Toast Welcome to Freo Caleb Serong– Fremantle’s 2nd 2019 National Draft Pick [Pick #8]

[purplerunsdeep2]

Kids growing on me

Will spell the end for a few of our fringe mids - half forwards end of next season

Banfield, crowden, Giro, north, Shultz all in trouble with Serong and Henry jumping ahead

What I liked was the competitive streak he has, and the fact he’s aware that he needs to curb it a little

Looking forward to that attitude and fierce attack at every contest

Like I said, kids growing on me

Welcome Caleb ️


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Taylor]

Will spell the end for a few of our fringe mids - half forwards end of next season

That's a good point. I know they say that the draft pick is just a number once you're at the club but watch the three top ten picks gets an inside track at playing at AFL level.

With that kicking on Young I think you pick him in the team and then figure out how to make it work, so I'll add that Blakely/Hughes are also going to be under pressure from this draft. (which I know you weren't excluding, you were speaking purely about the impact of Serong and Henry)

Adding players to the top of the pile is always better than throwing more on the bottom.

 

[Joao]

Going to be a decent fantasy/SC option given he likes a tackle.

 

[Dale147]

Earning Respect First Item On Serong Agenda

JORDAN MCARDLE

Caleb Serong refuses to put a limit on his debut season at Fremantle and can’t wait to learn off the best in the business in Nat Fyfe. The explosive 178cm midfielder-forward , likened to Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray, wasn’t sure he was heading to the Dockers until his name was read out with pick No.8 last night but said it was a “nice surprise” . He has admired Fyfe from afar and hopes to earn the respect of the captain and his new teammates on the training track this summer. “I think everyone is excited to meet Nat Fyfe, he’s a dual Brownlow medallist and a ripper,” Serong said. “I love watching him play footy and I can’t wait to meet him. “For me it’s about not putting a limit on what I can achieve, I just want to get stuck into preseason training and work as hard as I can. “I want to earn the respect of the boys initially and try to learn as much as I can. “If that results in playing early doors then fantastic, if not and I need to learn a bit more, then I’m more than happy to work away in the twos to try and get an opportunity. “I know they’ve got a young and exciting list so I can’t wait to head over there and meet all the boys.” Serong has never been to WA before, but felt that boarding at Geelong Grammar in the past few years will put him in good stead for the move across the country. “That’s definitely been a massive help, I’ve adjusted and gained those skills required to live out of home,” he said. “I’ve never been over to WA so I can’t wait to step off that plane and get a tan already.” The Gippsland Power product was named Vic Country’s MVP and an under-18 All-Australian after impressive numbers during the carnival, averaging 23.5 disposals, 5.5 marks, 5.2 clearances and 8.5 tackles.

 

[Kapow!!!]

Has he grown on anyone else purely because of how much they rate Young and picking Serong makes us just that little bit more likely to retain him?

I mean the kid seems good, *cough*, really good.

 

[G Mus]

Has he grown on anyone else purely because of how much they rate Young and picking Serong makes us just that little bit more likely to retain him?

I mean the kid seems good, *cough*, really good.

Yep, looks a decent handcuff

 

[apuchar]

Nah. That would be silly. It was pick 8 for God's sake. He better be elite.

 

[Taylor]

How many marking midfielders do we have? Fyfe, Cerra isn't terrible above his head, Mundy has good reach... as far as velcro mitts goes we might have just added our second after Fyfe.

That's going to be very handy moving the ball from half back.

 

[DaveLister]

How many marking midfielders do we have? Fyfe, Cerra isn't terrible above his head, Mundy has good reach... as far as velcro mitts goes we might have just added our second after Fyfe.

That's going to be very handy moving the ball from half back.

Sturt, if you want to count him, is probably a better mark and 10cm taller

 

[apuchar]

Finally found his combine results

Combine Results:
Speed - 3.12sec 20m sprint,
Endurance - 6min 24sec 2km,
Agility - 8.28sec

comparisons

20m sprint (seconds)
Sam Philp 2.867

2km time trial results (min:sec)
Jay Rantall 5:50 minutes

Agility (seconds)
Hayden Young 7.940

shifter

CALEB SERONG Gippsland Power/Warragul/Geelong Grammar 178cm 88kg 09/02/2001 Prolific ball winning small midfielder/forward with his one-touch marking overhead and clean hands at ground level features of his game. A powerful athlete with a penetrating kick, he has been outstanding over the last two years in representative matches using his tough, physical approach to win possession. Averaged 23.5 disposals, 5.5 marks, 5.2 clearances and 8.5 tackles across the 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships to win Vic Country’s MVP this year as well as 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 All-Australian honours. Mixed his football between Geelong Grammar and Gippsland Power only playing five matches in the NAB League averaging 24.2 disposals and 5.6 tackles. Competitive Advantage: Clean hands and game sense.

 

[estibador]

Meh... this kid looks pretty average.

Damn... this kid looks like a gun!

