Rookie Elevations

[Procrastinator35]

Have you seen Willsmore? Not quick, it's one of the reasons he slipped to the rookie Draft last year.

He's not slow either....The reason he slipped to the rookie draft is due to the fact he played as a key position forward at Ballarat, but was perceived as too small for the role (Which he is) & not a good enough or strong enough pack mark or on the lead!

What stands out about Willsmore is his ball skills by hand & foot, which for a player of his size are elite!....Always seems to choose the right option, his movement is terrific & seldom wastes it.....Also has a beautiful, raking left foot kick on him.

A third floating tall seems what he is best suited for in the long run, but his endurance & running power means he is also in the Gunstan mould of being able to play both half back & wing, which he did for Box Hill seniors throughout 2014!

Both he & Webster showed enough in their first seasons to have other clubs sniffing around offering them senior contracts elsewhere!....Much as was the case with Ceglar last year (Adelaide)....Hence the need to elevate them in order to keep them on our list!

 

[Hawkas1988]

He's not slow either....The reason he slipped to the rookie draft is due to the fact he played as a key position forward at Ballarat, but was perceived as too small for the role (Which he is) & not a good enough or strong enough pack mark or on the lead!

What stands out about Willsmore is his ball skills by hand & foot, which for a player of his size are elite!....Always seems to choose the right option, his movement is terrific & seldom wastes it.....Also has a beautiful, raking left foot kick on him.

A third floating tall seems what he is best suited for in the long run, but his endurance & running power means he is also in the Gunstan mould of being able to play both half back & wing, which he did for Box Hill seniors throughout 2014!

Both he & Webster showed enough in their first seasons to have other clubs sniffing around offering them senior contracts elsewhere!....Much as was the case with Ceglar last year (Adelaide)....Hence the need to elevate them in order to keep them on our list!

All valid points but his pace was an issue due to his in between size. I have a relative who's a recruiter for a club and have asked why Willsmore slipped due to my thoughts on him being so high with his long kicking, good hands and skills. His reasoning was his in between size and lack of genuine speed.

 

[Ordovician]

Both he & Webster showed enough in their first seasons to have other clubs sniffing around offering them senior contracts elsewhere!....Much as was the case with Ceglar last year (Adelaide)....Hence the need to elevate them in order to keep them on our list!

So other clubs made serious approaches or were they just testing the waters given that these kids might have limited opportunities trying to break in to an exceptionally talented team?

 

[Ordovician]

All valid points but his pace was an issue due to his in between size. I have a relative who's a recruiter for a club and have asked why Willsmore slipped due to my thoughts on him being so high with his long kicking, good hands and skills. His reasoning was his in between size and lack of genuine speed.

Also he has a very light frame that will take years to fill out. In many ways he is a bit like a slightly shorter (2cm) version of TOB, tallish, light, reads the flight well, good kick etc. but Willsmore seems to be taking more of an up field role.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Thanks Both. Appreciate it. Sounds like Gunston V2.0 then.

It's hard to say what kind of player he could eventually become but I see him atm as a lead up forward, good hands, big kick, he has footy smarts IMO.

I'm not saying he is Hallahan slow but his pace isn't his strength. He could also become a tall midfielder. I'm actually pretty excited by him as a player, one of those guys that may really come on and surprise a few in the next few years.

He looked like he was playing mainly on the wing with the odd stint as a high HF at BH late in the season. He certainly played wing in the v port final and the GF. It just depends on where they can squeeze him into the team which being at the arse end on the pecking order means his position is determined by who else is available.

At 191 cm he is a bit tall for a small forward so he more of a true third tall.

He is a true utility which means he does not belong anywhere. At BH we had so many hawks defenders that there was no space for him to play HB (Brand, Kelly, Litherland, Heatherly, Cheney and Wangers, then throw in Mirra and Kennedy). It is a similar story with forward line but with sightly less contention.

He does not have the super pace required for a hawks wing slot v Hill, Smith or Hartung, but then who does?

Even our outlet defenders have a fair bit of burst pace and running power e.g. Strats (burst pace), Birchall (more running power), and Litherland (true pace). Unless he is keeping it well hidden he is a bit slow for this role.

So I guess if he wants to play regular senior footy at the Hawks then it will be is as a high HF with possibly a bit of a run as a ruck rover.

