I can almost see your point but I also doubt him making a difference...id rather give a local kid a shot even if it comes to nought. The two I have named , but im sure there are others. As I said..if he plays and becomes best22 and kicks goals in finals then i'l bow my head in deference ... but I see the addition of ZGuth and id hate to miss out on another young kid for a VFL player.
I am all for giving local kids a go too. I think at this present time though we have a number of "local" kids pushing hard. The kids on the rookie list last year and the VFL selections all showed a fair bit and have been retained.
Henry is a good example. Rarely mentioned in dispatches here or in the "news". The Age pre draft discussion of Geelong lists Henry as a small/medium forward.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...-by-club-guide--part-one-20171117-gznb1w.html
In my opinion Henry is only competing with Black from their list (and House on their talls list).
He is listed on the GFC site at 191cm but he looked quite a bit taller than that live. He also improved rapidly at the end of last VFL season and proved a surprise packet overhead (to me anyway). He was elevated to the main list too.
http://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/2017-08-10/jack-jumps-onto-senior-list
He is the McGovern type who would take his place as the second tall if he can follow up with a big (first ) full preseason. He is still raw though - lots to do - has a kid's muscle definition etc but has the tools to maybe make a difference.
Add Abbott ,Simpson,Zuthrie, House and JJones and local kids are in the mix. All have shown a bit.
Most of these kids won't be ready next year and Henry is probably the one furthest back.
Having shown they won't pick Black (even though he was quite good at VFL level and wasn't our worst when given an AFL run ) this suggests Crameri would be the DFA most useful. I wouldn't mind if he was the last one to be offered a place.