Player Watch 2021 AFL National Draft - NOT FOR TRADE DISCUSSION

[Strapping Young Lad]

Let’s stick with a basic rule for this thread, that it’s for draft watch and discussion only.

It’s not for trade hypotheticals, who you think needs to be delisted or traded, how many games you think we will win, some other team will win, how many picks you want in the 1st round or discussion of current HFC players.

It’s about youngsters who are eligible for the draft in 2021.


Key dates to look out for:

• NAB AFL Draft Combine: TBC
• NAB AFL Draft: Wednesday November 24 - Thursday November 25
• NAB AFL Pre-season and Rookie Drafts: Friday November 26

 

[rei154]

I'm still big on sonsie that running goal for boxhill is afl quality . Like a lot of talented juniors defensive running isn't always a strength until they are in an afl system.

Seriously gratuitously maligned on this board over the course of this year.
Really hoping he'll either come to us if we trade up (ie that deal with Richmond posted elsewhere) or if he slides drastically.
Seems like quite a strong draft all things considered.

 

[daniel23]

Seriously gratuitously maligned on this board over the course of this year.
Really hoping he'll either come to us if we trade up (ie that deal with Richmond posted elsewhere) or if he slides drastically.
Seems like quite a strong draft all things considered.

He absolutely is I still think he is one of the most talented players in the draft.

Yeh he had a stinker against Geelong vfl but the fact he was in the mid rotations for most of the game when you have the best of the best juniors playing shows how highly he is rated amongst the coaches.

 

[TylerDurden]

Seriously gratuitously maligned on this board over the course of this year.
Really hoping he'll either come to us if we trade up (ie that deal with Richmond posted elsewhere) or if he slides drastically.
Seems like quite a strong draft all things considered.

His game just looks average to me. 2nd rounder.

 

[matey]

One positive thing with Sonsie is that Mitch and the club have had him down there, training, playing and have had a good look at him. Perhaps/hopefully we have been foxing and told him to take it easy this year like WC, Crows etc do! I’ve always liked the kid.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Seriously gratuitously maligned on this board over the course of this year.
Really hoping he'll either come to us if we trade up (ie that deal with Richmond posted elsewhere) or if he slides drastically.
Seems like quite a strong draft all things considered.

There certainly seems to be a lot of interesting options this season.

Or maybe we were paying more attention given our draft picks were all we had to look forward for the majority of the season.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

His game just looks average to me. 2nd rounder.

Goal kicking midfielder that is a classy user. The main issues seem to be his size and his contested game. Can it adapt to the AFL?

I reckon he will go in the teens.

 

[TylerDurden]

Goal kicking midfielder that is a classy user. The main issues seem to be his size and his contested game. Can it adapt to the AFL?

I reckon he will go in the teens.

You may be right. But he looks vanilla to me. Never understood the pre season hype that he was a top 3 pick.

 

[rei154]

His game just looks average to me. 2nd rounder.

I really hope more people think about him the way you do, because I think he's got a lot of tricks in his bag. Probably not worthy of pick five due to injury and based on exposure, but I think he'll be an absolute steal from pick 12 onwards.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I want each of our picks to have some spice or some X factor about them. It’s why I’d like Erasmus, Butler and Clarke…and why Sonsie doesn’t interest me as much. Maybe he just had a bad year, but if the club pick him I will bow to their greater knowledge.

 

[Brishawk]

I want each of our picks to have some spice or some X factor about them. It’s why I’d like Erasmus, Butler and Clarke…and why Sonsie doesn’t interest me as much. Maybe he just had a bad year, but if the club pick him I will bow to their greater knowledge.

What X factor does Erasmus have?

 

[MasterSamurai]

There certainly seems to be a lot of interesting options this season.

Or maybe we were paying more attention given our draft picks were all we had to look forward for the majority of the season.

I thought about this as well, we have some Draft leverage this year so the high level of excitement/interest could be stemming from that but, we're not the ONLY club/supportes that are excited or interested. The Draft is stacked with inside/outside mids which is an area most ' clubs looking to add, none more than us!
Remember also that the last 2 drafts we've had picks 6&12 but I don't remember this much anticipation or choices to pick from.
That's why I would love another pick in the first somehow.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

What X factor does Erasmus have?

Kicked 4 in a Colts GF as a forward. Has space and time in the middle and can play well above the shoulders.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Moves like an AFL player Sonsie.

