Troy Menzel

[Footy Smarts]

Menzel jnr is too risky with our first pick for mine. You have to keep hitting your first pick consistently or you are in big trouble ~5 years down the track.

08 - Brown
09 - Menzel
10 - Smedts and Guthrie
11 - Split first rounder into Hamling and Kersten
12 - ?

Not too many cast iron certainties there. Menzel on his second reco. 2010 tracking ok. Kersten decent first year in VFL. Have to be careful going forward.

Early draft picks are so over-rated. Sure you can get more talented players but getting a gun with a mid-late draft pick is just as worthy as getting one with a high draft pick.

Our drafting over 2008-2010 was among the best in the league. Over that period this is the players we got and how I'd rate them out of 10 in terms of the selection:

08:
Brown (Pick 15): 5 - Injury plagued but definitely has talent. Still a good chance of becoming a solid or better player.
Gillies (Pick 33): 3 - Hasn't stepped up to where we want. Hopefully we get a decent pick upgrade for him on the trade table.
Motlop (Pick 39): 7 - Still inconsistent but could be anything. Could turn in to a genius selection.
T Hunt (Pick 49): 7 - Not going to be a superstar but turning into a very consistent AFL quality player.

So Gillies looks to be a fail and Brown would want to step up soon. The last 2 picks are quality though and there aren't more than a couple of players that have shown more that were picked after them (Sloane would be one). That draft's solid but not nailed.

09:
Menzel (Pick 17): 8 - Gun pick up who was a key part of our premiership team until injury. Horrible luck with injury.
Duncan (Pick 28): 8 - One of our few to have a nice run with injuries. Super prospect who is already a key player.
Christensen (Pick 40): 10 - Second year players with 15 odd games experience shouldn't perform like he did in the GF. It simply doesn't happen that way. Gun recruit.
Vardy (Pick 42): 9 - Again had horrible luck with injuries but looks like one of the best tall prospects from this draft.
Cowan (Pick 56): 5 - Looked ok but injured all this year. Too early to judge.

That's as good a draft as you will ever see. The only thing preventing us from having 4 stars from this draft is injury. Unless they get re-injured I'd back all 4 to be AA at some stage in their careers.

10:
Smedts (Pick 15): 8 - Injured for his first season but this year showed why he's rated so highly. Will become an A-grade midfielder.
Guthrie (Pick 23): 7 - Good kid who's rated highly. Will be a 200+ gamer.
Horlin-Smith (Pick 37): 7 - Expect him to be a very good player long-term.
Schroder (Pick 54): 7 - Bit early to judge but for a late pick has showed a fair bit in the VFL so far.

Again this looks like it will be at the very least a solid draft.

Overall we've had 13 picks in those 3 years and I'd say we can already say we'll have 8 players that are at least solid AFL quality (Hunt, Motlop, Christensen, Menzel, Vardy, Duncan, Smedts, Guthrie). That's an incredible hit rate and would be better than any other club in the comp. This is what makes great teams, not just doing well with first rounders (which by the way we've also been very good at).

 

[sarah.13]

^^^^^^^^^^
Good summary footscore.
The attractive thing about Caddy is that he was part of 2010 draft and is ready to play solid footabll after 3 pre seasons.

 

[DanA]

I'd redraft Mark Blake with our first pick if it meant we got player of Christenson, Ducan and Vardy's calibre with our next three picks.

We've somehow managed to polish up a turd into gold with the picks we've had the last 2-3 years. Hopefully it can continue.

 

[Selective Retention]

Early draft picks are so over-rated. Sure you can get more talented players but getting a gun with a mid-late draft pick is just as worthy as getting one with a high draft pick.

First round picks are the meat and potatoes.

Corey, Bartel, Kelly, Selwood all first round picks. Add Ablett F/S and that's our premiership midfield basically.

Yes you can pluck a Chapman, or Enright, or Ling 30+ but you can't pick an entire team with those sort of selections.

Melbourne have done well picking players like Howe and McDonald up late in drafts but they've ****ed up practically every first round pick so the great late scores don't get the backslaps because it makes no difference to the overall strength of the side.

 

[Son_Of_God29]

World renowned knee surgeon Professor Julian Feller has given SA star Troy Menzel the all clear in regards to his knees. Is he still a top 10 pick in this years draft?

 

[year of the cat]

World renowned knee surgeon Professor Julian Feller has given SA star Troy Menzel the all clear in regards to his knees. Is he still a top 10 pick in this years draft?

If we get Caddy I can now see us taking Menzel if he's available, particularly if he has been given a good report from an orthopoedic surgeon. Think someone will take the "risk" before us however. The kid has serious talent.

 

[Footy Smarts]

First round picks are the meat and potatoes.

Corey, Bartel, Kelly, Selwood all first round picks. Add Ablett F/S and that's our premiership midfield basically.

Yes you can pluck a Chapman, or Enright, or Ling 30+ but you can't pick an entire team with those sort of selections.

Melbourne have done well picking players like Howe and McDonald up late in drafts but they've screwed up practically every first round pick so the great late scores don't get the backslaps because it makes no difference to the overall strength of the side.

