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.

 

[burger09]

.

I've got him down as a Roughead clone - forward/mid if we take him.

Similarly mobile and almost identical kicking action.

Rough was taking hangers at junior level. Something I haven't seen from Curtin.

 

[TheFourPillars]

Watson is more than a forward pocket. Its just that he is so dangerous forward and creative

 

[TheFourPillars]

Cyril? I said last 5 years. Big Watson fan just wouldn’t take him at pick 3. Hopefully we get the Suns pick and nab him.

Mate neither are the 3 u pointed out

 

[The Chad and I]

.
Similarly mobile and almost identical kicking action.

Rough was taking hangers at junior level. Something I haven't seen from Curtin.

My recollection is of Roughead clunking marks on the lead.
He had excellent sticky hands overhead running at full pace.
I don't recall him taking pack marks.

 

[tl92]

Cyril? I said last 5 years. Big Watson fan just wouldn’t take him at pick 3. Hopefully we get the Suns pick and nab him.

Wouldn’t take him at pick 3, but happy to take at pixk 4? Haha

 

[jenniferHAWKinS]

Mate neither are the 3 u pointed out

I don’t understand what you are trying to argue. Other than Toby Greene (plays taller and rotates through the midfield) those 3 have kicked the most goals in the last 5 years. Anyway I wouldn’t take Watson ahead of McKercher, Duursma or Curtin.

 

[TheFourPillars]

I don’t understand what you are trying to argue. Other than Toby Greene (plays taller and rotates through the midfield) those 3 have kicked the most goals in the last 5 years. Anyway I wouldn’t take Watson ahead of McKercher, Duursma or Curtin.

Intersting because u pidgeonholed watson as a forward pocket? He is more than that but everyone has a preference. I have seen watson in action a lot more than the others u have mentioned. So i cant speak for the others.

 

[theiaofseed]

Intersting because u pidgeonholed watson as a forward pocket? He is more than that but everyone has a preference. I have seen watson in action a lot more than the others u have mentioned. So i cant speak for the others.

You think he could play midfield in the AFL?

 

[TheFourPillars]

You think he could play midfield in the AFL?

He has the endurance to do so

 

[TheFourPillars]

He can also play half back

 

[Dewnior]

The best 3 small forwards over the last 5 years (Breust, Cameron and Papley) were all selected in the rookie draft. Food for thought for those wanting the Wiz!

Cyril? I said last 5 years. Big Watson fan just wouldn’t take him at pick 3. Hopefully we get the Suns pick and nab him.

But Wiz is not just a small forward. The bloke can play all over the ground.

Can any of those you mentioned ?

 

[daniel23]

If we draft watson it's to be a fwd and so will whoever drafts him if we don't

 

[burger09]

He can also play half back

Thank God.
Sounds like our man.


Joking.

 

[Brishawk]

But Wiz is not just a small forward. The bloke can play all over the ground.

Can any of those you mentioned ?

He might pinch hit in the centre square like rioli but no one is drafting him to play midfield. You would take colby and sanders well ahead of him as midfield prospects.

 

[burger09]

My recollection is of Roughead clunking marks on the lead.
He had excellent sticky hands overhead running at full pace.
I don't recall him taking pack marks.

Early Rough could launch.
Not after achillies.

 

[Dewnior]

He might pinch hit in the centre square like rioli but no one is drafting him to play midfield. You would take colby and sanders well ahead of him as midfield prospects.

He can pinch hit anywhere on the ground. None of the small forwards mentioned have the versatility to do that.

 

[Brishawk]

He can pinch hit anywhere on the ground. None of the small forwards mentioned have the versatility to do that.

Not much exposed form in the champs to support that.

Edit: and breust was a very good pinch hitter in the middle (not anymore). Papley runs in the middle. And frankly, they were too good to ever need to go to half back but im sure they could have done it. Cameron also too valuable as a forward to ever waste on a half back flank.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Who was the last gun midfielder that was Watson's size?

 

[Brishawk]

Who was the last gun midfielder that was Watson's size?

libba snr back in the 1990s. Even then, after his Brownlow year he was mostly a tagger.

 

[MasterSamurai]

Wiz won't be picked for midfield, there are other prime mid choices in the draft before the wiz, he will be much sought after as a Frwd but more so, for extreme football smarts .

 

[moginie]

libba snr back in the 1990s. Even then, after his Brownlow year he was mostly a tagger.

Good call.

The other player that came to mind was Dale Weightman.

 

[TDS7]

I've got him down as a Roughead clone - forward/mid if we take him.

Roughie's creativity on the lead and at ground level was brilliant, I don't see that in Curtin. There's a difference between proactive and reactive players, Curtin's reaction speed and understanding of the game's structures come from a brilliant reactive sense. It allows him to run off the footy when it's best to do so and match up of forwards who try and dig themselves into a one-on-one. It's the same reason Sicily is such a great defender, his reactions are genuinely the best in the comp. But for the same reason Sic never clicked as a forward I don't see Curtin being at his best at CHF. It's one thing to know leading patterns, it's another to understand them. Kozi isn't a great innovator out of the forward line and is much maligned by us as a result, but his athletics and build are superb. Curtin is a much better defender than Kozi, and he would probably be a good forward, but I can't see him directing a forwardline and creating opportunity like Duursma, Wiz, and McKercher can.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Wiz won't be picked for midfield, there are other prime mid choices in the draft before the wiz, he will be much sought after as a Frwd but more so, for extreme football smarts .

I agree, he's a small forward and that's where he will play at AFL level.

 

[The Chad and I]

Roughie's creativity on the lead and at ground level was brilliant, I don't see that in Curtin. There's a difference between proactive and reactive players, Curtin's reaction speed and understanding of the game's structures come from a brilliant reactive sense. It allows him to run off the footy when it's best to do so and match up of forwards who try and dig themselves into a one-on-one. It's the same reason Sicily is such a great defender, his reactions are genuinely the best in the comp. But for the same reason Sic never clicked as a forward I don't see Curtin being at his best at CHF. It's one thing to know leading patterns, it's another to understand them. Kozi isn't a great innovator out of the forward line and is much maligned by us as a result, but his athletics and build are superb. Curtin is a much better defender than Kozi, and he would probably be a good forward, but I can't see him directing a forwardline and creating opportunity like Duursma, Wiz, and McKercher can.

Interesting.
Thank you, though I disagree vehemently about Sicily's potential as a forward.
Discussion for another thread.

 

[Sixpence]

Who was the last gun midfielder that was Watson's size?

Caleb Serong is only 9cm taller. Not far off, goes pretty well.