Andrew Gaff - Best player from the 2010 draft?

[King Of The Hille]

Best Wing in the AFL at the moment. Helps playing in a good side with lots of inside ball winners though. Spot on with his coverage of the ground though - amazing

Yeah, because Kade Simpson and Brent Stanton are being ousted for AA by Gaff.

 

[Boiled Geezer]

So far based on the draft and list above

1. Gaff
2. Darling
- Gap
3. Heppell
4. Bennell
5. Swallow
6. Parker
7. Prestia

The rest

Couldn't squeeze in Lycett?

 

[The Passenger]

wouldn't even say his the eagles best player from the 2010 draft... darling has him covered imo, both in performances and potential.... gaff gotta be close to top five if he isn't...

1/ swallow, 2/ darling, 3/ heppell, 4/ bennell, 5/ gaff looks about right to me

conca, polec, atley are also excellent prospects...

how is watson from carlton looking?? i thought he looked pretty good in the bits i had seen, but have hardly heard from him in the last 12 months...

 

[Danair]

Great tank, good footy brain, great field kick.

Can't kick for goal to save his life and still a little small in the body (but that will come, similar situation to most 2010 draftees). Big call.

Also, eagles board.

Must be some kind of extraterrestrial technology!

 

[Powerade 08]

Uh, if you haven't seen Sam Day yet he is basically Kurt Tippett and Scott Pendlebury put together... and he is a higher leap than Naitanui which is handy.

So that might be some competition for Gaff.

 

[The Passenger]

6. Parker

didn't realise luke parker is 2010 draft.... he's a gun. definate top ten from that draft. would be pushing top five imo

 

[wce4premiership]

Disagree. He doesn't seem to have a lot of penetration with his kicking. No way I'd call it top class.

Have to post, despite these threads being annoying.

His kicking is top class. He hits targets after running harder than anyone else and he chooses very good options when doing so.

 

[The Passenger]

gaff's kicking is very accurate, but he doesn't have a booming kick by any means...

 

[Hens Hall]

Watched a fair few Eagles games this year and have seen Gaff a fair bit.

Good player but as rightly pointed out by an WCE supporter earlier on in the thread beenfits from playig in a team full of hard nut insider ball winners who feed it off to him.

Has an accurate left foot but does lack a bit of penetration with it. Might come as he gets bigger an stronger.

Have not really seen him do much of of the hard in and under and it raises a question mark to me when comparing him to a guy like Swallow who does play that role to a great extent already (without looking at stats I would imagine he would comfortably beat Gaff in clearances and cont pos).

Two things that I noticed in todays game was that he was left unattended all day at the back of the pack and was allowed to run onto his left foot continuously as the other eagles midfielders slaughtered the Dockers in the clearances. I was shaking my head at how easily he was allowed to do this.

The other one moment I noticed was when it came for him to pick up a contested ball on the wing (2nd qtr I think) he put in a fairly weak effort and did not at least cause a ball up, which allowed the Dockers to get one of their rare quick break goals.

Contested ball is what turns a good midfielder into a great midfielder so until then I reserve my judgment on him and would rate Swallow and even Darling ahead of him.

Sorry for the ramble. Please continue.

 

[DivideandMultiply]

So far based on the draft and list above

1. Gaff
2. Darling
- Gap
3. Heppell
4. Bennell
5. Swallow
6. Parker
7. Prestia

The rest

Easy there.....

I reckon he was taken at the right pick or maybe one spot to late.

ATM I would have it:

Swallow
Bennell
Gaff/Heppell
Darling
Parker
Prestia

I think Bennell and Swallow (maybe Darling at a pinch) have the upside to end up the best, but honestly it could be a raffle.

 

[wce4premiership]

Not Gaff related .. but being an outside player doesn't make you a lesser player compared to an inside midfielder

You can't rate someone higher because of their role in the team, only how well they're executing their roles. Gaff doesn't play outside because he's s**t, he plays there because he does it well, better than most to be honest. He is very courageous and will go hard at a loose ball if it's in his area.

