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Opinion 2023 AFL Draft Prospects

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Who do you want for our first pick at the AFL Draft?

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Spine looks alright for 10 years! Or is that too many coffees this morning?

Today we have senior experience in Lobb, Bruce, Jones and Keath. Who are all proven best 22 AFL player but all at the 30 or + level and need to be replaced.

With O’Donnell signed and Croft we are looking pretty fantastic on the over 195 dept!

FORWARDS

Naughton, JUH, O’Donnell

RUCK/RUCK FORWARDS

English, Darcy, Sweet

DEFENDERS

Gardner, Buss, Croft

Mids more of an issue but we have more time:

Bont, Libba, Macrae and Trelor are an elite mid group. Problem worse than Dunkley but he was always going to leave.

Compares to the above we have four high probability and a couple of high potential.

We have Smith in probability

García, West as high potential but maybe don’t have the ceiling we hoped.

….Not good.

Scott, McNeil, Jones, Roarke and Williams are flankers at this stage.

How to address:

Will need to trade (raid) in two from teams with a lot of kids. Richmond got two surely we can get some?

Someone like young with high ceiling - Paddy Dow or even his brother etc. Green (or his brother who so struggling to get into Swans best - Sydney has heaps of good Mids who can’t get a game) or Callaghan - still a fan of O’Halloran is being wasted at GWS. Hately (not working at Adelaide but has talent). Would go hard for Finlay Macrae

Two first rounders in 2023 - for our profile these should be used on young Mids only (can use on above) if we need the currency. This year some really good Mids in the 10-19 range and so little fear we will get someone good. Ok with combining to trade up but prefer we didn’t as we need more than one future top 22.

Yes we need wings and small forwards but the above is a real hole in the list - no point having wings if they don’t get the ball.
 
Defence still needs more I reckon. Busslinger and Gardner are not number one defender types. Bussllinger strikes me as an intercept type, Gardner just spoils and punches it. Croft is playing as a tall forward and have little idea on his defensive abilities. We still need a strong bodied type to take on the number one talls in the league once Jones etc retire. And then need a good lock down type for small to medium defenders to step up for Doc, Crozier, JJ. Looks like man on man will be a weakness again once we lose our older defenders.

Big Bodied Defender - Steven May type
Man up on small and medium forwards - Dale Morris type
Midfield Extractor - Libba replacement
Powerful burst mid - Petracca type

Obviously want all to have some form of pace, and use the ball well under pressure given the nature of todays game. I reckon those four areas are priority. Forward line is deep as, even though we only have talls and smalls, no real natural medium forward. Wingers you can get away with as many teams have players at wing who didn't play there in the under 18's. Need to address the above soon so they are ready to step up once we lose a few due to retirements.
 
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_Cerberus_ said:
Defence still needs more I reckon. Busslinger and Gardner are not number one defender types. Bussllinger strikes me as an intercept type, Gardner just spoils and punches it. Croft is playing as a tall forward and have little idea on his defensive abilities. We need a strong bodied type to take on the number one talls in the league. And then need a good lock down type for small to medium defenders. Looks like man on man will be a weakness again once we lose our older defenders.

Big Bodied Defender - Steven May type
Man up on small and medium forwards - Dale Morris type
Midfield Extractor - Libba replacement
Powerful burst mid - Petracca type

Obviously want all to have some form of pace, and use the ball well under pressure given the nature of todays game. I reckon those four areas are priority. Forward line is deep as, even though we only have talls and smalls, no real natural medium forward. Wingers you can get away with as many teams have players at wing who didn't play there in the under 18's. Need to address the above soon so they are ready to step up once we lose a few due to retirements.
Click to expand...

I agree with a fair bit of that. Not convinced we need medium forwards though. Weightmen plays more like a medium forward rather then a small forward in my opinion. Bedendo was getting talked up quite a bit as a medium forward before injury struck too.

