Draft Watcher Young Talent Time 2013 - A Phantom Draft

[Chris25]

Marsh going pick 77 to the Pies... Not bad for a supposed pick 5

If all goes right, he could be one of the best players taken from the draft. But it will take time and effort. In a couple of years time, I'd be happy to bring him back to WA. You guys can do the legwork.

Based on your PD the Hawks did quite well getting three players under pick 31. Were you surprised that Sicily lasted until pick 56?

Not surprised. I rated Sicily top 30, but recognised that his range was more 40-60. Still, I think it was a good selection. And a good draft for Hawthorn, they're well stocked for midfielders/forwards now.

Conversely, Freo only picked one player in his top 91, Apeness at 69!!!

We'll have to wait and see who actually did do best...

It doesn't look great for Fremantle according to my rankings. But I like their draft. For those who followed my draft, they'd remember how much I was talking up Alex Pearce and in particularly Brady Grey - I considered him a borderline selection, but one who could be a very good player and I'm glad we took the chance on him. And there was a bit of talk over the last month about Pearce rising up the rankings, second round wasn't a real surprise. Hugely athletic tall, and I think will be developed to play down back.

And as I've mentioned on the Fremantle board, the only reason I didn't rate Apeness higher was because he played ruck at the Championships so he didn't get to prove himself against the best defenders. He's a much more natural forward in my opinion, and is right alongside Boyd as the best contested mark in the draft. All things said and done, he is actually a better fit for Fremantle than McCarthy because he is that real strong marking presence we lack. Yes, I'd have rathered McCarthy but Apeness suits our game.

It wasn't a draft of popular BigFooty names like some, so I'm sure Fremantle will be considered the 'loser'. But it's a good draft for needs and where we are.

I'm with Chris25, if Carlton wanted a inside midfielder, why didn't they draft Dumont or Dunstan? And why did they want an inside mid as opposed to say a KPF like McCarthy?

Well, I didn't quite say that.

They definitely needed midfield help over McCarthy in my opinion, so they made the right choice there. I do think someone like Dunstan would have been a better selection though personally - comparable contested games, more versatility and a better athlete. But we'll see, they weren't the only team to like Cripps.

 

[Chris25]

I'm not going to bother reviewing every club's draft, because we're only a couple of days out. Calling any team is a 'loser' is one of the stupidest things ever, but I'll take a quick look at some of the picks that I liked...

Bargains

#18 St Kilda - Luke Dunstan
#30 North Melbourne - Trent Dumont
#33 Brisbane - Tom Cutler

These were the main two that stuck out to me, for different reasons. I considered Dunstan one of the premier inside midfielders, and a better player than many of those drafted ahead of him. Dumont was another favourite of mine, and I had in the 10-20 range. To get him at #30 is a bargain in every sense of the word, and I expect him to walk into the North best 22. And Cutler was one I'd been talking up a bit, offers a lot of versatility and should see early action.

Not a bargain, but good value nonetheless

#19 St Kilda - Blake Acres
#32 Sydney - George Hewett
#34 Brisbane - Nick Robertson
#43 West Coast - Tom Barrass
#52 Port Adelaide - Darcy Byrne-Jones

All four players went largely where I expected, perhaps a little bit later in terms of Hewett, but it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up better than many of those drafted above them - particularly given the clubs who drafted them, and the immediate needs that they could fill.

My boys

#21 Port Adelaide - Jarman Impey
#27 Gold Coast - Sean Lemmens
#55 Essendon - Orazio Fantasia

I always knew Impey would go, and he was never going to get out of the top 25. But I wasn't convinced that Lemmens and Fantasia would be selected before the rookie draft, but I couldn't be happier that they were. I think Lemmens in particular could be a really good player, the Suns need help off half back and he looks a perfect fit.

The Surprises

#16 Geelong - Darcy Lang
#20 Gold Coast - Jack Leslie
#44 Sydney - Aliir Aliir
#58 Fremantle - Brady Grey

I was speechless when the Swans selected Aliir, I thought someone would take the punt on him as a rookie but it never crossed my mind that he would be picked in the third round. The other two were surprising, but not shocking. Leslie has the tools to be a good KPD, and the Suns can afford to take a punt on players. As for Lang, I had him at #27 and thought he could easily push up to around the 20 mark but the surprising thing was more who was overlooked in favour of him. And with so many bigger names still on the board, who saw Fremantle taking the small midfielder/forward from Tasmania? But Grey has some real talent.

Give it a couple of years and lets reassess

#37 Fremantle - Alex Pearce
#39 Carlton - Cameron Giles
#77 Collingwood - Jonathon Marsh

They're all talls, no surprises. If everything goes right, they could be great. If it doesn't, they could be delisted without playing a game. OK, maybe that's a bit drastic for someone like Giles - but I don't think he is quite as ready as some maybe think. He still has a long way to go in improving his defensive game, could he be another Patrick McCarthy? Pearce meanwhile is as raw as they come, but has some elite traits - the same as Marsh.

