Mega Thread 2013 Official Draft Thread

[Stylo]

Agree with your points, except 4 . nobody needs that

 

[3rdManUp]

Seems his body is shot

Ah, that makes sense. Someone made a good point but I forgot what it was.
I kept thinking premiership ruck pushed out by younger, more promising talent, what's not to love.

Even still, if his body will hold up for 10-12 games, that's all we would need

 

[TheProwler]

Ah, that makes sense. Someone made a good point but I forgot what it was.
I kept thinking premiership ruck pushed out by younger, more promising talent, what's not to love.

Even still, if his body will hold up for 10-12 games, that's all we would need

On this years performance i can't see him playing 10 games, the big O however could

 

[KingJ]

The Tiger midfield need height within, if somehow we could get another pick within the 1st Round I wouldn't hesitate a second to pick Marcus Bontempelli, the 191cm midfielder from the Northern Knights gives Richmond some much needed height as the tallest midfielder at this point in time at Richmond is Shaun Grigg at only 1.90 M who predominately plays wing. Marcus provides a strong endurance with speed to match, he may grow a little more making him a developing prospect as his body at this point in time is a slight 83Kg frame, he has a great outside game with an inside game that could be developed to see him become one of the best midfield prospects from the draft. Appears a long shot but tell me I'm dreamin.

 

[tigs2010]

The Tiger midfield need height within, if somehow we could get another pick within the 1st Round I wouldn't hesitate a second to pick Marcus Bontempelli, the 191cm midfielder from the Northern Knights gives Richmond some much needed height as the tallest midfielder at this point in time at Richmond is Shaun Grigg at only 1.90 M who predominately plays wing. Marcus provides a strong endurance with speed to match, he may grow a little more making him a developing prospect as his body at this point in time is a slight 83Kg frame, he has a great outside game with an inside game that could be developed to see him become one of the best midfield prospects from the draft. Appears a long shot but tell me I'm dreamin.

Deledio 188
Martin 187
Grigg 190
Jackson 188
Vlastuin 187

Not exactly small team. We just need quality. If they're tall then it's a bonus. Acres measured in at 190cm as well.

 

[theflea]

The Tiger midfield need height within, if somehow we could get another pick within the 1st Round I wouldn't hesitate a second to pick Marcus Bontempelli, the 191cm midfielder from the Northern Knights gives Richmond some much needed height as the tallest midfielder at this point in time at Richmond is Shaun Grigg at only 1.90 M who predominately plays wing. Marcus provides a strong endurance with speed to match, he may grow a little more making him a developing prospect as his body at this point in time is a slight 83Kg frame, he has a great outside game with an inside game that could be developed to see him become one of the best midfield prospects from the draft. Appears a long shot but tell me I'm dreamin.

Imo we aren't exactly short with our mids either. dusty,lids,jacko and vlass are 187,188,188,187 with conca,cotch and helbig at 185 with ellis and a few other in between 180-185. foley the only real short arse. Imo its more about body width and strength that determines how good you can be in and under particularly if the player can jump a bit. While it cant hurt to have more height, it doesn't mean we are short either.

 

[KingJ]

Fair points presented above yet it wouldn't harm us to garner more height within the trenches as the height could aid with resting mids forward that are able to clunk a contested mark or two. Just feel the evolution of the AFL will see midfields the likes of Freo's to be the prototype, Morabito (Questionable) 189, Fyfe 190, De Boer 186, Crowley 188, Mundy 192, Barlow 189 all above average heights within the midfield. To continue to develop height is required throughout as the game is developing at a rate of which the athletes are taller, stronger and faster and at present the Tigers midfield is young and developing yet height is a need I believe we somewhat need to address. Time will tell I guess.

 

[RichoLedio]

Fair points presented above yet it wouldn't harm us to garner more height within the trenches as the height could aid with resting mids forward that are able to clunk a contested mark or two. Just feel the evolution of the AFL will see midfields the likes of Freo's to be the prototype, Morabito (Questionable) 189, Fyfe 190, De Boer 186, Crowley 188, Mundy 192, Barlow 189 all above average heights within the midfield. To continue to develop height is required throughout as the game is developing at a rate of which the athletes are taller, stronger and faster and at present the Tigers midfield is young and developing yet height is a need I believe we somewhat need to address. Time will tell I guess.

