Review National Draft 2010 and look ahead to Rookie Draft

[proboy]

All I can say is, thank **** the hawks got i. smith and not us.
(well I might have taken him at 37 )

Theres allways one player that gets hyped up and people start jumping on his wagon, hell even clubs get sucked in, i can put my hand up and say i got sucked in, i was riding the wagon all the way home.

 

[isen river]

All I can say is, thank **** the hawks got i. smith and not us.
(well I might have taken him at 37 )

Yeah me too, his kick looked a little suspect. Hopefully we're proven right and he becomes a thorn in the scum's sides.

 

[CF]

Was surprised we didn't go for a KP Defender but looks like they were topping up medium defenders and midfielder types. With Scarlett & Milburn on their last legs I can see why they may have selected as they did. But as with any draft, time will tell who can make it and who wont. Let's hope we get a good look at the new blokes during the NAB Cup.

 

[Turbocat]

Thinking on it they must be more than happy with BenJ. They must think that another one like him would be fine so , lets hope they have a kid under a rug somewhere they can pick up as a Rookie.

At the moment Im 85% happy. Reservations are only based on the reps of the guys we have passed and perhaps not adding a Jet like player. They have continued to go for guys who can handle the tightness of AFL conditions , its here I think Smedts will excell. A Couch/Bartel type ( bit unfair being compared to Charlie winners) just looks a footballer who make smart choices under pressure. Agree his kicking action is not perfect , but probably only 5-10 kids in every draft are.

If I was going to pick a difference between this year and last , Id say 3 of the 4 the players we picked have a slightly harder edge to them.

 

[hamG]

Thinking on it they must be more than happy with BenJ. They must think that another one like him would be fine so , lets hope they have a kid under a rug somewhere they can pick up as a Rookie.

We have the basketball lad as well.

 

[David the Cat]

Like other have said, its clear that Wells didnt think much of the talls available and went for class and disposal skills.

Not sure what the whinging about Smedts is all about. Many many people had Smedts as our pick before the I Smith furphy sucked people in. Smedts is a classs player and a good pick up for the Cats. I was surprised about Guthrie because I had heard that he would go earlier, so maybe Wells pounced on a very good player. Hard and skillful from all accounts.

Dont know the other two so cant comment, except that Wells has a history of picking up gems in later picks. Rookie draft will be interesting.

PS: Gee PO...pretty tough on Drum in an earlier post...cut him a little slack...a full pre-season will see him play a lot of games for us next year..if not a permanent fixture. The guy can play...

 

[Turbocat]

And of course , those GC bastards have a heap of talls , nothing would please me more than to serve right back at those "Richards" and take a tall from them in a couple of years time. After all the kids they have taken , they will not be able to keep them all happy.

For the time being , we must be hoping/confident that most of our talls have got a bit more in them or we have them covered. Vardy re Ottens for instance.

 

[you pick one]

Out of my league to comment on the draft selections individually.But obviously not a tall Wells rated worth a pick.As P.O said probably rookie one,did Walker get taken?
We still haven't really had a good look at Brown, Gillies, Drum, B. Johnson, Simpson, Vardy or West.Surely there must be something there,We will find out next year and if not we'll address it then, no need to panic just yet.

 

[BIGANT]

Story on Smedts in hun, can some1 upload for all

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Out of my league to comment on the draft selections individually.But obviously not a tall Wells rated worth a pick.As P.O said probably rookie one,did Walker get taken?
We still haven't really had a good look at Brown, Gillies, Drum, B. Johnson, Simpson, Vardy or West.Surely there must be something there,We will find out next year and if not we'll address it then, no need to panic just yet.

Nup Walker still on the board. I'd love to see him be a rookie for us, good talent, and would be great to keep it in the family.

Unfortunately Delaney went late to North to join his brother as I predicted here during the week (at least I got something right ). My criticism of our drafting is not so much about the players we took, although there was a couple we passed on that really surprised me (Atley in particular) but the fact that in 12 months our spine will likely be:

Rucks: Simpson West Vardy
Forwards: Podsiadly Hawkins Brown
Defenders: Lonergan Taylor Drum Gillies

Certainly numerically that doesn't look like enough to me out of 47 listed players, and quality wise it could do with a boost too. Whether there were any talls worth picking at the picks is hard to say, but I sure hope we take 2 if not 3 as rookies.

 

[AM]

Story on Smedts in hun, can some1 upload for all

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...to-abletts-shoes/story-e6frf9jf-1225955956210

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Well who says that any of the talls in this draft were any better prospects than them? Why waste a draft pick on a player just cos he is tall?

As for the Atley bloke you keep going onnnnn and onnnnn about, i dont know squat about the bloke but dont u think there might be a reason why he slid down that low? These are the best recruiters in the land and they all passed on him for 16 picks.

