Delisted 31. Francis Evans (2020 -2022)

[Drunkcat]

I don't see the fuss as I think half that got drafted this year will not make it

 

[dazbroncos]

Francis Evans Highlights

Francis Evans Highlights

Watch highlights of our newest Cat Francis Evans who has been selected with pick 41 in this year's NAB AFL Draft.

www.geelongcats.com.au

Pick 41: Francis Evans

Francis Evans has been selected by Geelong with pick 41 in this year’s NAB AFL Draft.

www.geelongcats.com.au

GO Catters

 

[BORIS332]

You are the mod of an opinion based board where we are able to speak our minds. This isn’t the club website. 2nd Rd selections have every right to be questioned. All the comments so far seem normal to me. With live trading etc im in the camp that this could have been done better.

You’re allowed to give your opinion, and others are allowed to disagree with you. Stop being so precious.

 

[cats_09]

Geelong list manager Stephen Wells has one of the best track records in the business and has made it his business looking in places others don’t.

And that’s what led him to a VAFA Division 2 – the fifth division – game in Brunswick earlier this year after Geelong Talent ID manager Troy Selwood had received a tip from one of the Cats’ veteran spotters.

Francis Evans was tearing the amateur competition apart as a 17-year-old playing against men in the first month of the season when he emerged on Geelong’s radar...

...“I went to a game when Francis was playing senior football at North Old Boys earlier in the year,” Wells said.

“Soon after that he was recruited into the Calder Cannons as part of their program and he kicked five goals in one and a half games for the Cannons before he got a bit injured.

“I guess if we hadn’t seen him playing senior football earlier in the year it might have been hard for us to pick him. But we did. We’ve given him a chance and it is up to him now.

“Francis is a natural goal kicker. He had the skills of the game, read the play well and he’s got the athleticism and desire. We’re confident he deserved an opportunity on an AFL list. That doesn’t mean he’s going to make it, but he’s got that opportunity now.”

With not much football to go off, the Cats did their due diligence behind the scenes and liked what they discovered on Evans.

“We put in as much work as we could, but unfortunately with limited access to Francis’ playing we couldn’t put in much more work than what we did.

“We were lucky enough to watch him play live and watch him play at the Calder Cannons. With only that amount of access to his playing days we then had to find out what kind of character he was.”

How Geelong list manager Stephen Wells found the biggest bolter in the 2019 National Draft

Francis Evans was playing division five amateur football when Geelong spotted him. Now he is the biggest bolter of 2019

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

The lad's got his chance now, it's up to him to prove he can play AFL level, so until then, the jury is out on whether this was a good pick or not. I'm not going to pot the kid as he must have something for Wells & Selwood to be excited about him. It's a wait and see on this one.

 

[Max Milburn]

How Geelong list manager Stephen Wells found the biggest bolter in the 2019 National Draft

Francis Evans was playing division five amateur football when Geelong spotted him. Now he is the biggest bolter of 2019

www.foxsports.com.au

So, it was an INFORMED decision. How quaint!

 

[Max Milburn]

I don't see the fuss as I think half that got drafted this year will not make it

Understand your reasoning, but isn't that a good reason to think outside the box?

 

[AlcoaCat]

Begbie.

Haha, nice one. 'The beggar'. Let's hope he shows old Franco's complete insanity on the field.

 

[BORIS332]

Interview with Evans’ Brunswick Club President:

‎SEN Breakfast: Jarryd Browne on SEN Breakfast (29/11/19) on Apple Podcasts

‎Show SEN Breakfast, Ep Jarryd Browne on SEN Breakfast (29/11/19) - 28 Nov 2019

podcasts.apple.com

• Had 27 disposals and kicked 8 the day Wells went out and watched him at Brunswick.
• Tom Lonergan then got him into the Calder Cannons program.

 

[BORIS332]

The lad's got his chance now, it's up to him to prove he can play AFL level, so until then, the jury is out on whether this was a good pick or not. I'm not going to pot the kid as he must have something for Wells & Selwood to be excited about him. It's a wait and see on this one.

When our pick came up it seemed like Mackie was the one pushing for Evans. Seemed to be the one most vocal in the lead up to locking him in.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

When our pick came up it seemed like Mackie was the one pushing for Evans. Seemed to be the one most vocal in the lead up to locking him in.

The problem is, from a fan POV, if Evans doesn't make it at AFL level in the next 2-3 seasons for whatever reason, and say Bianco does, then I can see some sharp criticisms going the Wells & Co. way. But all we can do now is wait and see what happens. I hope Evans succeeds, but there's no guarantees in this sport.

 

[BORIS332]

The problem is, from a fan POV, if Evans doesn't make it at AFL level in the next 2-3 seasons for whatever reason, and say Bianco does, then I can see some sharp criticisms going the Wells & Co. way. But all we can do now is wait and see what happens. I hope Evans succeeds, but there's no guarantees in this sport.

