thejester
Norm Smith Medallist
Veteran
BigFooty Official Draft Tipping Competition
Geelong Cats - Gryan Miers Player Sponsor 2018
Geelong Cats - Sam Simpson Player Sponsor 2017
Geelong Cats - Nakia Cockatoo Player Sponsor 2016
Geelong Cats - Nakia Cockatoo Player Sponsor 2015
Geelong Cats - Travis Varcoe 2014 Player Sponsor
Podcaster
- Apr 22, 2006
- 8,395
- 8,641
- AFL Club
- Geelong
- Other Teams
- Huey & Riley Freeman
Picks: 10, 47, 55, 60*
AFL: Key Draft Dates | Draft Hub
Fairfax prospect profiles*: Tall Defenders | Medium Defenders | Tall Forwards | Medium Midfielders | Medium Forwards | Short People | Ruckmen
Phantom Drafts: Cal Twomey’s more-a-sort-of-power-ranking October Phantom | Paige Cardona | Knightmare | Chris25
Prospect Highlights: Ekul M
*Subject to change based on further delistings.
*Rather than link to both the AFL draft camp profiles and these I've just linked to the Fairfax ones, as as far as I can tell these are just the profiles from the AFL side combined with a blurb from the relevant U18 coach/team manager.
Expand to view full preview:
One of Geelong’s most pressing need going into the trade period was for class and depth in midfield and that’s only intensified with the departure of Allen Christensen. Luckily enough, there should be a few players available at Pick 10 who should help satisfy that need. Lachie Weller, the Tasmanian-cum-Queenslander brother of St Kilda’s Maverick, is a predominantly outside player who nonetheless has the ability to not only win his own ball but also to use his pace to clear stoppages easily. It seems unlikely he’ll last until Pick 10, with Collingwood, GWS and Gold Coast all surely being tempted to take a punt on him. If he does land at Geelong, he could make a huge difference - either by providing more power at the stoppages or the outside run and carry we need to make up some of the huge possession deficits we’ve been wracking up recently.
In the likely event Weller is gone, Jayden Laverde looks an interesting option. As his name suggests, he’s got a nice mix of old world glamour and new world bogan in his play. He’s a powerful athlete who looks good (despite his size) in traffic, and is really strong overhead. Although his decision making and disposal are good, they’re perhaps not quite at the level you’d expect from a top 10 pick. As the debate in the linked draft profile suggests, the question mark over him is whether or not he can - as many juniors have before him - turn into a full time midfielder rather than remain a (good) positional player. I have to admit I like the look of him but at the same time he just doesn’t strike me as a Wells type (which of course means he’ll get picked up by Geelong in a month). Jordan DeGoey ticks similar boxes in that he’s a nice kick who also has a really strong inside game - interestingly enough, he’s said that is something he’s consciously built up over the last two years after entering the U16s as an outside (self-described as ’soft’) player.
Jarrod Pickett is the other name being thrown up, particularly given the trade to Pick 10 has vaulted Geelong above Fremantle and West Coast. Taken at face value, Pickett is the stereotypical indigenous Western Australian - he’s agile, a good kick, and really really quick. He also produced some outstanding individual efforts in an otherwise ordinary WA team including a 21 possession, five clearances and three goal effort against eventual champs SA. I do wonder though if, as so often happens with indigenous kids, the perception of him is getting warped by the colour of his skin and the ease with which lazy cliches can be slapped on him. I see a player who is an outstanding athlete, looks good in traffic and has the composure (and core strength?) to ride tackles for a second and hit a target rather than firing off a wild handpass when he feels contact. I also see a player who makes blistering runs along the wing and then fires off a long, technically good drop punt with seemingly little regard for where his teammates actually are in the forward 50 (so he’ll fit right in at Geelong, I hear you say). I’m also a little wary given that so many of the players drafted in the first round as complementary outside pieces have not necessarily lived up to their initial billing (hello there Gary Rohan and Lewis Jetta). So if he does end up at Geelong, I hope it’s in the belief he can be turned into the fully-rounded midfielder we so desperately need rather than as an outside wing.
