Draft Watcher Bastyy's 2022 AFL Draft Watch

[Bastyy]

Finally getting around to watching last weekend's games. Just had the pleasure of enjoying Bendigo vs GWV and while it wasn't the best game skill wise, there was a lot of talent and the game itself was pretty enjoyable before GWV broke ahead in the 4th

Aaron Cadman (GWV Rebels): Clearly best afield and had an amazing game as a tall forward. Kicked 4.3 and took some great marks, reading the ball perfectly and holding on to some difficult ones. I also enjoyed seeing him working up the ground at times and not just being stationed inside the forward-50 all game

Jason Gilbee (Bendigo Pioneers): I really like what I saw from this kid. He's a really nice size and looked great as an inside midfielder and really dangerous and dynamic in the forward line. He was productive in the midfield and provided a good option in stoppages but also managed to move forward and kick two goals. If was was less unselfish with the ball inside 50 he could have had 3-4 goals for the day and been considered best on field. His highlight of the day was launching the ball from the edge of 50 in the 3rd quarter and kicking his second. I think he could rise very high up my board

Harley Reid (Bendigo Pioneers): The underager looked great in the midfield and was lively all around the ground, but sadly his day was blemished by the fact he kicked 1.6. If he kicked even half of those he missed he'd be the best afield but sadly those misses cost some golden opportunities for the Pioneers. Still though, Reid looked great using his speed and skills to help lead the Pioneers midfield when it needed him

Corbin Anderson (Bendigo Pioneers): A nice game from the defender who looked pretty good as a rebounding half back. Set up a lot of the Pioneers attack from the back line and helped take the pressure off with 9 intercept marks. A real gem here

James Van Es (GWV Rebels): The tall defender looked great all day for the Rebels, showing his intercept marking prowess and size and keeping the forward line of the Pioneers under wraps. Great reader of the ball but struggled with kicking, otherwise I would have him high on my radar. Looking forward to seeing how he goes on other tall forwards throughout the year

Hugh Bond (GWV Rebels): Another personal favourite from the day, Bond recorded 9 tackles and looked really promising at stoppages. Often bursting out with strength or finding the right option with a handball. His tackling and pressure though is the highlight of his game and he even kicked a nice bender at the start of the game to put himself on the scoreboard. If he can show that there is more to his game than his inside work I think there's a lot to work with here

A few other names I enjoyed watching included Jamieson Ballantyne who I had top 60 last year, I thought he still looked really good and is one of the best 19 year olds available this year. Oscar Faulkhead was pretty good as an over-ager and showed some brilliant moments while I also liked glimpses of Deng and Luamon Lual as well as a few nice things being done by Beau Tedcastle, Max Dow and Joel Freijah

 

[Bastyy]

Hi everyone, long time no update. Life has been busy so haven't had all the time in the world to update my rankings and draft watch but with champs coming back this week I thought I may as well post where I'm at



-Busslinger is probably my favourite tall defender I've ever watched in the prelude to a draft. DGB took that mantle a few years back but now I am a huge fan of the Buss
-Kobe Ryan is still a personal favourite and I hope he has a good champs. I think he's going to be one who slides but I'd back him in personally
-Broadbent has enough runs on the board for me to keep him in my top 10, but I am worried he will fall in coming months. Needs a good champs
-Bevan is maybe my number 1 favourite, he's been brilliant all year (despite a few blemishes in the past few weeks) and his body of work before champs gets him put this high. Just an all around dominant inside midfielder who does as he pleases
-Cadman was out of my top 20 for a while but now he's back in. PMBangers is his number 1 fan and him talking him up has made me go back and watch replays of him. He's the real thing
-Jason Gillbee is a huge X-Factor, he can play anywhere and do anything. I could see him being the Allies MVP
-I've appreciated the past few games from Hagan, the whole 20-30 list is jampacked at the moment, so I decided to reward Hagan's consistency and put him top 20

-[PLAYERCARD]Tom Scully[/PLAYERCARD] is the obvious out of this list. His U18 trial games so far have been VERY underwhelming and I'm just not confident in him transitioning to AFL level as well as the players I have above him. Hoping to be proven wrong

 

[Bastyy]

I haven't made an update in a long time, and with the draft a month away I should probably show my rankings and talk about prospects I like. I don't want to seem like a poser in 10 years when I tell people I was "The first person excited for Hugh Bond".

For my rankings this time around I wanted to have a clear cut answer for why I think each prospect is good. For those who don't watch u18 games as much as myself or other draft watchers it's hard to understand "why" a player is exciting or good from the information provided. So for each player on my rankings I will have a bottom line that I'll explain later on when I release some draft profiles before the draft, they all might seem confusing and pointless, but I promise I will try to explain them all.

