Key defender not a priority imo

[Ickirus]

Our midfield is the biggest priorty, we have Anthony, Reid and Reed who can fill the key defender gap, and 192 cm is not too small for a KPD, as the post above highlights.

Sure we need to pick up at least one more KPD in the draft but that should wait until the third round, most of the quality KPD in the AFL at the moment came from later picks anyways.

Our midfield however is one of the worst in the competitions, midfields win you flags. We must draft some quality inside mids with our first few picks, we have enough players who can play the outside role but lack inside options as evidenced by O'Bree being now our best clearance player.

 

[Dave The Man]

Our midfield is the biggest priorty, we have Anthony, Reid and Reed who can fill the key defender gap, and 192 cm is not too small for a KPD, as the post above highlights.

Sure we need to pick up at least one more KPD in the draft but that should wait until the third round, most of the quality KPD in the AFL at the moment came from later picks anyways.

Our midfield however is one of the worst in the competitions, midfields win you flags. We must draft some quality inside mids with our first few picks, we have enough players who can play the outside role but lack inside options as evidenced by O'Bree being now our best clearance player.

Fair Enough on Height and Reed and Anthony have good Leaps which Help.

Only KPB I would take in the 1st Round Anyway and That's Trengove

 

[wixism]

Dawes can play back i watched him play back in a practise match against port last year and MM had anthony and dawes playing back and same with brown but brown won the battle and was picked round 1
anthony looks impressive down back
but his dead accrute in front of goals
depends on rusling i say

 

[Dave The Man]

Dawes can play back i watched him play back in a practise match against port last year and MM had anthony and dawes playing back and same with brown but brown won the battle and was picked round 1
anthony looks impressive down back
but his dead accrute in front of goals
depends on rusling i say

I was at the Practise game when Dawes played back but I thought at times he Looked Lost and Plays Forward Way Better than he is in the Backline.

Anthony is Interesting where I think he is a Better Backman but he is Dead-Eye Dick in front of Goal

 

[Bay Pie]

KPD heights to give you guys some idea.

Rutten: 191
Bock: 193
Jamison: 192
McPharlin: 193
Grover: 188
Scarlett: 192
Taylor: 193
Pears: 191
Croad: 190
Glass: 192
L.Barry: 184
Hudgton: 191
Firrito: 190
Carlile: 192

Most established KPD are between 192-193 cm in height.
Some players i listed are seen as future KPD for there club.

I've bolded the guns and Croad is not far off. JA is 192cm. Plenty big enough. I was one for keeping him forward but I think he'll play well wherever he plays. Can swing forward ala Leppitsch, Hunter or Bradshaw when we need a bit of variety.

In a year or 2 when Presti is gone:

O'Brien, N.Brown, Goldsack
H.Shaw, Anthony, Clarke

Possibly Reid as a roaming HBF and Marty on a wing or HFF.

All have shown enough at AFL level to suggest they will make a very solid back 6. Obviously JA hasn't played back as yet. I'd like to have Maxwell as a tall midfield tagger playing on guys like Scott Thompson, Goodes etc. I'd like to see MM continue with that experiment.

Back up is somewhat thin but our midfield badly need a class addition and pick 11 should be used on a mid. I'm on the Tom Swift bandwagon, High risk but possibly very high return.

 

[ant22]

If Reid doesn't work out at CHB, after delisting Thoolen and Casey-Leigh, we're going to be very short on options. We definitely need another key defensive option for the future. The argument about whether they'd make a difference next year is flawed, because a midfielder taken in this draft isn't likely to play more than a handful of games in 2009 either, and probably wouldn't be much more than a role-player. Joel Selwood and Rhys Palmer are exceptional in their draft years.

Not sure if you actually read my post correctly RS because I said Reid, Dawes, Goldsack and Anthony are all options for CHB. Thats 4 and I have more confidence that one of those will make it than I do in drafting a kid I know nothing about. I dont subscribe to the theory that we need to really tall big strong kpps either. Can't think of too many sides that to to be honest.Dont agree on your midfield comment. Both pendlebury and Thomas ad impacts in their first season and plenty of others have as well. I am not talking about a Selwood type influence as that is one out of the box but I strongly believe our midfield stocks are far weaker than out backline stocks.

