see the contested side or production of a Cerra. Good athlete and can use it well. I see Perez as a mid-late pick.

U mustn’t of watched much of us this year if you think impey wouldn’t get a game at every club. Was probably in our top 3/4 players before his knee. His intercepting and linebreaking run is something every team needs, he has been a massive surprise to me since he’s come across, cause I didn’t really rate him at port. I think there’s a lot of possible improvement in our team, wingard hardly played all year but blitzed it in the midfield the last 5~ weeks, gunston played hurt all year so hopefully he’s over the injury and can return to decent form, will also help that he’ll probably get the 3rd or 4th best defender. Another key defender allows sicily to go back to his floating/intercepting role instead of playing as a kp. Tom mitchell back improves the consistency of our midfield. The guys who are likely to drop off next year are really just role players, I can see puopolo being phased out throughout the year, but that’s not a huge loss. Stratton could be in danger of dropping out, but our backline is probably our strongest line. Ceglar has shown that he’s a very capable ruck so if big boy goes down there’s instant cover. Burgoynes missed chunks of footy the last few years, he’s absolute class but don’t think his output overall is huge. Our depth is what might get us, but if we get a decent run with injuries I can see us finishing around 5th-10th

I can't say from my viewings of Hawthorn this year I've had that same takeaway from Impey's performances. He can run and intercept as you say but production still only mild and lacks a contested side to his game. He's obviously out with the ACL so we may not be seeing him next year.

Wingard and Gunston like you I expect go better next year. I'm not sure where this anti-Stratton sentiment comes from. He's probably still Hawthorn's best defenders.

Ceglar I don't rate. He's barely serviceable depth.

As you identified injuries will matter.

 

[daniel23]

McGrath, zerk-thatcher developing nicely as a key back, draper, ridley. Then Francis, redman and parish as 22 year olds

Yep point proven. Nightmare when will you release your final player rankings and phantom ?

 

[andleanback]

Didn't Zerk-Thatcher get towelled by Cam McCarthy in round 22?

Toweled? Hardly, got exposed once or twice but looked real promising coming in late for his first game as a key.

 

[Knightmare]

Yep point proven. Nightmare when will you release your final player rankings and phantom ?

3 round phantom up tomorrow on ESPN.

Power rankings another week from now roughly.

And will do a final phantom draft one or two days before the draft.

 

[LegendLewis]

You mentioned 11 blokes forming the core of your squad, they included: Hartley, Frost and Patton.

Hartley got delisted by Essendon for a reason. When the Bombers had defensive injuries this year, Hartley wasn’t even given a go as a defender. They had seen enough to know he was a liability.

Frost is one of the worst players with ball in hand. He makes poor decisions and Can’t kick. I thought giving anything for him was a huge win for the Dees. I don’t know a single Dees fan who is unhappy about him leaving. Just let the kick-in go via Frost and pressure him into the turnover.

Patton had lost most of his mobility after his second knee reco. His third will not make that better. Forward pressure is going to be non-existent.


These guys aren’t going to improve much, as they are in the prime of their careers. They are currently VFL standard and I expect they will play more VFL than AFL. IF they are playing AFL, then Hawks are a bottom 6 team.

Happy for you to bookmark my post and give it to me, if I am wrong about any of the 3.

All nice supposition and 'hope' on your behalf. Think tbh the proof is in the pudding that very few players come to Hawthorn and their careers go backwards.
Looking at the stats of these players they are all above average which means they have been under-utilised by their former teams. These are players that need more instruction or less responsibility or just plain encouragement. Time will tell but I won't be bookmarking.

 

[Burtman]

Rowell, Green and Anderson are the three big pieces. Robertson, Stephens, Flanders, Young, Serong, Ash, Jackson and Gould also looking good.



I don't see the contested side or production of a Cerra. Good athlete and can use it well. I see Perez as a mid-late pick.



I can't say from my viewings of Hawthorn this year I've had that same takeaway from Impey's performances. He can run and intercept as you say but production still only mild and lacks a contested side to his game. He's obviously out with the ACL so we may not be seeing him next year.

