Ants draft wrap

[ant555]

Yes there are a lot of threads going around but i am not supposed to be sitting in front of the computor yet so i have not had time to read them all.
So i will just post my own thread to add to the mess

Pick 5.
Personally i would have gone midfiled and taken Rich but there was just as good an argument to take a defender and we got the best of the bunch. I still have concerns with his sprint time but the kid can play and he is versitle as he has shown he can do it at both ends of the ground.
In the end we picked one of 5 players i liked for this pick and the only tall i would have taken here.

Pick 23
Not who i would have picked. Zaka is a good kid with pace and good skills on the right side and has genuine leadership skills but his left side is a real concern. Have seen him get caught out a number of times under pressure when he has not been able to use his right side. Unless you end up being close to a champion a midfielder who has problems with the left side is a concern. Guess i will be hoping that this bloke fits into the 40% of draftees o get wrong.
There is one thing for sure and that is he will give 120% to making it in the AFL.

Pick 55
Micheal Still , very raw tall who could end up being a very good pick here. You wont see much of him in the next couple of years as he is bottom age and has a bit of growing/filling out to do.
Very strong mark. He is mobile and has pretty good pace. His set shot kicking could use some work. Has played mainly as a forward but has been used effectively at CHB for parts of some games this year.

pick 67
Tyson Slattery, have not seen much of him playing so it is hard for me to comment on that side but i have heard he is a very hard working kid with a great attitude. Pretty reasonably sized kid who could play a bit this year.

Overall not too bad.
I know a few are questioning why we did not go midfield but i think they tend to forget that by trading for Prismall we have ended up going two talls , two mids and a mid sized defender/winger with another pick to go plus 4 rookie picks. With the change in the rules allowing rookies to be elevated without players being put on the LTI list it allows for more scope in picking players who may be able to play in the first year.
They have got the mix pretty much right but i still have slight reservations about not taking Rich.
One trend that is obvious to me that many may have missed is in the last two drafts the players character seems to hold a fair bit more weight in how we are rating the players. Last year we took myers over Palmer simply becasue they rated their playing ability the same / or close but Myers was consider to have better leadership potential. Pears was also higly rated as a kid with a great attitude.
This year we have Hurley and Zaharakis who where co captains of Vic Metro and both have great of field attitude. Slattery has also been metioned as a very good kid off field with a great work ethic.

As a whole the draft ended up going pretty much as most thought it would in the last two weeks. I wish i could have had another go at my phatom draft as a fair bit of info came out over the last 3 weeks while i have been in hospital but i ended up with 48 out of 63 which is around the 76% mark which is not too bad considering i see mainly TAC Cup and very litlle WAFL or SANFL footy. As usual getting the positions correct proved close to impossible.
Anyway that is about the limit that i can sit here.

 

[Spikey]

With the change in the rules allowing rookies to be elevated without players being put on the LTI list it allows for more scope in picking players who may be able to play in the first year.

Hadn't heard about this, intersting.

Oh and great work as always.

 

[willie dick]

Thanks ANT555 for all your work and opinions. Great stuff.

I can understand your slight reservations for overlooking a gun midfielder but the club has opted for what they beleive is a gun KPP.

Just on Rich, had we gone the other way from what I hear I believe we would have taken Sidebottom or Yarran over Rich as well.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Thanks for your input Ant and all the best with your recovery. I guess we will see over the next few years whether our recruiters have done the right thing.

 

[tom9779]

Is it just me that the dons had the eyes on ('must get') either Hurley or Trengove. I reckon we might have known that neither would have been around at 23 which is why we pulled the trigger on hurls at 5?

i like zaharakis and I am stoked the club has gone with 3 vics, two of those very highly rated, and the third finished his TAC season off very very well.

How often to backmen of hurley's quality come up? Not often I don't reckon...yet this time next year, people will be salivating over the next crop of showy mid fielders....

