List Mgmt. 2019 Draft Thread

[aussierulesrules]

I think its the smaller things that will a make a difference next season.

And hopefully a significantly better midfield.

Stuv basically didn't set foot in there this year (so is no loss from our 2019 midfield), while Hanners played just 5 games, Steele apparently played injured for a big chunk of the year, and Seb was again far from his best under Richo, but got right back to his AA-squad/top 10 coaches votes best, once Ratts took over.

If he maintains that form now that Ratts is still there, and Hanners plays much closer to 20 games, that alone will make our midfield much better (all things being equal) and that's before we even get to the handy addition of Hill, and to a lesser extent Jones, plus hopefully Hunter playing much more there, and maybe Bytel.

Then there's the wildcard in Gresh.

His first full year in the midfield this year, and for the first half of it he had a couple of 10 coaches-votes games, but was bog average in between, but was playing much more consistently good footy in there for the latter half, which augurs very well for him and us going forward- if he is indeed fitter and less bulky (ie overweight!) now, and likely to be even more so by next season.

He could be just about ready to explode in there.

If he does, then a potential midfield of Roma/Ryder, Gresh, Seb, Hanners, Hill, Billings, Steele, Jones, Dunstan/Bytel and Hunter is a long way from bad.

 

[saintkildaman]

Then there's the wildcard in Gresh.

His first full year in the midfield this year, and for the first half of it he had a couple of 10 coaches-votes games, but was bog average in between, but was playing much more consistently good footy in there for the latter half, which augurs very well for him and us going forward- if he is indeed fitter and less bulky (ie overweight!) now, and likely to be even more so by next season.

He could be just about ready to explode in there.

I still hold onto hope that Gresh can be our Gary Ablett Jnr. Statistically they were tracking very similar however Gresh has transitioned into the midfield earlier then Ablett did.

Stats at the same age. Different roles as Ablett was still predominantly a small forward but in a much better team. Here’s hoping Gresh explodes with that extra year on ball experience under his belt.

 

[BrutThough]

And hopefully a significantly better midfield.

Stuv basically didn't set foot in there this year (so is no loss from our 2019 midfield), while Hanners played just 5 games, Steele apparently played injured for a big chunk of the year, and Seb was again far from his best under Richo, but got right back to his AA-squad/top 10 coaches votes best, once Ratts took over.

If he maintains that form now that Ratts is still there, and Hanners plays much closer to 20 games, that alone will make our midfield much better (all things being equal) and that's before we even get to the handy addition of Hill, and to a lesser extent Jones, plus hopefully Hunter playing much more there, and maybe Bytel.

Then there's the wildcard in Gresh.

His first full year in the midfield this year, and for the first half of it he had a couple of 10 coaches-votes games, but was bog average in between, but was playing much more consistently good footy in there for the latter half, which augurs very well for him and us going forward- if he is indeed fitter and less bulky (ie overweight!) now, and likely to be even more so by next season.

He could be just about ready to explode in there.

If he does, then a potential midfield of Roma/Ryder, Gresh, Seb, Hanners, Hill, Billings, Steele, Jones, Dunstan/Bytel and Hunter is a long way from bad.

Hunter is the one I am most looking forward to seeing unleashed in the midfield. Once he gets his tank up, he will be an absolute star midfielder. Consistently in the back half of the season, he was top 2 in disposals for us at half time with around 16-18 disposals but faded in the second half. Shows he has the ability to get the ball and he was influencing games but just didnt have the tank to sustain it. Plus, his hands are something special and we will see that more in contested situations.

Seb is also an interesting one. It's a small sample size, but the games he played alongside Hanners were some of his best. If Hanners can play every week, I think we will see the best of Seb more consistently rather than him needing to be the number 1 mid all the time. He is absolutely capable of being an All Australian midfielder but he just needs more support from others in the midfield.

I want to see Gresh the full time midfielder but I also think he is a star forward - maybe 50/50 fwd/mid could see us get the best of him. And I think Billings needs to spend more time forward as well - its rare to get someone who can be as dangerous and potent at half fwd as Billings is. If the players you listed can play to their ability and potential, then maybe both Gresh and JB can spend more time forward to make us a more dangerous and threatening all round team.

 

[tomjoad]

Speed, skill & versatility. Byrne's a good pick...probably the only one that's a chance to debut sometime next year. Connelly a bit speculative...but has good skills...if he comes good, great. Stick man Jack...good mark. Long term prospect whom we can allow to learn from the likes of Ryder and Marshall whilst playing for Sandy for a few years. For such late picks & a rookie placement, we did quite well.