 

[The Chad and I]

Sonsie reminds me of Blake Caracella

Blake Caracella

Age

47

Ht

186cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.5

4star

K

10.1

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

4.7

4star

T

1.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

8.8

4star

HB

4.4

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

0.6

3star

- relying on smarts, always in the right spots.
That won't impress in highlights, but his impact on a full game will be significant IMO.
He looks ready for AFL level.

edit: Sonsie was touted as a potential top 5 at the start of the season.
Perhaps he would have been if his season wasn't interrupted.

 

[Easy Slips Catch]

Moves like an AFL player Sonsie.

The BHH/Werribee game is on Kayo. The lad can play. The boy Newcombe goes alright as well!

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Kicked 4 in a Colts GF as a forward. Has space and time in the middle and can play well above the shoulders.

Extremely clean hands - marking, ground balls, in traffic.

 

[WWSD]

Is NWM a reach with pick 5?

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Is NWM a reach with pick 5?

Definitely.

 

[TDS7]

Players like Sonsie, NWM and Sinn get big wraps for their highlights but video clips cut together are inherently flawed.

You see NWM has 10 kicks and they are all silky, smooth, and show great awareness with the ball in hand. What you don't see is he had 14 disposals total and spent most of the game stuck in no man's land.

Sonsie at his best looks great but his average performance is poor and he can spend quarters - or sometimes whole games - as dead weight.

Sinn looks great, takes the game on, and kicks well. But he has played 5 games and has had poor disposal for good chunks of some of them.

A lot of players fall victim to highlight overhype, Rachele, Goater, Mac Andrew, Fejo to name a few popular ones. That is why I rate Hobbs and Ward higher than all of them, they perform every game and all four quarters. Recruiters will agree with me, a consistent barrage of quality disposal, accumulation, and tackling is better than a quarter of brilliance, half a game of mediocrity, and a quarter of dead weight. That isn't even factoring in Hobbs and Ward can and do have passages of play where they break the game open.

Ward's breakaway goals Vs Country opened up the game and lead to a dominant performance, and Hobbs has a brilliant set of hands in the air and the strength to bust open a pack whether in the air, on the ground, or running straight through it. Players who give bring value consistently are a rarity and a blue-chip prospect shouldn't be passed up for the occasional dynamism of highlight-reel players.

Another great example is Arlo Draper, who has a highlight package that is muddled, confusing, and doesn't show his smarts, athleticism, game sense, and dedication to the contest. It's hard to make a highlight of a player laying on a hard shepherd after a quick handball to his teammate that leads to a goal, but it is very valuable to a team.

Too that note, all the players I have mentioned are exceptionally talented. Not all of them will be stars, but all have decent shots at becoming great and influential players. But the reward isn't that much higher for high-risk and unproven prospects than the low-risk and consistent ones, especially in a shortened and disrupted season where clubs can't get a better look at players over a longer period of time.

 

[Millsie69]

Could he play midfield given he finds plenty of ball, reads the play well and has footy smarts? Geez I loved his dad play!

Would need to build his tank up, but definitely has the scope to!

 

[TheFourPillars]

I cant believe the angst against Sonsie will be a player

 

[KingJiath]

I want Ward or Erasmus with our first but Johnson is another person I'm started to warm towards. Haven't seen him spoken about for our first pick much but I definitely think he's good enough to be taken at 5. 192cm who uses the ball really well, seems to have a good kick and, from watching the highlight videos, seems to be quite agile. Tested third in the agility test and sixth In the standing vertical at the combine. He could really become anything with such a great mix of athleticism, size and skill.

On SM-G996B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Burtman]

I cant believe the angst against Sonsie will be a player

his manager was interviewed and mentioned that he’d been carrying a back injury through the season, would explain some work rate issues. He didn’t have those issues when he was the best player in the championships as a 16 year old. Also only dipped below 20 touches once in the tac cup this year and that’s the game he got injured. He’ll be a player

 

[The Chad and I]

Some really good value in the 10-20 range with people predicting the likes of Sonsie, Sinn, Wang/Mil floating around that range - all three fit our needs perfectly.

I'm sure there are likely others who haven't received the attention to-date for various reasons.
We're going to get good value if we can trade into that range this draft.

 

[hardway]

I cant believe the angst against Sonsie will be a player

My gut feel is that unless we had pick 1 or 2 Sonie will be our first selection.