Draft wrap

[Kruges!]

The results of our drafting tell me a couple of things;

1. The coaches have a lot of faith in McPharlin and Grover to last the majority of the season and are relatively sure of getting Anthony. I'd personally have preferred to get another tall defender but what can ya do. (Hawthorn snatched Litherland who I wanted)

2. Our forward line will be brilliant! Mayne, Balla, Pav and Mellington looks like a very promising player. Not to mention Anthony (if we get him obvously) and MJ at CHF. Exciting times ahead!

3. Our skills levels look really good for the next few years or so, apparently Pitt had the best skills at the Draft Combine so that's something to be excited about.

Overall, quite content with it all and we'll see how the rookie and PSD's go.

 

[Sman-21]

what i dont understand is why we passed pick 72
an then used the rest of the picks to upgrade rookies

Why not just start the upgrading at 72.
An then for the superstitious ones we could of passed pick 87 an then used the rest for upgrades.

With our drafting in the ND it seems like we play it smart by going for the most skillful but also safe as picking kpp prospects with mid to late picks is risky an very hit an miss.

We then seem to use the other drafts to try an fill holes an pick up possible kpp.
An are able to pick up older more developed ones that way.

Also theres a big change in not choosing WA players, i get the feeling thats coz there feeling confident that we are heading in the right direction.
If we keep playing well theres less of the go home factor.

 

[East Freo]

Passing up 72 is the way to play the game. Is inconsequential to the end result for Anthony .

I am enjoying last years derby for the upteenth time & every new recruit should be made to watch it ....probabaly minus the 12 beers & my better half's counting of my empties & the shouting to get to bed !!!!

Cricket is becoming more irrelevant every year .

 

[Al Quaeda]

English. Use it.

 

[Rob]

We already have Mundy, Barlow, Suban, Silvagni, Clarke and a few other Vics. I'm sure they will make friends and settle in like the others seem to have

Mundy did just spend the year gouging us for the highest possible deal through is manager spreading rumours he was going to leave. As many players from interstate tend to do.

 

[Freo Dr]

Not sure why they pass on 72 before upgrading the Rookies - it has something to do with picking up JA in the PSD draft but I am not sure if order number of the pick remaining is important. Either this or (less likely) it could just be to signal to anybody watching the draft live that is the end of our 'Live' picks and others are just rookie upgrades.

 

[Aussiblood]

Mundy did just spend the year gouging us for the highest possible deal through is manager spreading rumours he was going to leave. As many players from interstate tend to do.

Who gives a * if they're worth it.

 

[Freo Dr]

The results of our drafting tell me a couple of things;

1. The coaches have a lot of faith in McPharlin and Grover to last the majority of the season and are relatively sure of getting Anthony. I'd personally have preferred to get another tall defender but what can ya do. (Hawthorn snatched Litherland who I wanted)
Overall, quite content with it all and we'll see how the rookie and PSD's go.

Your forgetting about Fawkes aren't you plus Sibosado, JA is probably 60% there and we have I think 4 spots in the Rookie Draft with it likely we will go for one or two mature age players out of the VFL/WAFL/SANFL. Lastly Roberton will have a full preseason on him and I think is a reasonable running KP defender prospect for us down the track - he is similar height to Tarrant. Tarrant was a loss but we have options on the horizon.

 

[armedwithhope]

Cricket is becoming more irrelevant every year .

Great quote!!! I'm already counting down to NAB Cup.

Watching the videos I feel like we did really well. Pitt looks class. The way he sharks those taps in his highlights could be good with Sandi putting it in his path.

Michie looks like a very smoothe mover, similarish to a Kane Lucas type I guess.

And the Mellington, Stevie J comparison fits for me too.

 

[Alfonz]

^^^ Also, irrespective of what happens to McPharlin/Grover/etc, any young KPP defender we could have picked is not going to be of much use this year or next (which is our main premiership window in my opinion). Young talls take a few years to get going unless they are one of the very rare few like Hurley.

Is there any way to watch the draft videos which isn't on the afl.com website? The useless bastards have rendered the videos unwatchable for people overseas, and make you pay to watch anything on this horrible aussiesport.tv website. Pathetic.

 

[cp3_jr]

Viv Michie is the exciting choice from my perspective and reminds me of Jimmy Bartel. Great overhead and seems to to win the ball and use it well. Once he gains a bit more strength and adds to his fitness he could be a real find. Pitt will be very good after a couple of pre seasons hitting the gym and Mellington could add more hard-nosed grunt and goalkicking nouse.

Pretty solid draft on paper and happy we continue to keep the emphasis on skill level.

 

[Arcassius]

Draft Combine Results

Agility Run
3 Viv Michie 8.01
10 Jayden Pitt 8.15

 

[chinggis77]

My only criticism of the draft is that it doesn't help us a great deal in terms of challenging for the flag next year/year after.

But then again - you gotta go with the cards you're dealt. Conca/Isaac Smith would of been snapped up by us at 20, but they went early - both would of been automatic starting 18.

Pitt will take a little longer but is obviously quality. Hopefully he surprises on the upside again like Hill/Fyfe.

