Draft Watcher Bastyy's 2021 AFL Draft Watch - Phantom V2 in post #154

Sep 18, 2015
13,129
32,098
The Hippodrome
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Hornets, Mariners, Falcons
I was wondering on what basis you think Corey Warner will go at Number 1? He wasn’t named in the AFL academy for 2021, he never made the WA U18 squad In 2020. I am not saying he won’t get drafted but he is almost 0% chance of being the first name name called out on draft night.
I don’t think Warner will go number 1, I just think he’ll end up my favourite player in this draft. I love the speed he brings to games and his ability in bad weather for East Fremantle late in the year was seriously impressive.

Injury or no injury, he was never getting drafted. Romantic story as is always with the younger brothers but Josh is not AFL standard- quite a long way off unfortunately. Clunky and lacks speed, skills. If he had a different surname, no-one one would have ever mentioned his name. Not even sure if he’ll be a wafl league player.
Agree here, was just surprised he didn’t get a year on a colts list or so
I am also unsure what to make of this kid. I find him inconsistent but has the flair and pizzazz like Many other small forwards which gets you talked about. Also the surname. Can fade in and out of games but that is also acceptable for a SF. I could see him getting drafted To the right team At the right pick and I could also see him being overlooked. He’s that type of player. Interestingly was overlooked for the WA U18 squad at the end of 2020 and wasn’t one of the WA kids in the AFL academy for 2021.

Why do you think he’ll play Colts and not PSA? PSA is compulsory for these lads so he might get a couple of wafl games in before And after the PSA Season but that’s it. I see PSA as a bit of a closed shop- no stats except goals and sometimes a write up/opinion by one journalist here in Perth. If they ever interview the coaches, of course they are going to talk up the kids under them- PSA schools are a financial business who use their AFL draftees as their advertising. It was laughable reading about some of the kids the coaches talked about last year.


What do you think if the four WA kids who made the AFL academy? You’ve not mentioned Jack Williams - how do you rate him?
Motlop I have around 25 at the moment, I do mention that I’m quite fond of him but I would like to see how he goes next year against better defenders at a colts or state carnival level. If you look at some small forwards drafted in the past few years (Dan Rioli, Blake Coleman) they’re drafted on match winning ability, which Motlop has or on upside/ability to move into the midfield (Liam Henry, Jack Mahony) which Motlop has played before but he’d be a long way off playing midfield at AFL level. Inconsistency is something a lot of recruiters try and back their development team with, look at Tyler Brockman, who didn’t have the best performances consistently but got drafted on upside and match winning ability. Of course Motlop has to go against a plethora of Victorian kids in this years draft that didn’t play last year, but that’s going to be the challenge for all WA kids anyway

My understanding of the PSA is that a lot of players have already graduated by age 18 and play full colts seasons after. DGB and McDonald for example both played WAFL this year despite playing PSA in past years. I could be wrong and Motlop could be playing PSA still next year, but best case scenario he’s not doing that as his 7 goal hauls on more than one occasion prove he’s a level above

Of the 4 WA state kids I rate them Johnson > Van Rooyen > Bazzo > Williams (obviously I have van Rooyen above Johnson on my current rankings but I’m already doing shift arounds). It’s easy to try to compare van Rooyen and Bazzo against McDonald and DGB/Chapman but I think McDonald is the best WA under age tall forward we’ll have in a long time and I don’t see Bazzo ending up as a top 10 prospect, both will end up mid first round more than likely but an extra year of development could mean they compete very well against Victorian KPP’s at a carnival. Johnson is already such a powerful midfield presence and is incredibly classy, something I really rate in a player. Williams I’m unsure about. His good games were good but his bad games were undraftable for my liking. I think clubs look at his good games and the fact he has a birthday late in the year and again look at his upside. I’m still yet to have a concrete opinion on him, but his name is well and truly on the radar now
 

BigDance

Cancelled
Jul 27, 2018
494
266
AFL Club
West Coast
I don’t think Warner will go number 1, I just think he’ll end up my favourite player in this draft. I love the speed he brings to games and his ability in bad weather for East Fremantle late in the year was seriously impressive.