I still think we are fairly weak for small crumbing options compared to most other clubs. Clarke is the only pure one we have on the list and I don't think he has the upside to ever be a star. At best I see him as a solid B grader. Jones has been a bit of a surprise, but for mine his better games at VFL level has come when he's played higher up the ground. He was also drafted more so on the back of his form on on the wing as a junior where he can make the most of his good endurance base. I think we need another one and I would strongly consider Nick Watson if he was available in the draft.

Regarding Croft, I think he has some of the right attributes to be a defender. Whether he can be one is another story. He's quite good defensively for a forward, competitive, athletic and has good recovery. He's too important to Calder as a forward so we may not see him down back.
 

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goodcop badcop said:
I agree with a fair bit of that. Not convinced we need medium forwards though. Weightmen plays more like a medium forward rather then a small forward in my opinion. Bedendo was getting talked up quite a bit as a medium forward before injury struck too.

I still think we are fairly weak for small crumbing options compared to most other clubs. Clarke is the only pure one we have on the list and I don't think he has the upside to ever be a star. At best I see him as a solid B grader. Jones has been a bit of a surprise, but for mine his better games at VFL level has come when he's played higher up the ground. He was also drafted more so on the back of his form on on the wing as a junior where he can make the most of his good endurance base. I think we need another one and I would strongly consider Nick Watson if he was available in the draft.

Regarding Croft, I think he has some of the right attributes to be a defender. Whether he can be one is another story. He's quite good defensively for a forward, competitive, athletic and has good recovery. He's too important to Calder as a forward so we may not see him down back.
Click to expand...

I don't think we need a medium either. Was just saying we lack true ones. Given we play tall, and not the traditional, two tall, two medium, two small type set ups, we don't entirely have room for one. In my opinion though, I feel like genuine medium forwards are semi dying out. A few teams seem to be going the talls and smalls set up. And the modern medium forward seems more of a mid/fwd hybrid that rotates about.

Assessment on the smalls is fair. Would like to see how they all function if they ever play on the same team.

Like the sounds of those attributes you listed about Croft. As they are things you can work with if transitioned to a defender. Even if he was a pure forward, I would still draft him if he shows a bit across this season. Darcy, Croft, JUH, Naughton means we always have depth. And the VFL team won't be gap filled with VFL listed players.
 
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The good thing about this draft being deep in tall players, especially at the high end. Is that it could push quality midfielders into the teens where both of our picks may be. Unless we have a poor season and end up with one in the 10s

Like the sound of this guy going by ESPN early draft rankings.

19. Kane McAuliffe
North Adelaide/South Australia
MID, 187cm, 90kg SANFL U18s: 2 games, 31 disposals, 7 clearances

An inside midfielder with an appetite for the contest, McAuliffe has strong hips to break tackles and great timing with his hands to release runners. He makes quick decisions and has also shown ability forward of centre to add another string to his bow.
 
What is Crofts expected draft position? If he is a top 10 talent, do we still take him? It will mean that 1 or even both of our first rounders will be gone.
 
HK_Bulldog said:
What is Crofts expected draft position? If he is a top 10 talent, do we still take him? It will mean that 1 or even both of our first rounders will be gone.
Click to expand...

At this stage he's looking more like a 3rd round pick onwards at this stage. He would have to put up at least one dominant display to rise up the draft boards which he hasn't been able to do to date. He's improved his marking and his leap which is some of the criticisms I had on him last year. Still needs to improve his high marking, but he's a good mark on the lead. Kicked 4 behinds and had a pretty decent game today up forward and in the ruck.
 
goodcop badcop said:
I agree with a fair bit of that. Not convinced we need medium forwards though. Weightmen plays more like a medium forward rather then a small forward in my opinion. Bedendo was getting talked up quite a bit as a medium forward before injury struck too.

