Our Draft Results

[Sera]

Waters Ecstatic With West Coast
Gary Stocks
westcoasteagles.com.au
10:56:55 AM Sat 22 November, 2003

“Excited and ecstatic.” Those were the initial words of tenacious West Adelaide utility player Beau Waters when he learned he had been drafted by the West Coast Eagles today.

Waters was the club’s first selection at No.11 in the ballot and he was clearly delighted with the opportunity.


“I’m feeling a lot better than I was before the draft earlier today,” said Waters. “I suppose there are a mixture of emotions going through me at the moment, but I’m just on cloud nine.

“There were butterflies this morning. You have butterflies about being drafted and then butterflies about not being drafted, but I’m just so happy to be going to West Coast.

“From what I can see from the outside the club has a great culture. They’ve got some great leaders through people like Ben Cousins, some great young players like Chris Judd, are strong financially and to top it all off have been playing finals footy.

“I couldn’t be happier.”

West Coast Eagles national recruiting manager Trevor Woodhouse was delighted with the club’s three selections in the national draft.

After taking Waters with its first selection (pick 11), West Coast then claimed Central District midfielder Sam Butler (pick 20) before completing its draft input by claiming Eastern Ranges key position player Daniel McConnell.

Waters, who played senior football with West Adelaide this season, but missed a place in the club’s grand final team after breaking his jaw, followed the draft through the AFL website and was also in close contact with West Adelaide teammate Adam Cooney, who was the No.1 selection secured by the Western Bulldogs.

“I have played with Adam for the last eight years and we’re pretty good mates,” Waters said. “But it was a bit different for him because he was almost guaranteed of going as the No.1 draft pick.

“Between picks eight and 14 there were clubs with picks from five different States, but I’m rapt to be going to Perth.

“Sam Butler is also a good mate of mine and it will be good to have him there when we make the move across. We were in the AIS squad together. I can’t wait to get there.”

Butler and McConnell are also exciting young prospects who will come to Perth next weekend for the club’s annual induction day. The players will come to WA with their families to go through the formal process of being introduced to the club.

Draftees in profile

Beau Waters

Born June 30, 1986 Height: 187cm Weight: 84kg

From: West Adelaide
A strong and determined utility player who has outstanding endurance and neat skills. A left-footer he is a good kick and overhead mark. He was an AIS-AFL Academy member in 2002 and an all-Australian Under-18 in 2003. Made senior debut in SANFL this year with West Adelaide.


Sam Butler
Born: January 14, 1986 Height: 185cm Weight: 75kg
From: Central District
An outstanding soccer prospect who changed codes as a 14-year-old, Butler is a medium sized inside midfielder or forward with clean hands and good foot skills. Rarely goes to ground and reads the play well. He was an AIS-AFL Academy member and South Australian under 18 representative in 2003. He was a member of Central District reserves premiership side this year.


Daniel McConnell

Born: June 21, 1986 Height: 190cm Weight: 82kg

From: Eastern Ranges
An athletic utility player capable of playing a key position at either end of the ground, he has excellent pace and endurance for his size. He is extremely good in the air and has got sound skills. He was a member of the AIS/AFL Academy in 2003 and was in the top 10% for the shuttle run at the 2003 National Draft camp.

 

[Mead]

beat me to it, Sera.

Maybe its a bit of a PR job, but that does sound like Waters has a very good attitude. Glad he'll be coming to West Coast with the correct mindset, and I hope we'll give him an opportunity asap!

Incidentally, his first assignment at the club should be to stay on very good terms with Cooney, just in case a certain blonde sensation ever came out of contract...

 

[carlyp]

Its good to see us go after a big bloke in Mcconnel. God knows we need big blokes. At 190 cm he's just what we need.
Waters attitude seems great and correct me if Im wrong but isnt he a specialist defender of sorts. If so, sounds great to me because maybe he might be the next Guy Mckenna type our club sees. Butler also seems like a good prospect, a little bit Embleyish perhaps?

 

[Streaker]

What really suprised me was the fact that the only tall we picked will take at least 2 years to develop.

Last year we had players such as Lynch, Hansen, Johnson, Gaspar, Beeck and Seaby running around not getting a game. Obviously they are going to have to step up this year. With Gaspars' injury woes alreay being highlighted, and we have only just started Pre-Season, there needs to be a big improvement on behalf of the others.

