So...who's left?

[TJ1996]

Sounds good to me. Why wouldn't we give this guy a go? We certainly don't need another midfielder come half forward.

Duffy + Simpson will be good for you guys. Definitely think that Duffy is a steal as he should have been playing AFL all year and a top 20 last year.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

He played attack basically all year for Easts and kicked 58.27 in 18 games. Played defence for WA in the champs and was quite impressive with a good spoil and defensive pressure which he didn't show when he played up forward for East Fremantle. Combine them and give him a pre-season and you have a replacement for Pav who can play a McPharlin role if necessary. An extremely good overhead mark

What are his drawbacks, because from that description it is unfathomable that a club would not have drafted him

 

[TJ1996]

What are his drawbacks, because from that description it is unfathomable that a club would not have drafted him

Possibly lack of defensive pressure in the Forward 50 and he's a little skinny for AFL. I think he's a real talent.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

Possibly lack of defensive pressure in the Forward 50 and he's a little skinny for AFL. I think he's a real talent.

ok cheers. i really dont see body shape as an issue when recruiting. As long as you have the patience to wait for that player to develop, basically do the complete opposite to what we as a supporter group are doing with pitt

 

[willoblue]

ok cheers. i really dont see body shape as an issue when recruiting. As long as you have the patience to wait for that player to develop, basically do the complete opposite to what we as a supporter group are doing with pitt

so draft me my body shape is round .haha. just joking. i'm an old bustard. & FWIW i agree

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

so draft me my body shape is round .haha. just joking. i'm an old bustard. & FWIW i agree

heh, im in te same boat, maybe we should both get on the gravy train

 

[Freo Dr]

Yeh I like the cut of Howson's jib from what I have read - he is a good strong overhead mark which I think is a key thing to look for.

Some rate him the best of the remaining WA young talls although Rodda is also pretty good. He is on the light side at present (195 cm but only 90 kg) so needs some time to bulk up and put all the aspects of his game together in an AFL setting but has real promise up forward or down back depending on where we train Tanner Smith - I would train him in defense first to teach him the defensive aspects.

Very keen to get him as one of our Rookies - not only is he an East Freo boy but he was a Booragoon Bulldog like Griff. I had him down in the draft comp for us to take him at pick 39 in the draft - perhaps a bit raw for that but def worth getting as a rookie. Think he had a limited pre-season for 2012 (others could confirm) - maybe this impacted his ability to chase defensively up forward (his main flaw this year) or maybe it is a learning curve for him so time in defense and AFL team should help that. Note his listed height varies from 194 cm to 197 cm depending on the source.

Knightmare's writeup:

Height: 194cm, Weight: 82kg, DOB: 25/05/1994
Recruited from: East Fremantle
Style:
Player comparison:
Range: 35-rookie
Profile: Has played much of the season as a key forward in WA and performed to a high standard kicking multiple goals in most games and then came into the U18 champs and really impressed as a key defender. As a key defender Howson showed some nice shutdown ability and used the ball well coming out of defence. As a forward while a noted goalkicker the defensive side to his game is really lacking and he just doesn’t tackle or provide any pressure.
Why:​

And Chris25's

I keep changing my mind on whether Howson should be listed as a forward or a defender. His form in the WAFL up forward has been excellent, while he went back in the Championships and did some nice things. He did have a few struggles towards the end of the competition, but that sort of versatility at 195cm can't be understated. Since returning to the WAFL, he has been marking everything coming his way and kicking bags of goals, so I've settled on 'forward' for now. He could slide a little on draft day due to a lack of defensive pressure and effort when he doesn’t have the ball in hand, but I still think he could go in the second round given the lack of genuine forward prospects with height​

 

[Taylor]

Was Howson played down back in the championships because the WA side was a bit top heavy with Shaw, Hogan, Paparone AND Howson up front?

 

[Freo Dr]

Was Howson played down back in the championships because the WA side was a bit top heavy with Shaw, Hogan, Paparone AND Howson up front?

Pretty much I think a higher than normal proportion of quality talls for WA had Howson go back and leave the others up forward. The fact he played well despite playing all year as a forward in the colts for EF shows his versatility I think.

 

[apuchar]

Let's hope that the other clubs got their fill of tall forwards in the ND and leave us a good one for the rookie draft.

 

[Nickos66]

Was Howson played down back in the championships because the WA side was a bit top heavy with Shaw, Hogan, Paparone AND Howson up front?

Yeah it looks like it. WA had a lot of Key forward prospects this year and it would've been hard to showcase all of them over the championships and considering the media have been pumping up the Shaw/Hogan combo for a while (for good reason as they produced the big numbers in the colts). What do you do when you have 5 odd tall forwards to showcase in 4-5 games, but still have both eyes on winning the championships?
I'd definitely be interested in us taking him at some stage.

 

[Taylor]

Are there any theories about the size of a man at a certain age and his ability to carry a higher weight within a few years? There is a guy I know who trains his arse off in the gym and gains more weight drinking a bottle of water than he has in months at the gym. Obviously there are a lot of variables, his flaw is he doesn't sleep more than five hours a night.

Long story short, do you think Howson at 82kg and 195cm could one day be Howson at 105kg and 196cm?

 

[Dormammu]

Long story short, do you think Howson at 82kg and 195cm could one day be Howson at 105kg and 196cm?

Had this type of discussion many times over the years. I've come to the belief that the best gauge is to see what type of body shape their father has and assume that they'll end up like them.

 

[Scham]

I'd say it's unlikely he'd get to 105kg, and why would he want to anyway? He'd be more like McPharlin and end up being around the 95kg mark.

 

[Scham]

Very keen to get him as one of our Rookies - not only is he an East Freo boy but he was a Booragoon Bulldog like Griff. I had him down in the draft comp for us to take him at pick 39 in the draft - perhaps a bit raw for that but def worth getting as a rookie. Think he had a limited pre-season for 2012 (others could confirm) - maybe this impacted his ability to chase defensively up forward (his main flaw this year) or maybe it is a learning curve for him so time in defense and AFL team should help that. Note his listed height varies from 194 cm to 197 cm depending on the source.

After seeing a couple of his colts games when he played up forward followed by his performance in the champs, I was stunned that he didn't get picked up in the draft. But there's always more to it than ability.

He should definitely be on our shopping list IMHO.

 

[Blackswan]

Cam Symonds might be worth a look.

 

[Nickos66]

Cam Symonds might be worth a look.

Fits our list model of a ruckman playing the key position role.