FWIW, I don't think Bianco will make it. Maybe Evans won't either, and a player taken at a later pick will make us kick ourselves, such is the nature of hindsight, but I don't think that player will be Bianco.

 

[iameviljez]

Given nearly everyone here said 'who?' when his name was called, it's safe to say that the recruitment team have based their decision on far, far more information and data than anyone here.

This is true, but my questioning is really around... pick 41? C'mon Geelong - it's *highly* unlikely that someone in Div 2 Ammos was going to be taken by anyone else in the National Draft at all. Would have preferred to be a bit more strategic in that sense - take the 98% chance that he would still be there by rookie list time and have 2 pots at talent with more competition.

 

[bombersboy]

Seem to remember we once took a kid from Kimba at Pick 47 that had only played under 19's at Port Adelaide Magpies. Turned out alright.

 

[CatTricks]

Is it just me or does anyone else reckon he looks a little like Tiprat Milne?

 

[BORIS332]

From Tom Lonergan:

Evans earned a position at the top level after just two NAB League games and five senior games at VAFA Division 2 outfit Brunswick NOBS.

The crafty forward kicked 21 goals in those five games to secure a spot with Calder and kicked three goals in his first outing before a foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.

“I did have an inkling (Geelong) were interested in Francis … (but) I didn’t play too much (of a role), to be honest,” Lonergan said.

“Playing Murray Bushrangers up at Wangaratta and we were all just looking at each other all day going ‘wow, this kid has got something’.”

 

[iameviljez]

Seem to remember we once took a kid from Kimba at Pick 47 that had only played under 19's at Port Adelaide Magpies. Turned out alright.

True, I think the difference here being that we didn't have a pick after 47 back in 1999.

 

[Tony Barber]

I must say I do like a forward that takes a shot at goal off one step like he was shelling peas.
Menzel like off that small amount of vision.

 

[Max Milburn]

Anyone remember Francis the Talking Mule?
Everyone underestimated him too.

 

[The rabbi]

SHOCK — Francis Evans (Geelong)“Who?”That was the predominant reaction amid AFL circles on Thursday night when the Cats pulled the biggest left-field selection of the draft at Pick 41 when they took Francis Evans.Evans soared into draft calculations after booting 21 goals in five VAFA matches for Brunswick. He then linked up with the Calder Cannons and played one-and-a-half games, before picking up a heel injury that required season-ending surgery.But those seven games were enough for the Cats to take an interest, with Stephen Wells particularly impressed.

Evans joins the Cattery!


What a story, Francis Evans will don the blue and white hoops after being selected by Geelong with Pick 41.

Congratulations Francis!





Evans had been overlooked by the Cannons for their squads for years, emphasising how remarkable his Cats selection was.

“This is deadset a smoky,” AFL international talent manager Kevin Sheehan said on Fox Footy.

“You dig a bit deeper, he's a well-balanced player, reads the play really well and he kicks goals.

“Clubs were interested but there wasn’t a lot to go on … he’s a bolt from the blue.”

https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/ap...d837cd5bb7f6b9c1ced?__twitter_impression=true

 

[stac]

The ammos has a lot of very good footballs playing in all grades
A 17 year old playing against men in any level and kicking bags of goals is a good achievement and probably very similar to junior NAB football

 

[Boxhead_31]

 

[Hamingja]

I dare say we got the player we wanted at 50 anyway, don't think there's much harm.

If they were taken the other way around no one would bat an eye lid.

It might be a second round pick but in an expanded competition and academies etc it is still a junk pick really.

This guy might have been left field but there were 4 or 5 other clubs interested in him according to some of the articles I read. Happy to add a natural forward to the list rather playing a midfielder forward like we have. Perhaps Miers success has changed their approach somewhat.

 

[cats_09]

I think Francis owes his Brunswick coach a beer or 2 or maybe a slab:

The rise from less than half a dozen games in the fifth grade of the Amateurs to a spot on the list of a top AFL club is indeed a meteoric one which came about in opportunistic fashion, explains club president Jarryd Browne.

“Seeing as though he wasn’t in the Cannons program earlier in the year, they were asking for vision and all that kind of stuff,” he said on SEN Breakfast.

“Our coach at the time, Anthony Palmer, in February sent a cheeky text off to one of the recruiters from Geelong who he knew and they came and watched. Eventually Stephen Wells came and watched about round 3 or 4 and Francis turned it on. He kicked eight and had 27 touches or something like that.

“From there they kind of corresponded with ex-Geelong player Tom Lonergan who heads up the Cannons program. They (Calder) got him in from there and he played a few games but unfortunately got injured and broke his foot. That’s why he stayed under the radar because he only played those two Cannons games.”

How a “cheeky text” alerted Geelong to draft bolter

The Cats took Francis Evans with pick 41.

www.sen.com.au

 

[hamG]

He looks like the love child of Stevie J and Rami Malek