Agree here, was just surprised he didn’t get a year on a colts list or so

Motlop I have around 25 at the moment, I do mention that I’m quite fond of him but I would like to see how he goes next year against better defenders at a colts or state carnival level. If you look at some small forwards drafted in the past few years (Dan Rioli, Blake Coleman) they’re drafted on match winning ability, which Motlop has or on upside/ability to move into the midfield (Liam Henry, Jack Mahony) which Motlop has played before but he’d be a long way off playing midfield at AFL level. Inconsistency is something a lot of recruiters try and back their development team with, look at Tyler Brockman, who didn’t have the best performances consistently but got drafted on upside and match winning ability. Of course Motlop has to go against a plethora of Victorian kids in this years draft that didn’t play last year, but that’s going to be the challenge for all WA kids anyway

My understanding of the PSA is that a lot of players have already graduated by age 18 and play full colts seasons after. DGB and McDonald for example both played WAFL this year despite playing PSA in past years. I could be wrong and Motlop could be playing PSA still next year, but best case scenario he’s not doing that as his 7 goal hauls on more than one occasion prove he’s a level above

Of the 4 WA state kids I rate them Johnson > Van Rooyen > Bazzo > Williams (obviously I have van Rooyen above Johnson on my current rankings but I’m already doing shift arounds). It’s easy to try to compare van Rooyen and Bazzo against McDonald and DGB/Chapman but I think McDonald is the best WA under age tall forward we’ll have in a long time and I don’t see Bazzo ending up as a top 10 prospect, both will end up mid first round more than likely but an extra year of development could mean they compete very well against Victorian KPP’s at a carnival. Johnson is already such a powerful midfield presence and is incredibly classy, something I really rate in a player. Williams I’m unsure about. His good games were good but his bad games were undraftable for my liking. I think clubs look at his good games and the fact he has a birthday late in the year and again look at his upside. I’m still yet to have a concrete opinion on him, but his name is well and truly on the radar now

I am pretty much in the same page as you the every player.

PSA is obviously school based and school years go July to June. So that means only half of a draftable cohort finished year 12 the year before (those born Jan-June) and players like Motlop and others born July to Dec (Warner, williams etc) are all in Year 12 this year so Motlop and Warner will have to play PSA as first optioN. The other half of this year’s Year 12‘S are born in Jan to June 2004 so they get to play PSA and then wafl next year in their draft year.

Totally agree with your analysis of Williams. He played a couple of good games and his others were very very average. Even his good games were when the EF midfield were firing and he was on the end of their play. Drops his head far too easily. But has the right body type for a forward. I was pretty surprised to see his name in the academy - I don’t think he is one of the best 4 draft prospects we have this year. He could come out and prove me wrong though. Someone must see something in him. A direct comparison to van Rooyen though which could hurt his chances? Can two WA forwards get taken?
 

Freezin

Club Legend
Nov 28, 2007
1,941
1,529
Aotearoa
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
East Freo
Injury or no injury, he was never getting drafted. Romantic story as is always with the younger brothers but Josh is not AFL standard- quite a long way off unfortunately. Clunky and lacks speed, skills. If he had a different surname, no-one one would have ever mentioned his name. Not even sure if he’ll be a wafl league player.

You seem closer to the action mate and more in the know regarding Cripps....I noticed despite last year's knee injury playing PSA for Aquinas, Cripps has never played an EF colts game yet....he must be getting on to being 19,-so you might be on the money there with the kids footy prowess...or apparent lack of.....as you say a good romance story for all n sundry
 

BigDance

Cancelled
Jul 27, 2018
494
266
AFL Club
West Coast
You seem closer to the action mate and more in the know regarding Cripps....I noticed despite last year's knee injury playing PSA for Aquinas, Cripps has never played an EF colts game yet....he must be getting on to being 19,-so you might be on the money there with the kids footy prowess...or apparent lack of.....as you say a good romance story for all n sundry
It’s no knock on the kid. It’s just how it is. The footy Romance stories fill the papers prior to drafts and the hard reality is, it’s bloody hard to get drafted. And even then- it’s hard to become a career AFL player.
 
Sep 18, 2015
13,129
32,098
The Hippodrome
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Hornets, Mariners, Falcons
Keen to hear more about your thoughts on Kemp & Perkins.

