Analysis NMFC drafting 2016 to present.

Apr 24, 2013
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It's looking very good. I'm predicting 12-14 100+ game players from only 3 x 1st round draft picks.

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It's looking very good. I'm predicting 12-14 100+ game players from only 3 x 1st round draft picks.

I'll quickly snap up the unders on that since there are only 15 remaining on our list. Not to be pessimistic, but I'd doubt 10 of those players reach 100 games. Perez is an unknown, as is Hosie to some extent. Crocker unlikely to reach a ton. Comben & Xerri probably take games away from each other. Walker could be forever injury prone.

Having said that, the drafting over these years has been good - apart from someone's fetish with Qld Academy players in 2016.
 

Mjs94

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I got to 10 and that was with a generous, biased view.
 

Pykie

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We've certainly nailed some value picks. Which is what you have to do to become really competitive.

I'm pretty bullish on W.Walker and eventually Perez as well.

Comben looked pretty outstanding as a string bean key forward only a few months into the AFL in pre-season as well. I think if he had another 6 months of injury free match practice in the VFL, he'd be playing right now in lieu of Xerri and in place of Larkey. He looked skinny but almost ready on some of those pre-season games, he was taking plenty of one-on- one contested marks on Tarrant and Walker, which as we've seen this year is a pretty good form line for a young key forward.

Watson and Williams were absolutely horrid selections at the time and remain that way, also given the amount of key defenders we'd taken in those proceeding drafts. Noting we did bid on Callum Brown before taking Williams.... Josh Battle and Tom Stewart would be pretty handy right now.

Hopefully we have slammed the door on that QLD recruiting line, as the scout responsible I hope has been put out to pasture.


As good as the last few years look like becoming. 2020 is arguably the most important of the whole lot. We may have 2 x top 10 picks and we haven't had that sort of currency since 2002 (Wells & McIntosh)
 

Pykie

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The other point worth mentioning in this thread is if list sizes are cut back, I think quite a few of the kids on this list are just to good not to keep for the moment.

I think it's likely the Garner, Wood, Hall, Durdin. McKay types are in more trouble than those listed above.
 

DuckYeah

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I am very impressed with our under 22’s.. Jy Simpkin has something special that we all saw in his first game. The ability to turn on a dime, the side step, he displayed that on debut. If he kicked that goal against Hawks for the sealer, he’d be talked about for a month
 

GarnerSmash

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As I have mentioned before it is a rare thing indeed for the vast majority of young players drafted over a period of a few years to become good to quality AFL players. That said, its a decent looking group.

B: Crocker - ??? - ???
HB: Perez - ??? - Hayden
C: Scott - Davies-Uniacke - Walker
HF: Zurhaar - Larkey - Taylor
F: Mahoney - Comben - Hosie
R: Xerri - Simpkin - Thomas

Of all that crew I have reasonably high hopes for all except Crocker and Hosie. Then there's Ahern and Bonar who are still both speculative at this stage.

And yeah, those bloody Queenslanders. I was fuming at the time and am still stupefied as to what we saw in them.
 

Billy Not Really

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We're making up a lot of lost ground of really poor drafting over the years in a matter of a couple of years.

It's amazing what a few good drafts will get you, in addition to some smart trades that have paid off.

Pittard & Walker you can't even complain, we got them for zero.

Nail the 2020 draft with the picks we have (which are great) and we walk into 2021 with a majority of talented young players, balanced out with some experienced players in the elite category.
 
Apr 24, 2013
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None of those players is a defender. Hayden was an inside mid currently playing back. Will Walker the only possibility to play back.

Walker - 27 (what a steal)
Atley - 27
M. Williams - 26
McDonald - 25
Durdin - 24
EVW - 24
McKay - 22
Murphy - 22
Hayden - 21
Crocker - 20
MacGuiness - 19?
Perez - 18

We need one of the young KPD's to emerge, but otherwise, we're traveling alright in that department, and bargain priced ready made defenders are usually easy to obtain.
 

GarnerSmash

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I'll be interested to see how he goes in the upcoming U/18 comp, given he has grown and put on bulk. He could be utterly dominant.
 
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Watson and Williams were absolutely horrid selections at the time and remain that way, also given the amount of key defenders we'd taken in those proceeding drafts. Noting we did bid on Callum Brown before taking Williams.... Josh Battle and Tom Stewart would be pretty handy right now.

I think it was Winston Churchill who said the point of recrimination was to enforce effective action in the present.....you'd have to say 2016 was a good year with Simpkin, Larkey and Zurhaar, but how we took Watson and Williams, when Josh Battle was still there (an AA CHB in his year, and ranked top 30 by Champion Data).......Lordy, don't put the Qld scout out to pasture, something Churchillian is required
 

Moti

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Good review Snake. Looks like a pretty solid group with some actual class in there.