I like the sound of Waters as he seems a good size already but Sam " Soup Bones" Butler is taller than Kane " The Money Man" Munro, but weighs less.

Didn't we once have a McConnell on our list? David, I think his name was. Anyway I guess we will have to wait and see.

I hope we Rookie list Johnson though and it's good to see that Surjan will be training with us to try and get on our rookie list.

 

[Sera]

Originally posted by West Coast Stre
I hope we Rookie list Johnson though and it's good to see that Surjan will be training with us to try and get on our rookie list.

Where did you hear that?

 

[Streaker]

Originally posted by Sera
Where did you hear that?

From a reliable source. HAHAHA

Two South Fremantle players who missed out on being drafted today have been invited to try out for Rookie listed selection next month with seperate clubs.

Jaymie Graham is invited to train with Port Adelaide while Colts player, Jacob Surjan, is set to train with West Coast.

Both players will be hoping to be placed on a Rookie list in the draft next month.

http://www.footygoss.com.au/modules...=article&sid=7314&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

 

[Sera]

Originally posted by West Coast Stre
From a reliable source. HAHAHA

Footygoss have had their credibility shot to pieces over this Burges fiasco.

 

[Sera]

Wisbey has posted his profiles of the Eagles players.

Beau Waters (West Adelaide)

187/85 bottom age left foot (can use right foot on occasions) HBF/utility.

Bottom-age courageous 6'1" desperado. Nicely-built, athletic, very physical. Iffy kick at this stage. Definite AFL. I rank him at 10 but he won't go that early. Ready year 1.

*STYLE LIKE: Bizzell (with a fair amount of Archer chucked in for good measure).

*TRADEMARK:

- Big grab at the back.

*SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, RECOMMENDATION:

- Gets own ball, strong overhead and is courage and physicality personified.

- Quite quick off the mark.

- Leaping, athletic, determined dynamo.

- Disposal needs to improve.

- Different build to Archer but there are similarities in attributes. A slippery opponent (especially a FP) can bother him (at the moment!) but he can play on a short or tall and at either end.

- He is mainly seen as a HBF but I can see bigger things for him. With a decent conditioning program, I believe he has the potential to become another Jason Johnson onballer... but 3" taller! That's how much impact I think he might be capable of having on a game down the track and why I have ranked him as early as No. 10. He has a lot of work to do to get to that point however but is only bottom age at the moment.

*DISPOSAL, DECISION-MAKING, SMARTS:

- Good depth but kicking accuracy lets him down a bit too often. Being fitter might help as it will give him a little extra time.

- Is basically one-sided in terms of quantity although he is comfortable to choose to do a right foot pass on occasions.

- Doesn't feed much - mainly kicks. I'd like to see him improve the ratio, to look for running team mates more.

- Decision-making can be clever or not so clever but on balance is generally "OK". Is bigger on brutality than finesse.

- In his desperation, he is sometimes inclined to dive for it, thereby taking himself out of the contest for the resultant spill. On some of these occasions it would be better to be less exuberant and take it on the bounce or just protect it from his opponent with his body.

- Can overdo the physicality on occasions and concede a needless free. I'd rather that than vice versa though. He'll have some AFL opponents looking over their shoulder.

- Sometimes flies for marks against team mates. Needs to exercise a bit more discretion.

*HANDS:

- Usually quite clean.

*OVERHEAD MARKING:

- Apart from his desperation, overhead marking is his biggest strength. Not only does he play taller than his 187cm but he crashes packs, really attacks the ball in the air.

*ATHLETICISM, INTENSITY, ETHIC, CONSISTENCY:

- Runs low to the ground which can make him look slowish, his DC speed times were very soso, and there seems to be some perception that he lacks a bit of pace. However, I actually rate his pace in a game as "good", at least over a shortish distance, and almost certain to get even better. He can improve his pace further by learning to use his arms which, at this stage, just flap alongside his hips. Conditioning of body shape and fitness would also help. I suspect he currently gets by more on determination than on fitness. Very good closing speed and that's an important asset.

- His DC Beep and 3Km times were good but when I look at him I can't help thinking he has plenty of scope to further improve hardness and shape of body and to lift his match fitness. I believe he has the potential to become another Jason Johnson ... but 3" taller!

- Big leap, very athletic.

