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Academy Watch

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Academy hot prospects
04 Dec, 2012

The searing Brisbane heat probably wasn’t the ideal environment for a couple of promising Hyundai Lions Academy youngsters to experience their first ever AFL training session on Tuesday.

But Queensland AFL hopefuls Cain Tickner and Isaac Conway certainly weren’t complaining.

The two Academy prospects have been invited to train alongside the Lions’ squad at selected sessions over summer to provide an insight into what’s required to compete at the elite level.

They will be involved in a restricted program designed to further assist their junior development.

Both Tickner and Conway are now determined to make the most of their opportunity heading into 2013.

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Sammy94 said:
Josh white, any relation?
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DD boy, super tough kid who has been through a very difficult time recently. Has zero fear but unlike his namesake is blonde and as white as snow.
 
irel said:
Sam Copland ?
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Another DD boy, super talented and could progress. His father, Darren, is a legend on the Downs and his son is following suit. Only 14yo but shows great signs at this early stage.
 

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Sam Gribble
DOB: 23/2/95 Ht: 179 Wt: 78

I probably would have rated Gribble behind only Tickner and Conway on performance at the Champs. He was a fair way behind those other two but there is a bit to like about Gribble and with another year of development to come there is every chance we could be speaking about him joining the Lions at this time next year.

Gribble played predominantly as an outside mid at the Champs. He has some ability to go inside and win the ball but he was not used like that much at the Champs. On the outside he showed good ability to find space and his workrate was very good. I do not think he has a particularly high natural endurance base but this kid will get out there and gut run with the best of them at this age. He ran himself into the ground in the win over WA and his workrate was impressive in that game. He showed good knowledge of where to run to receive in that game and was an important link player. He took a fair few marks when I watched him although that were usually a function of workrate rather than being particularly strong overhead.

Decision making and skills are the things he really needs to work on and I can see being the deciding factor whether he is drafted or not next year. He currently very much a one trick pony out on the wing where he just gets it and goes long on every occasion whether there is something on or not. He does not have particularly good feel on his kicks and will often overhit or underhit is kicks. He tends to get flustered by actual or perceived pressure or often looks rushed with the ball. He really needs to take his time more and lower his eyes and hit the intermediate targets more. If he does get caught be prepared to go to plan B and use the receivers who are close by for the handball. He needs to develop his awareness of what is around him a bit more and identifying what is the best option. A handball exchange can often be much more effective than blasting it down field to a two on one which results in the ball coming straight back. He needs to have more confidence in those around him.

Gribble is a pretty regularly goal kicker and creeps into the forward 50 pretty nicely from the wing. Against WA he impressed me when he converted on a really nice left foot snap from a tight angle. It looks like he has pretty good goal sense. I did notice a few fumbles from him with the ball on the ground.

Gribble is a reasonable size and with a bit of maturation should be a pretty solid unit come the Champs next year. He seems reasonably strong. On the outside he seems to run pretty well and looks an above average athlete. How much above I probably haven’t focused enough on him to tell you. He was given a few loose defensive roles at the Champs and seemed to do okay in them without being particularly impressive with the jobs.

Come next year I could see him being a high possession winner at the Champs getting around the park really nicely. If he can up his hurt factor I could see him being a real factor in that Qld midfield and someone who could generate draft attention. If I was working with him I would be suggesting he model his game on Zorko and watch the way Dayne goes about things. That is the type of player I could see him turning into.

What I want to see next year

· Improvement in his skills and decision making would be the absolute priority this offseason. Lots of work on evaluating situations and hitting targets at various ranges whilst under pressure. Actually have him be bumped and need to execute.

· Improvement in his inside skills. Showing some solid inside skills will improve his chances of being drafted quite a lot. So lots of work with the ball on the ground, attacking it, keeping the head over it, collecting it cleanly with momentum and then getting out with quick hands. I would really want to see some clean quick hands.

· I love the gut running and would want to see him continue that and improve on it some more. It is a strength of his game and don’t just concentrate on improving your weaknesses also work on being able to highlight your strengths.

· Show us some forward skills. With capped interchanges seeming on the cards having a another string to your bow would be very handy. Being able to rest up forward and be dangerous would be viewed favourably I would expect.
 
Does anybody know if academy draftees will count as Zone selections?
 
Aden Rutledge
DOB: 12/6/95 Ht: 190 Wt: 83

Rutledge is the last of the guys I saw at the Champs and probably the one I saw the least. Rutledge also got a game in one of the finals for the ressies I seem to recall and although he didn’t have a particularly big influence he didn’t do badly either.

