Hearing about the Academy in these posts has made me so sad.
The club is better than this
Big fan of Luke Parkes, has a great body, motor and combative spirit, great closing speed as well. Field kicking is a problem, that can be fixed. Really needs intensive kicking program.I believe that trying to order them isn't helpful.
I believe, for what it's worth, they need to be viewed as positional/player types to make it worthwhile.
With the number of small rebounding defenders and small type mids/fwds they already have, makes it a little more interesting.
I think that Luke Parkes and Sam Thorne would be seen as the 2 who will prob be rookied or picked up late.
Other highly talented:
Fwd..
Ellem/Barling/
Mids.. big inside
Barling/McGrath
Mids.. small outside
Thorne/Swaney
Backs.
Parkes/Rayner/Gedes/Martin
Ruck..
Gaden
I would assume that Ellem may have interest elsewhere too.
But the rest will probably be offered nds spots.
Word on the street is that some may just say no thanks.
Sam Thorne. Not sure. Very combative, not sure his body, would hold up long, being a bash and crash mid Like when he bursts and uses his speed. Get a lot of his stats receiving short 45's.
Ellem has X Factor. Just doesn't do enough of it. Would love to get hold of him, get him using long leads, use his pace. The ball was dumped on his head too many times. I'd persevere with him.
Cooper Kilpatrick, outside mid, wing, small forward. Very clean, hits the pack hard and takes the ball away, no one else is doing this, it's a real point of difference. Great team player and has had a million goal assists in NEAFL.
Tommy Tyson, reminds me of Darren Kappler. Booming left footer, been a real surprise packet for me, shows real smarts and great vision. The most pleasing thing about him, he didn't miss to many targets and can kick a goal.
Noah Casalini, I was drawn to him, not sure why, just got the feeling he had gears. Good field kick, strong mark. Has actually been in St G best consistently. He's a roughy.
Tom Baxter. Mid,Wing, Forward. When he was on the ball the team performed better, really smart and clean, great organiser. Rarely wasted the ball. Great vision. Team mates rate him highly. Unfortunately was really under utilised. Needs to build his tank. Need to have a higher percentage with goal kicking.
Sam Gaden, athletically a specimen, really starting to believe in himself. For a big guy has an exceptional skill set. He could be a second ruckman, CHF or CHB maybe a running tall winger, he has that kind of tank.
Max Geddes, Can't believe the way this kids come on, made two mistakes in the TAC series. Exceptional reader of the game, his skills set have come on in leaps and bounds. He's been a big find.
Kyle Martin. Great reader of the game, really needs how to find it. Would someone please tell him not to just belt the ball as far as he can. For someone who works so hard getting it, I'd really love to see if he could find targets. Needs to build his tank top. But rate his ball finding ability.
Jacko Barling, not sure, everyone has caught up to him physically. Needs to reinvent himself, has really good skill set, but he can't play the bully anymore.
Josh Rayner, my mail is he didn't like Crouch at all. I haven't seen a lot of him, my impression was he looked disinterested.
By all accounts is a real talent. Didn't see enough of it to say.
Lachie Swaney. Could play a real role, much like a Crouch or Nick Smith. Huge motor, solid skill set and great work ethic.
Ky McGrath, from what I saw, I thought he was a good decision maker, would like to see more, but on the whole pretty impressed.
Campbell very impressive, only problem I found was he burnt a lot of really good leads and blazed at goals, but knows how to find it, lot of upside to this kid. Let's see how he shapes up next year when he has to be the main man.
Gulden. Really smart player, great work rate. Would like to see him stop the little dabs, follow up and receive. That will get worked out with better players. Really like to see him pick longer targets cause he has an exceptional boot.
There's Harry Parker and McGuire I think I get them mixed up, but one of them I really like.
Zac Youlten like to see a bit more of him as well, seems like a really smart player.