Other midfield names to consider: Paul Ahern (BOY OH BOY WOWEE WELLSY LOVES HIS CALDER CANNONS FOOTY FACTORY PRODUCTS), Nakia Cockatoo (haven’t seen him play so won’t comment a great deal except to say guys who produce in games close to the draft, even if they haven’t played for the rest of the year, often shoot up the order) and Liam Duggan (a versatile half back you say? Feel I’ve heard that before in relation to Geelong and drafting).
The other possibility is that Geelong grabs one of the many key defenders being mooted as first round picks this year. A KPD in the first round has been the white whale of Bigfooty Cats draft discussion since 2010, and the recruiting of Rhys Stanley, the defection of Christensen and the glut of talls on the list seems to have made the acquisition of a key defender over a midfielder unlikely. However, Geelong did put in a bid on Swans Academy defender Abe Davis (admittedly with Pick 70), suggesting they see a need, and when gaming out possible draft scenario it’s hard not to think that the trade up to Pick 10 was designed to put Geelong in pole position to grab a player like Sam Durdin, Hugh Goddard or Caleb Marchbank. Goddard was a little underwhelming this year after a strong performance as a bottom ager and Marchbank feels like a bit of a reach at 10. Durdin could be real value, however. He’s tall enough to carry the ruck at junior level but at 197cm would play key position in the AFL. He’s a really strong mark who could potentially play at both ends, so feel free to insert your own jokes about Geelong’s ‘has to be above 190cm to get a gig’ revolution here.
The later rounds become more difficult to guess for obvious reasons, but also because this is a slightly unusual draft - despite winning the Championships, South Australia has very few prospects considered worthy of the Top 30 (and one of them, Oleg Markov, didn’t even play). This is because of size - many of their best players range from a marginal height in the 180cm range to down right tiny at sub 175cm. The poster boy for this is Caleb Daniel, who won All-Australian honours this year on the back of three games for SA in which he averaged 20 disposals at 92% efficiency. The usual cliche about short players is ‘that if he had an extra ten cm he’d be talked about as one of the best players in the draft’; the thing is, even if Daniels had that extra 10cm, he’d still be considered marginal. At 167cm he is tiny. But watching him play, it’s not that noticeable - yes he’s short, but at some point you accept that and don’t quibble over just how short. What is noticeable are his football skills - he can kick the ball a long way, he hits targets, he finds the footy, and he’s got great agility and skills in close. Could be a really damaging modern forward pocket - able to make something happen in a congested forward line but also comfortable pushing up the ground and delivering the ball well inside 50. Probably will go (if at all) in the rookie draft, but if we end up using Pick 60 I’d be happy with Daniel. Other players in a similar mould who we might look at it include Harrison Wigg, SA’s MVP, and the Teia Miles.
I’ll throw two more names out there to finish, because at this point it’s all extreme guess work. He’s a bit taller, and is getting talked up as being a likely pick in the 30s, but Jordan Cunico reminds me a bit of Josh Cowan (get your injury jokes in here, try and make sure the tone isn’t too bitter) - just comes across as a solid footballer whose game hasn’t quite matured sufficiently to put him in the upper ranks of the draft and who has an outstanding tank. If we want to rebuild midfield depth, Cunico is the type of player we should be targeting and hopefully acquiring. Keenan Ramsey (video of him as a bottom ager here) could be another who lasts to Pick 47. Cancer took one of his eyes at age two, but remarkably he’s thrived as a key defender for Port Adelaide and South Australia. Didn't really notice him in the SA games I watched, suggesting his rebound game could improve, but clearly reads the play well and is really strong overhead - what you want in a defender and adequate compensation I think for being 192cm.
Last edited by a moderator: