Draft: Michael Hurley

[dapto]

The swings and roundabouts

Hurley seems to be the replete footballer. Of course i am trusting the torrent stream and youtube here, but he is confident and steady in his decision making process. He matches up well with any forward and has the nouse to adapt to his short comings.

I have always prefered his candidature at pick 5. I hope that hislops departure is not a bad omen on Hurley at EFC. Although, if it went that way we could do worse than sidebottom or even hartlett

Forget the sprint times. A lace out pass to fev is always going to result in his mark and goal. A sloppy pass gives an astute backmen the advantage to use what he has got. Speed is mathematical and not always a pure advantage. Body and savvy and being able to read that play prior to the pass is a massive plus in that instance. We need a solid reliable backmen to shore up the defense. M hurley is a great billet for the clubs list going forward.

 

[Burzum]

Ahh RIG --- you are killing me here.... your confusion is making mine much worse

I can't help it, there's so much quality talent

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Anyone know how fast Rutten and Bock run 20m? I imagine they would be both quite slow but are both fantastic backmen because of their abilities to read the play.

 

[yodellinhank]

I think if we draft Hurley, one of the big positives for some supporters would be that Carlton didn't get the chance to.

 

[Smyth94]

I think if we draft Hurley, one of the big positives for some supporters would be that Carlton didn't get the chance to.

I kind of indicated the same thing before hand but thinking about it now, it would be pretty inexcusable to draft a player purely so a rival club could not draft him.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

I think if we draft Hurley, one of the big positives for some supporters would be that Carlton didn't get the chance to.

I'd like to think we'd draft based on who is going to be the most important for our future, not on who that rabble of a club want.

 

[DaSawx]

Anyone know how fast Rutten and Bock run 20m? I imagine they would be both quite slow but are both fantastic backmen because of their abilities to read the play.

Exactly.

I still want Sidebottom first, defender second pick, but if the club likes his footy brain and leadership skills, I will back them all the way

 

[Silvagnis]

I think if we draft Hurley, one of the big positives for some supporters would be that Carlton didn't get the chance to.

Methinks Sheedy would have done that just to piss off the Blues if he was still coaching Essendon.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

I know it's fun but really this is all a waste of time. None of us has seen anywhere near enough of any of these blokes to be even speculating on who is better than anyone else. Most (all) of us wouldn't know a Sidebottom from a sidebarn!!

All I ask is that our recruiting dept do some deep and serious character checks on all the prospects.

 

[stay true]

He looked pretty damn good at under 18 level. I'd be a little surprised if we drafted him at 5 (I reckon we'll go for the best available middy) but definitely not disappointed.

 

[Lloydy4Pope]

How much can you improve your 20m sprint time?

I doubt it would be anything significant, although I'm probably wrong

You undoubtedly are. How many people do you know that have actually been taught how to run properly? The actual techniques coached by sprint coaches and biomechanists/exercise scientists improve running efficiency by a huge amount. And if a player has not done much power training (which is highly likely at that age) then their initial acceleration would not be a quick as it could be. There are massive improvements that can be made both with coaching, sprint training and resistance training...

 

[Sigmund]

The decision to draft or not to draft Hurley may ultimately come down to how highly they rate Pears. If they rate Pears as good enough to be our next full back (he is the same height as Hurley and quicker), I can see no reason why they would draft Hurley (perhaps only to have Pears as a third tall?).

Much of the talk on the trading board and phantom drafts has been that Essendon need to replace Fletcher. However, I would doubt that the people making these drafts would know our list well enough to know that we may already have a very able replacement for him.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

I know it's fun but really this is all a waste of time. None of us has seen anywhere near enough of any of these blokes to be even speculating on who is better than anyone else. Most (all) of us wouldn't know a Sidebottom from a sidebarn!!

All I ask is that our recruiting dept do some deep and serious character checks on all the prospects.

They can just watch youtube highlights. That seems to be the basis for most peoples' opinions on Bigfooty (myself included and excluding those who actually follow the Under 18 competition such as ant and and Great Source and co.).

 

[yodellinhank]

The decision to draft or not to draft Hurley may ultimately come down to how highly they rate Pears. If they rate Pears as good enough to be our next full back (he is the same height as Hurley and quicker), I can see no reason why they would draft Hurley (perhaps only to have Pears as a third tall?).

Much of the talk on the trading board and phantom drafts has been that Essendon need to replace Fletcher. However, I would doubt that the people making these drafts would know our list well enough to know that we may already have a very able replacement for him.

