Draft Watcher PMBangers 2020 Draft Thread

[PMBangers]

Phantom Draft Round 1 (updated 9/12)

 

[PMBangers]

Hey all, back again for another year.

As usual I'm very very part time with my draft watching, so take the views of PIe4life, EDPS, Knightmare, Davo and such over mine. I'm taking a bit of a step back this year so probably won't be doing monthly updates, just when I can

 

[PMBangers]

PD R2

 

[PMBangers]

PD R3/R4

 

[PMBangers]

General thoughts about it so far, don't think the draft is as 'Compromised' as others say, obviously have guys like McInnes, Ugle-Hagan and Campbell so highly rated is a bit annoying but it isn't the first time we've seen a few academy prospects highly rated (Hopper, Mills, Kennedy in 2015).

For me it's a top 20 with a pretty harsh drop off so hoping that changes throughout the year. Overall think the tall options this year are better and the talent runs deeper for them

 

[PMBangers]

Academy/Fatherson watchlist
These are guys I've currently identified as draftable that are linked to clubs

Adelaide: Luke Edwards (F/S), James Borlase (NGA)
Brisbane: Saxon Crozier, Carter Michael, Blake Coleman (Northern Academy)
Collingwood: Reef McInnes (NGA)
Essendon: Cody Brand, Josh Eyre (NGA)
Fremantle: Joel Western, Brandon Walker (NGA)
Gold Coast: Alex Davies (Northern Academy) Joel Jeffery, Brodie Lake (Darwin priority zone)
GWS: Joshua Green (Northern Academy)
Hawthorn: Connor Downie (NGA)
Melbourne: Deakyn Smith (NGA)
Port Adelaide: Taj Schoefield (F/S), Lachlan Jones (NGA)
Richmond: Ethan Baxter (NGA)
Sydney: Braeden Campbell, Errol Gulden (Northern Academy)
Western Bulldogs: Ewan MacPherson (F/S), Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Cody Raak (NGA)

 

[The Nostradamus]

Holland doing his acl will mean he will slide a bit

 

[PMBangers]

Holland doing his acl will mean he will slide a bit

Not a phantom draft, where I rank them in terms of skill + potential, doing his ACL doesn't change that yet

 

[PMBangers]

Taking a break from some of the rewatching I've been doing (a few big movers btw) I stumbled across this youtube channel

Into The Fire with LJ

LJ puts top Sports stars to task and asks the hard questions.

www.youtube.com

Great watch for those interested in last years draftees and some of this years (Interviewed Baldwin, Chamberlain, Borlase, Edwards, Schofield, Chamberlain, Grubb, Dumesny) of a young bloke interviewing the (potential) draftees

 

[eDPS]

Taking a break from some of the rewatching I've been doing (a few big movers btw) I stumbled across this youtube channel

Into The Fire with LJ

LJ puts top Sports stars to task and asks the hard questions.

www.youtube.com

Great watch for those interested in last years draftees and some of this years (Interviewed Baldwin, Chamberlain, Borlase, Edwards, Schofield, Chamberlain, Grubb, Dumesny) of a young bloke interviewing the (potential) draftees

I watched a lot of the kids vids last year, always good to see how players interview and how they speak especially to the kids.

 

[PMBangers]

I watched a lot of the kids vids last year, always good to see how players interview and how they speak especially to the kids.

Stumbled across it when looking for highlights videos, been binging for a day now, you might also like these guys, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC15G-iIcSF0NjhKGou9cREg/videos , who have interviewed a few of the WA prospects (Trew is the only one I've watched so far), add a bit of actual training in there as well

 

[Smythe]

Stumbled across it when looking for highlights videos, been binging for a day now, you might also like these guys, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC15G-iIcSF0NjhKGou9cREg/videos , who have interviewed a few of the WA prospects (Trew is the only one I've watched so far), add a bit of actual training in there as well

yeah i've seen those, Zane comes across quite well, Denver seems to be a bit of a loose character for sure

 

[PMBangers]

yeah i've seen those, Zane comes across quite well, Denver seems to be a bit of a loose character for sure

Was surprised at how muscley Zane looks.

