Wisbey Profiles

[Mad Dog]

Paul Kelly's disposal was pretty poor when he started.

and couldn't kick over a ham sandwich.....

 

[Mad Dog]

Did anyone see "Kirk" Douglas on Ch 9 news last night ??

Seems very positive about being here.....was obviously asked about the GHTM* syndrome and responded positively saying that from what he has seen so far the club has improved in looking after it's interstate recruits since the Johnson / Stinger / Fungus days.........Now thats a positive comment but I don't know how he is in a position to make a comparison.

Seems an impressive young fella....reminded me of The Count's first brush with the press and how well he spoke. Apparently he is living with Reilly which could be seen as either a +/- (?)

I must admit....they showed a bit of vision of him doing some drills with short passes......

awkward. kicking. style. ......

hopefully it was his non-preferred....

Over all though a good first interview.



*Go Home To Mummy

 

[Macca19]

Did anyone see "Kirk" Douglas on Ch 9 news last night ??

Seems very positive about being here.....was obviously asked about the GHTM* syndrome and responded positively saying that from what he has seen so far the club has improved in looking after it's interstate recruits since the Johnson / Stinger / Fungus days

One has to ask how on earth would he know how the club treated Johnson/Stenglien/Fergus?

 

[Mad Dog]

One has to ask how on earth would he know how the club treated Johnson/Stenglien/Fergus?

My point exactly........maybe using a "party line" to deflect the issue

 

[RooDog]

One has to ask how on earth would he know how the club treated Johnson/Stenglien/Fergus?

good point, the club looked after them fairly well i would have thought, i know stenglien was looked after well because he already had some family here and the crows encouraged him to spend time with them so he didnt feel so home sick.

 

[*PAF]

Brett Burton Board

How dare you say that.

ps I am a fan of Shaun McManus. If only most of the other Freo players put in half as much as he does week in week out, they would have given the premiership a shake by now, but that is another story.

 

[Markthirtytwo]

How dare you say that.

ps I am a fan of Shaun McManus. If only most of the other Freo players put in half as much as he does week in week out, they would have given the premiership a shake by now, but that is another story.

Oh come on now, it's only one thing the brockers like to shake and it's not the holy grail.

 

[missionpossible]

Darren Pfeiffer and his kicking I find most of the time is very good but has the yips in front of goal and misses a lot he should get. A fair percentage of his kicks appear to come off of the side of his boot but still find a team mate, I would like to see more of him to work out whether it is skill or luck but I am leaning toward skill. He is prone to having the odd shocker and I mean shocker where it dribles along the ground for 20m (a bit like was it Mcguane when he had the injection that day at collingwood and couldn't kick the football). Having said all this I think overall he is a good kick which could become very good.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

Pfeiffer sounds like he has a few flaws that need to be ironed out, and they can be with practise and guidance. However, he has the things that can't be taught, natural aggression and courage. Can't wait to watch him play.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Pfeiffer sounds like he has a few flaws that need to be ironed out, and they can be with practise and guidance. However, he has the things that can't be taught, natural aggression and courage. Can't wait to watch him play.

Exactly, you can't teach footy instict, aggression & courage.

If Sarge can be taught how to kick properly, then I'm sure Pfeiffer can be too.

 

[Cap]

this wisbey guy - where does he get his profiles from ? will he have any more of the adealide guys ?

 

[WaynesWorld19]

this wisbey guy - where does he get his profiles from ? will he have any more of the adealide guys ?

Does them himself - not a lot have appeared over the last few days.

Would like one on Douglas to see if he agrees with everyone else as to how good he is

 

[theorangeapple]

Would like one on Douglas to see if he agrees with everyone else as to how good he is

I think he ranked him at 24.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Still waiting for Douglas and Obst profiles


Shannon Hurn (Central District)

187/96 mid-age right foot HBF/Midfielder

*STYLE LIKE: Hodge/M Voss

*MY RANKING (not meant to reflect appropriate draft pick to use): 1

*PROBABILITY OF AFL CAREER: Definite. Ready year 1.

- Within an AFL team list, could prove capable of SUSTAINING a ranking of 1-5.

