Draft Watcher Knightmare's 2014 Phantom Draft

[Knightmare]

Would you also be attending the Draft Camp?

Would love an invite but as a fan not in club land I don't see that as likely.

KM, do you still rate Keitel ahead of McDonald in terms of KPD?

McDonald definitely ahead of Keitel as a key defender. McDonald is terrific and one of the best performed players in the TAC this season.

Has Lever been thrown forward at any point?

Lever wasn't in 2013 in the u18s. In the u16s or earlier it's entirely possible. Don't know his history before last year. He plays like he can do some key forward things as someone who attacks the ball in the air well. So he could plausibly swing forward as required.

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

How wide would you say the talent gap is between Brayshaw and Petracca? Whose strengths are higher/deficiencies are deeper?

Also if Petracca goes #1 and the Dees hold #2 and #3, do you reckon we'll go for McCartin/Wright?

 

[grundog49]

Is there any chance we could pick a athletic utility over Pickett e.g Laverde, Ahern, De geoy or Menadue

 

[mattyc75]

Is there any chance we could pick a athletic utility over Pickett e.g Laverde, Ahern, De geoy or Menadue

Im hoping Menadue last til our second pick.Pickett laverde and ahern seem to be going around our first

 

[TheLastEmperor]

Knighta. Would it be fair to say there isn't many quality big time accumulators in this years draft?

Outside of Petracca & Brayshaw there seems to be a lot of your cameo 15 possession type players. Excluding Heeney.

Whilst guys like Menadue, Laverde, Pickett, Weller, De Goey & Ahern have talent I'm not seeing consistent 20-30 touch games from any.

If you aren't Sydney getting Heeney or you don't have a top 5 pick for Petracca or Brayshaw it seems a bad year to need a quality high production midfielder.

If I was a club with a top 10 pick and craving a dominant mid I would be throwing it at Sydney for Mitchell.

 

[Knightmare]

How wide would you say the talent gap is between Brayshaw and Petracca? Whose strengths are higher/deficiencies are deeper?

Also if Petracca goes #1 and the Dees hold #2 and #3, do you reckon we'll go for McCartin/Wright?

Petracca is more explosive and will provide more heavy scoreboard impact when pushed forward.

Brayshaw is the more polished and better by foot with his ability on both sides and ability to lace out hit his targets over a variety of ranges.

Depends on what you want. Not a great deal in it but Petracca is generally the preferred of the two by most.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Melbourne pass on both McCartin and Wright and instead take Brayshaw and Lever. McCartin could be an alternative to Lever. Durdin could be a further alternative. But they're roughly the names to watch for, for Melbourne.

Wright I suspect will drop. He is dropping down my draft board with some below standard finals performances with his hands overhead disappointing in that while clean uncontested with his marking, put a body or spoil attempt in there and he doesn't have the strength of hands to take the grab. So I see him going more around 5/6 overall.

Is there any chance we could pick a athletic utility over Pickett e.g Laverde, Ahern, De geoy or Menadue

Not out of the question. Pickett, Laverde. They're two I imagine will be in the mix. Ahern may be another. De Goey and Menadue I suspect will not go quite as early as Adelaide's first round selection.

Knighta. Would it be fair to say there isn't many quality big time accumulators in this years draft?

Outside of Petracca & Brayshaw there seems to be a lot of your cameo 15 possession type players. Excluding Heeney.

Whilst guys like Menadue, Laverde, Pickett, Weller, De Goey & Ahern have talent I'm not seeing consistent 20-30 touch games from any.

If you aren't Sydney getting Heeney or you don't have a top 5 pick for Petracca or Brayshaw it seems a bad year to need a quality high production midfielder.

It is not a year for his production guys. You are right with your observation. If anyone else joins that Brayshaw/Petracca/Heeney top level midfield group I imagine Blakely, Bampton, Neal-Bullen and Gore to be others who have performed well at senior state league level and can find the footy. As late 1st - 2nd round types they're others to look out for as some guys who I anticipate will be among the draft day bargains if taken outside that first 15 as is expected.

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

Wright I suspect will drop. He is dropping down my draft board with some below standard finals performances with his hands overhead disappointing in that while clean uncontested with his marking, put a body or spoil attempt in there and he doesn't have the strength of hands to take the grab. So I see him going more around 5/6 overall.

Yeah I don't really see it with Wright either. Doesn't really take the pack-crashing, attacking kind of marks that someone like McCartin does, which I think translate better to senior level where you can't just stand there and out body players half your size.

 

[redandblack]

Sam Durdin - simply dominant last night.

I'm sure he has been hampered by his thumb injury most of the year, but in recent weeks has been getting back to his best. West Adelaide finished a remarkable Under 18 season by winning the premieship last night. The medal for Best on Ground went to Sam.

48 hit outs and several dominant marks in defence in a high quality game made him a stand out.

I think clubs are now seeing what they expected from him and he will be a very early pick.

