Nic Natanui

[shanrew5]

Weve all heard about his leap, just wondering do people know if he is quick as well?

[Gunnar Longshanks]

He's quick.

[walkers a legend]

Runs like the wind.

Also seems to have pretty good core strength for staying on his feet etc

[daics cousin]

Please correct me if i am wrong,and i have heard this info from afriend who lives in W.A and has seen Natanui play afew times.His personal opinion is that yes he has got avery good leap,runs like the wind gets alot of the ball,but does nothing with it.His kicking is not the best.So the report i got was that he has alot of attributes,but there are afew negatives as well.May be only because he is very young.
My mate reckons the player to watch for is Rich ..... a strong tough midfielder who he reckons will be the next superstar player.
Opinion only.
Both these kids will go pick 1 and 2.I have been told that West coast have their eyes on Rich.

[Vic Crow]

Natanui is the new Trengrove. ;)

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

Please correct me if i am wrong,and i have heard this info from afriend who lives in W.A and has seen Natanui play afew times.His personal opinion is that yes he has got avery good leap,runs like the wind gets alot of the ball,but does nothing with it.His kicking is not the best.So the report i got was that he has alot of attributes,but there are afew negatives as well.May be only because he is very young.
My mate reckons the player to watch for is Rich ..... a strong tough midfielder who he reckons will be the next superstar player.
Opinion only.
Both these kids will go pick 1 and 2.I have been told that West coast have their eyes on Rich.

If I had a knock on Nick it would be that he doesn't get enough clear possessions. I should stress that I've only ever seen him at WAFL level (never colts and only twice for the WA side -both times last year).

He gets plenty of hit outs, a huge amount of tackles, enough of the ball inside but I've rarely seen him on his own, carrying the ball along the wing or anything like that.

If he could add that to this game people would stand up and take more notice of him but the truth is, for a player who stands out so much he does a lot more of the small things.

That's my opinion anyway.

[blues2010]

Natanui is the new Trengrove. ;)
Good point Vick Cow

[Masten2McKinley]

Good point Vick Cow

Who is Trengrove

[Anti Gold Coast]

Natanui is the new Trengrove. ;)

I got it.

[Vic Crow]

I got it.
Hilariously I saw his name spelled as 'Nautanui' in The Sun today.

[Bananabender]

There's an interesting look at the historical connection with Fiji on Demonland - AN EXCERPT FROM THE DIARY OF CAPTAIN JAMES COOK (http://demonland.ugbox.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=10794). Very interesting and surprising.

[TOA.]

Extremely quick. He will raise some eye brows at DC (although it wont surprise anyone in recruiting).

[chrsco]

Interestingly didn't ruck, full time at least, until the last quarter today. Seemed to me they were trying him more as an inside mid type with a period in defence. Surprised me in defence, actually looked alright and seemed to have a cool head. Still tries to take the game on from there, which I enjoy.

[DavidInellaFanClub]

i havent seen much of him but he reminds me a lot of jared brennan, is there anyfin 2 say his flashiness wont cut it in the afl?

[pinkus maximus]

i havent seen much of him but he reminds me a lot of jared brennan, is there anyfin 2 say his flashiness wont cut it in the afl?
apart form his amazing leap, he's not that flashy

he plays inside and is very physical

[Eagle87]

Interestingly didn't ruck, full time at least, until the last quarter today. Seemed to me they were trying him more as an inside mid type with a period in defence. Surprised me in defence, actually looked alright and seemed to have a cool head. Still tries to take the game on from there, which I enjoy.

WC probably want to see how he goes in onball (non-rucking) and other roles.

Did he spend much time actually running around as a ruckrover type? If so, how did he go?

[cSylvia]

Probably the only reason why I dont mind seeing a loss now.

Surely the MFC couldnt look past him, if we do happen to get the No.1 pick.

[TurboHead]

Please correct me if i am wrong,and i have heard this info from afriend who lives in W.A and has seen Natanui play afew times.His personal opinion is that yes he has got avery good leap,runs like the wind gets alot of the ball,but does nothing with it.His kicking is not the best.So the report i got was that he has alot of attributes,but there are afew negatives as well.May be only because he is very young.
My mate reckons the player to watch for is Rich ..... a strong tough midfielder who he reckons will be the next superstar player.
Opinion only.
Both these kids will go pick 1 and 2.I have been told that West coast have their eyes on Rich.

Does your mate also read newspapers? :rolleyes:

[ChipDouglas]

i havent seen much of him but he reminds me a lot of jared brennan, is there anyfin 2 say his flashiness wont cut it in the afl?
I wouldn't compare him to any AFL player because there isn't any player out there who is even remotely like him.

[telsor]

How is his contested marking & kicking?

Just wondering if he could be turned into a CHF/FF.


Yes, I'm of the 'ruckmen aren't worth a top pick' school.