Simpkin, LDU and Walker to me look like the midfield class. TT adds to that although still just a small nagging voice questioning whether he will be a FT mid or not. Scott is the other mid that will be important that will be the solid 100-200 gamer. Hayden, like Scott, looks like being another solid player to add to that mix. Bonar could add that big bodied presence we need moving forward if we can get the head right. And to be honest I think he shares the same tentative mentality I see in LDU. Hopefully they can push each other.

Larkey and Comben I am pretty bullish on long term as KP forwards. Xerri looks a little unrefined so not thinking a KP forward at this stage but certainly showing good signs as a ruckman with ability to pinch hit forward.

Taylor is a definite long term forward / mid with the class our forwards often lack, and Mahoney is poised for a similar direction based off very limited viewing. Zurhaar the other forward that should have a long career but I feel he needs to refine his game a little.

Hosie, Crocker and Perez I am not sure on as I have not seen enough. I like what Crocker brings and could be the one to give us some bite off HB.

This year we have 2x 1st round picks and it will be interesting with the F/S and Academy selections whether we can use these to either move up or strengthen our draft hand further. If we see Walker and LDU do something significant this year, I am all for investing in the running defensive positions as a priority.
 
Apr 24, 2013
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Good review Snake. Looks like a pretty solid group with some actual class in there.

Simpkin, LDU and Walker to me look like the midfield class. TT adds to that although still just a small nagging voice questioning whether he will be a FT mid or not. Scott is the other mid that will be important that will be the solid 100-200 gamer. Hayden, like Scott, looks like being another solid player to add to that mix. Bonar could add that big bodied presence we need moving forward if we can get the head right. And to be honest I think he shares the same tentative mentality I see in LDU. Hopefully they can push each other.

Larkey and Comben I am pretty bullish on long term as KP forwards. Xerri looks a little unrefined so not thinking a KP forward at this stage but certainly showing good signs as a ruckman with ability to pinch hit forward.

Taylor is a definite long term forward / mid with the class our forwards often lack, and Mahoney is poised for a similar direction based off very limited viewing. Zurhaar the other forward that should have a long career but I feel he needs to refine his game a little.

Hosie, Crocker and Perez I am not sure on as I have not seen enough. I like what Crocker brings and could be the one to give us some bite off HB.

This year we have 2x 1st round picks and it will be interesting with the F/S and Academy selections whether we can use these to either move up or strengthen our draft hand further. If we see Walker and LDU do something significant this year, I am all for investing in the running defensive positions as a priority.

If we can add that W.A. kid then the KPD stocks will look better. Otherwise, it's reasonably good, and good quality HBF/BP types are usually easy to pick up.
 

Pykie

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If we can add that W.A. kid then the KPD stocks will look better. Otherwise, it's reasonably good, and good quality HBF/BP types are usually easy to pick up.

I think targeting Zac Williams as a ready made quality running half back as a FA, using 1 x first rounder on a KPP and 1 x first rounder rounding out some more midfield depth is the way to go. We'd hit quite a few needs in one hit.

DGB & Elijah Hollands (Did an ACL in the 2020 pre-season) would be ideal.

Hollands brings the explosive pace and class we need to midfield.
 

Hojuman

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I think targeting Zac Williams as a ready made quality running half back as a FA, using 1 x first rounder on a KPP and 1 x first rounder rounding out some more midfield depth is the way to go. We'd hit quite a few needs in one hit.

DGB & Elijah Hollands (Did an ACL in the 2020 pre-season) would be ideal.

Hollands brings the explosive pace and class we need to midfield.




Do we need to bring in another kid who has an acl history ?
 

Pykie

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Do we need to bring in another kid who has an acl history ?

Did we need to draft a kid recovering off a horrifically broken leg? (Simpkin).

Simpkin would of gone top 5 in his draft without the injury, I'm pretty confident Hollands would of gone #1 without the ACL. He will still go top 10 and more than likely still top 5.
 

Passmore

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I think targeting Zac Williams as a ready made quality running half back as a FA, using 1 x first rounder on a KPP and 1 x first rounder rounding out some more midfield depth is the way to go. We'd hit quite a few needs in one hit.

DGB & Elijah Hollands (Did an ACL in the 2020 pre-season) would be ideal.

Hollands brings the explosive pace and class we need to midfield.
We're going to need Melbourne to absolutely blow (and us to be pretty *ing ordinary) for that scenario to eventuate.

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