 

[chinggis77]

http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7009/newsid/105361/default.aspx"We're pretty excited about the guys we could bring in. We targeted guys who could kick the footy well.

On Pitt: "He's got a light body at the moment and he'll need a little bit of time but he runs and carries the ball really well and has elite foot skills"

On Mitchie: ""He's another really good kick that we're bringing into the footy club"

On Mellington: "He's got really good foot skills and is a smart player. All these boys have similar qualities, which was part of our draft strategy to be honest."

http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7009/newsid/105361/default.aspx

I get the feeling if Lloyd was in charge of our 2007 draft there is no way that we would of drafted Rhys Palmer. He probably would of gone for Dangerfield instead.

 

[SH Tracer Bullet]

Overall happy with the direction the recruiters have taken, best available and best skills.

Harvey will give them an opportunity when he feels the timing is right! I think that our full recruiting in this off season adds alot of value moving forward.

 

[Alfonz]

My only criticism of the draft is that it doesn't help us a great deal in terms of challenging for the flag next year/year after.

But then again - you gotta go with the cards you're dealt. Conca/Isaac Smith would of been snapped up by us at 20, but they went early - both would of been automatic starting 18.

Pitt will take a little longer but is obviously quality. Hopefully he surprises on the upside again like Hill/Fyfe.

Footy has changed, the flanker/mid types don't need to be a hulk these days to succeed. Guys like Hill and Fyfe have dominated at stages ... I reckon these kids could play next year (certainly 2012) and definitely improve the side.

Talls on the other hand, they just take longer and often do need the extra bulk/strength to get up to speed. I don't think any talls apart from Darling would have helped one bit in a push for a flag, and we obviously didn't want to deal with having him on our list.

 

[blue shark]

Good draft for the WA teams, Eagles made a Gaff and the Dockers are in the Pitts.

 

[Clay Davis]

English. Use it.

Cyanide. Take it.

 

[Al Quaeda]

Tut tut. That's rather nasty.

 

[Scham]

Apparently Mellington is very bottom age too so the upside factor should be good to watch.

He was 187cm at the end of this season, 188cm by the time the draft came around so could probably get to 190ish. The comparisons to Steve J could be right on the money.

 

[Ysaye]

My only criticism of the draft is that it doesn't help us a great deal in terms of challenging for the flag next year/year after.

But then again - you gotta go with the cards you're dealt. Conca/Isaac Smith would of been snapped up by us at 20, but they went early - both would of been automatic starting 18.

Pitt will take a little longer but is obviously quality. Hopefully he surprises on the upside again like Hill/Fyfe.

I know where you are coming from Chinggis but I would argue that this draft will help us in the short term - all of these guys will be putting pressure on similar player types like Bollenhagen, Crichton to lift their game and deliver high skill levels as they will all be competition for those last 2~3 spots in the 22 that are inevitably there for players that can play a variety of roles. It is this part of the team where the team can develop a huge advantage - if the guys that come off the bench are really hungry to prove themselves then watch out....

I think overall I think the choices were really good and I really like the emphasis on skills, decision making and general football intelligence - that should be a principle for ANY draft. As Rob said, I might have wanted more WA players to buffer myself a bit against raids but on the other hand we might want more players that give us options at the trade table (It is a bit hard to trade a WA player to the eastern states if they don't want to go). I also wanted a key position forward and I would have had a hard time overlooking Jack Darling (which I am sure they did - but he does come with a lot of question marks) but the "next in line" key position forward types (Brown, Hamp, Chalwell) are all available for rookie picks which is ideally where you want them whilst they develop over the next 2 years to a position where you can actually evaluate them properly, so thats okay.

 

[Scham]

Cyanide. Take it.

LOL good comeback!

 

[theGav56]

In the recruitment of Faulks, Mz and Griffin needs were very directly addressed, but in the draft itself there is not a needs based player in sight. Simply best available with an emPHAsis on skills. For me it says we are ready to roll, the list is as we want it.

Re KPP in the RD, if I was GWS with the first 8 selections I would be pretty happy that it is fill of talls and would put them in the bank right now.

 

[Deep_Purple]

So 3 guys that are about the 6'2", 6'3" mark, could grow a bit more, maybe, all with good skills and football nous! Which is what Lloyd said we were looking for in the draft

"All these boys have similar qualities, which was part of our draft strategy to be honest." - http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7009/newsid/105361/default.aspx


How could you go wrong! Put 10 or 11 tall fast skillful players forward of the half back line, how many teams are going to be able to match up on that!

 

[PapaJ]

Been bit busy last few days so could only keep half an eye on the draft - I'm fairly happy with our catch. Never can really tell until a couple of years down the track, but I reckon we've got it about right. I think skill, 'footy IQ' and athleticism in that order is the way to go these days and we've gone that way.

Also shows how deep the draft is with the sort of talent that was still around in the 2nd round etc. especially with the ridiculous number of early picks GC had. I mean I knew it was coming, but to actually see it in action with all those 'name' players - scary thought what they're going to look like in 4-5 years.

Good luck to our new boys, enjoy the ride.