News Pick 54: James Sellar

[Crimson Azure]

Who will it be?

Keep the discussion on our new Dee here. Post you thoughts.

OP will be updated later tonight once we know who we get.

 

[Demon 16]

Re: Pick 54:

In before Waylen Zyrus Manson..

 

[Crimson Azure]

Re: Pick 54:

In before Waylen Zyrus Manson..

He might quit the club before he even arrives.

 

[Oscarman]

Re: Pick 54:

James Sellar. WTF???

 

[Mammoth_5]

Re: Pick 54:

Gotta says thanks to Neil Craig for that!

 

[fushy]

Re: Pick 54:

James Sellar. WTF???

lol his mum is quick, wiki is already updated

 

[deeman87]

Re: Pick 54:

kfkfkfkfkfk

 

[Slander]

Re: Pick 54:

Extremely disappointed. Don't want to abuse the player but BP may as well have passed on this pick. Looks a blunder, hopefully I'll be proven wrong.

 

[Biffinator]

Re: Pick 54:

Non MFC guys I have had a shitty day with exams and I want to share the pain. If you want a holiday, you know what to do.

 

[deeman12]

Re: Pick 54:

Very peculiar pick-up.

 

[Demon 16]

Re: Pick 54:

Surprise selection for sure - we took a time out before pick 52 so I presume there was some late discussion around this.

A positive is that Neil Craig would know him pretty well.

 

[Dandy_GO]

Re: Pick 54:

I was a little disappointed when we let Jim go, and generally how we handled him. He was always gonna be a long term project player. His fitness was atrocious when we picked him up, and Glenelg really weren't the best club to develop him (they already had strong talls/rucks, so he spent a lot of time in the SANFL reserves, or being shuffled around to a new position every week.)
I think if you can get some continuity to his game - give him a good stretch of games - he'll reward you. He played some really good football as a backup ruckman, rotating through defence, in late '09, when Adelaide went on that late finals run, and just missed the top 4.
Most Adelaide supporters wrote him off years ago, which is fair enough, but I think he has it in him to be an AFL standard tall defender. He'll be better than Warnock, at least.
Obviously you intend to play him next year, because I'm pretty sure he would have still been there for you guys late in the rookie draft.

 

[Crusty Demon]

Re: Pick 54:

I was a little disappointed when we let Jim go, and generally how we handled him. He was always gonna be a long term project player. His fitness was atrocious when we picked him up, and Glenelg really weren't the best club to develop him (they already had strong talls/rucks, so he spent a lot of time in the SANFL reserves, or being shuffled around to a new position every week.)
I think if you can get some continuity to his game - give him a good stretch of games - he'll reward you. He played some really good football as a backup ruckman, rotating through defence, in late '09, when Adelaide went on that late finals run, and just missed the top 4.
Most Adelaide supporters wrote him off years ago, which is fair enough, but I think he has it in him to be an AFL standard tall defender. He'll be better than Warnock, at least.
Obviously you intend to play him next year, because I'm pretty sure he would have still been there for you guys late in the rookie draft.

I think this is spot on. I think we could have picked him up as a rookie though. So Neeld must have a plan for him for next year. Was picked fairly high in the 2006 draft from memory and was always regarded as a long term project player.

I feel Adelaide let him go a touch early. The problem is, where to play him? Maybe as a full time defender that free's up a Garland? Or maybe as the back up ruckman to Jamar which releases Martin to the backline? From what I've seen of Sellar, his best work is as a ruckman.

Guys, pick 54 was never going to get us a champion young player, so I'm not too upset with the decision to pick Sellar. I am a little surprised we went a tall mature player. I really would have thought we would have gone a mature mid instead. Lets see what Neeld has in store for him, and give the guy a chance before we write him off.

 

[1970crow]

Re: Pick 54:

i'm a bit surprised he went in the nd, but maybe there was talk that another club was interested. i agree 100% with dandy. he'll prove quute a few crow supporters wrong. just as jon griffin did. i think most crow fans still use rehnny as a benchmark. we havent been happy with a ruckman in years.