 

[Outa McSporren]

I must admit that originally I was hoping for either a midfielder or a KPD with pick 11. But after going through our current stock thanks to this thread I agree that a midfielder is much more sought after.

Just to make sure I thought I would compare our current prospects with the benchmark of the competition, Geelong (bar a minor slip up in a slightly important game). The comparisons I have made are between 8 players from each team who regularly appear in the defensive half (Egan could well have been the difference for them this year if fit and Anthony appears to be a defender at heart):

Geelong.................Collingwood

Egan 196cm..........Brown 195cm

Taylor 193cm.......Maxwell 193cm
Harley 192cm.......Presti 193cm
Mackie 192cm.......Goldsack 193cm
Scarlett 192cm.......Anthony 192cm

Milburn 189cm.......O'Brien 188cm
Rooke 189cm............................

Hunt 186cm.........Shaw 184cm
..........................Clarke 181cm

Overall it's surprisingly similar, I really thought we would get shown up for size but it's simply not the case. And although Presti is included even though he is nearing the end, interestingly enough Reed is 192cm which fits him into that key 192-193 bracket that really seems to be emerging.

The only player that appears to be a chance at pick 11 from the KPD role seems to be Trengrove, who at around 196cm would slot into a CHB role. Egan when fit is somewhere around the best CHB in the comp and Brown really is more of a FB so there is an argument there, but as Trengrove is untried at AFL level it is purely on a potential basis. As I only know as much as what I can gather from Tassie whether or not Trengrove has the potential to be the best CHB in the comp I really have no idea.

BUT as was pointed out earlier Bock, who is the reigning All Australian CHB, is only 193cm. And the person I would love to see tried there from next year on is Big Jack, then our overflow of forwards have more opportunity and we can spend pick 11 on a mid.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Send Anthony and Reid back with Cloke, Dawes, Rocca and Rusling forward. Barham and Stanley may come on and H Shaw could join the mid-field. Lots of 'mays' and 'coulds' but football is a bit of a guessing game.Barham and Stanley may come on and H Shaw could join the mid-field. Go for best mid-fielder at 11, unless someone tall and outstanding drops unexpectedly to us. If a decent ruckman, strong and tall, drops through to 29, grab him. Post looks good as a KPB from the videos, and may still be around for our second pick. The draft looks really interesting. Fiora at 3 shows how wrong selections can be. Pick wisely like the Hawks and a side can be rebuilt over night.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Not sure if you actually read my post correctly RS because I said Reid, Dawes, Goldsack and Anthony are all options for CHB. Thats 4 and I have more confidence that one of those will make it than I do in drafting a kid I know nothing about. I dont subscribe to the theory that we need to really tall big strong kpps either. Can't think of too many sides that to to be honest.Dont agree on your midfield comment. Both pendlebury and Thomas ad impacts in their first season and plenty of others have as well. I am not talking about a Selwood type influence as that is one out of the box but I strongly believe our midfield stocks are far weaker than out backline stocks.

I read your post correctly, I just disagree with it. I don't see Dawes making it as a defender, I don't see Goldsack holding down a key position, and frankly I have similar concerns over Anthony. Even JAJH says Jack's best position is as a tall running half-back. So I'd happily repeat my earlier statement that if Reid didn't work out at CHB, in the absence of LCL and Thoolen who've been moved on, we would be short on key defensive options.

I also think you're being generous in saying that Thomas and Pendlebury had an impact in the midfield in their first year. First of all, Thomas will be going into his 4th year in 2009 and still isn't a midfielder, so that theory is completely bunk. Pendlebury played only 9 games in his debut season, averaging 13 possessions, which while showing tremendous promise in reality had very little impact on his team's fortunes in 2006. McCarthy, pleasingly, had a similar output in 2008 but really didn't have much impact.

As I said, Selwood and Palmer are the exception to the rule, and the Collingwood recruiting staff won't be selecting 17 and 18 year-olds on the basis of what they can contribute to the side in 2009, that's for sure. If you're hoping that whomever we draft as a midfielder will give our engine room a genuine boost next year, your optimism is misplaced.

