2006 Draft profiles (mojo31)

[Pafloyul]

Don't ignore Mojo just yet Cyph, he's actually already seen them play.

 

[TheHeatleyStand]

Mojo, i saw Gumbleton play last year in the carnival.. and again on ABC2 last night.
I dont think hes faster than Kennedy. In fact i reckon Kennedy is faster than alot of people give him credit for.
To me he looked very much like Kennedy and i was happy Peel gave him a go in the ruck.
Im just wondering would both of those guys fit into a Carlton team or would you go past gumbleton even if he was (hypothetically speaking) better than the next best?
and go with a more mobile KPP who can also play CHB instead of the beast/power forward Gumbleton seeing we have Kennedy.

To me there are a few options.
Sellar and Gumbleton as the power talls/ ruckmen.
Then there is the more mobile KPP like Thorp/Reiwoldt and Hansen

 

[crowsarethebest]

Mojo you are a Legend . great Porfiles and they are so detailed as well. Good on ya for sharing your profiles. I'm just wondering about Bachar Houli, he was very highly rated last year, do you think he has been overated on this board? You have him 16th in your rankings.

 

[Hu$$ey]

Mojo, i saw Gumbleton play last year in the carnival.. and again on ABC2 last night.
I dont think hes faster than Kennedy. In fact i reckon Kennedy is faster than alot of people give him credit for.
To me he looked very much like Kennedy and i was happy Peel gave him a go in the ruck.
Im just wondering would both of those guys fit into a Carlton team or would you go past gumbleton even if he was (hypothetically speaking) better than the next best?
and go with a more mobile KPP who can also play CHB instead of the beast/power forward Gumbleton seeing we have Kennedy.

To me there are a few options.
Sellar and Gumbleton as the power talls/ ruckmen.
Then there is the more mobile KPP like Thorp/Reiwoldt and Hansen

I don't think we will be taking Gumbleton at all, that just defeats the purpose of picking Kennedy last year.

I also don't think there is that much of a gap between the top 7 or so prospects, there isn't a huge talent gap, so even if he was the best available by the time our pick came, the recruiters will probably prefer to pass on him and just go down very very slightly in terms of talent to address team needs.

For e.g If Gumbleton was ranked 6th and Selwood was 7th for our recruiters and we had pick 6 and both were available, we'll probably opt for Selwood as he will only be marginally lower than Gumbleton and we address our midfield deficiencies instead of doubling up in the forward line.

 

[Hu$$ey]

Mojo you are a Legend . great Porfiles and they are so detailed as well. Good on ya for sharing your profiles. I'm just wondering about Bachar Houli, he was very highly rated last year, do you think he has been overated on this board? You have him 16th in your rankings.

I'll butt in

He had a very serious back injury last year so probably slipped down a little in mojo's rankings as he said himself, when fully fit, he is capable of going in the top 10, seems to be a fan favourite on bigfooty with the Jet's connection but yeah exciting player and a good bloke.

Coming back from injury, played his 2nd game for the year last week vs Calder and kicked 5 goals

 

[B-M-L #15]

I believe People should keep there eyes on Sam Fielding from Tasmania good player in my mind. PlayingVFL and looking good! playing in the midfield and winning plenty of contested ball. did lots of work off the ball and under the packs at Aurora on Saturday night. watch for him.

 

[mojo31]

Firstly, well done to Mojo31 for all his profiles.

Finally saw Gumbleton on TV today, and must admit he is the most impressive draft prospect I have ever seen playing WAFL. Peel lost today, but as a CHF he continually presented down the spine and took strong marks in contested situations - he missed a easy shot on goal but his skills otherwise were brilliant, especially his handballing and ground skills. I am on dangerous ground, but when he moved into the midfield/ruck he reminded me of Ryan Griffen (Albeit he is a bit taller).

Chris Waterman (Peel Coach) said at half time that he was a natural leader, a future AFL champion and that he would be worth finishing last to pick up at next years draft, which I thought was a pretty dangerous comment for an AFL coach-aspirant to make.

Also from watching that game(draft related sort of), whats wrong the recruiters before the Eagles not to recruit Shannon Hurn?

Gumbleton looks 197cms now to me. Went into the ruck and when the umpire could actually bounce the ball straight (did not happen a lot) he was able to get first hands to it in the ruck. Did not get pushed off the ball around the ground. Did not looked lost with the ball on the ground.

