The new and improved H......

Rosso

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Thread starter #1
Pick 17 was a bit of a surprise with Wells & co opting for a ready made prospect in big H Taylor. A virtual unknown on Bigfooty until a few weeks back. He is actually listed on the front cover of the Inside Footy draft issue (pick 4 in a top 7 list) and certainly came into calculations in some of the more recent phantom's (the Hun & Bergatron).

There's a story on some of the WA hopefuls that has a bit about the new H that is good reading for cats fans:

WEST'S SWANS TO SPREAD THEIR WINGS
WAFL club Swan Districts looks set to have up to 10 players taken in the National Draft after winning the colts premiership, while players from East Fremantle and Perth are set to benefit from strong performances in the under-18 championships.
East Fremantle has the most players currently on AFL lists of any club in the country and looks set to add to that this year.
Rhys Palmer and Chris Masten are certainties, while Cale Hooker could also be picked up. While he is a couple of years older, Harry Taylor is on the radar of several clubs.
Former Sharks coach David Dunbar has been part of the development of Palmer, Masten and Taylor and is proud he gave them their chance at league level.
“The key thing was that they were playing in a positive environment for them to display their talents, giving them roles that can help them,” Dunbar said.
“Harry Taylor has been one that I’m proud of. He has worked hard and put himself in a position now where hopefully something happens with him at the AFL level.
“Masten and Palmer could have played the first five games in the colts, but they did the pre-season all the way through and elevated themselves through playing senior footy to be expected top picks.”
His coaching replacement, Shane Woewodin, played with the potential draftees and has no trouble ranking Taylor up with the most dedicated players he has seen.
“The one I really want to see go as far as he can with his football is Harry Taylor, even though it would leave a big hole at East Fremantle. I would love to see an AFL club pick him up,” Woewodin said.
“He is one of the most professional players I have ever played with, and that’s after 10 years in the AFL. His preparation and the way he looks after himself is outstanding and he deserves a chance. Not many players are 6’3 or 6’4 and can run and do the variety of things in different positions that he can.”

Swan Districts has had only 27 players drafted in 20 years, but will add to that by up to 10 players this year. One and two in the Swan Medal, Luke Miles and Dennis Armfield, will attract interest, but the colts side is generating real excitement.
Ex-West Coast and Collingwood player Chad Morrison coached the colts and believes Alex Rance, Brett Wolfenden, Jeff Garlett, Cody Garlett, David Ellard, James Embley, Josh Pullman, Lewis Jetta, Neville Jetta, Luke Pratt and Tony Notte could all be drafted.
“Alex Rance will be up there, Tony Notte is very talented and guys like Dave Ellard and Luke Pratt are also talented players,” Morrison said.
“They’ve all developed well over the year, guys like Cody Garlett played senior footy, Jeff Garlett is an amazing talent and even the guys that are 16 and 17 have their names up in lights all ready.”
Perth’s Myers, Chris Mayne and Cruize Garlett will also be taken, with East Perth’s Aaron Sweet and Luke Sampey, West Perth’s Steven Browne and Subiaco’s Stephen Martin and Trent Dennis-Lane expected to attract interest.
Of players with league experience, as well as East Fremantle’s Taylor, West Perth big man Josh Smith, East Perth’s Trevor Oliver, South Fremantle pair Callum Wilson and Leigh Kelly, and Subiaco’s Greg Broughton are worthy selections.


Sounds like a good choice to me. Just don't jinx him with number 22!!:D
 

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cats2rise

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#2
I think we will see more mature age players getting drafted. If he turns out to be a ready made player like Stokes, teams may start to look more at the guys who are a couple of years older.
 

finrod

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I've got a top highlights video of Harry I found on a WAFL web site!! Couldn't upload to Youtube because I can't be stuffed registering. His second efforts are pretty impressive. Anyhow, here is the download...

CLICK HERE!!!
 

DanA

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#7
Where do we see this kid playing? Running HalfBack?
Every time I think about it I realize these kids have it very tough. Breaking into the Geelong side will be next to impossible for the next 2 years. If Taylor wants to play forward he has to compete with S.J. If he plays back he competes with Milburn and Mackie. That's two AA and possibly our most improve player in 2007.

Likewise our KP draftees are up against 3 AA our captain and the highest rated KP draftee to come through the system since Riewoldt (Hawkins). Not to mention Nathan Ablett.

These kids will have to show a hell of a lot to get a look in.
 
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#8
21 is not really that old. People don't start playing cricket for Australia until they are 30

An 18yo would normally require 2-3 years development before playing regularly

GFC might be thinking H2 can play seniors a lot quicker than that
 
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#9
reading all the comments about 'tails' (better nickname than H, please lets just forget about playfair all together) it seems he's a 6 foot 3 running mid slash defender.... so sounds a bit like adam goodes... would i be right i not seen the video of him but gee half like goodes would be dam handy!
 

