Draft Thread

[Freo Shark]

From what I've seen,every time Sutty puts his boots on he gets better;no BS that's how it looks to me!

Agree, just needs to spend some time in the gym building his body up and getting his tackling strength improved.

 

[ilikepotatoes]

Agree, just needs to spend some time in the gym building his body up and getting his tackling strength improved.

That tackle shrug from Gunston still haunts me

 

[Patty_Moz]

Can't say I was keen on any of the players we drafted pre-draft and would still prefer that we took Acres, Giles and Conlon which we could have got with our picks.

There seems to be a big emphasis on endurance which is understandable so time will tell I suppose. I doubt any of them will get much opportunity next year.

 

[Nickos66]

is that like racehorses having a pet dog in their stall?
if that was the case the dog became a better horse than the actual horse in the Forster/Neale scenario

We'll just have to wait and see which one's the horse and which is the pet dog. It'll be interesting if the later pick is the horse again and the earlier, taller pick is the dog..

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Be interesting to see what Gumbies status is re best 22. I don’t see him as a lock, and think he will need to get it right in the pre - season. He is not that far ahead of Bradley and perhaps Tabs too if he has a great pre - season. Plus of course Griffin, Hannath and possibly Clarke.

I couldn't for a second accept that our recruiters considered Gumby to be "not far ahead of Keps and or Taberner ", when we traded for him.

 

[Patty_Moz]

I couldn't for a second accept that our recruiters considered Gumby to be "not far ahead of Keps and or Taberner ", when we traded for him.

I can. They weren't willing to give up much for Gumby cos he's not worth much.

Bradley's kicked more goals in a season than Gumby has. I'm glad we got him but Gumby is no lock as far as I'm concerned and he still has to make it through the preseason unscathed.

 

[theGav56]

I couldn't for a second accept that our recruiters considered Gumby to be "not far ahead of Keps and or Taberner ", when we traded for him.

Why not? We gave both of them a 1 year deal.

 

[theGav56]

I can. They weren't willing to give up much for Gumby cos he's not worth much.

Bradley's kicked more goals in a season than Gumby has. I'm glad we got him but Gumby is no lock as far as I'm concerned and he still has to make it through the preseason unscathed.

So does Bradley. If they can organise their available/injured schedules well, we could do alright.

 

[greatgatsby]

If Kepler was anyone's idea of a KPF, we wouldn't have recruited Gumby or drafted Apeness. He's depth only when he comes back from injury. If he plays, we either have a load of injuries or are in big trouble.

 

[Latro]

Kepler has been better than Gumby in every season until he did his knee. Neither are good enough to be guaranteed best 22 now though.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Why not? We gave both of them a 1 year deal.

The length of the deal is of no consequence.
Scott with his injury history and kep obviously with a knee reco recently.

Kep is almost certain to be delisted end of next season and Gumby would be earmarked as the other KPF with Pav.
Why would they bother trading for a player who was notionally better than a player who isn't considered in their best 30 players ?

 

[greatgatsby]

Kepler has been better than Gumby in every season until he did his knee. Neither are good enough to be guaranteed best 22 now though.

They don't play the same position. Kep is a big bodied utility, which was good enough for the bad old days but not for a team with aspirations of being the best in the comp. Sure Gumby may not come up, but he will be tested as a KPF and nothing else, and if he doesn't measure up we won't be trying Kepler there unless we have about four go down.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Kepler has been better than Gumby in every season until he did his knee. Neither are good enough to be guaranteed best 22 now though.

That isn't the issue whether Scott is best 22 atm.
The debate is whether Scott is considered to be no better or only marginally better than Kep.
If Kepler is in our best 32 players, i would suggest we are in a no premiership window.
Gumbleton's playing history at Essendon up til two years ago is mitigated by his fitness issues that were only rectified then.

 

[theGav56]

The length of the deal is of no consequence.
Scott with his injury history and kep obviously with a knee reco recently.

Kep is almost certain to be delisted end of next season and Gumby would be earmarked as the other KPF with Pav.
Why would they bother trading for a player who was notionally better than a player who isn't considered in their best 30 players ?

Of course the length of the deal is important. They are giving Gumby a go to see if he is good enough and fit enough, and to find out if he can play to Lyon's game plan. They are paying him as little as they can, gave the lowest pick possible, and have him on the shortest possible contract. That does not equal a lock in the best 22.

If Gumby was earmarked with any degree of confidence then why recruit Apeness? It is not as if he was a standout at that selection or a top 10 slider, that would have been Acres. We have Tabs, Hannath and Moller already to join Gumby post-Pav.

 

[theGav56]

Gumbleton's playing history at Essendon up til two years ago is mitigated by his fitness issues that were only rectified then.

And since then he struggled to crack their best 22.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

Of course the length of the deal is important. They are giving Gumby a go to see if he is good enough and fit enough, and to find out if he can play to Lyon's game plan. They are paying him as little as they can, gave the lowest pick possible, and have him on the shortest possible contract. That does not equal a lock in the best 22.

If Gumby was earmarked with any degree of confidence then why recruit Apeness? It is not as if he was a standout at that selection or a top 10 slider, that would have been Acres. We have Tabs, Hannath and Moller already to join Gumby post-Pav.

