U18 Champs U18 Champs Round 4 - Western Australia v South Australia (June 24, 2pm Perth time)

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Nice article on Hine Bastion

AFL draft 2023: WA under-18s coach Ben Dyer praises speedy half-back Oscar Hine-Baston​

Western Australia under-18s coach Ben Dyer believes fleet-footed Perth half-back Oscar Hine-Baston is “playing his way” onto the radar of AFL scouts on the back of a strong start to the season.

The Guildford Grammar graduate, who is part of West Coast’s next generation academy, has impressed for both the Demons and WA as an over-aged prospect.

Dyer felt the 18-year-old always had the athletic attributes, but has improved the defensive side of his game to be a shining light for the Black Swans across the practice matches and under-18s championship-opening loss to the Allies.


The Eagles have priority access to Hine-Baston, provided he falls outside of the top 40 picks, while they can also add him as a category-B rookie if he is overlooked by the other 17 AFL clubs in the national and rookie drafts.

I’m liking the game of Hine-Baston at the moment,” Dyer told The West Australian.

“He’s got a really good balance, he’s defending really well and giving us a bit the other way with his offence as well.

“I reckon he’s going pretty well. He’s always had acceleration and high speed with ball in hand but he’s just become a lot more reliable with his ground balls and his contested stuff.

“When you marry that all up with his athletic attributes, it makes him a bit more of an appealing prospect.

“I think throughout our practice matches and also round one, if he wasn’t really on a radar before he’s probably playing his way onto it.

“He’s been a positive for us, no doubt.”
 
I was only able to watch the last 15 minutes due to the instability of my piss-poor Wi-Fi (forget the fact I pay for 300 mbps fiber-to-the-premises Wi-Fi). I will make sure to watch the game in full over the span of this week, as well as the other Championship games I've missed.
WA report:
I really like the look of Clay Hall. I think he could be nearing the top 10 come November. He has great endurance, is a real hard worker, and can win a clearance and get the ball onto the chest of a forward inside 50. He looks clean and efficient by foot and by hand

Dan Curtin showed his versatility once again by playing in the midfield. He's quite the smooth mover for someone at his height. He's going to be so hard to stop as a key defender, key forward, midfielder, or wherever he plays around the ground. I think he could still go pick 2 come November, like I thought coming into the year, even if he's not setting the world alight.

Koen Sanchez. I watched him play last year against SA and was very impressed. I walked away today thinking the same thing. Dylan Moore is one of my favourite players at Hawthorn and is unique today in being just about the only true half forward in the league, but Sanchez looks set to join him soon. I would actually like him at Hawthorn. I had him as about the 15th-best prospect entering the year. I'm not sure that will exactly come true, but he should be a 2nd to 3rd round prospect.

Coen Livingstone will no doubt get drafted. A massive unit at 200cm that can play at a high level up forward or in the ruck. West Coast will be hoping he drops below pick 40, or else they might have to select him beforehand.

Mitchell Edwards is a good tap ruck who can certainly get around the ground. I'm not as high on him as others, but he should be a top-20 pick. He and Ethan Read will have clubs licking their lips.

Tholstrup and Hardeman look like good prospects. Tholstrup should go around pick 16. He's quite a unique prospect at 188cm. It will be intriguing to see what position he plays at the AFL level. He has great explosion and athleticism and can take a strong, solid mark. Hardeman should become quite a good halfback flanker at the AFL level.

I only saw the last 15 minutes, but I liked the look of Oscar Hine-Baston. From all reports, he did a good lockdown job on Delean, provided a few flashy moments in the last 15 minutes, and appears to have energy to burn. He looks set to be a draft bolter.
 