Our average height will go alright once McBean 202 starts roving from Ivan

 

[tigs2010]

Fair points presented above yet it wouldn't harm us to garner more height within the trenches as the height could aid with resting mids forward that are able to clunk a contested mark or two. Just feel the evolution of the AFL will see midfields the likes of Freo's to be the prototype, Morabito (Questionable) 189, Fyfe 190, De Boer 186, Crowley 188, Mundy 192, Barlow 189 all above average heights within the midfield. To continue to develop height is required throughout as the game is developing at a rate of which the athletes are taller, stronger and faster and at present the Tigers midfield is young and developing yet height is a need I believe we somewhat need to address. Time will tell I guess.

I just don't see how much shorter we are than those Freo guys. If you include 186cm De Boer then we've got Cotchin and Conca both 185cm. Of those taller mids we have 5 of our own that are only a couple of cms shorter than theirs which in reality means nothing. If we have a choice between a tall guy and a small guy who we rate evenly by all means go the taller one but we just need quality to come in, and quality that fits our team ie. Salem whose about 183cm which is a decent size. As long as we don't end up with a heap of sub 180 guys it will be fine.

 

[KingJ]

I just don't see how much shorter we are than those Freo guys. If you include 186cm De Boer then we've got Cotchin and Conca both 185cm. Of those taller mids we have 5 of our own that are only a couple of cms shorter than theirs which in reality means nothing. If we have a choice between a tall guy and a small guy who we rate evenly by all means go the taller one but we just need quality to come in, and quality that fits our team ie. Salem whose about 183cm which is a decent size. As long as we don't end up with a heap of sub 180 guys it will be fine.

Taking Chris Pelchen's method of list management say Richmond were averaged at 186cm and another team was 188 cm, atleast 6 players would be the same height as their opponent whilst an advantage of 30cm the opposition would of boasted around the ground, if those 30cm were shared between few players meaning major advantages of 6-7cm in key areas of the ground that could become a big problem. Not saying this is the case yet I agree somewhat with what your saying that we aren't as short as I may think yet I believe we should make a concerned effort to add height to the midfield area when able. As per previous post I'm willing to draft Freeman whom is 181cm which is short within the modern day AFL midfield ranks yet the need for height I believe is required to follow the path the AFL is going down.

 

[Bazzar]

Imo we aren't exactly short with our mids either. dusty,lids,jacko and vlass are 187,188,188,187 with conca,cotch and helbig at 185 with ellis and a few other in between 180-185. foley the only real short arse. Imo its more about body width and strength that determines how good you can be in and under particularly if the player can jump a bit. While it cant hurt to have more height, it doesn't mean we are short either.

We need some quality fast outside mids. With the Tiges reluctance to hang onto White considering the year he had, im assuming this is where our first pick will go.

 

[Richo83]

I don't understand why tall midfielders has become what people have taken away from Fremantle's success. They haven't succeeded because they have tall midfielders, they've succeeded because their team is balanced and has few weaknesses.

There are plenty of good midfielders who are not particularly tall. For instance, neither Jack, Sloane, Hannebery, Mitchell, Swan, Ablett, Liberatore, McVeigh, Wells, Boak, Murphy or Swallow are above 185cm tall. 6 foot, or 6 foot 1 still cuts it in this day and age. I'm happy for Richmond to consider someone like Bontempelli or Acres considering their versatility, but a guy like Sheed or Salem has versatility too.

 

[Richo83]

Taking Chris Pelchen's method of list management say Richmond were averaged at 186cm and another team was 188 cm, atleast 6 players would be the same height as their opponent whilst an advantage of 30cm the opposition would of boasted around the ground, if those 30cm were shared between few players meaning major advantages of 6-7cm in key areas of the ground that could become a big problem. Not saying this is the case yet I agree somewhat with what your saying that we aren't as short as I may think yet I believe we should make a concerned effort to add height to the midfield area when able. As per previous post I'm willing to draft Freeman whom is 181cm which is short within the modern day AFL midfield ranks yet the need for height I believe is required to follow the path the AFL is going down.

Height has it's advantages, but short players cope as well due to their low center of gravity and the fact they're hard to tackle. Are the suns going to struggle because they have Ablett, O'Meara and Prestia? Because none of those players are above six foot.

 

[Bazzar]

I don't understand why tall midfielders has become what people have taken away from Fremantle's success. They haven't succeeded because they have tall midfielders, they've succeeded because their team is balanced and has few weaknesses.