 

[Premium]

Are we still getting Biggy to add to the list

 

[Dr Spaceman]

Are we still getting Biggy to add to the list

Biggy is now a Tiggy

 

[Baker_for_PM]

Saints gave me hope and then took it away. Why do i still come back for more? "I miss you Biggy".

 

[lewdogs]

With Biggy, we obviously just didn't rate him. The price was miniscule and the players we picked up afterwards would have been around. I hope we've made the right call, know nothing about him as a player but it would have been good to have some success with an academy player. Bit of a bummer.

 

[bergholt]

With Biggy, we obviously just didn't rate him. The price was miniscule and the players we picked up afterwards would have been around. I hope we've made the right call, know nothing about him as a player but it would have been good to have some success with an academy player. Bit of a bummer.

I don’t know if Byrnes would have still been there. We would have ended up with only one pick and it would have been right at the end of the draft, so Leo would have been there but probably not Byrnes.

So if the choice was:

Biggy + Leo
vs
Byrnes + Leo

Personally I’m in favour of what we did.

 

[Lenny2020]

We can’t know what the right decision is for a few years at least. My worry is Richmond took him and they have proven ability at drafting good players and building a list capable of winning flags. It’s a good indicator that he’s a solid prospect but nothing more. Of course, we didn’t really need any more key defenders, so that’s probably a major part of why we passed on him. I do reserve the right to crucify the club if he turns into an AA defender though.

 

[Johnnyrayflamingo]

No Biggy to not get Biggy.

 

[Keg on legs]

I don’t know if Byrnes would have still been there. We would have ended up with only one pick and it would have been right at the end of the draft, so Leo would have been there but probably not Byrnes.

So if the choice was:

Biggy + Leo
vs
Byrnes + Leo

Personally I’m in favour of what we did.

Byrnes went at 52, Biggy at 54

It was out of either Biggy or Leo

 

[lewdogs]

I don’t know if Byrnes would have still been there. We would have ended up with only one pick and it would have been right at the end of the draft, so Leo would have been there but probably not Byrnes.

So if the choice was:

Biggy + Leo
vs
Byrnes + Leo

Personally I’m in favour of what we did.

We already had Byrnes didn't we?

 

[Dr Spaceman]

With Biggy, we obviously just didn't rate him. The price was miniscule and the players we picked up afterwards would have been around. I hope we've made the right call, know nothing about him as a player but it would have been good to have some success with an academy player. Bit of a bummer.

Yeah that’s my feeling on it.

As a passionate Saints fan I gladly lap up all the news that emanates from our club. We receive regular updates about the NGA and it gives us a little bit of hope hope. Of course our Academy draws from a zone that appears far less fertile than those of our rival clubs. Nonetheless we’ve heard for a couple of years now about how we have “Biggy” coming through.

This could be the lucky break our poor club (and its fans) has been waiting for. Forget about points being called goals and stupid bounces, this time the Saints will get lucky. Just like we were pumped up to get an Irish Wayne Carey clone named Tommy Walsh, we would now be getting a Sudanese superman named Bigoa Nyuon.

Occasionally I would read some articles quoting some U18s watchers who would report on a couple of nice things Biggy did and mention his athleticism and potential.

I’ve never actually seen him play but I did follow his progress on the NAB app. I wanted to get excited about his pending arrival but the reality was that every time I checked his stats I was extremely underwhelmed. Even more so than those of Jackson Voss and Tyson Milne.

The club elected not to draft him and that has caused a bit of angst. They also chose not to draft Voss or Milne and that has not even caused a murmur. We had access to all three and I can only assume we simply don’t rate them as worthy of being drafted.

I’m disappointed, but more so about the Academy (and Father/Son) so far failing to deliver us any goodies while at the same time rival clubs seem to continue to benefit from these things.

Sigh.

Oh well I’ll now have to rest all my hopes on Jack Peris

 

[RobbieMuir]

I still hold onto hope that Gresh can be our Gary Ablett Jnr. Statistically they were tracking very similar however Gresh has transitioned into the midfield earlier then Ablett did.

View attachment 786881
Stats at the same age. Different roles as Ablett was still predominantly a small forward but in a much better team. Here’s hoping Gresh explodes with that extra year on ball experience under his belt.

You better charge your phone saintkildaman

 

[aussierulesrules]

I still hold onto hope that Gresh can be our Gary Ablett Jnr. Statistically they were tracking very similar however Gresh has transitioned into the midfield earlier then Ablett did.

View attachment 786881
Stats at the same age. Different roles as Ablett was still predominantly a small forward but in a much better team. Here’s hoping Gresh explodes with that extra year on ball experience under his belt.

