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Well that makes two of you.Can someone fill me in about who this Cockatoo character is, i've been on holiday.
Is he fast? Does he play mid?
I look at the Cockatoo situation like this.
The negatives as so many have said is limited exposure. No one can argue that.
The positives however are that he was part of the academy and did very well at the combine. Destroying the all stars match didn't hurt either.
So then he has shot up the draft theoretically based upon those few factors alone.
That says a hell of a lot about what he might be capable of, whether it be first or second round it is impressive to think he is/his skills are so highly regarded.
I don't think we need to be playing it safe with our first pick. We need to target players who will fill needs.
Weller, Ahern and Duggan may all turn out to be decent/good players but we already have players similar to them.
Cockatoo and Pickett offer something different.
We whinge about treading water but then we want to draft the "safe options"
We're not talking about an undeveloped kid here (Notte) or one with no skill sets (Weedon) because Nakia has both size and skill.
The two injuries he had this year may turn out to be a blessing for the team who takes a punt.
Pickett or Cockatoo in the first and i will consider this draft period a huge success.
Totally agree.
Along with the fact we have Waterman locked in, we can go for cockatoo.
IMO if cockatoo played the whole season even half as good in that game, people would have him up there with Petracca.
He is an awesome player, he has shown proof of what he can do. For me it's more a matter if he is he right character to work hard at a career maintaining that. All reports give him glowing endorsements in regards to his work rate and his commitment to his studies.
The more I go back and watch Pickett I realize that cockatoo offers what Pickett does and more.
And if his injuries are in check then sign him up
You mean like Petracca !The worry with Cockatoo IMHO is he is physically more mature than the juniors. I see him as very similar to Morabito. He uses his physical superiority to win in contests.
He is a bottom aged player though, so you'd have to think he's a good chance to get biggerThe worry with Cockatoo IMHO is he is physically more mature than the juniors. I see him as very similar to Morabito. He uses his physical superiority to win in contests.
You mean like Petracca !
Who played all season and dominated the year in his first full season in the midfield, not junior players in an all star game. Look, his exposed form is almost zero this year... he's a big gamble at 11. If all Alec Waterman had played was that single game against Vic Metro then would he be talked about like Cockatoo?
One of the reasons for trading LeCras was "you never know, he could break his other arm".Well, well, well. According to the Facebook brigade we should:
Trade 'injury prone' LeCras and replace him with Josh Simpson;
Delist Murray Newman;
Pick up Ahmed Saad as a small forward;
Keep Carter (future rising star), Wilson (a gun player) and Brennan (because his dad was a legend of the club);
Lycett needs to put on more muscle (seriously? look at the size of the bloke);
Naitanui shouldn't be on holidays because he needs to learn how to kick and mark;
I could go on. I'm also going crazy. Time to sleep I think.
**** I hate West Coast supporters.
From an NTFL rising stars write up
"Southern Districts – Nakia Cockatoo
Nakia Cockatoo, son of NTFL champion Jason, is a very highly-rated prospect. As a current AIS-AFL level two scholarship holder, Cockatoo would love a big season in the hope of getting drafted next year. He is another versatile footballer in that he is more than comfortable in a number of different positions on the ground. The young Croc got a taste of senior football with NT Thunder this season and acquitted himself well. Cockatoo is a coachable and hardworking footballer which will hold him in good stead in the future."
"His agility is quite notable, Cockatoo always backs himself in to weave through players and crowded stoppages, it’s a fantastic sight to see him in full flight. His repeat sprint was the best at the AFL Combine and he was one of only a few players to ever crack the sub-24 second mark for the repeat sprint. He has run a sub 8 second agility test in the past, which is elite."
He just turned 18 two days ago as well!
Interesting to view the dates of birth of the draftees. Layering d.o.b. to the Callum Twomey’s top 20 list from Trade Radio, it shows the early picks dominated by early birthdays
Petracca - 4 Jan
Brayshaw – 9 Jan
Lever – 5 Mar
Laverde - 12 Apr
McCartin is the exception here 19 Oct
Some of the publicised risers we are seeing have later birthdays:-
Duggan – 11 Dec (mid teens to possible top 10)
Langford – 1 Dec (previously seen around 20 and now possibly at 10)
Cockatoo – 23 Oct (similar to Langford)
Marchbank – 7 Dec (late teens to possible Geelong at 10)
Lamb – 19 Oct (could be special but big questions on his maturity)
This alone is not the answer to picking but 17 and 18 years olds develop differently and needs to be considered. Remember Nat Fyfe grew something like 3 cm from U 18 Champs to start of 1st season. Lever grew 3 cm in the first half of this year. Coordination and confidence in body can be significant as well as mental development.
