Player Watch 2023 AFL Draft Pool Discussion Thread

[Strapping Young Lad]

Same rule applies to this thread as other years, keep it on topic about the kids.
Don’t get bogged down on what other teams might do or where they will finish.

Trade speculation belongs here.
That's also where you can discuss your mock drafts or pick trades.

Any McCabe, Dear or Maginness talk belongs here.

 

[noobermensch]

Ok , with your much better understanding of the draftees this year, I have a question. Keeping in mind that this is for the needs of Hawthorn only and not the general consensus. At our pick , we'd most likely have both Caddy and Duursma available, which one do you see as more likely to help Hawthorn Frwd line almost immediately? I am split down the middle on this more than any time I can remember re-drafts. Thanks in advance.

I think its super rare for any 18 year old forward to step straight into the AFL in year one and make a huge difference. But having said that, I think Caddy has the physicality and self confidence to provide more of an immediate impact. That's not to say that I think he's the guy you should draft. I think Duursma is a real talent, and will reward any team willing to be patient with him.

 

[Brishawk]

I'm going to assume you mean Will McCabe not his dad?

Haha i knew something didnt feel right when i wrote that post

Thanks all the same

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

I'm going to assume you mean Will McCabe not his dad?

Nah, I want to see Luke's u/18 highlights....

 

[The Chad and I]

Will McCabe - He's so underweight, even for u18!
This guy is going to be a 3-4 year project.
His link up and rebounding is great for a tall guy, but we've already got plenty of that and we don't need a KPP for those things.
I want a KPP to excel at the things we expect of KPP bc nobody else is going to do them.
Run and carry are great bonuses to have as a ~2m prospect, but can you stand up in a pack, can you take big marks, do you get pushed off the ball easily etc If not now, will you have the capacity to do that with some development?

We don't see much evidence of this in his game atm.

Skills aren't anything special, but for someone who is prob still growing and pushing 2m, he's better than similar sized peers IMO

I don't think we will know if Will is going to become a proper KPP for a while bc his slight frame will see him pushed around for a few years.

I wouldn't match a bid around pick 15.
Maybe we can get a better player through FA instead of waiting 3-4 years and spending draft capital.

I like McCabe around the late 20s or early 30s.
If he really does go as high as 15, and O'Sullivan also goes around pick 10 - as many speculate for both - then this is a very weak draft for KPP.
We should focus on other parts of the ground. I'm not too enthused by either of them TBH.

 

[James Colorado]

Nah, I want to see Luke's u/18 highlights....

Better yet, I wanna see his current highlights.

 

[Sixpence]

I want to see highlights of Luke's previous roles. How is he in Board Meetings? How's his spreadsheet game? Can he click and double click? How are his emails?

 

[WatWouldCyrilDo]

Will McCabe - He's so underweight, even for u18!
This guy is going to be a 3-4 year project.
His link up and rebounding is great for a tall guy, but we've already got plenty of that and we don't need a KPP for those things.
I want a KPP to excel at the things we expect of KPP bc nobody else is going to do them.
Run and carry are great bonuses to have as a ~2m prospect, but can you stand up in a pack, can you take big marks, do you get pushed off the ball easily etc If not now, will you have the capacity to do that with some development?

We don't see much evidence of this in his game atm.

Skills aren't anything special, but for someone who is prob still growing and pushing 2m, he's better than similar sized peers IMO

I don't think we will know if Will is going to become a proper KPP for a while bc his slight frame will see him pushed around for a few years.

I wouldn't match a bid around pick 15.
Maybe we can get a better player through FA instead of waiting 3-4 years and spending draft capital.

I like McCabe around the late 20s or early 30s.
If he really does go as high as 15, and O'Sullivan also goes around pick 10 - as many speculate for both - then this is a very weak draft for KPP.
We should focus on other parts of the ground. I'm not too enthused by either of them TBH.

In order to match a pick at 15, we would only need picks 38+39. We'd be silly not to.

Not sure how you get McCabe at late 20s / early 30s. At this stage of their development, particularly for talls, you're looking for traits which will translate eventually to the AFL. He has definitely shown some of those - his defending has been fairly good across most games (walter did kick a couple on him but that was really it), and his agility, pace and ability to take the game on and hit targets are very good for a tall. Will be very interested to see how he goes at the combine.

 

[Bugs1977]

Is Duursma the next Hird or Morton?
Every draftee has champion/spud players they are similar to.
Risk/Reward.


Mark MacKenzie has been particularly good at seeing through exposed form to project the full potential of a draftee.
That's why we now have a pick 76 meme as one of the best contested marks leading our forward line.
MM is very astute judge of talent and also character.

I really like all of the top 6-7 prospects.
So if we choose Watson, I'll back MM's call.
If he chooses Duursma, I will also back him.

