Draft Review 2010 - Revisit the 2010 Draft

[The Bomb]

Atley hasn't even played in the midfield yet, and when he does you will see why Atley will overtake Gaff.Both players are fantastic to watch but for X factor Atley will overtake him in 2
years

Atley has not been good enough to be placed in the midfield, and u think because of X factor he will overtake Gaff, what about work rate and reading the play, Gaff has him covered easily in these last 2 areas, Hell if X factor means anything Yarran would be better then Swan, Watson, Thompson ect
Gaff is a fair way ahead of Atley, and I can never see it changing as Gaff knows how to work his ass off and find the pill at will.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Going by what we have seen so far Gaff is a mile ahead of Atley. Will Atley improve more than Gaff from now on? Yes I think he will, but will he ever be as good or better than Gaff? No I don't think so.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Going by what we have seen so far Gaff is a mile ahead of Atley. Will Atley improve more than Gaff from now on? Yes I think he will, but will he ever be as good or better than Gaff? No I don't think so.

With Gaff, just whack on a No. 3 for the Eagles and the magic will happen.

 

[mufassa]

This is why North fans are so annoying on this site. Gaff is already a star, a Stanton with elite disposal. Atley had a good year, but is nowhere near Gaff's level.

Any reference to Stanton is really disrespectful to Gaff.

 

[mufassa]

Atley needs to improve his footy smarts and kicking to reach Gaff's level.

With a DE of 80% his foot skills are poor is a myth. Gaff had a great year and is on the way to becoming a superstar but to make rubbish up about Atleys kicking is poor. At 17 Atley could be one of the big steals of this draft.

 

[spurs]

Going by what we have seen so far Gaff is a mile ahead of Atley. Will Atley improve more than Gaff from now on? Yes I think he will, but will he ever be as good or better than Gaff? No I don't think so.

Atley will improve more than Gaff because he needs to play midfield and show his Juddesque skills and agility.He is good enough and may be better than Gaff in a few years...not now but IMO he will be.

 

[Richo83]

With a DE of 80% his foot skills are poor is a myth. Gaff had a great year and is on the way to becoming a superstar but to make rubbish up about Atleys kicking is poor. At 17 Atley could be one of the big steals of this draft.

DE is a misleading statistic. I'm not saying Atley is a bad disposer of the ball, but he can be a bit rusty with his disposal. I remember watching him against Fremantle and in an attempt to handpass over a freo player, he handpassed it straight to him. I think North supporters overrate him slightly, and he's not the bargain North fans think he is (even though I do agree he should have gone earlier, certainly earlier than players like Jacobs).

 

[Masto]

With a DE of 80% his foot skills are poor is a myth. Gaff had a great year and is on the way to becoming a superstar but to make rubbish up about Atleys kicking is poor. At 17 Atley could be one of the big steals of this draft.

Its easy to have a high DE when you play in defense. Having said that, I don't see much wrong with Atley's kicking. Not awesome but not bad. There seems to be a myth that Atley is quicker than Gaff but I don't see that. Gaff tested a little quicker and I remember games at u18 level when Atley tried to chase down Gaff but he couldn't close the gap.

 

[Cotchinsastar]

Swallow will be my best, he won the BnF of the National Carnival as a 17 year old, he is going to be a star and has been called the next judd. Gaff, Heppell, Bennell will all be good too.

 

[Jobe Watson]

DE is a misleading statistic. I'm not saying Atley is a bad disposer of the ball, but he can be a bit rusty with his disposal. I remember watching him against Fremantle and in an attempt to handpass over a freo player, he handpassed it straight to him. I think North supporters overrate him slightly, and he's not the bargain North fans think he is (even though I do agree he should have gone earlier, certainly earlier than players like Jacobs).

DE is a misleading stat alright, even more so in regards to Atley because half of his kicks are 20m chips to an open man under no pressure.

Also spurs, Atley has already played in the midfield before, and he was downright shocking. He'd want to hope his second fist of it is much more successful than his first.

 

[Pykie]

No.

People said the same thing about Deledio for years and it has taken him awhile to fully grow into his current role. Atley is not as talented, nor athletically gifted as Deledio.

Gaff has the attitude and ability to become that gut running Robert Harvey type, sure there are others that may be quicker or flashier, but he is already producing at a very high level and with each consecutive season he will keep improving or working even harder. Like I mentioned, elite gut running ability, coupled with great skills and/or decision making is a pretty rare combination.

Say what?

I think you severely underestimate the kids athleticsm.