Yeah there's always been that comparison between Gresh and Gaz Jnr, and generally speaking Gresh has been ahead of what Gaz was doing at the equivalent ages, but of course it famously all changed for Gaz once the senior group sat him down and told him to pull his finger out, so hopefully it's a somewhat similar case with Gresh, and that something motivates him to really get serious about his fitness and training, if he hasn't already.

Not expecting him to be anywhere near as good as Gaz has been since he got serious obviously, but hopefully he'll be bloody good in his own right.

And if not, we can always just move him back to the forward 50, where he's already bloody good!

 

[Gangnam Saint]

On Biggy, the club invests a considerable amount of time & effort into the kid then wont match a mid-50's pick?
Wish him all the best and maybe the Tiges can turn him into something but it's a telling moment.
The club obviously knows the player and does not rate him - at all.
Not going to lose sleep over this one.

 

[Impatient Saint]

Speed, skill & versatility. Byrne's a good pick...probably the only one that's a chance to debut sometime next year. Connelly a bit speculative...but has good skills...if he comes good, great. Stick man Jack...good mark. Long term prospect whom we can allow to learn from the likes of Ryder and Marshall whilst playing for Sandy for a few years. For such late picks & a rookie placement, we did quite well.

Agree Byrne was a bargain slider.

Bell is quoted at 73kgs crikey thats light for a guy as tall as he is, a bit like Lever when he came in. You wonder if like Lever he will never be able to gain enough muscle & strength through the core to be competitive. Rucking & playing in the AFL will be very different to the NAB where he would have been able to impress with his height & leap. He will like Lever be easily out bodied against bigger bodies - its scary thinking of him even playing VFL they will break him half. Time will tell I guess?

 

[gringo2011]

On Biggy, the club invests a considerable amount of time & effort into the kid then wont match a mid-50's pick?
Wish him all the best and maybe the Tiges can turn him into something but it's a telling moment.
The club obviously knows the player and does not rate him - at all.
Not going to lose sleep over this one.

Training with us seems to be a poison chalice.

 

[Sir Skid]

Training with us seems to be a poison chalice.

Haven't taken any who trained with us last few years from memory.

 

[Diehard Saint]

Training with us seems to be a poison chalice.

Picked up by the premiers though. I doubt he’s devastated.

 

[bergholt]

Byrnes went at 52, Biggy at 54

It was out of either Biggy or Leo

We already had Byrnes didn't we?

Fair points both! I guess it was just that we decided we didn't want him that bad then.

 

[bergholt]

Agree Byrne was a bargain slider.

Bell is quoted at 73kgs crikey thats light for a guy as tall as he is, a bit like Lever when he came in. You wonder if like Lever he will never be able to gain enough muscle & strength through the core to be competitive. Rucking & playing in the AFL will be very different to the NAB where he would have been able to impress with his height & leap. He will like Lever be easily out bodied against bigger bodies - its scary thinking of him even playing VFL they will break him half. Time will tell I guess?

Yeah, he'll come up against guys 30-40kg heavier in the VFL, let's hope he survives the first couple of years!

Pair him up with Coff, Roma, Paddy McCartin. Coff for the fruit toast, Roma and Paddy because they know how to become mattress guts ASAP.

 

[Kildonan]

Agree Byrne was a bargain slider.

Bell is quoted at 73kgs crikey thats light for a guy as tall as he is, a bit like Lever when he came in. You wonder if like Lever he will never be able to gain enough muscle & strength through the core to be competitive. Rucking & playing in the AFL will be very different to the NAB where he would have been able to impress with his height & leap. He will like Lever be easily out bodied against bigger bodies - its scary thinking of him even playing VFL they will break him half. Time will tell I guess?

Draft Central have Bell at 81kg

 

[prophetic1]

Fair points both! I guess it was just that we decided we didn't want him that bad then.

Would it be fair to say that selection crew would have more than a good insight into what Biggy has to offer in terms of development....now him going to the Tigers may equally prove to be the better extension of his development...for his part hes lost nothing and arguably got a fantastic chance to impress at a currently high achieving club.

Tigers have so many great players on their list Biggy can learn a lot and yet be turned over by them within a year or two, if he doesnt exactly fit, without loosing a lot of cred as a future player because of the depth of their list, so in the near future we could get him back if we have the will, patience, faith and 'Need'. He more than likely wasn't going to play seniors for us for a few years anyway.

Sure, there is always the fact that he may be an inspired pick up for them and we loose but the options are still out there if we really believe he is a long term prospect that needs a lot of tending. Anyway wasn't he the defender type and how many defender types do we have already.....its kind of a win win really for him and us. It doesn't have to be that we didn't rate him. The obligation to see him continue his development and garner opportunities from having been part of the Academy is fulfilled as well.