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- Mar 25, 2014
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Taylin Duman
Height: 192cm
Weight: 77kg
Position: Mid / Defender
Drafted from: Oakleigh Chargers
DOB: 18 April 1998
Player comparison: Tom Cutler
Taylin Duman is a versatile defender from Oakleigh East in Melbourne.
A smart player that can push onto a wing or even go forward, Duman had a consistent 2016, averaging 20 disposals for Oakleigh in the TAC Cup and 15 disposals for Vic Metro in the U18 Championships.
He has good game sense and knows where to run to find the footy, reading the game well while showing the ability to drop off and intercept across halfback. At 192cm, Duman has significant height and shows terrific athleticism for his size.
Duman started to back his speed and began to really run and carry the footy out of the back half.
Ball in hand, Duman makes neat decisions, doesn't panic and has a super sidestep that buys him time and space.
Duman has good upside and as he gets into a full time environment and builds his body, he will only go from strength to strength.
Snapshot:
Taylin Duman is a unique prospect who has spent time around the ground, but primarily in the back half. He wins enough of the ball to suggest he can spend more time in the midfield as a taller outside ball winner, but will still want to improve on his inside work further to become a more rounded player.
Duman is a great kick of the ball, is good overhead, reads the ball well in the air or on the ground due to his high football IQ and most importantly is composed when he has the football. An example of his composure, combined with his leadership was earlier in the year when the pressure was red hot against the Northern Territory at Warrawee Park. While others were losing their cool under the pressure of a tense last term, Duman went back with the flight, took a strong intercept mark and pierced a precision kick through a couple of opponents to hit his teammate up the field.
It is acts like this that summarise Duman to a tee. While he is not going to be that key position player who takes on the taller guys, think of him size wise as an Tom Cutler defender who will mostly be used for his rebound and may be called upon to play as a third tall if absolutely necessary.
Statistically he matches up with the best players in the TAC Cup for his ball use and expect him to be plucked somewhere in that second round potentially, with a club lucky if he slid to the third. He will need to build his contested game further and build strength to have more of an impact one-on-one in a contest, but with the strengths he has, Duman already has a nice base with which clubs can work from next year.
Strengths:
- Disposal
- Marking
- Footy IQ
- Composed
- Leadership
Duman is a reliable mark of the football and is good at reading the ball in flight. While he might not be able to outmuscle his opponent, he will often outsmart them in the way he positions himself under the drop of the ball. His high football IQ assists Duman with getting to the right spots and peeling off his man if need be to help teammates in other contests.
Furthermore, Duman’s leadership has come to the fore this year, captaining the Oakleigh Chargers in the absence of Jack Roughsedge who missed all bar one game through injury. Stationed mostly in the defensive 50, Duman guided his team through to the second week of finals and is a calming voice behind the ball. While not bulky in stature, the tall defender is a player who leads by example and brings other players into the game.
Finally, Duman’s composed kicking action does not have the same penetration that others at his level has, but is more consistent and will more often than not will find a target. Not a huge kick, Duman averages 2.7 effective long kicks per game and 5.6 effective short kicks per game. He rarely makes a mistake over short, medium or long distance, which is why his kicking action is consistent. With an average of 2.6 inside 50s per game and 3.3 rebound 50s per game, Duman is able to win the football all over the ground.
Overall, Duman is a “safe” prospect who also has development left in him at AFL level, particularly when it comes to some defensive attributes and strength.
Improvements:
- Where does he play at AFL level?
- Contested work
- One-on-one defending
If isolated one-on-one, Duman could find himself in a bit of trouble as while he has the height to match it with most taller players, he does not have the strength to engage in an armwrestle. Building up this strength is also not only likely to help his one-on-one defending, but his contested work as well.
Duman won just 32.6 per cent of his possessions in a contest at TAC Cup level. This is well below average compared to his peers. While he will tend to win a lot of his possessions in the back half and run off, making them uncontested, if he is to develop further, he will need to work on his contested ball winning ability.