*HURT FACTORS (Offensive/Defensive/Negative): H / M / L

*TRADEMARK:

- Confident, balanced one-grab mark or spill-gather through good reading of the play behind the pack. Then a thumping 60m accurate pass, with little apparent effort, to a well-spotted target at half-forward.

*SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, RECOMMENDATION:
(NB: Hurn has a long history of O.P. / groin problems. This assessment assumes that the medical prognosis is that he will be able to overcome them or be able to manage them to such a degree that his ability to perform at his best will not be significantly affected. If not, all bets are off).

- "Big stage" big-bodied utility seemingly biding time. The time to unwrap the pressy has arrived though. My #1 but probably go around mid 1st round.

What you are buying is

1. Excellent disposal with a very high hurt factor
2. Footy smarts, poise, mental toughness
3. Someone who will get his own ball, win more than his share of 50/50 contests, yet also routinely provide a linking option with a very high hurt factor.
4. Balance, physical strength / physicality, strength over the ball
5. (Virtually) plug 'n play readiness for AFL
6. Ability to play on someone fairly tall or fairly short and virtually anywhere around the ground.
7. Leadership.

- In coming up with current AFL names with whom to compare Hurn's style, I mention both Hodge and Michael Voss. On what Hurn has shown to date, the logical style comparison is with Hodge's current style. However, I believe Voss presents the more accurate comparison in terms of how Hurn will play down the track and what attributes he will display then. (FWIW, I suspect both Hurn and Hodge will play most of their careers in the style of Voss).

Hurn has played much of the past 2 years as HBF. I can see him in that role at AFL but my ranking of him so early is based on an expectation that he will ultimately be a big-bodied midfielder, albeit not necessarily the First Dibs type that his body shape might suggest. In his only full game onball in the '05 U18 Champs, he collected 24 disposals, including 8 in Q1 and 7 in Q3.

- Has been underdone and in less than fighting fit condition in recent years because of O.P. and failure to do a pre-season program due to cricket (a sport in which he has also been labelled an elite talent). The history of groin problems is a concern but I have based my assessment on the assumption that he can get free of such problems or that they can be managed without significant loss to his effectiveness.

Looked overweight in '04 due to O.P. but looked serious AFL potential at various times in '04 as a 16yo, despite not having played that year until about just before the Champs. I thought he might have kicked on in '05 to a greater extent than he has so I'm a bit disappointed but not too concerned. He does seem to have had a pattern, presumably connected to lack of pre-season, that he starts to find his best form just as the season is almost over.

I have made much concession for his history of groin trouble and poor preparation in that he hasn't yet even done a genuine footy pre-season.

To be honest, there have been various times this year when I have questioned whether I have been making too much concession in that, on face value, he has frequently been too picky and choosy about whether he will bother chasing or attacking the ball. (I mean in the context of putting in extra effort, certainly not softness). He is one of those natural footballers who appear to play in cruise mode a fair bit and give the impression they have another gear if needed. Hurn pushes himself hard when it suits but he plays as if he feels a need to conservatively ration his efforts.

However, there are 4 things I've always felt strongly about re Hurn:-

1. That he is a definite AFL long-termer of quality, ultimately possibly in the Voss mould.

2. That we weren't going to see the best of Hurn until he reached AFL. Has "fitted in" his footy aspirations with his cricket aspirations and vice versa and that must have compromised both, with each distracting his focus from the other. He has now decided that he will pursue footy as his career focus but I have always got the impression during his time in the SANFL that he has been playing somewhat "within himself" (i.e. doing what he has to do each game to get through the season, rather than trying to seriously test the upper limits of his ability). I am certainly not suggesting he is not team-orientated or hasn't been trying - just that he seems the type whose performance rises as the standard of competition he is up against rises. An accumulation of a lot of snippets I've observed in him over the past 3 years makes me believe that he has another gear we were unlikely to see him ROUTINELY slip into until he was on the AFL stage. In that respect I liken him to Goodes, who really played just the one seriously good game before being drafted, was in less than peak fitness, but looked like he had more to offer once he got onto a bigger stage. Buddy Franklin and Gary Ablett Jnr are other examples. From this year's batch, I believe Mitch Clark is the same. I'm not comparing player's character here - just the need to be on the biggest stage in order to bring out their best. On that basis, I'm not reading too much into Hurn's form per se to date (not there has been much wrong with it). My high opinion of his potential AFL capability is based primarily on an accumulation of "the best of" over 3 years.

