Opinion 2014 Draft Prospects / Strategy

[Long live PAFC]

I heard that Baulderstone isn't keen on Port. Also several other clubs have concerns about his rucking (and lack of jumping for example)

Eddy would be worth a shot, he can be the 3rd tall forward until he gets a couple of seasons of games under his belt then we can judge

Panos has queries about his fitness as a midfielder but he could be also worth a shot especially with Burgo training him (he could be Newtons replacement)

Baulderstone has down well against smaller SANFL opponents, not sure how he would go at the faster paced AFL level where you need to do a lot more than just win the tap. I don't think he is the ready to go ruck that everyone suggests.

We have Butcher, Shaw, Harvey who will all be pushing for next year. I am not against bringing in someone who plays in an area we have depth as they are significantly better than the players we have but I am not sure Eddy is not that he fills a role for us.

Why do we need to replace Newton? The guy left for more opportunities despite being a good player, well liked, in a positive system, for a club that supported him through some tough injury riddled years. My point is that he saw the writing on the wall. He was a depth player behind Moore, Young and Mitchell who will all have to fight hard for a spot with the addition of Ryder. Even with some injuries I don't think Newton would have played more than 5 games in 2015 - that is not a player we need to replace. We need a young player we can groom over 4 years to come in when some of our current mids are moving on.

 

[Nemisis]

Baulderstone is quite mobile - a good back if Lobbe goes down and Redden doesn't come good.

 

[x_les_x]

Why do we need to replace Newton? The guy left for more opportunities despite being a good player, well liked, in a positive system, for a club that supported him through some tough injury riddled years. My point is that he saw the writing on the wall. He was a depth player behind Moore, Young and Mitchell who will all have to fight hard for a spot with the addition of Ryder. Even with some injuries I don't think Newton would have played more than 5 games in 2015 - that is not a player we need to replace. We need a young player we can groom over 4 years to come in when some of our current mids are moving on.

I partly agree with you but this last sentence threw me off.
Have to remember newton is 22 and, when young/moore were both injured/in the afl side our sanfl side got pantsed. I know were not recruiting for the sanfl but next year if we only go in with moore and young as inside depth and one of them get injured its pretty much a free pass for the other to enter the side even if he is in poor form. The point Is we need competition for spots and although newton is gone he provided this. Moreso we're in our premiership window and we need more mature aged depth which depth was one of our main knocks this year, this is why im not totally against picking up panos.

Secondly in 4 years time wines will be 25, wingard would have moved into the middle by then 26, polec and young 27 and moore 28. whichever mid we recruit this year would be in a similar to position in which newton was presented this year. Given the unknown of perhaps trading/free agency pickups aswell as the development of our youngens now

 

[Phhht]

Secondly in 4 years time wines will be 25 24 wingard would have moved into the middle by then 26 25, polec and young 26 27 and moore 28 27. whichever mid we recruit this year would be in a similar to position in which newton was presented this year. Given the unknown of perhaps trading/free agency pickups aswell as the development of our youngens now

 

[x_les_x]

Sorry about that had 3 exams today not all there at the moment

 

[Phhht]

No probs, was just correcting to further highlight your point is all

 

[Traveling_Power]

Baulderstone is quite mobile - a good back if Lobbe goes down and Redden doesn't come good.

he is mobile but he doesn't jump when he is in ruck ... so I don't know how he would go against rucks such as Jacobs, Nic Nat, Sandilands, Hale, Mumford, Leuenberger and Bellchambers just to name a few

 

[Traveling_Power]

We have Butcher, Shaw, Harvey who will all be pushing for next year. I am not against bringing in someone who plays in an area we have depth as they are significantly better than the players we have but I am not sure Eddy is not that he fills a role for us.

we hope that Butcher, Shaw and Harvey will be pushing to get into the AFL side ...

- but what if they don't ?
- what if Shaw & Harvey still need extra time to develop ?
- what if Butcher still has problems with his kicking ?

I just think that we may need someone to fill the gap between Schulzy / Hoff -------------> Butch / Shaw / Harvey for a couple of years

and I think that Eddy could be worth a shot to fill the gap. Eddy marks well is good set shot for goal kicking (this year he kicked 67 goals)

We could give Eddy a year (or two) to see what he can do and this would give Shaw & Harvey time to further develop and we can be sure about Butch's kicking

 

[El_Scorcho]

Baulderstone will only be a break glass in emergency type anyway.

He's the best non-AFL ruckman and we need the cover

 

[Long live PAFC]

The points I was making about Baulderstone remain;

1) Would he be ready to go as an AFL ruck if Lobbe and Ryder are not available? Plenty of players are solid at SANFL but struggle the next step up, especially big guys
2) Would he be any more ready than say Mark Pittonet/Darcy Cameron/Josh Miller? If not then why not go with the guy who has more potential?

I appreciate he has a mature body but he would still need to get his tank up to scratch and his technique screams monster at SANFL but struggle at AFL. Ben Mabon or Sam Grimley would be a better way to roll.