- Great work ethic. Desperation and courage by the bucket-load. Always keeps his eyes on the ball. Fierce tackler - launches himself. Runs hard to chase or to get or to present option. Good 1%ers. Team man. Will leave his opponent to run to team mate's free opponent. Accountable. Spoils well.

- Generally agile.

*SCI (SCOPE FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT):

- He never looks particularly fit to me, despite his good DC beep and 3Km. I suspect there is much scope to refine his body and turn him into a seriously athletic AFL player.

*AFL VERSATILITY:

- May be best suited to run-with or HBF but should be very versatile. I prefer him in roles other than BP against a slippery opponent. Ultimately I think he is capable of being a tall Jason Johnson. (see above).

*QUERY:

- Disposal

*SOME STATS:

- Stats summary '03 U18 Champs:
Averaged 12 disposals and 4.7 marks in 3 U18 Rep games.
Kicks vs feeds: kicks are routinely predominant. 26-8
Tackles: 5
Gets own ball?: 7/34 TD were HR. 2 HBG
Kicks long vs short: even
Kicking accuracy: 9/26 were ineff/clang incl 2 clang
Handball accuracy: 2/8 were ineff/clang incl 2 clang
Marking: 14 (incl 6 contested)

*OTHER STUFF:

- All Aust TY.
- AIS
- Played SANFL Reserves, Seniors '03. Broken jaw late season.

 

[Sera]

Sam Butler (Central District)

186/77 bottom-age right foot (dual-sided) inside mid-fielder/ HFF.

Was possibly the surprise packet of the '03 Champs. Only slim, but nice height for midfielder. A late convert from footy to soccer but is a natural in both skills and smarts and is athletic as well. And he is bottom-age. A very attractive package.

I have him 24 in my order but there are 5 talls immediately ahead of him who are only in such position because of the dearth of talls this year. I originally had Butler 16th but I moved 6 talls ahead of him purely on a supply and demand basis. Frankly, I am more confident of Butler being an AFL long termer than all 6. That's the dilemma - (a) If I stick absolutely rigidly to a ranking based entirely on my confidence in each player's AFL potential, I would have almost all the talls so much lower that other clubs would have them snaffled by the time it got to our turn. (b) If I don't it might indicate that I think less of a particular non-tall than I really do. "Pick for best, not for need" sounds good in theory but sometimes if you need a tall you have to accept under the odds, pay an earlier price than such a player has shown he deserves. In a year where many clubs are crying out for a tall and there are no standouts, none who don't have some sort of baggage, you may have to sacrifice a Butler to address a tall need. My rankings are a reasonable representation of the order in which I like the players but there are certainly various compromises in order to accommodate marketability. Hence, Butler slots in behind 5 talls who all show promise but who are a risk of some sort whereas Butler isn't.

Bottom line: Don't worry about the number. I am a big fan. He will probably go somewhere around where I have him and I believe he is definite AFL material. Good size for a middy, great vision, poise and skills. A late convert to footy (from soccer) but great upside. Ready year 2, maybe earlier if he bulks up quickly enough.

*STYLE LIKE: L Hayes

*TRADEMARK:

- Move well through traffic to gather, then show good vision and quick thinking to spot feed to a team in the clear, then immediately run on.
- Run hard to present, mark in front 1-1 on the lead, then accurate relaxed pass.

*SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, RECOMMENDATION:

A really smart, cool, clean, natural footballer. A newbie to footy but classy.

Can get his own ball and is also good at presenting an option is space. Overall I'd describe him as "inside".

Athletic, chases hard. Backs himself but is also very accountable to the nearest opponent.

*DISPOSAL, DECISION-MAKING, SMARTS:

- Not a physical hard nut in the usual sense but is excellent in close, especially at centre bounce. Great vision, poise, balance, disposal. A natural footballer. Very consistent, reliable. Gets own ball but also excellent link man. Good at creaing space and finding space to link.

- Very reliable disposal, hand or foot, either side, short or long, especially given that he gets many of his possessions under pressure. Relaxed nice kicking style (although slightly low take) - excellent depth, accuracy. Nice mix of feeds and kicks. Generally favours long option with kicks.

- Good at "blink & you miss it" feeds under pressure.

- Can create opportunities out of nothing close to goals but his non-set shots for goal are a mixed bag.

- Seldom uses non-preferred left foot but is adept with it, even under great pressure on the run.

- Excellent traffic management. Very good at stop plays - he mainly sits under the ruckman, reads the ball very well, shows quick reflexes, good awareness and clean hands both getting and giving.

