Toast 2014 National Draft, pick #31 - welcome to Hawthorn Daniel Howe

[Main Man]

Seeing that he played mostly down back this year and we lost 2 players of the same size and skillset I assumed he was a mid sized back. If he could play midfield he would give us that larger size mid we crave, but his style doesn't give me confidence that he can do so.

Yes for the first half of the season he played as a half back, a good one at that but in the latter part of the year moved into the midfield and had impact, was good on the inside and is a strong tackler.

Wright has already said they see him as potentially a big bodied midfielder, he has all the tools to develop into one so despite what his profile may suggest he is definitely not a Cheney replacement.

For mine he is a much better result than Lamb.

 

[MistyAvalon]

if he can kick and he wants to play for us I am happy

 

[tige19]

A 192cm mid, that's brilliant. If Miller was available he would have been taken, a little shattered about that, had my heart set on him

 

[Shwab]

Amazing size, nice draft camp results, not exactly a ball magnet, but lots to like and you gotta back the club to make the right call.

With Sewell and Hallahan gone and Mitchell on the wrong side of 30, thought we might have gone for Blakely - genuine mid, 189cm, already played a year of WAFL at 18 yo (his game vs SA was insane). Howe was overlooked last year and played u18's as a 19 yo - he's not even a left footer!

Need to find an inside mid in the rookie draft - Panos? Brampton? Taylor Grace?

 

[toomanysquibs]

Going to sound nuts, but a bit of the Jimmy bartels in the way he moves from time to time.

A massive improvement on Lamb, just more of a pure footballer.

 

[dipper86]

Looks like we have finally given up on trying to trade for Mundy and instead have now settled to drafting our own.

 

[Stratton_Gun]

Looks good from the highlights but I guess they are "high" lights so of course you would (unless he is O'Rourke)

 

[seysearles]

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

Is a exceptional player , has elite foot skills and great marking skills, is a class act who glides though traffic and has great awareness in traffic . Won Xavier colleges B&f in 2013 . You got a good one .

 

[BOP66]

Is a exceptional player , has elite foot skills and great marking skills, is a class act who glides though traffic and has great awareness in traffic . Won Xavier colleges B&f in 2013 . You got a good one .

Thanks for the insight there mate.
Your club's building quite a good midfield too there btw.

 

[arupist]

I must confess I was a little underwhelmed by our selections when I first saw them. However, every year we go through the same process and a bunch of highly-touted kids get picked up and ultimately never amount to much. In Wrighty, we have a recruiter who sees the big picture and selects kids based on what he sees fitting in to our group and can contribute as part of the team in the long term. I am certain that, if Wrighty sees potential in these kids, they will develop into fine players, and therefore I am happy to have them on board.

Welcome.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I must confess I was a little underwhelmed by our selections when I first saw them. However, every year we go through the same process and a bunch of highly-touted kids get picked up and ultimately never amount to much. In Wrighty, we have a recruiter who sees the big picture and selects kids based on what he sees fitting in to our group and can contribute as part of the team in the long term. I am certain that, if Wrighty sees potential in these kids, they will develop into fine players, and therefore I am happy to have them on board.

Welcome.

Remember Jed Lamb?

 

[GOHORCS]

Sorry to ruin the feel good vibe but I can't help but feel he is Jordan Kelly Mark 2. I don't like his hands really. More excited with what we got at 49 and 50 to be honest, happy to be proven wrong over time though.

Great feet though. Those hands clunked a lot of marks.

 

[HawthornHawk]

I remember when we drafted Hartung last year somebody posted 'can run, can kick, good start'. After watching this guy's highlight reel I think it's safe to say 'can mark, can kick, good start'

 

[Rocket72]

Looks good from the highlights but I guess they are "high" lights so of course you would (unless he is O'Rourke)

Fair call on O'Rourke's highlights and I know you were probably tongue in cheek, but in O'Rourke we were looking at AFL level highlights and in Howe we are looking mostly at an over-aged kid in an u18 comp. I see potential for Howe to play at AFL level over the next few years, whereas O'Rourke is a stone cold certainty to play lots of footy over that period, IMHO.

