Game Day Draft predictions and discussion

[Ripper]

Yeah. Yarren has the runs on the board. He has had two very good seasons.

Yep , Did bad things , has done his time , and so far has had a fair crack at getting on the right path. Deserves his chance, .You cannot punish people forever.

Well done Him!

 

[jerms]

Far out, the footy gods must seriously despise us: Collins gone one pick before our first, Bonner one pick before our second and Brown one pick before our third. Bugger me...

 

[rodney hoo]

Certainly not even close to the draft I was predicting but in the end not a terrible draft:
Tucker - bargain get at our first pick (many expected top 20). should turn into something great either off half back or the midfield
Balic - also a bargain get (many expected top 20), really versatile player which is probably something we need more of
Collins - was anyone expecting this? looks like a solid KPD prospect for us and close to being ready to play?
Yarran - like him or not he's a bloody amazing footballer who knows how to kick a goal and he's well and truly ready to play.

Overall like all the picks in a difficult draft. Sorry we missed on Adams but dogs went quiet early on him.

On a side note two of my favourite players did not get a start Ballard missed out, looks like Moller not even in the draft, heard a rumour he was pulling out, but it came from the same bloke that told me Weller would not sign till mid year earliest.

Bring on 2016 we'll be right in it again.

 

[Bastyy]

Really, really liked this draft

I thought we would only end up getting midfielders again but it's turned out great

Darcy Tucker- Adds some great competition in the mid and half back.
Harley Balic- Future brownlow medalist, calling it now, adds some good competition and gets rid of our depth players (Suban, de Beor, Pearce, Pearce etc)
Sam Collins- Great Key Defender, helps replace McPharlin
Shane Yarran- More Goals, competition in forward line and will be amazing to watch with Ballas and Walters

And we still have the rookie and PSD!

 

[Bucking Bronco]

Tucker is a very good pick. Guaranteed not to be a flop and could very well be a top 10 player from the draft. He is low risk, high reward. I posted this in Knightmare's thread a couple of weeks ago after seeing that he had him listed as the "50th best player in the draft":

I would be very, very surprised if Tucker ends up being only "the 50th best player in the draft". He has AFL player written all over him. He had a bad injury at the end of last year which disrupted his pre-season and as a result he was playing catch-up all season. He is reportedly very hard working and committed to getting the absolute best out of himself, and with a skillset like his I can see his fortunes turning around in time.

Worst case scenario, a team will get a smooth moving rebounding defender who will play 200 games, injuries permitting. That is the value of a top 25 player at the very least in any draft. You would have seen a lot more of him than I have, but I think sometimes recruiters and such, just overthink things instead of just looking at things pragmatically. He will be a much better player when he is able to get a full pre-season under his belt and is afforded the continuity of an uninterrupted pre-season. Sometimes juniors just have off years after impressing in earlier years. Look at Luke Parker, look at Jack Darling. I would be willing to bet that it was just a similar case for Tucker this year, and that it is not an accurate reflection of the way he is going to project as an AFL player relative to his peers.

Even players in the AFL have undulating form over the years. Look at a guy like Higgins. There can be a number of variables responsible: injury, personal life, reduced motivation. Whatever it is, I am very confident that Tucker will be a lot more than what you foretell of him.

I do very much enjoy your threads each year, but I think that in Tucker's case, you and seemingly other recruiters are being blinded by what he has done wrong this year, and are neglecting to look at the bigger picture.

He is an elite athlete who combines an A1 aerobic capacity with explosive athleticism, which could see him potentially become an A-grade-dynamic midfielder one day. Just because it didn't happen this year, doesn't mean it couldn't happen eventually. This year is not the bee-all-and-end-all for these guys. Even if it doesn't happen, he has his game as a rebounding defender to fall back on which will fulfil an important role for a club.

Couldn't have expected the club to have taken Adams with our first pick when he was still available. I'm dubious as to whether Adams projects as a genuine KPD at AFL level anyway, think he is probably more of a third tall a la Johnson for us.

Should definitely have delisted Vandeleur at the end of last year though, and swapped him over for a similar type of player with a higher ceiling in Adams. Vandeleur was just never going to cut it and it was clearly a case of flogging a dead horse. If Adams had have attended the draft combine this year he would have finished 1st in the standing vertical jump, 4th in the running vertical jump and 5th in the 20 metre sprint. It is hard to fathom how last year the recruiters could neglect to draft a bloke of his Herculean size, who moves like that and who was right under their noses. On top of that, last year was his first season of footy in 3 seasons after missing 2012 and 2013 due to a severe case of osteitis pubis, so the potential for considerable growth was clearly there.