Missed that easy goal like you said but all his other kicks were good. Did not drop any marks. Took them dropping back to the last line to help out. Around the ground and up forward. Got no service from his midfield and had to plug gaps. Good leap, pretty mobile and was wortking hard in the last quater when he was tired.
How many 17 year old KPP players can go into the ruck as well and play out a whole game at senior level? 100 minutes of CHF/ruck against blokes like Daniel Bandy who are as fit as anybody in the AFL (still).

As for Hurn. He kicked the ball well but everyone knows that he can do that. Where was the run and carry from him in the midfield?
Look at Luke Toia who looked about 5kgs overweight. He had the ball and ran around players, took bounces and linked up. Hurn did none of that. Maybe its unfair with his team getting smashed. But Hurn got the ball and kicked automatically. Did not take anyone on or look to carry.

He has trimmed down and was moving okay but look at the standard of the game and project that to AFL level which is what we are talking about for them. I think in time he will become a good player at AFL level but when I saw the game (and others for Peel this year) I do not see Hurn and go "wow, what a gun" I see "big body, physically ready, reliable and a booming kick and Josh Hunt like".
I dont see a Ricciutto type at all.

Just my opinion. The right pick for what was left but give me Gumbelton anyday of the week please.

I have seen Gumbleton 3 times this year and thats about his level for anybody who saw him for the first time. Remembering he is 17 only.

Reminds me of Josh Kennedy from last year. But Gumbleton is taller, more skilled, a better contested mark, better shot for goal, bigger leap and has a touch more endurance.
Very similar type but Gumbleton is just better overall by a decent margin based on everything I have seen of both of them.

 

[mojo31]

I believe People should keep there eyes on Sam Fielding from Tasmania good player in my mind. PlayingVFL and looking good! playing in the midfield and winning plenty of contested ball. did lots of work off the ball and under the packs at Aurora on Saturday night. watch for him.

They seem to be using him as a tagger who wins clearances rather than a link player with a free reign and license.

Given he is a top underage 400m runner with endurance it makes him a pretty decent prospect. Looks like he is taller and a fair bit bigger this year.

Late 1st round/2nd round prospect for this draft I would say.

 

[footystar_]

hey mojo do you think many from western jets will get drafted??

also the werribee fc under 18 side are looking far to strong from the rest, normally a few invited to vfl are sent out, do you know much about the side this year. I know they have 25 players all strong players. a few telling the jets to off because they learn more down at werribee, great coach kirk norton

 

[GRANGE_GSM]

hey mojo do you think many from western jets will get drafted??

also the werribee fc under 18 side are looking far to strong from the rest, normally a few invited to vfl are sent out, do you know much about the side this year. I know they have 25 players all strong players. a few telling the jets to off because they learn more down at werribee, great coach kirk norton

you seem to always mention local footy in this forum!.....can you plaese find there is a regional league for you little 5.H.it kickers to talk about how good you are!...i got nothing against you talking about local league but go off and do it else where.....im sure mojo dont care bout your little mates n how you should be in jets!

 

[mojo31]

Mojo, i saw Gumbleton play last year in the carnival.. and again on ABC2 last night.
I dont think hes faster than Kennedy. In fact i reckon Kennedy is faster than alot of people give him credit for.
To me he looked very much like Kennedy and i was happy Peel gave him a go in the ruck.
Im just wondering would both of those guys fit into a Carlton team or would you go past gumbleton even if he was (hypothetically speaking) better than the next best?
and go with a more mobile KPP who can also play CHB instead of the beast/power forward Gumbleton seeing we have Kennedy.

To me there are a few options.
Sellar and Gumbleton as the power talls/ ruckmen.
Then there is the more mobile KPP like Thorp/Reiwoldt and Hansen

I think Gumbleton is a little more mobile than Josh but not that much in it. A better contested mark and better on the ground. Better kick and leap. Taller like you said. Looks taller than the 196cms he is supposed to be.
Running hard in the last quater when you would think he should be tiring.

Similar types. Just Gumbleton is better in almost everything. Both physical work horses who presnt all day and have great wpork ethics and "straighten" teams up. Happy we took Josh and we needed someone of that type at CHF.