You do understand the concept that players slide all the time right? No one thought Vardy was crap just because he was meant to go high teens and we got him at 42...as clubs pick for needs (which a few did this year) some players always slide. Atley was going at 8 until Brisbane changed their mind and pushed Heppell down the order, from there the Suns had more than enough mids (some of their 17 yo's are great mids), Melbourne had to take a tall at 12 (right decision IMO) and henceforth Atley slides. Doesn't mean he's not top 10 talent, that's just how it works. Will be the Bastinac of 2011 you can bookmark it (just don't bother putting money on him for the rising star, because Swallow already has that one).

I would have loved Atley because we are still very speed deficient, however one thing I do like about all our players is they use the ball well and are reasonably hard at it. That part, I can be somewhat happy with.

Here's hoping we find a zippy nipper for our rookie list.

 

[BIGANT]

Cheers Ammo, done well. Just quickly being a geel ammo man ya familiar w young Tommy Mac

 

[hbk_aus]

You do understand the concept that players slide all the time right?

I surely do - and as i said there is always a reason. Such as there are more valuable players rated higher by each club, including ours in this case.

 

[AM]

Pretty much what you'd expect from a recruiting manager. However, for what it's worth, Wellsys post draft comments.

Geelong Cats
Draft summary
"We were really happy with the way the draft panned out for us. We've drafted four players that we think have got outstanding talent with plenty of room for development in them as well.

"They'll be given every opportunity to grow and progress with the coaching at our club. We love the fact that they can all win their own football, they have excellent skills and can play in a number of different positions.

"We came with an open mind. We would have been happy to draft tall players or runners or whichever ways it turned out, but when it came to our picks we were very pleased to be able to call out those players' names.

http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=105404

 

[LankyCat]

Ok, is it just me or have we been drafting a lot of fast small defenders lately? We used to have too many small forwards which forced Gamble and Dju...something to be stuck in the VFL. Now we are going to have this years batch fighting for spots on the half back flank with T. Hunt and the current senior team.

On the other hand I might just be over reacting to our lack of back up for when our talls get injured. I can't see Brown seeing out the season uninjured unless he spends the entire time in the VFL.

 

[i_need_a_pencil]

Hmmm... spot the stuff up here, which you'd think would be pretty obvious for the writers....

From the Suns draft wrap up for Geelong

What the Club says
Coach Mark Thompson says: "We feel that the boys we have drafted play the Geelong style of footy and they're going to add to our midfield..."

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Hmmm... spot the stuff up here, which you'd think would be pretty obvious for the writers....

From the Suns draft wrap up for Geelong

It says plat, not play...

 

[thejester]

Stoked with this draft, absolutely stoked.

Smedts' talents on his own justify being taken at #15 in any draft; when you add in his positional versatility it's mouth watering. Will hopefully develop into a Goddard-style utility who can play anywhere on the ground and has the class to make a difference when he does so. When you combine that with Menzel - who has similar potential - it's really exciting.

Guthrie and Schroeder - gee Wells likes his Calder boys, I think they're alongside the Falcons in being the most represented club on our list (as you'd expect given their success). These two look like the most 'pure' midfielders we've taken since Selwood; certainly our VFL midfield's going to be looking a lot better next season. Also interesting that Guthrie played his best footy as a tagger; don't think he should be pidgeon-holed in that role but a lot of people on here have been wondering where our next tagger was coming from post Ling. This could be the man.

Horlin-Smith is an interesting one. Real bolter this year who apparently attracted huge amounts of recruiter interest without actually playing much football - think he might have done his ankle while playing school footy? Is a nice size at any rate. Wells doesn't mind trying something a bit different at times, hopefully this one pays off.

Overall I think we've done well; maybe not as many bargains as last year but a very, very solid crop. Don't think it's a case of not rating the talls; Geelong's drafting has always been a case of balancing needs against best available and in this case best available seems to have won out. Given that last season at both ends of the ground the match committee spent a huge amount of time trying to shoehorn three players into two positions, maybe in hindsight it's not surprising we didn't pick one. Other general observations:

- Calder and the Falcons;

- The continued emphasis on foot skills in draftees;

- Once again Wells defies the predictions of us mere mortals

 

[bulletproof]

You have to be relatively sanguine about Draft Day. It is mostly overhyped nonsense. What matters is what happens when they get to the club.

I very much appreciate the efforts of Pure Ownage and others for furnishing us with details about these kids, as I find it all very entertaining and imformative.

However, drafting is mostly an inexact science, even for Stephen Wells. There are so many factors that make a good player and only one is the talent on show at age 16.

You really don't what you have brought untill you look under the hood and see how they aclimatise too the training load, pressure.

Duncan, for example, made an impression from day one with his attitude that set him apart from earlier picks even before Christmas.

 

[i_need_a_pencil]

It says plat, not play...

