Review National Draft 2010 and look ahead to Rookie Draft

[costanza23]

Any chance we redraft or rerookie Adam Varcoe?

Hope we do. If GWS get him, look for them to then try and entice Trav later.

I was thinking we might rookie Raidme from our twos, who's played mostly as a tagger, but after having gotten Guthrie, I don't think we will anymore.

Another player is Ben Bucovaz who was delisted from Freo after two years. Originally from the Falcons and can play anywhere.

What happened to Andreoli? Many people had him going in the top 40.

And how many picks do we have exactly? Does Bathie count as one of our rookies?

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Along the lines of my thoughts last night, this is what I'd like to see for our rookie draft:

Pick 23: Josh Walker (I will hate any club that takes him first)

Pick 40: Chalwell/Andreoli/Blayne Wilson/Harvey/Batley
(preference would be Chalwell but given the WA clubs have picks before now (and WC have a PSD pick), whoever is left...if all five are gone (unlikely) are gone, get the best tall)

Pick 57: Best available tall, preferably a key defender, but any key tall is good. Key names to consider: Tom Gordon (def/fwd), Otten (def) , Barden (fwd), Ben Brown (fwd/ruck), Hamp (fwd), Solly (fwd), Fitzgerald(fwd), Monaco(def), Sinclair(fwd/ruck), Menagola (fwd), Segrave (def), Hartigan (def), Crawford (def), Talia (def)

Pick 74: Committed to Bathie

(I would have included the great Josh Jenkins in the list of possibles but I figured he'll come on here and promote himself sometime between now and the rookie draft anyway ).

Obviously we'd like to add as many talls as we can, and one quick player would be nice, but talls certainly the priority. It will be hard, because a few teams will probably be picking for talls (based on what I can analyse of their lists anyway) and our picks are quite late in each round, so we'll just have to try and get the best we can.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Hope we do. If GWS get him, look for them to then try and entice Trav later.

I was thinking we might rookie Raidme from our twos, who's played mostly as a tagger, but after having gotten Guthrie, I don't think we will anymore.

Another player is Ben Bucovaz who was delisted from Freo after two years. Originally from the Falcons and can play anywhere.

What happened to Andreoli? Many people had him going in the top 40.

And how many picks do we have exactly? Does Bathie count as one of our rookies?

As far as I have read, AV isn't in the list of players that nominated. My worry with him, and I'm not fully up to speed on the rule, is if he nominates next year, can GC pre list him (he is eligible to be pre listed) without him agreeing, or can they pre list him against his will? Did Richardson, and Faulks, and the others, have to agree? If he has to agree then there's no worry b/c he won't go so long as we agree to take him on (when the time comes next year) but if they can pre list him against his will then I will worry.

I have no idea on Andreoli. His pace is awesome and there's a lot there to work with. If I were WC I'd grab him in the PSD but who knows what we'll do.

Same with Blayne Wilson...guy takes a mountain of marks, makes all australian, kicks it like a mule and can't get drafted. In both cases, unless there's off field issues, definitely draft worthy and worth a look if we don't get beaten to the punch.

Ditto Josh Walker...love the kid.

Buco nominated and didn't get picked up. Is still training with Freo but they have several players training with them and I can't seem rookieing them all back, and they're pretty much committed to re-drafting Ruffles because he's contracted, so I can see Buco maybe missing out.

Bathie counts yes. We have 4 selections but only 3 live...he'll be read out with our last selection, same procedure as calling out elevated rookies.

 

[meto]

Pure O,

In your most likely's for pick 40, one Blayne Wilson has great stat credentials, evidently a very strong overhead player. ATM plays across halfback and seems to be a strong framed type.
Just thought he may bookend Billy Smedts, any thoughts on him?

He's similar to Jake Batchelor who went pick 26 to the tigers, whose vids reminded me of Luke Hodge, a rock across Halfback.
Blayne looks like a ball-magnet on his vid, just reads the play and picks it off. Disposals not shabby either.

 

[BlueOyster]

listening to SEN yesterday and KB had the melbourne recuiter greg miller? on instead of balmey and when asked who did well first team mentioned was geelong. he said Guthrie and Smedts could be as good as any in the 3-10 draft pick range of kids. seems positive enough for me. and its been too long since we had a billy in the team!

