Rookie NGA Academy prospects

Remove this Banner Ad

Log in to remove this ad.

botts said:
Why do people keep saying that? He has been rated very highly by the saints for a long time and can run a 100 metres in under 11 seconds. With those assets he will get drafted
Click to expand...

Rhett Baton approves

VrAHVEE.jpg
 
botts said:
Why do people keep saying that? He has been rated very highly by the saints for a long time and can run a 100 metres in under 11 seconds. With those assets he will get drafted
Click to expand...
Because running fast doesnt make someone a good footballer.

He has mainly been a low possession wing at the Dragons and hasn't shown as much as our other academy players.
 
botts said:
Why do people keep saying that? He has been rated very highly by the saints for a long time and can run a 100 metres in under 11 seconds. With those assets he will get drafted
Click to expand...

Because in the games I have seen that while yes he is very quick of foot, that he struggles to read and react to the play.

So question is can he, improve, or has he already improved, his football game.


With DMac it too till this season for him to get an adequate level with his "football" judgement. Prior to this season he was very quick, very hard at it but failed often to make good football decisions.
 
Last edited:
On Mitch Owens


https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... aceda135b8


"A St Kilda-linked player who was cut by the Sandringham Dragons after a poor under-16s campaign and was initially left out of this year’s first Vic Metro team is suddenly attracting AFL attention after an eye-catching performance last week.

Mitch Owens, who is part of St Kilda’s Next Generation Academy, was a late call-up for last Friday’s ‘Challenge’ match between Vic Metro and Vic Country at Windy Hill and produced an “outstanding” game that didn’t go unnoticed.

The 190cm wingman and half-forward logged 29 disposals, took seven marks and kicked a goal as his development continues to spike."
 
He p
BrutThough said:
Because running fast doesnt make someone a good footballer.

He has mainly been a low possession wing at the Dragons and hasn't shown as much as our other academy players.
Click to expand...
he plays most of his footy for Melbourne grammar and only plays sandy when he can. Been selected to start of the wing for the allies as well against Vic metro in a pretty stacked team. He has the basics would learn pretty quick at the elite level.
 
botts said:
He p

he plays most of his footy for Melbourne grammar and only plays sandy when he can. Been selected to start of the wing for the allies as well against Vic metro in a pretty stacked team. He has the basics would learn pretty quick at the elite level.
Click to expand...
Sandy is a much higher level that school footy.

And the Allies squad is hardly stacked. They've loaded it with 19 year olds to try and be competitive but very few realistic chances of being drafted in that squad.
 
BrutThough said:
Sandy is a much higher level that school footy.

And the Allies squad is hardly stacked. They've loaded it with 19 year olds to try and be competitive but very few realistic chances of being drafted in that squad.
Click to expand...

As I posted in the draft thread, a mate’s mate works in recruiting at another club & reckons Owens & Windhager were looking like picks in the 40’s (before last week’s game) and the other NGA boys were rated as late to rookie picks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Winmar2Lockett said:
As I posted in the draft thread, a mate’s mate works in recruiting at another club & reckons Owens & Windhager were looking like picks in the 40’s (before last week’s game) and the other NGA boys were rated as late to rookie picks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
That’s where they started this year.

Windhager is someone who is impressing rapidly. The Covid break is probably a good thing right now.
 
Winmar2Lockett said:
As I posted in the draft thread, a mate’s mate works in recruiting at another club & reckons Owens & Windhager were looking like picks in the 40’s (before last week’s game) and the other NGA boys were rated as late to rookie picks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Would put us in a very good position.

If Windhager and Owens look promising as mids, picking up Gibcus (key defender) with our first could be in play.
 
BrutThough said:
Would put us in a very good position.

If Windhager and Owens look promising as mids, picking up Gibcus (key defender) with our first could be in play.
Click to expand...
There is talk Sonsie - due to injury could slide to around 10th.