 

[LemmingMaster]

You ranked Marsh 5th and you did not call that a bargain?

 

[Chris25]

You ranked Marsh 5th and you did not call that a bargain?

I knew someone would bring that up, assumed it would be a Collingwood supporter.

Dumont, Dunstan and Cutler are the three main ones who were both a bargain in terms of my rankings and the 'media consensus'. Plus, I expect them to have an early impact as well as go onto have long careers. Marsh is a bit more of an unknown.

 

[Thurlow2Mackie]

And with so many bigger names still on the board, who saw Fremantle taking the small midfielder/forward from Tasmania? But Grey has some real talent.

Don't mean to brag or nothin', but since you asked...

 

[Pykie]

#18 St Kilda - Luke Dunstan
#30 North Melbourne - Trent Dumont
#33 Brisbane - Tom Cutler

These were the main two that stuck out to me, for different reasons. I considered Dunstan one of the premier inside midfielders, and a better player than many of those drafted ahead of him. Dumont was another favourite of mine, and I had in the 10-20 range. To get him at #30 is a bargain in every sense of the word, and I expect him to walk into the North best 22. And Cutler was one I'd been talking up a bit, offers a lot of versatility and should see early action.

I rate him, but it's unlikely that even Luke McDonald is going to walk into the best 22, and with McDonald, Mullett and Atley as running backs, Dumont is only going to be developed as a midfielder. We got Dal Santo over the offseason, and the likes of McKenzie, Jacobs, Garner etc are all first round picks and in line as well atm. No way he walks in, he's a chance at early games with a good pre-season, but realistically I cant see him playing more than 5-10 games next season.

 

[Chris25]

OK, well obviously he wont actually walk in straight away. But I rate Dumont quite highly. And I think he'll be better than Atley as a half back, and better than Jacobs, McKenzie and Cunnington as midfielders.

 

[Pykie]

OK, well obviously he wont actually walk in straight away. But I rate Dumont quite highly. And I think he'll be better than Atley as a half back, and better than Jacobs, McKenzie and Cunnington as midfielders.

Absolutely dreaming. Cunnington was 4th in the league in clearances and 6th in the league in contested possessions this year. Cunnington will eclipse Swallow inside of 18 months.

If Trent produces that in 2 years I'll gladly come back to this post.

 

[Richo83]

OK, well obviously he wont actually walk in straight away. But I rate Dumont quite highly. And I think he'll be better than Atley as a half back, and better than Jacobs, McKenzie and Cunnington as midfielders.

You know Cunnington is a top five pick going into his fifth year right? A bit keen me thinks. As for Jacobs and McKenzie, well they don't get a gig anyway, so he's battling for players already there.

I will say this though, he'll make a nice replacement for Swallow until he gets back. Not as good mind, but better than what they had before.

 

[Chris25]

Absolutely dreaming. Cunnington was 4th in the league in clearances and 6th in the league in contested possessions this year. Cunnington will eclipse Swallow inside of 18 months.

Is eclipsing Swallow all that impressive though?

Admittedly I don't rate many North players, because my friend is a huge fan and it's funnier this way. So any new draftee is immediately better than two thirds of the team in my book.

 

[Richo83]

I rate him, but it's unlikely that even Luke McDonald is going to walk into the best 22, and with McDonald, Mullett and Atley as running backs, Dumont is only going to be developed as a midfielder. We got Dal Santo over the offseason, and the likes of McKenzie, Jacobs, Garner etc are all first round picks and in line as well atm. No way he walks in, he's a chance at early games with a good pre-season, but realistically I cant see him playing more than 5-10 games next season.

I can see McDonald playing 22 games. He can play that small defender/running half back that Macmillan has been trying to do, with mixed results. I feel like McDonald is better than Macmillan at pretty much everything, and given Macmillan played 22 games this year (probably one of the most lucky 22 gamers in the league IMO) I don't see why McDonald can't play at least 15. Dumont is not as good and is battling for a position that's filled.

 

[Richo83]

Is eclipsing Swallow all that impressive though?

I think someone has a death wish.

 

[tigs2010]

Is eclipsing Swallow all that impressive though?

Admittedly I don't rate many North players, because my friend is a huge fan and it's funnier this way. So any new draftee is immediately better than two thirds of the team in my book.

I feel like I already know how the next page or 2 of this thread goes.

 

[Pykie]

Is eclipsing Swallow all that impressive though?

Admittedly I don't rate many North players, because my friend is a huge fan and it's funnier this way. So any new draftee is immediately better than two thirds of the team in my book.

I'm not going to bite at all, it's not the place for it.