I'm not saying they aren't important. I'm just saying that if you hit with your top draft picks but nothing else then you'll struggle.

You mention the top draft picks we got right but at the same time I could throw up names like Spriggs, Bray, Foster, Justin Murphy, Gardiner, Tenace, Thurley. All of these players cost us top 25 draft picks between 1999 and 2003. That's 7 top 25 picks wasted in 5 years and yet over that time we came up with one of the greatest lists of all time.

The most important thing is how you develop players and whether you can identify talent better than other clubs. This isn't really done in the first round since there's never a pick in the top 10 that's a massive surprise. The key is spotting a potential top 10 draftee that no other club rates so that you can get them later like Christensen or Vardy.

 

[David the Cat]

Good work Smarts!....but we were bloody lucky to get Vardy at pick 42.....I remember Emma Quayle was dumbfounded he fell that far.

Luck doesnt go astray.

 

[Turbocat]

If we get Caddy I can now see us taking Menzel if he's available, particularly if he has been given a good report from an orthopoedic surgeon. Think someone will take the "risk" before us however. The kid has serious talent.

I think he will be there at 15 but certainly not at 36. Why. The draft combine has a history of lowering some kids , anyone who doesn't compete or is hindered can drop. Not always but sometimes.

Two names I had previously mentions Towers and Lonergan , have both improved their chances. Towers broke NicNats record for leap.

 

[year of the cat]

I think he will be there at 15 but certainly not at 36. Why. The draft combine has a history of lowering some kids , anyone who doesn't compete or is hindered can drop. Not always but sometimes.

Two names I had previously mentions Towers and Lonergan , have both improved their chances. Towers broke NicNats record for leap.

I reckon that Menzel has gone up and down the draft order like a yo-yo. You may be correct. He would certainly be a risk. But whilst I don't think he will go in the top 8 I think he will now go soon after. In a way I hope he does so that it's taken out of our hands.

The latter two sound might be solid 2nd round picks. I just wonder after the trade period is over whether we will still have one if we are serious about McIntosh.

 

[footscore]

Towers broke NicNats record for leap.

85cm standing vertical jump
very, very impressive. That's a 33 inch vertical leap off two feet and he's a midfielder so he fairly compact/robust in size.

Spud Webb had a 50 inch standing vertical jump

 

[sarah.13]

Murdoch's younger bro has done very well in the speed and kicking tests, One to keep in mind!

 

[Jmac2225]

Murdoch's younger bro has done very well in the speed and kicking tests, One to keep in mind!

Hadn't heard much talk of him prior to now. Could be cheap get?

 

[catseye]

Talking to a work colleague today who works with Troy's dad. Says Troy is keen to play footy with his brother in the hoops. Whether we want to take the risk or whether he is still around is another thing

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

Talking to a work colleague today who works with Troy's dad. Says Troy is keen to play footy with his brother in the hoops. Whether we want to take the risk or whether he is still around is another thing

Technically speaking, doesn't he work at the same place you do then?

 

[Strangled Cat]

Talking to a work colleague today who works with Troy's dad. Says Troy is keen to play footy with his brother in the hoops. Whether we want to take the risk or whether he is still around is another thing

That's great news and would be awesome if we could get him but unfortunately we have no control over that unless he is still available at pick 15. I really want to get him but the good news of Troy's knee being fine means bad news for us as he may not even be around for our first pick in the draft, let alone our second like some of us were hoping.

 

[Rosso]

Technically speaking, doesn't he work at the same place you do then?

Yeah it's like my wife's son's sister has the greatest Dad of all time.



Me!!

 

[DanA]

Technically speaking, doesn't he work at the same place you do then?

Plenty of cases where that's not true.

 

[Strangled Cat]

Technically speaking, doesn't he work at the same place you do then?

Not necessarily. It depends what you want to define as a work colleague. I work with a lot of contractors and freelance technicians who do work for many different companies. Whilst I see some of these guys on an almost daily basis, they have usually gone between at least 2 or 3 places daily carrying out various duties. I consider these people work colleagues even though we aren't employed by the same company.

 

[catseye]

Technically speaking, doesn't he work at the same place you do then?

He was a contractor, so he does not only work for us

 

[Strangled Cat]

He was a contractor, so he does not only work for us

It's good to see another Cats supporter from Adelaide! There's a few of us around now!

 

[The rabbi]

Good work Smarts!....but we were bloody lucky to get Vardy at pick 42.....I remember Emma Quayle was dumbfounded he fell that far.

Luck doesnt go astray.

I heard that when it was Wells' selection at the draft and Vardy was still there for selection, Wells could not get Vardy's name out quick enough. Wells may also have been dumbfounded.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I heard that when it was Wells' selection at the draft and Vardy was still there for selection, Wells could not get Vardy's name out quick enough. Wells may also have been dumbfounded.

He will probably suffer similar stage fright if Menzel is still there at 15.

 

[DanA]

Emma Quayle has hinted she thinks he'll go top 8

 

[Grizzly_82]

Would be a miracle to get him, I suspect Port or Adel will get him before us as they seem to very keen on the lad.