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.

 

[Alite]

His height is not a strength. How many 170cm shorties are running around in the AFL? Two?

In isolation being short is not a strength… agreed. But add in his speed, energy, IQ, evasiveness, agility, skill with ball in hand … and defenders will panic when he gets the ball. They will do anything to try to stop him and fail to tackle well. At that point his height will get him legitimate free kicks = goals. Note: He is also capable in the air given the right circumstance.

I love that his height makes him near unique.

 

[naysayer]

Duursma can put on size and get bigger and stronger.eg....Will Day. He is only a kid still.
Watson can't get taller.

Everybody sees his height as a limiting factor. What does it prevent him doing exactly? I look at Kosi Pickett and I don't really see a lack of height hurting his game. I would absolutely use pick 4 on a player of his quality, and Watson has shown far more as a junior than Pickett.

 

[naysayer]

His height is not a strength. How many 170cm shorties are running around in the AFL? Two?

I don't really see what McKercher at 180cm is able to do that Watson, at 170cm, cannot.

In fact, if you put the ball up in the air I think we know which one of them comes down with it.

 

[Ashman23]

Perhaps our training staff can do this to Watson.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

I don't really see what McKercher at 180cm is able to do that Watson, at 170cm, cannot.

In fact, if you put the ball up in the air I think we know which one of them comes down with it.

That's great and all but that didn't answer my question. Is Watson going to consistently come down with the ball in pack situations in the AFL? Or against an opponent like Hardwick?

I would love for us to draft him provided Duursma isn't available. I think he's going to be an extremely exciting and classy small forward, which is exactly the kind of player we need.

But to suggest his height is a strength was too much - his height isn't a strength, being that small isn't a strength. It's clearly a weakness, hence why there are very few players of his stature playing in the league.

 

[naysayer]

I'll answer your question with a question. Is Kosi Pickett's height a weakness? I'd argue it's not a strength or a weakness, it's irrelevant. He can take marks in packs, on the lead and he has shown the ability to win the ball out of the middle. Watson's the same, except Watson has the endurance to have a greater influence on the game from day 1.

I don't see anything him to stop him developing into a mid-forward. For some reason people believe that because he won't be able to grow more, that he has no upside. It's illogical. He and Reid have always been a class above in my eyes with their touch, speed of mind and the way they use their body in the contest.

 

[Alite]

I don't really see what McKercher at 180cm is able to do that Watson, at 170cm, cannot.

In fact, if you put the ball up in the air I think we know which one of them comes down with it.

One of my favourite games after training was to have me and a mate standing facing the boundary line near the goal and have one of us chuck the ball over our heads and then together count down from 3. The game is to get the ball and kick the goal.
Holding the ball = a loss … and so tap-ons and dink-kicks were often used.

My guess is that Watson would beat near anyone in this draft in this type of contest.


Watson Vs Collard would be fun to watch.

 

[Alite]

.

That's great and all but that didn't answer my question. Is Watson going to consistently come down with the ball in pack situations in the AFL? Or against an opponent like Hardwick?

I would love for us to draft him provided Duursma isn't available. I think he's going to be an extremely exciting and classy small forward, which is exactly the kind of player we need.

But to suggest his height is a strength was too much - his height isn't a strength, being that small isn't a strength. It's clearly a weakness, hence why there are very few players of his stature playing in the league.

No… clearly not. Watson will not win in a pack marking situation. But you must also agree that Duursma will also not “consistently come down with the ball in pack situations in the AFL. Or against an opponent like Hardwick?”.
Are we agreed that neither are well suited to your preposal?

I think you need to get a better proposal. Something like Duursma has excellent athletic ability and great upside while Watson is just Watson..

J2S, I like that you challenge ideas and am happy to have mine in focus.

 

[The Chad and I]

You're all getting sidetracked.
Watson will become an elite small forward.
He will only ever be a small forward.

You do NOT take small forwards at pick 4.
The example I gave with Cyril, perhaps the greatest small forward of all time, had Cyril at pick 4 in a retrospective draft for his year.
It's not worth the risk and you can find great small forwards later in the draft.

You don't even need to argue about his height.

 

[Tall Tales and True]

One imagines any of the high fliers will be real value & much loved as Hawks, but you also get the impression 'cult hero' is written all over 'the Wiz'.

On SM-S916B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[The Chad and I]

If I am building a team I take Dangerfield, Rance and Taylor before Cyril.
But Rioli would give me the most joy to watch.

Small forwards will always be the cherry on top, no matter the brilliance.

 

[MasterSamurai]

If Watson is more Pickett than weightman, then I'm comfortable

 

[sven_inc]

Just to change things up a little, outside of pick 4 and McCabe, and assuming Dear doesn't get a bid (unlikely?) and we can take him as a rookie. Who else might we be looking at for those 1-2 final spots?

Sent from my SCV41 using Tapatalk

 

[Blackhawk42]

You're all getting sidetracked.
Watson will become an elite small forward.
He will only ever be a small forward.