I do not think we would look at taking Gumbleton if we have a pick in the first 5. I see 5 kids as being pretty equal with him and Gibbs, Hansen, Thorp and Sellar. So under those cirumstances where they are all roughly equal you take the player who fits the need the most.
So in order that is Hansen and Thorp and then perhaps Sellar as a full time ruck depending on his height and Gibbs followed by Gumbleton.

We need a tall who can play all over the ground and has enough athleticism to play at CHB and take on all the rotations other teams throw at you. So if the Dogs throw R Murphy or Brad Johnson at you then you can cover them. If its a power forward in Tredrea then be able to cover them. Or an in between flanker who can play tall but is very mobile in Croad/Robbo.

Blokes like Fletcher, Clement, Scarlett can basically cover all these types. They have enough speed and athleticism to do it and can adjust there game accordingly.
They can play in front of a Mark Williams type who wont take overhead marks on them. They can play off a bigger man in Hall who likes to wrestle a lot sometimes and push the defender off the ball early and then take an uncontested mark by protecting the drop zone. They can also cover Hall with his high aerobic ability to lead all day and work over defenders and who then goes deep forward and outbodies tired defenders who cant hold there ground after he has run them off there legs for 3/4 of the game (Tredrea, J Brown all do this and did it to Kepler Bradley earlier this year)
They can block the path of a Robbo type who will sit on a defenders head if given a free reign to do it. Initiate contact early in a subtle way and not allow them an easy jump.
They can also zone off and play loose man. They wont be dragged away from the ball with dummy leads. They read the play and can also outbody smaller opponents and take marks back there. They organise defenses and cover for others.

So for me we have Bower who is very attacking and a good athlete but is a long way off being physically ready for KPP. Is a tall flanker at this stage who will take a while. A bottom aged kid with flair and rebound but needs to get stronger and work on his bodywork. Fair chance he will make it but no way is he a guarantee at CHB.

So the need is Hansen/Thorp who can play anywhere down the spine. Thorp is more explosive in terms of leap and acceleration. Hansen is more steady and consistent but both are about a good a tall prospect as have come along for years. Thorp has OP so I have not seen him this year. Takes huge pack marks and has played full back and full forward (in the same game) and kicked bags of goals. Div 2 player though in a weaker level at the U18s.
Should play some VFL games for Tasmania when fit again towards the end of the year. Suppose to be up to 195cms now.

I saw him in a couple of times in the TAC for the Mariners and he looked as good as anyone I saw last year at that level. Up forward or back or on the ball as a ruckman he kept getting it and using it. Good on the ground and speed to burn. Athletic and kicks goals and at the U16s a few years before he looked like an absolue gun. At the U18 Champs last year he was a little quiet still quality and 1 year younger than almost everybody.
So taking all that into account he is pure quality.

Hansen dominated at CHB last year against everybody. Now he has filled out and playing in a less dominant team his form is even more impressive under pressure. Juyst cant see him being anything other than a KPP who can play anywhere.

We take a Hansen or a Thorp then we can develop them where we want depending on them and the other young players on the list. We get Roughead/Hawthorn scenario with where you play them back or forward, last line or CHB/CHF . Only Thorp and Hansen in my opinion better prospects and more athletic.

Thats where I see our list and where the need is and how the game is changing. The need for a tall mobile athletic player who is versatile and can ready the play. Wont get caught out and take on pretty much all comers. They dont come along very often and I see 3 this year with Riewoldt being the other 1. Then in 4 or 5 years when they have had all that development and are hopefully ready to be stars and our list looks completely different we can move them around where they are best suited and the need is.

If a Deledio type was available this year then I would all for considering them but there is not. There is a class utility in Gibbs who just does not have that athleticism to break games open which Judd/Deledio have.
Sellar as a tall forward who will be more of a ruck than a CHF given physical development is not exactly what we need.

We could do with any of these 5 blokes but if they are all rated about the same at draft time and we had the choice I would be calling out Hansen or Thorp. A long way to go still though but that would be my thoughts on it.

If we had a later pick (say 6 plus) and Gumbleton was still there and the other 4 were gone then I would take him. Best available amnd take "need" if all are rated roughly equal. So if itr was Jetta/Selwood or Gumbelton at 6 I would take Gumby in a heartbeat as he is clearlyy better than those 2 in my opinion.
Take the team need if there is no gap between a couple of prospects.

