Player Watch 2024 AFL Draft Thread

[Strapping Young Lad]

Same rules as every other year.

This isn’t the thread to talk about your ladder predictions or declarations of how interested you are in the draft in response to a win/loss, nor is it the thread to declare who you want to trade for.
Those posts will be deleted.

Talk about the kids in the draft.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Roos have locked in Payne.

Seems like they've had that locked in for several years now.

 

[kenneje]

Roos have locked in Payne.

The Devils are going to be like vultures over NM players in a few years.

 

[HedgeFund]

The Devils are going to be like vultures over NM players in a few years.

Somehow I don’t think North Melbourne is the club Tasmania will be, or should be, seeking to plunder.

Might be better to target the clubs who actually win games?

 

[Billyc]

Somehow I don’t think North Melbourne is the club Tasmania will be, or should be, seeking to plunder.

Might be better to target the clubs who actually win games?

Much easier to prise players out of a garbage side though. Especially if locals too.

 

[Rocket72]

i like Will McLachlan from the Geelong Falcons 185cm, small forw with a strong mark and kicks bags, knows how to find space as well, looks an AFL Talent at CTL level imo, has kicked 20 goals in 5 games in the CTL this season and looked very good in Vic Country Trials kicking a few there too.

I agree, his balance, kicking and mark for height give me confidence he could be an afl player.

 

[Davo-27]

Top 10
Finn O'Sullivan - Sam Walsh like midfielder, has had injury issues, great mark overhead and has a good kicking technique, can rely on kick too much and not handball to team mates, probably needs to ball hog a bit when he comes back as people love poss numbers for high picks, but he has the traits to be a good afl player, not like H Reid or JHF or Naicos, who have burst on the scene, but not far off others imo

Levi Ashcroft - could craft a career as a deadeye goal kicking sml forw or as an accumulator midfielder like his brother, Shane Crawford had that trait also, except he had elite endurance I'm not sure on Levis, good link player or finisher, really good traits

Josh Smillie - big bodied, but a little slow which could turn some clubs off, beautiful kick, good decision maker, quick minded, best VM player at the u16s, just his running game is a weakness, some are claiming him as pick 1, but imagine if Cripps couldn't outrun opponents and you have Smillie, good but without that game breaking trait

Leonardo Lombard - GCS VFL Premiership player as a 16 yo and not being carried, speed, strength, good athletic family, tough, exciting talent, goal kicking mid.

Jack Whitlock - a player that grabbed my attention last year with a late contested mark to kick the winning goal for VC in an u17s game against Qld under pressure around 40m out, big moment, shows composure and a desire to win, he then comes out this year and is showing amazing speed for a 200cm player, massive upside, good physical traits, good mental traits, all he needs is to perform at the champs to secure a top 10 spot imo

Harry O'Farrell - doesn't get big disposal numbers, but has the traits to play quality footy at the top level Imo

Jagga Smith - very high work rate, accumulator midfielder, good evasion, good goal kicking, can grass kicks which is a big peev I have, seems to have favourite team mates which could cause issues.

Sid Draper - great work rate, accumulator with run on the outside, always projects as a high end talent, my only question mark is on his flat kicking at times

Luke Trainor - has been really good since his VM U16s days, but has taken another step in the preseason which I mentioned and then performed at CTL and for the Academy, I mentioned he looked like an AFL Defender in the preseason, I was thinking something like Membrey from St Kilda when he was a defender.

Jobe Shanahan - I was big on him as a prospect last year, his stats don't read as well as his talent which made me drop him a bit, but this kid has a lot of talent imo and I hope he shows it at the champs to justify my belief in him.





Other 1st round types imo (filling out top 30 atm)

Taj Hotton - he was close to ending the season top 5 if not for an acl injury, looking elite before his knee injury
Tobie Travaglia - 1 of my favourite players, great contesting medium defender with good use and run, wins a high percentage of contests
Jonty Faull - injury has been an issue this year, but the way he finished last year, has him primed for 1st round in the draft imo
Josh Murphy - burst player in the forward line, goal kicker, good in a contest
Tyler Welsh - short athletic kpf, might have to play 3rd tall forw at the next level like a Jack Gunston/Fritsch type
Christian Moraes - good midfielder without being great, can be up and down in form depending on mood
Lucas Camporeale - quick, smart and skilful player, perfect for a wing or hbf
Ben Camporeale - more endurance based accumulator, I still like Lucas a bit more, even though Ben gets the media plaudits
Zaydyn Lockwood - tall athletic, flexible KPD from Bendigo, watch out for him at the champs, have not heard much talk about him, but he has great potential
Joe Berry - another 1 that lacks media attention, but could be a better small forward prospect than Kako which is a surprise, great speed and can sniff out a goal
Phoenix Hargrave - has dropped down the order because I have not seen much of him this year, but was a big part of the u16s champs win, won awards last year in the sanfl u18s and was good at the champs last year, just a quality player
Tom Gross - when he brings that manic energy, he is a force to be reckoned with, but when he doesn't can look average, he's a Dr Jekyll Mr Hyde type of player, can look top 10 worthy at times and barely 1st round worthy at others, roll of the dice
Xavier Lindsay - really good hard working player, reminds me of Xavier Duursma, good at everything without being great at something
Noah Mraz - tall, good contested player, need to check on his combine results to determine where he goes
Harvey Langford - strong mark of the footy, showing forward craft after his midfield work last year, seems to have a strong personality too which is a good sign he can handle the pressures at the next level
Cooper Hynes - he has developed his athletic qualities and has a good turn of speed, a little introverted, but at times showed star potential at Dandenong with his speed from the centre contest, goal kicking is a weakness....
Bo Allan - showing potential as a tall midfield, greater than his decent defender play, developing flexibility to his game which I think is increasing his value
Matt Whitlock - he is a serviceable KPD, he reminds me of Ben McKay of the McKay brothers, he fills a need and can be decent at times, but he ain't great
Isaac Kako - very confident, loves to put on a show with a goal and has developed his defensive game, all good signs, speed and x factor
Jesse Dattoli - strong contested forward, who can kick a nice goal and has been on the radar for awhile, good mark, smart player