I know AFL media are saying this is a poor draft. But on draft night I would honestly consider having 2 picks at 9-12. Reckon you could walk away with 2 very good players.
 
stavro#4 said:
There is talk Sonsie - due to injury could slide to around 10th.

I know AFL media are saying this is a poor draft. But on draft night I would honestly consider having 2 picks at 9-12. Reckon you could walk away with 2 very good players.
Click to expand...
Sonia at 10th would be a good get.

There will be a lot of hidden gems in this years draft. They might look less impressive than other draft classes at this stage, but they also missed so much development time compared to other drafts. Clubs whose recruiters can identify pure talent and that are willing to be patient with their development will be able to get some good players later than expected.
 
JACK PERIS: THERE AREN'T MANY QUICKER
Jack Peris: There aren't many quicker (sandringhamdragons.com.au)




By Marcus Uhe
There’s quick, there’s fast, and then there’s Jack Peris.
The Dragons wingman has made a habit of leaving his opponents in the dust, and with speed like his, it’s easy to understand why.
The son of Australian sporting royalty, Nova Peris OAM, the first Indigenous Australian woman to win an Olympic Gold medal in Hockey in 1996, and the late Daniel Batman, both of whom competed in Athletics in the Olympic games, has continued his family legacy by torching tartan rubber athletics tracks across the country.
His current personal bests for the 100 metre, 200 metre and 400 metre are 10.97 seconds, 21.53 seconds and 47.99 seconds, respectively.
He ran in his first national athletics carnival in under 10s, where he finished last. Four years later, with the guidance of his mother, he returned at under 15 level to take the national crown in the 400 metre final.
It was at that point where it became clear that rather than just being quick, he had elite running talent.
“Mum and I, we really put in the hard yards leading up to that national championships, and Mum always knows what shape I’m in and what I’m capable of doing, so that really set the tone for what I’m able to achieve and there no limits to what you’re really capable of doing,” Peris said.
“That was, kind of, the moment that I knew that I could really achieve something in athletics and work hard at it.”
Like many of us, the 17-year-old had his aspirations railroaded in 2020 by the outbreak of COVID-19.
The 2020 under 20 World Athletics Championships, originally scheduled to be run in July in Kenya, were very-much on Peris’ radar, until they were postponed in March, meaning his training program tailored to that event had to be scrapped.
So too were the Tokyo Olympics, where he was aiming for a spot on the Australian team and follow in the footsteps of his parents.
Ultimately, with 2021 being his draft year, Peris and his family made the difficult decision to put athletics on the back-burner and throw everything at the prospect of being drafted. The extra time afforded him the opportunity to join the Dragons program and represent Sandringham when not playing for his school, Melbourne Grammar.
“I was in really good form at the start of last year and I was hoping to really see how I went with that season and see what times I could produce and try to make a 4x400 spot this year (at the Olympics). And then obviously everything got cancelled last year so I had to make the hard decision of deciding what to focus on this year.
“My parents and I just decided to give footy a good crack because I can always come back to athletics, so that’s something we chose to do.”
Aside from the luxury of being able to burn-off opponents, Peris uses his gifts to put serious heat on defenders, with his pressure and tackling ability a feature of his game.
