2007 Draft Trends

[The Royal Sampler]

We're going to need a great performance from Hine more than ever this year, IMHO.

Firstly, assuming we finish in the top 6 and don't trade to get a higher pick, we're unlikely at this stage to be able to pick up either of the best two ruck prospects. Kreuzer was never going to be within reach anyway, but now Ben McEvoy is being touted as a top 10 prospect.

If we really want a ruckman with our first pick, we might be overpaying for him.

On the plus side, a few highly rated mids didn't put their names up in lights during the U18 National Champs, and so may slide a little. Trent Cotchin didn't make AA, and possibly could slide out of the top 3-5. Jack Grimes, Vic Metro's captain, might slide even further due to the performances of WA's Rhys Palmer and Chris Masten as mids, and Cale Morton's Larke Medal.

Still very, very early days no doubt, but our recruiting team are going to have to bring their A-game this year to get the most out of the draft.

 

[magpies42]

our priority is a ruck who will dominate in a couple of years time. I suggest trading for an established ruck. If we cant do that then go best available in the draft!

 

[HFF]

Still early days to speculate because final standings on the ladder are still undecided, however i do agree that in the increasingly likelihood of our team finishing inside the top 6, Hine and his team will need to have done their homework and bring their A-grade game come November.

I agree that the smaller types (midfielders) and rucks will be the priority in this draft, however i like the philosophy best available- especially with the much publicised weak depth of the draft. Hine has assessed previous drafts well before eg. drafted tallish flanker/KP types in 04, went for midfielders/flankers in 05 and went KPP in 06, so he does know what is each drafts strengths so he will pick accordingly and wouldn't be surprised to see some surprise selections perhaps in the later picks.

 

[SingaporeSling]

No trading for players for picks unless the deal is too to be true ( and probably is ).

I like the kids way. Preseason draft a experienced ruck if need be or thru the national draft with kids

 

[Brahma Bull]

Is Cyril Rioli any good? Is that who we need?

 

[prO]

I wouldnt really worry about who is touted what. The 'assumed' draft order changes significantly - Jetta prime example of someone who was touted top 10. Pendles prime example of someone who wasn't. Therefore theres a good possibility we will get what we're after.

 

[didaka]

Is Cyril Rioli any good? Is that who we need?

He was a standout for the NT.

It looks as though Bellchambers has been overtaken by McEvoy and fallen back in the pack a little. This is good for us. If he is available he should be looked at.

 

[daics cousin]

We desperately do need a good,strong bodied ruckman,so forget us getting someone through the draft next year,because we will finish top 4 this year and our earliest pick could be anything form pick 13-16.
We need to get someone experienced or someone like a jamie charman,Rhett biglands but someone that is not going to cost us the earth.Would be great to secure someone of Charman's calibre,who would suit us just fine.
Secondly we should be also looking for an experienced in and under midfielder,to throw into the existing group,then we are cooking with gassssss.

 

[jodo27]

If you draft a strongbodied ruckman he is unlikely to play a significant role for a couple of years anyway (Leuenberger the best ruck prospect in years for example).

You need to get a 20-23 yearold who is tall (204+) and preferably mobile from one of the state leagues or another AFL club.

Essendon need the same, Carlton as well and a couple of others.

 

[Crazy Tails]

Don't know a lot about him and I know his name was bandied about a bit last year as a prospect but what about Griffiths from WA?

Mature aged rookie (23-24ish), Monster in height (207cm) and I think I heard he kicked six in recent WAFL match.

 

[Stifler's mom]

In Hine We Trust.

 

[Jabso]

We will go best availible again I think, but we'll definately take a ruck or 2 in there somewhere. I Still think another good midfielder is more important than a ruckman.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I just can't see Malthouse committing to a ruckman with our first rounder. As we need inside mids, I'm hoping Jack Grimes falls to us. As for our second round pick, which will likely be in the 28-33 range, in Hine we trust.

 

[Jabso]

OMG Grimey! I don't care how good he is!

 

[The Royal Sampler]

He lives above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley!

 

[PieLebo87]

This is the final piece of our Premiership puzzle. And the most important. This draft will put our whole puzzle together and be the final touch of that magical formula. It is as important as ever that Hines and co. get it right this year. And of course, we need a good ruckman with one of those picks. There should be at least one decent ruckman in the country that our recruitment staff would be looking at who we take.

 

[Lenz]

IMHO all this talk about needing another ruckman is premature. Apparently the Eagle's Dean Cox was taken at about draft pick 50 or something. If our selectors have done their job well - and the indications in every other department are that they have - then in time Richards and Bryan will prove to be everything we need. Ruckmen take a few years longer to develop than do smaller players or specialty players like fullbacks and goalsneaks. Give our guys time!

