2020 Draft summary and thoughts

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StonesThrow

StonesThrow

Brownlow Medallist
Veteran 10k Posts
Aug 21, 2008
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Adelaide
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Adelaide
I've been waiting for a draft summary thread. We have a draft day thread and individual pick threads but I thought it might be worth it to discuss the overall results (ND, PS and RD) given we've had a few days to reflect now. Mods - feel free to delete if you don't think it's needed.



So after reading more about our picks and watching some more footage, I'm pretty happy with our draft overall. The only thing I would have liked was a bit more focus on mids with classy ball use and decision making after the Thilthorpe pick. It sounds there probably wasn't a great supply of these types outside of Hollands. Macrae was one that I liked and Carroll seems to fit this description. I think Cook makes pretty good decisions with ball in hand but have not seen enough of Pedlar and Berry to make the same call.

It looks like we have focused on players that are hard at the ball and the player with the Pedlar and Berry picks. TT and Cook also have some mongrel. If we're not prioritising classy ball use, then I prefer this strategy to going with athletisicm/speculative. Looking at our future midfield now, we definitely have a strong tackling midfield unit remembering we're also bringing in Hately (Hately, Schoenberg, Jones, Pedlar, Berry). This is great but I think next year we really need to be agressive and get two high picks (assuming we finish low again) to balance that with two high class ball users (Horne, Sonsie, Rachele, Sinn, Chesser). I think that would round out our group pretty well for the rebuild.

The SA factor is just a bonus IMO. I'm hoping that we're not doing it on purpose and that fixing our retention issue is led by a culture change.

Picks I like:

TT - Easy one here. I like that it looks like we're earmarking him as a forward. Realistically with ROB becoming a top line ruck, he's not going to be going for that position in the short term anyway. Was him or Hollands for mine.

Pedlar - Finding out more about him makes me comfortable with the selection. Plays hard, wins the ball, has power and kicks goals.

Cook - Just natural talent and looks to have some mongrel. Lots of upside.

Hately - If we can call this a draft pick, it's obviously a very good one for our club

Picks I don't really have an opinion on (yet):

Berry - Haven't seen enough

Rowe - Unsure whether his SANFL form will translate to AFL

Borlase - See above

Newchurch - Highly speculative

Prediction for best player of our draft:

Hard to go past TT as he has so many great qualities for a tall to excel at AFL level.

The smokey though could be Cook imo. I wasn't really thinking about taking him as I was concentrating on midfielders and didn't think he'd last that long anyway. He has some serious football talent, goals sense and aerial ability. I think I'll be watching him the closest.
 
Simply put, I have always been of the opinion Riley Thilthorpe once he has a couple of AFL preseasons under his belt to lean up and trim off his puppy fat, he could be an absolute nightmare up forward for the opposition teams. He has great contested marking / pack marking ability, is quick, can kick both feet, ruck well and is a competitive second / 3rd effort type player....A Pagans paddock player for us??

I like the look of both Pedlar and Berry for our midfield - both hard arsed players and Pedlar looks to have a touch of real class

Cook looks to be a player that many on the draft boards think we got as a steal when we did and he project swell as an x factor goal kicking half forward.

The other player I am really quite keen to get into the system as I think he will become a very good AFL footballer is James Borlase. He is tall enough to play full back because he is really broad shouldered and looks very strong through the core. Very very happy to have him on board.

Rowe and Newchurch are picks that hopefully will work out like we want. I would rather have taken a ford / Maher than Rowe before the draft, but after today with Stengle, the club may have been preparing for this
 

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I like these summary things but really, we kinda need to see them run around in a game now. Last year everyone was like WhoTF is Gollant? Then he played in a scratchy and I came away from that with a mental note that he has potentially the highest ceiling of all of our draftees from last year - and that's saying something considering there's McAsey, Worrell and Schoenberg amongst them.

I like the look and feel of all this year's draftees but still, I wanna see them against Port's seconds to determine how excited to get.
 