 

[Palmer Stoat]

I think we need another young key defender on our list, but agree that midfield should be our top priority. With Presti ageing, we're putting a lotta eggs in the Nathan Brown basket, it seems to me. I wouldn't rule out Reid and Anthony as potential key defenders, but at the same time, I have a few reservations.

I think that between them the likes of O'Brien, Goldsack, and Anthony can cover many key forwards, but there will be times (ie, Buddy and Roughie) when a second genuine KPD, and not just a pinch-hitting flanker, would be handy -- even more so should Brown get injured.

I'm hopeful we'll snare a blue-chip mid with #11 and score an athletic KD with one of our later picks.

 

[The 10th Letter]

I think we need another young key defender on our list, but agree that midfield should be our top priority. With Presti ageing, we're putting a lotta eggs in the Nathan Brown basket, it seems to me. I wouldn't rule out Reid and Anthony as potential key defenders, but at the same time, I have a few reservations.

I think that between them the likes of O'Brien, Goldsack, and Anthony can cover many key forwards, but there will be times (ie, Buddy and Roughie) when a second genuine KPD, and not just a pinch-hitting flanker, would be handy -- even more so should Brown get injured.

I'm hopeful we'll snare a blue-chip mid with #11 and score an athletic KD with one of our later picks.

I'm of the same mind regarding our draft priorities and the current standing of our defence. Prestigiacomo is getting on in years and it's likely that injury might plague him again next year; albeit hopefully not to the extent it has the last two seasons. Structure obviously plays a big part and back-lines function a lot better when they're settled and comprised of familiar faces and some experience; we do require another genuine key position defender.

I agree with TRS that Anthony and Goldsack don't strike me as viable future KPD options; whilst Reid is only a speculative option at this point. I'm optimistic that Reid could become a handy CHB, but it's entirely too risky to place all our eggs in that basket considering there are some decent KPD options in this year's draft.

I want to see us target some top-shelf midfield options in the first two rounds and hopefully we can snag a good KPD option with one of our third round selections. I'm hoping we can get Post in the third round, as out of the players who would be available at that point in the draft he looks the most likely from what I have seen.

With that said, I wouldn't be disappointed with Trengove at #11 if none of Sidebottom, Ziebell, Hartlett or Swift are available.

 

[smiddaz123]

Midfield should be our priority imo. The latest premiership side, Hawthorn, managed to get by with Croad as their gun and Gilham as their 'solid' backman.

I wouldn't be upset if we drafted Trengove really, but I think our midfield should be considered our most pressing need, easily.

 

[Bonuspoints]

Strong midfields take so much pressure off the defence that I reckon our first two picks should be midfield players. We need to boost our competitive edge there and get more depth. I'm confident that the club will spend our first pick on a mid unless there is an exceptional talent who plays another position. Although I was like this once before and we went Reid, Brown and Dawes....

I think we need to pick up another KPD as although Brown covers one of the KPD posts we don't have anyone else. Presti has barely played in the last two years and so I'm not overly confident in us getting much out of him. Brown is good for covering the gorilla forwards, but we don't really have someone for the more athletic and explosive forwards. We really need a KPD with explosive speed. I'm not familiar enough with the players in this draft to even suggest one worth picking let alone taking in the first round. If there is a worthwhile talent to take in the second round that is a KPD I can see us making the leap if the club doesn't believe strongly enough in Reid or Anthony being capable of taking that role.

 

[Dave The Man]

Strong midfields take so much pressure off the defence that I reckon our first two picks should be midfield players. We need to boost our competitive edge there and get more depth. I'm confident that the club will spend our first pick on a mid unless there is an exceptional talent who plays another position. Although I was like this once before and we went Reid, Brown and Dawes....

I think we need to pick up another KPD as although Brown covers one of the KPD posts we don't have anyone else. Presti has barely played in the last two years and so I'm not overly confident in us getting much out of him. Brown is good for covering the gorilla forwards, but we don't really have someone for the more athletic and explosive forwards. We really need a KPD with explosive speed. I'm not familiar enough with the players in this draft to even suggest one worth picking let alone taking in the first round. If there is a worthwhile talent to take in the second round that is a KPD I can see us making the leap if the club doesn't believe strongly enough in Reid or Anthony being capable of taking that role.

That's why I can see us Drafting Blease at Pick 11 because he can put Pressure on in the MidField