Player Watch Pick #18 (2016) - Sam Powell-Pepper

[Spadge]

So the question needs to be asked. Why was he rated only the 18th best in this draft. Were the other 17 really better than him? Did he slide? Is there issues with him?

He looks a lock for Round 1. Big wraps on him.. but pick 18 in the draft looks a very very good pick up for us

 

[Jimmy Unchained]

So the question needs to be asked. Why was he rated only the 18th best in this draft. Were the other 17 really better than him? Did he slide? Is there issues with him?

He looks a lock for Round 1. Big wraps on him.. but pick 18 in the draft looks a very very good pick up for us

From Knightmare's AFL draft wrap half way through last year:

'Powell-Pepper must improve his execution by foot. At the present time, his game is marred by inaccurate kicks that can often lead to turnovers. Powell-Pepper's disposal efficiency is not yet where it needs to be.

But with continued improvement, Powell-Pepper may feature somewhere in the first or second round of this year's national draft.'

Knightmare had him going at Pick 12 to West Coast in his Phantom.

Draft Wrap June 2016

Phantom Draft 2016

 

[RossFC]

We can't kick so he looks no worse than anyone else.

 

[Far Kern]

So the question needs to be asked. Why was he rated only the 18th best in this draft. Were the other 17 really better than him? Did he slide? Is there issues with him?

He looks a lock for Round 1. Big wraps on him.. but pick 18 in the draft looks a very very good pick up for us

I don't know specifically, but wasn't the talk at this draft that the top 30 or so went pretty deep, were hard to split?

On the disposal efficiency thing I've seen plenty of people who've watched him say that's rubbish. I have wondered if he over commits to his first option though.

 

[melanChronic]

There was this video of him predraft where it seemed like every 2nd disposal he had was fluffed. I remember watching it and thinking, geez that is the last thing we need, another ball butcher. To be fair it is from 2015 and in other ones he looked to have tidied it up a fair bit.



I was very excited by his second half last night though. You can see he is going to grow in confidence with every game.

Early on he seemed a little too concerned with making a mark or doing something big. He was filthy when Amon ran through to take a mark inside 50 that was directed at him, I was 20 metres away and could hear him yell "*" and then walk away shaking his head rather than congratulate Amon.

 

[PJ Power]

He's got to get enough of the footy and be polished to be absolutely top shelf.

People are still talking like Impey is a star, and yet he still flashes in and out of games, and isn't clinical either in his ball handling or skill execution.

To be an absolute star (and not a chronic tease), SPP will need to combine his power and explosiveness, with consistent presence around the ball. Even if he is not stunning us with every possession, he needs to steadily work on finding the footy and being reliable when he has it.

He looked fine last night, without dominating. We saw snippets of what he will bring and how he can change momentum for us. Given time, he will need to be a lot, lot more than that. In the meantime, our other midfielders need to be better, and guys like Impey and Amon in particular need to be more involved in the play. Amon needs to get more footy to make the most of his excellent skills. Impey has to be a helluva lot cleaner in everything he does.

 

[SureBuddy]

I don't know specifically, but wasn't the talk at this draft that the top 30 or so went pretty deep, were hard to split?

On the disposal efficiency thing I've seen plenty of people who've watched him say that's rubbish. I have wondered if he over commits to his first option though.

Kind of like how Cripps went at 13 to Carlton in 2013. They seem to rate the flashy midfielders with silky skills higher. However Cripps is the best of that draft. Some might disagree and say Bont is, but he's definitely top 2.

 

[Jimmy Unchained]

Re watched the game and saw another two noteworthy things from Sam.

Great navigation through some traffic

Flying the flag a little bit and supporting young Bonner

 

[TheFVK]

We seem to be immune to homesickness almost to our detriment, but doesn't this just warm the heart


Powell-Pepper said his bid to stave off homesickness was helped on draft day when every player on Port’s list sent him a message of congratulations.

 

[Jakksynn]

We seem to be immune to homesickness almost to our detriment, but doesn't this just warm the heart


Powell-Pepper said his bid to stave off homesickness was helped on draft day when every player on Port’s list sent him a message of congratulations.

Lol that's a lot of messages to reply to.

 

[Killer Power]

Re watched the game and saw another two noteworthy things from Sam.

Great navigation through some traffic

That's a great releasing handball. Hoping we see a lot more of that in years to come.

 

[Chrizzt]

So the question needs to be asked. Why was he rated only the 18th best in this draft. Were the other 17 really better than him? Did he slide? Is there issues with him?

He looks a lock for Round 1. Big wraps on him.. but pick 18 in the draft looks a very very good pick up for us

He's not and never really has been a huge accumulator of the ball. Will most likely start his career (in the first few years) averaging in the late teens disposals wise.

