Past Nicholas Graham

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Youngsters wouldn't get it. Except the spiritual types and we've run most of them outta here.

There is a Superstar Billy Graham, an ex wrestling champ.

 

[thylacine60]

Tangled Ropes? That is the best!

 

[Dramoth]

Nickname Bily?

Wasn't it Billy who has the record for the biggest crowd of any type of event in Australia? bastard eclipses our 1971 record for a sporting event (not including horse racing)

 

[Stig O'Hara]

No. No. No and No.

The Billy Graham I know, was the biggest rock promoter/mobster of the 70s.

 

[toomuchsparetime]

jeremias, thanks for puting together the information about the three new recruits.

love your work

 

[Amers]

Youngsters wouldn't get it. Except the spiritual types and we've run most of them outta here.

I'm still here !!

 

[Jeremias]

jeremias, thanks for puting together the information about the three new recruits.

love your work

Not a problem, but the kudos shouldn't go to me it should go to those who wrote the information. I'm just doing the easy job of putting it all together.

I'll endeavor to add to it with further articles and pieces of news as they come to hand, and I'm sure others will join the party in time.

 

[Silvagnis]

Man of medal

The Morrish medallist suffered a knee injury before the TAC Cup Grand Final that would later require surgery, but was able to push through the pain barrier to be rated his side's best player in the over-time loss.

"We always really highly rated him here … we knew that he had an enormous amount of talent. He was probably more of an outside [mid] when he was younger, but Nick Stevens has had a huge impact on him and he's really built his game around defensive pursuits. He realised that if he wanted to be a good player he had to be more inside and make sure that he chased, tackled, smothered and harassed and did all those things that really good players do. He's gone out and done a lot of that himself, which is testament to how badly he wants to play AFL footy." - Power region manager Peter Francis.

Man of medal

Stevo gives Nick the nod

“To get Nick at pick 54 is a steal,” Stevens said from Graham’s home last night. Throughout the year I spoke to Shane Rogers quite a bit about him because I really rate him highly.

“The beautiful thing about Nick is that he’s a really good solid midfielder who you can actually rest forward because he’s really strong overhead for his size,” Stevens said.

“His ability to win the ball contested and uncontested is first class. He’s got great skills, he’s really fit, he’s really good overhead for his size and he’s a quality young man. For someone coming into the system you won’t get any who’ll work harder and I think he’ll be an outstanding player.”

Nick said that he “thanked the Blues for the opportunity and can’t wait to have a crack”.

Stevo gives Nick the nod

Fancy an outside midfielder such as Nick Stevens coaching Graham to become a hard and defensive mid.

Sakc Brad Green...

 

[Jeremias]

Nick featured in Kevin Sheehan's top 30.

http://www.gwsgiants.com.au/assets/files/Downloadable documents/top 30.pdf

Nick Graham
Position: Medium Midfielder
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 79 kg
DOB: 12/06/94
Club: Gippsland Power/Traralgon Tyers United

AFL Profile:
Medium midfielder who is a terrific competitor with great lateral movement and evasive ability.
Strong overhead and very good by foot, he has been a prolific ball winner for Gippsland Power this
year, averaging 25 disposals .Can also play role up forward presenting as a target and applying
good defensive pressure. Capped off a great year by winning the Morrish Medal as the TAC Cup’s
best and fairest player.

NAB AFL Combine Results: Didn’t test due to pending minor right knee surgery.

X-factor: “Excels at getting through the congestion, with his lateral movement and evasive
skills a real feature of his play.”

Q&A with Nick Graham:
Which AFL player do you feel you resemble?
Luke Parker – I believe we can both be inside and outside with good finishing skills and take an
overhead grab.
What type of player are you?
I like to pride myself on being inside and outside. I win contested footy to try bring other around
me in to the game with good skills and leadership qualities.
What are your strengths as a footballer?
My strengths are winning contested footy, defensive pressure acts, finishing in front of goal and not
getting beaten one-on-one.
What parts of your game would you like to improve?
Being 18 years-old, I am consistently trying to improve in all areas.