Yeah, but i was thinking more how highly they rate Hooker, so we could have Pears and Hooker both as tall backs. I think if we can release Paddy more it can only be advantageous. Would be happy if they take a mid first round because the players available all seem attractive options, and a KPB in later rounds.

 

[Sigmund]

Yeah, but i was thinking more how highly they rate Hooker, so we could have Pears and Hooker both as tall backs. I think if we can release Paddy more it can only be advantageous. Would be happy if they take a mid first round because the players available all seem attractive options, and a KPB in later rounds.

Interesting point.. they took Hooker as a project player and not sure if he is a forward or back at this point.. would be ideal if he came on but don't think we can bank on it..

 

[loopy_cam]

What I wanna know is why there aren't any quick forwards in the champs.

Surely someone with pace would've taken him to the cleaners if he is as slow as he is said to be.

Or has he been found out a few times? Does anyone know?

 

[yaco55]

What I wanna know is why there aren't any quick forwards in the champs.

Surely someone with pace would've taken him to the cleaners if he is as slow as he is said to be.

Or has he been found out a few times? Does anyone know?

I have asked this question on more than one occasion and have yet to receive a satisfactory answer.

 

[Burzum]

He beat Watts one day and forced him into the midfield, I believe it was a wet day though.

 

[Smyth94]

I've changed my mind and am back on his bandwagon

Not only would he bolster our defensive options, he also gives us a forward option and since Knights has declared he is looking at Daniher, Hooker and Pears as key defenders, it really only leaves us with Neagle and Gumbleton as our true young key forwards. Adding Hurley to these two would be the icing on the cake

 

[TheDon35]

I've changed my mind and am back on his bandwagon

Not only would he bolster our defensive options, he also gives us a forward option and since Knights has declared he is looking at Daniher, Hooker and Pears as key defenders, it really only leaves us with Neagle and Gumbleton as our true young key forwards. Adding Hurley to these two would be the icing on the cake

Painting a pretty dark picture of our options there given that Mcphee, Hille, Laycock all can go forward and kick goals. Lloyd still has at least 2 years, probably 3.

We don't have to complete the picture with this years draft. We have finally started a trasition and the list will really begin looking powerful by the end of next years draft if we do the right thing.

I've said it before but I just don't like the idea of using a top 5 pick on a relatively slow key defender (Hurleys primary roll). That type of pick is far to speculative and given that there's so much gun talent across the first 15 odd players - Hartlett, Rich, Zieble etc, these seem like the best option in terms of picking the BEST PLAYER.

 

[TheDon35]

You undoubtedly are. How many people do you know that have actually been taught how to run properly? The actual techniques coached by sprint coaches and biomechanists/exercise scientists improve running efficiency by a huge amount. And if a player has not done much power training (which is highly likely at that age) then their initial acceleration would not be a quick as it could be. There are massive improvements that can be made both with coaching, sprint training and resistance training...

Steady on there. Most AFL players are exposed to running training. I can't think of one that's gone from a slow player to a quick player. I can't think of one that's shown 'massive' improvement in their pace either.

Yes your speed can be improved however and may look good on a 20m sprint test but generally a players speed on the field is only improved marginally having been exposed to sprint training. Rarely would a player having been exposed to sprint training move from a slow category to a fast category or even moderately quick category following sprint training at an AFL club.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Tend to agree, I don't feel our defence is our no1 weakness. The lack of elite midfielders is our main concern. We can always get a defender at 55 is we need.

 

[Schopp]

Sigmund agree with you about drafting Hurley - Pears has excellent pace and will be a very strong defender eventually. I would prefer someone like Hartlett or Rich if available. If we then pick up Suban at 23 I would be stoked, our midfield will be a lot stronger.

About Hurleys pace - If he has poor running technique then yes sprint training could help massively, if however his technique is sound then only marginal benefits will be realised.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Tend to agree, I don't feel our defence is our no1 weakness. The lack of elite midfielders is our main concern. We can always get a defender at 55 is we need.

I'm really excited by how Tayte Pears is looking, so it's got to be a midfielder for mine. Get Davis/Post/Lisle/McKernan later on in the draft. Also Gaertner.

 

[Kong]

Steady on there. Most AFL players are exposed to running training. I can't think of one that's gone from a slow player to a quick player. I can't think of one that's shown 'massive' improvement in their pace either.

the only example i can think of is campbell brown; he's actually quite quick these days. but other than that, you're right.