It’s something that developed during his time in Darwin representing the Nightcliffe Tigers Football Club, and dabbling in Rugby League as a junior.
But according to the man himself, the biggest impact that track-and-field has had on his football capabilities comes above the shoulders.
“Through athletics I’ve obviously had setbacks and stuff like that and I think it taught me to work hard at a completely different level.
“It’s such a brutal industry with athletics, you have to be able to train really hard; I was training five days a week with mum, and it’s such a brutal sport, especially running the 400 metres, so it taught me to always persevere and work hard, and especially focus on training and train really hard and the reward will come.
“My mum always taught me to train as if I’m always second place, and so I train my arse off every second, pretty much, and didn’t cut corners, I stayed focused, never went out to party and stuff like that.
“I’ve always been just a laid back kind of bloke that trains really hard during the week and the results show, so that kind of reflects in the same sense in footy where you train hard and obviously the results will show on gameday.”
As a member of St Kilda’s Next Generation Academy, Peris is able to maintain his connection with long-time friend and mentor, Ben Long.
The dashing half-back who has played 54 games for St Kilda shares many parallels with Peris: A descendant of indigenous icons, who attended boarding school at Melbourne Grammar.
“I’ve known ‘Longy’ my whole life. We grew up in Darwin, our families grew up with each other as well, so he’s been a massive mentor of mine.
“I pretty much just see him around the club and he shoots me a text every now and then just seeing how I’m going, congratulates me on making the Allies squad, stuff like that.
“So he’s someone I look up to and we always have a chat about Darwin and family, stuff like that so he’s good to have a laugh around and he’s a great bloke.”
Culture and family is something that Peris hold especially close to his heart. While he lives in Melbourne in the boarding house at Melbourne Grammar, Peris relishes the opportunity to travel back home to Darwin, where he grew up, and connect with his local community, through fishing, hunting and spending time on the land.
As a proud member of the Iwatja Tribe from Western Arnhem Land, and Yawuru and Gidja tribes from East and West Kimberley, Peris wants to be part of the solution when it comes to eradicating racism in Australia, and leads the school’s Reconciliation Committee.
“I really take pride in who I am and my identity, where I’m from, especially.
“I try to acknowledge and recognize stuff like racism and the casual racism that people receive everyday in Australia and I think it’s a real issue in society nowadays and I try to address it as much as I can, especially at school, and I’ve learned a lot from my Mum especially for that.
“She was the first indigenous Senator in politics, so I’ve learned a lot from her, and I’m head of the reconciliation committee at school as well, so I try to get that out as much as possible and I try to show kids that you should always be proud of your identity and who you are and set a pathway for young indigenous kids.
“We’re the oldest living culture on earth, so the fact that it isn’t taught in schools, it just amazes me really, especially because it’s in our country as well. Everyone should be educated about it because it’s so important, especially moving on and trying to eliminate racism as well.”
While the Saints will have first access to Peris at the draft through the academy bidding system, clubs won’t want to be slow out of the blocks when the opportunity comes to call his name.
 
