SCPaige
Team Captain
Since Collingwood have been able to secure pick 6 today to add to pick 10, I thought I'd throw up the potential draftees that Collingwood have been linked to both officially, and unofficially.
In my work with TAC Cup Radio and AFL Vic, here are the list of draftees that are likely to be thereabouts with both top 10 selections.
Pick 6 options;
James Aish:
Strengths:
Well-balanced either side, can play inside or out, good burst of speed, very good reader of the play, very nimble, good decision maker, senior experience at SANFL level, big time player, relishes pressure games, takes on responsibility, reliable kick, brilliant overhead, good finisher on goal, elite disposal efficiency, solid endurance and strong centre of gravity. Could go on all day about Aish, he’s the most well-rounded player in this year’s draft crop. Aish is without a doubt the classiest and most polished prospect of this year’s crop. His reading of the play has him ahead by daylight than other midifelders, he is calm under pressure, has great vision and his leadership is without question brilliant. Aish also capped off the National Carnival, taking home All Australia honors for the second consectuive year.Not even 18 yet and he is a dual SANFL Premiership Player for Norwood.
Weaknesses:
Copped a bit of attention throughout the championships. Billy Hartung tagged him in round 3 and kept Aish to just 4 disposals to half time. Won’t be tagged at AFL level, but will have to learn how to deal with it when the time comes.
National Championships Stats:
Marcus Bontempelli:
Strenghts
Line-breaking pace, safe hands, clean beneath his knees, strong mark, can play an array of positions, elite ball user, big leap, elite endurance and strong work ethic, knows how to spread, aerial abilities are first class, great burst of speed, long raking left foot, high possession accumilator, is damaging and efficienct with his disposal, very much an outside midfielder with back flank capabilities and – he is still growing!
Weaknesses
Still developing his inside game, and can be a bit patchy over four quarters. Didn’t have the National Championships he would’ve liked to have had, but his form back in the TAC Cup has been fantastic. Plenty to work with here.
UPDATE: TAC CUP Finals Form
Bontempelli’s defensive game has been really encouraging this finals series, with a total of 10 tackles over his two games during the finals series for Northern. Although Bontempelli has been used predominately off a forward line, he has really relished pushing higher up the ground as a big midfielder, where his elite kicking game has seen him finish with an average efficiency by foot at 87%. Bontempelli always makes good decisions with the ball, and can often look like he is moving through traffic in slow motion, akin to how Scott Pendlebury looks as though he floats over the turf. We didn’t get to see a lot of Bontempelli starting at the centre bounces, where his clearance work is something that hasn’t gotten a lot of air-time this year, however he has shown terrific ability to move into the middle and influence at the stoppages. He’s now firming for a top 10 selection for mine, and in terms of development – Bontempelli could be absolutely anything in three to four years time at the next level. One of the most exciting prospects of this year’s draft, and a talent that will be highly sought after.
National Carnival Stats
Kade Kolodjashnij:
Strengths:
Very athletic, crafty and very versatile. Has terrific burn of pace, finds a lot of the ball and links up extremely well, involving himself in scoring chains. His tenacity and ferocity at the ball is a standout trait, very much a born competitor. Breaks the lines with his pace, and burns opponents if given too much room. Has a long raking left boot, which more often than not propels his side into attack. Very good leap and overhead mark, excellent aerial ability, elite kick and a brilliant reader of the play, can be used in an array of posisitions, would be best suited to half back or up on a wing. Topped this years draft crop by ranking inside the top 5% for kicking efficiency, stood out in the vertical leap.
Weaknesses:
Kolodjashni earns a lot of his posessions unconstested, and is very much an outside player. Doesn’t like to be isolated in a one on one contest, very much the offensive half backer type with a thin(ish) build.
