Draft Watcher Knightmare's 2013 phantom draft

[TheLastEmperor]

KM,

My boys will be after a gun outside mid with VG skills and decent pace. If I'm right, who do you see available if we have a pick around 5-10...?

 

[mattyc75]

gday KM
hows harley walsche tracking?Does it look like he will be able to make it in the AFL with a few pre seasons under his belt?The eagles will probably pick up a KPD this year

 

[Knightmare]

KM,

My boys will be after a gun outside mid with VG skills and decent pace. If I'm right, who do you see available if we have a pick around 5-10...?

Nicholas Robertson, Dominic Sheed and Jack Billings would have to be on the radar. Ben Lennon also is quickly entering this conversation.

Billings and Lennon are the two highest level kicks of this group with Billings more your Dal Santo and Lennon more an explosive kick of your Sipposs variety in St Kilda terms.

Sheed has some Macrae to him with that similar class being more that super smart good using outside type rather than an the explosive type.

Then Robertson is more of a tall, high motor midfielder with the more well rounded game of the lot without having perhaps those same weapons.

gday KM
hows harley walsche tracking?Does it look like he will be able to make it in the AFL with a few pre seasons under his belt?The eagles will probably pick up a KPD this year

Still playing TAC for Western Jets. Was only draft eligable last year so hardly a ready to go big. Showed promise last year. From what I understand has played just the once so far this year without showing us any new tricks.

He's a solid shutdown player but doesn't do much else. There should be better state league options coming through at some point this year.

 

[SumTingWong]

KM,
When will you be posting your first serious draft order?

 

[raro]

KM, what are your thoughts on Marcus Bontempelli?
If the draft was today do you think he would go?

 

[Knightmare]

KM,
When will you be posting your first serious draft order?

In the leadup to the champs I'll hopefully find some time to update my draft. Perhaps add another round and some more bios.

For now I'll leave you with my current first round with an updated ladder and draft order as it has been some time since my last update:
1. Melbourne: James Aish
2. GWS: Thomas Boyd
3. Gold Coast: Matt Scharenberg
4. Western Bulldogs: Josh Kelly
5. Brisbane: Dominic Sheed
6. Port Adelaide: Luke Dunstan
7. St Kilda: Jack Billings
8. North Melbourne: Luke McDonald
--Adelaide--
9. Carlton: Ben Lennon
10. Fremantle: Matt Crouch
11. West Coast: Nicholas Robertson
12. Richmond: Trent Dumont
13. Sydney: Cameron Conlon
14. Collingwood: Marcus Bontempelli
15. Geelong: Darcy Gardiner
16. Hawthorn: Dwayne Wilson
17. Essendon: Luke Reynolds

KM, what are your thoughts on Marcus Bontempelli?
If the draft was today do you think he would go?

Bontempelli may be in the 1st round mix. Looks a 1st - 2nd rounder at this early point in the season.

With so many outside mids looking good this year it will be interesting to see where Bontempelli eventually fits in the draft order.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

In the leadup to the champs I'll hopefully find some time to update my draft. Perhaps add another round and some more bios.

For now I'll leave you with my current first round with an updated ladder and draft order as it has been some time since my last update:
1. Melbourne: James Aish
2. GWS: Thomas Boyd
3. Gold Coast: Matt Scharenberg
4. Western Bulldogs: Josh Kelly
5. Brisbane: Dominic Sheed
6. Port Adelaide: Luke Dunstan
7. St Kilda: Jack Billings
8. North Melbourne: Luke McDonald
--Adelaide--
9. Carlton: Ben Lennon
10. Fremantle: Matt Crouch
11. West Coast: Nicholas Robertson
12. Richmond: Trent Dumont
13. Sydney: Cameron Conlon
14. Collingwood: Marcus Bontempelli
15. Geelong: Darcy Gardiner
16. Hawthorn: Dwayne Wilson
17. Essendon: Luke Reynolds



Bontempelli may be in the 1st round mix. Looks a 1st - 2nd rounder at this early point in the season.

With so many outside mids looking good this year it will be interesting to see where Bontempelli eventually fits in the draft order.

Crouch at 10 would be daylight robbery. Fremantle fans would be ecstatic to pick up a player of his quality down the track.

Christian Salem?