 

[etsal1]

Herald Sun Phantom Draft

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/tra...tional-afl-draft/story-fna8vsun-1226517833552

23. Brisbane Lions
NICK GRAHAM
Height: 182cm
Club: Gippsland Power
After taking a tall early, Lions will target an inside midfielder here and Graham is a ball-winning machine. Has high work-rate and can push forward. Won the TAC Cup's Morrish Medal.

 

[HARKER]

Interesting to hear Rogers say that he was surprised that Graham was available to us at #54

Being that we took Temay before him anyway, where exactly did he rate Graham then?

Most phantoms had Graham within the top 30 so it was a little bit of a surprise for Temay to have been selected before him.

 

[#BeNavy]

Interesting to hear Rogers say that he was surprised that Graham was available to us at #54

Being that we took Temay before him anyway, where exactly did he rate Graham then?

Most phantoms had Graham within the top 30 so it was a little bit of a surprise for Temay to have been selected before him.

Every recruiter says that about every pick these days. If Rogers rated him so highly then he would have selected him before Temay. He's pretty much saying that he thought Graham would have gone between 36-54 inclusive. As we have seen in the past, there generally isn't a great advantage of having higher picks in that range I mentioned.

I must admit, I hate it when recruiters say this, because they get their fans really excited and as a general rule players picked up around this pick don't exactly come on and become superstars.

I hope Rogers proves me wrong. If all the phantom drafts are anything to go by, then we might have landed a good smoky in Graham. Will have to wait and see.

 

[thylacine60]

Impressed to hear Stephen Wells at Geelong say the one player he would have liked was Menzel.

 

[HARKER]

Every recruiter says that about every pick these days. If Rogers rated him so highly then he would have selected him before Temay. He's pretty much saying that he thought Graham would have gone between 36-54 inclusive. As we have seen in the past, there generally isn't a great advantage of having higher picks in that range I mentioned.

I must admit, I hate it when recruiters say this, because they get their fans really excited and as a general rule players picked up around this pick don't exactly come on and become superstars.

I hope Rogers proves me wrong. If all the phantom drafts are anything to go by, then we might have landed a good smoky in Graham. Will have to wait and see.

Pretty much what I'm getting at as it's hardly a surprise for a player to fall from 35 to a 36 - 54 range.

I somehow got the impression that Graham may have been rated higher by Rogers yet he may have been outvoted in the think-tank. (See Malthouse) May be wrong though.

 

[blues5]

I think if Nicholas Graham was already taken then we would have picked Jacob Ballard. I think we should try and draft Ballard as a rookie in the rookie draft.

 

[Bradschi]

I'm just stoked we even got graham with a third round pick at #54, a Morris's medal winner and a hard working inside player, we might turn out to have stolen a couple of future stars with our picks , only time will tell

 

[Sector 7G]

Every recruiter says that about every pick these days. If Rogers rated him so highly then he would have selected him before Temay. He's pretty much saying that he thought Graham would have gone between 36-54 inclusive. As we have seen in the past, there generally isn't a great advantage of having higher picks in that range I mentioned.

I must admit, I hate it when recruiters say this, because they get their fans really excited and as a general rule players picked up around this pick don't exactly come on and become superstars.

I hope Rogers proves me wrong. If all the phantom drafts are anything to go by, then we might have landed a good smoky in Graham. Will have to wait and see.

Not so -Rogers might have rated Menzel at 1 Temay at 2 and Graham at 3 which would make his statement correct (as unlikely as this may be). But I do generally agree with what you are saying.

It always makes me laugh when people think they did well at the draft because we got someone that EQ thought would go much earlier in the draft. For all her good work ( which I enjoy reading) she and the other draft commentators, would put a fraction of the work in of a full time recruiter and have no experience in what happens to player after the drafting.

 

[chipzac]

Pretty much what I'm getting at as it's hardly a surprise for a player to fall from 35 to a 36 - 54 range.

I somehow got the impression that Graham may have been rated higher by Rogers yet he may have been outvoted in the think-tank. (See Malthouse) May be wrong though.