[super_phaser]

I have cooled on Natanui.

Especially since the rise of Jack Watts.


Natnaui I am sure will be great, but theres something not quite right about a 200cm jack-in-the-box that averages 1 mark per game.

Obviously that will improve, but by how much?


At this stage I am leaning to Watts.

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

I have cooled on Natanui.

Especially since the rise of Jack Watts.


Natnaui I am sure will be great, but theres something not quite right about a 200cm jack-in-the-box that averages 1 mark per game.

Obviously that will improve, but by how much?


At this stage I am leaning to Watts.

I'm interested to see how people view him and I think there'll be 2 schools of thought.

Firstly those people who think he plays a pretty mean game without being an excellent mark, kick or reader of the play yet, who believe that once he learns this he'll be a beast.

And secondly a group of people who see him and think that he's missing way too many characteristics to be a good AFL player.

I'd love to find out somehow how hard and willing is to work. If he's the type of guy who knows he has a lot of learn and works towards it he'll be awesome. If not he'll be disapointing.

[wizard_9]

Personally if we have pick 2 in the draft behind Melbourne and they take Watts i would prefer we take Rich.
Rich to me is a sure thing where as Natanui is a BOOM or BUST type player. Could be Buddy Frankli or could be Jared Brennan.

[mitchzz]

Still not sure about him, havent seen too much of him, but in his highlights video there were some great tackles and a few taps to advantage oh and a 1-2 handball passage. Would have loved to see a big run or big contested mark.

I heard he is a player who doesnt often get into space and does most of work around the packs?

[NorthBhoy]

Still not sure about him, havent seen too much of him, but in his highlights video there were some great tackles and a few taps to advantage oh and a 1-2 handball passage. Would have loved to see a big run or big contested mark.

I heard he is a player who doesnt often get into space and does most of work around the packs?

You can't teach a bloke where to position himself to get the football. To me, when there is a clear task that doesn't require thought (run, jump, tap and tackle), he is outstanding. But if that's what you're hanging your hat on for a potential 1st pick, you'd have to ask some serious questions.

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

You can't teach a bloke where to position himself to get the football.

Are you serious? I didn't know where to run on the footy field when I was 7 but now I do. How did that happen if I didn't learn it?

I agree that Naitanui has a lot of flaws for a potential #1 pick but I'm of the belief that it's a glass half full or half empty proposition.

Some people will think that for a guy who's new to the game he has a huge influence which will one get more pronounced, while others think he's nowhere near good enough now and never will be.

Basically, the question on everyones mind will be 'Can we teach him to the play the game?' and I think it's easily possible.

[NorthBhoy]

Are you serious? I didn't know where to run on the footy field when I was 7 but now I do. How did that happen if I didn't learn it?

He isn't 7 years old. He is being spoken about as the first pick in a very good draft.

I agree that Naitanui has a lot of flaws for a potential #1 pick but I'm of the belief that it's a glass half full or half empty proposition.

Fair enough.

Some people will think that for a guy who's new to the game he has a huge influence which will one get more pronounced, while others think he's nowhere near good enough now and never will be.

I don't think anyone would say he definately won't be good enough. He obviously has some great tools. I am one who would query the merits of spending pick 1 on a bloke who doesn't find the football easily, is a scratchy kick and has no background in the game, not to mention is "in between" height.

Basically, the question on everyones mind will be 'Can we teach him to the play the game?' and I think it's easily possible.

Best case scenario, I think you can teach a natural athlete the game well enough to allow them to compete at a good level, but with 5 minutes left in a Grand Final with the ball in his hands, I want a bloke who knows the game back to front and sideways.

He might be a gun, but pick 1 is a huge punt on a bloke who you can't be certain will make it at all let alone be one of the top few players in the game.

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

He isn't 7 years old. He is being spoken about as the first pick in a very good draft.

He isn't 7 but he hasn't been playing the game for a long time. You'd expect that with more experience he'd pick up more of the positioning and that sort of thing.

We're not dealing with a guy who's been playing the game his whole life and has no idea what to do, we're dealing with a guy who's still learning the game.


I don't think anyone would say he definately won't be good enough. He obviously has some great tools. I am one who would query the merits of spending pick 1 on a bloke who doesn't find the football easily, is a scratchy kick and has no background in the game, not to mention is "in between" height.

Best case scenario, I think you can teach a natural athlete the game well enough to allow them to compete at a good level, but with 5 minutes left in a Grand Final with the ball in his hands, I want a bloke who knows the game back to front and sideways.

He might be a gun, but pick 1 is a huge punt on a bloke who you can't be certain will make it at all let alone be one of the top few players in the game.

That's all reasonale enough.

Like I said, some people are going to view Nick as a player who will develop into being worth the #1 pick and others wont. Obviously we're on different sides of the coin there but that's life.