There are plenty of good midfielders who are not particularly tall. For instance, neither Jack, Sloane, Hannebery, Mitchell, Swan, Ablett, Liberatore, McVeigh, Wells, Boak, Murphy or Swallow are above 185cm tall. 6 foot, or 6 foot 1 still cuts it in this day and age. I'm happy for Richmond to consider someone like Bontempelli or Acres considering their versatility, but a guy like Sheed or Salem has versatility too.

Not being able to score is unbalanced and a weakness. Ranked 11th in the H&A and it showed up in the Granny.

 

[Richo83]

Not being able to score is unbalanced and a weakness. Ranked 11th in the H&A and it showed up in the Granny.

I would say a side which made the grand final and only lost the grand final by 15 points doesn't have many weaknesses, I didn't say Fremantle were perfect, but they're closer than a good 15 sides in the league.

And anyway, that wasn't my point, if you think Fremantle's list is unbalanced, fine, the point is that their success doesn't seem to be because guys like Mundy, Barlow and Fyfe are tall. De Boer doesn't get the ball that much and Crowley is a tagger, and his success isn't because he's tall. And Fremantle cant pin their success on a guy like Morabito given he hasn't played in the past two years.

I'm hoping that Richmond wont pass up on the next Wingard because he's not tall, and I suspect they wont, Richmond were happy to draft Ellis, who was supposed to be a half back flanker, who became a winger and yet is less than six foot.

 

[KingJ]

I would say a side which made the grand final and only lost the grand final by 15 points doesn't have many weaknesses, I didn't say Fremantle were perfect, but they're closer than a good 15 sides in the league.

And anyway, that wasn't my point, if you think Fremantle's list is unbalanced, fine, the point is that their success doesn't seem to be because guys like Mundy, Barlow and Fyfe are tall. De Boer doesn't get the ball that much and Crowley is a tagger, and his success isn't because he's tall. And Fremantle cant pin their success on a guy like Morabito given he hasn't played in the past two years.

I'm hoping that Richmond wont pass up on the next Wingard because he's not tall, and I suspect they wont, Richmond were happy to draft Ellis, who was supposed to be a half back flanker, who became a winger and yet is less than six foot.

What was the reason Fremantle got back into the grand final? The midfield stepped up in the 2nd and 3rd and started dominating the clearances, being tall has it's advantages as seen through Fyfe's dominance within the air through the 1st quarter, he may not have converted yet he was BOG in the 1st quarter.

I never said Freo's success was based solely on the height of the midfield? I am open to drafting small's yet I hope Richmond take into account that having midfielders whom are tall in stature is a path of which I would like us to take into consideration. Look at the tall midfielders of the past 10 years bar Ablett and Mitchell, Judd-190, Pendlebury-191, Watson-190, Dangerfield-191, Corey-191, the midfielders in that group contain some of the most revered names in the past years. I'm open to drafting midfielders that are small, not once did I say that a players success was due to his height yet it would clearly be beneficial to there play. The game is developing at a rate that is unheard of, we need to be ahead of the pack in order to succeed and hope that FJ and Co continue to recruit astutely.

 

[Toadvine]

Hawthorn's tallest midfielder in the Grand Final was Isaac Smith at 189cm, I suppose you could count Roughy but he didn't play through there all that often.

So even though they gave up a tonne of height to guys like Fyfe, Barlow and Mundy they still one the whole thing not to mention they have the best win loss record over the past two seasons.

 

[KingJ]

Hawthorn's tallest midfielder in the Grand Final was Isaac Smith at 189cm, I suppose you could count Roughy but he didn't play through there all that often.

So even though they gave up a tonne of height to guys like Fyfe, Barlow and Mundy they still one the whole thing not to mention they have the best win loss record over the past two seasons.

Not saying at this point in time that height automatically leads to success yet that the evolution of the game will see the prototype midfield of Fremantle will be the chosen path when piecing together a midfield. I hope that those talented enough that are under 6 Foot are given a chance to succeed still.

 

[UpTheGuts]

Heard FJ speak before and he said Dimma is always at him to get bigger, taller mids.
He laughed about it, but a Hartung would be a tough sell to our coach.

 

[SumTingWong]

Heard FJ speak before and he said Dimma is always at him to get bigger, taller mids.
He laughed about it, but a Hartung would be a tough sell to our coach.

We should just play Rance, Grimes, Vickery, Chaplin, McBean, Riewoldt and Griffiths in the midfield. The opposition would never get the ball

 

[KingJ]

Heard FJ speak before and he said Dimma is always at him to get bigger, taller mids.
He laughed about it, but a Hartung would be a tough sell to our coach.