3. That, rather than be treated as an early developer with limited scope for improvement compared to his peers (CSI), he should be seen as an early developer PHYSICALLY, but with a very healthy CSI due to history of groins and "off-season" cricket focus (whereas the sole focus all calendar year for most of his peers is footy).

4. That his underlying (potential) pace is very much better than his reputation suggests and that he has routinely shown to date. (Pace is the major issue many people have with Hurn. I don't share the concern).

- Centrals have been the outstanding SANFL team for some years. It is a very hard team for a kid to break into and an almost impossible team for a kid to get a finals berth with, such is their depth of mature talent. Despite trying to accommodate his elite talent in both cricket and footy, Hurn was named in Central's '04 Seniors GF team (extended interchange), despite still being 16yo until just a couple of weeks prior. He managed 5 senior games that year, despite groin problems causing him to miss the early part of the season and seeing him not be able to play his first full game until about just before the U18 Champs. And all that despite no proper pre-season and despite "carrying O.P." all year. This year the pattern was similar except that O.P. didn't significantly delay his season start like it did in '04.

To achieve what he has managed to do in recent years despite not being in "footy shape" means his CV compares more than favourably with that of Ryan Griffin (who I have always rated the best AFL potential I have seen since at least 2001) and Cooney (who has already established himself as an AFL match-winner). I concede Hurn is a different type to them (although I believe he too will become a genuine AFL "ruck-rover" type in time) and nor am I comparing abilities but Hurn's "qualifications" at draft time compare favourably with theirs at the corresponding time.

I can understand why most people do not rate him as highly as I do. If I was going purely on '05 form per se, I would not have him so early either. He would also not be worthy of #1 (or even #2) had he been in any other draft in the last 5 years. I usually try to offer as much "evidence" / rational argument as possible to justify my opinion on a player. I acknowledge that, in assessing Hurn, there is a fair element of gut faith based on strong visual "impressions" involved. It is harder to offer as much factual support for my Hurn ranking than for most other players because his development path has been different to most:-
1. lack of pre-season preparation
2. O.P.
3. being so good at 16yo, he was thrust into higher levels of footy (and earlier) than virtually all other kids in recent years and often coming off the bench.

The most comparative guide is the U18 Champs. He has gone in underdone both years yet still done well. There is no single game this year where his 100 minute form screamed out "AFL" but accumulated AFL-quality snippets, especially for someone so under-conditioned, makes me confident he will be a very good AFL long-termer.

In case that sounds like a cop-out and that I am relying on The Castle's version of "the vibe", I would point out that

1. in the last U18 Champs game of '04, he had 14 disposals in the 2nd half alone (mainly as HBF)
2. in the last U18 Champs game of '05, he had 24 disposals incl 8 in Q1 and 7 in Q3 (mainly as "ruck-rover") and took 10 marks.
3. in 11 SANFL Seniors games '05 he averaged 9 disposals and 4 marks, despite coming off the bench and playing HBF in a team who saw the ball on their forward line more often than in their backline.

*DISPOSAL:

- Routinely reliable kick, long (his strong preference) or short, and with an extremely high hurt factor.

- Thumping kick and usually accurate. Passes 55-60m regularly each game, very often accurate and often pin-point accurate. And that's regardless of pressure. Over a very long distance he is the most accurate kick I can recall for some years and in the Buckley category for reliability. When you can have a hurt factor as high as that implies, you don't need many kicks to have impact. In this era of flooding / scrumby, I can't stress the benefit of this attribute of his enough. Someone who will regularly clear the ball 60m downfield with a power kick TO POSITION gives his team a big advantage in trying to create goal-scoring opportunities before the opposition can transfer their numbers from one end of the ground to the other.