National Carnival Stats:
Matt Scharenberg:
Strengths:
Can play anywhere all over the ground and super well, elite reader of the play, strong overhead and in the air, clean ball use, elite at ground level, good decision maker, brilliant kick either side of his body, good composure under pressure, racks up rebound 50’s, can play forward with immediate effect, impacts the scoreboard, reliable kick under pressure, the best utility of the draft, difficult to match up on, cool in traffic, poise, incredible awareness and vision, reliable set shot, has agility in spades, senior experience at SANFL level, play maker showed enourmous ability to play through the midfield, on the wings as a lock down defender and a forward option – Mr Versatile.
Weaknesses:
It’s incredibly hard to find a weakness of Scharenberg. Those from afar believe him be too offensive and “nothing but a free-wheeling defender”, with some going as far to suggest that he’s drawn comparisions with Port Adelaide’s Sam Colqhoun who racked up so much football off half back, playing a loose role, and was found out defensively (due to the style of play the under 18 system is encouraged to play for recruiters). This however, is a bad and very wrong observation. If any whack can be given to Scharenberg, it’s perhaps that we haven’t seen him dominate one set position, becuase he is reguarly thrown into different positions on the ground throughout the game. (And that’s hardly a whack!).
Stats
Pick 10 Options:
Nathan Freeman:
Strenghts
Vision, awareness, speed, line-breaking runs, goal kicker, clearnace specialist, prolific ball winner, elite side-step, dynamic mifielder, plenty of tricks, elite kick rating, big endurance, explosive out of the contest, fantastic foot-smarts, aggressive, clean hands, second-efforts and always looks to be opperating at extreme intesnsity, clearnace and inside 50 specialist, never slows down.
Weaknesses
Elects to kick the ball out of contests, rather than handball out as an extract to find a target. His kick to handball ratio is through the roof, and sometimes his rush disposal gets the better of him when teams are smart enough to sit in space, cutting off a blind kick forward and away from congestion. If he can tidy that up, he will be a weapon.
National Carnival Stats
Ben Lennon:
Strengths
Natural ability, strength, overhead marking, elite game sense and footy smarts, very good kick for goal, brings others into the game, booming kick, important avenue to goal (gets inolved in lots of scoring chains and assists), good on both sides of his body, attacks the ball well, can win his own ball, good in the contested situations, can play either end of the ground, physical player, leadership qualities, can rack up big numbers and kick goals (see Northern Knights Form), outstanding leading and running paterns, always gives multiple efforts. Lennon will eventually turn into a bona fide midifelder at the next level, he's been trialed across half back and took up more of a position across half forward this year, but when he was moved into the midifeld in the lead up to finals, he averaged 24 disposals and 2 goals.
Weaknesses
Recruiters wanted to see Lennon play more midfield in the National Championships, but he didn’t have the impact in the midfield as they would’ve hoped. He was played mostly as a high half forward, who would occassionally dip into the midifeld. Although over summer Lennon did a lot of cross training (Boxing, Cycling, Swimming etc) – the only weakness at this point is his engine. When he’s drafted to an AFL club, his endurance will bring him more consistency – which means he will be a weapon as a goal kicking midfielder (think Dayne Beams), which is where he would become one of the best in the game.
Naitonal Championships Stats
Lewis Taylor:
Strengths
Speed, agility, acceleration, stoppage specialist, elite kick on either side of his body (think Steele Sidebottom in that regard), goal kicker, prolific goal kicker, evasive, brings others into the game, unselfish, is a strong leader, has a beautiful side-step, damaging with his disposal, clean efficiency, great set of skills, can do the grunt work as an inside midfielder – extracting the ball out, clearing the ball from stoppages, and lay bone-crunching tackles, or as an outside midfielder who is strong defensively but can kick some very good goals (kicked a tumbler goal on the run from the boundary in Round 5). Strong bodied and a ferocious tackler. Michael Turner has said that Lewy Taylor is the best player to have ever come out of the Geelong Falcons during his time there (2014 will be his 17th year).
