Preview 2012 AFL Draft

[paulveed]

agree completely. Hill should just stay forward and keep Jones completely away from it. Mino can handle the ruck himself

Sorry King, no one can ruck on their own in modern football, and either remain effective, or survive for long. Last season proved that pretty conclusively.

 

[doggies ftw]

Panos can't play in the ruck at AFL level. So take Roughead out for Panos, and that leaves Cordy having to be the back up ruck, which he isn't the best at.
Hill is a better forward than ruck, so take out Roughead for Hill and the same problem is there. Cordy has to play ruck more, with Hill being in the forward line. Who knows how he would ruck at AFL level.

Cordy is more a ruckman than he is a forward IMO, he is the perfect backup ruck, he is good up forward and a good ruckman. Playing Roughead too is just overkill (he should be the number one ruck for Willy, willy need a ruckman and he needs experience as the number one ruck, win win) the way I see the future is Roughy 1st ruck and Cordy back up ruck/forward.

Forward line for me at the moment is Jones CHF, Hill FF (rotate Hill and Panos through there) and Cordy FP/ruck. That works perfectly and we should definitely give that a few weeks to try out.

Really dont see what Maccas trying to achieve by playing Minno, Roughy and Cordy to be honest.

 

[total football]

How quick is he? Is he more of a bulldozer or does he have evasive ability? line breaking ability?

From what I've seen, I'd probably have to liken him athletically to someone like a young Colin Sylvia?

As far as being a line breaker, he definitely isn't a Stephen Hill or a Lewis Jetta, but there were a couple of times where in traffic he put the burners on and worked for a few handball receives. He looked like he could move.

You'll probably never see him run the length of the ground like Griffen, but he looks like he easily has someone like Mitch Wallis or Tom Liberatore covered for pace or burst speed. Really good in traffic but and a really good decision maker. Really good footy smarts, too. Positions himself really well around the ball and not scared to make body contact.

Hes really impressive and I get the feeling what I've seen of him is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what he can do.

I suppose yes, he could break lines of he had to if that answers your question.

 

[AJARWA]

Really dont see what Maccas trying to achieve by playing Minno, Roughy and Cordy to be honest.

Roughy, cordy and jones were taken in the same draft (I think) and are not yet 22. By playing both roughy and cordy, the back up ruck can be shared, they can each get a regular rest on the pine, their bodies are protected while their engines and footy smarts at afl level develop. For sure 3 ruck/forwards is overkill in the long term but this is the year to develop the young guys but do it smart rather than throw them to the wolves and expect their young bodies to cope with the stress of afl.

And to be honest, do hill's performances at willi so far justify dropping roughead back to the vfl on a permanent basis? If hill stands up in the last half of the season I'm confident we'll see him rotated with jones, grant, roughy and cordy anyhow. But he's got to get some more runs on the board first and gain selection by merit, not just because we all hope he's the next Tippett.

 

[stefoid]

From what I've seen, I'd probably have to liken him athletically to someone like a young Colin Sylvia?

As far as being a line breaker, he definitely isn't a Stephen Hill or a Lewis Jetta, but there were a couple of times where in traffic he put the burners on and worked for a few handball receives. He looked like he could move.

You'll probably never see him run the length of the ground like Griffen, but he looks like he easily has someone like Mitch Wallis or Tom Liberatore covered for pace or burst speed. Really good in traffic but and a really good decision maker. Really good footy smarts, too. Positions himself really well around the ball and not scared to make body contact.

Hes really impressive and I get the feeling what I've seen of him is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what he can do.

I suppose yes, he could break lines of he had to if that answers your question.

So more like a hard runner to create an option than a line breaker. Cheers.

Its a dilemma I hope we get to ponder - the classy complete mid or the classy electric speedster?

 

[josh the gent]

My thoughts on the 3 rucks is that it is ok for this year - given we are trying to develop those players and get the games into them. Not sure having 3 rucks is a way to go in the future though. Ideally, we would play Jones at CHF, our forward/ruck in the FP, and a true FF at full-forward. Roughead and Cordy are both just too big to be FFs, so at this stage that player is either Hill or Panos, but both are untested at AFL level...

Looking at the draft this year, the best talent appears to be in the form of mids, Mason Shaw is rated around pick 7-14, if we finish 15th or 16th, I'd be a little disappointed if we went with him over the other talent.

If we finish 16th, I'd expect all players bar Whitfield and Grundy (who should be picks 1 and 2), to be available.

My preference would be for us to get Jake Stringer, and Jimmy Toumpas. Nick Vlastuin could be chosen instead of Toumpas.

If we finish higher than Melbourne, they will definitely take Viney, and possibly Stringer. Still leaves us Vlastuin and Toumpas.

