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Looking to the draft...

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Todd Elton:
Position: Forward/Ruckman
Age (by draft day): 18
Height: 197cm (seems a bit too short to be a full time ruck)
Weight: 90kg

Notes-
Plays like an extra midfielder on the ball
Good mark
Aggressive
Fast for his size.
Good leap

Elton is an AIS-AFL Academy graduate from Vic Country and is exactly the sort of forward/second ruckman clubs look for at the moment.

Elton is capable of playing the key forward role as a marking player or Nick Riewoldt style with superior endurance/work rate to his opponents. Like Riewoldt though it would be nice to see him convert a greater percentage of his opportunities.

When playing on the ball Elton really adds something to the midfield. At ground level he’ll compete and tackle whilst also using his speed and endurance to collect plenty of disposals. In the actual ruck contests his size and leap allow him to compete well.
 
We still need to target a mid with our first pick I reckon - but having lost Davis and Gunston does leave a bit of a hole in our tall stocks that has been covered in cardinality but not necessarily quality by Johnston and Lynch.

Perhaps we'll go with the usual "best available" model that Rendell seems to favour :p
 

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Grundy is not eligible for the ND.

Todd Elton:
Position: Forward/Ruckman
Age (by draft day): 18
Height: 197cm (seems a bit too short to be a full time ruck)
Weight: 90kg

Notes-
Plays like an extra midfielder on the ball
Good mark
Aggressive
Fast for his size.
Good leap

Wouldn`t the good leap make up for the extra size :)
 
Noticed Byron Sumner and Max Otten have been delisted by Sydney.
Would either of these be worth Rookie listing?

edit: haha, beat me to it
 
I dont think you should let a few wins vs teams like Port, Gold Coast and Brisbane fool you. The Geelong effort was very good. Our midfield on last years form is one of the worst in the AFL..

Think Swallow, Ablett, Moloney..... Some of the poundings we copped.

Probably because we seemed desperate to turn our boys in to elite cyclists rather than footballers. Other than Thommo, all our mids are somewhat lean.
Compare that to Geelong!
 

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Probably because we seemed desperate to turn our boys in to elite cyclists rather than footballers. Other than Thommo, all our mids are somewhat lean.
Compare that to Geelong!

Sloane? Dangerfield? van Berlo? Vince? Smith will fill out well in time as well for a wingman.
 
Smith is a clearance machine and will become one with a bit of bulking up.
 
They are all quite lean....

I wouldn't call Dangerfield lean, and Knights is of similar size to Thommo, problem is both were played up forward for most of the year, making Thommo our only midfielder with genuine size. Once Bickley came in and moved Danger into the middle it certainly helped. In those final 6 games Danger matched Thommo in the clearance numbers.

I think Sloane and Smith will be elite in this area once they put a bit more muscle bulk on and Riley goes alright too. Vince, Douglas and VB will never be massive, but are all quite good around the stoppages if afforded protection by some bigger bodied midfielders.

I think this is an issue many at the club had identified, but weren't able to rectify under Craig who obviously had other ideas. I know, having chatted to one of the younger players that most players were given "bulk up" training programmes before the season was even out.

I think this lack of bigger bodies through the midfield has contributed to our inability to halt opposition teams when they get a run on.
 

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Wouldn`t the good leap make up for the extra size :)

You can get away with being a shorter ruck with a good leap at centre bounces but not when your rucking around the ground. If your undersized as a ruck and you want to make it at AFL level in the modern game you need to be able to play multiple positions effectively (e.g Mckernan).
 
Sloane? Dangerfield? van Berlo? Vince? Smith will fill out well in time as well for a wingman.

Seriously? Compare Sloane, VB and Vince to guys like Chapman and Hunt and yes, they are lean!
I'm not saying they are skinny, but they are lean compared to guys like Thommo. I think you will find our boys look to fill out more rather than be lean running machines over the next few years.
 
Noticed Byron Sumner and Max Otten have been delisted by Sydney.
Would either of these be worth Rookie listing?

edit: haha, beat me to it

I think it's worth talking to Sumner to see where his head is at, seeing he physically walked out on Sydney mid-year in only his 2nd year to come home to Adelaide.

With that attitude he wouldn't have set the world on fire with Sydney, but he's home now. Has his attitude changed or is that just him??

If he was in a good place mentally I'd even consider taking him with our pick 46 or the PSD. If not then leave him be.

His problem is not one of ability - see link below to highlights vision of his U/19 championships before he was drafted in 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Qc3hd0s2Q
 
Watch the first couple of PS games and Sumner looked special

Immediately put him in my Supercoach Team only to get stuck with him for half a season waiting for him to get a game .......when he did he fizzled :o

But if he could reproduce that PS form he would be worth a late pick IMO
 
Less cycling, more running and weights!

I can't remember where I read it but our strategy will change this year. It was identified after the Roos midfield flogging that our mids were not physically up to it. The plan is too bulk up, hope they can do it quickly.
 
I can't remember where I read it but our strategy will change this year. It was identified after the Roos midfield flogging that our mids were not physically up to it. The plan is too bulk up, hope they can do it quickly.

Yeah that sounds nice and everything but we need to make sure there is a balance to our training in general. We still need these guys to run out games (this was one our strengths under Craig for several years). Being too bulked up can have its disadvantages (just look at Mathew Bate). Obviously there were problems with our past conditioning progammes but I don't think bulking up by itself will fix our midfield problems. If we could come up with a balanced strength and conditioning programme that used the best ideas from the past and combined them with fresh ideas then I think our match day fitness could then become one of our biggest weapons again.
 
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