I really feel we need Watson's x-factor but like you said I think we all need to just trust MM's call in whichever way he and his team decide to go.

We all take the pi$$ out of him every year and call him things like 'Sleepy Mark' and what not but the guy probably looks like that because he's out there every weekend and mid week scouting these kids up close and personal to see all the things we don't. I assume he would be looking for extra things like leadership and teammate interaction.

 

[Big Hotdog]

In order to match a pick at 15, we would only need picks 38+39. We'd be silly not to.

Not sure how you get McCabe at late 20s / early 30s. At this stage of their development, particularly for talls, you're looking for traits which will translate eventually to the AFL. He has definitely shown some of those - his defending has been fairly good across most games (walter did kick a couple on him but that was really it), and his agility, pace and ability to take the game on and hit targets are very good for a tall. Will be very interested to see how he goes at the combine.

We should tell him to skip the combine and head to the closest pub...the old jack darling bad boy play.

 

[Davo-27]

I've just done the one Logan Morris video, but it was probably his best game of the season:



I have more Archer Reid than this, but these are two solid recent games:




Connor O'Sullivan is one of my person favourites:

I really liked Logan Morris games that he played for Werribee in the VFL too

 

[Platten44]

Will McCabe - He's so underweight, even for u18!
This guy is going to be a 3-4 year project.
His link up and rebounding is great for a tall guy, but we've already got plenty of that and we don't need a KPP for those things.
I want a KPP to excel at the things we expect of KPP bc nobody else is going to do them.
Run and carry are great bonuses to have as a ~2m prospect, but can you stand up in a pack, can you take big marks, do you get pushed off the ball easily etc If not now, will you have the capacity to do that with some development?

We don't see much evidence of this in his game atm.

Skills aren't anything special, but for someone who is prob still growing and pushing 2m, he's better than similar sized peers IMO

I don't think we will know if Will is going to become a proper KPP for a while bc his slight frame will see him pushed around for a few years.

I wouldn't match a bid around pick 15.
Maybe we can get a better player through FA instead of waiting 3-4 years and spending draft capital.

I like McCabe around the late 20s or early 30s.
If he really does go as high as 15, and O'Sullivan also goes around pick 10 - as many speculate for both - then this is a very weak draft for KPP.
We should focus on other parts of the ground. I'm not too enthused by either of them TBH.

Will Day wasn't going to debut for 2/3 years when he was drafted.

 

[Philhawk]

I hope we've already put McCabe on a hardcore eating program that started around 2 months ago.

 

[Hawkspot]

With all the talk about our need for forwards, Lachlan Charleston announced himself on the weekend with 8.4 against a decent team in Bendigo.

Hard one to place in the draft, has to be on a fair few boards now though.

 

[KeeperLeaguer]

Wil Day wasn't going to debut for 2/3 years when he was drafted.

Yeah I've never put any credence to 'he's not AFL ready yet'. That's pretty much bullshit.
When a player is ready - he's ready. Be that in three years time or by the end of his first pre-season.
I've watched a lot of BHH games this year and was impressed with HH's attributes 9clean hands, good disposal, time) there was nothing about him that was screaming AFL. I thought in June he wouldn't play till end of next season. But he got put in because the Club knows a hell of a lot more than we do and he shone.

And, if anyone is basing 'not AFL ready' due to a player's body they can go back and watch some games from a certain M.Tuck who only ground out 400 or so and looked skin & bone in all of them.

 

[Alsmypal]

Top-five whispers after shock result; more stars in cotton wool amid Eagles’ link to slider: Draft Watch

No.1 favourite’s injury scare as boilover shakes up top-five state of play: Draft Watch

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Hawk the Talk]

Will McCabe - He's so underweight, even for u18!
This guy is going to be a 3-4 year project.
His link up and rebounding is great for a tall guy, but we've already got plenty of that and we don't need a KPP for those things.
I want a KPP to excel at the things we expect of KPP bc nobody else is going to do them.
Run and carry are great bonuses to have as a ~2m prospect, but can you stand up in a pack, can you take big marks, do you get pushed off the ball easily etc If not now, will you have the capacity to do that with some development?

We don't see much evidence of this in his game atm.

Skills aren't anything special, but for someone who is prob still growing and pushing 2m, he's better than similar sized peers IMO

I don't think we will know if Will is going to become a proper KPP for a while bc his slight frame will see him pushed around for a few years.

I wouldn't match a bid around pick 15.
Maybe we can get a better player through FA instead of waiting 3-4 years and spending draft capital.

I like McCabe around the late 20s or early 30s.
If he really does go as high as 15, and O'Sullivan also goes around pick 10 - as many speculate for both - then this is a very weak draft for KPP.
We should focus on other parts of the ground. I'm not too enthused by either of them TBH.