The idea of the club taking a punt on pickett/ cockatoo who could be guns against the safe option they usually go for eg gaff / sheed is refreshing !I'm starting to warm to Cockatoo.
Still hopeful Pickett will be available though.
On top of his kicking skills, he looks to have good vision by hand too.
A smooth mover. I'll pull out another comparison, he reminds me a little of Marc Murphy.
Weller, Ahern and Duggan may all turn out to be decent/good players but we already have players similar to them.
I really lke duggan/ weller also but that seems to be the safe option
Well, well, well. According to the Facebook brigade we should:
Trade 'injury prone' LeCras and replace him with Josh Simpson;
Delist Murray Newman;
Pick up Ahmed Saad as a small forward;
Keep Carter (future rising star), Wilson (a gun player) and Brennan (because his dad was a legend of the club);
Lycett needs to put on more muscle (seriously? look at the size of the bloke);
Naitanui shouldn't be on holidays because he needs to learn how to kick and mark;
I could go on. I'm also going crazy. Time to sleep I think.
**** I hate West Coast supporters.
As far as I understand, without having seem anything but some of the televised U18 games, Weller has as much "upside" or potential to be elite as anyone from pick 5 onwards. Duggan, like I've stated before, reminds me of a Sam Mitchell type (if used in the midfield). On face value that's not all that flashy but boy would we take a player like Mitchell for our midfield at the moment.
It is very difficult to predict how players transition and how they develop.
Sydney would've been banking on Rohan to have built a substantially more-rounded game than he has. What he produces now is basically what I recall him producing in the U18 Champs (if not a little less now). A couple of highlights but limited involvement.
He was seen as a pick based on potential.
Conversely, I had similar concerns about Bontempelli. Had some great attributes but there were at least 30 other kids ahead of him in terms of actual output both at TAC Cup level and at U18 Champs level. However, he has transitioned really well into AFL and played at a higher level than I believe he ever did at U18 lever (factoring the relative difficulties of AFL compared to U18 football).
Unless we have watched the majority of games that these U18s have played we're simply picking based on attributes that we think would be beneficial (i.e. speed, height, upper-body strength). But, by and large, we are working on heresay evidence. We have barely seen these kids play so we are getting our impressions from others. Setting this aside even recruiters who watch every game get their analysis wrong. Some players develop when others don't. There may be no identifiable reason for it, it's just the randomness of selecting a player. Oh, we can screen as best as possible but that isn't going to ensure us of anything. Like was stated above Scully was the ideal selection at pick 1 and there is no really good reasons why he failed to transition (except for "he got Melbournised"). People may say he's mentally soft but, by all accounts, he interviewed really well and there was no indications that he'd struggle mentally to get up for games.
I would be very surprised if we selected Cockatoo (though not necessarily disappointed). It will be difficult to select him after really only one great game of football when you have players who have played at a comparable level for a number of games. It's a bit like when Muslim apologists say they have a book (the Qur'an) with no textual variants. While this is true it is simply because, for various reasons including political, there is only a single line of transmission that has been allowed to survive. Thus the Qur'an is validated as being completely accurate and divine for believers and fails the historical test for skeptics. Similarly Cockatoo only has one game of form that can be interpreted to mean any number of things by all of us armchair critics. Yes he is big-bodied and has great acceleration. However whether he is the best available for our pick (if that is how the club is going to select) based on the evidence we have at hand I don't think he is.
Paul Ahern, a not-as-popular option on this board, performed similarly in the U18 Champs (I'm led to believe) but not as well at TAC Cup level. If he'd performed at that level the whole year I've no doubt he'd be considered a top 5 pick. But if a club was to select him it would be on the basis that they believe he could become the type of player he was at U18 Champs level and not so much the level he generally performed at TAC Cup level.
I will be very interested to see who we select with our pick. Not only because it is my team's selection but because it will say a lot about their mindset. I don't mind if they go safe or speculative. I simply wish to see the type of player they think we need to compliment our midfield and whether their selection indicates we are approaching our window (which I hope so) or undertaking a rebuild.