Has Kemp lost much since juniors, post injury? (understand limited population of evidence to make an outright call)

& why Perkins? Seems a safe bet to make it, but something about his game looks off... just doesnt seem to have the class of others
With all the players I consider my favourite there's usually a stand out reason as to why. For Kemp it was his versatility and match winning abilities. For Perkins it's his explosiveness and again, match winning abilities. The sort of things that we see in the better players of the current generation of footballers (ie Martin match winning ability, Fyfe versatility, Cripps explosiveness, Pendlebury class) are what I think of when I'm deciding on a favourite player. While for example Phillips might be the most consistent and ready to go player of the 2020 draft who I rank over Perkins. The traits I like about Perkins are far more exciting to me.

On Kemp, I'm hoping we get to see Kemp play in the pre-season games (No idea, if he's back to full training) to see if injury is going to affect him too much. He was dominant when he was playing in the under 18's and one thing I loved about him was his versatility. I don't think Carlton are going to play him as a tall forward/tall back/tall midfielder just yet. They might play him deep in the forward line or even on the half forward flank while he builds up game time and experience. I think long term he could have some Fyfe like qualities in terms of being able to dominate inside mid and then shift into a forward line role. I think if anything injury just means we won't see the full potential of Kemp in the midfield as early as Carlton would hope. Carlton obviously knew what they were getting with Kemp when they drafted him, he was already injured at the time, so I imagine they already have some sort of plan that sees him playing more VFL this season before getting full AFL game time. I think if I did a re-rank of the 2019 group again I might knock Kemp down a peg or two, I had him at two originally, but I truly think he was one of the better players from that draft.

On Perkins, I think it's hard to compare a player to Martin, just like it's hard to compare a player to Gaz Jr or Buddy, there's just some aspects of his game that I see being really similar, and someone who could really make his mark on the game like Dusty. He's someone who can win the game off his own boot and that's something I think every club could do with. I think where the most valid criticisms of Perkins come from the fact his midfield ability isn't proven, which it isn't, but he clearly has the tools of a modern AFL midfielder for my liking. As for whether he doesn't have the class of others? I don't think so, maybe he's not entirely consistent, but it's hard to base how consistent a player is from their 17 year old season. I think he's still got a bit to prove, and there's a good chance he doesn't debut til maybe mid year, but I think with some strong VFL games and maybe a few AFL games he can prove some doubters wrong. Who knows
 
It is such an interesting draft year coming up because of he previous 12 months. Was down at a VFL training last night and surprised at the amount of young players at this level.

One thing I think in Vic is the VFL is likely to be very lopsided and not sure how talent will be assessed at the level particularly from non aligned clubs.

in Vic, is there allocated VFL alignments with NAB League clubs?
 
Sep 18, 2015
13,129
32,098
The Hippodrome
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Hornets, Mariners, Falcons
It is such an interesting draft year coming up because of he previous 12 months. Was down at a VFL training last night and surprised at the amount of young players at this level.

One thing I think in Vic is the VFL is likely to be very lopsided and not sure how talent will be assessed at the level particularly from non aligned clubs.

in Vic, is there allocated VFL alignments with NAB League clubs?
Sorry for the late response mate, missed this one

I'm not entirely sure on NAB League/VFL alignments, that's probably better for the draft central guys like eDPS and Pie 4 Life to answer

There's probably some basic ones like Sandringham Dragons and the Sandringham Zebras, but outside of that not sure sorry
 
Sep 18, 2015
13,129
32,098
The Hippodrome
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Hornets, Mariners, Falcons
Pre Season Colts matches for the WAFL started today. Not all clubs played, and not all clubs had stats. The only stats that were available were the goals and behinds kicked for each team, which is annoying but to be expected from the pre season

One interesting thing to note was Rhett Bazzo was lining up in the forward line and managed 4 goals along side Luke Taylor who also had 4. A very good performance and it'll be interesting to see if the Bazzo forward experiment lasts all season
 

eDPS

Premium Platinum
Nov 4, 2010
24,967
41,173
Melbourne - Eastern Suburbs
AFL Club
Essendon
Pre Season Colts matches for the WAFL started today. Not all clubs played, and not all clubs had stats. The only stats that were available were the goals and behinds kicked for each team, which is annoying but to be expected from the pre season

One interesting thing to note was Rhett Bazzo was lining up in the forward line and managed 4 goals along side Luke Taylor who also had 4. A very good performance and it'll be interesting to see if the Bazzo forward experiment lasts all season
Keen to see if Bazzo has kept growing aswell as he had a very growth spurt from 16s to his bottom age year aswell. Might have another Sam De Koning on our hands
 

Rainsparks

Debutant
Feb 8, 2019
148
72
AFL Club
Collingwood
Pre Season Colts matches for the WAFL started today. Not all clubs played, and not all clubs had stats. The only stats that were available were the goals and behinds kicked for each team, which is annoying but to be expected from the pre season

One interesting thing to note was Rhett Bazzo was lining up in the forward line and managed 4 goals along side Luke Taylor who also had 4. A very good performance and it'll be interesting to see if the Bazzo forward experiment lasts all season

Any notes on max chippers ?