Wise move I think, particularly considering all the quality picks freo/wc and port had.(and which were all well used on WA and SA kids).

If we do look at the top mids that went, however I am more concerned about passing over Chris Yarran and Sidebottom than Rich to tell you the truth. All based on a hunch of course, with a couple of years in the system being the proof in the pudding.

 

[Beerfish]

Hadn't heard about this, intersting.

Oh and great work as always.

Me either and yes it is..

Great post ant.

I really don't feel bad at all about not picking Rich though. I think we went the right way but of course time will tell.

 

[Sigmund]

Best of luck with your recovery Ant

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Seems like we've drafted a great bunch of kids. Well done to Dodoro and co.

Get well soon, ant.

 

[Burzum]

Good luck with your recovery, ant.

 

[Thrust]

Overall not too bad.
I know a few are questioning why we did not go midfield but i think they tend to forget that by trading for Prismall we have ended up going two talls , two mids and a mid sized defender/winger with another pick to go plus 4 rookie picks.

I think if the reason Essendon chose to overlook who they thought was the best available in Rich because they traded for a limited midfielder in Prismall they have made a massive mistake. That being said if they rated Rich and Hurley equal on talent then I have no problems at all.

 

[bomber69]

Good to have you back Ant, good lucky with your recovery.

Just a quick note on Zaharakis, I have not seen much of him at all this year, but the theme here seems to be that he has no left foot. Here is a quote from Adrian Dodoro that was in todays Sunday Age.

"Another Northern Knight, we rated mid first-round. He complements the blend of a tall and a very good mid in the first 23 of the draft. Very skilful both sides of the body. A modern day player."

Interesting comment there, Dodoro rates his skills quite highly.

 

[anf06]

The one thing i am most pleased about our draft, is that we drafted players from the same team. This has been seen as a sort of side point or a coincidence for some, but i think its useful and clever at the least. I know the Essendon didnt go into the draft with a mindset of "lets get Northen Knights only"..but think about it.

These kids have grown up playing in the same leagues, knowing of each other for probably most of their junior careers. For the past year or two, they have been in the same team. They know the way each other play, and they obviously work well together. Drafting players from the same team/leauge is a great idea as they come into their first season with great knowledge of how each other play, and can work together, not to mention they will have a support base to lay their first year nerves to.

You may think this point is silly, and hell it might be. But i wouldnt be suprised, with the abundance of picks GC17 have next year, if they dont opt to select a FB-CHB, FF-CHF or RUCK-MID combination from some of the TAC or statebound teams.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

Good, honest write-up Ant, good to see you back. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

 

[Enki]

One trend that is obvious to me that many may have missed is in the last two drafts the players character seems to hold a fair bit more weight in how we are rating the players.

This was actually something I thought about last year but was not sure about initially, but as we learnt more about Knights and his coaching style it became clear it wasn't just a coincidence so it doesn't surprise me we made a point to continue drafting players with leadership and good on and off field attitudes. I definitely think it is a good idea (even if I'm not sold on Zaharakis yet).

Oh, and good luck recovering.

 

[TOA.]

Good to have you back Ant, good lucky with your recovery.

Just a quick note on Zaharakis, I have not seen much of him at all this year, but the theme here seems to be that he has no left foot. Here is a quote from Adrian Dodoro that was in todays Sunday Age.

"Another Northern Knight, we rated mid first-round. He complements the blend of a tall and a very good mid in the first 23 of the draft. Very skilful both sides of the body. A modern day player."

Interesting comment there, Dodoro rates his skills quite highly.

Think you'll find that recruiters and coaches say every player they draft is "quick with good skills". Despite the fact you only need to watch the kid a couple of minutes to realise its off the mark in most cases.

 

[yaco55]

Think you'll find that recruiters and coaches say every player they draft is "quick with good skills". Despite the fact you only need to watch the kid a couple of minutes to realise its off the mark in most cases.

