Re: 2009 Big Footy Official Phantom Draft- The Real Deal (Discussion thread)
Unlike the last couple of years everyone seems to be playing it pretty much by the book this year and no-one has really fallen to me. I would have loved Bastinac or Bartlett to have fallen to me but it was not to be. As far as the options here I considered Harwood, Thomas and Crichton to give us an in and under which we need and if our squad didn't already have 20 or so HBFers I would have taken Menzel who I think will be a beauty (if your team needs a quarterback this is the guy I recommend you have a look at). There is also a speccie that I considered taking here who suits our needs down to the ground but hopefully he should be available for my next pick. I will be very disappointed if he gets taken before then. Anyway on with my pick:
Pick 27 - Brisbane
Nat Fyfe (Claremont, WA)
Height: 187.4cm, Weight: 75.1kg, DOB: 18/09/91
This guy is one of Irel’s favourites and as he is usually pretty close to the money in regards to the WA boys I have taken a good close look at him and think as usual he might be onto a winner. Taylor has been the one who has been exciting a lot of people whose teams are picking around here but the one I think they should be looking to as the medium forward with X factor is Fyfe. He has variously been compared to Steve Johnson and Brett Burton and there are definite similarities there to both. Fyfe will play as forward in the AFL either in a pocket or more likely as a half forward. For his size he is probably the best mark available in this draft. He has a very nice leap and when he gets his hands on the ball it usually sticks. Like Johnson he does not have top shelf speed (he tested pretty ordinary in this respect at Camp) but has very good endurance for a half forward and will often try and run his opposition player into the ground working up onto the wings. He also reads the game exceptionally well and despite lacking a little pace he gets to the right spots at the right times and a step ahead of his opposition. He can do some very clever things when he gets the ball and whilst they often come off there are times when he is left looking a bit silly. Still at this stage I would not be trying to stifle his creativity and would be encouraging him to practice these things. If you want amazing you have to practice it and this kid, like Taylor, can do things around goal that set them apart from anyone else in this draft. He has a great awareness of where the goals are and unlike Taylor he is actually a good shot for goal. Whilst Taylor will frustrate supporters with his inconsistency in front of goals and missing the easy ones Fyfe should just keep converting. He is not an elite kick around the ground but he consistently hits his targets. Fyfe is a one touch player when the ball hits the deck and he has good hands to set up others when he has to. At Camp he had a bit of a mixed bag and the biggest surprise for me was how poorly he tested for agility. On the park he looks pretty agile but he didn’t test that way for some reason. He improved a great deal this year and his potential to continue to improve is there for all to see. At present I think the biggest issue for him is to find ways to get more of the ball. He is a low possession winner at present and whilst he still has an influence on the game his endurance should allow him to get more of it than he currently does. He did some very nice things at the Champs for WA and in the WAFL colts he had some very big games including one where he picked up 8 goals from 16 marks.
Unlike the last couple of years everyone seems to be playing it pretty much by the book this year and no-one has really fallen to me. I would have loved Bastinac or Bartlett to have fallen to me but it was not to be. As far as the options here I considered Harwood, Thomas and Crichton to give us an in and under which we need and if our squad didn't already have 20 or so HBFers I would have taken Menzel who I think will be a beauty (if your team needs a quarterback this is the guy I recommend you have a look at). There is also a speccie that I considered taking here who suits our needs down to the ground but hopefully he should be available for my next pick. I will be very disappointed if he gets taken before then. Anyway on with my pick:
Pick 27 - Brisbane
Nat Fyfe (Claremont, WA)
Height: 187.4cm, Weight: 75.1kg, DOB: 18/09/91
This guy is one of Irel’s favourites and as he is usually pretty close to the money in regards to the WA boys I have taken a good close look at him and think as usual he might be onto a winner. Taylor has been the one who has been exciting a lot of people whose teams are picking around here but the one I think they should be looking to as the medium forward with X factor is Fyfe. He has variously been compared to Steve Johnson and Brett Burton and there are definite similarities there to both. Fyfe will play as forward in the AFL either in a pocket or more likely as a half forward. For his size he is probably the best mark available in this draft. He has a very nice leap and when he gets his hands on the ball it usually sticks. Like Johnson he does not have top shelf speed (he tested pretty ordinary in this respect at Camp) but has very good endurance for a half forward and will often try and run his opposition player into the ground working up onto the wings. He also reads the game exceptionally well and despite lacking a little pace he gets to the right spots at the right times and a step ahead of his opposition. He can do some very clever things when he gets the ball and whilst they often come off there are times when he is left looking a bit silly. Still at this stage I would not be trying to stifle his creativity and would be encouraging him to practice these things. If you want amazing you have to practice it and this kid, like Taylor, can do things around goal that set them apart from anyone else in this draft. He has a great awareness of where the goals are and unlike Taylor he is actually a good shot for goal. Whilst Taylor will frustrate supporters with his inconsistency in front of goals and missing the easy ones Fyfe should just keep converting. He is not an elite kick around the ground but he consistently hits his targets. Fyfe is a one touch player when the ball hits the deck and he has good hands to set up others when he has to. At Camp he had a bit of a mixed bag and the biggest surprise for me was how poorly he tested for agility. On the park he looks pretty agile but he didn’t test that way for some reason. He improved a great deal this year and his potential to continue to improve is there for all to see. At present I think the biggest issue for him is to find ways to get more of the ball. He is a low possession winner at present and whilst he still has an influence on the game his endurance should allow him to get more of it than he currently does. He did some very nice things at the Champs for WA and in the WAFL colts he had some very big games including one where he picked up 8 goals from 16 marks.
