Optimax
Brownlow Medallist
Stephen Hill (West Perth)
184/69 mid-age left foot mid /itility.
*STYLE LIKE: 184cm Bateman?
*MY RANKING (not meant to reflect appropriate draft pick to use): 4
Earliest pick I'd be prepared to use (if necessary): 4.
*PROBABILITY OF AFL CAREER: Definite. Ready year 1.
- Within an AFL team list, could prove capable of SUSTAINING a ranking of 3-5.
*HURT FACTORS (Offensive/Defensive/Negative): MH / MH / L
*TRADEMARK:
- Deftly vacuum the ball at pace then show good vision to spot up a target at 45 degrees with a deft left foot pass without breaking stride.
- Strip the ball from congestion or from an opponent, then a nearby team-mate finishes up with the pill in the blink of an eye without you even seeing Hill get rid of it.
*MAIN SELLING POINTS:
- Clean
- Quick (deft) hands
- Versatility / all-round package
- Read the play
- Pace
- Mental toughness / Embracing challenges
- Disposal
*MAIN QUERY:
- Nothing significant.
*SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, RECOMMENDATION:
- Slim 184cm mid / flanker. I'm sold. He's been in my top 4 all year since May and I've seen no reason to slip him out. Great package. No significant flaws, minimal errors. Quick, smart. Covers ground. Excellent ethic. Adept overhead. Excellent linker, creates yet restricts. Excellent timing of his attack. Elite reader of both play and ball. Nearly elite user - hand or foot. No challenge too big.
- I compared his style with Bateman because I struggled to come up with a better name. Someone who can vacuum the ball off the carpet and then carry it at pace. Someone who can feed off in the blink of an eye. Someone who is quick yet as comfortable inside as outside. Someone who is more than comfortable (and very adept) in a run-with role yet gets plenty of his own ball in doing so. Someone who works just as hard defensively as offensively. Someone who has footy smarts yet doesn't just sing his own lyrics. Someone who uses the ball very well and rarely stuffs up. Someone who is not a big body yet is a very effective tackler / stripper, even from the front.
Wells and McLeod were the other comparison I tossed up with. (I'm comparing styles, not predicting Hill will be the next McLeod). In the end, I went with Bateman but Hill has some similarities with various aspects of all 3.
- "No challenge too big":
Excellent run-with performances on Hartlett and Scully in '08 Champs yet still got plenty himself. Also blanketed Rich in WAFL Seniors 2nd semi-final '08 (albeit without getting much ball himself either on that occasion). They are terrific scalps but what makes his performances this year especially noteworthy is that it is his first year in the "big" system. came into this with no U16 Champs experience, no WAFL Seniors experience, no U18 Champs experience yet he has rising from Colts early in the year, straight into Seniors and took to that like a duck to water and, in between, earned All Aus honours at the U18 Champs, claiming a couple of big scalps yet getting not much less ball than his highly-touted team-mate Rich and using it better. It doesn't seem to matter what challenges are put in front of him, he just devours them. The on-field professional way he goes about his game would be a credit to anyone but especially a kid in his first year in the "big" system.
I had him in my top 4 even when he was still playing Colts and trials. The more I've seen of him, the keener I've become. I estimated his upside as "(sustaining top) 3-5 on an AFL list", on the basis that that's a decent ask for any player, Hill has yet to collect much more than 20d (and they were at Colts level), and sustaining "top 1-2" is rarefied company occupied by the likes of Buckley, Voss, Judd, Hodge, Ablett etc. I don't expect that he will reach the "sustained 1-2" status but, given his outstanding achievements this year and his unqualified success in conquering all challenges put before him, I would not be all that surprised if he did reach "1-2" status.
- I would certainly draft him myself and be prepared to part with a pick as early as my ranking number if necessary. My guess is that he'll go around latish first round. I may not put my last dollar on him to win a Brownlow but I would put it on him as virtually a "sure bet" to be a very good, very reliable and very versatile AFL long-termer.
Oh, I finished the summary without using the word "deft". I can't leave that word out.
*DISPOSAL:
(see above)
- Almost elite reliability. "Credited" with 6 clangers out of 42 kicks in '08 Champs but I've rarely seen him do a clanger kick elsewhere.
- My only query with Steven's game at this stage is that he plays a fairly short game. He has shown he is capable of reasonable depth (at least on occasions) yet he very predominantly kicks shortish and often even feeds shortish. He's not a "chipper around with no nett benefit" type - he's often creative - but I would like to see him try a bit more frequently for kicks that have potentially higher hurt factor, even if that increases his error rate a bit.