- Reads play well, spots & feeds well, and is good decision-maker in close or on the run, even under the greatest of pressure.

- Great poise. Always looks for options - spots them quickly with good vision but will take as much time as he needs until an option presents. Everything he does is purposeful.

- Very cool, confident but occasionally shows poor awareness of the pressure he is under when he has the ball, resulting in him getting nailed or smothered. In those cases, he either takes too long or tries to do too much. Not too often and possibly of the learning curve involved in crossing from soccer and having to adjust to tempo.

- Keeps arms free when tackled.

*HANDS:

- Very clean

*OVERHEAD MARKING:

- Very clean. Pack marking is not really part of his style but he is rarely beaten 1-1 and he tries for front position.

*ATHLETICISM, INTENSITY, ETHIC, CONSISTENCY:

- DC/SS results were quite poor except for speed (which was reasonable). However, I have to go on what I saw in games, where he covered a lot of ground, showed good speed and agility, pushed himself hard and marked reliably overhead, especially on the lead.
- Good off the mark, good pace.
- Great ethic. Charges from one opponent to the next to apply strong pressure. Fierce tackler.
- Excellent balance. Keeps his feet.
- Good evasion and doesn't mind taking them on.
- Excellent lateral recovery / agility - definitely no big turning circle for this boy. You don't wrong foot him and find yourself free of pressure.
- Slim but quite strong already and will have a nice build.
- Is fairly quiet verbally, even on the ground, but is very determined and plays with a good combination of poise and intensity.

*SCI (SCOPE FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT):

- Soccer convert so plenty of scope.

*AFL VERSATILITY:

- Should be very versatile. Ideal for midfield but could play anywhere down the flanks very efficiently (and not just on a pinch-hit basis).

*QUERY:

- Nothing significant.

*SOME STATS:

- Stats summary '03 U18 Champs:
Averaged 18 disposals and 4.3 marks in 3 U18 Rep games.
Kicks vs feeds: mixed
Tackles: 6
S.P. clearances: 9 incl 2 cbc & 4 other b/u (impressive as wasn't onball that much)
Gets own ball?: 15/55 TD were HR. 5 HBG
Kicks long vs short: routinely favours long. 21-5
Kicking accuracy: 5/31 were ineff
Handball accuracy: 3/24 were ineff/clang incl 1 clang
Marking: 13 (incl 0 contested)

*OTHER STUFF:
- AIS
- Played SANFL Reserves '03.
- Soccer.

 

[Sera]

Daniel McConnell (Eastern Ranges)

190/84 bottom-age right foot (but can use left if needed, even on the run) versatile tall.

Very bottom-age (10 days from being too young) prospect who disappointed me somewhat this year, despite fairly healthy stats but had various injuries throughout and is a decent chance of AFL. As a package of size and physical and skill attributes he is very attractive but he has quite a lot of improvements to make.

I rank him at 22, ahead of some big names, but I do so on perceived upside rather than '03 form, and very much because of the shortage of talls in this draft. There are other players I have ranked later than him but in whom I have more confidence. Will probably go 2nd round. Ready year 3, maybe year 2.

*STYLE LIKE: McPhee?

*TRADEMARK:

- Mark on lead
- Quick gather from edge of traffic

*SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, RECOMMENDATION:

McConnell is a kid I earmarked when I saw his U18 debut early '02. Even as a below-age gangly forward pocket he looked to have a bit of "it". And he probably he still does. Certainly his record at U16/17 has been excellent and he started '03 with a good reputation. I'm still very open-minded but, frankly, I've been underwhelmed with his '03 performances (I didn't see his Ballarat game). I know he has had a troublesome finger most of the year and other niggles throughout the year but I wish I had seen more in '03 to vindicate my original gut feel and his reputation.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he starts to please me more once he is over his finger problem and is injury-free. As it stands, he has to win me over again somewhat. Nevertheless, my quite high ranking reflects my optimistic assessment of his upside.

He has filled out impressively into a good frame 190/84 and is extremely bottom age. Were he very top age, he would be a fair way down my list. I'm cutting him a fair bit of slack by picturing what he might be like in almost 18 months and comparing that with my current perceptions of his significantly older peers. Clearly he has talent. However he goes missing a bit and, although his TAC U18 stats read quite well, I have not seen him completely impose himself on any U18 game (TAC or U18 trial) in '03 (I didn't see his North Ballarat game of 31TD, 9 m, 6g).