You do NOT take small forwards at pick 4.
The example I gave with Cyril, perhaps the greatest small forward of all time, had Cyril at pick 4 in a retrospective draft for his year.
It's not worth the risk and you can find great small forwards later in the draft.

You don't even need to argue about his height.

Why don't you?

Why don't you take the elite small forward at pick 4?

On pure talent he's a top 3 pick.
From a needs based perspective he'd be third on our draft board behind Walter and Duursma.

Are you suggesting we take a midfielder (where we are stacked) who we rate a bit lower on pure talent, simply because that player is taller and isn't 'just' a small forward?

 

[KermitJagger]

I'll answer your question with a question. Is Kosi Pickett's height a weakness? I'd argue it's not a strength or a weakness, it's irrelevant. He can take marks in packs, on the lead and he has shown the ability to win the ball out of the middle. Watson's the same, except Watson has the endurance to have a greater influence on the game from day 1.

I don't see anything him to stop him developing into a mid-forward. For some reason people believe that because he won't be able to grow more, that he has no upside. It's illogical. He and Reid have always been a class above in my eyes with their touch, speed of mind and the way they use their body in the contest.

Kosi Pickett's height is more a limitation than a weakness, he's a great small forward but he is also just a small forward and will only ever be a small forward. It's why he started his career with a bang and has been good, but stagnant for the past 3.

I feel like this argument has happened a tonne of times on this board, but it's 100% accurate to say that a 170cm player has more limitations than a 190cm player. That's why bullocking but not altogether skilful players like Wines and Cripps have Brownlow Medals, and why there are barely a handful of players as short as Watson in the AFL. They need to be that much quicker, that much more skilful, that much more talented to make up for it.

If football ability is indiscriminate of height, and a short guy has just as good a chance of having natural football talent as a tall guy, that the AFL average height (even controlled for position) is so much taller than the national average of 175cm speaks volumes to the advantage height gives.

 

[KermitJagger]

And for all the talk about Cyril, Watson is still almost 10cm shorter than him - not to mention that Cyril was freakishly strong and explosive for his size which made up for his lack of height. If you can show me Watson coming in year 1 and nailing a player as strong as GAJ or evasive as Pendles cold in tackles, then that might help the case.

 

[TylerDurden]

No point comparing Wiz to Cyril.

You compare him to the player we'll be choosing from at the pick. Which will be Curtin. Who has more talent? Who will impact our fortunes more? Which addresses more of a need?

 

[KermitJagger]

No point comparing Wiz to Cyril.

You compare him to the player we'll be choosing from at the pick. Which will be Curtin. Who has more talent? Who will impact our fortunes more? Which addresses more of a need?

Watson addresses a need for a younger small forward with genuine spark and pace, but the risk is that he's certainly closer to the finished package than Curtin. His output is easier to predict and given his size it's less likely he takes that Ablett Jr / Dangerfield / Dusty / Petracca route and go from damaging forward to game changing mid. If that was what we were after, that would be Duursma.

Where saying Watson "could be anything" is a bit of a fib, because he certainly couldn't be a ruck, key forward or key defender, Curtin 100% could be pretty much anything. He has the ability to become a great key forward, he could add to our land of the giants midfield and he could develop into a gun key defender. Obviously the risk is that he's a WA boy, and I reckon they'd be a close second to Geelong in terms of players eventually wanting to go home.

I'd take Curtin. Our best teams were built around versatility and players who step up when required, and Curtin has both of those qualities in spades, but I definitely wouldn't be upset if we took Watson.

 

[naysayer]

I'll take the short guy.

 

[Sturty]

We will take The Wizard

 

[Bugs1977]

Duursma can put on size and get bigger and stronger.eg....Will Day. He is only a kid still.
Watson can't get taller.

The thing is you just don't know. Case in point DGB. In Watson's case he'll always be short but I feel that could end up being his strength as long as he plays hard and doesn't resort to ducking.

 

[Holy Rioli]

Yea that's why he's rated as the third best player in the draft.

so? Tom Scully was rated the best, Richard Tambling the second best, Tom Boyd the best etc. It doesn't mean these highly rated kids don't sometimes work out. This is just my gut feel, hope the kid makes it wherever he lands.

 

[matey]

I’m not liking this time of year anymore it’s just such an emotional slow burn. Bring back the Oct/Nov days where I wouldn’t even know or care about who Reid, Zane, the Wiz etc were …….. and was just watching GF replays!

 

[KermitJagger]

I'll take the short guy.

Once again, Sam was 180cm.

180cm is still on the shorter side for an AFL player, but it's not too much shorter than 185 - 190cm to make a huge difference.

170cm isn't too much shorter than 175 - 180cm, but it is a hell of a lot shorter than 185 - 190cm. It's like saying "well this guy jumped one weight class and won a championship, so this guy can definitely jump 3 weight classes and do the same".

 

[Coathanger]

Just to change things up a little, outside of pick 4 and McCabe, and assuming Dear doesn't get a bid (unlikely?) and we can take him as a rookie. Who else might we be looking at for those 1-2 final spots?

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If we were to take Duursma I would like Jack Delean as a small fwd and/or Wil Dawson as a big if either get to our selection.