 

[deeman87]

Re: Pick 54:

I think this is spot on. I think we could have picked him up as a rookie though. So Neeld must have a plan for him for next year. Was picked fairly high in the 2006 draft from memory and was always regarded as a long term project player.

I feel Adelaide let him go a touch early. The problem is, where to play him? Maybe as a full time defender that free's up a Garland? Or maybe as the back up ruckman to Jamar which releases Martin to the backline? From what I've seen of Sellar, his best work is as a ruckman.

Guys, pick 54 was never going to get us a champion young player, so I'm not too upset with the decision to pick Sellar. I am a little surprised we went a tall mature player. I really would have thought we would have gone a mature mid instead. Lets see what Neeld has in store for him, and give the guy a chance before we write him off.

oh ye play him as a ruckmen in a team with jamar, clark, and martin. please.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Re: Pick 54:

He is there purely for back up. Sure, we could have more than likely got him as a rookie but here is there to support Jamar, Clark and Martin. While Gawn was good in the games he played last year he still needs time and Fitzy is still a while away too (from playing regularly).

It's a strange pick but the talent pool was shallow at best. I think we got two good pick ups in Taggert and Tynan so I'm happy with that.

 

[The Dr]

Re: Pick 54:

Happy to be proven wrong, but not excited at this. Surely he would've been available as a mature rookie??

 

[Theseventhhamster]

Re: Pick 54:

I'm going to guess that the club wanted a backup big defender and would've preferred to keep Warnock for emergency purposes but he obviously wanted 1st team footy. In theory we get a possibly solid mature body that won't whinge if he's languishing in the twos for a year or two. Not exciting but it makes sense.

 

[Logger]

Re: Pick 54:

I'm going to guess that the club wanted a backup big defender and would've preferred to keep Warnock for emergency purposes but he obviously wanted 1st team footy. In theory we get a possibly solid mature body that won't whinge if he's languishing in the twos for a year or two. Not exciting but it makes sense.

Very sensible post.

This is from a thread consisting of an 8 pages of Crows VS Port shitfight, 2 pages of people dismissing his chances of getting picked up and 1 page of incredulous demons supporters asking for info or simply wondering "why?!"

I wouldn't write him off just yet, but I think a year away from the AFL could do him good.
Needs a year where he's played at one club, in one position, with one master, away from the spotlight and pressure of AFL, where he can learn to enjoy his footy again.

Was probably drafted a few years too young, came into our side with MASSIVE expectations, but without the mental maturity to cope with this.

Seemed to struggle with the concept of having to train with the Crows and then play for Glenelg, especially when Glenelg played him where they needed him, not where was best for his development. He always seemed to be lost, which is not uncommon for "tweener" type players like himself. Not to mention whenever he did seem to be getting a hold of things, he'd get injured.

There's no doubt he's a confidence player. Give him a year at a state league club as either a KPF or a KPD and I think he'll surprise a number of people and will be redrafted. Its just a matter of getting control over those inner demons, he's got the physical tools to be a more than adequate AFL player.

Thought I'd just run through his strengths and weaknesses for those who don't know much about him.

"Strengths":
- His skills for a player of his size are rather good (has a very natural kicking style)
- Strong/Good size for KPP (196cm/98kgs)
- Good shot on goal
- Very quick in a straight line for his size. I remember him chasing down L
- Moves well in traffic too, very comfortable with ball in hand, never seems to be terribly rushed.
- Good enough ruckman to be a reasonable "modern day" 2nd ruck.

"Weaknesses":
- Hasn't found a position
- Isn't exactly agile
- Very much a confidence player
- His game lacks conviction or intensity (Linked to confidence IMO)
- Marking - again he tends to lack conviction when going for a grab, I think its very much a confidence thing. He'll go up for a grab, but just doesn't believe that he can take it and hence he doesn't.