Weaknesses
Can sometimes put his teammates under pressure with his handballs in traffic, is also prone to giving away free kicks. Taylor’s height shouldn’t be an issue – given what he makes up for in other areas, and the amount of footballers coming through the system that are on par with his height. Unfortunately, Taylor's year ended a few weeks out from the TAC Cup finals, after it was revealed he'd been playing with a stress fracture in his left foot the entire year. All I can say is - just think how good he'll be when he isn't playing injured!
Honours
Christian Salem:
Strengths
Elite kick, brilliant on both sides of his body, good leg speed, knows where to spread, prone to collecting big numbers of the footy, reliable set shot on goal (better on the run), a two-way runner, tackle specialist, offers a lot of physicality to any side, loves to do the team thing in 1 per centers, blocks and sheppards well, has a very combative style of play, inspires his teammates, has started to develop his inside game, can play a number of roles.
Weaknesses
Can sometimes be a bit inconsistent with his disposal numbers; was strong against the Division 2 sides, and was a little bit quiet against the Division 1 sides.
National Championships Stats
Blake Acres:
Strengths
Elite user of the ball by foot and hand, plays predominately off half back but has the endurance and the abilities to go through the midfield and wing where he spent time in during the championships. Attacks a lot of the football on the outside, makes good decisions and is a very good runner. A player maker and a link up player, who gets involved in a lot of scoring chains with his composed and effective disposal. Takes the game on, and provides run and carry combined with quick ball movement, one of the better rebound 50 players in the draft. Has the perfect height to make him a very flexible and versatile player, and will make the transisition into AFL with ease. Acres has also been a standout at WAFL level, senior experience which AFL recruiters heavily favour.
Weaknesses
Was rotated heavily during the championships thanks to a shoulder injury just before the Nationals. He worked through that however, avoiding surgery and time spent coming off and on the bench was reflective of that. A bit of a shame he didn’t spend large amounts of time on field to see his max potential throughout games. This however, was the only weakness I could find – the fact he was managed slightly! Really, really rate this guy, and would be flying heavily under the radar, after coming into the championships as a top 20 prospect (before injury). He's now shot into 10-15 calculations.
National Carnival Stats
Cameron McCarthy:
Strengths
Huge amount of natural ability, contested marking, brilliant in the air, very good above his head and below his knees, sound kicking technique on goal, brilliant mark, rarely misses from a set shot, super athletic and has the ability to dominate games. Showed ability to be calm under pressure when he kicked for goal after the siren to hand WA the win against Vic County. Composed, and knows his strengths, will fly at anything, can pick the ball off the ground and snap over his shoulder, adds x-factor to a forward line.
Weaknesses
Still very much an unknown prospect is McCarthy. He only started taking his football seriously this year, and his natural ability and athetlicism is a fantastic base considering he’s never done a full preseason or any weight training. Still needs to learn his running patterns and leading in the forward 50, but considering he’s got a huge leap, great hands, is clean at ground level and knows how to finish on goal there is a huge amount of upside, and a prospect who could dominate the league in a few years time.
National Championships Stats
And here is our potential father/son selection – Jake Kelly, son of Craig.
http://www.afl.com.au/video/2013-07-16/draft-prospect-jake-kelly
Video Highlights from the AFL Website, descriptions via scpaige.com.au
In my work with TAC Cup Radio and AFL Vic, here are the list of draftees that are likely to be thereabouts with both top 10 selections.
Pick 6 options;
James Aish:
Strengths:
Well-balanced either side, can play inside or out, good burst of speed, very good reader of the play, very nimble, good decision maker, senior experience at SANFL level, big time player, relishes pressure games, takes on responsibility, reliable kick, brilliant overhead, good finisher on goal, elite disposal efficiency, solid endurance and strong centre of gravity. Could go on all day about Aish, he’s the most well-rounded player in this year’s draft crop. Aish is without a doubt the classiest and most polished prospect of this year’s crop. His reading of the play has him ahead by daylight than other midifelders, he is calm under pressure, has great vision and his leadership is without question brilliant. Aish also capped off the National Carnival, taking home All Australia honors for the second consectuive year.Not even 18 yet and he is a dual SANFL Premiership Player for Norwood.