 

[JAMES_B_101]

I agree with both opinions here to an extent. While I am aware we need a genuine marking target in the forward line, I am not sold on Mason Shaw. If we were to go draft I would say try and mini draft Hogan or something. If we were to bring in Hill or Panos the one to make way would probably be Roughead but there is still half a season before this draft to trial players.

At the moment I am excited about the upcoming draft as we have a chance to potentially set up a key area on the ground for the next decade, either KPD or midfield. If the plan was to go midfield, I would aim for Toumpas (I see him as almost BEING the model of the sort of mid we are after) and Stringer if available can't be ignored due to unique talent to give our team something different. If not I would be very excited if we were to secure Vlastuin. If we were to go for KPD we should go for a gun mid + Plowman (shaggy deserves a gun replacement) and with our second rounder go for the best available tall backman as the combination of Talia, Plowman and another 195cm player (maybe smith, corr, clurey...)would set us up for a loooong time. Either way some tasty ideas. Going on previous drafts though we will probably recruit some 179cm KPD from another country or something

 

[wian]

i went to the melbourne v collingwood game yesterday as a neutral supporter. I would love for one to get my hands on Steele Sidebottom or Wellingham.. Geez they are both good Footballers !

 

[paulveed]

So more like a hard runner to create an option than a line breaker. Cheers.

Its a dilemma I hope we get to ponder - the classy complete mid or the classy electric speedster?

Or one of each might not be bad either.

 

[King_snow]

I think we all need to keep something in mind, who is coaching us now, MC. So we need to change the biases that we think we will draft players. Obviously from last years we picked Clay which i don't think was the right player to pick because of the amount of insides we have, so clearly MC went on the fact that Clay plays the hard game, and even with some poor foot skills MC still picked him. And its the same with the players he plays, Addo he is only getting a game because he is hard at it. So that being said i think we are going to have some stance choices in this draft

 

[stefoid]

Interesting thread on the u18 champs in the draft section.

I get the idea that after the first 4 players or so, there could be up to 10 players going in any order, depending on the needs and whims of the clubs. Like more than happens in most drafts. There seems to be something for everyone - rucks, mids of all sorts, key defenders and one or two decent tall forwards.

Also Hunter being touted as more of a third than second round. Or at least not an early second round which is what another team would have to bid to force our hand. Thats nice from our point of view.

 

[Zephiisdaman]

Interesting thread on the u18 champs in the draft section.

I get the idea that after the first 4 players or so, there could be up to 10 players going in any order, depending on the needs and whims of the clubs. Like more than happens in most drafts. There seems to be something for everyone - rucks, mids of all sorts, key defenders and one or two decent tall forwards.

Also Hunter being touted as more of a third than second round. Or at least not an early second round which is what another team would have to bid to force our hand. Thats nice from our point of view.

Stef is Hunter a genuine 2nd-3rd rounder or is he not really much good at all ? I have heard mixed reports about him.
I have reservations about taking Father/Son selections that may be not as good as the draft pick forced upon them. I love the romanticism of Father/Son's but I really believe we were railroaded into getting Ayce Cordy far too early.
The Libba/Wally picks were all good and well as they were both stars in the U/18s. Viney for Melbourne is going to be the same.
I just don't want to waste picks on speculation alone. The prospective pick Hunter needs to be worthy of a place on the list otherwise I wouldnt be wasting a pick if others better are available.
There are more Father/Son failures than successes unfortunately. If we don't pick one and they get picked up elsewhere and forge a nice career so be it, but if they are best available at the stage we can get them then I say yes to picking them up.

 

[doggies ftw]

Cordy was going to be a top 5 pick in the draft, we got a bargain.

 

[total football]

I think we all need to keep something in mind, who is coaching us now, MC. So we need to change the biases that we think we will draft players. Obviously from last years we picked Clay which i don't think was the right player to pick because of the amount of insides we have, so clearly MC went on the fact that Clay plays the hard game, and even with some poor foot skills MC still picked him. And its the same with the players he plays, Addo he is only getting a game because he is hard at it. So that being said i think we are going to have some stance choices in this draft

Wait, what are you saying? You're saying that we will place an emphasis on hardness over skill?

We don't really have that many inside mids, take Boyd and Cross out of the equation and we are left with 3 u/20s in Wallis, Libba and Smith. Not really sure if Jong is inside or outside or both or none at all at this stage. Speculative. Who else besides those 3 that are destined for best 22 in 2-3 years time?

Why was Clay Smith the wrong player to take? Besides sub-par foot skills ATM what is it that you don't like about him? The kid is a beast. Who else was there available that has shown more in the first half of the year??

Stef is Hunter a genuine 2nd-3rd rounder or is he not really much good at all ? I have heard mixed reports about him.

