Academy: Gold Coast SUNS Gun Factory

Handball345

Draftee
Apr 14, 2019
4
4
AFL Club
Gold Coast
He's 175cm - unless he has a great champs he probably won't be top 50.

I would bet Ace gets drafted before him as clubs value that pace


On CPH1725 using BigFooty.com mobile app
Budarick has the fastest 20m time and broke the record for agility beating brad hill time at his state screening, and you’re saying aces pace is more of an asset? I haven’t seen ace win a hard ball only get the cheap ones over the back just saying
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
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I know it's a week old from the game against the Lions academy but here's a bit of a write up on our academy players from round 3 of the NAB League:

Hewago Paul Oea

Oea is an excitement machine, lurking dangerously in and around the forward 50 arc all day. He is a smart user by foot and created opportunities for his teammates with good use going forward. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of that is his ability to use the ball well at speed, and his gather, turn and kick to Ethan Dawson in the goalsquare was an example of that. Oea looked like doing something great whenever he was goalside of his opponent, and his eye-catching goal on the run in the third term showcased that to a t. Definitely one to watch, and is hard to miss when at full flight.

Connor Budarick

The zippy midfielder-forward was a mainstay at the centre bounces, but I thought his possessions in the forward half showed where his best football will be played at the next level. He sweeps up the loose ball at ground level and hits it at speed, using smart hands to extract when he opts not to break away from stoppages. Would have had a pretty complete game had he put away two goal opportunities he created with impressive gathers at pace, but was damaging nonetheless. A pleasing part of his game was his direction of play after disposing of the ball, and he seems a clever type. 26 disposals for the Allies representative marked a solid day.

Josh Gore

Gore looks a polished player, and was nothing short of clinical up forward. He certainly knows where the goals are, but did not get the chance to show off his outstanding awareness inside 50 as he instead booted his three goals from set shots at varying angles. Gore does not need much of the ball to have an impact, and definitely caught the eye with his evasiveness with ball in hand. Worked hard to find space with seven marks, and has a nice left-foot kick.

Ashton Crossley

A contested ball machine, Crossley continued his good start to the Sun’s NAB League cameo with 28 disposals. I was not surprised to find that 20 of them were handballs, but that is simply his game and he was hardly beaten as the number one stoppage player on the ground. While his releasing handballs were effective for the most part, Crossley often hacked the ball out by foot, so still has some areas to work on as most inside midfielders do. Worked tirelessly in tandem with Budarick in a team-oriented role and won an impressive 10 clearances.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
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There are at least five possible draftees in your academy group this year
Who are those five players? I assume Budarick and Crossley are most likely. Then I guess Gore? Who are the others?

Is this year a strong group of academy players for us or are we just benefiting from the greater exposure that the NAB League is offering?
 

Gulliver72

Debutant
Apr 7, 2019
79
52
AFL Club
GWS
Who are those five players? I assume Budarick and Crossley are most likely. Then I guess Gore? Who are the others?

Is this year a strong group of academy players for us or are we just benefiting from the greater exposure that the NAB League is offering?
Joyce and Fraser are reserves for neafl this week
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
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Joyce and Fraser are reserves for neafl this week
Nice to see siblings of existing Suns players in Ashton Crossley and Corey Joyce are considered legitimate draft chances. Budarick seems like an automatic selection for us and the others seem like third round/rookie prospects. Is that how you see it too?
 

Governor

Senior List
Mar 8, 2006
162
117
Gold Coast
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It’s just gut feel and from watching the first three games of the NAB league but I would not be surprised if Gore went in the draft - he has a lovely left foot kick for goal, good goal sense and footy smarts - looks like he could play midfield minutes not sure if does or has to date if anyone knows more about him.

I’m also amazed at the acceleration Ace has over the first 5 metres just runs around opponents untouched.

Also very exciting to see six Pacific Islands lads make it into the under 16 academy - hopefully can be become part of the GC zone
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
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Just turned on the Casey Demons v U18 Australia game and heard Budarick's name at least five times over a five minute period. Not sure how he's gone for the entire game but it's nice to know he's considered one of the best U18 players in the country and is getting his hands on the ball. The commentator actually said it was a "lovely kick on the left foot" from Budarick so that probably gives us a bit of an indication of how he's going.
 

gcsunsfc

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We would surely be picking Ace up given the investment made in to him to bring him here?
If Budarick rated top 20 - as an academy product we could probably get him in the 30's - 40's, see Rhylee West, Keiran Briggs, Connor Mcfadyen 2018.

