Kade Kolodjashnij

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Sunny_

Sunny_

Brownlow Medallist
Veteran 10k Posts Ex-Moderator Gold Coast Suns - Harley Bennell 2012 Player Sponsor
Mar 18, 2011
19,310
14,589
Everett
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
New England Patriots
Pick #5 in the 2013 National Draft.

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Height: 190cm.
Weight: 81kg.

The inside word:
An impressive NAB AFL Draft Combine completed Kolodjashnij's rise to becoming a genuine top-10 prospect at this year's draft. A versatile tall defender, the Tasmanian won both the running vertical jump off the right leg and the vertical relative jump; demonstrating his supreme athleticism that helps him cover the ground. A late inclusion into the AFL/AIS Academy at the end of last year, Kolodjashnij continued to go from strength-to-strength with an impressive NAB AFL Under-18 Championships in which he won the Division 2 Harrison Medal and Tasmania's Most Valuable Player award. A smart user of the ball on his preferred left foot.
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Profiles:

Knightmare:
Kolodjashnij is a high production outside player with some versatility to his game and can play back, wing or forward well. Kolodjashnij is an effective linkup player who reads the play well and has a smart running game. He’s a good user of the footy by hand and foot and can do some damage with his left boot particularly impressive with that class, vision and hurt factor he displays with the penetration he has and ability to kick it to where the guy up the field wants it, he’s just not so comfortable on his right side. He’s also an excellent run and carry player and can at times break the lines. He’s also excellent in the air with his marking ability strong and behind play can read it well and take his share of intercept marks. He has a nice agile sidestep and can create more time and space for himself with ball in hand. At this stage he has a very thin build and can struggle defensively and in 1v1 contests. He almost certainly will always remain an outside type but a high production guy who can do some damage. Tested exceptionally well at the draft combine which has increased his draft stocks.
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Snoop Dog:
Huge hype around this kid and will openly admit he is one I have a wide range on. Originally had him at #15 but he will go higher and I can increasingly see why and think it is entirely justified. Was a late call up to the AIS and he really has made every post a winner since. His form with Launceston, with AIS squad in Europe and at champs were really good where he was used at wing / HB. He is an elite athlete who possesses endurance and speed and a very good distributor of the ball. There were some queries around his ability to win his own ball but they were allayed through the year by those that watched him very closely. There are no queries around his ability to use it. A terrific kid who clubs are lining up for to have as a part of their group.
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Quigley:
I saw Kolodjashnij a grand total of once this year but it was a good game to catch. It was the game against the NT at the Champs where he finished with 34 disposals, 10 marks and 2 goals. To say that I came away impressed was an understatement. He has improved his game a lot since last year and I think there is a lot of potential for development left in him yet. He has put a few kgs on since the Champs but he was very thin at the Champs and needs to get a lot more muscle on his bones. He lacks strength at the moment and that is really the only thing which is going to hold him back initially. Give him a year in an AFL system though and he should be fine. Looking at his frame I doubt he is every going to be a big guy but he doesn't need to be to play the way he prefers.

At the Champs he played all over the park and was effective wherever he went although admittedly he was not as good on ball as he was elsewhere. Still he got in there and mixed it up and as he gets stronger and puts on bulk his inside work should improve. At the moment he gets buffeted around a bit. He is pretty clean with the ball on the ground and he has reasonably quick hands.

The needs of his team will probably dictate whether he starts up forward or down back. I think he will probably end up being a back but he could easily start his career up forward. Up forward his defensive work is very good and he is great at poaching kicks from the defenders. He has really nice pace, is a great jump and he judges his closing speed really well. He works hard and is a big kick so is dangerous anywhere out to 55.

As mentioned, long term I see him as a back, probably a flanker, given he is never likely to be a particularly solid guy. He is not the defensive player that Scharenberg is but offensively they are very similar. They are both about the same height and both are superb judges of the ball in the air. They are the generals at the back that direct things coming out of defense and they both do it very well. Kolodjashij is a longer kick than Scharenberg but he actually probably uses his longer kick less. He picks out short to intermediate targets really well and he takes the right option virtually every time. There is a lot of class about Kolodjashnij when he has the ball. He is a left footer but he can go on his right if needed. He is a little inconsistent on the right, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

Defensively he needs to improve a bit. He is great when he can zone off and play as the loose man. He will float around and take mark after mark. Teams need to match him up and make him accountable. When they do so he is conscious of his strength issues I think and he is not nearly as confident. His agility is pretty good but not elite and he can get turned around a bit when he is on smart forwards. With all that said teams hide these kind of issues and design schemes to highlight a player’s marking strength all the time. Hell, Nick Maxwell is a terrible one on one defender and Malthouse designed a scheme that let him become an All Australian. Kolodjashnij I think will be a better defender than the likes of Birchall but I doubt he will ever be considered a shut down defensive player.

Athletically Kolodjashnij is a stand out and he was one of the stars of the Combine. He killed the jumps finishing first in the standing vertical and right foot jump and was in the top 20% of his non-preferred left foot. He went under 3 seconds in the 20m and was just outside the top 10% in the 3km. He managed to go over 14 in the beep and his agility and repeat sprint were in the top half. Overall he is one of the most impressive athletes in this draft and when you combine that with the fact that he is actually a very good footballer he is an attractive package for teams in an age of "running height".

I think what set Kolodjashnij up this year I think is his late call up to the AIS tour to Europe. He seemed to take enormous confidence from that and grew in leaps and bounds after that. He worked out that he was an elite talent and that he could go with anyone in this age group. From there he went on to average 27 disposals per game at the Champs and was an All Australian. He was also a joint winner of the Div 2 medal and was the Tasmanian MVP. Kolodjashnij has only just realised how good he can be I think and he will continue to develop into a very good player as he matures. If your team picks him be glad.
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National Carnival Stats:
  • Round 1 - 37 disposals, 2 clearances and 5 rebound 50′s.
  • Round 2 - 24 disposals and 4 rebounds.
  • Round 3 - 27 disposals, 9 marks, and 1 goal.
  • Round 4 - 34 touches, 10 marks, 5 inside-50′s and 2 goals
  • Round 5 – 15 disposals, 3 marks, 2 clearances and 3 rebound 50′s.
Honours:
  • Harrison Medalist (Div 2 B&F)
  • Tasmania MVP
  • All Australian 2013
  • AFL-AIS Academy Member
  • Tasmanian Captain
 

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AFL Round 2 - By the numbers.
Eighteen-year-old Kade Koldjashnij has posted the equal second best debut by a Gold Coast SUNS player, statistically speaking, and the outright best by a teenager. Koladjashnij, the GC SUNS’ 65th player and 49th AFL debutant, had 19 possessions in the SUNS’ water-logged loss to the Fremantle Dockers in Perth on Saturday.
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