Weaknesses:
Copped a bit of attention throughout the championships. Billy Hartung tagged him in round 3 and kept Aish to just 4 disposals to half time. Won’t be tagged at AFL level, but will have to learn how to deal with it when the time comes.
National Championships Stats:
- Round 1 - 13 disposals, 3 marks and 3 clearances
- Round 2 – 22 touches, 1 goal, 3 score assists
- Round 3 - 14 disposals, 7 marks
- Round 4 - 16 disposals, 3 inside 50’s, 4 tackles
- Round 5 - 14 disposals and 2 score assists
- AIS-AFL vs New Zealand – 17 possessions (7 contested) in 2012.
- All Australian 2013
- AFL-AIS Academy 2013
- Norwood Premiership Player 2012 + 2013
- All Australian 2012
Marcus Bontempelli:
Strenghts
Line-breaking pace, safe hands, clean beneath his knees, strong mark, can play an array of positions, elite ball user, big leap, elite endurance and strong work ethic, knows how to spread, aerial abilities are first class, great burst of speed, long raking left foot, high possession accumilator, is damaging and efficienct with his disposal, very much an outside midfielder with back flank capabilities and – he is still growing!
Weaknesses
Still developing his inside game, and can be a bit patchy over four quarters. Didn’t have the National Championships he would’ve liked to have had, but his form back in the TAC Cup has been fantastic. Plenty to work with here.
UPDATE: TAC CUP Finals Form
Bontempelli’s defensive game has been really encouraging this finals series, with a total of 10 tackles over his two games during the finals series for Northern. Although Bontempelli has been used predominately off a forward line, he has really relished pushing higher up the ground as a big midfielder, where his elite kicking game has seen him finish with an average efficiency by foot at 87%. Bontempelli always makes good decisions with the ball, and can often look like he is moving through traffic in slow motion, akin to how Scott Pendlebury looks as though he floats over the turf. We didn’t get to see a lot of Bontempelli starting at the centre bounces, where his clearance work is something that hasn’t gotten a lot of air-time this year, however he has shown terrific ability to move into the middle and influence at the stoppages. He’s now firming for a top 10 selection for mine, and in terms of development – Bontempelli could be absolutely anything in three to four years time at the next level. One of the most exciting prospects of this year’s draft, and a talent that will be highly sought after.
National Carnival Stats
- Round 5 - 21 disposals, 3 marks, 3 clearances, 5 inside-50′s and 3 score assists
- Averaged 14 disopsals, 4 marks, 3 inside 50′s, 2 clearnaces and 1 tackle per game in the Nationa Championships
- Averaging 21 disposals, 3 marks, 5 inside 50′s, 4 clearnaces, 5 tackles per game.
- Elimination Final vs Gippsland: 22 disposals, 4 marks, 6 handball recieves, 5 tackles and 1 goal
- Semi Finals vs Eastern Ranges: 10 disposals at 90% efficiency, 2 marks (both contested), 5 tackles, 2 goals
- AFL-AIS Academy member 2013
- Once had 50 disposals and 10 goals playing for Marcellin College in the APS system.
Kade Kolodjashnij:
Strengths:
Very athletic, crafty and very versatile. Has terrific burn of pace, finds a lot of the ball and links up extremely well, involving himself in scoring chains. His tenacity and ferocity at the ball is a standout trait, very much a born competitor. Breaks the lines with his pace, and burns opponents if given too much room. Has a long raking left boot, which more often than not propels his side into attack. Very good leap and overhead mark, excellent aerial ability, elite kick and a brilliant reader of the play, can be used in an array of posisitions, would be best suited to half back or up on a wing. Topped this years draft crop by ranking inside the top 5% for kicking efficiency, stood out in the vertical leap.
Weaknesses:
Kolodjashni earns a lot of his posessions unconstested, and is very much an outside player. Doesn’t like to be isolated in a one on one contest, very much the offensive half backer type with a thin(ish) build.
National Carnival Stats:
- Round 1 - 37 disposals, 2 clearances and 5 rebound 50′s.
- Round 2 - 24 disposals and 4 rebounds.
- Round 3 - 27 disposals, 9 marks, and 1 goal.
- Round 4 - 34 touches, 10 marks, 5 inside-50′s and 2 goals
- Round 5 – 15 disposals, 3 marks, 2 clearances and 3 rebound 50′s.
- Harrison Medalist (Div 2 B&F)
- Tasmania MVP
- All Australian 2013
- AFL-AIS Academy Member
- Tasmanian Captain
Matt Scharenberg:
Strengths:
Can play anywhere all over the ground and super well, elite reader of the play, strong overhead and in the air, clean ball use, elite at ground level, good decision maker, brilliant kick either side of his body, good composure under pressure, racks up rebound 50’s, can play forward with immediate effect, impacts the scoreboard, reliable kick under pressure, the best utility of the draft, difficult to match up on, cool in traffic, poise, incredible awareness and vision, reliable set shot, has agility in spades, senior experience at SANFL level, play maker showed enourmous ability to play through the midfield, on the wings as a lock down defender and a forward option – Mr Versatile.
Weaknesses:
It’s incredibly hard to find a weakness of Scharenberg. Those from afar believe him be too offensive and “nothing but a free-wheeling defender”, with some going as far to suggest that he’s drawn comparisions with Port Adelaide’s Sam Colqhoun who racked up so much football off half back, playing a loose role, and was found out defensively (due to the style of play the under 18 system is encouraged to play for recruiters). This however, is a bad and very wrong observation. If any whack can be given to Scharenberg, it’s perhaps that we haven’t seen him dominate one set position, becuase he is reguarly thrown into different positions on the ground throughout the game. (And that’s hardly a whack!).
Stats
- Round 1 – 26 disposals (20 kicks), 10 marks, 7 inside 50′s and 7 rebound 50′s
- Round 3 - 27 disposals, 4 rebound 50′s and 4 marks
- Round 4 - 22 disposals, 5 marks, 2 inside 50′s and 5 rebound 50′s
- Round 5 - 17 disposals, 5 marks and 6 rebound 50′s
- Averaged six marks and 21.6 disposals in the National Championships
- Recorded the number 1 disposal effieicncy in the National Championships
- All Australian 2013
- Runner up Larke Medalist 2013
- South Australia MVP 2013
- AFL-AIS Member 2013
- All Australian 2012
Pick 10 Options:
Nathan Freeman:
Strenghts
Vision, awareness, speed, line-breaking runs, goal kicker, clearnace specialist, prolific ball winner, elite side-step, dynamic mifielder, plenty of tricks, elite kick rating, big endurance, explosive out of the contest, fantastic foot-smarts, aggressive, clean hands, second-efforts and always looks to be opperating at extreme intesnsity, clearnace and inside 50 specialist, never slows down.
Weaknesses
Elects to kick the ball out of contests, rather than handball out as an extract to find a target. His kick to handball ratio is through the roof, and sometimes his rush disposal gets the better of him when teams are smart enough to sit in space, cutting off a blind kick forward and away from congestion. If he can tidy that up, he will be a weapon.
National Carnival Stats
- Round 2 - 21 disposals, 8 clearances, 4 tackles, 2 inside 50′s
- Round 5 - 21 disposals, 4 clearances, 3 inside 50′s.