 

[year of the cat]

Along the lines of my thoughts last night, this is what I'd like to see for our rookie draft:

Pick 23: Josh Walker (I will hate any club that takes him first)

Pick 40: Chalwell/Andreoli/Blayne Wilson/Harvey/Batley
(preference would be Chalwell but given the WA clubs have picks before now (and WC have a PSD pick), whoever is left...if all five are gone (unlikely) are gone, get the best tall)

Pick 57: Best available tall, preferably a key defender, but any key tall is good. Key names to consider: Tom Gordon (def/fwd), Otten (def) , Barden (fwd), Ben Brown (fwd/ruck), Hamp (fwd), Solly (fwd), Fitzgerald(fwd), Monaco(def), Sinclair(fwd/ruck), Menagola (fwd), Segrave (def), Hartigan (def), Crawford (def), Talia (def)

Pick 74: Committed to Bathie

(I would have included the great Josh Jenkins in the list of possibles but I figured he'll come on here and promote himself sometime between now and the rookie draft anyway ).

Obviously we'd like to add as many talls as we can, and one quick player would be nice, but talls certainly the priority. It will be hard, because a few teams will probably be picking for talls (based on what I can analyse of their lists anyway) and our picks are quite late in each round, so we'll just have to try and get the best we can.

I have pretty similar view to you with the rookie draft P_O. I think, if still available, that Walker is an obvious first pick. Unlucky not to be taken in the National Draft, good size, mobile and a local. Looks like he has a fair bit of potential.

I would take the risk on Chalwell for pick 2. If gone then Hartigan for me. Still can't quite understand why this guy is not on an AFL list? Was more than serviceable in the VFL last year. It's a mystery to me. Monaco would be my third choice here.

With the last pick I would take a small forward. With A.Varcoe gone their is a spot free for a player of this type. Rankine, Milera or the local boy Dalhaus would be on my list.

 

[The Fourth Son]

I'm no longer going to write anything on here due to the fact me promoting a local and a good mate has made people think Josh is on here pumping his own tyres up which is the opposite of what I wanted to do. I also did his youtube editing.

I can understand how you guys think he is on here raving about his skills so I'll sail on into the sunset but continue to read you guys thoughts.

 

[year of the cat]

I'm no longer going to write anything on here due to the fact me promoting a local and a good mate has made people think Josh is on here pumping his own tyres up which is the opposite of what I wanted to do. I also did his youtube editing.

I can understand how you guys think he is on here raving about his skills so I'll sail on into the sunset but continue to read you guys thoughts.

Keep doing it mate. It was only a bit of harmless banter. Nothing more. Hopefully your friend gets his opportunity.

 

[The Fourth Son]

Keep doing it mate. It was only a bit of harmless banter. Nothing more. Hopefully your friend gets his opportunity.

I just don't want him shed in a poor light, he is a great kid who has done everything in basketball and footy on his own. He is a Shane Crawford-type background in regards to family.

Regardless of that, all I'll say is I think he is good enough to be on a list, let's hope a club does..

 

[Turbocat]

I just don't want him shed in a poor light, he is a great kid who has done everything in basketball and footy on his own. He is a Shane Crawford-type background in regards to family.

Regardless of that, all I'll say is I think he is good enough to be on a list, let's hope a club does..

The stats you have previously quoted should get him a chance. Its unfortunate that Bathie has got a slight draft rule advantage but if you compare him to someone like Mumford , his big chance was generated by getting a shot at in a VFL side. If he doesn't get a Rookie gig thats what I think he should aim for

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I'm no longer going to write anything on here due to the fact me promoting a local and a good mate has made people think Josh is on here pumping his own tyres up which is the opposite of what I wanted to do. I also did his youtube editing.

I can understand how you guys think he is on here raving about his skills so I'll sail on into the sunset but continue to read you guys thoughts.

Mate, I was actually joking. I like sarcasm, it's my failing. Sorry if you took any offence.