McCabe might be a bit skinny at the moment but gee he has a lot of traits you can’t teach. His speed and agility are exceptional for someone his height… along with his ability to clean up once the ball hits the deck.

Plenty to be excited about, especially considering we’ll get him cheap.

 

[noobermensch]

With all the talk about our need for forwards, Lachlan Charleston announced himself on the weekend with 8.4 against a decent team in Bendigo.

Hard one to place in the draft, has to be on a fair few boards now though.

I just finished doing that very game.

 

[geelongrecruit5]

I've just done the one Logan Morris video, but it was probably his best game of the season:



I have more Archer Reid than this, but these are two solid recent games:




Connor O'Sullivan is one of my person favourites:

Nice Vids, I really like Morris. Have watched him closely all year, I still have some doubts about the next level for him. Yes he has worked on his fitness but it looks to me that he has peaked. My main concerns are his athleticism, running ability and his general field kicking and smarts, basically no real point of difference. Yes, he’s a great clutch mark and kick for goals but at 191cm he will be required to cover some miles. Testing results were below par earlier in the year, no real speed, no real endurance etc. interested to see what results will be achieved in the combine. Anyway, a club will put some serious work into him for a couple of years to get the best, I’m tipping he’ll go between 30 and 40. Archer Reid is real promising prospect in my eyes.

 

[bigmaxi]

In order to match a pick at 15, we would only need picks 38+39. We'd be silly not to.

Not sure how you get McCabe at late 20s / early 30s. At this stage of their development, particularly for talls, you're looking for traits which will translate eventually to the AFL. He has definitely shown some of those - his defending has been fairly good across most games (walter did kick a couple on him but that was really it), and his agility, pace and ability to take the game on and hit targets are very good for a tall. Will be very interested to see how he goes at the combine.

I've got McCabe going at mid 20's, one as a FS pick and also some club selectors bit soft on him. Which is great for us, approx pick 34 with discount. He will be an excellent pick up and will play a game or two next year.

 

[TylerDurden]

I've got McCabe going at mid 20's, one as a FS pick and also some club selectors bit soft on him. Which is great for us, approx pick 34 with discount. He will be an excellent pick up and will play a game or two next year.

We've put him out to pasture and hidden him well, of late.
Similar to what Dodo did with Munkara.

 

[sohsam]

I think its super rare for any 18 year old forward to step straight into the AFL in year one and make a huge difference. But having said that, I think Caddy has the physicality and self confidence to provide more of an immediate impact. That's not to say that I think he's the guy you should draft. I think Duursma is a real talent, and will reward any team willing to be patient with him.

I thought someone else said if we trade with GWS we could get both Caddy and O'Sullivan instead of Duursma / Watson. early days though. There are certainly plenty of tall key position players this year to choose from. Ollie Murphy, Archer Ried are others. KPP take longer to develop so with McKercher / Watson you know what you are getting. Caddy seems to be similar weight, height, attributes to Roughead, the bullocking midfielder who is largely a key forward, even his inaccurate kicking is similar, not sure if he has the spring that roughead had though.

 

[The Chad and I]

Will Day wasn't going to debut for 2/3 years when he was drafted.

Day spent most of his first season at BH but showed enough to play in a peripheral role.
Second season injured.
It took until his 3rd season to settle in...so I guess they were right.

Different Will.
Different positions, and different type of accountability as a KPP.
People forget the facts when they get excited by the potential.

 

[tl92]

Day spent most of his first season at BH but showed enough to play in a peripheral role.
Second season injured.
It took until his 3rd season to settle in...so I guess they were right.

Different Will.
Different positions, and different type of accountability as a KPP.
People forget the facts when they get excited by the potential.

Debuted in rd 6 of his first season and it was obvious he was at the level already.

 

[Lawsy]

Day spent most of his first season at BH but showed enough to play in a peripheral role.
Second season injured.
It took until his 3rd season to settle in...so I guess they were right.

Different Will.
Different positions, and different type of accountability as a KPP.
People forget the facts when they get excited by the potential.

I think you've got the facts wrong.

He debuted early, played most games until injured late in the season.

Yes, his 2nd year was injury riddles but his first year he played When available after his debut and was not at BHH player any longer.

 

[The Chad and I]

I think you've got the facts wrong.

He debuted early, played most games until injured late in the season.

Yes, his 2nd year was injury riddles but his first year he played When available after his debut and was not at BHH player any longer.

Fair enough.
Still, he wasn't able to stand up to the rigours of the game, despite performing exceptionally well.

In any case, there's a player analogy to support any argument.
I still think an underweight KPD will be more exposed than an underweight mid/flanker.