I still think we are fairly weak for small crumbing options compared to most other clubs. Clarke is the only pure one we have on the list and I don't think he has the upside to ever be a star. At best I see him as a solid B grader. Jones has been a bit of a surprise, but for mine his better games at VFL level has come when he's played higher up the ground. He was also drafted more so on the back of his form on on the wing as a junior where he can make the most of his good endurance base. I think we need another one and I would strongly consider Nick Watson if he was available in the draft.

Regarding Croft, I think he has some of the right attributes to be a defender. Whether he can be one is another story. He's quite good defensively for a forward, competitive, athletic and has good recovery. He's too important to Calder as a forward so we may not see him down back.
Click to expand...
If he’s got potential as key back I’d rather him keep playing as an ok key forward this year. Don’t want him shooting up the draft boards like Hayes, Weddle, Van Es last year.
 
doggiesin08 said:
If he’s got potential as key back I’d rather him keep playing as an ok key forward this year. Don’t want him shooting up the draft boards like Hayes, Weddle, Van Es last year.
Click to expand...

I think we’ll be helped this year as it’s looking like a very strong draft so Croft would seem very unlikely to be picked in the first 25 picks unless his development really explodes.



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doggiesin08 said:
If he’s got potential as key back I’d rather him keep playing as an ok key forward this year. Don’t want him shooting up the draft boards like Hayes, Weddle, Van Es last year.
Click to expand...

I don't want him shooting up either. There's a chance he could play back for Vic Metro as they have plenty of tall forward options and pretty poor tall back options. Caddy, Morris and Weatherill are all good tall forward options that are probably ahead of Croft at this point.
 
Couple of speedy mid season options.

Ben Ronke kicked 4 goals for Carlton's VFL side yesterday. 25 years old

Zac Foot has had a great start to the year kicking 7.4 and 20+ disposal games. Plays today. 23 years old.

www.afl.com.au

VFL Showreel, R1: Zac Foot highlights

Enjoy Zac Foot's standout VFL performance for the Sharks
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au
 
goodcop badcop said:
Couple of speedy mid season options.

Ben Ronke kicked 4 goals for Carlton's VFL side yesterday. 25 years old

Zac Foot has had a great start to the year kicking 7.4 and 20+ disposal games. Plays today. 23 years old.

www.afl.com.au

VFL Showreel, R1: Zac Foot highlights

Enjoy Zac Foot's standout VFL performance for the Sharks
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au
Click to expand...

I’m interested to see how Sam Gilbey (WA) goes at the start of the year. Went undrafted last year as an 18 year old had an interrupted year, 188cm rebounding half back / Wing with a damaging kick.


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hatescaptcha said:
I’m interested to see how Sam Gilbey (WA) goes at the start of the year. Went undrafted last year as an 18 year old had an interrupted year, 188cm rebounding half back / Wing with a damaging kick.


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Click to expand...

I was very surprised he went undrafted last year, he was the unluckiest player of the draft. Not sure he's really the type we need though which would be my focus in the mid season draft unless our season completely falls to pieces.
 

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER​

Presumptive top-five draft pick Nick Watson gave recruiters a reminder of just what he can offer AFL clubs with a brilliant performance for under-18 club Eastern Ranges on Good Friday.

Watson, nicknamed the “Wizard″⁣, is only 170 centimetres tall, but starred with 34 disposals, two goals from five scoring shots, 12 score involvements and eight inside 50s in the Ranges’ six-goal victory over Northern Knights.

The 18-year-old is best known as a forward, but is being used in a variety of roles this season, including taking some kick-ins on Friday.
Powerful midfielder Harley Reid is the consensus No.1 pick this year, but Watson sits in the next tier of prospects, although there are some people who think there is a chance he might slide later into the top 10 because of his lack of height.

Being vertically challenged has not stopped players such as Brent Harvey and Caleb Daniel from being All-Australians, while Charlie Spargo, at 173 centimetres, has become an important part of Melbourne’s forward line.