So for example if we took Hansen with our first pick and then for our 2nd pick we had a choice of Eric Mackenzie (a KPP prospect more as a defender) and Clayton Collard (pacy skilled midfielder) who are roughly around the same level of talent I would take Collard over Eric considering we already took Hansen and we need Collards attributes more than another KPP.

I have just rambled on here but thats my thoughts on what we should do.

Take a tall athletic versatile KPP early on because thats where the talent is with 5 similarly talented players.
Take a speedy midfielder with a high level of kicking skill in the 2nd round. Look for some Kade Simpson types who fall through the cracks (like he did in 2002) later in the draft with there lack of body size, but have class and skill and pace and have them developing for a few years.
Thats what I would be doing.

 

[theorangeapple]

He has trimmed down and was moving okay but look at the standard of the game and project that to AFL level which is what we are talking about for them. I think in time he will become a good player at AFL level but when I saw the game (and others for Peel this year) I do not see Hurn and go "wow, what a gun" I see "big body, physically ready, reliable and a booming kick and Josh Hunt like".
I dont see a Ricciutto type at all.

Yep...I know where you are coming from. However, I am pleased that he has showed he can play midfield. He can read the ball and find it from the clearances. That was a major doubt behind him, he hadnt proven he could play midfield at any sort of level. He got 28 posessions in a side which didnt hand it to him on a plate.

I think he had afew moments when he did just get the ball and bang it forward but when you can kick the ball like that you dont really need to carry it 10-15m. Having said that, there are times when he tries to do too much and take players on and gets caught. Not because he was slow, because he simply tried to out muscle 1 too many players. The club is trying to teach him that in AFL players are alot stronger and the tackles will stick...hence he has to follow a fine line between banging the kick forward and taking players on.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing with Shannon is that he is improving weekly. To be honest, he struggled in the intra club matches pre season. However he has steadily improved and is now reaching a point where he is close to selection. Another game like last Saturday will probably be enough for a call up.

Having said all that, I dont think we got a bargain at #13. I think it was a good pick but from what I have seen so far, he wouldnt have been worth pick 4 or so.

 

[footyman]

I will put up something on Monday and then leave it at that until after the U18 Championships.

Good to see you appear to have had a change of heart.

Hopefully the same applies with footydraft, I know they are keen for you to do it and it needs someone to take it on.

 

[kempos_kingz_05]

I believe People should keep there eyes on Sam Fielding from Tasmania good player in my mind. PlayingVFL and looking good! playing in the midfield and winning plenty of contested ball. did lots of work off the ball and under the packs at Aurora on Saturday night. watch for him.

Yes im with ya their B_M_L! Fielding looks like a tremendous prospect. hard running midfielder who can also kick a goal. Matty Armstrong has been very very pleased with his first 2 games in the devils colours. He's endurance is extremely good. He also is very dedicated. He's got all the makings of an AFL player. Love it if collingwood picked him up

 

[chooker]

Mojo. Love your work mate, really appreciate it.

Just a quick one, have you got any thoughts on Nick Smith (of the Oakleigh variety)? You briefy mentioned him early, and (i think) said you'd go abit more in depth later on.

Cheers.

 

[TheHeatleyStand]

Agree with you mojo and thanks.

I reckon id take Sellar first.. and then one of the two you mentioned before Gibbs .Im interested on your take on Reiwoldt. Have you seen much of him this year?Is so how has his physical development gone?

I reckon with the trends in the AFL there is a good chance all of Jetta/Collard/Proud will be gone by our second pick.. which will be disappointing as id love one of those.. with Sammy Sheldon as our third rounder and then speed midfielders again in the mould of Pearce/Simmo if they fall through.

I hope we can trade heavily.

 

[mojo31]

Hey mojo, I am pretty interested in Fremantle's recruiting strategies. Its become fairly obvious we are in desperate need of midfielders with footskills. But over the last few drafts we haven't picked any up. To the increasing frustration of many fans.

It seems this draft is full of key position players. Who are the midfielders with the best footskills apart from Selwood and Gibbs? which i think will go before we get a pick. (EDIT reread the first couple pages, I guess Houli and Proud seem to fit the mark, but i think Fremantle desperately need some pace). Who do you think Fremantle will be targetting?

Also, if you have the time, what is your opinion of our drafting over the past 3 years? I am particularly interested in the lack of midfielders? 3 in 3 years doesn't seem enough, even when we trade for Carr and Black.