His ability to pin-point a team-mate in a one-on-one is uncanny. In my early observations of Hurn I noted how often that, when forced/choosing to kick to a one-one-one, the kick luckily just went a bit away from the reach of his target's opponent and into his team-mate's hands. The pattern soon emerged that luck had nothing to do with it. Hurn just has a regular ability to judge and weight his kicks so well that, even when there is virtually no margin for error, he often gets it spot on. And that's even over 55-60 metres, not just dinky little kicks that some players are quite good at.

- Kicks off 1 or 2 steps too frequently (set kicks). I'm not concerned re AFL as I think it's just part of the arrogance he chooses to display at lower levels but it is a habit I'd like to see him get out of.

- Getting depth is one thing. Power is another. Kicks with power obviously have a greater hurt factor than kicks that have a long hang-time. Hurn's whole game is power, including his kicks and feeds.

- Routinely reliable by hand. Very quick hands, power, accuracy, vision. Often high hurt factor.

- Healthy mix of kicks to feeds and appropriate mix of long to short.

*DECISION-MAKING, SMARTS:

- Natural footballer. Smarts. Quick brain. Reads play and ball extremely well.

- Cool, balanced, poised. Never seems to get flustered.

- Excellent vision. Routinely looks for options and spots up quickly.

- Tends to play off the pack / off his man / out the back, at least at this stage. As HBF, plays behind too often. As onball, plays predominantly as Predator rather than First Dibs. I have a prejudice in favour of players who are more pro-active / First-Dibs, or predators who are slippery, run-the-lines types. I find enough in Hurn, especially the hurt factor of his kicking, to appease me.

- As a HBF, he routinely backs his own judgement. Occasionally he gets caught out but his judgement is usually good. Using his SANFL Seniors games as a guide, he doesn't free-wheel per se but stays close to his man until he is confident how the play is about to unfold and, at that point, he has no hesitation in leaving his man and running into space to create a linking option or backing his judgement to run and attack the oncoming ball before his opponent does. Quarterback ability is as good as anyone's in this draft.

- Very good evasive skills and traffic management capability. I like arrogance in a player, but he still has to play within his capability. Hurn sometimes doesn't. This year he has too often treated opposition players with contempt. eg just assumed he could power through them and brush them aside along the way. The number of times he got through the first opponent only to get blocked by the next was disappointing. He won't regularly get away with that approach at AFL but nor do I expect him to try to as much, in that I believe (well, trust really) he is smart enough to show more respect to AFL opponents.

*HANDS:

- Generally clean, all levels. He is not routinely clean though at this stage. I don't know to what extent groin problems affect the number of discretionary times he goes for ground ball or the "routineness" of his clean hands at ground level.

*OVERHEAD MARKING:

- A major strength. Combination of big leap, excellent judgement of flight and timing, strength and balance, and strong hands makes him very reliable overhead, especially from behind. He attacks his marks and holds his ground.

*ATHLETICISM:

- On face value, he sometimes looks to lack pace - and that is his reputation. However I feel he has fairly good underlying pace and much improvement in him pace-wise:-
1. He has been afflicted by O.P. the past couple of years.
2. Due to cricket requirements, he is yet to do a proper pre-season.
3. Due to 1 and 2 he is in far from peak condition. Plenty of scope to be chiselled down and harden his body shape.
4. In '04, even with O.P. he looked at various times to have at least fairly good pace, and perhaps better pace than he has routinely displayed in '05.
I am confident his pace, once he is over O.P. and fighting fit, will be at least fine. I have maintained all along that I suspect he will be at worst a 3.05sec 20m type. At DC (SS) he not only recorded a best 20m time of 3.04 but recorded exactly that same time in each of the three 20m runs, so it is not as if he fluked pulling out a time quicker than he could normally reproduce (as happens with some kids). And he did that just a few days after playing in a GF. Kids whose team finish their season early have up to a month extra to concentrate on athletic training specifically for the tests.

Even now Hurn is a balanced runner with heaps of power in his legs. Going on '04 and the above factors, I am not even inclined to list pace among the query aspects for him, although I concede that most people would. His legs are built such that he will never be quick per se but he pace even now sits almost exactly on the average mark for his size.