 

[Jabso]

He lives above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley!

Haha love that line, probably my favorite episode.

 

[Palmer Stoat]

IMHO all this talk about needing another ruckman is premature. Apparently the Eagle's Dean Cox was taken at about draft pick 50 or something. If our selectors have done their job well - and the indications in every other department are that they have - then in time Richards and Bryan will prove to be everything we need. Ruckmen take a few years longer to develop than do smaller players or specialty players like fullbacks and goalsneaks. Give our guys time!

Premature? How long are we gonna give Richards to come right? Till he's forty? Crikey, he's been on our list for about six years. If he hasn't done something by now, he should be chopped. Frankly, if we didn't have such a piss-poor ruck division, he would've been chopped years ago. Both he can Bryan are in their mid-twenties. Time to show something or start looking for a nonfootball-related job.

 

[Snoop Dog]

Forgive me - just watched a lot of Nat Champs footy over last couple of weeks or so whilst unsure what we want from our first pick would think that one of the below will be it;

Assume we finish 6th - then we will probably have picks 10, 27, 43.

Best ruck in the land is Kruezer and he will be gone by the time our pick comes around. Bellchambers is the next best in the draft and will probably be gone by then. After that, its more Ruck/KPP types and other than McEvoy I cannot see any of them being worthy of pick 10.

That would leave mids and if we assume that Kruezer, Bellchambers are gone then we would get one of the next of these I suspect. Can do bigger writeups but at least you can get a sense of which may fit the type of player you think we are after;

Greenwood - solid mid from Port Magpies who has played heaps of SANFL footy this year and regularly in the best.Kicking can be a little off at times but does run all day and runs fwd.
Ebert - Capt of SA and taller type who moves well and kicks nicely. Would be a tall HB or Wing type. Very much in the Embley/Goodes mould.
Morton - Similar to Ebert in that plays more HB/W/HF. Great disposal and would probably be top 5 at this stage.
Palmer - Hard running mid who racks up kicks and kicks goals as well. Dominated champs and has a bit of go in him.
Myers - Another WA boy who runs very hard and is a great link player. Will be around about our pick. Beaut skills. Maybe more a HB than mid but so was Ellis.
Maric - Really clever fwd who dominated last years TAC and played very well in GF. Loads of skill and has that x factor
Collier - Taller mid type who dominated champs for Tas. Strong in the corridor and sets play up well. Taller version of Hislop. Good skills.
Cotchin - Highly rated mid from Vic who was thought top 2 before champs. Had a bad champs but can be forgiven as he is a class player.
Masten - classy mid for WA who impressed at last years and this years champs. Good thru the middle and has fine skills. Get the impression he is a leader as well.
Rioli - Still not sure how high he will go but certainly has an x factor. Kicked 7 to win the last game for NT. Was AA last year and am pretty sure was again this year. Mid sized type who is similar to D*ck but a bit bigger and probably more likely to be able to go thru the middle.

Suspect i have missed a few as dont have my notes with me but many more like Normington, Henderson, Vespremi, Pears, who would be in the mix but these would be the front runners for me.

Personally I would like Ebert, Masten or Palmer

Should be some decent ruck prospects at the next pick like Mulligan, Hill, Simpson, Lobbe.

Hine will love this draft because the first 20-25 for me are standouts and at this stage the next 50-70 wouldnt be that far apart.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Comments added in
Greenwood - Weaver doesn't have him in his top 50!!! I rate him reasonably highly, but think there's a good chance he'll still be there by our second pick.
Ebert - I think he'll go before 10, despite the fact that he couldn't get near it in the U18 GF vs. WA.
Morton - Agreed, the Larke medal will likely see him go top 5, so we're not much chance.
Palmer - I think he'll also go before 10, as he was stiff not to win the Larke. He was WA's MVP so go figure. Perhaps limited scope for improvement (think the anti-Pendlebury IMHO)
Myers - He has some nice hands too, from what I saw. I think we might be overpaying at 10 at this stage, but wait and see on that one.
Maric - Not sure a forward is what we're looking for, but I like him as a player.
Collier - Overlooked last year but has been a huge improver. Versatile, compared to Birchall on the Drafts board. I like him, and he's almost certain to be first round at this stage.
Cotchin - Doubt he'll fall to 10, but yes please if he does. He's bottom-aged too.
Masten - As for Cotchin. I'd love him for the Pies.
Rioli - Linked to the Bombers because of their track record with the indigenous kids. Talent, no doubt, but not sure he's what we're looking for position-wise.