A very bottom-age 190/84 potential KPP who could also play flank and who should be able to play either end, and is fairly athletic (especially good endurance) sounds very attractive.

I'm still optimistic but slightly uncomfortable. I don't doubt he can murder a vanilla undersized or sluggish opponent. I just want to see him a few more times against a quality tall opponent and/or a quick one.

I have seen him a lot but the game that most impressed me was as HBF vs WA in the '03 U18 Champs. Moved well, applied pressure, got 10 hard ball gets. 21 disposals (6th of them "wasted" though), including 14 in the first half.

Disposal, both hand and foot need to improve and he needs to actually show more overhead more often.

*DISPOSAL, DECISION-MAKING, SMARTS:

- Not a great decision-maker but mixed bag, not bad. He is an intelligentI kid. t's just that he is not a natural footy thinker.

- Doesn't seem great at reading the play or the ball (even at reading the flight on occasions).

- Clever when trying to lose opponent - both in-close & on a lead.

- Equally, however, his opponent can sometimes lose him without him apparently noticing. I'm not sure about his concentration. I think he means to be accountable but he is a ball follower eg he might run his opponent up the ground or vice versa then stay 50m from the play and not notice his opponent has gone back and is 30m free in space 60m away.

- Kicking accuracy is mixed but needs to improve. Feeding (i.e by hand) is usually OK, sometimes excellent, but he can do a shocker every so often. In fairness, very few of his possessions are free in space so I have to allow a bit for the "under some degree of pressure" factor.

- Kicking style can let him down and has the following faults:- Low take. Poor high release, sometimes double-handed release, and he lets the ball slip out instead of guiding it. Tilt to the left. Close drop. Sometimes too short a plant and/or a low connect. Sometimes kicks across his body. Right arm often just hangs by his side. Follow through needs works and can be quite bent leg. A tendency to jump high at impact.

*HANDS:

- Not currently very clean, at any height, but I have to make allowances because of his finger problem. Quite clean beforehand (pardon the pun).

*OVERHEAD MARKING:
(see above)

- Can take a big grab but I haven't seen many this year. He can have 15-20 possessions without a mark of any sort. (Although he had a big day in that regard against Nth Ballarat and I am factoring that day into my assessment of his potential). See comments below re finger problem.

- Has found it hard to shake off a problem with a finger that not "only" dislocates but apparently pops out at an unseemly (not to mention extremely painful) angle. Went into '03 U18 Champs under that injury cloud & didn't play game 1. Subsequent recurring problems with finger so we have to be sympathetic to marking attempts in '03. This is reflected in the fact that he averaged 4.0 marks a game in his first 6 games '03 but only 2.7 in his latter 6.
-
- I had noted a tendency to take chest marks actually on his chest instead of out in front but, given the finger problem, I'll ignore that.

- Has an 8cm reach advantage compared to the average player of his height.

- Tries for front position.

- His leads can be stuttering.

*ATHLETICISM, INTENSITY, ETHIC, CONSISTENCY:

- Looks the part physically and will have a great build for AFL. Overall he is quite athletic but looks to have scope to harden his body shape and condition him further. Has bulked up quite a bit since '02 so may be still growing into his body somewhat, in which case some of the following may improve naturally in time.

- Often lacks a bit of acceleration off the mark. Adequate, not great, pace over a short distance but is quite good once he has momentum. Comparing 2 slightly similar type, Cosgriff would beat him by about 2m over 15-20m, especially through being quicker off the mark. I think McConnell's lack of quickness off the mark in a game is partly physical and partly lack of intrinsic anticipation. When he is in on a lead, he is by definition the creator of the run and in that situation can seem quite quick off the mark.

- Excellent endurance.

- Not a bad leap but he is also very much aided by an 8cm reach advantage compared to the average player of his height.

- Is quite agile.

- Variable balance. Perhaps goes to ground too often.

- Nice body use quite often though.

- Nice evasion.

- Often keen, but too often ineffective, tackler. Needs to tackle more often with his body instead of his hands. Is improving though.

- He needs to show more intensity at times (although definitely improving). He is inclined to put his hands in instead of his body. On the other hand there are times when he is desperate under a pack, or lunges to smother, or does a thumping punch out. 2nd efforts are good. Team man. Chases, blocks. Useful 3rd man up at throw ins.

