Chris25
Moderator
- Oct 30, 2007
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- #26
Minairo (Michael) Frederick - 180cm, 65kg mid/forward from Woodville West Torrens
Michael Frederick, the twin brother of Port Adelaide Cat B rookie Martin, really entered the draft conversation late in the season - but began to firm as a late/rookie pick the closer the draft got.
He played as an overager in the SANFL U18s this year, and improved a lot as the season went on. A lot of that is the fact that he's grown, he was closer to the 170cm mark last year and had no size to him at all. As such he struggled to impact games, as opposed to his brother Martin who featured for SA at the Championships. Just to highlight how far he came with that extra year under his belt...
2018 - 3 matches, 7 disposals, 1 mark, 3 tackles, 1 goal
2019 - 18 matches, 15 disposals, 5 marks, 2 tackles, 2 goals
He absolutely saved his best games for the finals and was BOG in the Grand Final with 20 disposals and a goal - after 21 touches and 3 goals in the semi. They were both eye catching displays, and a perfect example of just what he can do on a football field - he provides a heap of outside run, has an excellent leap and is a really skilled kick of the ball. And unsurprisingly he got a late call up to the state combine as a result of that game - it was reported that Hawthorn and Port Adelaide were keen on him, so would have been the other two teams that nominated him. Coincidence that we traded up immediately before Port's pick? His 20m sprint of 2.94 seconds would have been good enough for 5th at the national combine, and his YoYo was more than respectable.
His brother Martin was more of a running half back last year for SA, whereas Michael has been playing more as an outside mid/half forward. Run and skills is exactly what you're getting with Michael, in those two areas he's probably as good as anyone and he has huge amounts of potential. It's best to really consider this as his first proper season of football, even though he is a 19 year old. I think he's shown more than the two NGA players available to us in the rookie draft.
But he is obviously a smokey, and he's still pretty slight. There's no guarantees about how he'll handle the step up in competition. I expect he'll probably play in the reserves for Peel for much of the start of next season, and hopefully we'll start to see what he have in the back half of the year.
Michael Frederick, the twin brother of Port Adelaide Cat B rookie Martin, really entered the draft conversation late in the season - but began to firm as a late/rookie pick the closer the draft got.
He played as an overager in the SANFL U18s this year, and improved a lot as the season went on. A lot of that is the fact that he's grown, he was closer to the 170cm mark last year and had no size to him at all. As such he struggled to impact games, as opposed to his brother Martin who featured for SA at the Championships. Just to highlight how far he came with that extra year under his belt...
2018 - 3 matches, 7 disposals, 1 mark, 3 tackles, 1 goal
2019 - 18 matches, 15 disposals, 5 marks, 2 tackles, 2 goals
He absolutely saved his best games for the finals and was BOG in the Grand Final with 20 disposals and a goal - after 21 touches and 3 goals in the semi. They were both eye catching displays, and a perfect example of just what he can do on a football field - he provides a heap of outside run, has an excellent leap and is a really skilled kick of the ball. And unsurprisingly he got a late call up to the state combine as a result of that game - it was reported that Hawthorn and Port Adelaide were keen on him, so would have been the other two teams that nominated him. Coincidence that we traded up immediately before Port's pick? His 20m sprint of 2.94 seconds would have been good enough for 5th at the national combine, and his YoYo was more than respectable.
His brother Martin was more of a running half back last year for SA, whereas Michael has been playing more as an outside mid/half forward. Run and skills is exactly what you're getting with Michael, in those two areas he's probably as good as anyone and he has huge amounts of potential. It's best to really consider this as his first proper season of football, even though he is a 19 year old. I think he's shown more than the two NGA players available to us in the rookie draft.
But he is obviously a smokey, and he's still pretty slight. There's no guarantees about how he'll handle the step up in competition. I expect he'll probably play in the reserves for Peel for much of the start of next season, and hopefully we'll start to see what he have in the back half of the year.