Preview First Pick Discussion

[ImaBeliever!]

We can play Deledio like that if we wanted to . He'd be better than White and Jetta. To do this we need another contested stoppage gun. Ellis wouldn't be far off that sort of run and carry also and is only getting better in one on one situations.

The beauty of Matty White was that he slipped under the radar. Deledio cannot do that without being tagged more often than not, or appearing to be hiding from attention and being criticised. We need more than one player with blistering pace in the side IMO.

 

[ImaBeliever!]

OK, here's one for the draft watchers. Which if the likely 1st round players will you be most disappointed for us to draft?
Still remember old Weaver getting bent out of shape when we drafted Riewoldt a few years ago

Yeah, I remember Weaver being pretty pissed off about that, It wasn't so much we got Jack, it was that we got him 'early' in his opinion. And I certainly agreed with his scepticism at the time - jack seemed a bit of a showpony and not very good in the body-on-body contests. Just goes to show what a lottery the draft is.

 

[_RT_]

OK, here's one for the draft watchers. Which if the likely 1st round players will you be most disappointed for us to draft?
Still remember old Weaver getting bent out of shape when we drafted Riewoldt a few years ago

Don't want any of the potential KPPs that are up for grabs after Boyd. With Astbury Griffiths Elton Darrou all looking for a chance I'm not sure adding another highly rated one would be the smartest move, especially when next year is supposedly the KPP draft and if we're going to restock our KPPs then do it next year. Outside that I'm not going to be disappointed with any of the midfielders on offer as they all offer us something that we could use.

 

[NZ_Tiger]

Would we look at McCarthy? Seems to have potential as he came to the game late.

 

[JR82]

Don't want any of the potential KPPs that are up for grabs after Boyd. With Astbury Griffiths Elton Darrou all looking for a chance I'm not sure adding another highly rated one would be the smartest move, especially when next year is supposedly the KPP draft and if we're going to restock our KPPs then do it next year. Outside that I'm not going to be disappointed with any of the midfielders on offer as they all offer us something that we could use.

it's little coincidence that Griff, Elton, Batchelor & A.Edwards are only on 1 year deals. don't perform next year & there will be replacements ready to be drafted in.

 

[_kp_]

OK, here's one for the draft watchers. Which if the likely 1st round players will you be most disappointed for us to draft?
Still remember old Weaver getting bent out of shape when we drafted Riewoldt a few years ago

Lewis Taylor, Billy Hartung, Cam McCarthy, Nathan Freeman, Matt Crouch.

 

[rammbo]

Crouch is still my choice and ive gone right off Salem because hes prone to hearing footsteps so ive been told.

 

[_kp_]

I'll OD if we get Crouch.

 

[Calcium Man]

Lewis Taylor, Billy Hartung, Cam McCarthy, Nathan Freeman, Matt Crouch.

You don't like freeman?? I can see that he has a bit of kick and hope style and doesn't get it enough for what he is capable of but certainly think you could mould him into a exceptional player kind of like Shuey as he has somethings that just cannot be taught. Would certainly be the most raw of our first round draftees for awhile and probably only play a handful of games next year.

 

[_RT_]

Lewis Taylor, Billy Hartung, Cam McCarthy, Nathan Freeman, Matt Crouch.

Not a fan of Freeman I see. Any particular reason/s?

 

[rammbo]

I'll OD if we get Crouch.

Get ready to OD then cause theres a fair chance its gonna happen

 

[_kp_]

Not a fan of Freeman I see. Any particular reason/s?

He is pre-2013 Matt White.

He rushes, runs himself into trouble and his kicking is so overrated. I don't necessarily dislike him but he's just not all that he's cracked up to be. His finishing is bog ordinary.

 

[TheAnt]

Get ready to OD then cause theres a fair chance its gonna happen

and you're happy about this?

 

[_kp_]

Get ready to OD then cause theres a fair chance its gonna happen

Unless we have completely changed our recruiting philosophy Crouch will not be at Richmond. We pick endurance runners and kids with skill. Crouch is none of the above.

 

[Calcium Man]

Unless we have completely changed our recruiting philosophy Crouch will not be at Richmond. We pick endurance runners and kids with skill. Crouch is none of the above.

Exactly. He fits only one of our three pillars of recruiting and thats that he is competitive. Dunstan, Dumont, Acres and whoever slides out Scharenberg and Lennon would be ahead of him.

 

[JR82]

we want a kid thats ready to go (other 2 picks could be project players), has good/great Leadership skills, is a good kick, is competitive & puts his head over the ball come what may. that seems to be the type we have gone for in recent years and will be going for that type again no doubt.
i guess the real question is = which of these kids has all of these qualities?

 

[_RT_]

He is pre-2013 Matt White.

He rushes, runs himself into trouble and his kicking is so overrated. I don't necessarily dislike him but he's just not all that he's cracked up to be. His finishing is bog ordinary.

Could it be because the side he plays in wasn't that good and thinking about the Matt White comparison, the same sort of thing happened with him. Richmond struggled due to a poor team and White struggled. Yet when surrounded by a much better group of players in 2013 White performed at a much better level.

Maybe in a side like ours where he would be surrounded by a bunch of stars and wouldn't be asked to be the playmaker he might find his niche/role and play within his limits.

 

[rammbo]

and you're happy about this?

Im happy to have crouch next season yes but only if he takes footy serious and doesnt just cruise.