One of the best drafts, although big tickets were put on Jones and McHenry and neither have really come on as we would have liked.
Thilthorpe could be an absolute star in a couple of seasons. Get a few games into him midseason or later. The others apart from probably Hately and Rowe and maybe Hinge will have to work hard in the Magoos
With our new coaching set up, I am hoping we see a real upswing from our 2nd and 3rd years players.
 
Wrapped with it in the end. Still not quite sure about Thilthorpe vs McDonald but we shall see and hope the club was right.

Every player selected being top 40 is good enough.
Borlase and Newchurch in most other drafts would have been picked up in the main.

Now up to each individual and the club to get them up to the standard.
 
Short term McDonald is more ready than Thilt, I wouldn't expect to know the better pick for another 4-5 years. Thilts injuries likely affected how often he could impact games, wheras McDonald lead his team into a finals series already. Will take time to improve durability and consistency.

Having a Thilt type is a great point of difference though, saw the Saints use their big men rotating through ruck, wing and def creating mismatches which won them final game against the dogs.

Pedlar put up some big numbers in the SANFL, high contested % is usually a good indicator to that his game translates into AFL. Cook was the perfect selection and lucky he fell to us, we lack class up forward and we've had ordinary wingman for a fair while. Hopefully Sholl fixes that.
 
Carmo said:
I like these summary things but really, we kinda need to see them run around in a game now. Last year everyone was like WhoTF is Gollant? Then he played in a scratchy and I came away from that with a mental note that he has potentially the highest ceiling of all of our draftees from last year - and that's saying something considering there's McAsey, Worrell and Schoenberg amongst them.

I like the look and feel of all this year's draftees but still, I wanna see them against Port's seconds to determine how excited to get.
Click to expand...
Yeah it was more how do we like the mix of players selected based on where they've played/ profiles and any particular favourites from what people have seen. I agree, predictions on how they will each turn out is a bit useless. I generally like to wait at least 4 years (looking at you 2016 draft).
 
Jcpdragonx said:
Short term McDonald is more ready than Thilt, I wouldn't expect to know the better pick for another 4-5 years. Thilts injuries likely affected how often he could impact games, wheras McDonald lead his team into a finals series already. Will take time to improve durability and consistency.

Having a Thilt type is a great point of difference though, saw the Saints use their big men rotating through ruck, wing and def creating mismatches which won them final game against the dogs.

Pedlar put up some big numbers in the SANFL, high contested % is usually a good indicator to that his game translates into AFL. Cook was the perfect selection and lucky he fell to us, we lack class up forward and we've had ordinary wingman for a fair while. Hopefully Sholl fixes that.
Click to expand...
I would have thought it was the other way around (given his groins are not serious). TT has played league for two years now and looks to be much more developed than McDonald (in size/height). McDonald did well against the bigger bodies in the WAFL this year but going to the AFL is a whole new beast and I think he will take some time there.

I rated TT higher than McDonald so I will be watching closely to see who has the better career.
 
StonesThrow said:
I've been waiting for a draft summary thread. We have a draft day thread and individual pick threads but I thought it might be worth it to discuss the overall results (ND, PS and RD) given we've had a few days to reflect now. Mods - feel free to delete if you don't think it's needed.



So after reading more about our picks and watching some more footage, I'm pretty happy with our draft overall. The only thing I would have liked was a bit more focus on mids with classy ball use and decision making after the Thilthorpe pick. It sounds there probably wasn't a great supply of these types outside of Hollands. Macrae was one that I liked and Carroll seems to fit this description. I think Cook makes pretty good decisions with ball in hand but have not seen enough of Pedlar and Berry to make the same call.

It looks like we have focused on players that are hard at the ball and the player with the Pedlar and Berry picks. TT and Cook also have some mongrel. If we're not prioritising classy ball use, then I prefer this strategy to going with athletisicm/speculative. Looking at our future midfield now, we definitely have a strong tackling midfield unit remembering we're also bringing in Hately (Hately, Schoenberg, Jones, Pedlar, Berry). This is great but I think next year we really need to be agressive and get two high picks (assuming we finish low again) to balance that with two high class ball users (Horne, Sonsie, Rachele, Sinn, Chesser). I think that would round out our group pretty well for the rebuild.