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Every time I think about it I realize these kids have it very tough. Breaking into the Geelong side will be next to impossible for the next 2 years. If Taylor wants to play forward he has to compete with S.J. If he plays back he competes with Milburn and Mackie. That's two AA and possibly our most improve player in 2007.

Likewise our KP draftees are up against 3 AA our captain and the highest rated KP draftee to come through the system since Riewoldt (Hawkins). Not to mention Nathan Ablett.

These kids will have to show a hell of a lot to get a look in.
If Taylor is a 193cm and bulks up a bit, surely he'll be able to play KPP. I figure one of the reasons that they overlooked Rance, Pears and Collier is that we need someone who can step up and play seniors now; Harley spent half the season injured, Egan's injury threatens to curtail his preseason and maybe even keep him out a few rounds at the start of the season.

As for Simpson and McKenna...yeah, well such is life. As someone else said in another thread, though, teams can change pretty quickly and you would have been laughed at this time last year if Josh Hunt had gone from core to fringe player and Mackie would be pushing for AA as a running half-back/defender.
 

sarah.13

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#11
Seems to be a very astute selection by the club. Has played close to 50 senior games at E.Fremantle and finished 3rd in their B&F behind Masten and Palmer who went top 8 in the draft.

Has replaced Playfair, S.Hunt and Spencer as back up for our Key Position Backmen.
Has been touted as a committed, quick with a penetrating left foot kick type who is ready (physically) to step into the senior side if we have a run of injuries.
At only 21 years old, still has plenty of development in him and could be a ready made replacement for Harley in a couple of years time.
 

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Rosso

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Thread starter #12
Seems to be a very astute selection by the club. Has played close to 50 senior games at E.Fremantle and finished 3rd in their B&F behind Masten and Palmer who went top 8 in the draft.
He did come third in their B&F but it was behind Theo Adams and Shane Woewodin. He was also just out of the top 10 in the league medal (Sandover from memory) finishing on 21 votes (winner had 29).
 

rizzo

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#13
He did come third in their B&F but it was behind Theo Adams and Shane Woewodin. He was also just out of the top 10 in the league medal (Sandover from memory) finishing on 21 votes (winner had 29).
Thats a bloody good effort from a CHB
 

thejester

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And looking at his stats as posted by Catman....he's physically ready to play at 193-194 and 90kg. The more I learn, the better this pick seems. In Wells we trust indeed.
 

sarah.13

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He did come third in their B&F but it was behind Theo Adams and Shane Woewodin. He was also just out of the top 10 in the league medal (Sandover from memory) finishing on 21 votes (winner had 29).
My mistake, still makes it an even better effort.
 

Turbocat

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#17
I suppose this wont be answered till we all have a look at the boy play but what I will be interested in is if he can play as an attacking player and/or as an athletic shutdown type.

For mine , the Franklins and the Brennans have the potential to show up our backline.These super athletic types are become more prevalent and really our only tall backman is Egan but he is better matched against power types like JB. In our one game against the Hawks last year it was Mackie that played against Franklin but he is such an important rebounder for us and he isn't really suited to be a stay at home shut down player.

So why him and not so other athletic kid?

The point on Egan is a fair one. Really , who knows when he will be back so an immediate backup was probably preferable to a long term prospect. Another point is the durability of Dasher. He has been amazing in his reliability and it may just continue to be so but injuries usually catch up with everyone sooner or later.

And maybe , inspite of all the rev up for Pears and Rance , this draft has all the appearance of a weakish draft , just like 2002. What happened in 2002. We pulled a rabbit out the hat with Mackie , maybe this kid is just Wells latest rabbit.
 

rizzo

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#18
Pears and Rance are two - three years away from really cementing a spot in a sides 22 (realistically). Our premiership window is the next 3 years. Taylor can cement his spot in our team now and fit in with our window.

Makes sense
 
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#19
mature enough to step in now if we get hit by injuries. Young enough to replace Milburn or Harley in 2-3 years time. A very well thought out choice if the lad is good enough.

I think the reason we chose the H before Rance and Pears would of been because we rated him a better prospect. Nothing more and nothing less. I also suspect Lobbe was heading our way before Port nabbed him hence the time lapse when it was our pick and Wells pretty much saying afterwards that H wasn't necessarily our prime target.

There are 2 things Wells excels at as a recruiting manger.

1: Getting good players with mid range picks
2. Bypassing hyped up kids that don't end up making an impact. He really does have the balls to make his own decision. And why shouldn't he.
 
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