Ahhhhh, loves it.

 

[theflea]

I don't understand why tall midfielders has become what people have taken away from Fremantle's success. They haven't succeeded because they have tall midfielders, they've succeeded because their team is balanced and has few weaknesses.

There are plenty of good midfielders who are not particularly tall. For instance, neither Jack, Sloane, Hannebery, Mitchell, Swan, Ablett, Liberatore, McVeigh, Wells, Boak, Murphy or Swallow are above 185cm tall. 6 foot, or 6 foot 1 still cuts it in this day and age. I'm happy for Richmond to consider someone like Bontempelli or Acres considering their versatility, but a guy like Sheed or Salem has versatility too.

The simple fact is it depends on whether they're good. The only freo mid who uses his height as a clear advantage is Fyfe. The others use their bulk to advantage not their height imo.

 

[thefendoff]

Deledio 188
Martin 187
Grigg 190
Jackson 188
Vlastuin 187

Not exactly small team. We just need quality. If they're tall then it's a bonus. Acres measured in at 190cm as well.

Also the fact that deledio, martin, cotchin and even ellis are very good overhead for their size helps

 

[Richo83]

What was the reason Fremantle got back into the grand final?

They lost the grand final though to a shorter less respected midfield.

The midfield stepped up in the 2nd and 3rd and started dominating the clearances, being tall has it's advantages as seen through Fyfe's dominance within the air through the 1st quarter, he may not have converted yet he was BOG in the 1st quarter.

Did they start to dominate because they were tall, or because they started to get better feed from their ruckman and they started to play better? And sure, Fyfe is a good forward, and height matters for a forward, as a midfielder? Not so much.

I never said Freo's success was based solely on the height of the midfield?

Maybe not the sole factor but you believe it's a noticeable factor. I think the height of Fremantle's midfield is a red herring, what Fremantle shows us is that good sides have little weak spots, are well organised tactically, and have a midfield which is able to run out matches. Mundy and Fyfe are tall, they also have good endurance.

Look at the tall midfielders of the past 10 years bar Ablett and Mitchell, Judd-190, Pendlebury-191, Watson-190, Dangerfield-191, Corey-191, the midfielders in that group contain some of the most revered names in the past years.

Yeah...

West 178cm
Ricciuto 184cm
Dal Santo 185cm
Kerr 178cm
Cousins 179cm
Edwards 178cm
Harvey 172cm
Cooney 185cm
Selwood 182cm
Hayes 186cm
Boyd 184cm

Sure, there are tall midfielders, but it doesn't mean that you need a tall midfield. Again, you're focusing on the wrong aspect of Fremantle, you're also assuming that Fremantle's midfield is tall, and it is good, ergo its height must have something to do with its success. It's more complicated than that.

I'm open to drafting midfielders that are small, not once did I say that a players success was due to his height yet it would clearly be beneficial to there play. The game is developing at a rate that is unheard of, we need to be ahead of the pack in order to succeed and hope that FJ and Co continue to recruit astutely.

Sure, but the main thing Richmond needs to look at is endurance, not height. The competition is demanding its players to be able to run longer distances, and Fremantle is proof of this.

 

[KingJ]

Less respected? At this point in time height will not matter as much as it will in the coming years. The midfield of Fremantle will be the envy of many clubs in coming years, as they say players don't get smaller in finals. Those larger in stature have a higher ceiling of which they can fulfil, height somewhat correlates with aspects such as muscle mass=strength=speed which all leads to a dominant athlete.

Poor reference from me, Sandilands started to dictate the taps to some degree yet the increased length/height of the midfielders allowed them to reach the ball at higher point which in turn gained Fremantle possession (Drawing a longbow somewhat).

It is widely attributed to the success is that of there midfielders heights, they may have great endurance yet you can't say that the height of these players did not have a major influence on the fortunes of the year they had.

Having a tall midfield will soon be the norm within the AFL, having height paired with ability is a mixture for success. Being small in stature and having the ability will allow you to succeed yet that will soon be not enough as having to compete with athletes that dominant in every athletic aspect whilst paired with a height advantage lead to the taller man's success.

AFL is rapidly changing, the days of 30km games being ran by midfielders are long gone, the rotations are increasing albeit the cap will slow the game will adapt to rotate through the forward and back quicker and more efficient. Repeat efforts at maximum capacity is in vogue and will stay in vogue for a long duration of time, "short bursts" is a term that is being more commonly used as it is those who are refreshed that ultimately come out on top.