In other draft-related news, an under-16 carnival is being played this week between Talent League clubs that will help decide the Vic Metro and Vic Country squads for the national championships in June and July.

www.theage.com.au

Powerhouse club’s low-key re-signing; calm before free-agency storm

In this week’s instalment of The Age’s new player movement column, we look at the re-signing that was never announced, and the situation facing some of the AFL’s big-name out of contract stars.
www.theage.com.au www.theage.com.au

Hope he does slide.
 
I would be open to taking Watson depending where both of our picks end up. Even if its our first pick, as long as it guarantees us a inside midfield bull at our second pick, which is a position of priority.

Height is not the issue at AFL I do not think. It is the physical side that gets players the most when they step up from under 18s, to AFL. You see it all the time with those bulking 2m tall man child forwards in the under 18s. Bullying everyone through the ranks because of their size and lack of physical defenders to match them. Then they hit AFL level and fade away struggling to have an impact.

The same applies to small players, height is no issue at under 18s, but can they handle the physicality of AFL level? Does Watson have the skills and football IQ to compensate his smaller stature? Or will he be bumped out of the contest every time? Daniel handles himself very well at this level, though sometimes his height does work against him. He is physical in the contests and has a crack. Jones is silky, but struggles to stick a tackle at the moment due to slim frame.

If we feel he can physically impose himself at senior level, then take him in a heart beat. Seems to have very good smarts and evasive skills from all reports. But also the ability to rotate though the midfield and find a bit of the ball which is a rare for small players. He has the skill set we are craving up front.
 
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_Cerberus_ said:
I would be open to taking Watson depending where both of our picks end up. Even if its our first pick, as long as it guarantees us a inside midfield bull at our second pick, which is a position of priority.

Height is not the issue at AFL I do not think. It is the physical side that gets players the most when they step up from under 18s, to AFL. You see it all the time with those bulking 2m tall man child forwards in the under 18s. Bullying everyone through the ranks because of their size and lack of physical defenders to match them. Then they hit AFL level and fade away struggling to have an impact.

The same applies to small players, height is no issue at under 18s, but can they handle the physicality of AFL level? Does Watson have the skills and football IQ to compensate his smaller stature? Or will he be bumped out of the contest every time? Daniel handles himself very well at this level, though sometimes his height does work against him. Jones is silky, but struggles to stick a tackle at the moment due to slim frame.

If we feel he can physically impose himself at senior level, then take him in a heart beat. Seems to have very good smarts and evasive skills from all reports. But also the ability to rotate though the midfield and find a bit of the ball which is a rare for small players. He has the skill set we are craving up front.
Click to expand...

I'd take Watson and Frangalas with our two firsts any day. Franga is one I'd be very interested in as a classic bull who can also push forward and hit the scoreboard, and should be there late first barring some big changes.
 
Watson would set us up nicely long term for small forwards.

Weightman, Clarke, Watson and Jones - all have the ability to rotate through the middle or wing in Arty’s case.

Pretty dangerous when you mix them in with our talls.


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Connor O’Sullivan from Murray sounds like a great prospect. Quick and agile at 198cm and has played all three lines Forward, back and even midfield in the opening rounds.



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Any draft prospects out there who have Clay Smith crazy eyes?
Kane McAuliffe sounds like a contested beast but without a clear face photo it's hard to be sure.
 
Mofra said:
Any draft prospects out there who have Clay Smith crazy eyes?
Kane McAuliffe sounds like a contested beast but without a clear face photo it's hard to be sure.
Click to expand...

Isaac Kako but he's another club's NGA I think

1041097.jpg
 
VogonProsthetnic said:
Tall gorilla defender is a must in todays AFL.

Needs to be quick and helps if a good disposal.

Any in this years draft?
Click to expand...

Would need to really look at the guys playing full back to see if they're just tall, or if they've got the kind of build that can bulk up into a gorilla. Most of them are still skinny.
 
weltschmerz said:
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Click to expand...
If we keep our picks, ending up with Wilson and McAuliffe would be outstanding.
We lack a 'good' wingman, and McAuliffe should develop as an inside bull defensive mid we need.
 

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