2007 Draftees

[bloods01]

The most anticiapted day on the football calendar has arrived. Lets try and keep it to one thread for the discussion of today's draftees.

 

[bloods01]

The most anticiapted day on the football calendar has arrived. Lets try and keep it to one thread for the discussion of today's draftees.

11. PATRICK VESZPREMI

Northern Knights, VIC, Small defender/forward, September 1 1989, 181.2cm, 84.8kg

Bio: A strong, versatile player who influences the game with his exceptional ball use. Veszpremi was a standout for the Knights in their victory in the first qualifying final against Gippsland, booting eight goals. He is a graduate of the 2006/07 AIS-AFL Academy program and toured South Africa in April. From St Mary's FC.

 

[bloods01]

26. BRETT MEREDITH

Northern Knights, VIC, Small defender, January 20 1989, 181.2cm, 81.5kg

Bio: Versatile type who is an excellent kick and dangerous around goal. Vic Metro U18 representative this year. From Bundoora FC.

 

[grimlock]

What did I say in the other thread? This is not a surprise. Expect us to get some mature talls in the rookie draft.

 

[bloods01]

I cannot beleive that we used both out live picks on midfielders. We are in desperate need of KP player's and yet again we opt for midfielders. Very dissapointed!

 

[is2SWaNz]

Hm... I'd thought we were going for taller defenders. Roos, you amaze me.

 

[bloods01]

Hm... I'd thought we were going for taller players. Roos, you amaze me.

Tell me about it? He was interviewed on SEN before the draft and hinted that they would go best available at 11 and then assess it at 26. If they got a midfielder at 11 then they would look at a tall at 26. Soon we will have a team of 180cm midfielders playing in key positions.

 

[bloods01]

59. CRAIG BIRD

Nelson Bay, NSW, Small midfielder, January 21 1989, 178cm, 76kg

Bio: Small ball-winning midfielder who had outstanding 2007 NAB AFL U18 Championships, winning the Harrison Medal (Div 2 B & F) and back-to-back All-Australian honours. He also captained NSW/ACT to Div 2 title and accumulated 85 disposals (third most overall) at an average of 28 per match. Also won Alan McLean Medal in 2005 NAB AFL U16 Championships (Div 2 B & F). Graduate of the AIS/AFL Academy.

 

[is2SWaNz]

More info about Veszpremi (from Vic Crow)

He has confidence by the bucket load, loves to tuck the ball under his arm and back himself in and has explosive pace. Runs a sub 3.00 20m sprint. He is aggressive, an arrogant sort of footy player, has plenty of X Factor and I am convinced that he will be a superstar. Thing is, he is not really talked about as a really early selection and I think he will fall to Pick 10. In my mind we would be mental not to take him.

Now for a bit of excitement. Today in the TAC Cup Qualifying Final the Knights were struggling in the first. He started on the bench and had an immediate impact in the forward line. He rotated between the bench and the forward pocket and kicked 8.4 off 14 kicks.

He can play anywhere. Great in the guts and has a very strong upper body so he does plenty of grunt work. His pace off the mark and strength often allows him to bust through traffic with the ball. I've seen him play in a sweeping role across the half back flank and when he pinches up forward he's always good for some goals. Today was the first time I've seen him spend a sustained period of time up forward and he finished with 12 scoring shots (8.4) in swirly conditions at Optus Oval.

 

[Maestro15]

More info about Veszpremi (from Vic Crow)

He has confidence by the bucket load, loves to tuck the ball under his arm and back himself in and has explosive pace. Runs a sub 3.00 20m sprint. He is aggressive, an arrogant sort of footy player, has plenty of X Factor and I am convinced that he will be a superstar. Thing is, he is not really talked about as a really early selection and I think he will fall to Pick 10. In my mind we would be mental not to take him.

Now for a bit of excitement. Today in the TAC Cup Qualifying Final the Knights were struggling in the first. He started on the bench and had an immediate impact in the forward line. He rotated between the bench and the forward pocket and kicked 8.4 off 14 kicks.

He can play anywhere. Great in the guts and has a very strong upper body so he does plenty of grunt work. His pace off the mark and strength often allows him to bust through traffic with the ball. I've seen him play in a sweeping role across the half back flank and when he pinches up forward he's always good for some goals. Today was the first time I've seen him spend a sustained period of time up forward and he finished with 12 scoring shots (8.4) in swirly conditions at Optus Oval.

Sounds good

 

[FM0226]

Wow, that's really as horrible as it gets.
I can live with Veszpremi at #11, he sounds like a good prospect.
But getting a small defender at 26 as well? And with Craig Bird already picked?

Murphy better turn out to be able to play KPP, and Jesse White better turn out better than we thought, otherwise I'll hate to see what we kind of list we have for 2009.