- Very good leap. Given his build, you don't expect big leap. I've seen him sit on opponents' shoulders on a number of occasions.

- Offensive agility is very good. Defensive agility is good. Recovery agility at this stage is iffy but I suspect will be fine once (if?) he doesn't have to worry about groin problems.

- Generally good reflexes.

- Not surprisingly, his current endurance is probably a bit below capability, although surprisingly fairly good, given his difficulties.

*INTENSITY, ETHIC:

- Courageous. (eg Has no problem backing back into a marking contest).

- One could easily get the impression that he is sometimes not big on intensity or work-rate or accountability. There is some basis for that impression in that, for example, he doesn't always chase when he should and he has a low tackle count and he does sometimes choose to give his opponents some rein. However, I am making a lot of allowance for what he may or may not have been capable of due to groin restrictions and lack of optimum fitness base.

On various occasions I have seen him display desperation, just not quite routinely in recent times. Ditto with chasing, 2nd efforts, etc.

What can go unnoticed is his work-rate in routinely covering quite a lot of ground to push into space to offer a potential linking option. I have seen him on various occasions run hard over 40m to present an option and also run hard to block.

*CONSISTENCY:

- I think he has much more to offer than what we have seen but there isn't much wrong with what we have seen in terms of form and consistency, albeit not overwhelming in either respect. eg Played 2 games in '04 U18 Champs, averaging 17D comprised of 12K and 5H. Played 3 games in '05 U18 Champs, averaging identically to '04 (17D, 12K and 5H).

*AFL VERSATILITY:

- Probably best suited to on-ball (probably off-the-pack Predator).

- Ideally suited to Loose Man in Defence quarter-back.

- No reason why he couldn't play other roles down the flanks and even pinch-hit elsewhere depending on match-ups.

- As an indication of his U18 versatility, his U18 Champs game against VM last year saw him play HBF on the tall Travis Cloke, then wing on the speedy Bain, then HBF on Barling then CHB on the tall Dowling then BP on the short rover Jarrad Moore and he was among the best on ground in that game (21d) - as a below-age kid who couldn't start his season until a month prior to the Champs.

*CSI (COMPARATIVE SCOPE for IMPROVEMENT):

- Is an early developer so his CSI may appear, in face value, to be limited. However, he is so very underdone due to O.P. restriction and lack of pre-season preparations each year that I believe he actually has significant scope for improvement compared to many of his peers.

*QUERY:

- Ability to get groins sound and keep them sound.

- Popular opinion would suggest I should also include pace here. Hurn will never be a Judd but I am of the opinion that Hurn will ultimately play in a manner similar to Voss in his prime and with similar pace or better.

*SOME STATS:

- Stats summary SANFL Seniors:
Averaged 9.3 disposals (6.3K, 3.0H) and 3.6 marks in his 11 games. (Best TD 15).
Kicks per 20 disp: 14.
(He typically came off the bench. eg his biggest haul, 15 disposals was in a game where he didn't come on until the 24 minute mark of the 1st quarter).

- Stats summary '05 U18 Champs:
Averaged 17 disposals and 6.3 marks in his 3 games. (Best TD 24).
Kicks per 20 disp: 14.
Kicks long vs short: 16-13 (6 long per 10 kicks).
Ineffective kicks: 8/37 (2.2 per 10 kicks), incl 2 clangers (0.5 per 10 kicks).
Ineffective handballs: 2/15 (1.3 per 10 handballs), incl 0 clangers (0.0 per 10 handballs).
Ineffective disposals: 10/52 (3.8 per 20 disp), incl 2 clangers (0.8 per 20 disp).
HandBall Receives: 13/52 (5 per 20 disp).
Hardball gets: 6/52 (2 per 20 disp).
S.P. clearances: 7/52 (3 per 20 disp), incl 2 BU (1 per 20 disp), incl 2 CBC (1 per 20 disp).
Tackles: 3 (Avg 1.0 per game).
Marks: 19 (7 per 20 disp), incl 5 contested (2.6 per 10 marks).