His kicking was talked about a fair bit. His stats actually read quite well - but from my own reading and watching I think while he can execute a nice drop punt on the run, a concern is that he has a tendency to throw the ball on the boot when under pressure without steadying and identifying a target.

He was also overweight and not up to elite fitness levels earlier on and had only really improved this in the last year or so - where other players at the same age were ahead of him in this regard.

There is a little boom or bust about him - similar to Marshall. However given the upside and exposed form people had him in the 10-18 range. The top 10 just had more consistently displayed their top form nothing much more to it.

 

[mic59]

So the question needs to be asked. Why was he rated only the 18th best in this draft. Were the other 17 really better than him? Did he slide? Are there issues with him?

Some of the teams are still drafting for needs and are not necessarily taking the best available.

He looks a lock for Round 1. Big wraps on him.. but pick 18 in the draft looks a very very good pick up for us

With this draft even if we had still had our original pick 9 I am not sure we could have done better. That is not to say our continual trading of future draft picks is a good idea, we again don't have a first-rounder next year due to our lack of second-rounders this year and the need to trade for first-round and second-round picks.

 

[Zakk Wylde]

He's a ******* race horse. Look at him glide....

 

[PJ Power]

That's a great releasing handball. Hoping we see a lot more of that in years to come.

That one and Atley's in board ground level handball from the half forward boundary in the third (to Trengove who then hit Eddy on the chest), were of very high quality.

 

[avishka5]

Dark Sharks doesn't this kid remind you of dusty martin?

 

[Dark Sharks]

He plays more like Dustin than Dustin does.

 

[Janus]

That's a great releasing handball. Hoping we see a lot more of that in years to come.

He tried to give off a long handball in the first quarter but like everything we did it ended up about three meters too short and resulted in a turnover. Doesn't mind a bit of aggressive handball

 

[FallingLiefs]

champion data really rate his disposal, high kick rating but low DE% which means he's executing the hard/important kicks better than expected but because playing HFF/Midfield bursting out of packs running forward the DE% is lower. it's like Wingard averaging 65% DE everyone knows he's a better kick than that but has to make the hard kicks. prospectus says he hit 10 of 12 targets in f5o (83%) in the champs which is superb and they describe as elite and number 1 of the draft crop. Wingard on the other hand has 55% targets hit in f5o and is 12th in the competition but ranks in the lowest 20% for retention of the ball overall.

 

[Seanybruz]

Just saw SPP on 9 news doing the membership drive, spoke well for a shy lad and seemed to really enjoy his first taste of AFL footy.

When asked if that hit on Riewoldt was a statement of intent I liked his response saying he just wanted to show what he can do, doesn't lack confidence in his ability which is great.

They showed all his highlights which were made into gifs here, the lad is a ripper can't wait to watch him play at Adelaide oval for the first time.

 

[PAFCsince1870]

He's got to get enough of the footy and be polished to be absolutely top shelf.

People are still talking like Impey is a star, and yet he still flashes in and out of games, and isn't clinical either in his ball handling or skill execution.

Wait a second, people are talking like Impey's a star?

No wonder we are so mediocre.

 

[mic59]

Wait a second, people are talking like Impey's a star?

No wonder we are so mediocre.

I haven't really noticed too many posts here lauding Impey as a star but Ken seems to think he's going to be part of our rise back to greatness. He's not bad but at the moment I can't see him as anywhere near elite or even a consistent playmaker, just a good fringe player.

 

[JUSTWORK]

I haven't really noticed too many posts here lauding Impey as a star but Ken seems to think he's going to be part of our rise back to greatness. He's not bad but at the moment I can't see him as anywhere near elite or even a consistent playmaker, just a good fringe player.

I think he has the makings of an elite payer. Fast, great agility, strong….. What he needs to to work very hard on his disposal and steady before he kicks things that can be improved on, he looked very dangerous up forward compared to defiance and can probably build on that in the future. Im interested to see what he can offer through the middle of the ground where his athleticism can be a real weapon for us.

 

[Lord Flasheart]

I haven't really noticed too many posts here lauding Impey as a star but Ken seems to think he's going to be part of our rise back to greatness. He's not bad but at the moment I can't see him as anywhere near elite or even a consistent playmaker, just a good fringe player.

Players like Impey who dont rack up big disposals need to make their touches count. Unfortunately Impey still has very poor foot skills. Holds/drops the ball to far to the right and as a result his leg doesnt come through in a straight line towards his target as well getting under the ball (similar to Boak).

 

[Hellgood]

Impey's not a star, but he does have traits that are pretty rare - combination of power, tenacity and coordination that at least allows him to potentially match players that most clubs do not have an answer for - Rioli for example.