 

[arupist]

Remember Jed Lamb?

Indeed I do. I recall many posters on this board creaming their jeans over him and were so disappointed we didn't get him.

Really good example.

 

[Rocket72]

I remember when we drafted Hartung last year somebody posted 'can run, can kick, good start'. After watching this guy's highlight reel I think it's safe to say 'can mark, can kick, good start'

I don't think he has Hartung's composure or smarts but you'd have to add marking to running and kicking with Howe. I see him as a different player to Hartung. Good credentials, as with Hartung.

 

[Brishawk]

There is a clear pattern in our recruitment this year: Good over head, good skills and quick (except for the ruck man).

Howe looks a good prospect. Totally agree with the Mundy comment above dipper86 hhaha

 

[Main Man]

You have to think he was rated reasonably highly by Wright who had Lamb (according to some Wright rated him top 10, I don't believe that), Menadue and Neal Bullen available at that pick.

 

[whiteTiga2k]

Just watched the highlights, and I am impressed. Fantastic kick of the footy and a great mark. I think we are aiming for a FYFE type player with his height and marking ability. Moves very well and his kicking for goal was a pleasure to watch... seems to have great sense of where things are and a very nice kicking action.

Wasn't too happy with the pick when we called it out as Blakely was still available, but I think we have quite a few in and under mids that will need a go like ando and woodie, so with that in mind... I am now very happy with this pick.

 

[daniel23]

Does any body have his testing results ?? Would like to see what his 20m Sprint and jumping results were like , coming around to this pick , is a player we don't have on our list besides birchall the overage thing does not bother me some players just take that extra year to decide if they really want it or not, his tac cups stats are very impressive , only missed the best twice I think from all his games, his final was massive 23 possessions and 3 goals playing through the middle , Blakely and anb I think will be bigger ball winners through there career but Howe potentially has the same contested side but more hurt factor well Wright would hope he does anyways

 

[GOHORCS]

Just watched the highlights, and I am impressed. Fantastic kick of the footy and a great mark. I think we are aiming for a FYFE type player with his height and marking ability. Moves very well and his kicking for goal was a pleasure to watch... seems to have great sense of where things are and a very nice kicking action.

Wasn't too happy with the pick when we called it out as Blakely was still available, but I think we have quite a few in and under mids that will need a go like ando and woodie, so with that in mind... I am now very happy with this pick.

I think we have a Fyfe type player in him except he can kick. I noticed on reflection that all these fellas had relatively high if not the best disposal efficiency at this pick, were good decision makers and can mark. DE has become the hawthorn brand but with the bonus of marking, welcome to hawthorn

 

[tige19]

Have I lost it or did I read knightmares assessment as little penetration in his kicking? The kid was banging them from 55 and drilling 35 metre hit ups.. The more I watch, the more I like!

If he has a year like Sciliy then I'll be wrapped! Can't wait for that kid to come on, I was creaming watching him the VFL gf

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Is a much better result than Lamb, disappointed Maynard went one pick earlier but Howe has the potential to become a big bodied inside mid who can mark and kick well, in the Mundy mold.

Not disappointed with this pick at all, no guarantees with pick 31.

How often does a kid that could only make it on a HBF at TAC level transition into an AFL level mid?

 

[Jaeger]

How often does a kid that could only make it on a HBF at TAC level transition into an AFL level mid?

He played midfield in the second half of the year at TAC level.

To answer your question, well there are plenty of good players that play u18 level at half back. In the last year there's been Luke McDonald, Kolodjashnij, Vlastuin and Scharenberg (top 10 pick who was injured all year) who played predominantly at half back. Besides Scharenberg who was injured all season the others cemented their spot in their respective teams' best 22. I'm sure there are more examples if I looked back further.