2005
Pick 10 Marcus Drum
Pick 26 Garrick Ibbotson
Pick 42 Robert Warnock

2004
Pick 59 Bennet Copping (KPP)
Pick 67 Toby Stribling
Pick 69 relisted a delisted player

2003
pick 10 Ryley Dunn - particularly interested in your thoughts on this pick
pick 12 Ryan Murphy
Pick 19 David Mundy
Pick 27 Adam Campbell
Pick 43 Brett Peake


EDIT: another two quick questions:
1. Any talent coming from Aquinas College (WA) this year? we've seen a few over the years.
2. Also the Murray Bushrangers, Connolly seems to have an affliction in picking up someone from this club?

Sorry about my late reply.

I will answer bit by bit as I have some work to do as well.

Fremantle are a hard team to peg. They have a good list on paper and play a good brand of football at times but at other times they fold like a house of cards.

I am not sure if it is a problem with the coaching or organistion. Or a bad culture or just over rating players. They dont seem to gel as a team enough. They play "tough" when they cop some flack but in really big games they fade away far to quickly. I could give examples but I am sure you know what I mean.

So is there a problem or just a perception of 1. Are the playes quality or just flat track bullies?

You have had a number of players Wanting to go to WA for differnt reasons. Headland, Carr , Black and Bell. How do you evaluate them since they have been there?
Are they better players now than at there other clubs?
For me they are not. Bell is not dangerous anymore with his possessions. Teams let him get in the back pocket and go head to head against him with a more damaging player. Carr wants to be tough and niggle all the time but is not winning clearances or contested ball enough. Chips it around when he does get it and its (like Bell) not damaging.
Headland is in the opposite camp. Gtes it and carries and kicks long. But its more of blazing away style. Will make a big effort to run in and throw his body in the way once or twice a game but is not regularly putting hius head over it and being disciplined. Its more of a showy style of being "hard".

Contested ball and clearances are way down. Bell, Carr, Haselby etc as a group have a reputation of being able to win them but apart from Haselby I dont see it last year and this one so far.

I had a look at the stats and they show the same thing as when I see them play.

Very high in the number of possessions.
Clearances 28 compared to opponents 33. Thats a fair margin.
Contested possessions (I did not include C Marks) is 22 to Freo and 23 to the opposition.

First possession is 32 to 34. Beaten again. Dominant in the hitouts (with Sandilands) but not winning clearances, getting first possession or balls in dispute. Tackles are way down.

I had a look last year and its the samething. Last on clearances, low in CPs (remember to subtract CMs). First possession is bottom few.

So we have a list on paper who are made for winning CPs and clearances with a dominat ginat ruck in Sandilands. A great back up in Longmuir who is mobile and a number of shorties who should be made for winning clearances. Bell, Schammer, Carr, Haselby. Your club has gone out and got Carr, Black, Headland, Schoefield etc and given up picks (please dont get technical with PSD etc). The pint being your club went foir solid mature experienced midfielders and are not using the draft. Whether its right or wrong is not the point. These blokes dont need 5 years to develop. They are ready made.
So thats not an excuse for not performing.

So that area needs to be addressed. Dominant ruckmen and not enough clearance players who are top shelf. Subiaco is a big ground but it starts with the clearance and feeding it out. So who on your list is developing in that regard.

Schammer is being played in the back pocket and getting a lot of it. It does not really hurt teams and if you added up his 20 kicks each game in total they would struggle to be the length of 1 ground. He is avaeraging 3 long kicks a game. Its Black and Headland who kick it long of course in your team.

Polak, Longmuir, Pavlich and Mcpharlin as a group give you 4 tall contested marking players and gives Fremantle its real strength for the last 3 years.

5th in 2004.
1st last year.
2nd this year.

Getting beaten around the stoppages and contested possessions. Winning hit outs. Leading the competition for marks this year and 4th for possessions. Were middle of the road last year in these 2 things.
So Freo are chipping it around this year and taking a lot of marks and easy possessions. Meanwhile Pav, McPaharlin and Polak are in the F50 waiting.
Play to your strengths.

You have Farmer and Medhurst as your crumbers. Farmer still looks dangerous around goals but Medhurst is pushing further up the ground and not kicking many.

Part 1.


Part 2 to follow later.

