2009 Draft Discussion

[micky_11]

Allen Christensen (Geelong Falcons, VIC)
Height: 176cm, Weight: 75kg, DOB: 19/05/91
Recruited from: Lara
Some believe the prolific ball-winner is a genuine top 10 pick, but he is more likely to go deep into the first-round, or early in the second.
Draft range: 10-25

Really hopes this guy slides to pick 21. Looks a likely type, and reminds me of ablett and a bit of cyril. good replacement for harvey in a couple of years.

Would love if he fell to 25. happy to pick him up at 21 though

 

[year of the roo]

We have enough sub 180cm players IMO. The type we require is fairly obvious.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

YOTR the type we require are fast outside mids with good skills. Christensen suits the bill. His disposal is first class, and he can also push forward and kick goals. 4cm ain't that much.

 

[year of the roo]

YOTR the type we require are fast outside mids with good skills. Christensen suits the bill. His disposal is first class, and he can also push forward and kick goals. 4cm ain't that much.

We need to be wary of being an undersized midfield. None of Boomer, Ziebell, Swallow, Garlett, Lower, Campbell, Harding, Wells are overly tall. I'm not saying just go out and recruit tall midfielders either, it is just something to be mindful of.

 

[__aria__]

that would be awesome if christensen was around for pick 21
absolute gun

and yotr ziebell is pretty tall bro i heard him on the radio he reckons hes around 190cm

you say well have an undersized midfield but the only undersized players u listed are boomer and garlett
campbell isnt a midfielder

if our midfield next year is made from swallow, anthony, ziebell, cunnington + the others then that is pretty big especially if we keep playing firrito in there

terrible reasoning to overlook someone of christensens talent

 

[Carnthe]

We need to be wary of being an undersized midfield. None of Boomer, Ziebell, Swallow, Garlett, Lower, Campbell, Harding, Wells are overly tall. I'm not saying just go out and recruit tall midfielders either, it is just something to be mindful of.

Um Ziebell is a tall midfielder. 188cm, that's a good height for a mid.

 

[Rippednew1]

We need to be wary of being an undersized midfield. None of Boomer, Ziebell, Swallow, Garlett, Lower, Campbell, Harding, Wells are overly tall. I'm not saying just go out and recruit tall midfielders either, it is just something to be mindful of.

You forgot Adams, Greenwood and Ross all on the shorter side of the coin. Have to be mindful of filling the list with the littles. Adding another extra small would have to be an issue at North. Not the end of the world but an issue.

 

[r_boy]

that would be awesome if christensen was around for pick 21
absolute gun

and yotr ziebell is pretty tall bro i heard him on the radio he reckons hes around 190cm

you say well have an undersized midfield but the only undersized players u listed are boomer and garlett
campbell isnt a midfielder

if our midfield next year is made from swallow, anthony, ziebell, cunnington then that is pretty big

terrible reasoning to overlook someone of christensens talent

You think recruiters don't look at height of midfielders when they are drafting? Garlett Adams Ross Harvey Campbell - some people want all these blokes in the same side. You're forgetting football fundamentals when you start getting more than two or three midfielders below 180cm.

You don't recruit blokes because they are small but you do look at them if they are tall. There is nothing wrong with having lots of big midfielders, e.g. Cats and Saints, but you are gonna get bloody smashed if you start putting 3 or 4 Brent Harvey types in the midfield. In case you didn't notice we have the two smallest players in the league in our best 22 (Campbell and Harvey) - we don't have room for another. We shouldn't even be looking for guys to 'take over' as the Harvey small midfielder 'type'.

 

[__aria__]

yes that is all pretty obvious

but you would overlook christensen if he slipped down pick 21 or 25 because of his size?

you can not be serious

 

[Rippednew1]

"Weaknesses


> Physically he isn’t well designed for AFL football – mid 170cm – small frame and had the highest skinfolds at DC

> Kicking lacks penetration and power beyond 40m"


He looks like a Laidley special.

 

[tw0kbydesign]

"Weaknesses


> Physically he isn’t well designed for AFL football – mid 170cm – small frame and had the highest skinfolds at DC

> Kicking lacks penetration and power beyond 40m"


He looks like a Laidley special.

Skinfolds perhaps an issue yes but how often do you see a player kick long nowadays anyway?

Teams would rather handball sideways 30m than kick it 50m where by the time the ball drops it will be a contest.

What would your preferences be for picks 21 and 25 then? Would you take him at 25?

 

[AGC]

"Weaknesses


> Physically he isn’t well designed for AFL football – mid 170cm – small frame and had the highest skinfolds at DC

> Kicking lacks penetration and power beyond 40m"


He looks like a Laidley special.

Well I prefer to look at it, that he can kick the ball incredible accurately over 40ms. And let's face it, there aren't too many times we need a midfielder delivering the ball 50+ metres anyway into the forward 50. If a midfielder can break the lines and deliver the ball to the right opponent on the chest over 40m's i'll be delighted. If we get Allen at 21 i'll be doing cartwheels. THe synergy i've seen between Cunnington and Christensen in the TAC is incredibly impressive (not a huge point but some people on here were having a fap about Cunnington and Rohan- and the Cunnington/Christensen combo have produced some good plays as well)

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Christensen would be a steal at 21. Believe me! Some people have him going very very early in the draft, and i don't blame them. He is super talented, has excellent skills and good foot-speed.