 

[bloods01]

Wow, that's really as horrible as it gets.
I can live with Veszpremi at #11, he sounds like a good prospect.
But getting a small defender at 26 as well? And with Craig Bird already picked?

Murphy better turn out to be able to play KPP, and Jesse White better turn out better than we thought, otherwise I'll hate to see what we kind of list we have for 2009.

My sentiments exactly. Veszpremi could be a fine for us. But surely we could have better used pick 26. It's nothing against young Meredith, we don't know much about him, but we desperately needed height on our list.

 

[FM0226]

And especially when the next pick is Andy Otten, he's not a KP prospect but seem to offer something different to us than Meredith might. Swans' recruitment team better hope young Meredith turns out better than Ottens.

And it's not exactly a great surprise that all half decent KP prospects are gone by 26 while Rance and Collier were still on the board at 11. I just hope we got a few spaces on the Rookie draft to hopefully grab a few talls.

I guess we can just hope that Hall and C.Bolton can keep playing at a high till their mid-30s.

 

[bloods01]

And especially when the next pick is Andy Otten, he's not a KP prospect but seem to offer something different to us than Meredith might. Swans' recruitment team better hope young Meredith turns out better than Ottens.

And it's not exactly a great surprise that all half decent KP prospects are gone by 26 while Rance and Collier were still on the board at 11. I just hope we got a few spaces on the Rookie draft to hopefully grab a few talls.

I guess we can just hope that Hall and C.Bolton can keep playing at a high till their mid-30s.

The Crows snapped Otten up very quickly. He stood at 188cm and 91kg and would have been ideal for us.

We might have to ask Dunkley to come our of retirement and take a KP defensive post. I'm so dissapointed after today.

 

[FM0226]

The Crows snapped Otten up very quickly. He stood at 188cm and 91kg and would have been ideal for us.

We might have to ask Dunkley to come our of retirement and take a KP defensive post. I'm so dissapointed after today.

Make that two of us.
Maybe Roos wants to come out of retirement himself, that's why he's relunctant to draft KP prospects so that he doesn't have to compete with them for a spot.

 

[liz]

And especially when the next pick is Andy Otten, he's not a KP prospect but seem to offer something different to us than Meredith might. Swans' recruitment team better hope young Meredith turns out better than Ottens.

If Otten isn't really a KPP, I can't see why we should think he'd be a better option than Meredith. Of course he may become a better player but none of us will have a clue for a few years. We already have Malceski and Mattner at a similar height, plus the taller Goodes and Barlow offering taller midfield options.

I just hope we got a few spaces on the Rookie draft to hopefully grab a few talls.

We only have one pick in the main part of the rookie draft. With O'Loughlin and Barry now 'outside' veterans, we only get 4 non-NSW rookies. Smith, Orreal and Murphy already occupy 3 of those spots.

Wonder if there are some tall NSW "gems" hidden away...

If Rowe qualifies to be taken as a local player, I'll be surprised if he's not re-rookied. There's not much flair to his game but I reckon he could yet become a very solid, no-nonsence key defender.

 

[Benevolent Ert]

Patrick Veszpremi – Northern Knights
Ht: 181 cm Wt: 83 kg
Junior position – Midfield/ Utility
AFL position – Midfield/ Utility
A footballer’s footballer. Tough, smart, hard, skilled and extremely determined. Injuries curtailed his output this year. Firstly a thumb injury and secondly a bad shoulder which he played with till the end of the year.
Strengths: Strong body who attacks each contest with fierce desire. Good kick and mark for his size. Pace is good enough and could play back, forward or midfield in the AFL. Think of a bigger, quicker Gary Moorcroft and you are on the right track.
Weaknesses: Hard to rate where his endurance fitness is at because he has had such an interrupted year. If he tests lower than he should (may not test at all because of shoulder surgery) I wouldn’t be concerned. Veszpremi will work and work until he improves. Veszpremi also has a tendency to break tackles and packs (and mostly succeeds) however against AFL bodies he will find it a tougher ask.
Question marks: Has he been a man playing against boys?
Draft Prediction: 15-35
Stats: TAC 2007. Must be remembered that Veszpremi played many games hurt and deep forward. However, Veszpremi’s disposal by foot is elite. 130 effective kicks with only 36 ineffective kicks. He was less efficient by hand with 35 effective handballs compared to 23 ineffective handballs. Veszpremi kicked 34 goals from 11 games which included 8 goals in a wonderful solo performance.