Some of my thoughts on the top 30 or the players I think could be top 30 atm lol

 

[MasterSamurai]

Some of my thoughts on the top 30 or the players I think could be top 30 atm lol

Great work mate. Much appreciated. Be interesting which way our list management lean towards come draft night.

 

[noobermensch]

Here I give my thoughts on how things are shaping up in this years AFL National Draft. I cover:

• High level thoughts on the pool (depth, strength and composition)
• My top 20 prospects pre-champs
• Predictions for the champs series and some players to look out for

Trying something new here so thanks for watching and I hope its a worthwhile exercise.

 

[TylerDurden]

 

[TylerDurden]

Some of my thoughts on the top 30 or the players I think could be top 30 atm lol

Matt Whitlock with a bullet mate.

 

[tl92]

Would love to split our pick and nab both Whitlock twins

 

[TylerDurden]

Would love to split our pick and nab both Whitlock twins

One to be used on Baz.

 

[Davo-27]

Matt Whitlock with a bullet mate.

Nah he's kicking scores against weak CTL teams (50% of their squads are playing APS school footy, there's plenty who feast on weak teams during school footy season, don't be fooled) when there were full teams he struggled in defence, also in 1 of Matt Whitlocks games where he kicked a bag of 5, 3 of them were Joe the goose or lucky goals, stats don't give context unfortunately, If Matt Whitlock goes too early it benefits us as long as it isn't us.

 

[Tomohawks]

Taking pick 5 on Wednesday now means we'll likely miss out on one of the 3 talls that I like in Scaife, Blight and Howes. Lachie Voss sounds okay as well and could be in the mix. I'm really intrigued about what type we target but I suspect it will be a tall.

 

[ahhhhhh]

Taking pick 5 on Wednesday now means we'll likely miss out on one of the 3 talls that I like in Scaife, Blight and Howes. Lachie Voss sounds okay as well and could be in the mix. I'm really intrigued about what type we target but I suspect it will be a tall.

We will definitely just take the best available. Talls out of the MSD don't have a great success rate.

 

[FB19]

Taking pick 5 on Wednesday now means we'll likely miss out on one of the 3 talls that I like in Scaife, Blight and Howes. Lachie Voss sounds okay as well and could be in the mix. I'm really intrigued about what type we target but I suspect it will be a tall.

Will McLachlan. Figure he gets past north (Payne) tigers (blight) eagles (Roscoe) so at kilda the risk. Hoping they take Smartt or Ryan. Other one is Noah Howes as KPF.

 

[Tomohawks]

Will McLachlan. Figure he gets past north (Payne) tigers (blight) eagles (Roscoe) so at kilda the risk. Hoping they take Smartt or Ryan. Other one is Noah Howes as KPF.

Yeah I like Howes from what I've seen. McLachlan is the kid from Geelong who kicks goals and is either 181cm's or 185cm's? That extra 4 cm's would make a difference if he's a marking type.

 

[Rocket72]

Will McLachlan. Figure he gets past north (Payne) tigers (blight) eagles (Roscoe) so at kilda the risk. Hoping they take Smartt or Ryan. Other one is Noah Howes as KPF.

McLachlan seems like he will be a top 25 pick in the national draft this year on current trajectory, so would be a great punt.

 

[Rocket72]

Yeah I like Howes from what I've seen. McLachlan is the kid from Geelong who kicks goals and is either 181cm's or 185cm's? That extra 4 cm's would make a difference if he's a marking type.

He's listed 185 in the places you'd expect to have it right. Plays taller so leap and arm span must be helping.

 

[FB19]

He's listed 185 in the places you'd expect to have it right. Plays taller so leap and arm span must be helping.

But how heavy is he? And what about his hands?

 

[TylerDurden]

Jagga Smith had 50 touches in the CTL yesterday.

 

[Dewnior]

We will definitely just take the best available. Talls out of the MSD don't have a great success rate.

Cooper Sharman is the only one that comes to mind. It's a shame he's playing under Ross.

Jury still out on Ramma and Tucker

 

[noobermensch]

Sid was solid but not spectacular in his first champs outing for 2024. My guess is that he's still searching for match fitness and form after his long injury layoff - he had a strong opening half before fading out of the game and there was a lot of hands on head or knees sucking in the big ones in the second half. His defensive efforts in particular we poor at times.

 

[noobermensch]

Another solid performance from one of SA's deep contingent of midfielders. Hargrave is coming off a promising bottom age campaign where he was named MVP of the SANFL U18s competition. He's tough and strong in the contest as well as tidy and clever with his disposal.

 

[TylerDurden]