- Not currently a noted goalkicker but rarely ventures that close to goals. Seems reliable when he does though, including .
- Nice economical kicking style.
- Healthy mix of kicks to feeds.
- Misses with the occasional handball bit is usually very reliable. Handballs often have good hurt factor and have appropriate power. And if you think you've seen quick hands before, quite a few of Hill's feeds are of the "How'd that other guy finish up with the pill?" slight-of-hand slickness.
*DECISION-MAKING, SMARTS:
(see above)
- Excellent anticipation. Reads both play and ball very well. Positions at, or runs, to the right spots with the right timing. In particular, reads (and collects) the spill extremely well.
- Excellent sharp traffic management.
- His judgement in a run-with role is terrific. He doesn't usually tag in the traditional "never leave opponent's side" manner per se. He keeps within range wherever his opponent goes but backs his own judgement and is very judicious re when to get close and when to back himself. When he ran with Hartlett, Hill had 16d and Hartlett 11d but 5 of Hartlett's disposals came in Q4, 2 of them in the same play. And Hill was on Hartlett all game. Late Q2, SA even started tagging / blocking Hill with Speight/Thompson at centre bounces to try to free up Hartlett yet Hartlett only had 6d to ¾ time.
*HANDS:
(see above)
- Reliably clean, all levels, all situations. "Deft" and "vacuum" are 2 words that spring to mind.
*OVERHEAD MARKING:
(see above)
- Good overhead for his size. Can mark from front or behind and has good hands. Capable of the occasional screamer. Doesn't always attack the mark when I'd like him to though. (Usually does but not on some occasions).
*ATHLETICISM:
(see above)
- Excellent pace and acceleration. Almost lightning.
- Endurance seems good. Covers a lot of ground. Runs and runs.
- Excellent reflexes.
- Lacks some strength (which will change once he's not so slim) but his tackling is surprisingly effective (in virtually a deft "stripping" manner rather than rugby-style).
- Big leap.
*INTENSITY, ETHIC:
(see above)
- Has all this section well and truly covered, including desperation, hard running, chasing, tackling, spoiling, 2nd and 3rd efforts, attack on man and ball. Shown courage on occasions.
- Disciplined team player.
*CONSISTENCY:
- Highly consistent, quarter by quarter, game by game and regardless of what roles on the day.
*AFL VERSATILITY:
- One of his strengths. Has the attributes to do a professional job in any flank or any midfield type of role. He is very well suited to "wing" but he kept showing us new strings to his bow during this his first exposed season "in the big leagues". Because of that, I'm reluctant to guess what sort of role he will end up specialising in but I suspect he will become one of those players who might play 5 different roles in 3 weeks as his coach tries to expose opposition weaknesses or curtail opposition stars or plug holes or provide run.
*CSI (COMPARATIVE SCOPE for IMPROVEMENT):
- On balance, "normal" in that he has now played WAFL Seniors and U18 Champs and is virtually top-age (but for 1 day). Perhaps "Normal" is a bit unfair as this is his first year in "the big league. Regardless of special factors, this kid just keeps on embracing the next challenge and the next and the next so I *suspect* he does still have plenty of improvement to come (especially physical development).
*SOME STATS:
- Stats summary '08 WA :
Averaged 16 disposals in 14 local games. Total goals 5-2 .
12 kicks per 20 disposals.
At least: 20 disposals in 4 games.
- Mid-way trend ... % change in disposals was -40%.
- Stats summary '08 U18 Champs:
Averaged 13 disposals and 3.0 marks in his 5 games. (Best TD 16). (Tot TOG 0%).
Averaged 13 kicks per 20 disposals.
Kicks long vs short: 8-23 (3 long per 10 kicks).
Ineffective kicks: 11/42 (2.6 per 10 kicks), incl 6 clangers (1.4 per 10 kicks).
Ineff handballs: 4/25 (1.6 per 10 handballs), incl 1 clangers (0.4/10 hb).
Ineffective disposals: 15/67 (4.5 per 20 disp), incl 7 clangers (2.1 per 20 disp).
HandBall Receives: 20/67 (6.0 per 20 disp). Uncontested marks: 10/67 (3.0 per 20 disp). HR+UM: 30/67 (9.0 per 20 disp).
Contested marks: 5 (1.5 per 20 disp).
Hardball gets: 8/67 (2.4 per 20 disp).
SP Clears: 7/67 (2.1 per 20 disp), incl 2 CBC (0.6/20 disp) and 3 other BU (0.9/20 disp).
Tackles: 12 (Avg 2.4 per game).
*OTHER STUFF:
- All Aust TY.
that should quiet some "experts" for ya