Rutledge is a third tall at the moment who can play at either end of the park. I am a bit surprised he was listed at 83kgs and he looked lighter than that to me. He very much has a tall lean build which has become very popular with the flanker types but Rutledge seems to lack the running ability to move into that position currently. Endurance is something he absolutely must improve between now and next season if he wants to get picked up next year. His lack of running power affects the type of game that he can play and really seems to limit his offensive play. I noticed guys running away from him a couple of times and I am thinking that that might have been a function more of endurance than pace. His endurance issues makes judging his pace difficult.

At the back he probably looked at his best when playing as a loose defender. He plays that role well defensively although lacks some of the offensive punch you would want to see from that role. Defensively he judges the ball well coming in and judges his arrival at the ball to mark or spoil well. His spoiling is good and he shows nice ability to get a fist in. With that said, at the moment, he is probably at his best playing in front and he breaks on the ball well and is brave in the contest. When loose he looked to marshall the other defenders nicely and be where he needed to be and he cleaned up at the back nicely. He is smart and will corral and work the opposition into places where it is difficult for them to score.

Coming out of defense there is a bit to be desired. He does not involve himself anywhere near as much as you would like to see and when he does he can be pretty indiscriminate with his kicks. When he goes back and takes his time he is not bad with the ball but when he is on the run and particularly when he is under pressure his effectiveness by foot drops right away. When he gets out and run he looks pretty good (until he kicks it) and he does show some nice evasiveness on occasion. He does have a pretty decent baulk when he decides to bring it out.

He played up forward mostly in the ressies game I saw him play and he did play up forward a bit at the Champs. He is capable of snagging a goal or two but did not really get separation much and his leading generally was not great. He was not decisive with his leading often being half-hearted if it looked like he wasn’t going to get it straight away. Often it looked like he needed to be lead onto the ball rather than the other way around. When he is up forward he needs to leader harder and provide more repeat leads. In the marking contest his hands are pretty decent. He is a reasonably accurate shot for goal but he comes up short from 50.

Going forward I see him as a defensive flanker in the Mackie mould but he needs to work on quite a few things to get there. If I was working with him I would not be swapping him around next year but committing him to one position and giving him a good run at that role. Third tall at the Champs would be fine and if he can show a good offensive game that would help him enormously.

What I want to see next year

· I really think his endurance is very much a limiting factor at the moment and something which if he could get it up to scratch it could transform his game. Lots of running this preseason would be what I would be ordering for him.

· Upping his disposal count by a significant margin. He needs to work on where to run to receive and be a factor in the offensive game. He has nice height for a linking player coming out of defense but he needs to get himself into a position more to be used by his teammates.

· He needs to pick out targets coming out of defense more. Rather than just pumping it long he needs to actually look and hit the men at different ranges. Don’t get flustered and take that extra second to assess, balance and then execute.

· When he is at the other end I want to see strong hard leads with separation whether he is being used or not. If nothing else it will drag the opposition defender out of the area. I also want to see repeat efforts from him.
 
I keep hearing about the same 2 players. What other 17 yr old Lions Academy boys are hot and worth keeping an eye on?
 
Sticks11 said:
I keep hearing about the same 2 players. What other 17 yr old Lions Academy boys are hot and worth keeping an eye on?
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Sam Gribble is the other notable one in next year's draft crop, but is probably more of a late draft/rookie list prospect.

For the 2014 draft there is Liam Dawson and Matt Hammelmann.
 
TheBrownDog said:
Sam Gribble is the other notable one in next year's draft crop, but is probably more of a late draft/rookie list prospect.

For the 2014 draft there is Liam Dawson and Matt Hammelmann.
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Rutledge is another one that I'd throw in for next year.
 

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Wondering if one year we had three or four academy guys that we really wanted and effectively sat out the draft since out picks were already set .... would we be happy that we had such a good crop (especially if they were three or four that would have gone in round 1 and 2) or would we be complaining about how boring draft night would be....?
 
Sticks11 said:
I keep hearing about the same 2 players. What other 17 yr old Lions Academy boys are hot and worth keeping an eye on?
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In addition to those mentioned I would also keep an eye out for Bill Pendlebury, Jackson Gray, Lauchlan Niland-Rowe and Zac Southern. Any of those guys could take a step into prominance this year.
 

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How many academy boys played in our readies this year?
 
Quigley said:
Conway, Tickner and Rutledge are the only ones that I can recall.
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Jono Freeman, Josh Stiller, Blake Gambale, Ben Fuller, Sam Gribble. Possibly more.
 

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