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Draft: Stephen Hill

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Stephen Hill
Story in todays Sunday Times.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/sport/afl/story/0,26633,24622660-5016215,00.html

Essendon set to swoop on West Perth quick Stephen Hill
By Jay Clark | November 08, 2008 07:30pm

Have your say!Add your comments or read what others are saying

THE Essendon speed machine is poised to go up another gear next season with the likely addition of WA draft bolter Stephen Hill. The Bombers, already with seven West Australians on their list, look set to snare the athletic, whippy midfielder with the fifth pick in the AFL National Draft in three weeks' time.

It is shaping up as another draft bonanza for the state's football programs, with five WA teenagers likely to be taken inside the first round, equalling last year's impressive number.

Melbourne has settled on prized Victorian centre-half-forward Jack Watts with the first selection, leaving dynamic ruckman Nick Naitanui to go to West Coast at pick two and Subiaco on-baller Daniel Rich to Fremantle at three.

Hill, a classy left-footer capable of playing half-back or on a wing, fit s the Bombers' plan to nurture quick and exciting ball-carriers.

The West Perth junior was a standout at the national under-18 championships and surged up the draft rankings with some lightning times at last month's draft camp.

Essendon recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro rates Hill highly, but said the Bombers' focus was not restricted to taking only West Aussies.

``We've had great success with the West Australian boys in the last few years, but that doesn't mean we're definitely going to draft another one from there this year,'' Dodoro said.

``We'll just take who we think is the best available player.

``It's all still very speculative at the moment, but with a top-five pick we're confident we'll get another quality young player.''

Swan Districts livewire Chris Yarran seems bound for Brisbane, at pick seven, to play at the feet of imposing tall forward combination Jonathan Brown and Daniel Bradshaw.

The Lions are desperate to bolster their roving forward stocks and have targeted Yarran to pose a greater threat at ground level next season.

Tom Swift, the Claremont utility coming off consecutive knee injuries, won't slip past Geelong, with the 15th selection of the first round.
Click to expand...
 
Hmm, wonder if this is just speculation or if the reporter knows something.I wouldn't be against Hill, from what little I've seen he is very speedy with quite good skills. Reportedly, he also has a big tank, combined with what seems to be a very good workrate he will probably turn into a very good player.

On the down side he looks quite skinny and will probably take a few seasons to really put on AFL level muscle, which probably wouldn't sit brilliantly with some Essendon supporters if we drafted him, who (unrealistically) want someone who can come straight in and make an impact.

But Knights likes to plan long term so if he and our recruiting team think Hill has plenty of improvement left and will fit our needs then I'd say it's not as unlikely as some may think. Although not my first preference as I'd prefer a classy onballer where Hill is more a traditional winger who may become a genuine midfielder.
 
Will be interesting to see where Hill goes.
I rated him as one of the four midfielders i would like at pick 5 (not my first choice) but most seem to disregard him at the time.
Now it seems he is gathering a bit of interest.
And as far as those questioning him being a pure midfielder , his clearance skills are very good. Once he gets a little weight onto his frame he will be able to hold his own through the midfield.
Still not my first choice but good to see my original thoughts of him being in the mix for a mid to late first round selection where near the mark.
 

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I would be very disappointed if we draft Hill.

I doubt he would ever be big enough to play as a true Midfielder and at 182cms also goes against him playing in a HBF role.

There's little doubt on his ability but i don't see him having many positions he can play at the elite level.

In the only game i have seen him play his short passing was quite poor but of course his long kicking was mostly above average.
 
i like his pace and long kicking from the 5 or 6 games i've seen him play, but the major knock i have on him is his short kicking.

Not my preference but wouldn't be disappointed.
 
Hill at 5 would not be taking the best available.

Do we really need another skinny kid who can run fast? I'd rather take a pure midfielder at 5, and not someone who can just run through there. Another small, quick half back flanker is exactly what we need :rolleyes:
We already have plenty of speedy players, and need to recruit guys who use the ball well and really need to stop recruiting these 70kg players. Hartlett, Ziebell, Sidebottom and even Yarran are all comfortably ahead of him.