He's definitely talented. Just don't think he'll be worth a first rounder/early second that will force us to use a second rounder on him. From what I've seen of him, his major downfall at this point in time is his size and athleticism. Doesn't look the 185cm the Jets have him listed at (from the stands, admittedly) and doesn't seem the quickest bloke to ever cover the ground. Maybe I caught him on a bad day, who knows. It's very clear that he can play, however. Smart player, nice left foot, knows where the goals are and looks to have great vision. We will take him 100%. Possibly worth a mid-late second rounder, so 3rd rounder for us. If we can take him after the 3rd round he could be a steal. A lot can change between now as draft day, but.

 

[stefoid]

Stef is Hunter a genuine 2nd-3rd rounder or is he not really much good at all ? I have heard mixed reports about him.
I have reservations about taking Father/Son selections that may be not as good as the draft pick forced upon them. I love the romanticism of Father/Son's but I really believe we were railroaded into getting Ayce Cordy far too early.
The Libba/Wally picks were all good and well as they were both stars in the U/18s. Viney for Melbourne is going to be the same.
I just don't want to waste picks on speculation alone. The prospective pick Hunter needs to be worthy of a place on the list otherwise I wouldnt be wasting a pick if others better are available.
There are more Father/Son failures than successes unfortunately. If we don't pick one and they get picked up elsewhere and forge a nice career so be it, but if they are best available at the stage we can get them then I say yes to picking them up.

I have no idea about hunter or other potential draft picks, I am just relaying 2nd hand reports.

As for Ayce, these are the guys that went between him and our next pick. There are some decent players there, showing the depth of the 2008 draft. But apart from 2 or 3 players, there are none there I would categorically take before Cordy right at this moment, and I wouldnt rule out the possibility of Cords being judged the best of the lot in another 3 years time. He is only 21yo remember.

1 15 Mitchell Brown Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Geelong
1 16 Ryan Schoenmakers Norwood SANFL Hawthorn
Priority 17 Sam Blease Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Melbourne
Priority 18 Luke Shuey Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup West Coast
2 19 James Strauss Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Melbourne
2 20 Tom Swift Claremont WAFL West Coast
2 21 Hayden Ballantyne Peel Thunder WAFL Fremantle
2 22 Jackson Trengove Calder Cannons TAC Cup Port Adelaide
2 23 David Zaharakis Northern Knights TAC Cup Essendon
2 24 Nic Suban North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Fremantle
2 25 Jack Redden Glenelg SANFL Brisbane Lions
2 26 Jayden Post Western Jets TAC Cup Richmond
2 27 Sam Wright Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup North Melbourne
2 28 Shaun McKernan Calder Cannons TAC Cup Adelaide
2 29 Dayne Beams Southport QAFL Collingwood
2 30 Daniel Hannebery Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Sydney

 

[cecil]

I have no idea about hunter or other potential draft picks, I am just relaying 2nd hand reports.

As for Ayce, these are the guys that went between him and our next pick. There are some decent players there, showing the depth of the 2008 draft. But apart from 2 or 3 players, there are none there I would categorically take before Cordy right at this moment, and I wouldnt rule out the possibility of Cords being judged the best of the lot in another 3 years time. He is only 21yo remember.

1 15 Mitchell Brown Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Geelong
1 16 Ryan Schoenmakers Norwood SANFL Hawthorn
Priority 17 Sam Blease Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Melbourne
Priority 18 Luke Shuey Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup West Coast
2 19 James Strauss Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Melbourne
2 20 Tom Swift Claremont WAFL West Coast
2 21 Hayden Ballantyne Peel Thunder WAFL Fremantle
2 22 Jackson Trengove Calder Cannons TAC Cup Port Adelaide
2 23 David Zaharakis Northern Knights TAC Cup Essendon
2 24 Nic Suban North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Fremantle
2 25 Jack Redden Glenelg SANFL Brisbane Lions
2 26 Jayden Post Western Jets TAC Cup Richmond
2 27 Sam Wright Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup North Melbourne
2 28 Shaun McKernan Calder Cannons TAC Cup Adelaide
2 29 Dayne Beams Southport QAFL Collingwood
2 30 Daniel Hannebery Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Sydney

To be honest half of that list is ahead of him.
But the only talls that are ahead would be Trangove and possibly Shoenmakers. If he plays 50 games in the next 3 years I suspect he will overtake a fair few.

 

[black pup]

Watching Williamstown each week I can assure people on this site Panos is not up to AFL football, Hill has taken a long time to get to where he is and playing in ruck for Williamstown may have hindered is development as a forward, he has a long way to go before he is ready for AFL. Jack Redpath is a long way in front of both players after only 9 weeks in the system and he has a fairway to go. 5 draft picks in the top 50 is the best way to go, and develop our own , Macca doing a great job. I would not worry about Clay Smith kid is going to be very good.