 

[E Shed]

Interesting Draft. I can see the reasoning. Ross doesn't play kids in their first year anyway so they've banked a couple of highly rated talents to develop and then had a punt on a mature age defender who could realistically play footy next year and a dynamic forward. Stack the forward line with Walters, Bennel, Yarran and Balla and hope for the best.
No point in taking kids just because they are tall. They aren't going to play for a couple of years anyway. I reckon we've bet the house on getting Hogan and or McCarthy at the end of the year.

 

[E Shed]

Darcy Tucker- Adds some great competition in the mid and half back.
Harley Balic- Future brownlow medalist, calling it now, adds some good competition and gets rid of our depth players (Suban, de Beor, Pearce, Pearce etc)

you are being a bit optimistic. If last year (this year) taught us anything its that first year players don't play seniors under Lyon no matter how good their pedigree. The last 2 picks are a chance to play a bit of footy as they are established mature age. I wouldn't expect to see the first 2 picks get a look in till 2017 and then they will be fighting with the guys coming through now (Hughes, Grey, Sutcliffe etc).

 

[rodney hoo]

Interesting Draft. I can see the reasoning. Ross doesn't play kids in their first year anyway so they've banked a couple of highly rated talents to develop and then had a punt on a mature age defender who could realistically play footy next year and a dynamic forward. Stack the forward line with Walters, Bennel, Yarran and Balla and hope for the best.
No point in taking kids just because they are tall. They aren't going to play for a couple of years anyway. I reckon we've bet the house on getting Hogan and or McCarthy at the end of the year.

As usual great summary.

 

[chinggis77]

Imagine if the AFL let Freo bigfooty posters attend the draft like they do in the NBA.

Freo fans reactions after each pick results in a non-tall:

 

[ritz]

Far out, the footy gods must seriously despise us: Collins gone one pick before our first, Bonner one pick before our second and Brown one pick before our third. Bugger me...

Could turn out like the 2009 draft where we missed out on Aaron Black... Give it time


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[go_the_dockers]

So we have 39 on the main list at the moment with 3 rookies/to be rookies (smith, Mora, deluca) + Hurley as a cat b.... Right?

So that leaves 1 delisted free agent + 1new rookie or 2 new rookies and run the main list short?

 

[im_a_lazy_sod]

And we are done. Time to make dinner

I went out for a burrito after our first pick and was back in time for our second pick #winning

 

[Bastyy]

you are being a bit optimistic. If last year (this year) taught us anything its that first year players don't play seniors under Lyon no matter how good their pedigree. The last 2 picks are a chance to play a bit of footy as they are established mature age. I wouldn't expect to see the first 2 picks get a look in till 2017 and then they will be fighting with the guys coming through now (Hughes, Grey, Sutcliffe etc).

I know this is true, but I really want to see these blokes play
Rated them before the draft, rate them even more now that they play for Freo

 

[free at last]

I'm so fascinated now to see if Yarran can have a serious impact at this level.

 

[Tonga Bob]

[walks in late, whole place looking like grilled cheese]

So how'd it go?

 

[Steinfreo]

Imagine if the AFL let Freo bigfooty posters attend the draft like they do in the NBA.

Freo fans reactions after each pick results in a non-tall:

If one of this years draftees can have an impact like putback-zingus we will be laughing.

 

[Mr Peabody]

Stack the forward line with Walters, Bennel, Yarran and Balla and hope for the best. I reckon we've bet the house on getting Hogan and or McCarthy at the end of the year.

I tend to agree and would add that it points to Fyfe lining up forward as well. Not sure how long we'll resist the temptation to send him back into the midfield, but add Fyfe to that forward line and it'll be wild to watch for as long as it lasts.

In the meanwhile, if McCarthy's mindset does not change and Hogan can be lured home, we'll have to give up a host of these young guns to get them but we seem to be stockpiling for an assault. Like with the free agency focus in years' past, there are no guarantees it will work but it seems to be the latest recruitment strategy from the outside looking in.

 

[Frank J Moose]

Imagine if the AFL let Freo bigfooty posters attend the draft like they do in the NBA.

Freo fans reactions after each pick results in a non-tall:

Shows how much the fans know.

 

[Deathly]

I think today just made it harder to predict our Round 1 team.

 

[chinggis77]

If one of this years draftees can have an impact like putback-zingus we will be laughing.

Knicks fans booing them for taking a tall too over two shorter guys that the fans wanted

 

[Scham]

Yarran can play though. Allen doubtful .

Yep, and Allen has got "my s**t doesn't stink" written all over him.

Should fit in well at WC.

 

[Paracleet]

Solid days business I reckon

 

[raffrox]

The draft fell our way as far as Tucker and Ballic went but that meant we missed Mutch Brown.

Collins is our "crap we missed out on Brown" pick.

 

[Randomizor]

Still surprised Adams was in the draft to begin with! Should have paid more attention this year. Also, I've only ever known him as Marcus so people calling him Adams is messing with my mind haha

 

[salim malik]

I did notice Yarran outmarking Adams in a one on one in Shanes highlights.