Wingard and Gunston like you I expect go better next year. I'm not sure where this anti-Stratton sentiment comes from. He's probably still Hawthorn's best defenders.

Ceglar I don't rate. He's barely serviceable depth.

As you identified injuries will matter.

Guess we just disagree on impey, I’m guessing your more just looking at his stats, he’s not an inside mid so his contested numbers aren’t gonna be huge, he’s an impact player, also hard as a cats head, one on one he’s pretty tough to get a hold of. Yeah we won’t see him for a majority of the year, it’s actually a pretty devastating blow for us because his creativity off half back will be sorely missed and we don’t really have any other players that break the lines and take it on like he does. This was strattons worst year, the captaincy has clearly weighed him down abit. Was in better form towards the end of the year but his start and middle of the year was the poorest I’ve seen from him. Ceglars no superstar I agree, but he’s better than serviceable depth, his last two games where he played sole ruck he smacked hickey and broke even with witts who’s one of the better rucks in the comp.

 

[Yoda_]

Jesus, what's with all the Hawks fans coming into this thread to desperately justify where their team is heading?

It's unbearable, isn't it?!

 

[Knightmare]

Guess we just disagree on impey, I’m guessing your more just looking at his stats, he’s not an inside mid so his contested numbers aren’t gonna be huge, he’s an impact player, also hard as a cats head, one on one he’s pretty tough to get a hold of. Yeah we won’t see him for a majority of the year, it’s actually a pretty devastating blow for us because his creativity off half back will be sorely missed and we don’t really have any other players that break the lines and take it on like he does. This was strattons worst year, the captaincy has clearly weighed him down abit. Was in better form towards the end of the year but his start and middle of the year was the poorest I’ve seen from him. Ceglars no superstar I agree, but he’s better than serviceable depth, his last two games where he played sole ruck he smacked hickey and broke even with witts who’s one of the better rucks in the comp.

Being able to win your own footy I look at as a prerequisite to being effective of a consistent basis and in big games.

Put Impey in a final and as a sub 180cm defender without an advanced contested side to his game I can't reliably expect he provides his usual run or finds it more than 10 times. That's where I'm coming from. In finals the game tightens up, the pressure is raised and it's harder to get free, so it really requires more than his roughly 16-17d and 5-6cp per game. If he provides the run and added the creativity, and again I agree he does that, and added another 3-4d and 1-2cp I'd be feeling better about his game.

I was surprised seeing Stratton's stats. He still appeared to play his role in the games I saw, but albeit with less intercepting/rebound. Though Hawthorn were far from a focus team of mine this year, not spiking my interest as much without Mitchell.

 

[Holy Rioli]

Rowell, Green and Anderson are the three big pieces. Robertson, Stephens, Flanders, Young, Serong, Ash, Jackson and Gould also looking good.



I don't see the contested side or production of a Cerra. Good athlete and can use it well. I see Perez as a mid-late pick.



I can't say from my viewings of Hawthorn this year I've had that same takeaway from Impey's performances. He can run and intercept as you say but production still only mild and lacks a contested side to his game. He's obviously out with the ACL so we may not be seeing him next year.

Wingard and Gunston like you I expect go better next year. I'm not sure where this anti-Stratton sentiment comes from. He's probably still Hawthorn's best defenders.

Ceglar I don't rate. He's barely serviceable depth.

As you identified injuries will matter.

I do find your view on Impey odd - there was AA chatter about him until he went down with the ACL. And as far as his contested side of the game goes, are you talking about ground balls, or aerial work? His overhead marking was outstanding this year, the number of times he went back with the flight of the ball and came down with it even though he knew he was gonna take a whack was amazing.

 

[Ah12]

I do find your view on Impey odd - there was AA chatter about him until he went down with the ACL. And as far as his contested side of the game goes, are you talking about ground balls, or aerial work? His overhead marking was outstanding this year, the number of times he went back with the flight of the ball and came down with it even though he knew he was gonna take a whack was amazing.

I like impey and he did have his best year to date but AA chatter? He was absolutely no chance of AA before he went down. Would love to see your source for that one....