Marcus Windhager: pick-and-rolls and kicking goals (sandringhamdragons.com.au)
MARCUS WINDHAGER: PICK-AND-ROLLS AND KICKING GOALS

By Marcus Uhe
When AFL clubs are searching for a point-of-difference in this year’s draft pool, they must consider the credentials of Sandringham’s Marcus Windhager.
At 15, Windhager represented Australia in the 2018 FIBA Under-15 Oceania Basketball Championships, averaging 9.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists across the tournament, as Australia went-on to claim gold in a nail-biting finale against New Zealand.
While it’s not the bright lights of the NBA, there wouldn’t be too many 15-year-olds that could claim that they have competed in international tournaments, and for Windhager, it served as an eye-opener into what it takes to mix it with the best.
“I think that being at that level, it puts into perspective how much work’s required to get to that level,” Windhager said. “I think that’s what I pride myself on, hard work and embracing that you have to put in a lot of hard yards to get to where you want to be.”
Despite playing basketball at such an elite standard, football has always been his first priority. A shift in schools from St Bede’s College to Haileybury College in 2020 brought with it the demands of Associated Private School (APS) football, ultimately putting basketball on the back-burner.
“I guess I just came to enjoy footy more.
“I think moving to Haileybury, everyone’s focus is just footy all the time and I enjoyed that, and enjoyed the hard work that’s required in footy.”
On-top of moving schools, Windhager’s rupture of an Anterior Crucial Ligament (ACL) when playing school football for St Bede’s was another critical factor in his decision to step-away from basketball.
While there is hardly a good time to suffer such a devastating injury, Windhager was able to see the positive of recovering during Melbourne’s brutal COVID-enforced lockdown in 2020.
“…being locked-down, I had a lot of time to get my knee strong and make sure that that sort of injury doesn’t happen again. I did a lot of training, worked with a few people to strengthen and make sure I was confident in my knee, and make it strong to come back and play footy again at a high level.”
“When I was coming back, it was (at the back of my mind), like I guess it was something I was scared of.
“Now it’s something that doesn’t even cross my mind when I’m playing, because I have confidence in the rehab I did that my knee is strong now and there’s nothing really to be worried about.
“It was a pretty big hurdle to get over and I guess, confidence in myself, just to get over such a daunting injury, and to continue to work, (be) diligent with rehab and don’t cut any corners.”
Playing a midfield/forward role, Windhager knows where the goal are, finishing second in the SMJFL 2019 Under 16s Division One goalkicking table with 23 majors from 10 games playing for Beaumaris, including a bag of 11 against Bentleigh.
Like many who have crossed-over from the hardwood, he possesses that explosive first step, and can navigate through traffic with the best of them.
And while football is much more free-flowing and more difficult to implement set plays compared to basketball, Windhager’s ability to process and interpret what’s happening around him gives him a leg-up when considering the tactical X’s and O’s.
“Yeah it’s definitely helpful when learning new concepts or strategies from a coach, because I think that’s such a main part of basketball, being able to execute those strategies.”
Competing in both the NAB League and in the APS competition for Haileybury in 2021 has presented him the opportunity to work on winning more contested possessions, an area that he identified as a goal for this year.
When thrown into the middle against Tasmania in round 11 of the NAB League, his breakaway speed and the ability to hit targets out of a stoppage stood-out in the 38-point win.
His excellent start to the season has been rewarded with selection in the Vic Metro squad for the 2021 Under 19 National Carnival, alongside seven other Dragons including Dante Visentini, Luke Cleary and Caleb Lewis, where he will have an ideal opportunity to best showcase his talents in front of the footy world against the best of his age group from across the country.
He says his connection with his teammates has helped push him to level he’s at today.
“I’ve have a good group of mates, most of them from Dragons and from school that even over lockdown last year and the one that we just had, nearly every night we’re down at the footy oval in Parkdale, doing contested work and it would be full-on. We’d go full-on at each other and have competitions and pushed each other and we all share the same goal so that helped a lot. “
Meeting elite standards and participating in high performance programs from such a young age has meant that he’s been forced to make some difficult sacrifices over the journey. Come the end of the year, he’s hoping that all the hard work and commitment will be justified.
“The end goal is getting drafted, that’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and it’s definitely a goal of mine, a dream of mine. I think that’s the biggest motivation I guess. It’s why I put in a pile of work, just to get there.”
 
stavro#4 said:
That’s where they started this year.

Windhager is someone who is impressing rapidly. The Covid break is probably a good thing right now.
Click to expand...

That’s where a member of another club’s recruiting staff ranked them before the Metro v Country game.

Last week, not at the start of the season.

Agree that lockdown could help negate the likelihood of either breaching the top 20. Surely we’re due for some good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
sammm said:
Marcus Windhager: pick-and-rolls and kicking goals (sandringhamdragons.com.au)
MARCUS WINDHAGER: PICK-AND-ROLLS AND KICKING GOALS