 

[Long live PAFC]

Looks like we will use all our available picks at the ND according to the article on the Port website. Must believe a someone will slide and some quality will be left at our picks. Seems in line with other teams approach of delisting players and then rookie listing them.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Just going through the ruckmen on the afl site and Mark Kovacevic who is listed as a smokey is a monster at 204cm and 111kg. Can take a mark and kicks straight too.

Sam Tagliabue another smokey at 23yo and 206cm with some impressive performances at VFL level could be a fall back option.

 

[x_les_x]

My wishlist for 2014 (if any of these guys get picked up by us ill be happy)

-Nielson, Drummond, Markov, Rose, McGrath, Creeper, Pittonet, Gregson, Read, McLaren, Preuss, Kristelly, Hamilton, Grace, Daniel, Faul, Coulson

Also have a strong feeling of Walsh, Bampton or Clem Smith for some reason.

 

[El_Scorcho]

My wishlist for 2014

Jackson

That is all

 

[Wargreymon90]

I do believe that we can get a gem if we go for a key defender.

Here's my theory. The defenders that tend to go high are the ones who also have an attacking element to their game, or have the ability to go forward. Whereas the ones who only know to defend tend to slip down as that's all they can do.

I think if we get one of these types, down the track could be seen as a stroke of genius

That said, If Bampton is there, get him! Do not hesitate

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Melbourne are said to be keenest on Baulderstone and it was Essendon who originally spotted him.

Baulderstone chases AFL dream

 

[Andre]

The points I was making about Baulderstone remain;

1) Would he be ready to go as an AFL ruck if Lobbe and Ryder are not available? Plenty of players are solid at SANFL but struggle the next step up, especially big guys
2) Would he be any more ready than say Mark Pittonet/Darcy Cameron/Josh Miller? If not then why not go with the guy who has more potential?

I appreciate he has a mature body but he would still need to get his tank up to scratch and his technique screams monster at SANFL but struggle at AFL. Ben Mabon or Sam Grimley would be a better way to roll.

The only question about a 'break in emergency ruckman' is would he be any worse than Renouf? And a break in emergency ruckman on the rookie list for said emergency doesn't preclude us getting a young ruck for the main list or another rookie spot for development.

 

[Portress Hill]

im hoping oscar mcdonald slides to our first pick

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Delisted free agent period 2 ends today and that's it until after the National Draft.

Unless we do something sudden in the next hour or two it looks like Port are confident that selected young players will slide even to their very late picks. If we miss out altogether by the very late picks I expect a delisted player to be picked up in the draft.

 

[RossFC]

 

[Nemisis]

The points I was making about Baulderstone remain;

1) Would he be ready to go as an AFL ruck if Lobbe and Ryder are not available? Plenty of players are solid at SANFL but struggle the next step up, especially big guys
2) Would he be any more ready than say Mark Pittonet/Darcy Cameron/Josh Miller? If not then why not go with the guy who has more potential?

I appreciate he has a mature body but he would still need to get his tank up to scratch and his technique screams monster at SANFL but struggle at AFL. Ben Mabon or Sam Grimley would be a better way to roll.

I am all for picking a young ruck but a ready to go Baulderstone would be serviceable at AFL level. He is only 23yo and has heaps of improvement in front of him. Anyone who has seen him 'live' will know that he also has a reasonable 'tank'.

 

[shewho]

Delisted free agent period 2 ends today and that's it until after the National Draft.

Unless we do something sudden in the next hour or two it looks like Port are confident that selected young players will slide even to their very late picks. If we miss out altogether by the very late picks I expect a delisted player to be picked up in the draft.

Seems from the article on Afl.com.au that Parker thinks a few good sa boys will be available late. Is the minimum contract for a local draftee one or two years? Maybe that's the tactic? If it's two years then with such low picks, this is the perfect year to draft project players. Maybe we will have a group of ruckmen picked late?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

It is always hard to gauge sanfl ruckmen against AFL opposition. When Ryan O'Connor won his Magarey and was one of the dominant sanfl ruckmen, he was flogged in a match against Sturt by Barnaby French who was returning from injury through the sanfl.

Against Port in round 1 Baulderstone had 29 hitouts to Renouf's 41
Against Adelaide in round 7 Baulderstone had 19 hitouts to Graham's 33
Against Adelaide in round 18 Baulderstone had 18 hitouts to Graham's 49

It's a tiny sample but it's not clear he would walk straight into an AFL side and be competitive against bigger, more athletic ruckmen than him.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Seems from the article on Afl.com.au that Parker thinks a few good sa boys will be available late. Is the minimum contract for a local draftee one or two years? Maybe that's the tactic? If it's two years then with such low picks, this is the perfect year to draft project players. Maybe we will have a group of ruckmen picked late?

Could be. Most of the ruckmen in this year's crop are rated as smokies. Sam Jacobs went as a rookie list pick because recruiters thought he was a bit slow and mono-dimensional as a ruck. He's turned out alright.

It would be worth drafting a couple of these monster kids like Kovacevic and Kristelly, and put 5 years into them with a view to developing them into quality AFL ruckmen.

 

[GreyPower]

Brooksby is probably a good chance with our last live pick or rookie selection. Not sure of his height though, anyone know?