 

[Knightmare]

Crouch at 10 would be daylight robbery. Fremantle fans would be ecstatic to pick up a player of his quality down the track.

Christian Salem?

I like Crouch's game but being an inside extractor only I feel as with Wines last year that he could go later than his performance perhaps deserves.

Salem is close and on that fringe of my first round but doesn't find enough footy at this point to have sold me.

Love the physical way he goes about it though. Never seen an outside player quite like him. Tackles absolutely stick and a real enforcer who you wouldn't much enjoy coming up against.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

I like Crouch's game but being an inside extractor only I feel as with Wines last year that he could go later than his performance perhaps deserves.

Salem is close and on that fringe of my first round but doesn't find enough footy at this point to have sold me.

Love the physical way he goes about it though. Never seen an outside player quite like him. Tackles absolutely stick and a real enforcer who you wouldn't much enjoy coming up against.

Yeah I found in the one game he played this year, Salem was so clean and slick but also quite aggressive. He's that "time and space" type player which I love.

There also seems to be a lot of small-to-medium midfielders in this draft so it will no doubt come down to preference from different teams because you could throw a blanket over a whole heap outside the first round or so.

 

[thesource]

Sheed has some Macrae to him with that similar class being more that super smart good using outside type rather than an the explosive type.

He's smart, not explosive, but I wouldn't call him outside, played league as an under aged Colt on-ball, and won a lot of first hand clearances. Probably need to do your home work on him.

And what are you even trying to say about Robertson?

 

[Sin City]

Yeah I found in the one game he played this year, Salem was so clean and slick but also quite aggressive. He's that "time and space" type player which I love

Sounds like you were at the Dragons v Jets game too. He was very impressive.

Knightmare will Jake Kalanj be in your updated order?

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Sounds like you were at the Dragons v Jets game too. He was very impressive.

Knightmare will Jake Kalanj be in your updated order?

Yeah I've been at most games this year (the ones that don't clash). This weekend I have off but I'll pop in to the Vic Country trials tomorrow.

 

[Chris25]

Bontempelli may be in the 1st round mix. Looks a 1st - 2nd rounder at this early point in the season.

With so many outside mids looking good this year it will be interesting to see where Bontempelli eventually fits in the draft order.

Bontempelli is as much of an outside midfielder as Jobe Watson, Scott Pendlebury or Nathan Fyfe. The kid is strong, can really win his own ball and will beat most midfielders over head. In the last 6 months alone, he has grown about 3cm and put on over 5kg. He isn't limited to playing any one role. That's where he has the clear edge over other players.

 

[Sin City]

Just needs to steady himself before he kicks when he's out in the open.

 

[raro]

Bontempelli is as much of an outside midfielder as Jobe Watson, Scott Pendlebury or Nathan Fyfe. The kid is strong, can really win his own ball and will beat most midfielders over head. In the last 6 months alone, he has grown about 3cm and put on over 5kg. He isn't limited to playing any one role. That's where he has the clear edge over other players.

In the leadup to the champs I'll hopefully find some time to update my draft. Perhaps add another round and some more bios.

For now I'll leave you with my current first round with an updated ladder and draft order as it has been some time since my last update:
1. Melbourne: James Aish
2. GWS: Thomas Boyd
3. Gold Coast: Matt Scharenberg
4. Western Bulldogs: Josh Kelly
5. Brisbane: Dominic Sheed
6. Port Adelaide: Luke Dunstan
7. St Kilda: Jack Billings
8. North Melbourne: Luke McDonald
--Adelaide--
9. Carlton: Ben Lennon
10. Fremantle: Matt Crouch
11. West Coast: Nicholas Robertson
12. Richmond: Trent Dumont
13. Sydney: Cameron Conlon
14. Collingwood: Marcus Bontempelli
15. Geelong: Darcy Gardiner
16. Hawthorn: Dwayne Wilson
17. Essendon: Luke Reynolds



Bontempelli may be in the 1st round mix. Looks a 1st - 2nd rounder at this early point in the season.

With so many outside mids looking good this year it will be interesting to see where Bontempelli eventually fits in the draft order.

To easy, thanks guys !

 

[LeverPuller]

G'day KM, would/could you see Dunstan going at #1 if Melbourne end up with it? It appears Aish is the standout, but if we draft at #1 would he be a better ready to go, or would Aish be able to impact from day dot?

