Preview 2024 AFL Draft General Discussion

[The_General#1]

Geez would’ve thought that he’d be on AFL club radars considering his athletic potential

Dunno. But maybe he is.

 

[Jen2310]

Surprised that Nathan Philactides isn't in the young guns side. Anyone know if he is injured?

playing VFL this week

 

[Blackhawk42]

Haven't been following the draft crop much, but now we're right in the mix for pick 1 it's peaked my interest.

Is Smillie the consensus number 1?

 

[botts]

Haven't been following the draft crop much, but now we're right in the mix for pick 1 it's peaked my interest.

Is Smillie the consensus number 1?

The saints second this

 

[pK75]

The saints second this

Is 3 wins enough to rule Freo out of the #1 pick discussion?

 

[botts]

Is 3 wins enough to rule Freo out of the #1 pick discussion?

It just sucks that north probably won’t win a game for the year so we are all just playing off for second worst team

 

[RanaNaved]

Haven't been following the draft crop much, but now we're right in the mix for pick 1 it's peaked my interest.

Is Smillie the consensus number 1?

I'm not sure there is, or will be a consensus number 1 this year.

 

[Mister_Football]

If Finn O'Sullivan isn't your number one you're doing it wrong. Only challenger is Guy Smillie, if you're into the whole tall midfielder thing.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

If Finn O'Sullivan isn't your number one you're doing it wrong. Only challenger is Guy Smillie, if you're into the whole tall midfielder thing.

Who’s Guy Smillie?

 

[noobermensch]

Who’s Guy Smillie?

I think he's referring to George Smiley from the John le Carre novels.

 

[Mister_Football]

I feel sorry for you Millenizoomers. What sad, deprived childhoods you must have had.

Here's Guy Smillie in an old segment with Matthew Lloyd:

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Hey guys.

Will the AC vs FOOT game be shown after the game as a replay?

Much like how the AC vs COB game was replayed on the AFL website somewhere?

 

[CaptainWorpedo]

Who’s Guy Smillie?

 

[Mutineer]

Don't be forgetting my guy...

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AFL Draft 2024: Top prospect Sam Lalor kicks seven goals in return from injury for Geelong Grammar​

He is known as a midfielder, but this top-10 prospect dominated up forward for Geelong Grammar in his return from injury. And an emerging cricket star proved he is also handy with the Sherrin.

Sam Lalor made an emphatic return. Picture: Alan Barber

Sport​

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Top draft prospect Sam Lalor made a stunning return from injury in Geelong Grammar’s season-opener against Wesley College, booting seven goals in his side’s narrow loss.
The Bacchus Marsh product had been kept out of action with both the AFL Academy and Coates League club GWV Rebels but made an emphatic statement in his first game of the year, kicking 7.3 and tallying 19 disposals, 10 contested possessions, five tackles and 141 Premier Data ranking points.
With limited match fitness, Lalor played the majority of the first half through the midfield, kicking a goal, before he began cramping and was moved forward.
The bullocking 187cm midfielder went on to kick six goals in the second half, proving his worth as a potential top 10 talent in this year’s draft.
Geelong Grammar football director Troy Selwood

Troy Selwood

Age

41

Ht

189cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.5

3star

K

7.7

3star

HB

5.8

4star

M

4.3

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

1.2

3star

No current season stats available

D

7.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

2.6

3star

T

3.2

5star

said AFL recruiters watching on went in with low expectations but were thoroughly impressed by his display.

Lalor shoots for goal. Picture: Alan Barber
“They probably were tempering their expectations as to what he might put out as a first up run, but to be able to still find a way to really contribute despite being under duress in the second half, I think that really pleased the people watching,” Selwood said.
“Definitely was one of the more dominant performances I have seen at schoolboys football but obviously there is a lot more improvement left in his game once he gets some proper conditioning over the next month.
“It was quite impressive, he was still very short of a gallop but was able to show probably people who were watching that he has the ability to go forward and be a dangerous option inside forward 50.”

 

[memoryofmchale]

What do people think about Waylon Davey-Motlop?

Saw him play last week and he has some x-factor. Fan favourite with Xavs. Not sure about fitness or running capacity which is needed for smalls.

 

[Tivva29]

What do people think about Waylon Davey-Motlop?

Saw him play last week and he has some x-factor. Fan favourite with Xavs. Not sure about fitness or running capacity which is needed for smalls.

He’s 100% X factor…which is another way of saying he only tries to kick freaky goals and not much else. Zero fitness and would probably be the reason skin folds have been banned.