 

[100action]

Watching Williamstown each week I can assure people on this site Panos is not up to AFL football, Hill has taken a long time to get to where he is and playing in ruck for Williamstown may have hindered is development as a forward, he has a long way to go before he is ready for AFL. Jack Redpath is a long way in front of both players after only 9 weeks in the system and he has a fairway to go. 5 draft picks in the top 50 is the best way to go, and develop our own , Macca doing a great job. I would not worry about Clay Smith kid is going to be very good.

black pup do you think Campbell is up to AFL standard?

 

[StringyDog]

Watching Williamstown each week I can assure people on this site Panos is not up to AFL football, Hill has taken a long time to get to where he is and playing in ruck for Williamstown may have hindered is development as a forward, he has a long way to go before he is ready for AFL. Jack Redpath is a long way in front of both players after only 9 weeks in the system and he has a fairway to go. 5 draft picks in the top 50 is the best way to go, and develop our own , Macca doing a great job. I would not worry about Clay Smith kid is going to be very good.

Redpath is not in front of anyone, highly overrated by supporters based on his size, he has played 1 good game and shown some small signs in other games, Panos is a different type of player so not even competing with the likes of , he will play Hargraves type of role and I would bet he is playing AFL before Redpath who quite possibly won't even play a game.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

So this means we still need to draft a key full forward. I was envious listening to Patton first game on the radio today - sounds like the kid is going to be a gun.

 

[King_snow]

I still have hope for Tom Hill, Panos or Redpath. i hope at least 1 of them makes it as something. IMO Panos if he does make AFL he won't play back

 

[BigGib]

Not quite sure on our exact draft order yet but this is what I'm hoping:

6. Western Bulldogs - Mason Shaw (197cm forward - South Fremantle)
7. Western Bulldogs - Sam Mayes (187cm midfielder - North Adelaide)
28. Western Bulldogs - Kristian Jaksch (194cm defender - Oakleigh)
47. Western Bulldogs - Shannon Taylor (177cm midfielder - Claremont)
65. Western Bulldogs - Lachlan Hunter F/S (185cm forward/mid - Western Jets)
Last few picks: Hrovat/Lonergan/Tyquin/Luccon

Obviously alot would have to fall into place if this were to happen but
I believe that this would be a great result for us. The key needs for the club
are covered here in this draft.

WISH LIST:
Shaw - KPF with great hands just not sure about his "upside".
Mayes - Elite kick of the football.
Jaksch - An athletic KPP that can play either forward or back but could
see him developing into a player that could fill Lakes position
Taylor - Elite speed and agility to develop into a player in the vein of Jetta
Hunter - Our F/S for this year that has a beautiful left foot that have bagged
quite a few sausage rolls this year. Not rated quite as highly outside of this club
so I reckon we will get him quite late.

However, I'd rather give up one of our first two picks for a shot at the mini draft
to be able to draft Hogan. A forward that could really develop into a gun! I also
think that McCartney will force the recruiters to draft Oliver Wines quite like his
obvious influence on the pick of Clay. Also, I would pick either Tanner Smith (KPD),
Nick Vlastuin (MID), Troy Menzal (FWD), Jonothon O’Rourke (MID) or Aidan Corr (KPD)
if any of those guys slip down the draft order. As you can see, I am really keen on
Sam Mayes but he also has a little Shaun Higgins about him where he could possibly
be a player that looks good when he plays but doesn't want to work hard enough. In
that case, if Mayes is already taken, I'd say we should take Jimmy Toumpas.

 

[Snarls Barkley]

I think we should definitely be looking at Mason Shaw with one of those high picks. Haven't seen him yet, but reports are he is quite good. A few people don't think he'll be a superstar but the way people have described him sounds a bit like a Drew Petrie type. Which I'd be stoked with.

An outside runner who can use the ball would be good with the other high pick. Hopefully we get Hunter as late as possible to add even more depth inside and we can target another outside runner/good ball user or possibly a tall back with the other picks.

I'd love to get Stringer (he sounds like that mid-tall forward that can do a bit of everything that Macca was talking about on "On the Couch") but I doubt he'll get past GWS, GC and Demons.

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

I think we should definitely be looking at Mason Shaw with one of those high picks. Haven't seen him yet, but reports are he is quite good. A few people don't think he'll be a superstar but the way people have described him sounds a bit like a Drew Petrie type. Which I'd be stoked with.

An outside runner who can use the ball would be good with the other high pick. Hopefully we get Hunter as late as possible to add even more depth inside and we can target another outside runner/good ball user or possibly a tall back with the other picks.

I'd love to get Stringer (he sounds like that mid-tall forward that can do a bit of everything that Macca was talking about on "On the Couch") but I doubt he'll get past GWS, GC and Demons.

Well lets hope Melb beat GWS, GCS and spring a couple of other upsets. Or will they do what they did last season and fall apart.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

Judging by the article that was copied into another bulldog website (CD) I think we will be going for tall midfielders, maybe Stringer.