Should be some decent ruck prospects at the next pick like Mulligan, Hill, Simpson, Lobbe.

I would be surprised at this stage if one of McEvoy or Bellchambers didn't fall to 10. Having said that, I think MM would still go for a mid with our first pick and take a punt on Mulligan etc. with our second round.

If we took Bellchambers with pick 10, do you reckon Veszpremi would be there at 27? I doubt it, but it's a nice thought.

If Hine can identify a decent ruck option for our second pick, I'd love Masten, Cotchin or perhaps to a lesser extent Grimes with our first.

 

[Bay Pie]

The faithful rule.

Don't trade your 1st pick and take the best player available.

Class midfielder will be our 1st pick given the names and positions of kids being bandied about. We will draft a ruckman at some point.

I think Sandilands and Cox were both rookie picks, so taking a ruckman early is a risky prospect, when you could pick up just as good, if not better later in the draft due to ruckman taking a long time to become good players generally.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I think the idea of taking rucks early being a risk has been largely disproven, McIntosh was a ~ #10 pick. They're no riskier than players from other positions. Cox was drafted a while back now, they're getting more and more scientific nowadays. However you're absolutely correct in that they take longer to show a return.

I like the sounds of Mulligan's athletic capabilities, but he gets criticised for his attitude a little. McEvoy is a risk of being another Josh as he's an in-between height, not that I don't love Josh, but we only have room for one in the team.

 

[didaka]

I would be surprised at this stage if one of McEvoy or Bellchambers didn't fall to 10. Having said that, I think MM would still go for a mid with our first pick and take a punt on Mulligan etc. with our second round.

If we took Bellchambers with pick 10, do you reckon Veszpremi would be there at 27? I doubt it, but it's a nice thought.

If Hine can identify a decent ruck option for our second pick, I'd love Masten, Cotchin or perhaps to a lesser extent Grimes with our first.

This guy has to be looked at. Operation get Veszpremi.

 

[Brahma Bull]

Forgive me - just watched a lot of Nat Champs footy over last couple of weeks or so whilst unsure what we want from our first pick would think that one of the below will be it;

Assume we finish 6th - then we will probably have picks 10, 27, 43.

Best ruck in the land is Kruezer and he will be gone by the time our pick comes around. Bellchambers is the next best in the draft and will probably be gone by then. After that, its more Ruck/KPP types and other than McEvoy I cannot see any of them being worthy of pick 10.

That would leave mids and if we assume that Kruezer, Bellchambers are gone then we would get one of the next of these I suspect. Can do bigger writeups but at least you can get a sense of which may fit the type of player you think we are after;

Greenwood - solid mid from Port Magpies who has played heaps of SANFL footy this year and regularly in the best.Kicking can be a little off at times but does run all day and runs fwd.
Ebert - Capt of SA and taller type who moves well and kicks nicely. Would be a tall HB or Wing type. Very much in the Embley/Goodes mould.
Morton - Similar to Ebert in that plays more HB/W/HF. Great disposal and would probably be top 5 at this stage.
Palmer - Hard running mid who racks up kicks and kicks goals as well. Dominated champs and has a bit of go in him.
Myers - Another WA boy who runs very hard and is a great link player. Will be around about our pick. Beaut skills. Maybe more a HB than mid but so was Ellis.
Maric - Really clever fwd who dominated last years TAC and played very well in GF. Loads of skill and has that x factor
Collier - Taller mid type who dominated champs for Tas. Strong in the corridor and sets play up well. Taller version of Hislop. Good skills.
Cotchin - Highly rated mid from Vic who was thought top 2 before champs. Had a bad champs but can be forgiven as he is a class player.
Masten - classy mid for WA who impressed at last years and this years champs. Good thru the middle and has fine skills. Get the impression he is a leader as well.
Rioli - Still not sure how high he will go but certainly has an x factor. Kicked 7 to win the last game for NT. Was AA last year and am pretty sure was again this year. Mid sized type who is similar to D*ck but a bit bigger and probably more likely to be able to go thru the middle.

Suspect i have missed a few as dont have my notes with me but many more like Normington, Henderson, Vespremi, Pears, who would be in the mix but these would be the front runners for me.

Personally I would like Ebert, Masten or Palmer

Should be some decent ruck prospects at the next pick like Mulligan, Hill, Simpson, Lobbe.

Hine will love this draft because the first 20-25 for me are standouts and at this stage the next 50-70 wouldnt be that far apart.

Thanks for that Snoop. Can someone please tell me the pace of these players and their levels of speed, because we do need some speedy mids.