He may have rated Graham higher than Temay but went with the latter on a pure needs basis rather than best available. If not, another way to look at it is he could have rated Temay much higher, because if he can shut down the number one draft pick, shouldn't that make him the new number one?

 

[Silvagnis]

Good value selection if Curnow and Mclean don't last.

 

[Sezzac1]

Every recruiter says that about every pick these days. If Rogers rated him so highly then he would have selected him before Temay. He's pretty much saying that he thought Graham would have gone between 36-54 inclusive. As we have seen in the past, there generally isn't a great advantage of having higher picks in that range I mentioned.

I must admit, I hate it when recruiters say this, because they get their fans really excited and as a general rule players picked up around this pick don't exactly come on and become superstars.

I hope Rogers proves me wrong. If all the phantom drafts are anything to go by, then we might have landed a good smoky in Graham. Will have to wait and see.

Where is the logic in your post. Perhaps he rated Temay at 18 and Graham at 21 and was taking them in order. So if he rates Graham at 21 then getting him at 54 is unexpected in his mind. It is no different to rating Menzel at 2 and getting him at 11. Fans should be excited at this time of year. The Win/loss ratio is 0/0 and everyone hopes they can improve. The input of new kids should be celebrated and enjoyed for what it is i.e. fresh blood and youthful exuberance.

Generally the various Phantom Drafts are a complete load of tosh once you get past the top 12. Recruiters have been watching all these kids for 3 years. Do you really think some weekend warriors have a good understanding of kids in other states or how or why kids have good and bad games. No-one rated Thurlow in their Phantom Drafts but all the recruiters did. Geelong has gotten a beauty.............again.

The folks doing Phantom Drafts need to be commended for their efforts but in the end it is just good fun for all. Most of it is based on guess work, youtube clips and the influence of others on BF and the media.

 

[Sector 7G]

Generally the various Phantom Drafts are a complete load of tosh once you get past the top 12. Recruiters have been watching all these kids for 3 years. Do you really think some weekend warriors have a good understanding of kids in other states or how or why kids have good and bad games. No-one rated Thurlow in their Phantom Drafts but all the recruiters did. Geelong has gotten a beauty.............again.

Maybe only one recruiter in Wells rated Thurlow as a first round pick. Jared Grant went around pick 6 but another club I know of had him in the late 20's. If the Bulldogs had have passed on him who knows what number he would have been taken at. There can be a big variance in the opinions of different recruiters. Will Thurlow warrant being a first round pick, it is a bit early to call it I would think (maybe Rogers rated Graham as a better player).

What would be really interesting is if all the recruiters had to hand in a list and you got the best available from your list at your pick (obviously there are a few flaws in this system). Then we would get to see how much variation there is in the draft and how good the recruiters really are at picking talent.

 

[Weiterbot23]

Yeah it would be good to see everyones list, 1-50 each year. After a few years we could find out who the real draft king is.

 

[Monkey King]

Do you really think some weekend warriors have a good understanding of kids in other states or how or why kids have good and bad games ... The folks doing Phantom Drafts need to be commended for their efforts but in the end it is just good fun for all.

Actually there have been a few Phantom Drafters head-hunted to clubs in recruitment roles. And like AFL recruiters themselves, some have a good network from which to pool knowledge of interstate players. You may not want to, but I dips me lid to them.

 

[Monkey King]

Yeah it would be good to see everyones list, 1-50 each year. After a few years we could find out who the real draft king is.

Off you go then

Seriously though, guessing the actual draft number is meaningless when you consider how many early selections don't make it, while some later ones do. Better would be to assess who consistently spotted the best talent by reading the write ups.

 

[Silvagnis]

Actually there have been a few Phantom Drafters head-hunted to clubs in recruitment roles. And like AFL recruiters themselves, some have a good network from which to pool knowledge of interstate players. You may not want to, but I dips me lid to them.

Yet the best on here still had Garlett in their sights.

The phantom drafters are generous with their time and the info they put out there, yet they don't get to interview the players, their coaches, etc. and learn what the players are like off the field.

Talent only gets them so far.