Peter Wright vs Reece McKenzie

[wvass61]

Tom Hawkins isn't amazing when the ball hits the deck, especially since his back started playing up, but still nearly won them the game in finals v North.

I'd be happy with either

Would be stoked if we could pick McKenzie up at 77.

 

[wvass61]

I honesty haven't seen enough to make a judgement on who'd be better, but if the Pies take either of them at #5 I'll be happy with it.

Happy at pick 5? Any chance McKenzie slips through to our second round pick, or maybe even 3rd round or who knows, a miracle may happen and he slips to our last pick.

 

[wvass61]

The athleticism that McKenzie has for a bloke his size (bulk) is phenomenal. Also, I have no idea how the myth started about him being no good at ground level... it is complete rubbish, I'd actually say he is more than capable to be honest.

I've seen him play first hand about 7-8x this season because I live a stones throw away from Cramer Street Oval and the only knock I'd have on him is endurance at this point. I don't think he has an AFL tank just yet, but that will come with more training in an elite environment.

As a Melbourne supporter, I honestly wouldn't be disappointed if we picked him ahead of a McCartin or Wright at Pick #3, but it won't happen. The kid is going to be a 200-gamer

Pick 3 ha? Any chance he will slide to our last pick at 77?

 

[wvass61]

McKenzies underrated if anything.


Everyone can scream manchild, but the fact of the matter is, Hawkins and Cloke were man child's at the same age, with similar physiques, they don't get any smaller when they hit an AFL weight room.

McKenzie is huge in his legs and core, the most important spot if you are gauging his strength going forward, and he's not exactly undersized in height either.

People hav some misconception about AFL defenders, sure there's a few big ones in Lake, Taylor, Hooker, Thompson etc but there's plenty of undersized ones. If he goes to a club with an established forward line, he will have time to learn and grow and more importantly, play on those second string defenders to start with.

He could be a beast of the competition with his size and speed, I don't think I can say the same about Wright, he reminds me a bit of David Hale.

I agree 100%

 

[wvass61]

I really, really want Gold Coast to pull the trigger on him at pick 15. McKenzie that is.

Hoping he slides to our second pick.

 

[wvass61]

Wright is the more sure thing. McKenzie if things go really right and he lands in a good situation I feel has the scope to be the better player, who knows, maybe even the best in the draft, which I'm not seeing with Wright who is more likely to be among very good but not top 3-4 good out of this draft.

McKenzie isn't viewed as a top 15 pick because we haven't seen him against the best in the country, only playing the one u18 champs game and not playing any state league footy. He also isn't viewed as a top 15 pick due to the incorrect perception that he is only effective because he physically dominates guys. He can do that, sure, but that's not all he can do.

Wright will go before McKenzie on draft day.

Wright can play both ruck and forward. McKenzie can also given his strength and leap, but given his relative lack of endurance and lack of mobility and lack of ability at ground level it's definitely not where I'd play him, I also find playing through the ruck ruins McKenzie's rhythm and you can see it with his production as evidenced by his clearly better numbers through the second half of the season where he played as the go to forward and didn't play those same relief ruck minutes.

WOW, maybe even the best in the draft if things go right? Any chance he will slide to our second round pick or even later?

 

[Groupie_]

Melbourne took him at #3

 

[I am Jack]

Melbourne took him at #3

I cannot believe that guy had McKenzie ahead of AFL legend and ATG Peter Wright.

 

[mfcrox]

I'm happy to wear the knocks... I still think McKenzie will be a better player than what Wright will be. More than happy to have these posts bumped and quoted in the future.

When it got down to Pick #77 I was hoping he'd not get picked up so we could have a crack at him in the Rookie Draft. Richmond got an absolute bargain.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Just reading through this thread, seems like McKenzie was a big slider on the day.

Just wondering what the knocks are on him? (Apparently limited when the ball hits the deck and possibly poor endurance. Is that all or are there others? Sounds like a perfect project player to have).

 

[Kappa]

Just reading through this thread, seems like McKenzie was a big slider on the day

Just wondering what the knocks are on him? (Apparently limited when the ball hits the deck and possibly poor endurance. Is that all or are there others? Sounds like a perfect project player to have).