Even though Hill can kick the ball a long way, his kicking can be very hit and miss at times (especially short kicking), and isn't worthy of a top 10 pick, let alone top 5 imo.

Hope it's just the writer making an assumption just because we have a quick, ball-carrying gameplan, and not inside info.

I personally am hoping for either Trengove or Hartlett/Sidebottom, and feel that by recruiting a skinny HBF/wingman, isn't going to add much to our side. Especially one with iffy skills
 
Wow , a lot of people rating Hills kicking of one game where he actually played injured (he missed the second half of the game at Casey on the saturday leading into the Wednesday game)
He was WA's best player in the first three champ games from the DVD footage i have seen.
And the thing with him is he is not just fast , he is an eltie endurance athlete as well. Not many would have seen his game against SA but he was everywhere that day and his clearance work was excellent around the ground. He had the GPS on him that day and ran a touch over 15km.
Although he will not we one lining up to play footy straight away make no mistake he will play midfield when he is ready to play.
Like i said , not my first overall choice but he is not far behind the likes of Rich and Hartlett.
 
I like him. I don't mind the fact that he probably wouldn't play seniors straight away. With a fit list to pick from, I reckon Daniel Rich would be about the only player good enough to play round 1 09, if he was available.

I really like the thought of what Hill could become in a couple of years.

Oh and somebody please feed the boy!
 
He looks good in the youtube footage and his endurance (as ant mentioned) is a big draw card. However, he would be behind a few others in terms of my preferences.

Sidebottom
Hartlett
Yarran
Hill
 
The Sunday Times are just deprived for good news. It's all speculation and pumping WA football so we think that we're better than Victoria: I'd be very surprised if there was anythig more than a fleeting assumption behind this article

But don't tell any West Coast supporters that because they'll tell you that Essendon are playing mind-games with Fremantle so they pick Hill instead of Rich and therefore Rich is available for us.

And yes, that's more or less the conversation I had with a WCE fan this morning
 

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Tambu said:
I like him. I don't mind the fact that he probably wouldn't play seniors straight away. With a fit list to pick from, I reckon Daniel Rich would be about the only player good enough to play round 1 09, if he was available.

I really like the thought of what Hill could become in a couple of years.

Oh and somebody please feed the boy!
Click to expand...

I can think of 5 or 6 players from the upcoming draft who will play in Round 1 if fit.

- Rich
- Natanui
- Yarran
- Robinson
- Ziebell
 
I thought we had hidden him well enough going into the draft.
I was hoping the WCE would pick him up at pick 18. But the cat is out of the bag and there is no hope now.
Hill will be the next Peter Matera....he is that good.
Don't worry about how skinny he is. He has it all speed to burn .footy smarts, huge kick of the ball and created a record for agility and the draft camp.
And to top it off he has a HUGE motor.
Good luck if you get him at 5 ...it's our loss.
 
yaco55 said:
I can think of 5 or 6 players from the upcoming draft who will play in Round 1 if fit.

- Rich
- Natanui
- Yarran
- Robinson
- Ziebell
Click to expand...
I was talking about Essendon's line up. I think that Rich would be the only one to play if we had a full list to choose from come round 1.
 
Looks as though the Sunday times has it all figured out. Alot of time and money is being wasted on this draft when the AFL could just get the Sunday Times to tell us who goes where.
 
yodellinhank said:
Looks as though the Sunday times has it all figured out. Alot of time and money is being wasted on this draft when the AFL could just get the Sunday Times to tell us who goes where.
Click to expand...

I wonder if cloning technology will have advanced far enough in time for season 09 considering Stephen Hill is going to 6 out of 16 clubs and Tom Swift going to about 13 of them.

Go the Sunday Times
 

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I find it strange that no one seems to consider, other than myself, that Freo could take Yarran at pick 3.
 

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