 

[eaglespremiers]

Trainor auditioning for a forward role with that kick from the 50.

 

[noobermensch]

Reckon Lalor's been impressive given he's probably seriously lacking match fitness

 

[lionshine]

Is Edwin Nyembo an overager this year? He just kicked 6 goals for the Western Jets(Albeit against NT Thunder).

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Not seeing a lot of standout traits from many of the mids in this draft. O'Sullivan and Ashcroft get plenty of it but don't feel like they do a lot else. Some very vanilla types overall across the crop imo.

Smillie and Jagga do some things that catch the eye, they'd be my clear 1 and 2 as it stands

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Where's the link to the game if it's still going?

 

[eaglevision]

Not seeing a lot of standout traits from many of the mids in this draft. O'Sullivan and Ashcroft get plenty of it but don't feel like they do a lot else. Some very vanilla types overall across the crop imo.

Smillie and Jagga do some things that catch the eye, they'd be my clear 1 and 2 as it stands

Agree with this. Harley tore Port ressies a new one last year in corresponding game. Nothing to massively seperate top half dozen mids

 

[eaglespremiers]

Some thoughts from the Academy game:

Mids
A number of mids were good in patches and then either weren't involved for periods, or making mistakes.
Jagga Smith - I thought Jagga Smith was great throughout. Missed a couple of targets (as everyone on the Academy team did on occasion) but was probably the most dynamic of the midfield options.
Josh Smillie - Was really able to throw his weight around against the more mature bodies. Sometimes his kicking is exceptional, sometime it is so-so. Still impressive around the clearances.
Levi Ashcroft - his stoppage work was good, his tackling excellent. His propensity to demand the football in bad positions is frustrating. Really needs to be more team oriented at times.
Finn O'Sullivan - really quiet return for Finn. What he did was mostly class but only had it 12 times.
Tom Gross - not sure how much he had the ball but actually looked one of the more settled Academy players in the contest.
Ben & Lucas Camporeale - struggled to tell them apart on the stream I was watching. Both were involved through-out. Both had really poor foot skills at time. Didn't think that either were amongst the best.
Oliver Dean - Footscray had some tall timber and they were really working Dean over. Dean definitely never imposed himself on the game but he equally was not over-awed to the task of competing against some of the most heavy hitting bodies on the mark. It would've been good to see him more involved outside of the clearances.

Forwards
Tyler Welsh - was solid without standing out. Sometimes the kicking inside 50 by the Academy boys did him no favours.
Jobe Shanahan - kicked a couple of goals, which was good. Acquitted himself well in the ruck when reprieving. Like with his Talent League form Jobe really needs to work on being involved more in the game. Perhaps today he had reason to be less involved due to some dominant periods by Footscray but if he wants to be a top end pick at the end of the year he needs to continue to be involved.
Christian Moraes - honestly thought he was really quiet. Only heard his name called a couple of times. Sometimes multi positional players get caught out when they're in a team overstacked with midfielders and I think Christian was hurt by this today.
Archer Day-Wicks - Similar to Christian above. Rarely sighted, however, his first game back since round 1 of the Talent League. Took a couple of good marks.
Malakai Champion - wasn't Malakai's best game. Struggled to have an impact, struggled to provide forward pressure.

Defenders
Luke Trainor - was close to the Academy's best again. Really sure hands and has a presence around contests. I can see him really coming into contention in the top handful of picks.
Tobie Travaglia - was a moderate game for Tobie. He demonstrated his great defensive skills and decided to run and carry regularly which was fantastic. A couple of kicks/choices of target were suspect and, unfortunately, when you make mistakes in the backline it can hurt the other way. Still was prominent all game.
Xavier Lindsay - thought he was close to the safest Academy player with ball in hand off the half back line today. Whilst he rarely took risks I also don't recall any major turnovers from Lindsay's disposals. Like Tobie Xavier also looked to take the game on and both had more time than their midfield counterparts.

Votes:
3. Jagga Smith
2. Luke Trainor
1. Xavier Lindsay

 

[WalshistheGOAT]

Agree with this. Harley tore Port ressies a new one last year in corresponding game. Nothing to massively seperate top half dozen mids

Yeah Wilson, Mckercher, Watson, Reid, Curtin, Rogers etc just had a bit of xfactor made them look like untapped talents and you could see that translating to AFL level once they got some pre season gym work into them.

To me a lot of the mids in this crop look like pick 10-20 mids from other years, good users and decision makers but nothing that stands out amongst the rest.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Will there be a replay of it somewhere?