Heard from another poster when his coach told McKenzie to move into the ruck the runner was told to "* off Im staying here"

Also he is as one dimensional as they come, he has no tricks as a forward and if his opponent can match him physically he'll be completely shut out from the game. His best performances also came against the worst teams, and generally struggled against the better ones. Plus he is a man child with very little upside long term

If he fixes his attitude he could become a Brad Miller 30-35 goal a year forward but I'm doubting it

 

[Tigerbob]

Heard from another poster when his coach told McKenzie to move into the ruck the runner was told to "**** off Im staying here"

Also he is as one dimensional as they come, he has no tricks as a forward and if his opponent can match him physically he'll be completely shut out from the game. His best performances also came against the worst teams, and generally struggled against the better ones. Plus he is a man child with very little upside long term

If he fixes his attitude he could become a Brad Miller 30-35 goal a year forward but I'm doubting it

If his opponent can match him physically he'd still need to contend with his genuine speed.

The knocks on him are mental. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed and work ethic is not up to standard yet. Yep once the ball hits the deck he struggles also.

Physically and athletically he's got afl material all over him. Will be a project but for mine a massive prize for Richmond that late. He will play VFL for a couple of years. Having Max Bailey and hopefully Chocco there developing him, will give him every chance of making it.

I personally had him in my top 20. His upside despite his matured size is significant.

 

[Heaps of fun]

The disparity between where these two went in the draft really shows off how disconnected bigfooty dot com is from reality.

 

[Mr Anderson]

The disparity between where these two went in the draft really shows off how disconnected bigfooty dot com is from reality.

Don't know about you, but I come here to escape reality.

 

[CountryRace]

The disparity between where these two went in the draft really shows off how disconnected bigfooty dot com is from reality.

Does it? Draft position does not one hundred percent dictate that player x will be superior to player y. Chances are Wright will be better. However if many seemingly knowledgeable posters are saying he can play a bit then one would assume they are not all lying. I read he is As fast as Pickett over 20m? Has kicked 10 in a TAC cup game? is 107kg? Sound like there is something there.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...by-club-analysis/story-fnp04d70-1227137519210

RICHMOND


Another blue-chip first-round Tigers pick in hard-nosed midfielder Corey Ellis. The small but speedy Connor Menadue fell to 33 and to land 196cm, 100kg power forward Reece McKenzie at No. 77 a great result. The Saints and Crows considered him much earlier.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Heard from another poster when his coach told McKenzie to move into the ruck the runner was told to "**** off Im staying here"

Also he is as one dimensional as they come, he has no tricks as a forward and if his opponent can match him physically he'll be completely shut out from the game. His best performances also came against the worst teams, and generally struggled against the better ones. Plus he is a man child with very little upside long term

If he fixes his attitude he could become a Brad Miller 30-35 goal a year forward but I'm doubting it

Thanks for the thoughts Kappa. Seems like he'll either need to add more to his game or hope to make it as a gorilla key forward (very few do). We've got a few others ahead of him at the club but given time and development in the VFL side, might hopefully become a good pick up. We don't really have anyone in the 'powerhouse' key forward mould at the club.

Hopefully his attitude improves moving into a professional environment and with a bit of maturity. Pretty exciting prospect but as previous drafts have shown, physical attributes don't always mean a player becomes AFL quality. Will need to put in the hard work to try and make it.

Probably could have picked up worse at that pick I suppose. Happy to take the punt.

 

[evo]

Can Casboult do a 2.87 sec 20m sprint? I think McKenzie is also a much much better kick for goal.
Poor comparison fish.

He's a way better kick than Casboult.

Inspired pick by the Tiges. I'm really pumped about us picking up this lad.

 

[Ambrosia]

From the sound of talk in this thread I think Casboult is the best comparison. Combined with Reiwoldt and Vickery playing as a genuine 2nd ruck it could work well.

Harvey from Port Adelaide is who I'd compare him with.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

Heard from another poster when his coach told McKenzie to move into the ruck the runner was told to "**** off Im staying here"

Also he is as one dimensional as they come, he has no tricks as a forward and if his opponent can match him physically he'll be completely shut out from the game. His best performances also came against the worst teams, and generally struggled against the better ones. Plus he is a man child with very little upside long term

If he fixes his attitude he could become a Brad Miller 30-35 goal a year forward but I'm doubting it

May I ask how many times have you seen him play?

 

[wvass61]

The disparity between where these two went in the draft really shows off how disconnected bigfooty dot com is from reality.