This contested ball winning ability could well determine where he plays at AFL level, which is the question many recruiters have of Duman: Where does he fit in our side? Is he a tall defender who runs off? Or is he that roaming midfielder that can have a huge impact at AFL level in the future.
While Duman could have an impact in both roles, being able to play midfield opens him up to a higher ceiling and having a greater impact within a team. Every side would love a composed kicker of the ball hitting targets inside 50 and keeping the momentum going. It will be interesting to see where he plays at AFL level and how he develops within an AFL environment.
Summary:
Overall, Taylin Duman is a talented prospect that offers a reliable defensive option with scope to build upon as a midfielder. He is good overhead, reads the ball well and disposes of the football effectively across all distances. He will need to continue to build his contested ball winning ability if he is to develop into a midfielder, but what Duman does offer is a smart footballer with leadership in spades. Expect plenty of AFL clubs to be lining up and have him on their draft lists ahead of the National AFL Draft.
Quigley's notes:
There are a few rangy outside types that are getting talked up in this draft and for the most part I would have Duman up with virtually any of them. He is still raw and has a long way to go but he is 192cm tall and has shown good development over the year. He has worked hard on things which needed work on and although he is still pretty raw there looks to be a lot to work with.
On the outside Duman moves nicely. He is a balanced, loose limbed runner who flows well. In stop and go situations he is not great with his change of directions but overall I thought his lateral movement looked good when he was in space on the wing. He did not test well in the agility test but I do think his functional positional agility is good and he is not a guy who I have noticed being tackled a lot. It is observable in the Combine results that Duman tested better in the straight line testing. Like Battle, Duman had noticeable better endurance testing in the 3km rather than the beep test. 10.48 in the 3km was solid but 13.3 in the beep test was on the poor side. The constant stopping and changing of direction I think caught up with Duman there. He needs to work on this and his endurance generally given that if he plays on a wing at AFL level he is going to need to cover a lot of ground and do so quickly.
One of the things Duman has worked on a lot this year has been his pace and all his work was rewarded with a very nice time at the Combine in the 20m. He ran a very nice 2.93 which put him in the top 10 of those tested. Where he has come from though I think was evident in his repeat sprint time. 26 for the repeat sprint put him in the 45th percentile which is lower than you would want to see, especially for someone capable of running a 2.93 and wants to play on a wing.
Skills wise, Duman lacks a bit zip in both his handballs and kicks at this stage and does need to work on improving his hurt factor. He almost invariably goes with little chip passes with his kicks and he needs to lift his eyes a bit and assess the whole field a bit more. He tends to concentrate on getting the ball to a target quickly rather than moving the ball in a way that furthers the aim of actually kicking goals. That is not to say that Duman does not bring out a very nice kick every now and then and those low drilled kicks do entice you with thoughts of what he could become if they became the norm rather than the exception.
Duman is a good mark on the wing. His vertical leaping is not great but with his height it doesn't really need to be. He watches the ball into his hands well and for a guy who is still very thin he is quite strong in the air. He will jump strongly at the ball although he is not a big flyer and if he cannot mark the ball he often does a good job of controlling the fall of the ball to allow himself or his teammates to have the best chance of recovering the spillage. His balance in the air is good and he keeps his feet well on landing.
Whilst he is pretty much only an outside player at this stage, Duman does on occasions do some nice work inside and has good awareness of where others are around him. He is prone to fumbling a bit in tight but I think this could be improved with work. I do like the way he works for others inside. He shepherds and generally creates space nicely for teammates to clear the ball. Bontempelli does a fair bit of this and whilst I am not seeing an inside game like Bont has it is encouraging to see him having this kind of awareness.
I am seeing a lot of upside with Duman and would be picking him a lot on size and potential at the moment. Teams will be looking at what he could become rather than what he is now and with the love affair of tall mids going on he is well positioned to get taken higher than his production strictly warrants.
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. Shows poor kicking and difficulty picking it up off the turf. Maybe he just had limited opportunities in the cup or the work experience kid making the video just wanted to go home early and couldn't be bothered finding the actual highlights.