Based on the stats you have shown me and the vision I have seen, I am really excited about Jenkins (he's as much the polar opposite of Blake as you can get, and I think that's awesome, and he could be a really good prospect). The rookie list is meant to be for punt types like him with massive upside, so he should definitely get a go. I agree with other posters who have said it's unlikely we would take him and Bathie (although I wouldn't rule it out) but he should get a spot somewhere.

By the way, where is Josh actually from? I didn't know he was local.

I have pretty similar view to you with the rookie draft P_O. I think, if still available, that Walker is an obvious first pick. Unlucky not to be taken in the National Draft, good size, mobile and a local. Looks like he has a fair bit of potential.

I would take the risk on Chalwell for pick 2. If gone then Hartigan for me. Still can't quite understand why this guy is not on an AFL list? Was more than serviceable in the VFL last year. It's a mystery to me. Monaco would be my third choice here.

With the last pick I would take a small forward. With A.Varcoe gone their is a spot free for a player of this type. Rankine, Milera or the local boy Dalhaus would be on my list.

Walker's a monty...and not just because of the family connection...obviously we'd prefer defenders to forwards, but he's the best available tall in the rookie draft IMO, so you take him with one pick, and a tall defender with the other.

I'll defer to Chris25 from Freo, who is one of the resident draft experts on BF, who said it best yesterday by saying if Hartigan gets overlooked again, there must be some serious issues with him as a person (ie off field) we don't know about, because he's definitely talented enough to be on an AFL list (and had a good VFL year this year) and the key defender crop available for the rookie draft isn't that deep. He'd have to be in the mix for us if Chalwell goes early as I expect (Chalwell may even go in the PSD).

I'm ok with us picking one player sub 190cm (the other 2 picks definitely must be KPPS) but if it's gonna be a quick small I'd like it to be a small who can play mid also if need be and is not purely a small forward, but yes guys like Dahlhaus would be worth consideration.

Pure O,

In your most likely's for pick 40, one Blayne Wilson has great stat credentials, evidently a very strong overhead player. ATM plays across halfback and seems to be a strong framed type.
Just thought he may bookend Billy Smedts, any thoughts on him?

He's similar to Jake Batchelor who went pick 26 to the tigers, whose vids reminded me of Luke Hodge, a rock across Halfback.
Blayne looks like a ball-magnet on his vid, just reads the play and picks it off. Disposals not shabby either.

Yeah I love Blayne. To make All Australian team last year, have the stats he has again this year in the champs, and still not get drafted, is very odd to me, I can't explain it. (especially when you consider that of the 2009 AA team, which included guys like Mitch Duncan, he's the only one of the 22 not now on an AFL list, so I really hope he gets a go this year). He's basically a combination of Harley in terms of quality of reading the play and marking (any kid who peels off and marks as often as he does screams that sort of player IMO), and he has a shoe the size of JHunt on him. I love the fact that he's super courageous flying at the footy too. Rarely wastes a kick when you consider he had the highest disposal efficiency of anyone in the AA team last year, and ran at 78 % again this year. Bennell also said he was the hardest working guy in the WA team so I doubt he's got attitude issues.

The knock on him is that he tested in the bottom few % for the sprint, like Gordon, and so like Gordon, he went from certain top 50 to rookie draft, because recruiters tend to over emphasise (IMO) that stat thesedays. I'm not sure whether he is super slow or whether he was just injured, because he doesn't look that slow when you see him play (he's no THunt but he's not a plodder). I think even if that's true you could mould a role for him, just keep him away from the nippy small forwards, he's tall enough to play on taller types, and as I said, you use him as the interceptor guy to help out the others, and then as the designated kicker on the way out. The reality is all rookies have at least one flaw, that's why they are rookies in the first place, so if pace is his only flaw, he's still worth consideration, as he's got spades of footballing talent. For me, with JHunt and Enright pushing 30, he's worth consideration with our sub 190cm pick....and if you could counter balance his marking and kicking in one pocket, with THunt or Weston in the other (because they really should be carrying the footy, whereas Blayne should always be kicking it) it's not a bad combination and it might work.