But I sincerely hope you're extracting the urine.

 

[Chris25]

In 12 months time, Isaiah Miller is going to make a lot of recruiters look bad. Dwayne Wilson too.

But which picks did I like?

#47 Fremantle - Jacob Ballard

He was one of my guys last year and I rated him in the second/third round, although I didn't have too many bandwagon friends. He is the absolute definition of a Fremantle midfielder - big, strong and versatile. Without a doubt one of the best tacklers to come through the draft too. Give it a couple of years and the Victorian clubs will be trying to entice him back home.

#35 Melbourne - Alex Georgiou

I've been calling for him to be drafted for a couple of years now, and he finally gets his chance. I rated him as the best defender outside of the AFL. Can play either tall or small, and has improved his offensive game over the years. Criticism of his kicking is unfounded, it looks ugly but it works.

#4 Gold Coast - Louis Herbert

Once again, he should have gone last year. I thought he'd get senior listed this time around, and definitely thought he'd get picked before Tom Langdon. Massive improver this year though, I really like him across half back. Very good mark, and a nice kick. The size and versatility should make him a good fit for the Suns.

#17 Hawthorn - Dallas Willsmore

There will always be a place for the 190cm forward. Yet some people are worked up with the whole 'undersized' tag. A forward line of 4 200cm giants and a couple of short people at their feet wont work. Willsmore is an excellent pick for that medium forward role, strong body and good overhead.

#19 Melbourne - Max King

In three years time, the Demons might have a player on their hands. It will take time, but the big forward/ruckman could be well worth it. Marks well and positions himself even better. He was always going to be a rookie pick, but his potential is as good as many taken in the national draft.

#32 Fremantle - Tom Vandeleur

I rated this kid highly, anywhere from the second to fourth round. I didn't expect him to go undrafted and be available in the second round of the rookie draft. A great third tall option down back, he is strong in the air and rebounds well. Not a lot of kids offer the best of both worlds, plus has a strong body.

 

[tigs2010]

Hey Chris,

Seems you've probably seen the most of him what are your thoughts on Nathan Gordon?

 

[Richo83]

tigs2010

Nathan Gordon has had a really good year, and I think he could sneak into the national draft. His start to the season was excellent, and about a third of the way through the year he kicked bags of 5 and 6 in consecutive weeks. After that, he started getting a lot more attention and he was a bit quieter. But having said that, his performances in the first three weeks of the finals were huge - arguably BOG in two of the three.

He has a lot going for him - only 23 years old, excellent size at 186cm/86kg and can play as a high half forward or deeper in a pocket. He's inconsistent and some weeks may not turn up, but having that ability to 'flash' isn't necessarily a bad thing for a forward.

I'm not a particularly big Aaron Edwards fan, so I think Gordon would be a good option for Richmond. He'd just add that little bit of extra speed and x-factor that they don't otherwise have in a medium forward.

 

[tigs2010]

tigs2010

Thanks mate.

 

[liz]

Hey Chris,

Seems you've probably seen the most of him what are your thoughts on Nathan Gordon?

I can provide you with a little more, though it's a year out of date as it's based on his time at the Swans and I have no idea to what extent he has improved in the SANFL over the past year.

What you get is a player with super endurance - he was pretty much unbeatable in 3km trials during his time at the Swans. He is also a great contested mark, especially with the ball over his head. He'll occasionally take a minor screamer, and does have a decent leap, but he also seems to read the ball particularly well in flight and manages to get his body in the right place. A sticky pair of hands helps too. His kicking for goal is decent enough too - good enough to convert opportunities into the odd bag of 7 or 8 goals at NEAFL level.

On the other hand, his around the ground disposal just lacks a tiny bit of class. It's not poor, but was probably the thing that held him back from building on the couple of senior games he did play for the Swans. He also has a tendency to be a bit clumsy and/or over aggressive in his body contact (especially tackles) and hence can give away silly free kicks. He once got sent off in a NEAFL game before half-time after being reported twice. I didn't get a close look at either of the incidents (no replays on screen in NEAFL games) and I can't recall if he was even suspended for the next week, so I don't think either incident was terrible. Just silly.

He was probably a bit stiff to get cut from the Swans at the end of 2012. I reckon it was a close call. He didn't have a bad year. He just stagnated after showing rapid improvement the previous year. And his failure to make the transition into a likely AFL midfielder, rather than merely a HFF, wouldn't have helped. He certainly has the fitness to play in the midfield but maybe just doesn't read the game well enough.

I'm glad he's earned himself another chance, and I'll be keeping an eye on how he goes at Richmond.

 

[tigs2010]

Thanks for the info liz

My understanding is we will try playing him through the midfield, so fingers crossed he can make that transition, though if he doesn't we can use a strong marking medium forward as we really don't have anyone.