- I must stress that he does get his own ball.

*SCI (SCOPE FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT):
(see above)

*AFL VERSATILITY:

- Played mainly CHF in TAC but, AFL-wise, probably best initially as HBF. With a couple of improvements (especially accel off the mark), perhaps FB down the track. Plays both ends at U18 level but may be best suited to straight-ahead roles. I doubt that he reads the play well enough to play LMID but maybe 3rd tall defender. Has good enough size to be a chance for another key position depending on how his development goes. Could pinch hit as HFF and certainly FP. As an U18 CHF his best is quite impressive (eg beat Chaplin on points in a trial game) so that is the option many people would see but, AFL-wise, it depends how he develops. I'm not ruling CHF out by any means.

*QUERY:

- Kicking accuracy.
- Sped off the mark (except on a lead)
- Overhead consistency

*SOME STATS:
- TAC: Averaged 19 disposals in 11 TAC games. (I really shouldn't count one game in June as he was injured. at the start). 3.3 marks, 3.5 tackles, total 12 goals-11. 68% of disposals are kicks. 17% of his possessions are marks. At least 20 disposals in 7 games, including a 31. 6 or more marks in 2 games but 2 or fewer marks in 4 (not including the June injury game). Officially no marks in 7 of 16 games '02-'03 (not including the June injury game).
- Mid-way trend .. % change in disposals was 24%. % change in marks was -33%. % change in tackles was 65%.

- Stats summary '03 U18 Champs:
Averaged 14 disposals and 1.5 marks in 2 U18 Rep games. 21D against WA.
Kicks vs feeds: mixed
Gets own ball?: Yes. 7 of 26TD were HR. 11 HBG (10 vs WA).
Kicks long vs short: n/a
Kicking accuracy: 6/15 ineff/clang incl 3 clang.
Handball accuracy: 2/11 clang.
Marking: 3
Tackles: 6

*OTHER STUFF:
- AIS
- Troublesome finger through much of '03.
- No Morris Medal votes.
- 4 Coaches Award votes (1 game).

 

[RzrBlade]

All players sound promising from those reports, will be very interested if Beau gets a start right up next season.

All in all I'm pleasantly surprised and happy with the selections we made.

 

[YAKUZA]

Originally posted by Sera
Footygoss have had their credibility shot to pieces over this Burges fiasco. [/QUOTE

When did they ever have any credibility sera? It's just an amateurish, plagiarising, obsequious excuse for the fat fool who runs it, to try and compete with the local football media outlets who are also hopeless. It constantly sits on the fence and is **** scared to tackle any controversial issues on any subject particularly WAFL Football.
The general level of debate on their FOOTYCHAT boards is marginally below that which you would find in a lunatic asylum.

 

[Streaker]

Originally posted by YAKUZA

Originally posted by Sera
Footygoss have had their credibility shot to pieces over this Burges fiasco. [/QUOTE

When did they ever have any credibility sera? It's just an amateurish, plagiarising, obsequious excuse for the fat fool who runs it, to try and compete with the local football media outlets who are also hopeless. It constantly sits on the fence and is **** scared to tackle any controversial issues on any subject particularly WAFL Football.
The general level of debate on their FOOTYCHAT boards is marginally below that which you would find in a lunatic asylum.

Must admit that the quality of the media in Perth is pretty low, but thats what happens when you have no competition. At least you had choice when we used to have the Daily News and the Western Mail (or whatever it was called).

 

[dasler]

Originally posted by YAKUZA

Originally posted by Sera
Footygoss have had their credibility shot to pieces over this Burges fiasco.

When did they ever have any credibility sera? It's just an amateurish, plagiarising, obsequious excuse for the fat fool who runs it, to try and compete with the local football media outlets who are also hopeless. It constantly sits on the fence and is **** scared to tackle any controversial issues on any subject particularly WAFL Football.
The general level of debate on their FOOTYCHAT boards is marginally below that which you would find in a lunatic asylum.

You've put a smile on my face now yakuza

 

[Sera]

Originally posted by YAKUZA
When did they ever have any credibility sera? It's just an amateurish, plagiarising, obsequious excuse for the fat fool who runs it, to try and compete with the local football media outlets who are also hopeless. It constantly sits on the fence and is **** scared to tackle any controversial issues on any subject particularly WAFL Football.
The general level of debate on their FOOTYCHAT boards is marginally below that which you would find in a lunatic asylum.