West only won 8 minor round games and snuck into 5th place. They won their finals by 13, 10, 4 and 6 goals.

Brett Turner also looks quality, but there were several exciting prospects fir the 2015 draft - Bonner, Agostino, Haysman and others.

 

[McRobie]

Knightmare, if swans trade Mitchell for pick 6 to Carlton who do you think they would look at drafting?

 

[kaistar]

Knight my top 10 player comparisons are:
Petracca: luke Parker he is very tough and hard at the footy as well as getting on the score board and good overhead
Mccartin: tex walker not to tall but good hands and a strong unit:
Brayshaw: travis boak good on either side good leader
Wright: Patty Ryder a ruckman that can go forward.
Lever: Harry Taylor nice hands and a good stopper as well as a great intercepter
Heeny; andrew swallow:
Moore: jarryd roughead: very athletic and good hands overhead.
Laverde: dustin Martin: strong body athletic and good skills.
Durdin: jake carslile: great potential good hands can play either end.
That was just a little but of the similarities I see what do you think?

 

[Skippos]

Sam Durdin - simply dominant last night.

I'm sure he has been hampered by his thumb injury most of the year, but in recent weeks has been getting back to his best. West Adelaide finished a remarkable Under 18 season by winning the premieship last night. The medal for Best on Ground went to Sam.

48 hit outs and several dominant marks in defence in a high quality game made him a stand out.

I think clubs are now seeing what they expected from him and he will be a very early pick.

West only won 8 minor round games and snuck into 5th place. They won their finals by 13, 10, 4 and 6 goals.

Brett Turner also looks quality, but there were several exciting prospects fir the 2015 draft - Bonner, Agostino, Haysman and others.

Surely after last night you've gotta mention Snelling in that bunch. He's #myboy next year. Rated Durdin's game last night but he had a size advantage over the WWT rucks which he'll never have at AFL level. His work down back was excellent and his intensity around the ball better but still didn't find a huge amount of it despite the low standard. Take away his ruckwork and it's an okay game. And his ruckwork just isn't that relevant when he's got 2 inches on a bloke. Never going to happen again for him.

For those interested, the SANFL have uploaded the match to youtube.



2014 crop: Turner (#6/West), Durdin (#17/West), Watchman (#21/West), Gaffney (#8/WWT), Haylock (#9/WWT), Hayes (#20/WWT)
2015 crop: Francis (#1/West), Bonner (#9/West), Snelling (#22/West), Agostino (#24/West), Haysman (#34/West),

 

[Wooly23]

Heard of who North Melbourne are interested in?
Also which players do you think we should try and draft from our high picks to our others?

 

[Knightmare]

Knightmare, if swans trade Mitchell for pick 6 to Carlton who do you think they would look at drafting?

Would be a great trade for Sydney, removing a large salary without losing a regular best 22 player for an early pick. One of Wright or Durdin I speculate will be available and either would be strong choices with Wright capable as a combo fwd/ruck and Durdin capable as a key defender. Goddard while higher than he likely goes would also be a strong choice given the teams key defence needs.

Knight my top 10 player comparisons are:
Petracca: luke Parker he is very tough and hard at the footy as well as getting on the score board and good overhead
Mccartin: tex walker not to tall but good hands and a strong unit:
Brayshaw: travis boak good on either side good leader
Wright: Patty Ryder a ruckman that can go forward.
Lever: Harry Taylor nice hands and a good stopper as well as a great intercepter
Heeny; andrew swallow:
Moore: jarryd roughead: very athletic and good hands overhead.
Laverde: dustin Martin: strong body athletic and good skills.
Durdin: jake carslile: great potential good hands can play either end.
That was just a little but of the similarities I see what do you think?

Hard to disagree strongly with any of those comparisons.

I have:
Petracca - D.Martin
McCartin - Roughead (without the versatility)
Brayshaw - Wines (slightly less productive)
Wright - Tom Lynch (GC) - or if played through the ruck Billy Longer.
Lever - Tom Harley
Heeney - D.Swallow
Moore - Taller but less dominant Jarryd Roughead.
Durdin - agree with you that is is another Carlisle.
Laverde - still settling on a good comparison. I'm leaning at the moment towards S.Crameri.

Heard of who North Melbourne are interested in?
Also which players do you think we should try and draft from our high picks to our others?

I have not heard who North Melbourne or any specific teams are interest in.

As for who I think North Melbourne should target.

Goddard or Pickett would be terrific picks if they slid. Bampton, Blakely, Neal-Bullen and Gore as midfielders while not a super pressing need all in my mind should not only all be available but also represent strong value at North's first or even second picks if there.

As for a more realistic target. I like what Connor Menadue offers and I imagine his explosiveness and footskills through the midfield would be much welcomed.

 

[grundog49]

Hey KM, I have 3 questions

Do you reckon Tom lamb could slip to our 2nd pick?

Is it just me or there is too many underrated players in this draft? e.g Abraham Ankers, Caleb Hislop and Sean McLaren

Is there any tallish forwards in this draft like Ben Lennon last year or Jake Stringer the year before?