By Marcus Uhe
When AFL clubs are searching for a point-of-difference in this year’s draft pool, they must consider the credentials of Sandringham’s Marcus Windhager.
At 15, Windhager represented Australia in the 2018 FIBA Under-15 Oceania Basketball Championships, averaging 9.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists across the tournament, as Australia went-on to claim gold in a nail-biting finale against New Zealand.
While it’s not the bright lights of the NBA, there wouldn’t be too many 15-year-olds that could claim that they have competed in international tournaments, and for Windhager, it served as an eye-opener into what it takes to mix it with the best.
“I think that being at that level, it puts into perspective how much work’s required to get to that level,” Windhager said. “I think that’s what I pride myself on, hard work and embracing that you have to put in a lot of hard yards to get to where you want to be.”
Despite playing basketball at such an elite standard, football has always been his first priority. A shift in schools from St Bede’s College to Haileybury College in 2020 brought with it the demands of Associated Private School (APS) football, ultimately putting basketball on the back-burner.
“I guess I just came to enjoy footy more.
“I think moving to Haileybury, everyone’s focus is just footy all the time and I enjoyed that, and enjoyed the hard work that’s required in footy.”
On-top of moving schools, Windhager’s rupture of an Anterior Crucial Ligament (ACL) when playing school football for St Bede’s was another critical factor in his decision to step-away from basketball.
While there is hardly a good time to suffer such a devastating injury, Windhager was able to see the positive of recovering during Melbourne’s brutal COVID-enforced lockdown in 2020.
“…being locked-down, I had a lot of time to get my knee strong and make sure that that sort of injury doesn’t happen again. I did a lot of training, worked with a few people to strengthen and make sure I was confident in my knee, and make it strong to come back and play footy again at a high level.”
“When I was coming back, it was (at the back of my mind), like I guess it was something I was scared of.
“Now it’s something that doesn’t even cross my mind when I’m playing, because I have confidence in the rehab I did that my knee is strong now and there’s nothing really to be worried about.
“It was a pretty big hurdle to get over and I guess, confidence in myself, just to get over such a daunting injury, and to continue to work, (be) diligent with rehab and don’t cut any corners.”
Playing a midfield/forward role, Windhager knows where the goal are, finishing second in the SMJFL 2019 Under 16s Division One goalkicking table with 23 majors from 10 games playing for Beaumaris, including a bag of 11 against Bentleigh.
Like many who have crossed-over from the hardwood, he possesses that explosive first step, and can navigate through traffic with the best of them.
And while football is much more free-flowing and more difficult to implement set plays compared to basketball, Windhager’s ability to process and interpret what’s happening around him gives him a leg-up when considering the tactical X’s and O’s.
“Yeah it’s definitely helpful when learning new concepts or strategies from a coach, because I think that’s such a main part of basketball, being able to execute those strategies.”
Competing in both the NAB League and in the APS competition for Haileybury in 2021 has presented him the opportunity to work on winning more contested possessions, an area that he identified as a goal for this year.
When thrown into the middle against Tasmania in round 11 of the NAB League, his breakaway speed and the ability to hit targets out of a stoppage stood-out in the 38-point win.
His excellent start to the season has been rewarded with selection in the Vic Metro squad for the 2021 Under 19 National Carnival, alongside seven other Dragons including Dante Visentini, Luke Cleary and Caleb Lewis, where he will have an ideal opportunity to best showcase his talents in front of the footy world against the best of his age group from across the country.
He says his connection with his teammates has helped push him to level he’s at today.
“I’ve have a good group of mates, most of them from Dragons and from school that even over lockdown last year and the one that we just had, nearly every night we’re down at the footy oval in Parkdale, doing contested work and it would be full-on. We’d go full-on at each other and have competitions and pushed each other and we all share the same goal so that helped a lot. “
Meeting elite standards and participating in high performance programs from such a young age has meant that he’s been forced to make some difficult sacrifices over the journey. Come the end of the year, he’s hoping that all the hard work and commitment will be justified.
“The end goal is getting drafted, that’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and it’s definitely a goal of mine, a dream of mine. I think that’s the biggest motivation I guess. It’s why I put in a pile of work, just to get there.”
Click to expand...

Gee, a bag of 11. That’s pretty nice at any level of footy.
 
Last edited:
The dragons website has a similar write up on Mitch Owens as well
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

SteeleSaints
List Mgmt. Future NGA's or Father Sons
6 7 8 9 10
Replies
244
Views
24K
SaintsSeptember
SaintsSeptember

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top