I think we've got the following picks at this stage?

Gold Coast 2019 1st: 1 - 5 - Midfielder please - Rowell / Anderson
Brisbane 2019 1st: 6 - 12 - Classy midfielder / forward - ? Sharp / Taheny - just picking names based on draft boards
Richmond 2019 3rd: 45 - 55 - Budarick, may need to trade in an additional late round pick for points
West Coast 2019 5th: 90 - ACE

Maybe Gore in rookie draft?

I think that would be a pretty reasonable haul.
2 academy players
 

gcsunsfc

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DPS - former AFL scout I think? and one who puts a draft board together had a mini appraisal of the AFL academy game yesterday

Budarick: played down back for something different, competed well.
 

Peel67skin

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If Budarick rated top 20 - as an academy product we could probably get him in the 30's - 40's, see Rhylee West, Keiran Briggs, Connor Mcfadyen 2018.

I think we've got the following picks at this stage?

Gold Coast 2019 1st: 1 - 5 - Midfielder please - Rowell / Anderson
Brisbane 2019 1st: 6 - 12 - Classy midfielder / forward - ? Sharp / Taheny - just picking names based on draft boards
Richmond 2019 3rd: 45 - 55 - Budarick, may need to trade in an additional late round pick for points
West Coast 2019 5th: 90 - ACE

Maybe Gore in rookie draft?

I think that would be a pretty reasonable haul.
2 academy players
I only Draft Budarick for ND Draft, other can go to Rookie B or U19 NEAFL squad like Koenan.
 

GC2015

Norm Smith Medallist
May 27, 2013
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DPS - former AFL scout I think? and one who puts a draft board together had a mini appraisal of the AFL academy game yesterday

Budarick: played down back for something different, competed well.

Nice to hear he thrived in a different position. It's always good to be versatile as a junior.

U16 Male Academy Squad selected

Region

First

Last

Junior Club

Northern Rivers

Charlie

Blok

Lismore

Northern Rivers

Diesel

Drury

Tweed-Coolangatta

Northern Rivers

Malachi

Dumas

Tweed-Coolangatta

Northern Rivers

Jed

Foggo

Tweed-Coolangatta

Gold Coast

Tiare

Broughton-Ferris

-

Gold Coast

Finn

Brown

Southport

Gold Coast

Luke

Coombes

Labrador

Gold Coast

Cade

Gregory

Labrador

Gold Coast

Jackson

Griffiths

-

Gold Coast

Brinn

Little

Palm Beach Currumbin

Gold Coast

Jye

Lockett

Southport

Gold Coast

Connor

Matheson

Burleigh

Gold Coast

Charles

Passmore

Palm Beach Currumbin

Gold Coast

Ryan

Sergi

Palm Beach Currumbin

Gold Coast

Joshua

Smart

-

Gold Coast

Bodhi

Uwland

Burleigh

North Queensland (Cairns)

Connor

Munro

Manunda

North Queensland (Cairns)

Austin

Harris

Cairns

North Queensland (Cairns)

Oakley

Wallace

Cairns

North Queensland (Cairns)

McLoffty

Gaiden

Cairns

North Queensland (Mackay)

Will

Bella

Sarina

North Queensland (Mackay)

Jackson

Hamann

Mackay

North Queensland (Rockhampton)

Jayren

Willie

Glenmore

North Queensland

Zachary

Bousen

-

Fiji

Jone

Radua

-

Papua New Guinea

Tadius

Wilket

-

Papua New Guinea

Benadict

Baro

-

Papua New Guinea

Glen

Saniong

-

Papua New Guinea

Darren Poke

Kandege

-

Papua New Guinea

Peter

Maoni

-
Some familiar names in the U16 academy team. Jye Lockett is the nephew of the famous Tony Lockett. Austin Harris is the superstar junior who just moved down from Cairns. Will Bella is the brother of Lauren, our recent AFLW signing. Mr Bods your guy Malachi Dumas also made the team. Nice to see six Pacific Islanders in our academy as well, in particular the Fijian.
 

briztoon

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DPS - former AFL scout I think? and one who puts a draft board together had a mini appraisal of the AFL academy game yesterday

Budarick: played down back for something different, competed well.
eDPS is not a former scout. He does work for Draft Express. He does however have a former scout comment on his thread on the rare occasion.