No arguments there

 

[chrisjudd3]

People are saying we have inexperienced tall players and that we should draft tall players. isn't that adding more inexperienced tall players to the list?

 

[Streaker]

Originally posted by chrisjudd3
People are saying we have inexperienced tall players and that we should draft tall players. isn't that adding more inexperienced tall players to the list?

Unfortunately their weren't any experienced tall players at the draft.

Works along the theory that the more you have the more likely that one or two will be good or if all of them are good you can trade some. Our need at the moment is for tall KPPs, we may have a few in the development phase (Hansen Gaspar Johnson Beeck Seaby) but we need to look further down the track.

At present we need a Centre Half Back and a Centre Half Forward. What if in 2004 Gaspar doesn't recover from his injuries, Jakovich retires, Hansen decides to go home and Johnson Lynch and Beeck don't take that necessary step. We then have to go back to Carrol being our Centre Half Back and Gardiner and Cox resting in the forward line whilst waiting for McConnell to develop.

McConnell is what you would call a long term prospect. Probably won't play a game for us for at least 3 years and as a KPP is not quite 190 cm.

Look at Fremantle

Fremantles need was for an inside midfieder and they drafted:
RYLEY DUNN Medium, inside forward/defender 183.8/82.6
RYAN MURPHY Tall, outside defender/forward 192.3/80.9
DAVID MUNDY Tall, outside key defender 189.3/81.8
ADAM CAMPBELL Tall, inside key forward 191.9/78.2
BRETT PEAKE Super competitive midfielder 183/80

Next year they will try for Midfielders but still take a tall or two.

They have plenty of tall stocks and KPPs but they drafted what they needed and took the best available which happened to be talls. Talls take longer to develop and they can give their new players all the time they require where we have to try and rush ours through because of our previous deficiencies at the draft table.

In 1999 we drafted Glass, Gaspar, Haynes, Munro and Hunter.

In 2000 we drafted McDougall, Kerr, Humm, Carroll, Collica, Harding , Merenda, Prior, Seirakowski and Taylor and elevated Cox and Green. This is where we really needed to start looking into the crystal ball and go for players like Dion Woods or Wayde Skipper instead of Humm and Carroll. Unfortunately 2000 wasn't a very good year for talls in the lower picks and we are suffering now.

2001 saw us take Judd Sampi Seaby and Hansen.

As you can see Seaby (2001) and Hansen (2001) are still developing while Glass (1999) took the first steps to making it and Gaspar (1999) was injured.

If there were some decent talls in the latter picks of 2000 we might have been in a lot better position.

In my opinion we need to look at talls such as Michael Johnson, Michael Embley, William Gayfer or Chris Stewart for our Rookie list this year.

 

[The Passenger]

great to see Beau Waters at the club!!!

very suprised not see Callum Burges and Jacob Surjan drafted at all!! and will gayfer???

 

[thegur]

I think we did the right thing this draft.

It's obvious that the staff rate our young talls. Between Gaspar, Howser, Glass, Lynch, Hansen, Staker and Seaby and Gardy who can play down the spine. If the talls were not there to be drafted, don't just try and make them appear out of thin air.

lets rookie list at least one long-shot tall anyway just to be safe.

roll on pre-season.

thegur

 

[no1bankteller]

Originally posted by West Coast Stre
Sam " Soup Bones" Butler is taller than Kane " The Money Man" Munro, but weighs less.

Ok two requests:

1 Lets not jinx Butler by comparing him with Munro. The kid is 17 years old and has lots of growing to do where Munro is 4 years older and has not grown at all.

2 Can we please stop referring to Kane Munro as "The Money Man" and if we need to give him a nickname can we call him Kane "Needs to eat more meat" Munro or maybe Kane "Put some Pork on your Fork" Munro.

 

[Juddamania]

Originally posted by no1bankteller
Ok two requests:

1 Lets not jinx Butler by comparing him with Munro. The kid is 17 years old and has lots of growing to do where Munro is 4 years older and has not grown at all.

2 Can we please stop referring to Kane Munro as "The Money Man" and if we need to give him a nickname can we call him Kane "Needs to eat more meat" Munro or maybe Kane "Put some Pork on your Fork" Munro.

Hows about "Meatbag"?

I'm feeling old now we have players younger than me