Brett Meredith – Northern Knights
Ht: 182 cm Wt: 81 kg

Junior position – HBF/ Midfield

AFL position – Small Defender/ Midfield

Meredith is a skilled medium sized utility which are a dime a dozen in the TAC competition. He has spent time at Half Back and Ruck Roving during the year and gets a lot of the footy.
Strengths: Meredith is a smooth mover who is usually in the right spots on the footy field. Meredith gets plenty of the footy playing either in the backline or on the ball. He is equally at home playing across half back and on the ball. He looks best suited to the rebounding small defender AFL role if he is to make it.
Weaknesses: Meredith can be a little loose when playing back or on the ball- he could work further on the defensive side of his game. Meredith is inconsistent with his kicking. Can have good and bad days by foot. He doesn’t have anything athletically special about him to separate him from the glut of players his size.

Question marks:

Draft Prediction: 50+/rookie/undrafted
Stats: TAC 2007. Meredith had 130 effective kicks compared to 49 ineffective which is only average. He averages 8 handball receives which shows he gets to contests and is willing to run forward. Only 6 contested marks from 14 games when playing a fair amount of time Half Back is a query on his one on one skills I feel.

 

[RUNVS]

Patrick Veszpremi
- Was Predicted that he would go between picks 15 and 35
- We got him for pick 11


Brett Meredith
- Was predicted he would be picked after pick 50
- We got him at pick 26

 

[ssfc0203]

Patrick Veszpremi
- Was Predicted that he would go between picks 15 and 35
- We got him for pick 11


Brett Meredith
- Was predicted he would be picked after pick 50
- We got him at pick 26

Still, they're only opinions.

As it said, Veszpremi was injured throughout most of the year, and has shown the tendency to work hard at it and improve. Maybe if he had been at full fitness he would've gone on to a higher pick?
Personally, I was hoping for either him or Rance, with a tall option at #26. Have to hope and pray the rookie draft will be as good a turnout as it has been in past years.

 

[bloods01]

Patrick Veszpremi – Northern Knights
Ht: 181 cm Wt: 83 kg
Junior position – Midfield/ Utility
AFL position – Midfield/ Utility
A footballer’s footballer. Tough, smart, hard, skilled and extremely determined. Injuries curtailed his output this year. Firstly a thumb injury and secondly a bad shoulder which he played with till the end of the year.
Strengths: Strong body who attacks each contest with fierce desire. Good kick and mark for his size. Pace is good enough and could play back, forward or midfield in the AFL. Think of a bigger, quicker Gary Moorcroft and you are on the right track.
Weaknesses: Hard to rate where his endurance fitness is at because he has had such an interrupted year. If he tests lower than he should (may not test at all because of shoulder surgery) I wouldn’t be concerned. Veszpremi will work and work until he improves. Veszpremi also has a tendency to break tackles and packs (and mostly succeeds) however against AFL bodies he will find it a tougher ask.
Question marks: Has he been a man playing against boys?
Draft Prediction: 15-35
Stats: TAC 2007. Must be remembered that Veszpremi played many games hurt and deep forward. However, Veszpremi’s disposal by foot is elite. 130 effective kicks with only 36 ineffective kicks. He was less efficient by hand with 35 effective handballs compared to 23 ineffective handballs. Veszpremi kicked 34 goals from 11 games which included 8 goals in a wonderful solo performance.



Brett Meredith – Northern Knights
Ht: 182 cm Wt: 81 kg

Junior position – HBF/ Midfield

AFL position – Small Defender/ Midfield

Meredith is a skilled medium sized utility which are a dime a dozen in the TAC competition. He has spent time at Half Back and Ruck Roving during the year and gets a lot of the footy.
Strengths: Meredith is a smooth mover who is usually in the right spots on the footy field. Meredith gets plenty of the footy playing either in the backline or on the ball. He is equally at home playing across half back and on the ball. He looks best suited to the rebounding small defender AFL role if he is to make it.
Weaknesses: Meredith can be a little loose when playing back or on the ball- he could work further on the defensive side of his game. Meredith is inconsistent with his kicking. Can have good and bad days by foot. He doesn’t have anything athletically special about him to separate him from the glut of players his size.

Question marks:

Draft Prediction: 50+/rookie/undrafted
Stats: TAC 2007. Meredith had 130 effective kicks compared to 49 ineffective which is only average. He averages 8 handball receives which shows he gets to contests and is willing to run forward. Only 6 contested marks from 14 games when playing a fair amount of time Half Back is a query on his one on one skills I feel.

Our entire team is basically filled with medium sized utilities. Gourids and Geartner are two guys that were very highly rated coming into today and they both missed out. Surely either of those two guys would have been a better option than Meredith in terms of a needs basis.

 

[ssfc0203]

Still, they're only opinions.

As it said, Veszpremi was injured throughout most of the year, and has shown the tendency to work hard at it and improve. Maybe if he had been at full fitness he would've gone on to a higher pick?
Personally, I was hoping for either him or Rance, with a tall option at #26. Have to hope and pray the rookie draft will be as good a turnout as it has been in past years.