Who gives a rat's arse about skin folds. Its the worst test at the draft camp. He is only 18 for god sakes, alot of people still have puppy fat at that age. I can gaurantee his skin folds would go down at a rate once he done an AFL pre-season.

He has the same frame as Sam Wright, just a little smaller. He plays outside, so it doesn't matter if he isn't up to AFL standard yet. How many young players that get drafted in the 2nd or 3rd round have mature bodies...Give him a break the kid is 18 and will be a jet IMO.

 

[footygurumelb]

marc mollica had a great season after a total knee reco in 2008 in the 4th round of TAC cup u18's 2008.he hadnt played football for a year nor a pre season ,did well being chosen as the young gun awards and recognised as a talented footballer chosen also in team of the year in .this year in boronia seniors after about round 5 he started to play football of old he has such a leap for a tall boy of 6'3 . he can play as a small and as a tall ,can go at ground level just as well as in the air.. awsum evasive skills. pity he didnt get another go as a 19year old back at eastern ranges as he would have been a great advantage to the side this year as they did no better than any other years prior. Such a shme a waste of talent hasnt been pulled through the afl draft camp ,such a brilliant player to watch has every skill in the making of an afl player a loss to local footy who are to gain .. watch out for this boy he is going places once he gets his game back fully .Shame no 1 is still looking.Great unnoticed talent..

Due for some luck - Australian Rules/Footy - Sport | Leader News

 

[bellzy]

Marc honestly, you've had a tough life, but time to build a bridge.

 

[AGC]

marc mollica had a great season after a total knee reco in 2008 in the 4th round of TAC cup u18's 2008.he hadnt played football for a year nor a pre season ,did well being chosen as the young gun awards and recognised as a talented footballer chosen also in team of the year in .this year in boronia seniors after about round 5 he started to play football of old he has such a leap for a tall boy of 6'3 . he can play as a small and as a tall ,can go at ground level just as well as in the air.. awsum evasive skills. pity he didnt get another go as a 19year old back at eastern ranges as he would have been a great advantage to the side this year as they did no better than any other years prior. Such a shme a waste of talent hasnt been pulled through the afl draft camp ,such a brilliant player to watch has every skill in the making of an afl player a loss to local footy who are to gain .. watch out for this boy he is going places once he gets his game back fully .Shame no 1 is still looking.Great unnoticed talent..

Due for some luck - Australian Rules/Footy - Sport | Leader News

Thanks Mr Mollica.
For what it's worth, I did happen to see a game last year of Marc where in one he kicked something like 3 behinds and didn't touch the ball otherwise IIRC.
Maybe if he gets his injuries right he may be ok i'm not sure, but i'm not sure why you're spruiking him in our 2009 draft discussion thread.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Is there anyone out there who you guys have seen, that you thought would be rookie list material?

 

[jezaroo]

Yeah.......... me. Have been retired for a couple of years but have the ability to snag a few. Mature rookie perhaps??

 

[__aria__]

Is there anyone out there who you guys have seen, that you thought would be rookie list material?

yeah a couple of those KPFs you listed in the other thread i would normally consider for the rookie list
temel, tighe etc.
this year with the miserable lack of talls they might get taken a bit earlier though and go in the national draft

 

[Son_of_Shagga]

Is there anyone out there who you guys have seen, that you thought would be rookie list material?

Nick Wynne comes to mind. Just turned 20, big bodied, huge tank, played with Old Xaverians this year down back but in the midfield at Xavier. Was in the bests 9 of 20 games this year and stiff to not get best on in the grand final against De La Salle. Made the U/19 or U/23 or whatever the team was. He was on the draft tracker last year iirc. I would take a punt on him as a rookie for sure and could be a good midfield prospect but highly unlikely

 

[AGC]

Is there anyone out there who you guys have seen, that you thought would be rookie list material?

I reckon Declan Bevan from QLD is definitely worth a shot as a rookie or late pick. Was incredibly promising as a junior, and he won the U16 Div2 best player award, but has seemed to stagnate as of late. However, he has all the essentials to make it as a footballer. He's a strong mark and isn't very slow, but I think where he's suffered is that he just seems to fade in and out of games, because the places he leads are often quite poor, and he seems to be out of position a fair bit, which has caused him to look fairly mediocre recently.

However, I think with some good coaching, and learning good forward running patterns, and a few years in an AFL system, he could come along and be a good player- and at worst a good backup forward, which I guess is all you can ask for at this level.

 

[Arden Street]

video highlights of talia, shepperd, astbury, reid, hooper and craig from afl website.

link here: http://www.afl.com.au/video/tabid/76/programtype/123/default.aspx

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Is there anyone out there who you guys have seen, that you thought would be rookie list material?

I'm sold on Marc Mollica.

 

[Shinbones]

We need to be wary of being an undersized midfield. None of Boomer, Ziebell, Swallow, Garlett, Lower, Campbell, Harding, Wells are overly tall. I'm not saying just go out and recruit tall midfielders either, it is just something to be mindful of.

Geez i dunno Irekon some of our midfielders are quite tall Anthony is 189 Ziebell 188 wright 189 these blokes are 6ft 2-3

 

[Twinkletoes]

Geez i dunno Irekon some of our midfielders are quite tall Anthony is 189 Ziebell 188 wright 189 these blokes are 6ft 2-3

Yep, and all are new to the club so it was already seen as an area requiring addressing. We're on the right track IMO.