Reece McKenzie (Northern Knights)
Height: 196 cm
Weight: 100 kg
Position: Key forward/ruckman
Player comparison: Travis Cloke
Strengths: Contested marking, running patterns, dominates games
Areas needing improvement: Goal kicking consistency, temperament

Reece McKenzie will take the AFL by storm. He’s been kicking bags of goals since 16 years of age, when he kicked 10 for Marcellin in the A-Team.

His marking is unbelievable: no defender can beat him for strength in the TAC Cup, he has enough acceleration on the lead to constantly turn a one-metre advantage into two on the lead and his running patterns are unpredictable, but intelligent.

The sum of all the parts means he could easily be one of the best key forwards this year, but he struggles to put it all together.

McKenzie is stronger than anyone in this draft class. He is a man mountain, yet he seems to be able to move well and find the ball up the field. His disposal average of 11 is strongly affected by his down games.

When he is playing poorly, he barely finds the footy. McKenzie averages a tick under six marks per game, which shows how hard he works to get himself into the game. What is even scarier is his contested marking: he has three per game.

When on song, McKenzie looks as though he has as much talent and dominance as Patrick McCartin. However, what separates the two is goal kicking.

Against the Eastern Ranges earlier this year, McKenzie kicked 1.4 with one out on the full. He had nine marks – three of those contested – and he added 18 hitouts. He was unstoppable that day, but he just kept missing.

His mental demons really got the better of him. I interviewed him early in the year, and he said that because he has such a high expectation of himself, he can get frustrated when he isn’t playing well, which can really throw him off his game. That will get better with maturity.

Fast forward a few months, and McKenzie took on the Ranges again. This time, he kicked 10.4 from his 19 disposals and 13 marks (eight of those contested). Clearly, his best is unstoppable. His goal tally of 26 in eight games is okay, but he must learn how to kick straight.

His father, Warren McKenzie, played in Carlton’s 1987 premiership. However, Warren didn’t play 100 games, and thus McKenzie is on the open market. The Blues have had their eyes on him since he was 16. At that stage, he was an elite basketballer.

This year marks his first season at TAC Cup level, although he had been part of the Northern Knights since the under 16s. The Blues have a strong interest in McKenzie, but his 10 goal game may take him from being a late second rounder into a possible top 25 selection. Article was written more than 3 months ago.

 

[Silvagnis]

Can Casboult do a 2.87 sec 20m sprint? I think McKenzie is also a much much better kick for goal.
Poor comparison fish.

As valid as Matthew Watson's sprint times being under 3 seconds and his repeat sprints being better than Naitanui's. Doesn't McKenzie is as agile as Henderson, let alone Franklin and other talls.

McKenzie is as hyped as Luke Mitchell who is a big boy and a good kick for goal. Or Paddy McCarthy who was viewed as a top 20 pick before sliding to 34. Attitude is possibly questionable if RM was around at 77 and we passed on the son of a former player. We took Foster's son instead.

 

[Tigerbob]

As valid as Matthew Watson's sprint times being under 3 seconds and his repeat sprints being better than Naitanui's. Doesn't McKenzie is as agile as Henderson, let alone Franklin and other talls.

McKenzie is as hyped as Luke Mitchell who is a big boy and a good kick for goal. Or Paddy McCarthy who was viewed as a top 20 pick before sliding to 34. Attitude is possibly questionable if RM was around at 77 and we passed on the son of a former player. We took Foster's son instead.

It's not like Carltons recruiting is the one you would stake your reputation on though is it?

 

[CHIMP MAGNET]

It's not like Carltons recruiting is the one you would stake your reputation on though is it?

Blame Blownfirst and Dildo Vagina-Rainbow is as good a combo as you will see Bob

as good as it gets

 

[TigerTime88]

As valid as Matthew Watson's sprint times being under 3 seconds and his repeat sprints being better than Naitanui's. Doesn't McKenzie is as agile as Henderson, let alone Franklin and other talls.

McKenzie is as hyped as Luke Mitchell who is a big boy and a good kick for goal. Or Paddy McCarthy who was viewed as a top 20 pick before sliding to 34. Attitude is possibly questionable if RM was around at 77 and we passed on the son of a former player. We took Foster's son instead.

Probably a good sign for us.

 

[docko911]

Probably the best place for a kid with attitude. He will be the last peg behind a number of KPFs and will be made to earn any opportunity he gets.