I was only able to watch the last 15 minutes due to the instability of my piss-poor Wi-Fi (forget the fact I pay for 300 mbps fiber-to-the-premises Wi-Fi). I will make sure to watch the game in full over the span of this week, as well as the other Championship games I've missed.
WA report:
I really like the look of Clay Hall. I think he could be nearing the top 10 come November. He has great endurance, is a real hard worker, and can win a clearance and get the ball onto the chest of a forward inside 50. He looks clean and efficient by foot and by hand

Dan Curtin showed his versatility once again by playing in the midfield. He's quite the smooth mover for someone at his height. He's going to be so hard to stop as a key defender, key forward, midfielder, or wherever he plays around the ground. I think he could still go pick 2 come November, like I thought coming into the year, even if he's not setting the world alight.

Koen Sanchez. I watched him play last year against SA and was very impressed. I walked away today thinking the same thing. Dylan Moore is one of my favourite players at Hawthorn and is unique today in being just about the only true half forward in the league, but Sanchez looks set to join him soon. I would actually like him at Hawthorn. I had him as about the 15th-best prospect entering the year. I'm not sure that will exactly come true, but he should be a 2nd to 3rd round prospect.

Coen Livingstone will no doubt get drafted. A massive unit at 200cm that can play at a high level up forward or in the ruck. West Coast will be hoping he drops below pick 40, or else they might have to select him beforehand.

Mitchell Edwards is a good tap ruck who can certainly get around the ground. I'm not as high on him as others, but he should be a top-20 pick. He and Ethan Read will have clubs licking their lips.

Tholstrup and Hardeman look like good prospects. Tholstrup should go around pick 16. He's quite a unique prospect at 188cm. It will be intriguing to see what position he plays at the AFL level. He has great explosion and athleticism and can take a strong, solid mark. Hardeman should become quite a good halfback flanker at the AFL level.

I only saw the last 15 minutes, but I liked the look of Oscar Hine-Baston. From all reports, he did a good lockdown job on Delean, provided a few flashy moments in the last 15 minutes, and appears to have energy to burn. He looks set to be a draft bolter.
SA report:
They looked pretty average. It's not great when you lose by 28 points to a side that got Hiroshima'd by 88 points just a week ago. There's a lot of talent in the SA side, but it just hasn't come together for them at this carnival. They will undoubtedly be disappointed with their effort this year.

Moir had a good performance by all accounts last week, but it seems he disappeared again today. I only saw him once in the last 15 minutes. It really is unfortunate to see. Here's a man with all the talent in the world—the talent to be a top 4 pick—but doesn’t have the work ethic or hunger to match. He could certainly still go top 10 come November, but it is very disappointing to see.

Delean kicked a very nice goal in the last 15 minutes that I think highlighted what he can become at the AFL level. He should go on and become a top general forward in the league. A top 16 pick for me.

I didn't see Patton much, but it seems he had a good game based on all accounts. I also didn't see McAuliffe a lot either, but it seems his performance has attracted ambivalence from some on here. I didn't see much of Bodie Ryan, and this is the first time I've heard of him, but it seems he had a performance that has put him in the draft spotlight.

As a Hawthorn fan, I watched Will McCabe pretty closely in the last 15 minutes. He certainly has the attributes. You can see his height, but he moves quite smoothly for his height and appears to be a natural CHB, which is exactly what we need down at Waverley Park. He should slot very nicely alongside James Blanck (and hopefully Denver Grainger-Barras) for the next decade. But it is clear that he is raw. His major moment in the last 15 minutes wasn't great as he mistimed jumping up for the mark, which allowed Sam Van Rooyen to mark and have a shot on goal for WA, but you can see his talent. We should draft him anywhere from the late first round to pick 40 range. He was named one of the best by the SANFL website.

Sid Draper, Tyler Welsh, and Phoenix Hargrave were all exceptional as underagers once again, despite the result. All 3 should be in the top 10, but I think Draper and Welsh could both be in the top 5, if not the top 3. I know Davo-27 had all 3 in his Top 50 for the 2024 Draft at the end of last year, so I don’t think I'm going insane when saying that. Louie Montgomery has also impressed. I know Davo-27 had 8 South Australians in his 2024 Top 50, so it appears 2024 will be a good year for the South Australian Under 18s.
 