The SA factor is just a bonus IMO. I'm hoping that we're not doing it on purpose and that fixing our retention issue is led by a culture change.

Picks I like:

TT - Easy one here. I like that it looks like we're earmarking him as a forward. Realistically with ROB becoming a top line ruck, he's not going to be going for that position in the short term anyway. Was him or Hollands for mine.

Pedlar - Finding out more about him makes me comfortable with the selection. Plays hard, wins the ball, has power and kicks goals.

Cook - Just natural talent and looks to have some mongrel. Lots of upside.

Hately - If we can call this a draft pick, it's obviously a very good one for our club

Picks I don't really have an opinion on (yet):

Berry - Haven't seen enough

Rowe - Unsure whether his SANFL form will translate to AFL

Borlase - See above

Newchurch - Highly speculative

Prediction for best player of our draft:

Hard to go past TT as he has so many great qualities for a tall to excel at AFL level.

The smokey though could be Cook imo. I wasn't really thinking about taking him as I was concentrating on midfielders and didn't think he'd last that long anyway. He has some serious football talent, goals sense and aerial ability. I think I'll be watching him the closest.
Click to expand...
Where and how do you see Cook playing?

On Pixel 3 using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
1990crow said:
Wrapped with it in the end. Still not quite sure about Thilthorpe vs McDonald but we shall see and hope the club was right.

Every player selected being top 40 is good enough.
Borlase and Newchurch in most other drafts would have been picked up in the main.

Now up to each individual and the club to get them up to the standard.
Click to expand...
I'm not seeing it, surely more Victorians would have been picked if they had the chances to play in their top age year. I honestly believe not much would have changed in regard to Borlase and Newchurch's chances who both had ample opportunities to catch the recruiters eyes. Certainly not an opportunity any of the Victorian draftee hopefuls were afforded.
 

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StonesThrow said:
Half forward / forward pocket I'd guess in the early stages. Not sure of his midfield capacity.
Click to expand...
Thilthorpe: Half-forward/forward pocket.

Pedlar: Half-forward/forward pocket.

Cook: Half-forward/forward pocket.

Rowe: Half-forward/forward pocket.

Newchurch: Half-forward/forward pocket.

Borlase: Half-forward/forward pocket.

New draftee to AFC?

Half-forward/forward pocket.

Prove me wrong coaching staff; prove me wrong.
 
We certainly are in the honeymoon period lol.

Thilthorpe is like Riewoldt but a better kick! Pedlar is like Hodge! Cook is like Robbie Gray but taller and quicker!

Most likely this was already a below average draft, made worse by COVID obscuring the Vic draftees, and we are heavily invested.

I don’t think we have really nailed a draft since the Lever/MGov/Charles draft years ago. Some hits here and there but not exactly smashing it out of the park.

Add that to this being a poor draft overall and I am fairly pessimistic. We should get at least one first team player, but it would be a miracle to get five.

Hope to be wrong etc etc :thumbsu:

Feeling good about Borlase as a prospect.
 
CroCop said:

Matthew Rendell's four winners from the 2020 AFL Draft

Two Melbourne and two interstate teams were Rendell's big winners
www.sen.com.au www.sen.com.au
Click to expand...
LOL
Can't agree with Rendell there either.

Sydney was the clear winner IMO with Logan McDonald, Braeden Campbell and Errol Gulden, the former 2 clearly right at the pointy end talent wise and Errol Gulden arguably 1st round quality and the icing on the cake nabbing SA running back/wingman Malachy Curruthers in the rookie draft who has exceptional endurance and a very penetrating kick.
 
Mutineer said:
I'm not seeing it, surely more Victorians would have been picked if they had the chances to play in their top age year. I honestly believe not much would have changed in regard to Borlase and Newchurch's chances who both had ample opportunities to catch the recruiters eyes. Certainly not an opportunity any of the Victorian draftee hopefuls were afforded.
Click to expand...