He's in the top 5 endurance runners at the club, and is certainly one of the quicker players in the league. He was a state level hurdles champion over 400m.


Seems to be alot of tall poppy syndrome in this thread, I can't see how this kid is anything but a bargain, finished top 5 in the B&F in his second year, and is probably close to the best young half back in the league.


I don't understand the desire to push him into the midfield, we have a phonebook of midfielders on our list, and rebound from defence has never been as important as it currently is in the modern game, add to that, he's bloody good defensively.


Do I think he's been as good as Gaff? No, but to say he can't possibly reach his level in the future is ridiculous considering how athletically gifted he is and how much improvement he's already shown.

DE is a misleading stat alright, even more so in regards to Atley because half of his kicks are 20m chips to an open man under no pressure.

Also spurs, Atley has already played in the midfield before, and he was downright shocking. He'd want to hope his second fist of it is much more successful than his first.

Why? Or he's going to get delisted?

North's main strength is its young midfield, and certainly its depth in that area.

There's not a single player on our list that can provide the type of rebound he did this year, I don't see why we'd want to move one of our main weapons, into an area of already relative strength.

 

[Jobe Watson]

Why? Or he's going to get delisted?

No, because it'd be embarrassing for him to twice fail (at AFL level) at the position he was originally drafted for.

 

[Pykie]

No, because it'd be embarrassing for him to twice fail (at AFL level) at the position he was originally drafted for.

I know you are a fanboi, but you realise he played about 90% of his TAC Cup footy for the bushies off a HBF, and only played a bit of midfield for country?

Considering he's played 95% of his football at North off the HBF, I'm pretty sure he's playing the role he was drafted for.

 

[Jobe Watson]

I know you are a fanboi, but you realise he played about 90% of his TAC Cup footy for the bushies off a HBF, and only played a bit of midfield for country?

Considering he's played 95% of his football at North off the HBF, I'm pretty sure he's playing the role he was drafted for.

Reading through the Prospectus from his draft year, it describes him as a "lively midfielder who is also comfortable playing down back." They also listed him as a pure midfielder, not a utility - unlike someone such as Heppell, who spent portions of his TAC year in both defense and the midfield. Every draft profile I've seen of Atley describes him as a midfielder. Heck, he even described himself as an "inside/outside midfielder". Though, Emma Quayle reckons he played HBF in the TAC Cup and as a midfielder in the under-18 champs. No question he probably would have spent some time as a HBF in the TAC Cup and he was comfortable in that position, but I doubt it would have been anywhere near 90%.

 

[Richo83]

But for me though, this explains why Richmond picked Conca over Atley, because they wanted a pure midfielder than can play inside, and North wanted someone to give them pace and stretch out defenses. I think Atley will be one of the best from this draft, and he may become like a Andrew McLeod, but I do wonder whether he could play inside as well as Conca or say Cunnington.

 

[mufassa]

DE is a misleading stat alright, even more so in regards to Atley because half of his kicks are 20m chips to an open man under no pressure.

Also spurs, Atley has already played in the midfield before, and he was downright shocking. He'd want to hope his second fist of it is much more successful than his first.

Watched round 20 again. Heppell cost you the match because of his poor foot skills. Atley hits the 20 meter chips. If Atley goes into the midfield and is bad as Hepell this year I would send him back into the back line.

 

[mufassa]

No, because it'd be embarrassing for him to twice fail (at AFL level) at the position he was originally drafted for.

I would rather him be a gun back flanker than a mid that pulls out of contests. One is a lot more embarrassing than the other.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Watched round 20 again. Heppell cost you the match because of his poor foot skills. Atley hits the 20 meter chips. If Atley goes into the midfield and is bad as Hepell this year I would send him back into the back line.

Heppell was quite good in the midfield this year so if Atley played like he did this year it would be an improvement for him.

 

[mufassa]

1. Darling
2. Bennell
3. Gaff
4. Swallow
5. Atley
6. Parker
7. Lynch
8. Johnson
9. Day
10. Heppell

Good list.

 

[The Bomb]

Watched round 20 again. Heppell cost you the match because of his poor foot skills. Atley hits the 20 meter chips. If Atley goes into the midfield and is bad as Hepell this year I would send him back into the back line.

Are you taking about the 2011 Rising Star winner / 2012 AFLCA Best young player winning Heppell, If rekon send him back, you would make a pretty crap coach.
clearly shows how little you know about player development, watch his game against Selwood was awesome as a midfeilder. has had games where he got beaten, like against Murphy, Dangerfield ect but great for a 2nd year player to be going head to head against some guys who have finished top 5 in a brownlow medal.