 

[sherrif]

Finally found his combine results

Combine Results:
Speed - 3.12sec 20m sprint,
Endurance - 6min 24sec 2km,
Agility - 8.28sec

comparisons

20m sprint (seconds)
Sam Philp 2.867

2km time trial results (min:sec)
Jay Rantall 5:50 minutes

Agility (seconds)
Hayden Young 7.940

shifter

CALEB SERONG Gippsland Power/Warragul/Geelong Grammar 178cm 88kg 09/02/2001 Prolific ball winning small midfielder/forward with his one-touch marking overhead and clean hands at ground level features of his game. A powerful athlete with a penetrating kick, he has been outstanding over the last two years in representative matches using his tough, physical approach to win possession. Averaged 23.5 disposals, 5.5 marks, 5.2 clearances and 8.5 tackles across the 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships to win Vic Country’s MVP this year as well as 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 All-Australian honours. Mixed his football between Geelong Grammar and Gippsland Power only playing five matches in the NAB League averaging 24.2 disposals and 5.6 tackles. Competitive Advantage: Clean hands and game sense.

His speed will improve a heap dont worry. He's currently 179 but 88kg. Needs to get a bit more streamlined. If this makes sense the best thing about him is that he tackles fantastically and has great pressure despite not being anywhere near what he will be athletically in terms of covering the ground. Still looks explosive with his strength and take off speed already. I still think he his best attribute is that terrific potential to be both a great athlete and a natural footballer.

 

[sherrif]

Sturt, if you want to count him, is probably a better mark and 10cm taller

Cerra and Acres will be good too in terms of overhead marking.

 

[Megalon]

Serong wasn't on my radar pre-draft so I've been watching his highlight videos (two or three times each, spot the Freo tragic).

From what I've watched he's a great mark for his height, isn't afraid for a kick on goal, loves to tackle, and would be able to play round 1... but my god his inside work is sublime. He's just able to do these perfect extremely quick handballs to advantage while being tackled or under immense pressure, it's not flashy and easy to miss how elite it is until you rewatch the videos. Just has time and space inside that you can't teach from what I've watched.

Would you agree with this Chris25, or do you think the edited videos make him look better than he is?

 

[Jezzitizle]

Don't see Elliot either. Neale a little bit.

He obviously has similarities to all of the them but doesn't move the same as any of them, hence he looks different to me.

Shaun Higgins is the first player I thought of after watching highlights.

 

[sherrif]

Shaun Higgins is the first player I thought of after watching highlights.

Cross between Neale and Devon Smith with Hasleby marking. Inside work of Neale. Tackling , pressure acts, decent pace and long kick of Devon Smth. Haslebys underrated marking for his height. No pressure.

 

[raffrox]

It's not just the clean hands, it's the vision to set up the play as well. Point guard like vision imo.

He's no Hayden Young by foot but there doesn't look anything wrong with his kicking.

 

[Lach72]

I dunno. Bit of Daniel Kerr minus the Antenna and Ketamine?

 

[Docker82]

Has he grown on anyone else purely because of how much they rate Young and picking Serong makes us just that little bit more likely to retain him?

I mean the kid seems good, *cough*, really good.

When was the last time we actually lost a Vic Country player? We’ve actually lost more WA players to Victoria in the last ten years than Vic Country players.

 

[CapitalA]

Neale 2.0 his highlights inside getting the hard ball and handballs out so nicely to advantage so teammates can run onto it out of the stoppage with speed I actually think he looks better than Neale but obviously it is not afl level so who knows but those highlights from fremantle are really good much better than the ones floating around previously.

 

[yyou]

I work with a guy who coaches part-time with the Western Jets & he reckons Serong is an absolute ripper. He said Serong tore them up in the finals & he was, in his opinion, a standout from the whole bunch.

 

[summerthebat]

I watched about 30 minutes of him on the NAB league app.

He has superb game sense. It's amazing how many contests he gets involved in, however, quite often he was unaccountable at stoppages, quite often playing on the attacking side but is mostly the first to react and lay a tackle when it goes to the opposition's advantage.

He is very confident with his kicking, despite turning it over a lot but weirdly, not because the kick was poorly executed, just because he misread the defensiive setup. I'm not overly concerned about it because he has a great short kick on him, so I'd be expecting nothing ambitious (or want) from him at AFL level, he'll kick short and move into space.

Contested work is deluxe, looks better at his age than Brayshaw did to me coming into the draft.

 

[apuchar]

I watched about 30 minutes of him on the NAB league app.

He has superb game sense. It's amazing how many contests he gets involved in, however, quite often he was unaccountable at stoppages, quite often playing on the attacking side but is mostly the first to react and lay a tackle when it goes to the opposition's advantage.

He is very confident with his kicking, despite turning it over a lot but weirdly, not because the kick was poorly executed, just because he misread the defensiive setup. I'm not overly concerned about it because he has a great short kick on him, so I'd be expecting nothing ambitious (or want) from him at AFL level, he'll kick short and move into space.

Contested work is deluxe, looks better at his age than Brayshaw did to me coming into the draft.

That's what I felt. His kicking technique appears very good, he just doesn't seem to be able to work out what the defender could do.

 

[jusjoshin]

Love his work in congestion. Wow. Just knows where everyone around him is. Can't teach that sort of awareness.

 

[Dale147]

Lads are on their way. Actually probly here by now. Someone’s place for tea.