1. George Wardlaw (Midfielder/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - George Wardlaw is; The footballer I wanted to be)
2. Will Ashcroft (Midfielder/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Will Ashcroft is; As advertised)
3. Harry Sheezel (General Forward/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Harry Sheezel is; A highlight reel)
4. Aaron Cadman (Tall Forward/Vic Country) (The Bottom Line - Aaron Cadman is; Worth reaching for)
5. Elijah Tsatas (Midfielder/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Elijah Tsatas is; Too fast)
6. Jhye Clark (Midfielder/Vic Country) (The Bottom Line - Jhye Clark; Would never lie to you)
7. Cam McKenzie (Midfielder/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Cam McKenzie is; The exact player recruiters want)
8. Jedd Busslinger (Tall Defender/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Jedd Busslinger is; Making a boring position exciting)
9. Mattaes Phillipou (Midfielder/South Australia) (The Bottom Line - Mattes Phillipou is; Cooler than his name)
10. Reuben Ginbey (Midfielder/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Reuben Ginbey is; Going to make you say "woah")

The top 10 are all very exciting talents. In particular the Top 8 players are all some of my favourites and will more than likely become great AFL players. I have a hard time ranking Wardlaw/Ashcroft and Sheezel. I think Wardlaw's talent and performance are obvious enough to any casual draft watcher that saying he's better than Ashcroft isn't controversial (even if it isn't the most popular opinion) but the absolute sheer numbers of Ashcroft's performances mean that ranking Sheezel above Ashcroft feels wrong. I think that Sheezel will be a better player, but if we're ranking how good they are at an u18 level, I cannot bring myself to putting Sheezel in 2nd.

11. Oliver Hollands (Midfielder/Vic Country) (The Bottom Line - Oliver Hollands is; Consistent)
12. Lachie Cowan (General Defence/Tasmania) (The Bottom Line - Lachie Cowan is; Worthy of his accolades)
13. Bailey Humphrey (Midfielder-Forward/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Bailey Humphrey is; A BigFooty favourite)
14. Matthew Jefferson (Tall Forward/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Matthew Jefferson is; Really, really good at his job)
15. Harry Barnett (Ruckman/South Australia) (The Bottom Line - Harry Barnett is; What I want all Ruckman to be)
16. Mitch Szybowski (Midfielder/Vic Country) (The Bottom Line - Mitch Szybowski is; Better than his ranking suggests)
17. Ed Allan (Midfielder/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Ed Allan is; More than a proof of concept)
18. Brayden George (General Forward/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Brayden George is; Worth waiting a year for)
19. Darcy Jones (Small Forward/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Darcy Jones is; What I wanted Joel Western to be)
20. Elijah Hewett (Midfielder/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Elijah Hewett is; A Footballer)

A lot of these players are exciting with a risk of being a bust. I can see a world where Harry Barnett, Ed Allan, Darcy Jones and Elijah Hewett don't work out but I am excited by their upside (as well as less impressed by the players below) them that they are deserving of their high rankings. Lachie Cowan is one of my favourites because he's one of few Tasmanians I have ever been "unsure" of before the year started but he has risen to really be one of my favourites

21. Josh Weddle (General Defence/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Josh Weddle is; Proof size doesn't matter)
22. Henry Hustwaite (Midfielder/Vic Country) (The Bottom Line - Henry Hustwaite is; Teasing me)
23. Olli Hotton (Small Forward/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Olli Hotton is; Impactful)
24. Lewis Hayes (Tall Defender/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Lewis Hayes is; Going out of stock quickly, so get in line)
25. [PLAYERCARD]Alwyn Davey[/PLAYERCARD] Jr. (Small Forward/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - [PLAYERCARD]Alwyn Davey[/PLAYERCARD] Jr is; Going to get BT excited)
26. Jed Hagan (Utility/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Jed Hagan is; Effortlessly good)
27. Kobe Ryan (Midfielder/South Australia) (The Bottom Line - Kobe Ryan is; Someone I keep apologising for)
28. Charlie Clarke (Small Forward/Vic Metro) (The Bottom Line - Charlie Clarke is; The definition of X-Factor)
29. Sam Gilbey (General Defence/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Sam Gilbey is; Never disappointing)
30. Jed Adams (Tall Defender/Western Australia) (The Bottom Line - Jed Adams is; Not going out of stock quickly, but he should be)

Another group of players who I probably wouldn't rate as high any other year. Kobe Ryan in particular is a player that I "keep apologising for" where I see his talent and want him to go higher but his performances don't warrant him going any higher than 27.

Overall I'm not excited too much by this draft, if I wanted some talented small players this is a great draft but for just about anything else there is a cut off of talent that happens much earlier than in previous drafts. I don't even think the WA class is particularly exciting yet I have 8 players from WA in my top 30. If that doesn't say something about this draft class I don't know what does.

I've managed to have a list of about 60 players I would draft, and I'll disclose the rest of that list once the draft gets closer

Let me know if you like this Bottom Line idea, I think it's a fun way to the describe draftees and I encourage you to ask what the hell each of them means. I promise you they all make sense and I do have an explanation for them all