 

[Holy Rioli]

I like impey and he did have his best year to date but AA chatter? He was absolutely no chance of AA before he went down. Would love to see your source for that one....

The below article states that at the time he went down he was in contention for our B&F:

Hawks speedster done for the season after rupturing ACL

Jarman Impey will undergo a knee reconstruction after rupturing his ACL against Geelong on Sunday

www.afl.com.au

You'll also noticed him mentioned here as a contender for the AA squad - or at the very least a candidate from our club.

Your club's mid-season All Australians: Who makes the cut?

Which players are beginning to make certain of their spots in the 2019 Virgin Australia AFL All Australian side?

www.afl.com.au

 

[Wrenny]

Hey KM, what time are we expecting the drop on your website?

 

[Lach72]

Hey KM, what time are we expecting the drop on your website?

now

Updated phantom draft: The first three rounds

With less than two weeks until the 2019 AFL Draft, ESPN expert Chris Doerre has analysed all the possibilities to expand his phantom draft into the first three rounds.

www.espn.com.au

 

[Virgin Dog]

Knightmare couldn't help but notice you have Dogs taking Nick Bryan at Pick 44 - I believe this should be Adelaide's pick, not ours. We only enter the draft with Pick 13, 53 and 89

 

[Knightmare]

3 round phantom draft up now: https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/28095715/updated-afl-phantom-draft-first-three-rounds

 

[Wrenny]

Hey KM do you think the Tigers would select Cassar if Brock Smith is still on the board? Seems like a very Hardwick type of player that he'd love in the squad

 

[Lach72]

Would love that, and would have our 2020 R1 on the table quick smart to Gold Coast and Geelong for a couple more before 25

 

[Knightmare]

Hey KM do you think the Tigers would select Cassar if Brock Smith is still on the board? Seems like a very Hardwick type of player that he'd love in the squad

Strongly considered Smith with that selection for Richmond. He'll be among those who will likely receive consideration by a few clubs around those choices.

 

[Moore of the Same]

3 round phantom draft up now: https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/28095715/updated-afl-phantom-draft-first-three-rounds

Wow, Will Gould lasting to 24? Probably my favorite player in the draft and one I'd be happy to see the pies trade up for. Also, Georgiades over Riccardi is an interesting call. Any particular reason why you prefer Georgiades?

 

[Knightmare]

Wow, Will Gould lasting to 24? Probably my favorite player in the draft and one I'd be happy to see the pies trade up for. Also, Georgiades over Riccardi is an interesting call. Any particular reason why you prefer Georgiades?

Unbelievably that's closer to the top rather than the bottom of Gould's projected range. He's looking like a 20-40, maybe even 20-50 pick. And I agree with you Gould looks like a ripper and one of the likely bargains in this pool.

I personally prefer Riccardi, but in clubland Georgiades has received a lot of interest but haven't heard as much around Riccardi. My phantom drafts take out my personal views and is my best attempt to reflect what clubs are thinking.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Unbelievably that's closer to the top rather than the bottom of Gould's projected range. He's looking like a 20-40, maybe even 20-50 pick. And I agree with you Gould looks like a ripper and one of the likely bargains in this pool.

I personally prefer Riccardi, but in clubland Georgiades has received a lot of interest but haven't heard as much around Riccardi. My phantom drafts take out my personal views and is my best attempt to reflect what clubs are thinking.

Have you heard anything about us being into Stephens, Freo board frothing over him on needs and talent but we’ve yet to see us linked to him at all. We generally been pretty hard to place though and are tight lipped on who we rate.

 

[Knightmare]

Have you heard anything about us being into Stephens, Freo board frothing over him on needs and talent but we’ve yet to see us linked to him at all. We generally been pretty hard to place though and are tight lipped on who we rate.

Haven't heard strong Fremantle specific rumours early draft just yet. With Hill and Langdon both gone though I fully expect Stephens will be high on Fremantle's board and could see Stephens if there with that first or second of those first round choices being one of Fremantle's choices. He's what is needed most.

 

[GT619]

3 round phantom draft up now: https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/28095715/updated-afl-phantom-draft-first-three-rounds

i want Stephens before serong