- Stats summary '04 U18 Champs:
Averaged 17 disposals and 5.0 marks in his 2 games. (Best TD 21).
Kicks per 20 disp: 14.
Kicks long vs short: 11-7 (6 long per 10 kicks).
Ineffective kicks: 5/23 (2 per 10 kicks), incl 2 clangers (1 per 10 kicks).
Ineffective handballs: 1/10 (1 per 10 handballs), incl 0 clangers (0 per 10 handballs).
Ineffective disposals: 6/33 (4 per 20 disp), incl 2 clangers (1 per 20 disp).
HandBall Receives: 9/33 (5 per 20 disp).
Hardball gets: 5/33 (3 per 20 disp).
S.P. clearances: 5/33 (3 per 20 disp), incl 3 BU (2 per 20 disp), incl 1 CBC (1 per 20 disp).
Tackles: 3 (Avg 1.5 per game).
Marks: 10 (6 per 20 disp), incl 1 contested (1 per 10 marks).

*OTHER STUFF:

- All Aust TY.
- AIS
- Named in Central's '04 Seniors GF team (extended interchange) as virtual 16yo. Managed 5 senior games that year.
- Combination of Reserves and Seniors '05.
- SA U16 captain '03, U18 captain '05.
- History of O.P.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Date Posted: 23:27:11 12/14/05 Wed
Author: Colin Wisbey
Author Host/IP: c211-28-121-197.eburwd3.vic.optusnet.com.au / 211.28.121.197
Subject: Profile: McEntee

Luke McEntee (North Adelaide)

197/89 mid-age right foot ruck.

*STYLE LIKE: young Shaun Rehn. Potentially perhaps Goodes-style.

*MY RANKING (not meant to reflect appropriate draft pick to use): 2

*PROBABILITY OF AFL CAREER: Definite. Ready year 3.

- Within an AFL team list, could prove capable of SUSTAINING a ranking of 1-10.

*HURT FACTORS (Offensive/Defensive/Negative): M / M / L

*TRADEMARK:

- High leap at centre-bounce then a directed hitout
- Excellent quality 2nd and 3rd efforts, showing insideness, very quick reflexes, clean hands and very good vision.

*SUMMARY ASSESSMENT, RECOMMENDATION:

- Athletic newby ruck with virtually wingman pace and hands and inside ethic. Great upside.

- Ex-basketballer ruck who has been playing footy for only about 2 years but impressed me no end this year.

- I have no hesitation having him in my top 3. Terrific potential. Exciting range of attributes (both footy and athletically), especially with such a limited footy background and given his size. Has the big man skills virtually covered but also has very good small man skills (and not just for his size).

1. Genuine pace. He certainly displays sub 3.00sec pace to my eye.
2. Terrific at ground level - clean, agile.
3. Good brain. Good poise and evasion, very good vision. Excellent traffic management.
4. Good user, especially by hand.
5. Balanced.
6. Good overhead.
7. Courageous.
8. Good ethic and heart.

What else do you want? And he's a coordinated ruck with plenty of scope for development.

I have him earlier in my rankings than most people would. I suspect he will go about latish round 1.

- Competed as a ruckman in '05 U18 Champs but I also rate him a decent chance as an AFL KPP down the track. As a ruck, he is quite prolific at onballer-like centre bounce clearances. Often when you find a big man with good "small man" ability, he is a small man trapped in a big man's body. (i.e. good small man attributes but deficient in big man attributes such as contested overhead marking - eg Paul Johnson). McEntee is as good at taking a courageous pack mark across CHB as he is at getting a constructive ground-level centre bounce clearance.

- In '05 U18 Champs, SA played a very physically demanding flooding game plan. It looked to me that he was worn out (or off-colour?) by start of game 3, although he still played well and gave his all, rucking virtually unchanged all game. Visually, it looked to me like perhaps he may have been carrying flu(or something?) throughout the Champs.

- Impressive SA academy trial form. Most impressive form was in Reserves games late season.