I like DGB's, seems like he doesn't take himself too seriously, might be a good Grundy type personality at a club

 

[Smythe]

Was surprised at how muscley Zane looks.

I like DGB's, seems like he doesn't take himself too seriously, might be a good Grundy type personality at a club

yeah, a bit rance-like, loose cat but when being serious, he talks well

 

[Smythe]

on the draft thoughts again, im interested to see what you think of Treacy, he may play mid and wing this season and has grown, going to be watch and see at that size, has some tools that could translate to the next level. He just needs this year to get started, get some games in those positions and be injury free during that time i think.

 

[PMBangers]

on the draft thoughts again, im interested to see what you think of Treacy, he may play mid and wing this season and has grown, going to be watch and see at that size, has some tools that could translate to the next level. He just needs this year to get started, get some games in those positions and be injury free during that time i think.

Might be in the minority but I'd prefer Treacy to stick forward with the occassional mid burst (as a lazy comparison, I guess like a De Goey split) because I feel like his biggest strength is his leading and marking.

 

[PMBangers]

Updated top 20, few things to go over here so don't @ me just yet

Re watched a bunch a footage and reviewed my notes over the past month or so, as well as some interviews from the youtube channels in previous comments (not relevant to rankings, wanted to mention so I could slide in the fact that O'Driscoll seems like a great bloke). SO I've gotten a better read of the crop than I did before for sure, Zane Trew and Kaine Baldwin are still fairly unknown for me as I just saw a few highlight videos, but what I did see gave me confidence putting them where they are.

I dropped it to a top 20 rather than top 30, far more confident in this top 20 than any top 30 I could've put together, but there's a couple really close to getting into this top 20; Nik Cox, Zach Reid, Bailey Laurie and Zahier Maher all got in at various points during my reshuffling (EDIT: Can't believe I forgot to put Archie Perkins in here, he's another that got in at various points), when I was going to do a top 30 Charlie Byrne, Connor Stone, Brandon Walker and Charlie Lazzaro were all around the mark from 20 on wards as well, just to put some names up that are close.

Logan McDonald is a hard one for me to rank, I really like what he does at his best but find his leading patterns can be a bit awkward at times, whilst it isn't a problem at this level at AFL level I think it will hamper him if he doesn't improve

As per first post Jeffery and Davies don't feature unless they say they'll opt for the open draft, Davies slots somewhere between 10-15, Jeffery 15-25

 

[Virgin Dog]

View attachment 869797
Updated top 20, few things to go over here so don't @ me just yet

Re watched a bunch a footage and reviewed my notes over the past month or so, as well as some interviews from the youtube channels in previous comments (not relevant to rankings, wanted to mention so I could slide in the fact that O'Driscoll seems like a great bloke). SO I've gotten a better read of the crop than I did before for sure, Zane Trew and Kaine Baldwin are still fairly unknown for me as I just saw a few highlight videos, but what I did see gave me confidence putting them where they are.

I dropped it to a top 20 rather than top 30, far more confident in this top 20 than any top 30 I could've put together, but there's a couple really close to getting into this top 20; Nik Cox, Zach Reid, Bailey Laurie and Zahier Maher all got in at various points during my reshuffling (EDIT: Can't believe I forgot to put Archie Perkins in here, he's another that got in at various points), when I was going to do a top 30 Charlie Byrne, Connor Stone, Brandon Walker and Charlie Lazzaro were all around the mark from 20 on wards as well, just to put some names up that are close.

Logan McDonald is a hard one for me to rank, I really like what he does at his best but find his leading patterns can be a bit awkward at times, whilst it isn't a problem at this level at AFL level I think it will hamper him if he doesn't improve

All the talk has been around the Dogs and JUH, but Sydney are looking to absolutely clean up this year. Campbell obviously really high as it is, but I personally would rate Gulden even higher than you have him here.

Giants had Hopper, Kennedy and Himmelberg in 2015, followed by Setterfield, Perryman and Cumming in 2016. How many times have we seen teams, other than the Giants, get more than one really highly rated talent through FS/NGA in a single year? I can think back to the Dogs getting Libba and Wallis in 2010 who were both rated around the late teens, but doesn't seem to happen too often.