 

[rgauci]

Agree with almost everything you've said. I don't think players come across and get worse. They just aren't supported by the same quality as they were in other teams. Heath Black was being omitted on occasion with the saints. Came across and was our best performing midfielder last year.

Headland came across but has struggled, he has probably performed worse. Josh Carr is about par with his performances at Port. Bell was incredible in his first few years, but has dropped away with age. As expected.

I started a thread in the Fremantle board entitled 'M.Carr and Schammer 51 possessions worth bugger all' which parallels your sentiments about our chippy chippy style.

I think its got to do with our sweepers across halfback not having any particular penetration with their kicking. No wonder a flood works excellently against us, no one in the backline can kick over the head of the spare man.

Looking forward to part 2.

 

[Wizard]

We have to remember with DJ he had only really one good season with Brisbane. And realistically in that good season it was only 6-7 good games its just that those 6-7 were so exceptional he polled votes in everyone.

 

[mojo31]

Agree with you mojo and thanks.

I reckon id take Sellar first.. and then one of the two you mentioned before Gibbs .Im interested on your take on Reiwoldt. Have you seen much of him this year?Is so how has his physical development gone?

I reckon with the trends in the AFL there is a good chance all of Jetta/Collard/Proud will be gone by our second pick.. which will be disappointing as id love one of those.. with Sammy Sheldon as our third rounder and then speed midfielders again in the mould of Pearce/Simmo if they fall through.

I hope we can trade heavily.

Jack Riewoldt has been injured so hopefully he is right to go by the U18 Champs and gets a few games before then and regains his touch. Listed at 193cms so is tall enough. Played back at the U18s and looked good last year. Played forward in some senior football in Tasmania against men who targetted him (tried to rough him up) and he came through that and kicked bags of goals and was named best finals player for his team.

I dont think he is as athletic as Nick and Mitch Thorp. Similar to Hansen who is taller and bigger in the body and not quite the form of Lachlan who never plays a poor game.

So something like

Thorp - football ability 8.5, athletic ability 9.5
Riewoldt - football ability 8.5, athletic ability 8
Hansen - football ability 9, athletic ability 8.5
Gumbleton- football ability 9.5, athletic ability 7
Sellar - football ability 8.5, athletic ability 9 (for 197cms)
Gibbs - football ability 9, athletic ability 7 (for someone at 187cms)
Selwood -football ability 9, athletic ability 6 (for 184cms)


taking into account there size. Sellar is about the same speed as Riewoldt or a touch less but he is 197cms and 4cms taller so is a better overall athlete. Gumbleton would not be a 7/10 for athletic ability if he was 192cms but he is more like 196 and can pinch hit in the ruck and require a very big defender to play on him.

They are just a few numbers. But the athletic ability is perhaps the term for "scope for improvement or development" and the football ability is the talent they have now and what they start with. If they develop to there full ability then and use all the athletic ability they have then it changes.
Some will and some wont but that gives an idea.

It will change depoending on form this year and testing at draft camp but my thoughts on it now.

 

[mojo31]

Agree with almost everything you've said. I don't think players come across and get worse. They just aren't supported by the same quality as they were in other teams. Heath Black was being omitted on occasion with the saints. Came across and was our best performing midfielder last year.

Headland came across but has struggled, he has probably performed worse. Josh Carr is about par with his performances at Port. Bell was incredible in his first few years, but has dropped away with age. As expected.

I started a thread in the Fremantle board entitled 'M.Carr and Schammer 51 possessions worth bugger all' which parallels your sentiments about our chippy chippy style.

I think its got to do with our sweepers across halfback not having any particular penetration with their kicking. No wonder a flood works excellently against us, no one in the backline can kick over the head of the spare man.

Looking forward to part 2.

I just see it as a group that Carr, Bell, Black and Headland are not playing as well as I would have thought they can. Not having a huge effect on games. Plenty of stats but its a bit ineffective at times as a group.
Black has been pretty good. Headland dissapointing. Carr came over with huge wraps after moving his game to another level in his final year at port and in the finals and was set to "take the next step". But has not as of yet.
Bell was good early on but in the last few years its pretty ineffective stats and teams dont tag him.

 

[mojo31]

Agree with almost everything you've said. I don't think players come across and get worse. They just aren't supported by the same quality as they were in other teams. Heath Black was being omitted on occasion with the saints. Came across and was our best performing midfielder last year.