- Stats whilst playing for Sandringham in the TAC Cup 2013
Ben Lennon:
Strengths
Natural ability, strength, overhead marking, elite game sense and footy smarts, very good kick for goal, brings others into the game, booming kick, important avenue to goal (gets inolved in lots of scoring chains and assists), good on both sides of his body, attacks the ball well, can win his own ball, good in the contested situations, can play either end of the ground, physical player, leadership qualities, can rack up big numbers and kick goals (see Northern Knights Form), outstanding leading and running paterns, always gives multiple efforts. Lennon will eventually turn into a bona fide midifelder at the next level, he's been trialed across half back and took up more of a position across half forward this year, but when he was moved into the midifeld in the lead up to finals, he averaged 24 disposals and 2 goals.
Weaknesses
Recruiters wanted to see Lennon play more midfield in the National Championships, but he didn’t have the impact in the midfield as they would’ve hoped. He was played mostly as a high half forward, who would occassionally dip into the midifeld. Although over summer Lennon did a lot of cross training (Boxing, Cycling, Swimming etc) – the only weakness at this point is his engine. When he’s drafted to an AFL club, his endurance will bring him more consistency – which means he will be a weapon as a goal kicking midfielder (think Dayne Beams), which is where he would become one of the best in the game.
Naitonal Championships Stats
- Round 3 - 14 disposals, kicked 4 goals and 3 score assists
- Round 4 - 13 disposals, 5 marks (3 contested), 5 inside 50′s and 1 goal
- Averaged 12.5 disposals and kicked seven goals in the National Championships 2013
- Averaged 17.9 possessions and 5.4 marks in 8 TAC Cup games in 2012.
- Against Collingwood’s VFL side, he had 16 disposals, took six marks and was one of his side’s best.
- 25 disposals, 5 tackles, 7 inside 50′s and 3 goals against Gippsland in week 1 of the finals.
- 2013 All Australian
- 2013 AFL-AIS Academy Member
Lewis Taylor:
Strengths
Speed, agility, acceleration, stoppage specialist, elite kick on either side of his body (think Steele Sidebottom in that regard), goal kicker, prolific goal kicker, evasive, brings others into the game, unselfish, is a strong leader, has a beautiful side-step, damaging with his disposal, clean efficiency, great set of skills, can do the grunt work as an inside midfielder – extracting the ball out, clearing the ball from stoppages, and lay bone-crunching tackles, or as an outside midfielder who is strong defensively but can kick some very good goals (kicked a tumbler goal on the run from the boundary in Round 5). Strong bodied and a ferocious tackler. Michael Turner has said that Lewy Taylor is the best player to have ever come out of the Geelong Falcons during his time there (2014 will be his 17th year).
Weaknesses
Can sometimes put his teammates under pressure with his handballs in traffic, is also prone to giving away free kicks. Taylor’s height shouldn’t be an issue – given what he makes up for in other areas, and the amount of footballers coming through the system that are on par with his height. Unfortunately, Taylor's year ended a few weeks out from the TAC Cup finals, after it was revealed he'd been playing with a stress fracture in his left foot the entire year. All I can say is - just think how good he'll be when he isn't playing injured!
Honours
- AFL-AIS Academy 2013
- All Ausrtalian 2013
- Vic Country Captain 2013
- Geelong Falcons Co-Captain 2013
- Round 2 - 28 disposals, 2 tackles, 4 iside 50′s, 2 rebound 50′s and 6 clearances
- Round 4 - 14 disposals (10 contested), 2 tackles, 2 inside 50′s, 1 rebound 50 and 6 clearances + 5 frees against
- Round 5 - 32 disposals, 3 clearances and 1 goal.
- Averaged 25 disposals, 3 marks, 5 clearnaces, 3 isnide 50′s, 1 rebound 50, 2 tackles over 3 games
- Opperated at an extrodinary 78% disposal efficiency
- Currently averaging 31 disposals, 4 clearnaces, 6 marks and 4 inside 50′s per game in the TAC Cup.