Wanted to ask another question, how does the scholarship scheme work? Is it like hunting around for talent and pre-selecting?

 

[liz]

Our entire team is basically filled with medium sized utilities. Gourids and Geartner are two guys that were very highly rated coming into today and they both missed out. Surely either of those two guys would have been a better option than Meredith in terms of a needs basis.

15 other clubs didn't seem to think they warranted a spot either. Maybe that is because they are not as good as BF "opinion" suggests.

 

[liz]

Wanted to ask another question, how does the scholarship scheme work? Is it like hunting around for talent and pre-selecting?

Only available for players in Northern NSW. Not sure exactly where the line across the state is drawn but the ACT and Riverina areas aren't included, while Broken Hill is.

It is aimed at clubs identifying talent between 14 and 17 yos - ie usually two to three years before they are draftable, and then providing some assistance (monetary and maybe coaching / training camps) while they develop. The objective is to identify talent that may be swayed towards another sport and encouraging them to stick with (or maybe even convert to) AFL.

Once a player reaches drafting age, the sponsoring club can pre-select that player onto their list (senior or, if they are old enough, rookie) and use their last pick in the draft to take them. I presume the player has to agree to this so that a club can't force a player to join them as a rookie if he thinks he has a decent chance of getting drafted onto a senior list, or if he's decided he hates his sponsoring club.

At the moment clubs can take up to 2 players a year as new scholarship holders.

Craig Bird was not a typical selection last year since he was already of draftable age when he was taken. So he wasn't really within the intended spirit of the scheme.

The Swans have two more on their list - a ruckman with a double barrelled name that puts LRT to shame (RBN or RNB?) and a smaller running player from the central coast area (Jay Lewis).

Others of note who may get drafted next year include Scott Reed (who Collingwood fans are convinced is the best thing ever - well, since Marty Clarke, anyway) and Ranga Wickirama (I know I've spelt that incorrectly) who is a lively midsized half forward who played a few games with the Swans reserves early in the season and had one very good game in this year's U18 championships.

 

[FM0226]

If Otten isn't really a KPP, I can't see why we should think he'd be a better option than Meredith. Of course he may become a better player but none of us will have a clue for a few years. We already have Malceski and Mattner at a similar height, plus the taller Goodes and Barlow offering taller midfield options.

We also have around 16 players on our senior list that are sub-184cm (and a high proportion of our younger players being so) and most of which are small defenders/midfielders. We have also drafted 6 players that are mediums in the first two rounds since 2002, and none of which had turned out to be the top level midfielder (yet) we seem to be forever searching for.

We already have trouble finding a senior place for the likes of Schmidt, Jack and Moore in the side, with Thornton and Brabazon yet to get a game. If Crouch is fully fit and with LRT going back to CHB and Craig Bolton going back to playing on medium forwards, Bevan is in the mix as well and of course we have Daniel O'Keefe who we drafted in the super-draft. Bird is practically a second-year player for us and we need to give him some playing time sooner rather than later.

With Kirk being outstanding. J.Bolton sighing a new contract and Fosdike and Matthews being seemingly undroppables. Where do we find space to play these players? How about Buchanan who is in and out of the side last year, but one of our best players in the past few years?

What Otten can offer us is flexibility. If he is as Pendlebury like as reported, than obviously we don't need to argue much. But at the very least, he's tall enough and can hold down a flanker spot and free up Malceski to go up forward more in the bigger grounds and if good enough, provide us with some marking ability in midfield.

Last year we played J.Bolton a lot in the forward flank which I thought was an utter disaster. Fosdike also ends up there a lot and I have severe questions about his disposal skills. Somewhere down the track, we might want to trial Barlow at FF, which might be the spot that can fully utilise his skills - creativity, a good lead, and a good set shot.

No, Otten probably doesn't solve or address our needs right now, but offers us more flexibility than another small/medium will at this moment in time.

 

[scottwade]

I saw Veszpremi play a bit in 2006 and he was very good. Coming into the year he would generally have been seen as a top 5 draft candidate, but he had a few injuries (shoulder & thumb) and the WA guys went past him.

No problems with him @11, although he doesn't fill a need.

Meredith I know nothing about, but as everybody else has said another small.

If the belief was that no tall was going to be good enough @ selection 26, given our dearth of talls then we should have swooped @ 11.

Veszpremi is certainly a good player and Meredith may be (according to the AFL's draft guru Burgan, one recruiter likened Meredith to Nick Stevens*), but Barry, Everitt, Hall, & O'Loughlin are KPP/Rucks in our best 22, who may well all be gone by the end of next season.

In truth I am more pissed off that we passed up Mitch Brown or Chris Dawes last year. Last year was seen as arguably the best KPP draft ever and we chose an outside midfielder.




* Wonder if it was one of our guys?