- Despite the hype surrounding many other players, I have McEntee at 2 in my rankings. I am convinced he is AFL and am very confident he will become a very good AFL long-termer.

*DISPOSAL:

- Generally very reliable - hand or foot. Good hurt factor with both.

- Relaxed kicking style, albeit not quite textbook.

- Appears to be one-sided by foot but I've yet to notice it getting him into trouble.

- Very good by hand - quick, accurate.

- Excellent ability to appropriately weight and time his deliveries - hand or foot.

*DECISION-MAKING, SMARTS:
(see above)

- Surprising footy smarts for someone who has focussed on footy for only about 2 years, albeit coming from a football family.

- Very good vision, even under the greatest pressure.

- Excellent decision-maker under pressure. Instinctively knows what to do and has a very quick brain and reflexes for reaction, decision-making and delivery. Impressive poise / look-for-options, even under the greatest of pressure.

- Shaun Rehn-like clever palm-outs, including behind his head. Almost always tries to target his hitouts and has an excellent appreciation of where everyone is around him and where his options are.

- Reads the play very well in general, but particularly at stop plays and across half back. Roves the pack/spill very well - and not just for his height.

- Good at both dropping back across half-back and also at presenting as a forward or linking option.

- Excellent traffic management and ability to create his own space. Excellent static evasion including sidestep, sell the dummy, or turn out of trouble. Routinely keeps his arms free when tackled.

*HANDS:
(see above)

- Very clean - all levels. Below the knee ability is excellent for his size - very good for any size for that matter.

*OVERHEAD MARKING:

- Takes a good contested mark and is improving all the time. ("improving ... " is not another way of saying he isn't much good now, as anyone who saw his late season form would attest). Judgement is usually good (although he occasionally runs under the ball).

- Despite current slimmish build, he holds his ground and keeps his balance well. (marking and ruck contests).

- I suspect he has reach advantage but no reach figures were published from DC this year.

*ATHLETICISM:
(see above)

- Is quick, even compared to small guys. That's based on observation but is supported by his 20m DC time of 2.95sec and a fantastic 1.02sec 5m. The latter is special for any height, let alone 197cm.

- Huge leap, even from limited run-up. It would be close between McEntee and team-mate Nick Heath for biggest leaping ruck outside AFL and maybe even including AFL. My comment is again based on observation but, FWIW, no-one has ever bettered the jump result McEntee recorded at DC this year (not that I usually put much emphasis in that test).

- Very good balance.

- Generally terrific reflexes (and not just for his size).

- Very agile. Very good recovery agility.

- Nice frame but somewhat slim and I'm not entirely convinced about his ability to add much weight. That's the only fly in the ointment and it's not a big concern. I base any such concern purely on the similarity between he and his brother James at the same age. James is now 21yo and still looks fairly slim. However, I'm also not convinced Luke necessarily needs to become a monster and he is 89kg already - not a 198cm/80kg stereotype skinny project. Has the potential to even play a Goodes style in time.

*INTENSITY, ETHIC:
(see above)

- Often displays small-man intensity. Regularly fights as hard at ground level and defensively as he does in ruck contests. Often runs immediately from one play to put pressure on an opposition player 50m away at the potential next play. Chases, tackles. All those things are probably in the "often / very often" category rather than "routinely" at this stage but it's all coming together nicely for a relative newby.

- Usually excellent 2nd and 3rd efforts. Works hard, runs hard, covers ground.

- Good courage.

- Could occasionally be a little more desperate and push a bit harder between contests but generally his attack on man and ball, and his ground coverage is good. Tackles don't always stick at the moment, although the intent is there and effectiveness will improve with added strength and further experience in handling opponents who try to wrong-foot him.

- Beep test was the only disappointment among his DC tests.

*CONSISTENCY:

- Within the context of a ruck who on a rapid improvement trend-line and is currently on and off the bench, he is consistent.

*AFL VERSATILITY:

- Serious all-round ruck prospect. Maybe potential KPP, perhaps best suited to CHF or CHB but some possibility he could succeed in other of the key positions in time.

*CSI (COMPARATIVE SCOPE for IMPROVEMENT):

- Very high, given his limited exposure to footy and his progress in such a short time.

