Which Youngskin?

[Damp Squarie]

I hate the word rookie!
Who should we promote for Biglands?

I dont know if any are worthy yet

 

[Vader]

http://www.afc.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=4417&newsId=55551

Rookies must demand spot: Hart
Author: Katrina Gill 11:01 PM Fri 22 February, 2008

ADELAIDE assistant coach Ben Hart says the Crows are looking for one young rookie to “put their hand up” and take Rhett Biglands’ spot on the senior list.

Biglands underwent a second knee-reconstruction on Thursday night and is likely to be moved onto the club’s long-term injury list.

Under AFL rules that means that one of Adelaide’s rookie-listed players - James Moss, Jared Petrenko, Ed Curnow or Brodie Martin - could be elevated onto the senior list in Biglands’ place.

Hart said he wasn’t sure if the club would elevate a rookie immediately, but revealed the coaching staff were “thinking about it.”

“I’m not sure if we’ll elevate a rookie to be honest. I know they’re thinking about it, but it’s not a certainty,” he said.

“In saying that, if one of the rookies puts their hand up and demands a spot then we’ll certainly put them on the senior list.”

Moss, a former junior state wicket keeper, had a late start to the pre-season because of pre-existing cricket commitments, but coach Neil Craig says he has “come a long way in a short amount of time” since arriving at West Lakes.

The rebounding defender was Adelaide’s first pick in the 2007 NAB AFL Rookie draft and was highly rated by several other clubs including Port Adelaide.

Petrenko had a shoulder reconstruction in October last year and is yet to join in full-scale training. However, the gifted onballer has increased his aerobic fitness and is already a proven SANFL player.

Martin, from Meningie on the South Australia's coast, has showed plenty of dash on the track, while Curnow, a junior long-distance title-holder, has already beaten Nathan van Berlo’s time in the club’s 3km time trial.

“They have all been really good. Ed Curnow, certainly, has a go at things and James Moss has done a lot of training with us and has a lot of skill,” Hart said.

“It could be any of them and I suppose over the next few weeks we’ll find out.

“We’ve got such a good crop of youngsters at the moment and they’re all very keen to play. They have that passion and that drive and they want to play.

“They have done a bit of work physically and I think with coming through the U18 system the kids really know what they have to do and how fit they have to be.

“Any of them could slip on to the senior list pretty easily.”

Interesting that they seem keen to elevate someone this year, having had 2 players on the LTI list last year but only one elevation (McIntyre) who never played.

Would think elevation would be dependent upon SANFL form, so give it a couple of weeks until we see how they're travelling.

 

[IddyBiddy]

I would have thought if they were really keen they would have played some in the NAB??

 

[Vader]

I would have thought if they were really keen they would have played some in the NAB??

Not really, they have other priorities this year.

For starters, we need to see how our young ruckmen will perform, working out which is the best option for R1 (and it seems that it's not as cut and dried as "Maric & Griffin").

Then there's the test to see how our new look forward line will function - so far so good. Then there's the "new" midfield: can they do the job without Edwards, Goodwin & Macca - so far so good here too.

With so many players on our list who had little or no AFL experience (11 senior listed players have yet to make their AFL debut, 2 more yet to make their debut for the club), there is little need to see what the rookies are capable of unless they had been standouts during the pre-season (which appears not to be the case).