EDIT: Just found this article on Blayne where they say he's been battling OP for 18 months http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/afl/8357592/wilsons-chances-boosted-by-hansen-de-listing/, which would explain a few things. Feel sorry for him going from almost GCSuns as an under ager, to scrap heap in 12 months, even after having a good year. Hopefully the Eagles may PSD him, or clubs like us consider him.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

The stats you have previously quoted should get him a chance. Its unfortunate that Bathie has got a slight draft rule advantage but if you compare him to someone like Mumford , his big chance was generated by getting a shot at in a VFL side. If he doesn't get a Rookie gig thats what I think he should aim for

I agree...there will be a few state league talls (Giles, Gabriel, Sinclair and the like) who will get gigs this year as rookies, even if it's purely as insurance. So there'll be spots on VFL teams and Josh should aim for one of them for 2011 if he misses out, and then try and get drafted the same way in 12 months. I'd even reccommend our program to him, because we have a very good record of drafting from our VFL.

 

[meto]

Pure,

Great summarizing our mutual choice Blayne Wilson, the way he reads the play is the reason for his stats, he doesn't need to be ripping fast, the kids a ball magnet.
A la Harley, but a better kick.

Top spotting PO.

 

[Cataholic]

I understand the need for us to draft some talls, and the fact that these guys may / will take some time to command a place in the seniors, but I worry a little about the current crop and the lag time in them proving their worth at AFL level.

Unless I've missed someone, the young talls we currently have are, in alphabetical order:

Bathie
Blake
Brown
Gillies
Hawkins
Johnson (B)
Simpson
Vardy
West

Of these, only Blake and Hawkins have any notable experience at AFL level, and even they have some serious questions over their long-term future in the side.

While I have no argument over Well's draft selections, I am a little surprised that none of the picks were used to select KPP's. That suggests the club is very confident some of these guys will develop into AFL KP players real soon.

But who? From what I gather, Johnson has done a bit in the VFL but other than that, I don't recall any of the others making outstanding contributions of late.

Who do you see coming on this year?

 

[TheHonestyPolicy]

I understand the need for us to draft some talls, and the fact that these guys may / will take some time to command a place in the seniors, but I worry a little about the current crop and the lag time in them proving their worth at AFL level.

Unless I've missed someone, the young talls we currently have are, in alphabetical order:

Bathie
Blake
Brown
Gillies
Hawkins
Johnson (B)
Simpson
Vardy
West

Of these, only Blake and Hawkins have any notable experience at AFL level, and even they have some serious questions over their long-term future in the side.

While I have no argument over Well's draft selections, I am a little surprised that none of the picks were used to select KPP's. That suggests the club is very confident some of these guys will develop into AFL KP players real soon.

But who? From what I gather, Johnson has done a bit in the VFL but other than that, I don't recall any of the others making outstanding contributions of late.

Who do you see coming on this year?

Tall guys take longer than mids, no secret there. Some bigger guys can take 5 years to make it so the suggestion other than Blake on that list who has been around a bit longer than anyone else that the other 8 mentioned wont make it or represent a black hole of talls on our list I think is a bit of an over statement but thats just my view and opinions on this topic seem to be fairly divided on here.

The one tall you missed was Harry Taylor. It wouldnt surprise me if we have another mature aged tall in mind for the rookie draft and there wont be too many issues getting him and probably a younger tall to work on; how many do you need? And more importantly how many can you actually have on a list at a time? The vfl side will get picked fairly similarly to the senior side to assimilate game plan and I think the jury is still out on whether three talls up forward really works.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I understand the need for us to draft some talls, and the fact that these guys may / will take some time to command a place in the seniors, but I worry a little about the current crop and the lag time in them proving their worth at AFL level.

Unless I've missed someone, the young talls we currently have are, in alphabetical order:

Bathie
Blake
Brown
Gillies
Hawkins
Johnson (B)
Simpson
Vardy
West

Of these, only Blake and Hawkins have any notable experience at AFL level, and even they have some serious questions over their long-term future in the side.

While I have no argument over Well's draft selections, I am a little surprised that none of the picks were used to select KPP's. That suggests the club is very confident some of these guys will develop into AFL KP players real soon.

But who? From what I gather, Johnson has done a bit in the VFL but other than that, I don't recall any of the others making outstanding contributions of late.

Who do you see coming on this year?

Caracella made clear BJ would have been elevated if we had a spot, Vardy is a super talent, and West had a good year.