He just posted his weekly big board update, and Budarick has dropped out of his top 30.
 

briztoon

Wannabe Draft Nuffie
Nov 28, 2015
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If Budarick rated top 20 - as an academy product we could probably get him in the 30's - 40's, see Rhylee West, Keiran Briggs, Connor Mcfadyen 2018.

I think we've got the following picks at this stage?

Gold Coast 2019 1st: 1 - 5 - Midfielder please - Rowell / Anderson
Brisbane 2019 1st: 6 - 12 - Classy midfielder / forward - ? Sharp / Taheny - just picking names based on draft boards
Richmond 2019 3rd: 45 - 55 - Budarick, may need to trade in an additional late round pick for points
West Coast 2019 5th: 90 - ACE

Maybe Gore in rookie draft?

I think that would be a pretty reasonable haul.
2 academy players
Sydney might have a couple of picks available in trade for future picks.
 

eDPS

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eDPS is not a former scout. He does work for Draft Express. He does however have a former scout comment on his thread on the rare occasion.

He just posted his weekly big board update, and Budarick has dropped out of his top 30.
Budarick wasn’t in my top 30 at the start of the year. Size is the big thing but as a smaller player does everything a smaller player needs to do to get drafted, tough with good speed and a good user of the ball.
 

briztoon

Wannabe Draft Nuffie
Nov 28, 2015
26,156
32,473
Brisbane
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
NUFC, Philadelphia 76'ers
DPS - former AFL scout I think? and one who puts a draft board together had a mini appraisal of the AFL academy game yesterday

Budarick: played down back for something different, competed well.
As a draft watcher/follower, the guys who I follow and listen to are:

pie4life who is a co-founder, chief scout and chief editor at Draft Express, also co-runs the NAB cup Final Siren podcast.
eDPS who works for Draft Express.
Matt Balmer who was a co-founder at Draft Express and now works for Fox Footy.
Cal Twomey at AFL.com, mainly because I like listening to draft podcasts and he gets a lot of list managers and recruiters on his podcast.
Chris25 for South Australian kids. Chris25 was the first person I read talking about Rankine when he was 16.
 

briztoon

Wannabe Draft Nuffie
Nov 28, 2015
26,156
32,473
Brisbane
AFL Club
Brisbane Lions
Other Teams
NUFC, Philadelphia 76'ers
Budarick wasn’t in my top 30 at the start of the year. Size is the big thing but as a smaller player does everything a smaller player needs to do to get drafted, tough with good speed and a good user of the ball.
My bad, confused yours and pie4life's draft boards. The two of you sound so much alike.
 

Peel67skin

Norm Smith Medallist
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https://afl.draftcentral.com.au/2019/04/21/scouting-notes-under-18-australian-side/

12 Connor Budarick

Budarick was a late call-up to the match, and had a number of great defensive plays predominantly playing in the back half. He won his fair share of the footy and used it well, just showing good composure with ball-in-hand. He did get pushed off by a stronger opponent one-on-one in the final term but the opponent’s shot hit the post. Budarick had the one-two handball off half-back and kicked long to half-forward late for a nice little play at the end. Budarick finished with nine disposals, three marks and two clearances.
 

gcsunsfc

Cancelled
Oct 24, 2012
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what is AFL draft express? when I type into google get nothing AFL related - just the John Givoni NBA draft express site.
You have a link by any chance?

Thanks for this, I don't watch any of the juniors really but like to hear about them.
As a draft watcher/follower, the guys who I follow and listen to are:

pie4life who is a co-founder, chief scout and chief editor at Draft Express, also co-runs the NAB cup Final Siren podcast.
eDPS who works for Draft Express.
Matt Balmer who was a co-founder at Draft Express and now works for Fox Footy.
Cal Twomey at AFL.com, mainly because I like listening to draft podcasts and he gets a lot of list managers and recruiters on his podcast.
Chris25 for South Australian kids. Chris25 was the first person I read talking about Rankine when he was 16.
 
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