He looks funny when he plays, he just appears to just float over the ground. He seems to rely on judgement of the ball through the air and anticipation of the play to get clear but I have never seen him burst clear or run quickly in a chase. This contrast strongly with Webby who is a bit of a racehorse or more accurately, a crazed kelpie tearing after tennis balls in a park whenever he sniffs the scent of the ball.

The kid has a lot of poise as you'd expect from an AIS grad. He has good hands, reads the play well and in a neat set shot on goal. All of those qualities screams HF or linking midfielder to me. There is a lot to like about this kid I just hope he can improve his pace nad his endurance will naturally improve with the passing of the years in the senior system.

With so many kids in contention to replace the aging super stars it is going to be tough to get the game time into them in time to adequately groom their replacements, particularly with Wx and Ando returning as well as recruiting O'Rouke. So it will be really tough for Webby, Willsmore, Sicily and Woody to get much game time over the next two seasons.

 

[HomerJayS]

Willsmore may well be needed as a floating tallish forward this year if we are hit by injuries. We are not particularly well stocked past our current starting tall forwards. It's currently our biggest weakness IMO.

 

[Procrastinator35]

So other clubs made serious approaches or were they just testing the waters given that these kids might have limited opportunities trying to break in to an exceptionally talented team?

The fact that the club felt the need to elevate them suffices to answer your question!....Unfortunately, due to the success of Kennedy & McGlynn, any Box Hill lads who display the potential to play at the level are immediately in the sights of opposition clubs now!....We are no longer allowed the luxury to keep these lads as 2nd year rookies anymore!

 

[Ordovician]

And yet the other teams studiously avoided ever making overtures to Mirra, quite odd really.

 

[sven_inc]

From the AFL website today. Some decent enough names in thjs years crop of elevated rookies.


Upgraded and retained rookies for 2015

November 25, 2014 8:30 AM

A TOTAL of 22 rookies have been promoted to AFL lists ahead of the 2015 season.


The AFL confirmed the list upgrades on Monday night ahead of Thursday's NAB AFL Draft, where the rookie elevations will not be read out.


A further 36 players have been retained as rookies for next season.


Upgraded rookies for 2015

Adelaide - Charlie Cameron

Essendon - Patrick Ambrose

Geelong - Mark Blicavs

Gold Coast - Andrew Boston, Josh Hall

Hawthorn - Zac Webster, Dallas Willsmore

Melbourne - Nevill Jetta

North Melbourne - Joel Tippett, Kayne Turner

Port Adelaide - Kane Mitchell

Richmond - Anthony Miles

St Kilda - Darren Minchington, Eli Templeton, Cameron Shenton, Mav Weller

Sydney Swans - Jake Lloyd, Xavier Richards, Daniel Robinson

West Coast - Callum Sinclair

Western Bulldogs - Lin Jong, Jack Redpath


Retained rookies for 2015

Adelaide - Jake Kelly (second year), Jack Osborn (third year)

Brisbane Lions - Jordan Bourke (second year), Zachary O'Brien (second year), Archie Smith (second year)

Carlton - Ciaran Byrne (second year), Blaine Johnson (second year), Ciaran Sheehan (second year), Cameron Wood (second year)

Collingwood - Jack Frost (third year), Corey Gault (second year)

Essendon - Ariel Steinberg (third year)

Fremantle - Jacob Ballard (second year), Craig Moller (third year), Thomas Vandeleur (second year)

Geelong - Zachary Bates (second year), Michael Luxford (second year), James Toohey (second year)

Gold Coast - Jarred Ellis (second year), Louis Herbert (second year)

Greater Western Sydney - Sam Schulz (second year)

Hawthorn - Kurt Heatherley (second year), Shem-Kalvin Tatupu (second year)

Melbourne - James Harmes (second year), Max King (second year)

North Melbourne - Eric Wallace (third year)

Port Adelaide - Daniel Flynn (second year), Sam Gray (second year), Samuel Russell (second year)

Richmond - Matthew Thomas (second year)

St Kilda - Jason Holmes (second year)

Sydney Swans - Sam Naismith (third year), Lloyd Perris (second year)

West Coast - Will Maginnes (second year), Murray Newman (second year), Rowen Powell