Toast Michael Apeness

[Nickos66]

Troy Menzel suffered an ACL injury as a junior, even went into the draft after having had the LARS surgery and still went in the 1st round in his first draft year.


We picked Apeness because he was the leading contested mark in the entire draft crop that year.

 

[stax on the mull]

The "rugby backround" that gets referred to is really a year where Apeness switched from playing aussie rules. He played the lock position in Union.

Jake Lever is another who did an ACL before the draft.

 

[E Shed]

He went pick 40 something literally every club missed the boat on that one. And he basically fell into North's lap through dumb luck.

I saw him on TV playing Foxtel Cup and commented at the time we should pick him up as we were crying out for another big strong forward.
So he was hardly hidden away if I could spot him from watching freaking TV.
Recruiters have blinkers on the U18's as if players who don't get drafted at 18 have something wrong with them rather than just being late bloomers. Its a herd Mentality.

 

[Rion]

Probably pretty easy to say in hindsight it was a bad pick (and another bad first rounder). One thing he’s got going for him though is that it’s currently a very low bar to get a game as a KPF for Freo.

 

[One_Wing]

I saw him on TV playing Foxtel Cup and commented at the time we should pick him up as we were crying out for another big strong forward.
So he was hardly hidden away if I could spot him from watching freaking TV.
Recruiters have blinkers on the U18's as if players who don't get drafted at 18 have something wrong with them rather than just being late bloomers. Its a herd Mentality.

We picked up the third highest rated KPF player in the draft with our first pick. We weren't going to pick an over aged recruit who had played half a good season in country Victoria with a first round draft pick. With our next pick we took Alex Pearce. So I guess it isn't really Michael Apeness vs Ben Brown.

Its Alex Pearce vs Ben Brown.

Who'd you prefer?

 

[Nodgey]

This is his fifth year at the club. I was surprised to see he's played 7 games in that time. Can anyone think of a player elsewhere that finally came good after essentially 5 years out of the game? The odds are stacked against him ever making it. Can anyone here seriously see him getting to 100 games? At the very least, he'd need to double his games tally this year to even warrant consideration of a contract extension. I don't see it happening.

 

[Kram]

I saw him on TV playing Foxtel Cup and commented at the time we should pick him up as we were crying out for another big strong forward.
So he was hardly hidden away if I could spot him from watching freaking TV.
Recruiters have blinkers on the U18's as if players who don't get drafted at 18 have something wrong with them rather than just being late bloomers. Its a herd Mentality.

1 good call

Watching the Foxtel cup, the kid Ben Brown playing for Werribee looks a player. 199cm, 98kg, can take a mark and kick straight. Looks young. Anyone know his story?

One bad call

I'm loving the look of Tom Lee in the Foxtel Cup Grand Final. Pacy, athletic, good hands and general skills including kicking for goal. Has 5 to 3/4 time! We'd be mad not to grab this bloke.

 

[One_Wing]

This is his fifth year at the club. I was surprised to see he's played 7 games in that time. Can anyone think of a player elsewhere that finally came good after essentially 5 years out of the game? The odds are stacked against him ever making it. Can anyone here seriously see him getting to 100 games? At the very least, he'd need to double his games tally this year to even warrant consideration of a contract extension. I don't see it happening.

Max Gawn had only played 17 games at the same stage of his career as Apeness.

Its not ideal but eh his character is highly regarded at the club. He has trimmed down his weight to put less pressure on his knees. I think the club will give him another year at least, its not like we are over flowing with tall talent right now anyway.

 

[Tbonefreo]

Hasn't Cerra done an ACL

 

[Yeti]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...t/news-story/0043cea8ed48285a891348cd30a25226

MICHAEL Apeness felt his metal boot studs plant in the dry rugby pitch and his body twist.
It was July 2011 and the key forward who is soaring into first-round draft calculations had shattered the ACL in his right knee.

The union lock, or as Apeness says, "the really tall guy who gets thrown up in the lineouts'', had quit footy in 2010 and made the Victorian under-16 rugby team and Melbourne Rebels' development program.

But that was the end of Apeness's brief code switch. During his rehab at the Rebels, he decided to return to TAC Cup outfit Eastern Ranges.

His next competitive match was Round 1 this year, where an overweight and unfit Apeness rucked against Oakleigh.

Two weeks later and he booted 5.2 and Ranges talent manager Anthony Parkin thought, "Wow, we've got one here. Let's fast-track him for this year's draft.''

Soon after he carried Vic Metro's ruck load, averaging 19 hitouts, and a handful AFL clubs started paying house visits.

After the national carnival Apeness continued to shed weight - he's down to 98kg from 106 - and, in the absence of injured teammate Tom Boyd, booting goals.

Apeness speared the Ranges into the TAC Cup grand final, hitting the scoreboard in every match after May as more than 12 clubs began speaking to him.

"His output in that 15-month bracket shows an exceptional work ethic and he's academically very bright, so he's a fast learner,'' Parkin said.

"The two flavours at the moment are ruck-forwards, because you can only play one ruck, and big mids. So Michael's a rare commodity in the draft.''

The meteoric rise could see Apeness land as high as Fremantle (pick 17), with Essendon hoping he slips to its first pick, No. 26

Little bit of revisionist history about Apeness pre draft on here. Probably because he hasn't come on like he coukd have.