 

[Knightmare]

Hey KM, I have 3 questions

Do you reckon Tom lamb could slip to our 2nd pick?

Is it just me or there is too many underrated players in this draft? e.g Abraham Ankers, Caleb Hislop and Sean McLaren

Is there any tallish forwards in this draft like Ben Lennon last year or Jake Stringer the year before?

Lamb's draft range is open. It's not out of the question he could slide into the second round. I sense evaluations of him will be split. In my view he is certainly more a second rounder than a first rounder.

Ankers can find the footy but is small and lacks polish.

Hislop has some power and can win the footy so as a late/rookie pick he is a chance but there are others with more tricks.

Sean McLaren in the TAC is a good ruckman and a mate I went to a few of his games with absolutely loves him. My issue is at 197cm he won't be a ruckman at the next level and still hasn't really played enough anywhere else to be able to accurately determine whether in other positions he will be good enough. I'm slightly intrigued by him as a key defender but more as a rookie.

Laverde is the guy more the size and type of Lennon/Stringer. He is a nice mid size-tall type with a rare mix of class and power by position.

 

[Knightmare]

*For those craving for an update I've updated my power rankings and my phantom draft.

Have also updated my first 10 draft profiles. Will as I complete them keep adding the new updated profiles onto page one. There will be more new profiles every week, or that is the plan so keep checking page one weekly!

 

[Cori]

You think Foster will go that high for the dogs? Also, I would have thought we'd take Cunico or Garlett over Vickers-Willis with our second pick.

 

[fronkalicious]

Km

Would you see gws taking Durdin at their selection if wright and McCartin are both still off the board? Possibly:

1. St kilda - petracca
2. Melb - Brayshaw
3. Melb - lever
4. Gws - ????

 

[fronkalicious]

Wow, foster's a big mover. What's impressed you so much?

 

[redandblack]

Skippos, Durdjn's 'OK game' was enough to win him the Alan Stewart Medal for best on ground. What you think is a realistic assessment of him seems to be quite a bias against him to me.

I'm not suggesting he'll be a ruckman at AFL level, but he's dominated the ruck each outing in the finals and rucked well 2 years ago as a bottom-ager in the U18 carnival. Underestimate him at your risk.

As for Snelling, I've mentioned him specifically before and I agree with you. He's been the player of the finals and is a big favourite of mine. 30 or so disposals, smart play, great work rate and how about a huge 14 tackles. His form in the Reserves had him on the cusp of a senior spot by the end of the year, lovely player.

Not sure also about the game being low quality? Agree if you mean measured against AFL footy, but I thought it was a good standard game with some high skills shown.

 

[Knightmare]

You think Foster will go that high for the dogs? Also, I would have thought we'd take Cunico or Garlett over Vickers-Willis with our second pick.

The dogs won't have to use the second round pick on Foster. I mostly have Foster going 3rd round to the dogs because I imagine the dogs want to take both he and Cordy in the national draft. If another pick is used - then it's possible Foster and Cordy can be had 4th/5th round depending on how the bidding goes.

Km

Would you see gws taking Durdin at their selection if wright and McCartin are both still off the board? Possibly:

1. St kilda - petracca
2. Melb - Brayshaw
3. Melb - lever
4. Gws - ????

I expect GWS would be motivated to trade that pick in the situation Melbourne get that compensation pick at 3.

Durdin is a logical choice if they retain the pick. Particularly if Jaksch and Frost are traded.

Wow, foster's a big mover. What's impressed you so much?

In my power rankings Foster has risen because he has performed strongly in the TAC, particularly in the latter part of the season. I'm still finalising my rankings but I'm increasingly feeling Foster is draftable. I've liked his rate of improvement from last year. Seems like a classic late bloomer who can continue to improve. Most goals in the TAC this year. Ticks the boxes.

 

[HARKER]

Hand on your heart Knightmare, what number would you assign to Moore if he wasn't FS?

Given he has him at 7 on the power rankings..........................sorry for speaking for you Knightmare

Not surprised in the least with Foster gaining strength. No F/S but could have been a better prospect for the Dogs than Cordy looks to be.

 

[Knightmare]

Hand on your heart Knightmare, what number would you assign to Moore if he wasn't FS?

As per my power rankings. Would use pick 7 on Moore.

Still one more game tomorrow for both Moore and Wright so that may change.

 

[Knightmare]

Jeez not even a little value

*Or it could be pick 6 given Heeney is a Sydney Academy guy.

But Collingwood aren't going to get the typical father son value. That's for sure. The savings grace is if not for Moore as a father son selection Collingwood would miss out entirely on those top end key forwards which is something at least and with Moore a strong chance to develop into a high level key forward it's hardly a bad outcome with no quality key forwards on the Collingwood list under the age of 24.

 

[kaistar]

Knight for the tac granny tomorrow Can you get the tickets at the ground? And will most Victorian club caches be there?