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
Sep 18, 2015
13,129
32,098
The Hippodrome
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Hornets, Mariners, Falcons
Any notes on max chippers ?


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
From last week? None sorry mate, WAFL doesn't release any stats whatsoever about pre-season matches and yet to find somewhere that provides footage for them.

Really rate the kid though, quick and classy and played inside. Think he's better on the outside and that's probably where he'll play when the U19 Championships happen later in the year. Height may be an issue but with how clean he is I think at the very least he'll end up drafted late.
 
Mar 26, 2017
1,375
2,063
Inner Sanctum
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
GBay-WSox-Bulls-Blackhawks-LSU-UNC
Bastyy one i would like you to keep an eye on is Jaiden Hunter. Thought he was stiff to not be rookied. hope he puts on size and develops his game against the bigger bodies this year and isnt drawn into a mid season draft pick and waits till the end of the year with a good body of work under him. What were/are your thoughts on him
 
Sep 18, 2015
13,129
32,098
The Hippodrome
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Hornets, Mariners, Falcons
Bastyy one i would like you to keep an eye on is Jaiden Hunter. Thought he was stiff to not be rookied. hope he puts on size and develops his game against the bigger bodies this year and isnt drawn into a mid season draft pick and waits till the end of the year with a good body of work under him. What were/are your thoughts on him
Yeah Hunter was one that really shot up my rankings closer to the draft. I want to see him play a few games forward this year or at the very least not get shoehorned into the ruck. While he can go in the ruck I think if he can play that swingman role he'll be very appealing to clubs. He's going to have to contend with Vic 19 year olds + all the 18 year olds this year so he might have a hard time getting drafted this year but I think in a few years time he could be a name out of the WAFL that clubs will be asking themselves why they didn't jump on earlier.

He played last week for Perth's League team which is a good sign
 
Mar 26, 2017
1,375
2,063
Inner Sanctum
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
GBay-WSox-Bulls-Blackhawks-LSU-UNC
Yeah Hunter was one that really shot up my rankings closer to the draft. I want to see him play a few games forward this year or at the very least not get shoehorned into the ruck. While he can go in the ruck I think if he can play that swingman role he'll be very appealing to clubs. He's going to have to contend with Vic 19 year olds + all the 18 year olds this year so he might have a hard time getting drafted this year but I think in a few years time he could be a name out of the WAFL that clubs will be asking themselves why they didn't jump on earlier.

He played last week for Perth's League team which is a good sign
my thoughts exactly, i want to see him own a spot, then grow.....and not in the ruck
 

Balardong

Draftee
Mar 24, 2021
9
8
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I'm a big Lawson Humphries fan, he's a classy ball user off of half back and arguably has some of the best skills with ball in hand out of WA's 2021 draft pool. He's also a great intercepting mark, and with the two combined he's got the attributes you want in a modern day small defender. He's been pretty hidden in the PSA this year but he had two appearances in Round 9 for Swan Districts colts with 15 disposals, 5 marks and 3 tackles. He's a bit short, 179cm according to the WAFL website, but it doesn't affect him from the games I've seen.

I have him as a top 50 prospect, skills are a very important trait for me when it comes to ranking players and Humphries has some of the best of the lot. In the main draft I don't think he'll go top 20, so West Coast will be able to match a bid for him, and considering Hurn is on the back end of his career, his draft year is coming at a pretty good time. Compared to the defenders you've drafted in recent years (Johnson and Edwards) I'd probably rate Humphries slightly higher than both.

Seems like a good kid too off the field. He was captain of his school in the PSA and he had a pretty good interview for the West Coast NGA Facebook page a while back
Not sure, both played for Swan Districts so there could be some connection there
Cousin
 
Back