 

[CallumBartlett]

I know a bit early yet but thought it would be a good thread. I think the recruiters have got it mostly right so far. If I was to re do it, my top 20 would be:

1. Swallow (1)
2. Bennell (2)
3. Gaff (4)
4. Heppell (8)
5. Darling (26)
6. Day (3)
7. Lynch (11)
8. Fasolo (45)
9. Guthrie (23)
10. I.Smith (19)
11. Caddy (7)
12. Karnezis (25)
13. Prestia (9)
14. B.Smith (14)
15. Smedts (15)
16. Atley (17)
17. Harper (27)
18. Duigan (70)
19. Puopolo (66)
20. Conca (6)

It's still too early to tell, I don't want to sound bias but someone like Jared Polec could turn out to be the best of the lot, extremely talented he's just had injury issues since he came to the club or Josh Green is only just starting to show his worth and actually had a season better than most of those bottom 10. Tom Lynch has had a poor supply and really can't be judged yet, Conca, Smedts, Karnezis, Lester etc. have had a hard time trying to get games due to their respective positions within the team.

 

[swansfan51]

It's still too early to tell, I don't want to sound bias but someone like Jared Polec could turn out to be the best of the lot, extremely talented he's just had injury issues since he came to the club or Josh Green is only just starting to show his worth and actually had a season better than most of those bottom 10. Tom Lynch has had a poor supply and really can't be judged yet, Conca, Smedts, Karnezis, Lester etc. have had a hard time trying to get games due to their respective positions within the team.

You managed to name all of the Lions draftees in this post I see, quite remarkable. What aspect of Polec's game has he shown at a higher level than say Harley Bennell?

 

[Jobe Watson]

Watched round 20 again. Heppell cost you the match because of his poor foot skills. Atley hits the 20 meter chips. If Atley goes into the midfield and is bad as Hepell this year I would send him back into the back line.

Heppell was playing in the midfield by then. His kicks were under a lot more pressure than Atley's, who was allowed to pick up the cheap stuff at half back. Heppell has already showed more as a midfielder than Atley did, and Heppell is obviously the better half back. And if you want to see players costing teams games, check out Atley's debut season as a midfielder: vs. Collingwood (9 possessions, 1 tackle), vs. Hawthorn (5 possessions, 3 tackles), vs. Sydney (12 possessions, 2 tackles) - pretty hard for North to win those games when they're playing with a man down from the very start. And that's not even including his pathetic games against Port and Melbourne, which yeilded him a total of 16 possessions and 58 ChampionData Ranking points from those two games - combined.

Watch the Round 23 GWS game again. I could count the number of Atley's kicks that a: were kicked over a 25m distance or b: weren't a turnover, on one hand. No wonder his DE is so good.

 

[mufassa]

Heppell was playing in the midfield by then. His kicks were under a lot more pressure than Atley's, who was allowed to pick up the cheap stuff at half back. Heppell has already showed more as a midfielder than Atley did, and Heppell is obviously the better half back. And if you want to see players costing teams games, check out Atley's debut season as a midfielder: vs. Collingwood (9 possessions, 1 tackle), vs. Hawthorn (5 possessions, 3 tackles), vs. Sydney (12 possessions, 2 tackles) - pretty hard for North to win those games when they're playing with a man down from the very start. And that's not even including his pathetic games against Port and Melbourne, which yeilded him a total of 16 possessions and 58 ChampionData Ranking points from those two games - combined.

Watch the Round 23 GWS game again. I could count the number of Atley's kicks that a: were kicked over a 25m distance or b: weren't a turnover, on one hand. No wonder his DE is so good.

. Under pressure when no one was around him and he hit Hanson on the chest 15 metres out from goal? Or in the last when he had a bounce and try to kick to a team mate 20 metres in the clear - missed and we kick the game winning goal? A lot of pressure my foot. He was clear both time. As long as Atley goes when it is his turn and while Heppell continues to pull out of contests I know who I want on my team.

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

It's still too early to tell, I don't want to sound bias but someone like Jared Polec could turn out to be the best of the lot, extremely talented he's just had injury issues since he came to the club or Josh Green is only just starting to show his worth and actually had a season better than most of those bottom 10. Tom Lynch has had a poor supply and really can't be judged yet, Conca, Smedts, Karnezis, Lester etc. have had a hard time trying to get games due to their respective positions within the team.

Conca hasn't had a hard time getting games. He played 17 games in 2011 and 18 in 2012 (missing the last 4 only to injury).