EDIT: And furthermore, from BP:

“James Sellar is a very interesting pick, in terms of recycled players.”

“He had five years at the Adelaide Crows … we’ve sought Neil’s opinion and Todd Viney’s opinion, who have both coached him.

“Mark was keen to get another player who can prop us up in experienced talls. We’ve got a lot of young, developing talls and they’re not going to be able to play every week.

“It was just a matter that players are going to have to earn their game and it’s going to be competitive. We’ve brought in Mitch Clark and James Sellar and if the young talls want their positions, they’re going to have to earn their positions. That’s pretty much the philosophy that we’ll see from them, although I don’t want to speak for them.

“In terms of James … he’s a No.14 draft pick from five years ago and he’s got talent - we know that, so it’s a great opportunity for him and we’re really pleased with all three picks.”

My take on that is it's a coach-driven selection, rather than a recruiting-led one. BP doesn't necessarily rate him, but he fills a strategic hole for Neeld.

 

[Theseventhhamster]

Re: Pick 54:

Cheers for the info. From memory he scared teams off when he was originally drafted because he was full of himself. Maybe he's had his humble pie and could be useful.

 

[Sylvia Saint]

I remember a good chunk of Melbourne fans were fuming or at least a little disappointed about taking James Frawley ahead of this guy back in 2006. It's funny how things pan out.

Anyway I reckon he's on the list to take over from "Juice" Newton. Sounds ominous... but I mean he's there to play at Casey, and fill in at senior level here and there when injuries hit. His versatility (in being mediocre at various positions ) and big body probably appealed to Neeld. Obviously NC would have had input too.

He's a pretty uninspiring pick, but I will bet my bottom dollar he gets a game at some stage next year.

 

[Jordie_tackles]

RandB reminded me of this in another thread, but not only would Neil Craig have known of Sellar but Todd Viney....

They must have a plan or some confidence in this bloke? he was a high draft pick for his year, and is only 22 there is still hope.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/126522/default.aspx

 

[dee64]

I remember a good chunk of Melbourne fans were fuming or at least a little disappointed about taking James Frawley ahead of this guy back in 2006. It's funny how things pan out.

Anyway I reckon he's on the list to take over from "Juice" Newton. Sounds ominous... but I mean he's there to play at Casey, and fill in at senior level here and there when injuries hit. His versatility (in being mediocre at various positions ) and big body probably appealed to Neeld. Obviously NC would have had input too.

He's a pretty uninspiring pick, but I will bet my bottom dollar he gets a game at some stage next year.

I reckon he'll get a game ahead of Fitzpatrick, but that's not saying much.

Still baffled why we picked him. Unless he and Clark can play a Brown/Dawes type set-up, I really can't see what role he can play.

 

[master bate]

Neeld wants a big body tall to put pressure on young talls to earn games, therefore advantages Sellar has over others:

1. He's a genuine big body, you can't have him as a 3rd tall
2. He's at least had experience in multiple positions and has the size to back up ruck
3. He's young, so if he does get it together we've got a player for the future
4. He's not Juice

I'm not sure about this, but I'm trying to convince myself. I can see Neeld's point of view, the youngsters in the Collingwood spine - Cloke, Dawes, Reid, N. Brown did seem to develop well around the experience/competition from Rocca, John Anthony, Wakelin and Presti.

 

[2 Dogs]

Neeld wants a big body tall to put pressure on young talls to earn games, therefore advantages Sellar has over others:

1. He's a genuine big body, you can't have him as a 3rd tall
2. He's at least had experience in multiple positions and has the size to back up ruck
3. He's young, so if he does get it together we've got a player for the future
4. He's not Juice

I'm not sure about this, but I'm trying to convince myself. I can see Neeld's point of view, the youngsters in the Collingwood spine - Cloke, Dawes, Reid, N. Brown did seem to develop well around the experience/competition from Rocca, John Anthony, Wakelin and Presti.

That is a disadvantage