- Jun 16, 2012
- 25,001
- 25,548
- AFL Club
- Sydney
AFL players have evolved at an incredible rate over the past decade or so. We have seen mids such as Cripps and bontempelli come into the league as mid 190’s cm players which would have them as key forwards in years gone by. Now we are seeing the rise of the 200cm key forward come into the league. Gone are the days where at 2m tall you would barley be expected to put one foot in front of the other , but in the modern game guys like the king brothers, McKay, 2m peter are genuine athletes. They’re agile, quick and have great leaps making it nearly impossible to defend.
This got me thinking about the the upcoming draft. With these kids coming through (given they are still growing even at AFL level) who are around 200cm+ tall, as juniors they will almost certainly be either rucks or key forwards and little to no chance of learning their craft as defenders as they come up. So is it fair to assume that most key defenders being drafted are not quite big enough to play on the modern day key forward that is creeping into the game now? If so where do clubs find these guys big enough to combat the king’s and McKay’s of the world? Or will there come a time when these guys will become the norm and are more likely to be played in defensive roles as juniors ?
This got me thinking about the the upcoming draft. With these kids coming through (given they are still growing even at AFL level) who are around 200cm+ tall, as juniors they will almost certainly be either rucks or key forwards and little to no chance of learning their craft as defenders as they come up. So is it fair to assume that most key defenders being drafted are not quite big enough to play on the modern day key forward that is creeping into the game now? If so where do clubs find these guys big enough to combat the king’s and McKay’s of the world? Or will there come a time when these guys will become the norm and are more likely to be played in defensive roles as juniors ?