Lol... mmm, not exactly what I was getting at.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Nice write up Jester, helps me feel a little bit better about things (still would have loved Parker though ).

I agree, one should not shoehorn Guthrie. I just like it because now we don't to have the 'no Ling can't possibly retire because we have no one who can play that role' argument anymore...but yeah it is one of several roles he could play. Because he's a smart player...the Cannons games I watched this year while I was drooling over Watson I liked Guthrie too...he does a lot of smart things like blocks and positioning, and whenever he's tackled he always lifts his arms above his head so you can't pin him (just the little things you know) and his disposal is very neat which is something Wells always targets. Won't get rated much, and will be very unnoticed when he plays VFL in our write ups because he's just solid and has no flashy stuff about him (whereas everyone including me will drool about Motlop in every write up) but I think he'll turn out to be a good player.

I can see what you're saying about the tall stocks, although I only half agree. Certainly short term we're ok, because Podsiadly's a big body, Lonergan is the same, so is Daws and West has been around a while, and even Drum is mature enough to play senior footy now, but long term we do need more talls even if we don't need them short term, and hence I'd be really surprised if we didn't add another couple of talls in the rookie draft, after all the rookie draft is meant to be for long term projects anyway. I do find it a little disconcerting that our spine is really ageing and yet we haven't drafted any spine players this year.

That said, even though Wells hasn't picked the players I would have type wise, I think he's got very good value for our picks, and I'm pretty convinced there's no Mitch Thorp's in there

 

[AM]

You have to be relatively sanguine about Draft Day. It is mostly overhyped nonsense. What matters is what happens when they get to the club.

I very much appreciate the efforts of Pure Ownage and others for furnishing us with details about these kids, as I find it all very entertaining and imformative.

However, drafting is mostly an inexact science, even for Stephen Wells. There are so many factors that make a good player and only one is the talent on show at age 16.

You really don't what you have brought untill you look under the hood and see how they aclimatise too the training load, pressure.

Duncan, for example, made an impression from day one with his attitude that set him apart from earlier picks even before Christmas.

You'd be surprised at the amount of work that goes into assessing each player of interest; the number of people who have input and the areas that are covered. However you're right, there are things just so difficult to measure such a temperament, adaptability, desire et al. David Parkin often says there were many players with far more skill than him who, for various reasons, just never cut it at the elite level. Wells is a pro, but he's had his share of shockers also.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Looking ahead to the rookie draft, here's a few names that immediately come to mind that I'm surprised have missed out (I'm sure there's heaps of others, so people please add whoever you'd like to promote, this is just my starter list).

Defenders
Blayne Wilson-dual all australian defender, averaged 12 marks a game this year and a heap of disposals. Might be a bit of a square peg in a round hole for us with THunt and Weston, but very good player, massive boot and a steal to look at. I know everyone says he's slow and all, but they said that about Barlow too.

Tom Gordon-big key defender (probably could play anywhere though)...ran slow over the 20 m which hurt him in the end, but he can take a mark, kicks very well (we know Wells likes that) and has a bit to work with.

Tyler Chalwell-ok, yeah I know it's only Colts footy, but I love his footage, there's something about the way he attacks his marks, and uses the footy that I really like. Looks like he can cover the ground too and we could use that type of defender.

Jack Frost-big athletic bloke from Sandy...kinda like Delaney, could be worth a look.

David Kruse-tall running back...needs to put on some kgs but very good dash and skills.

Nathan Batley-SA running back/midfielder...very quick and uses it well.

Max Otten-Andy's brother...reads the play very well and has a massive boot on him...the only drawback is he might be an inch short for full back...but worth a look.

Midfielders
Warrick Andreoli-zippy, balanced, real pace and agility, good kick, very surprised he didn't go top 40. Could be worth a look to inject some pace into the side. WC will probably be mean and take him with their first rookie pick.

Brad Harvey-smashed the sprint record (bettered only by Joel Wilkinson of the Suns) at the draft camp and otherwise tested really well. A bit of a punt prospect but a bit to work with.

Forwards
Josh Walker-goes without saying I love the boy, can take a mark, real athlete, smart forward and I don't think his kicking is terminal (i.e. I think it can be improved in a full time environment). And Walks would be very happy up there somewhere if we drafted his grandson.

Anton Hamp-athletic key forward from WA, might be a little undersized but could have some potential.

Callum Sinclair-21 yo from Port Melbourne, can really take a grab as a forward and take a turn in the ruck.

Zac Fitzgerald-high leaping forward from SA.

Ben Brown-tasmanian key forward who was tearing it up before he injured his knee earlier in the year.

I'm sure there's lots of others but these are some of the ones I'd look at.

I'd love to add a player with legspeed, and a key defender, if we can.

 

[Vegas.]

Stopped reading when you said that we could improve a players goal kicking!

You saw what we did to Tomahawk, who was a lovey kick for goal in U-18s.