Big preseason and will b ready to go next year imo

 

[Stylo]

we want a kid thats ready to go (other 2 picks could be project players), has good/great Leadership skills, is a good kick, is competitive & puts his head over the ball come what may. that seems to be the type we have gone for in recent years and will be going for that type again no doubt.
i guess the real question is = which of these kids has all of these qualities?

Dunstan is probably the closest fit to your description but I think we're in a better position to take a slight chance on a more rarely talented kid this year, someone like Lennon or Acres.

Just a gut feel but I reckon we'll end up with Lennon

 

[bananatigz]

Lennon is a good kid, can vouch for him on that, no problems there, pretty committed to making it as well, doesn't go and hit the town etc etc.

Athletically he is a lot better then his results would suggest, when you watch him play he comes across as above average in that area. The criticisms surrounding him seem to be his inability to play in the middle, others including Lennon himself have pointed out he wasn't 100% during the champs, and when he did play in the middle in the TAC cup when he was back to full fitness he was very good, looked at ease. Honestly think he will be a good get for whoever picks him, won't stop until he makes it

That said and although I know him he is my 4th preference, behind Salem, Scharenberg and Acres, but I would be more then happy if his name is read out

 

[Tomnat Tigers]

So many have it wrong about Crouch. His kicking is fine and will hit the targets he's expected to, isn't damaging but considering the role he plays he doesn't have to be. The problem he has which if you saw any rebels games this year is he won't involve his team mates as much as he should and will try to make himself look as good as he can. What I mean by that is, is instead of handballing it to a team mate who is free he will try and kick it around the corner or he will try and take the opposition on. The two games he played for Vic Country were his best games as he was playing a team game.

Though he wont be wearing Yellow and Black next year won't pass our character test or whatever you want to call it.

 

[Calcium Man]

He said in one of his interviews that he was hampered by injury during the champs thus wasn't able to spend as much time in midfield as he would have liked. So to average 12 disposals in what are short games and with limited time around the ball, whilst isn't as good as you might have hoped for, it certainly isn't disappointing. You also fail to mention his Tac Cup performances which statistically were very good and showed that when does play in midfield he knows how to find the ball and use it effectively.

I wouldn't read to much into his draft combine results as from what I have seen of him on the ground he is above average athletically.

I'm just going to reply in here so we don't derail the pick 50 thread.

I don't think he has a bad prospect i just don't think he is a top 12 prospect. I'd probably have him about 15.

I know he did alright in the centre later in the year but his evolution just hasn't been as high as i would of hoped from last year. But i still think he and billings just took a bit of the soft option playing HFF when vic metro were need them, yes they both were carrying injuries But McDonald was the same but they put him in there.

Draft combine is still important, it didnt show he was a little slow or had poor acceleration or slightly unfit ect... he bottomed out in every test. Vlastuin has exceptional agility and is still reasonably quick, Ellis is a freak runner and ran 3.05 20 metre, Cotch has a sub 3 sec 20 metre and Dusty and lids are sub 2.9.

I just don't think i'd take him over guys like Dunstan, Salem, Dumont, Acres and even Crouch who are similarly talented and done it on the field too but are athletically more gifted.

 

[Richo83]

One of my biggest problems with Lennon is that he has poor agility. Agility matters a lot these days, due to the fact that clubs push numbers around the ball, then spread when they get it, Lennon is not going to have a lot of room to work with in the midfield. He needs to snake his way around the packs, and while Cotchin isn't amazingly fast, he has good agility and good awareness of the players around him. Even up forward, the ability to dodge and weave is what makes a HFF work. He can take a mark, but how many clubs allow 189cm players (with sticky hands admittedly) take tons of marks up forward?

 

[Richo83]

So many have it wrong about Crouch. His kicking is fine and will hit the targets he's expected to, isn't damaging but considering the role he plays he doesn't have to be. The problem he has which if you saw any rebels games this year is he won't involve his team mates as much as he should and will try to make himself look as good as he can. What I mean by that is, is instead of handballing it to a team mate who is free he will try and kick it around the corner or he will try and take the opposition on. The two games he played for Vic Country were his best games as he was playing a team game.

Though he wont be wearing Yellow and Black next year won't pass our character test or whatever you want to call it.

Not convinced his kicking is fine at all. I agree that Crouch likes to be the star, but the problem is also that he tries to make passes that he just can't kick, and his decision making is fairly poor. Even if you eradicate Crouch's desire to be the star of Ballarat (which is not hard just quietly) his kicking skills and decision making is iffy. Anything beyond say 40 meters and his kicking becomes iffy. Given modern football is all about busting zones with long balls, Crouch's limitations don't appeal to me. I also don't like his habit of banging the ball forward, he should be handpassing it to a runner.

 

[The Rusty Trombone]

Not convinced his kicking is fine at all. I agree that Crouch likes to be the star, but the problem is also that he tries to make passes that he just can't kick, and his decision making is fairly poor. Even if you eradicate Crouch's desire to be the star of Ballarat (which is not hard just quietly) his kicking skills and decision making is iffy. Anything beyond say 40 meters and his kicking becomes iffy. Given modern football is all about busting zones with long balls, Crouch's limitations don't appeal to me. I also don't like his habit of banging the ball forward, he should be handpassing it to a runner.

There are plenty of ball magnets that can't kick well over 40m and handball and team rules can be taught to a player. Once he's on a list he won't have to get 38 touches a game he'll just be striving for 25 good ones.

If someone from the club said to me that we were on the look out for a Priddis , Barlow type because Tuck has retired and Cotchin can't be flogged into the ground for another year then I would say that I can see the sense in that line of thought.