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WA;

Clay Hall BOG still limited but his acceleration and kicking was as good as ive seen it from him

Curtain, i liked seeing him onball. He wouldnt play as a true onballer at AFL level but do what Dawson is doing. Recruiters probably just wanted to see it and not much for him to play on vs SA. Hes firming as a top 4 player with Walter, Reid and Duursma now.

Sanchez, was very good. Ive always been a big fan, he plays like a certain AFL player but i cant put my finger on it

Collard, very frustrating day for him. Got space then team mates wouldnt give him the ball and the conditions didnt suit. His talent is unquestionable though. I still think recruiters wouldve been very happy with his pressure side of his game today

M.Edwards, was influential, did no harm to his prospects or raise them either

Tholstrup, very good and people love him because hes like the honey badger. Probably cemented a top 20 spot today, id say top 15

Torrent, was very good late, gets drafted. His kicking and decision making a class above and hes a good size now

Hardeman, not bad. Solid.

Oskar Hindbastein, eagles will do alot worse than taking him late imo. Looks like he can shut players down. Did the job on Delean today

SA; Its looking a pretty ordinary crop

Patton was quite good

Delean, shut down to hard to comment. Hard one to place for me aswell. Hindbastein did a good job on him

Macauliffe, Huge kick for goal, hard one to place. He just doesnt have noticeable influence but has a booming kick and os a big body who ends up with clearances and disposals to some decent amount

McCabe, ok. Didnt notice a heap

Slade ok, paniced a bit and still timid but his smarts and reading the play is elite

The underagers look good
Welsh, Montgomery, Draper

Hargrave made some good plays and disasters
I forgot to mention

Tom Wheaton, was very impressed with what i saw there

Hes my best SA prospect now

Struggling to place Delean, Mccabe and Macauliffe though
 
Didn't see it with Patton personally, ineffectual when SA was out of possession, often caught in no mans land and the few times he was around a marking contest he timed his jumps poorly
I think the recruiters will struggle to overlook him if hes a 195cm KPD come november and has the ability by foot that he showed

19 disp and 11 R50s and none of the talls of WA had much influence forward

Van Rooyen and Kentfield for most of the game had very little impact. Van Rooyen only got going in the last when the ball was flying in all the time
 
Where is this?
They actually put those stats up at the end of the game (after the siren rang) on the TV coverage, so I suppose if they have the replay up you would be able to verify that WalshistheGOAT put is what they had.

Edit# this dude has put up Curtin's possessions in a video and confirms the possessions

 
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They actually put those stats up at the end of the game (after the siren rang) on the TV coverage, so I suppose if they have the replay up you would be able to verify that WalshistheGOAT put is what they had.

Edit# this dude has put up Curtin's possessions in a video and confirms the possessions



He's a good mover for a KPP, no doubt.

But he doesn't have Bont/Cripps speed/agility for his size. He's too slow to play in an AFL midfield.

I'm not even sure he has the off the mark speed of a Moore, he lumbers a bit like most KPP's, which worries me how good of a defender he actually is at the next level, as he's not demonstrating what his agility and movement will be required for at the next level.

He's not a AFL midfielder at the next level and I wish coaches would quit playing him there for the remainder of the year.

Personally, I'm not drafting him as a midfielder or a half back flanker.

Clubs want the next Darcy Moore or Jake Lever.

I want more examples of closing speed on the lead, intercepts and contested marks and less half back flanker work on the wing.

He's probably a better prospect the McAsey was at the same age, but we saw alot more aerially from McAsey imo at this age. McAsey struggled with one-on-one defending and some of the athleticism required to man AFL forwards.

Is he a better prospect than Gibcus was in u/18's? Who really stood out with some elite "jump off the page" AFL defender traits at u/18 level? I'm not sure he is....

I'd be very nervous spending a top 6-7 pick on him imo.
 
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