But yes, we do need more talls, both numerically and otherwise (i.e. quality wise).

We can't be critical of Wells (despite the fact that I was frustrated on thurs night, but I have mellowed now) because he knows much more than us, and it may be that no one in this crop of talls that was available to us was worth the picks we had, in which case to pick up none, but get 1 or 2 as rookies instead, is the right call.

But we certainly do need to pick up a couple of talls as rookies now and give them a few years to see how they come along, and then get some more in 2012 (next year's draft will be weak again so it'll be hard to do much with that).

Pure,

Great summarizing our mutual choice Blayne Wilson, the way he reads the play is the reason for his stats, he doesn't need to be ripping fast, the kids a ball magnet.
A la Harley, but a better kick.

Top spotting PO.

Agree totally.

Just to clarify, Blayne didn't get overlooked by all the clubs last year because he wasn't eligible for anyone other than GC, but I do feel sorry for him in the sense that, apart from that he seems to be a hard worker and a super natural footballer, he was better on performance than the vast majority of his AA 09 teammates (including Mitch IMO) and all 21 are playing AFL now. Hopefully he becomes the 22nd in December whether its with us or not.

 

[Turbocat]

It wouldnt surprise me if we have another mature aged tall in mind for the rookie draft .....

What's the story with the Mature Age spot that JPod has vacated? If the AFL had some common sense they should allow more of those spots , it gives guys 23+ hope of still being picked.
The review the club did they were very happy with BenJ , so I wonder if there is another kid out there that we have our eye on , one that has been thru Falcons but missed the bus , so to speak.

Although I like Wilson , would the fact that we have taken 4 guys around his size be against him? I wouldn't mind another nippy guy like Hunt that missed out. Andreoli , Harvey perhaps . I know Bews is an option next year but I'd still like to add a little more speed.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

What's the story with the Mature Age spot that JPod has vacated? If the AFL had some common sense they should allow more of those spots , it gives guys 23+ hope of still being picked.
The review the club did they were very happy with BenJ , so I wonder if there is another kid out there that we have our eye on , one that has been thru Falcons but missed the bus , so to speak.

Although I like Wilson , would the fact that we have taken 4 guys around his size be against him? I wouldn't mind another nippy guy like Hunt that missed out. Andreoli , Harvey perhaps . I know Bews is an option next year but I'd still like to add a little more speed.

I'm pretty sure that for this year and next the restriction has been removed...i.e. you can have as many mature age rookies as you want (well as many as you have spots on your rookie list obviously). I wouldn't think we'd specifically look for a mature age KPP, but if the best KPP are mature age, we'll consider it.

I like the nippy guys (also had Andreoli Harvey etc on my list) but Wilson shouldn't be discounted because of the bolded. Those 4 guys we drafted are meant to be mids we're told, and while Guthrie could be good at the back, if you're talking about him replacing Ling long term, and moving either THunt or Weston up the field (which as I said we'll have to do anyway until we can draft/develop some more quick midfielders) then I think it works fine. If you look at our VFL team, now that Laidler is gone, we don't have an oversupply of mid sized defenders anyway. Besides, we're going to have to elevate a lot of rookies next year and the year after (retirements) so I'm keen on drafting guys I think will have the talent to make that, even if they're not an exact fit for our specific needs.

 

[Cataholic]

Tall guys take longer than mids, no secret there. Some bigger guys can take 5 years to make it so the suggestion other than Blake on that list who has been around a bit longer than anyone else that the other 8 mentioned wont make it or represent a black hole of talls on our list I think is a bit of an over statement but thats just my view and opinions on this topic seem to be fairly divided on here.

The one tall you missed was Harry Taylor. It wouldnt surprise me if we have another mature aged tall in mind for the rookie draft and there wont be too many issues getting him and probably a younger tall to work on; how many do you need? And more importantly how many can you actually have on a list at a time? The vfl side will get picked fairly similarly to the senior side to assimilate game plan and I think the jury is still out on whether three talls up forward really works.

Sorry mate, I didn't mean to imply the 8 won't make it or represent a black hole, so my apologies if I did so......