I see something in Borlase. Not ever a dominant force but a key part of the defensive structure. No proof, just the way he goes about it. Very Taliaesque. Thoughts Mutineer?
 
I think we addressed quite a few need with all of our picks (including NGA).

Its hard to go past Thilthorpe on this one. Have loved him as a player since last year. Cook and Newchurch have the X factor to be best of the lost and something tells me that I am REALLY going to like watching Pedlar play. Just love the way he plays his footy. His kamikazee attack on the ball makes others around him walk taller.

Berry has some of those Sloane like qualities that we love in players.
 
Mutineer said:
I'm not seeing it, surely more Victorians would have been picked if they had the chances to play in their top age year. I honestly believe not much would have changed in regard to Borlase and Newchurch's chances who both had ample opportunities to catch the recruiters eyes. Certainly not an opportunity any of the Victorian draftee hopefuls were afforded.
Click to expand...
The flipside of this is that COVID has resulted in senior lists being culled by 2 players, resulting in fewer players being drafted. A lot of those extra places would, no doubt, have been filled by Victorian kids. Would Borlase & Newchurch have been good enough to get drafted, in an expanded draft class?
 
Vader said:
The flipside of this is that COVID has resulted in senior lists being culled by 2 players, resulting in fewer players being drafted. A lot of those extra places would, no doubt, have been filled by Victorian kids. Would Borlase & Newchurch have been good enough to get drafted, in an expanded draft class?
Click to expand...
Doubtful given the lack of interest in the National Draft you would think?

I think both have shown plenty from a rookie list point of view and I think Hamish read it that way.

Have to say I'm a bit surprised GWS preferred Geelong Falcon Cam Fleeton over James Borlase on what both players had shown especially with Fleeton not playing any football in 2020 and Borlase looking very competent at SANFL level already.

Newchurch no doubt has the tools in his kit bag to be an exceptional footballer but he also has flaws in his game day efforts that need some serious attention.

Essentially I see Newchurch as a 50/50 boom or bust prospect that could go either way.
 
Mutineer said:
Doubtful given the lack of interest in the National Draft you would think?

I think both have shown plenty from a rookie list point of view and I think Hamish read it that way.

Have to say I'm a bit surprised GWS preferred Geelong Falcon Cam Fleeton over James Borlase on what both players had shown especially with Fleeton not playing any football in 2020 and Borlase looking very competent at SANFL level already.

Newchurch no doubt has the tools in his kit bag to be an exceptional footballer but he also has flaws in his game day efforts that need some serious attention.

Essentially I see Newchurch as a 50/50 boom or bust prospect that could go either way.
Click to expand...
I do appreciate the lack of interest shown in the ND. The ND only went to 59 picks this year, with the low total being significantly impacted by the reduction in list sizes. Would they have gone, if we had a normal draft - with ~80 selections, plus a full season on which to judge the Victorian players?

My guess, is that we would have seen another 10-15 Victorian kids drafted, which still leaves 5-10 non-Vic kids. Would Borlase & Newchurch have been in that latter group?

You may very well be right. I'm certainly not saying that you're wrong. I just don't think it's quite a black & white as you make it out to be.
 
Vader said:
I do appreciate the lack of interest shown in the ND. The ND only went to 59 picks this year, with the low total being significantly impacted by the reduction in list sizes. Would they have gone, if we had a normal draft - with ~80 selections, plus a full season on which to judge the Victorian players?

My guess, is that we would have seen another 10-15 Victorian kids drafted, which still leaves 5-10 non-Vic kids. Would Borlase & Newchurch have been in that latter group?

You may very well be right. I'm certainly not saying that you're wrong. I just don't think it's quite a black & white as you make it out to be.
Click to expand...
We'll never know but I favour my scenario over yours....there were several SA draftees taken that weren't even close performance wise especially to James Borlase namely Henry Smith, Phoenix Spicer and Beau McCreery in the main draft and U18's Malachy Curruthers in the rookie draft....all preferred by interstate clubs over our 2 NGA's.
 
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