 

[PMBangers]

All the talk has been around the Dogs and JUH, but Sydney are looking to absolutely clean up this year. Campbell obviously really high as it is, but I personally would rate Gulden even higher than you have him here.

Giants had Hopper, Kennedy and Himmelberg in 2015, followed by Setterfield, Perryman and Cumming in 2016. How many times have we seen teams, other than the Giants, get more than one really highly rated talent through FS/NGA in a single year? I can think back to the Dogs getting Libba and Wallis in 2010 who were both rated around the late teens, but doesn't seem to happen too often.

Sydney come to mind with Heeney and Mills in back to back years both attracting top 3 bids (highest bids ever AFAIK), to a degree Hipwood and Keays for Brisbane in 2015 as well.
Gold Coast this year will go under the radar due to being able to list their kids straight up but Davies/ Jeffery/ Lake as a combo (maybe Ace as well? still unsure on his eligibility last year/ this year), would be a massive haul, open draft Davies and Jeffery both go top 20 imo.

Gulden being where he is for me is purely height based, on performance he's top 10, pushing top 5, but players of his size generally don't add much to their game at AFL level (exception of Caleb Daniel). His immediate impact could be Higgins level though so I'll be keen to see him at the next level

 

[1990crow]

View attachment 869797
Updated top 20, few things to go over here so don't @ me just yet

Re watched a bunch a footage and reviewed my notes over the past month or so, as well as some interviews from the youtube channels in previous comments (not relevant to rankings, wanted to mention so I could slide in the fact that O'Driscoll seems like a great bloke). SO I've gotten a better read of the crop than I did before for sure, Zane Trew and Kaine Baldwin are still fairly unknown for me as I just saw a few highlight videos, but what I did see gave me confidence putting them where they are.

I dropped it to a top 20 rather than top 30, far more confident in this top 20 than any top 30 I could've put together, but there's a couple really close to getting into this top 20; Nik Cox, Zach Reid, Bailey Laurie and Zahier Maher all got in at various points during my reshuffling (EDIT: Can't believe I forgot to put Archie Perkins in here, he's another that got in at various points), when I was going to do a top 30 Charlie Byrne, Connor Stone, Brandon Walker and Charlie Lazzaro were all around the mark from 20 on wards as well, just to put some names up that are close.

Logan McDonald is a hard one for me to rank, I really like what he does at his best but find his leading patterns can be a bit awkward at times, whilst it isn't a problem at this level at AFL level I think it will hamper him if he doesn't improve

As per first post Jeffery and Davies don't feature unless they say they'll opt for the open draft, Davies slots somewhere between 10-15, Jeffery 15-25

Other phantoms on here have Luke Edwards closer to pick 20. Any reason for putting him so high?

 

[PMBangers]

Other phantoms on here have Luke Edwards closer to pick 20. Any reason for putting him so high?

High performance in last years champs (should've been AA imo), versatile, good skill and a nice balance of inside/outside game, surprised he's not higher for most

 

[eDPS]

High performance in last years chance (should've been AA imo), versatile, good skill and a nice balance of inside/outside game, surprised he's not higher for most

Mitch O’Neill was AA in his bottom age year and didn’t go in the main draft and Sharp/Gould where touted top 10 but went 2nd round. It’s great but need more than that to be a guarantee high pick

 

[fightingfury_88]

High performance in last years chance (should've been AA imo), versatile, good skill and a nice balance of inside/outside game, surprised he's not higher for most

I think Edwards is a safe pick and on median career projections is likely top 15; but he may not have the high upside of other more risky prospects. Perhaps a case of swinging for the fences and hoping for a superstar rather than opting for the safer, guaranteed very good level player?
I certainly like Edwards and think whoever ends up with him will have added a very capable player to their list, albeit perhaps without the star potential of others.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Just a thought.

if club recruiters aren’t allowed a face to face interview, could they arrange a video interview?

 

[andleanback]

Just a thought.

if club recruiters aren’t allowed a face to face interview, could they arrange a video interview?

Yeah pretty sure interviews have been taking place via zoom already. There was a ban placed on recruiters for a couple of weeks while the kids got their heads around the situation.