What worries me is the fact that our talls (excluding Blake & Hawkins) have little collective experience and therefore have an unknown ability, at AFL level, to cover any losses we may experience in the short-term due to injury or retirement.

For example, where will we be if we were to lose any combination of Blake, Hawkins, Lonergan, Mooney or Ottens or Taylor early in the season to significant injury?

Sure, there's only one way to find out what the new guys have to offer, but I would rest a little easier if they'd been given a bit more exposure at the top level before now. That's been difficult because of the teams recent success, but the 2010 season was an opportunity lost I think.

 

[Vdubs]

I work with Eastern Ranges, and rate Aaron Mullett, certainly worthy of consideration. P.O. have you any insight into this, as I am obviously biased, and would have taken either or both of those that went to Port from Eastern.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I work with Eastern Ranges, and rate Aaron Mullett, certainly worthy of consideration. P.O. have you any insight into this, as I am obviously biased, and would have taken either or both of those that went to Port from Eastern.

I rate them all...in my mock draft I had OShea at 52 (bingo! ), Young at 38 and Mullet at 57.

Don't mind Mullet as an option, but if we are to rookie anyone from Ranges I'd clearly want it to be Harvey...I know he's raw and he needs to learn to find the footy more and improve decision making, but athletically he's a freak (like dare I say it, Jenkins) and as I've said before, if we take a mid I want it to be one with real speed to compliment the ball winners we've already got. So yeah, if we take Mullett, no problems, he's a good one, but I'd be putting my vote on Harvey.

But yeah that's just my opinion, I have no insight/info as such, you would have much more insight into this than me.

 

[TheHonestyPolicy]

Sorry mate, I didn't mean to imply the 8 won't make it or represent a black hole, so my apologies if I did so......

What worries me is the fact that our talls (excluding Blake & Hawkins) have little collective experience and therefore have an unknown ability, at AFL level, to cover any losses we may experience in the short-term due to injury or retirement.

For example, where will we be if we were to lose any combination of Blake, Hawkins, Lonergan, Mooney or Ottens or Taylor early in the season to significant injury?

Sure, there's only one way to find out what the new guys have to offer, but I would rest a little easier if they'd been given a bit more exposure at the top level before now. That's been difficult because of the teams recent success, but the 2010 season was an opportunity lost I think.

Sorry to you also, I sometimes write some of my posts too quickly mate and when I read them back later wonder what the hell I was trying to say myself , so I dont recall thinking you felt none of them could make it, there has just been a fair bit written on this forum recently about where we are at with talls and its been mostly negative but thats why we get on to share views. I think we have a fair number of unproven talls on the list, so we agree. I am just of the opinion given their age we can still expect a percentage of them to make it given their limited experience so I am just in the camp that thinks we probably only needed to draft 1 or 2 more talls (including project player Bathie) and we still can via the rookie draft and I feel sure we have a couple in mind already similar to last season

I agree also if we had a run of injuries like that we would probably be in a bit of strife but I suspect most sides probably would be. I hope when the younger guys do get their chance they are given the confidence of knowing they will be given every chance to prove themself.

 

[TheHonestyPolicy]

What's the story with the Mature Age spot that JPod has vacated? If the AFL had some common sense they should allow more of those spots , it gives guys 23+ hope of still being picked.
The review the club did they were very happy with BenJ , so I wonder if there is another kid out there that we have our eye on , one that has been thru Falcons but missed the bus , so to speak.

Although I like Wilson , would the fact that we have taken 4 guys around his size be against him? I wouldn't mind another nippy guy like Hunt that missed out. Andreoli , Harvey perhaps . I know Bews is an option next year but I'd still like to add a little more speed.

Totally agree mate, I think with the expansion of two extra clubs in such a short time, clubs need to fill their lists out with experienced talent and not just stretching the young stocks in the country to the limits.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Looks like Wilson will be snapped up:
[FONT=&quot]http://www.sportsnewsfirst.com.au/articles/2010/11/20/late-afl-hope-for-blayne-wilson/[/FONT]

Still some good talent out there though...if we can nab Walker and Chalwell I will be happy.

 

[David the Cat]

sorry....dont want anyone called Mullet in the Geelong Football Club....unless of course its pronounced Moolay!!!!!