Minchington upgraded

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#7
Patrick Keane tweeted it a few minutes ago. Rapt for the young bloke, looking forward to seeing how he goes. :thumbsu:

Ok, as many have seen on another thread ARR is not here to reply as to why this is such good news. I am not going to even attempt his due diligence and detailed reporting - HUN, as you steal stories from bigfooty please note many posters on here actually fact check...- but Minchington was a potential top 15 pick who we got a year early. I will leave it to others to explain the how and why.

He has good skills, likes the contest, has good lateral movement and is built in the upper body. I do not know how he has gone this year but expect we have just put one piece into the midfield 2016 jigsaw. I sort of compare him to a Blair from pies.

Good news. But where does that leave Ferguson?
 

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VDS66

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#12
Best of luck to the lad. We have had a few good rookies lately. Maybe they just work harder because they have to?
 
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#13
ARR sent me this interview he did with Minch a while ago, he has been waiting for this day and is shattered he can't post it himself, so for you ARR, here is another 'short post'.

DARREN Minchington says he will never forget the moment he walked into St Kilda Football Club.
It was December 13, 2011, and the boy from Dromana had just been picked up by the Saints with their final pick in the 2011 rookie draft, number 65.
Four days before, he had celebrated his 18th birthday.
"It was very exciting, but I was a bit nervous at the same time. Walking in and seeing (Nick) Riewoldt and (Brendon) Goddard was amazing," he said.
Straight away, Minchington said he felt part of the club.
"They (his new teammates) were all really good, they came up and introduced themselves," he said.
"I knew all the players' names from the first day, they all came up to me. It was good."
Nearly five months into life as an AFL-listed player and Minchy, as his St Kilda teammates call him, is loving life.
A Richmond supporter growing up, Minchington says joining the Seaford-based Saints has been ideal.
He's been able to continue living at home with mum and dad and, as he points out with a contented smile, continue enjoying mum's cooking each night.
Parents Alan and Kate have raised a close-knit and talented family (Kate, by the way, is a passionate Saints fan). Darren is the youngest of six, made up of five boys and one girl (Lisa).
Childhood was filled with fun and sport, Darren said.
"We were always playing footy, cricket, basketball, squash."
Darren attended Padua College and played footy with Dromana before going to the Dandenong Stingrays. He says he was blessed to be guided by some astute coaches, including Peter Hall, Gavin Artico and Graeme Yeats.
A dangerous small forward with pace to burn, Darren wants to learn and develop in all areas.
He began the season playing in the VFL with Sandringham wearing number 41, and kicked a goal in each of his first three games.
But he admits he's got a long way to go and is working in the gym to put muscle on his 77kg frame.
"My best position is as a small forward, but hopefully I'll turn myself into a midfielder, get bigger and stronger," he said.
Before being drafted by St Kilda, Darren spoke to Essendon and even attended Bombers training in Bendigo. But he's glad he ended up at the Saints.
 

Persevering Saint

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#16
ARR sent me this interview he did with Minch a while ago, he has been waiting for this day and is shattered he can't post it himself, so for you ARR, here is another 'short post'.

DARREN Minchington says he will never forget the moment he walked into St Kilda Football Club.
It was December 13, 2011, and the boy from Dromana had just been picked up by the Saints with their final pick in the 2011 rookie draft, number 65.
I'd always wondered why I'd never seen aussierulesrules and Simon McEvoy in the same room... o_O

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/saint-flies-high/story-fn53klg1-1226349030842

:p
 

aussierulesrules

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#19
This sounds interesting. Can anyone who knows the details elaborate on this?
Not sure he'd have gone anywhere near top 15 myself, but I think it's fair to say that if he'd been born just over 3 weeks later (making him ineligible to be drafted until the next year) and had continued on his strong 2011 finish in the U18's the following year and been injury free, he would have been drafted a hell of a lot higher in 2012 than he actually was in 2011.

Still, given his natural talent, good physical attributes and strong character, I'm surprised someone didn't take the punt on him earlier in 2011's drafts, even though he'd only played a handful off TAC Cup games late in that season. It's not necessarily all that often that you get someone performing well who is also built like a tank, quick, agile and highly skilled, even if he's not that tall.

Not expecting him to set the world on fire tonight, given the very injury-interrupted couple of seasons he's had, but if we see some glimpses of good stuff that will augur well for the future and a good finish to the season will give him a strong chance of being upgraded onto our main list next year, I would imagine.
 
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#22
Not sure he'd have gone anywhere near top 15 myself, but I think it's fair to say that if he'd been born just over 3 weeks later (making him ineligible to be drafted until the next year) and had continued on his strong 2011 finish in the U18's the following year and been injury free, he would have been drafted a hell of a lot higher in 2012 than he actually was in 2011.

Still, given his natural talent, good physical attributes and strong character, I'm surprised someone didn't take the punt on him earlier in 2011's drafts, even though he'd only played a handful off TAC Cup games late in that season. It's not necessarily all that often that you get someone performing well who is also built like a tank, quick, agile and highly skilled, even if he's not that tall.

Not expecting him to set the world on fire tonight, given the very injury-interrupted couple of seasons he's had, but if we see some glimpses of good stuff that will augur well for the future and a good finish to the season will give him a strong chance of being upgraded onto our main list next year, I would imagine.
Thanks! Sounds like we may have snagged a pretty good player for a very cheap price. I look forward to seeing him play tonight.
 

cooperrules

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#24
good luck minchy been following your progress at sandy and you deserve your chance. He reminds me of a sydney type nuggety player they have a wealth of. He is explosive at the contest can kick a lovely goal from 50 and beyond. doesnt mind the hard ball have seen him numerous times break tackles with his strength. so wether that translates to afl standard time will tell. with a good couple of preseasons and good run with unjury we could possibly just have a forward/mid we have been missing.
 
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