 

[Knightmare]

G'day KM, would/could you see Dunstan going at #1 if Melbourne end up with it? It appears Aish is the standout, but if we draft at #1 would he be a better ready to go, or would Aish be able to impact from day dot?

Dunstan I considered for a period as a near top selection but if I was looking at someone not named Aish first up I'd be recommending Sheed myself to Melbourne. He's all class and inside/outside has incredible ability as that really rare, silky mid.

Sounds like you were at the Dragons v Jets game too. He was very impressive.

Knightmare will Jake Kalanj be in your updated order?

Kalanj looked good against the Dragons. May slip into my draft order if he continues to perform.

He's smart, not explosive, but I wouldn't call him outside, played league as an under aged Colt on-ball, and won a lot of first hand clearances. Probably need to do your home work on him.

And what are you even trying to say about Robertson?

You are correct in your comments re Sheed. I wouldn't limit him to being either inside or outside. He can do both exceptionally.

Don't rate Robertson? Tall goalkicking midfielders are always in demand from my findings. Would be my second picked West Australian at this point.

Yeah I found in the one game he played this year, Salem was so clean and slick but also quite aggressive. He's that "time and space" type player which I love.

There also seems to be a lot of small-to-medium midfielders in this draft so it will no doubt come down to preference from different teams because you could throw a blanket over a whole heap outside the first round or so.

Your comments re. Salem are spot on.

Every year there is always a real depth in small mids who dominate the junior competitions. It's the story of every year with those quality taller mids exceptionally hard to find. The same could really be said with the outside types, with the u18 competitions being so outside and skill based with the open games coaches are instructed to coach it really favours them as well as the smaller mids who likewise typically would struggle more than in the juniors with the stoppage based gamestyle that we see at AFL level.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Hey KM,

Was watching the Foxtel Cup qualifier between Burnie and Southport earlier tonight and was wondering if you knew anything about Burnie's midfielder/forward in Guy Grey? Looked to be pretty agile and have very good skills. It was a match of very poor quality but he really stood out to me. If you have any information that'd be great.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

KM, just on Dunstan/Sheed/Aish - I think it's entirely possible that Dunstan could end up the best of the three, given his strength and game style, he's a much more explosive player.

 

[SumTingWong]

In the leadup to the champs I'll hopefully find some time to update my draft. Perhaps add another round and some more bios.

For now I'll leave you with my current first round with an updated ladder and draft order as it has been some time since my last update:
1. Melbourne: James Aish
2. GWS: Thomas Boyd
3. Gold Coast: Matt Scharenberg
4. Western Bulldogs: Josh Kelly
5. Brisbane: Dominic Sheed
6. Port Adelaide: Luke Dunstan
7. St Kilda: Jack Billings
8. North Melbourne: Luke McDonald
--Adelaide--
9. Carlton: Ben Lennon
10. Fremantle: Matt Crouch
11. West Coast: Nicholas Robertson
12. Richmond: Trent Dumont
13. Sydney: Cameron Conlon
14. Collingwood: Marcus Bontempelli
15. Geelong: Darcy Gardiner
16. Hawthorn: Dwayne Wilson
17. Essendon: Luke Reynolds

Interested in your justification for tipping that a guy that can't kick will be picked up so high?

 

[Chris25]

Oh, he can kick.

 

[paul scholes]

Be interested if GWS pick another Key Forward in Boyd.

 

[Sin City]

Oh, he can kick.

He's adequate isn't he Chris. Good long kick too, throw in all those other attributes with his hard ball winning, size, strength and endurance and he could well go higher than what Knightmare predicted.

 

[Chris25]

His kicking is no better or no worse than Wines. And that didn't hold him back.

 

[thesource]

You are correct in your comments re Sheed. I wouldn't limit him to being either inside or outside. He can do both exceptionally.

Don't rate Robertson? Tall goalkicking midfielders are always in demand from my findings. Would be my second picked West Australian at this point.

I know my comments regarding Sheed are right, that's why I pulled you up when you said he was an outside type. You're either guessing about the WA boys or you're a flip flop merchant.

Robertson is injury prone and I personally don't rate his attitude. He can play but whether he fits into a group dynamic I'm yet to be convinced. I've a got a few more ahead of Robertson at this stage. I hope he can prove me wrong and turn it around.