Christian Salem:
Strengths
Elite kick, brilliant on both sides of his body, good leg speed, knows where to spread, prone to collecting big numbers of the footy, reliable set shot on goal (better on the run), a two-way runner, tackle specialist, offers a lot of physicality to any side, loves to do the team thing in 1 per centers, blocks and sheppards well, has a very combative style of play, inspires his teammates, has started to develop his inside game, can play a number of roles.
Weaknesses
Can sometimes be a bit inconsistent with his disposal numbers; was strong against the Division 2 sides, and was a little bit quiet against the Division 1 sides.
National Championships Stats
- Round 2 – 21 disposals and 3 goals
- Round 4 – 14 disposals, 4 marks, and 2 goal assists.
- Averaged 16 disposals, 4 marks, 1 inside 50, 1 clearance 1 tackle and 1 goal per game in the Championships
- Currently averaging 24 disposals, 5 marks, 4 inside 50′s, 3 clearances, 5 tackles and 2 goals per game at TAC level.Honours
- AFL-AIS Academy 2013
- Member of the Vic Metro National Championships Winning Team in 2012
- Averaged 20.8 disposals in 10 TAC Cup games in 2012 as well as 4.7 tackles per game in 2012
Blake Acres:
Strengths
Elite user of the ball by foot and hand, plays predominately off half back but has the endurance and the abilities to go through the midfield and wing where he spent time in during the championships. Attacks a lot of the football on the outside, makes good decisions and is a very good runner. A player maker and a link up player, who gets involved in a lot of scoring chains with his composed and effective disposal. Takes the game on, and provides run and carry combined with quick ball movement, one of the better rebound 50 players in the draft. Has the perfect height to make him a very flexible and versatile player, and will make the transisition into AFL with ease. Acres has also been a standout at WAFL level, senior experience which AFL recruiters heavily favour.
Weaknesses
Was rotated heavily during the championships thanks to a shoulder injury just before the Nationals. He worked through that however, avoiding surgery and time spent coming off and on the bench was reflective of that. A bit of a shame he didn’t spend large amounts of time on field to see his max potential throughout games. This however, was the only weakness I could find – the fact he was managed slightly! Really, really rate this guy, and would be flying heavily under the radar, after coming into the championships as a top 20 prospect (before injury). He's now shot into 10-15 calculations.
National Carnival Stats
- Round 4 – 15 disposals, 5 marks, 2 clearances and 1 goal.
- Round 5 – 7 disposals , 5 tackles
- Averaging 26 disposals (19.1 kicks and 7.7 handballs) at Colts level
Cameron McCarthy:
Strengths
Huge amount of natural ability, contested marking, brilliant in the air, very good above his head and below his knees, sound kicking technique on goal, brilliant mark, rarely misses from a set shot, super athletic and has the ability to dominate games. Showed ability to be calm under pressure when he kicked for goal after the siren to hand WA the win against Vic County. Composed, and knows his strengths, will fly at anything, can pick the ball off the ground and snap over his shoulder, adds x-factor to a forward line.
Weaknesses
Still very much an unknown prospect is McCarthy. He only started taking his football seriously this year, and his natural ability and athetlicism is a fantastic base considering he’s never done a full preseason or any weight training. Still needs to learn his running patterns and leading in the forward 50, but considering he’s got a huge leap, great hands, is clean at ground level and knows how to finish on goal there is a huge amount of upside, and a prospect who could dominate the league in a few years time.
National Championships Stats
- Round 2 – 16 disposals, 8 marks and 2 goals.
- Round 4 - 12 disposals 3 marks and goals
- Averaged 2.4 goals and 5 marks a game in the National Championships
- All Australian 2013
And here is our potential father/son selection – Jake Kelly, son of Craig.
http://www.afl.com.au/video/2013-07-16/draft-prospect-jake-kelly
Video Highlights from the AFL Website, descriptions via scpaige.com.au