 

[E Shed]

1 good call

One bad call

Wow, forensic anthropology. I'm glad at least my memory of spotting Brown was accurate.
As for Lee he's a strange one. Looked a million bucks at times & I'm still not sure why he didn't make it.
But yes, I don't get them all right. Maybe pay me to do more than watch it on TV and my strike rate would get a little better

 

[E Shed]

We picked up the third highest rated KPF player in the draft with our first pick. We weren't going to pick an over aged recruit who had played half a good season in country Victoria with a first round draft pick. With our next pick we took Alex Pearce. So I guess it isn't really Michael Apeness vs Ben Brown.

Its Alex Pearce vs Ben Brown.

Who'd you prefer?

I wasn't really referring to taking Apeness over Brown, more responding to someone who said Brown was basically invisible and it was only him being under North's nose that they got him. But you make a good point in terms of the draft overall.

 

[Nodgey]

Max Gawn had only played 17 games at the same stage of his career as Apeness.

Its not ideal but eh his character is highly regarded at the club. He has trimmed down his weight to put less pressure on his knees. I think the club will give him another year at least, its not like we are over flowing with tall talent right now anyway.

Look I hope he comes good too. But after perservering with Andrew Browne for years, then Morabito and gambling on Gumbleton I'm a bit gunshy about handing a list spot to someone who's unlikely (given his history) to go more than a month or so without getting injured again. We're not a charity.

 

[ydraw]

Its Alex Pearce vs Ben Brown.

Who'd you prefer?

Ben Brown.

Pretty easy question really, would a team that's been crying out for a key forward for 15 years prefer the current Coleman medal leader?

If they redid the 2013 draft Brown would be a top 3 pick.

 

[One_Wing]

Ben Brown.

Pretty easy question really, would a team that's been crying out for a key forward for 15 years prefer the current Coleman medal leader?

If they redid the 2013 draft Brown would be a top 3 pick.

Top 5 maybe, people will go for gun mids over him. Bont, Cripps, Merritt and Kelly in any order ahead of him.

 

[Bradesmaen]

To be fair on Apeness, he's missed a lot of footy through injury and we're not talking about constant soft tissue like Bennell, we're talking unlucky impact injuries like shoulders and collarbones.

 

[Johnny Dalmas]

To be fair on Apeness, he's missed a lot of footy through injury and we're not talking about constant soft tissue like Bennell, we're talking unlucky impact injuries like shoulders and collarbones.

Its for this reason I hope he never crashes another pack. Too often he seems to have treated himself like a human cannonball only to suffer an impact injury. When he comes back I hope he takes strong pack marks and stands his ground. But I also hope he doesn't feel that he has to go out of his way to throw his weight around.

 

[Ysaye]

Hasn't Cerra done an ACL

I think it he has had a shoulder reconstruction, not a knee reconstruction.

 

[Jay B]

Top 5 maybe, people will go for gun mids over him. Bont, Cripps, Merritt and Kelly in any order ahead of him.

The part that hurts even more about Brown was that he grew up a Freo supporter.

 

[Taylor]

Ben Brown.

Pretty easy question really, would a team that's been crying out for a key forward for 15 years prefer the current Coleman medal leader?

If they redid the 2013 draft Brown would be a top 3 pick.

Ben Brown falls into the list of guys who could have been picked up for the last rookie pick the year before.

That list includes the like of Liam Ryan, Tim Kelly, Harry Taylor, I think Tim English too. Among many others.

 

[One_Wing]

Ben Brown falls into the list of guys who could have been picked up for the last rookie pick the year before.

That list includes the like of Liam Ryan, Tim Kelly, Harry Taylor, I think Tim English too. Among many others.

Nah Tim English didn't nominate for the draft the year before. Focusing on studies or something.

A young Matthew Pavlich however....

 

[Ysaye]

Ben Brown falls into the list of guys who could have been picked up for the last rookie pick the year before.

That list includes the like of Liam Ryan, Tim Kelly, Harry Taylor, I think Tim English too. Among many others.

Actually Ben Brown could have been picked up three national and rookie drafts in advance of when he actually got picked up. If people remember the BigFooty drafts of those years, I picked him for Freo several times.....but if it makes people feel better, I reckon that Hugh Dixon can be more influential!

 

[theGav56]

2013

I'm liking that he (Apeness) has some mongrel. I think that's what Taberner doesn't have, simply because of his personality, and it's the main negative I see with him. But having a key forward who can have that arrogance and bite will be a good thing for Freo.

nekminit

Well he'd done his ACL, he wasn't really a ruck or forward but a bit of both, his form wasn't outstanding, and he'd been playing rugby most of his life. While I think he did okay in his few games and think he has more natural ability than Taberner, things were stacked against him.

Unfortunately drafting is done in the moment, not in retrospect.

 

[scon]

At the time I thought he was a good prospect and was happy with the selection.
That hasn't changed at all, but obviously not happy with the amount of time he's missed with impact injuries.
He does have a kamikaze style and the club has tried to modify it in the interests of keeping him on the park.
The next few years would be an ideal time for him to stay fit and perform.
I'm still hopeful and so's the club, but obviously if he can't stay out there..there comes a time..
A good game today could see him playing AFL next week.

 

[Ysaye]

If he can get to the end of the season uninjured, then I would give him another year. If not then I think you would have to consider whether we keep persisting....