I agree.

About 70% of AFL players dont have elite kicking skills.

 

[auswatto]

From the limited viewing i have of Zaharakis, i would say he has a quality right foot and can hit leading targets 50+m away aswell as a quality short kick. He doesnt just bomb the ball 50 metres, he passes it with precision. Cant comment on his left foot. He does seem to work hard both going forward and in defense. He can kick running goals from 50 and set shots just inside 50. Has decent pace and seems to have a decent engine aswell. As co captain of NK and captain of Vic Metro, i would have thought he has to have some decent ability aswell as his obvious leadership attributes.
I would have thought with our list emerging midfielders, he would fit in perfectly with his great finishing skills. Jobe knows how to win the clearances. Lonergan can get the hardball. This kid is the one to recieve those balls and hit targets inside 50, aswell as woring back and providing options. Whether he turns out to have the ability at AFL level no one can know, but i would have thought he is exactly the sort of midfielder we need.

 

[Beerfish]

Think you'll find that recruiters and coaches say every player they draft is "quick with good skills". Despite the fact you only need to watch the kid a couple of minutes to realise its off the mark in most cases.

While this may be true, the conjecture is centred on whether the kid can kick with his left or not.

Some are saying he can't while Dodoro is saying he's good with both..

 

[ant555]

While this may be true, the conjecture is centred on whether the kid can kick with his left or not.

Some are saying he can't while Dodoro is saying he's good with both..

Well i would hardly think that Dodoro is going to come out and publicly say he can not kick all that well on the left.

Good to have you back Ant, good lucky with your recovery.

Just a quick note on Zaharakis, I have not seen much of him at all this year, but the theme here seems to be that he has no left foot. Here is a quote from Adrian Dodoro that was in todays Sunday Age.

"Another Northern Knight, we rated mid first-round. He complements the blend of a tall and a very good mid in the first 23 of the draft. Very skilful both sides of the body. A modern day player."

Interesting comment there, Dodoro rates his skills quite highly.

It is interesting he has said that. I agree he has very good skills on the right side but based on the 15 or so games i have seen him play in the TAC Cup over the last two years i have not seen his great skills on the left foot .
I also know some of the coaching staff at another TAC Cup club and their instructions to whoever played on him where to force him onto the left as much as possible as his efficiency on the left side is below average

Anyway i hope that i am wrong and it does not trun out to be a big problem. I have rated him a bit harshly simply becasue i like mids who can kick well on both sides.

 

[Beerfish]

Well i would hardly think that Dodoro is going to come out and publicly say he can not kick all that well on the left.

Yes but he could have just said he had great right foot skills and left it at that couldn't he?

Or is that a joke that's gone over my head..

 

[saladin]

never seen hird kick on his left. can be worked around, but needs to be good with his hands off both sides.

 

[slugger]

James Hird and Mark Mercuri couldn't kick for crap on their left foot.

 

[DaSawx]

How many players are very good on both sides?

It's a nothing issue.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

How many players are very good on both sides?

It's a nothing issue.

Valid point DS, but what I think he's getting at is, teams are now targetting kids that can kick with both feet. IMO this is mainly due to how opposition coaches often find out a certain player's preffered foot, then tell the player that's gonna match up on that particular player to target that foot. When that happens, them players that are one-sided naturally are at a greater risk of having a limited effect on the game.

It hasn't been a major issue in the past, but it's an issue that's grown over the last few years, and I think it'll continue to grow. Thus making it almost essential that you can kick well with both sides of the body in modern footy.

It's an area that can be fixed in time, but the earlier you learn to kick on your opposite foot the more natural it will feel in the long term.

 

[DaSawx]

But there's not many players in the whole AFL who use the ball with both feet, it's not just our team with a deficiency, it's the same for every team.

I'm just pretty happy we drafted a smooth moving midfielder who looks like the game comes naturally to him, we can work on his shortcomings in due course.