*QUERY:

- (Slight query) Ability to bulk up to any huge degree.

*SOME STATS:

- Stats summary '05 U18 Champs:
Averaged 10 disposals and 2.3 marks in his 3 games. (Best TD 15).
Kicks per 20 disp: 7.
Kicks long vs short: 2-5 (3 long per 10 kicks).
Ineffective kicks: 3/10 (3.0 per 10 kicks), incl 1 clangers (1.0 per 10 kicks).
Ineffective handballs: 2/20 (1.0 per 10 handballs), incl 1 clangers (0.5 per 10 handballs).
Ineffective disposals: 5/30 (3.3 per 20 disp), incl 2 clangers (1.3 per 20 disp).
HandBall Receives: 4/30 (3 per 20 disp).
Hardball gets: 10/30 (7 per 20 disp).
S.P. clearances: 9/30 (6 per 20 disp), incl 3 BU (2 per 20 disp), incl 4 CBC (3 per 20 disp).
Tackles: 7 (Avg 2.3 per game).
Marks: 7 (5 per 20 disp), incl 1 contested (1.4 per 10 marks).
HO: (Tot - cb - oth b/u - t/i): 54-30-12-12, comprising 14-7-2-5 (vs VC) 17-6-8-3 (vs WA) 23-17-2-4 (vs VM)

*OTHER STUFF:

- Basketballer - been playing footy only 2 years.
- Calf injury July '05.

Still looking for Douglas

 

[Drummond]

Yeh I saw Pfeiffer play about a dozen times for Norwood this season and he is probably the most courageous youngster I have seen. Has no fear at all, and he is very solidly built for someone his age.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Still looking for Douglas

You are not going to find it because Colin obviously is not planning to post it.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

You are not going to find it because Colin obviously is not planning to post it.

Wisbey has copped more than his fair share this year - if everyone can do better why don't they do the homework he does.

Personally irrespective of whether he's right or wrong I enjoy the read - BUT if he continues to get panned I don't blame him for not posting any bar maybe Collingwood

 

[*PAF]

Wisbey has copped more than his fair share this year - if everyone can do better why don't they do the homework he does.

Personally irrespective of whether he's right or wrong I enjoy the read - BUT if he continues to get panned I don't blame him for not posting any bar maybe Collingwood

Hear hear.

 

[conVINCEd]

Does anyone know when the AFC website is going to update the profiles for our latest recruits?

Apparently, Obst and Vince were figments of our imagination and we have no rookies.

For such a wealthy club our official site is ********-poor.

 

[Crow]

As the Crows Fly haven't updated their website for a rookie article yet either.

This is part of the professionalism that I thought ATCF lacks. Great site with potential, just needs some professionalism.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Does anyone know when the AFC website is going to update the profiles for our latest recruits?

Apparently, Obst and Vince were figments of our imagination and we have no rookies.

For such a wealthy club our official site is ********-poor.

We don't really have much say with our website. Its run by telstra.

As for the profiles, they generally get done late january.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

We don't really have much say with our website. Its run by telstra.

As for the profiles, they generally get done late january.

Yes but we supply the content - or in this case the lack there-of.


It has got a lot better out of season with a couple of articles going up each week at least - but you would have thought profiles for the new recruits would have been a priority given the amount of supporter interest (or are they not interested in the new recruits )

 

[*PAF]

Does anyone know when the AFC website is going to update the profiles for our latest recruits?

Apparently, Obst and Vince were figments of our imagination and we have no rookies.

For such a wealthy club our official site is ********-poor.

If you check other club's official websites You'll find the Crows are not alone in that.
Has to be Telstra one would think.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Yes but we supply the content - or in this case the lack there-of.


It has got a lot better out of season with a couple of articles going up each week at least - but you would have thought profiles for the new recruits would have been a priority given the amount of supporter interest (or are they not interested in the new recruits )

I sincerely doubt that the club would provide profiles for Douglas and Pfeiffer but not for Obst or Vince. AFC admin doesn't strike me as bunch of people who leave the job half done.

I think its a telstra thing.