Headland came across but has struggled, he has probably performed worse. Josh Carr is about par with his performances at Port. Bell was incredible in his first few years, but has dropped away with age. As expected.

I started a thread in the Fremantle board entitled 'M.Carr and Schammer 51 possessions worth bugger all' which parallels your sentiments about our chippy chippy style.

I think its got to do with our sweepers across halfback not having any particular penetration with their kicking. No wonder a flood works excellently against us, no one in the backline can kick over the head of the spare man.

Looking forward to part 2.

Continuing on from a post earlier and looking at your list in depth and where the relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Strength

Contested marking ability with tall athletic players.

Pavlich, McPharlin, Polak and Longmuir. Ages 21 to 25. So no retirements coming.
Injury concerns? McPharlin has dodgy hamstrings and is better out of the square rather than running 15kms a game at CHF. He lacks a little endurance because he cant train at 100% week in week out. Is on on of those slightly modified programs for it. Burst explosive player rather than a work horse.
Can play down back and gives versatiltiy. Shocking action when kicking but it goes reasonable stright but I much prefer him to mark the ball 30m out and kick for goal rather than 75m out and pass off. He can kick okay when its for goal and he does not have to kick it hard. But his field kicking is just up and under and woeful generally.
Polak is another versatile tall player. A poor kick and decision maker but has superb hands overhead. Now getting the meat on his body to be able to compete down back. Needs to work on his goal kicking but when someone marks the ball as well as he does in contested situations he should be played forward.
Pav has dodgy shoulders so not sure I want him at CHF either and huge packs. I would play him deep forward and make it 1 on 1. He is not a great pack markr anyway and does his best work 1 on 1 with his huge powerful legs and hips holding his ground in front. Not that quick but has superb endurance and making multiple leads on the wide expanses of Subi he wears down most full backs.
Longmuir is your back up ruck. Form has dropped away this year. Good contested mark and a real sharp shooter for goal. A bit of an in between player. A bit short to ruck and although very athletic for 197cms he is not quite quick or agile enough to play KPP on a quality defender and not be exploited. So he is better as a ruckman who drfaits forward and kicks 25 to 30 goals a year rather than a player who plays ruck for half a quater and the other half up forward (if that makes sense). Let him exploit the ruckmen with his superior speed and movement and not a KP defender.

So do you trade this strength and look to fill a weakness?

Polak? No way. You wont get value. He is just a kid in terms of a KPP. You will just start to get some value out of him now if his body holds together. You can push him back also. He has a bad reputation and some is probably warranted but some is most likely a beat up. Clubs will undervalue him (like they did with Fevola last year, I wonder if Richmond would like pick 8 for JON or Fevola now?)

Longmuir no. You dont have ruck depth after him and Sandilands. The kid you got last year might be ready by 2013.
McPharlin? no he is just starting to get his body together now.
Pav? If he wants to stay then keep him. If he wants out then get the deal done. You might find a player as good as Pav in the draft but dont count on it. You dont trade your guns unless they want out. You slowly eat away at the clubs fabric if you do. Unless he is a problem player like Spida and Hall were at the Saints. But Pav apart from his idiotic manager wanting some sort of bidding war at the end of the year a few years ago (which is not Pavs fault to be honest and he put a stop to it when he realized how poor it looked) has been nothing but professional.

So I would not trade any of these 4 players who give Freo its great strength with contested marking. All 25 and younger and are like gold. Just means you do not need to look for a key forward in the draft unless someone slips through who is just to good to pass up.

More later after lunch.

 

[Nightwolf]

Hey mate

Not too sure if you get out to the EFL or other leagues, but do you have any idea if there are any James Gwilt like players that could get a shot at an AFL club in the coming draft (Players not coming through the under 18's). Something that St.Kilda seem to be looking at the last 2 seasons... Apologies if youve already mentioned something along these lines, but this thread is massive..

 

[Gumby]

Scottie Gumbleton reported as being 200cm on the Peel Thunder FC website.
James Sellar reported as being 198cm now.

 

[mojo31]

Fremantle to continue on Monday.

Nick Smith, Tim Houlihan and Scott Dwyer also.

Anybody who asked me something I have not forgotten but just run out of time. I ramble along and 2 sentence answers are not my style so it takes me a while. I like to explain my write ups and not just give a few glib answers which dont really say a great deal.
So it takes me a bit longer than normal.

Have a good weekend everybody.