Not bad for a tiny kid.

 

[Galileo9]

hard to say if best. personnally, one of bennell or swallow is best from 2010.

hard with talls as mids generally show more earlier. there are so many other good players in the draft. Day, darling, wallis, libba, parker, lynch, heppell have all shown that they have what it takes to be a-grade players. there are many others who will be very good players. it was a good draft.

 

[the harry]

You'd have to say Benell surely?

Gaff isn't even the Eagles best pick in the draft.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Not Gaff related .. but being an outside player doesn't make you a lesser player compared to an inside midfielder

You can't rate someone higher because of their role in the team, only how well they're executing their roles. Gaff doesn't play outside because he's s**t, he plays there because he does it well, better than most to be honest. He is very courageous and will go hard at a loose ball if it's in his area.

Not bad for a tiny kid.

Why do receivers spud it up in finals? Because finals = contested. To go deep in September you need quality inside mids. Of course it's good to have outside players as well, but they are not nearly as important as inside mids.

 

[Igloo]

Why do receivers spud it up in finals? Because finals = contested. To go deep in September you need quality inside mids. Of course it's good to have outside players as well, but they are not nearly as important as inside mids.

Doesn't always stand up. Griffen is by far our best finals player, and he's predominantly outside.

 

[kreglze]

Alot of our key players are from that draft, so this may sound a little biased.

I love Gaff (and Darling) btw, his run and carry are great, and disappointed he didn't end up on the GC. But being in a well established team full of other people to tag he has an easier run of it. If he did play for GC he would be in the top 2-3 to put work into and wouldn't be given that much space.

However, our top 3 picks were the right correct ones.

Swallow is a star, hits the pack hard, is a great midfielder and has some serious pace behind him.

Bennell is also a jet, of an outside runner breaks the lines with his pace and is a proven goal kicker (I am sure he is leading our goal kicking atm)

Day is a key forward so he is going to take another couple of years before he is dominating but he looked good against Port this week, kicked 3 and shown he has a good leap under his feet to rival Nic Nats.

I reckon this conversation a couple of years down the track will be better.

At the moment I would still take Swallow for his hardness in the middle.

 

[wce4premiership]

Not true at all. Our last Grand final gave us a norm smith medallist who is an outside player.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Doesn't always stand up. Griffen is by far our best finals player, and he's predominantly outside.

No he's a rare player that is both inside and outside. How would he average 5 clearances a game being an outside player?

 

[Igloo]

No he's a rare player that is both inside and outside. How would he average 5 clearances a game being an outside player?

I did say predominantly

 

[dajesmac]

Best in the draft? Perhaps on output so far. Not so much in potential. He is an absolute star and will continue to be one, but there's a lot of talent in that draft that will overtake him.

Gaff's kicking is very good by the way. It's not elite in terms of penetration but he has an uncanny knack for spotting and hitting targets. He rarely fluffs a kick.

 

[Coledinho]

Why do receivers spud it up in finals? Because finals = contested. To go deep in September you need quality inside mids. Of course it's good to have outside players as well, but they are not nearly as important as inside mids.

If Andrew Embley was any more outside he would be in the stands selling pies and pasties and he has been one of our best finals players for a long time now.

Receivers stand up in finals. Just the good ones though

 

[dajesmac]

Gaff's inside game will also develop in time, he has improved remarkably in that aspect already since joining the club.

 

[dajesmac]

If Andrew Embley was any more outside he would be in the stands selling pies and pasties and he has been one of our best finals players for a long time now.

Receivers stand up in finals. Just the good ones though

Peter Matera also agrees with you.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

You'd have to say Benell surely?

Gaff isn't even the Eagles best pick in the draft.

My thoughts to a tee

 

[Evelyn208]

If Andrew Embley was any more outside he would be in the stands selling pies and pasties

lol