Nobody is asserting he is a lock for best 22.
The contract particulars are irrelevant. Obviously they drive the best bargain we can and not give a competitor an earlier pick than we otherwise need to.
Why should we help Essendon ?
Gumby was recruited before the draft and obviously we had no certainty as to who we would pick up.
If Scott was not considered a superior option to Kep, we would not have bothered to recruit him.
Furthermore, right now after this draft with Appy being picked up, Kep wouldn't be making long term commitments.
Whether Apeness or Gumbleton is the choice for a game isn't the issue. That is really healthy and i hope there is a massive competition between them.

The issue I've been posting on is entirely about whether Scott was regarded as a better option to line up with Pav than Kepler.
I am expecting Gumby to step up and cement his spot and for Tabs and Appy to develop at a professional rate. In the meantime I am hoping they both provide selection options for the match committee.

 

[Fred Ziffel]

And since then he struggled to crack their best 22.

Yep, you're right .
He couldn't get a game ahead of Hurley, Ryder and some other dude who just got traded; I can't think of his name.
But again that is not relevant in the debate of whether he is a better option than what we currently have.
We wanted him last year and tried to get him. We succeeded this year.
My argument is this ; If we had have got him last year Kep may not have played at all in 2013.

 

[pokerspiv]

If Gumby was earmarked with any degree of confidence then why recruit Apeness? It is not as if he was a standout at that selection or a top 10 slider, that would have been Acres. We have Tabs, Hannath and Moller already to join Gumby post-Pav.

We recruited apeness to be our Full Forward in 4-5 years time. Pavlich will be long gone and Gumbleton (assuming he works out) will be approaching retirement then too.

Taberner is a CHF. Hannath and Moller are ruckmen, So they are pretty irrelevant to the discussion.

 

[freoextra]

We recruited apeness to be our Full Forward in 4-5 years time. Pavlich will be long gone and Gumbleton (assuming he works out) will be approaching retirement then too.

Taberner is a CHF. Hannath and Moller are ruckmen, So they are pretty irrelevant to the discussion.

All true, but don't be surprised if Hannath is tried as a key forward. Has the body size, a good and accurate kicking style and is in a long line of ruck men anyhow.

 

[pokerspiv]

I will indeed be very surprised if Hannath is tried as a key forward ahead of Gumby, Kepler, Taberner and Apeness.

Jonathon Griffin is more likely to line up as a key forward than Hannath. He has actually shown that he's capable of performing the role at AFL level. Hannath will be lucky to play for Fremantle at all in 2014 and maybe 2015 too. He's way down the pecking order - keep in mind that he only played this year because we had 2 guys who play in the same position go down with ACLs in the space of a couple of weeks, and Zac Clarke has leapfrogged him in the pecking order since he last played too.

I'm not sure how many times we need to try and prove to ourselves that you can't just take any ruckman and stick him in the goal square and expect him to be a key forward target. They need to know how to play as a forward, which is probably the most difficult thing to teach an AFL player. Hannath has no experience as a forward at any point in his career. At this point, if you want him to line up in a key position, he'd be better off at full back than full forward.

 

[jmadrox]

I'm not sure how many times we need to try and prove to ourselves that you can't just take any ruckman and stick him in the goal square and expect him to be a key forward target. They need to know how to play as a forward, which is probably the most difficult thing to teach an AFL player. Hannath has no experience as a forward at any point in his career. At this point, if you want him to line up in a key position, he'd be better off at full back than full forward.

I actually thought he looked pretty good kicking on goal. he drilled a couple from 50m from what i remember, and looked alto more confident than Sandi does from the same distance. He has pretty good hands, so i really see some merit in trying to develop in ( in Peel) as a forward / ruck combo. He will be behind a few people now, assuming all stay fit, so it might be a bit of a hypothetical situation anyway.

 

[freoextra]

I actually thought he looked pretty good kicking on goal. he drilled a couple from 50m from what i remember, and looked alto more confident than Sandi does from the same distance. He has pretty good hands, so i really see some merit in trying to develop in ( in Peel) as a forward / ruck combo. He will be behind a few people now, assuming all stay fit, so it might be a bit of a hypothetical situation anyway.

Yep, this is what I am saying. He just has the basics that a good forward needs and as he will be down the pack in our rucks it might be worthwhile. He is certainly not a first choice but he is a much more natural forward than sandi or Clarke.

 

[mike91]

We recruited apeness to be our Full Forward in 4-5 years time. Pavlich will be long gone and Gumbleton (assuming he works out) will be approaching retirement then too.

Taberner is a CHF. Hannath and Moller are ruckmen, So they are pretty irrelevant to the discussion.

Most kkp take time because there bodies aren't developed yet. Apeness doesn't need that long, I'm thinking 2-3 years

 

[pokerspiv]

Kicking on goal is not what I was talking about. The hard part to teach is how and when to lead. That comes naturally to forwards, and guys that have it tend to end up playing as forwards. Hannath has played as a ruckman his whole life.

 

[salim malik]

Kicking on goal is not what I was talking about. The hard part to teach is how and when to lead. That comes naturally to forwards, and guys that have it tend to end up playing as forwards. Hannath has played as a ruckman his whole life.

Hannath is treacle slow at the moment.Not a KPF at the minute.He needs to work on his pace this pre season