VIC Metro vs WA on Fox Sports - Wednesday July 9th

[Guest unstable punt]

I suppose making this prediction doesn't take a great deal of courage but I'm prepared to make it anyway.

Daniel Rich will win at least one Brownlow Medal at some stage during his career.

yeah, he's a midfielder with bleach blond hair, he will for sure, umpires can't go past that shyte

[The Emblem 1]

Zaharakaris was also very lively.

Easy for you to say!

[Eastie Boyz 0]

this is the most important part for me. can he tap the ball to advatange enough that he becomes a clear advantage over other sides? is he able to use his leap to clearly win the ball and tap it down players throats, allowing the mids to get clearances?

Didn't put them down anyones throat; just out in space in front of them.

McKernan, after the first couple, did pretty well just jumping early and nullifying him and the Metro onballers were pretty good reading where the taps were going

[danboyle99 2]

Just got back from the game and was impressed by the skill level of both teams

Jack Watts #4 - Was amazingly quick off the lead. Easily pushed his opppnent off and make 5 metres on him. Lead really hard to the right places but the delivery to him was appauling. Took a really good contested mark in the 2nd quarter and kicked one from outside 50. Looks the goods. Also he showed his basketball attributes and he could not be tackled. Beat 5-6 players at once. Great skill, size, pace and agility. Named man of the carnival. We MUST get him. Looked so classy and is from Vic so going home factor is not there. So much like Nick Riewoldt except with better skills

Rich # 10 - Had a quiet carnival but dominated today. Great in close and has some amazing skills, some of his kicks over 50m to targets were special. Kicked a gooal goal form outside 50. WOuld love to get him but the WA factor is there and we need a key forward

Naitanui #44 - Got a great leap and particulary in the last dominated the ruck contests. Is quick and took a great contested mark in the last. Looked lost out there though. DIdnt know where to run, and did some stupid things. But of course there is a huge upside. Skills were better than i thought theyd be but still is long way to go

Vicker #33 - Ruckman/Forward. Great hands and solid in the ruck. Hopefully we might be able to get him with our 2nd pick

McKernan #9 - Looked pretty good on the lead and marked really well. Wont slip to our 2nd round though.

Heyne #20 - Vic Country. Great left footkick and strength. Can take a great mark and dominated in that game. Looks the goods as well

After watching the games i would go

Pick 1,2? - Watts. West coast will choose Rich

Pick 17,18 - VIckery/Henye/Lynch

[Deeoldfart 8,104]

Agree with many of the comments from fellow Demonlanders.

Another one who really impressed me was Sam Blease (Vic Metro). He's a wiry midfielder type who I hadn't heard much about before today. I thought he had a ripping game. Didn't rack up a huge number of posessions, but used them all effectively. Has great leg speed / acceleration, and I thought a couple of of his second efforts, resulting in goals, were outstanding. I also thought the defensive side of his game was very good. Based on this limited exposure, I'd be very happy to see him in red & blue in '09.

[Eastie Boyz 0]

Pretty sure he played his Juniors at Norwood in the EFL.

Would be about 183cm and 70kg and may have been a part of that AIS scheme.

I know him and Matt Cunningham are rated very highly at Ranges and obviously performing for Metro would help his draft chances

[LeBron James 41]

IF we get pick 1,17,18

I hope we will get Watts with pick no.1, who do you think would still be around at pick 17,18? Blease? Banner? McKernan? Yarran? DeBoer? Vickery?

[grazman 7,504]

IF we get pick 1,17,18

I hope we will get Watts with pick no.1, who do you think would still be around at pick 17,18? Blease? Banner? McKernan? Yarran? DeBoer? Vickery?

Consensus is that Yarran is a top 5-6 pick and McKernan a top 10. Doubt either would slip that far, but it'd be nice.

[Deano74 156]

Just got back from the game and was impressed by the skill level of both teams

Jack Watts #4 - Was amazingly quick off the lead. Easily pushed his opppnent off and make 5 metres on him. Lead really hard to the right places but the delivery to him was appauling. Took a really good contested mark in the 2nd quarter and kicked one from outside 50. Looks the goods. Also he showed his basketball attributes and he could not be tackled. Beat 5-6 players at once. Great skill, size, pace and agility. Named man of the carnival. We MUST get him. Looked so classy and is from Vic so going home factor is not there. So much like Nick Riewoldt except with better skills

Saw the Channel 10 news which showed the goal from outside fifty, he looks very classy, would be a good no 1 pick

[Jack7 528]

I didn't see anything today to change my mind.My pick would be Watts,although he wasn't well fed today,he's had a great carnival and won the Larke.Rich is a gun and is ready to go now,he could play with Geelong,Bulldogs this weekend.If we get him i won't be disappointed but i want a Key forward for the next 10 years and Watts is bloody quick and a strong mark and a straight kick.Naitanui didn't do it for me today but i can see the hype but i think he has a lot of work to do around the ground before he lives up to this hype.Others i was impressed with are Banner,Hurley,Vickery,Zaharakis ?,Hartlett.

Watts

Prismall

Warnock

I'd be pretty damn happy with that.

[DEES 0]

my thoughts on the top 3

rich- played a great game and dominated, his skills are class and kicked a great goal

watts- impressed up forward with his limited oppurtunities, that play in the 1st quarter where he weaved his way through traffic was pretty good.

naitanui- the leap is definately a weapon for naita, he had a massive advantage in the rucks, but like other people say his work around the ground was no good. saw him wonder around the ground a lot and he should have worked harder to get more posessions. as well he didn't place himself in the right position, he would always be in between where the ball was kicked to.

the last month i was hoping the dees would pick up naitanui, but now that watts has come up, i am leaning towards watts.

Other players i reckon we should look at are jack zieball from vic country and mitch robinson from tassie, i think he has been in the best for tassie in all the games he has played and he won the hunter harrison medal for best player in division 2, like ricky petterd.

[deanox 10,045]

Didn't put them down anyones throat; just out in space in front of them.

McKernan, after the first couple, did pretty well just jumping early and nullifying him and the Metro onballers were pretty good reading where the taps were going

thats what i was worried about.

unless he is going to guarantee possession with his ruck work i think id rather a key forward myself...

i think it is more important to have good mids than a good ruck also...

[ChaserJ 5,169]

IF we get pick 1,17,18

I hope we will get Watts with pick no.1, who do you think would still be around at pick 17,18? Blease? Banner? McKernan? Yarran? DeBoer? Vickery?

I liked what Walters, Hill and Jetta brought to the game today. Tom Lynch looked a very good player too. I'd be happy with any of those or Lewis Johnston with our second pick.

[Deano74 156]

Id pick Watts, purely on the fact that when ever u hear experts talking about premierships etc Key Position players are more important than ruckman. Except for prob Robert Walls.

I mean Who would u want ?

J Brown, Buddy, etc

or Cox, Ottens etc

Give me the Key Foward

[tess 19]

Vickery looked super impressive.

He should go top 10 after that display.

[Demons 32 235]

thats what i was worried about.

unless he is going to guarantee possession with his ruck work i think id rather a key forward myself...

i think it is more important to have good mids than a good ruck also...

Mate, he truely dominated the ruck in a way ive never seen.

Rich must have got 10 balls knocked directly to him, down his throaght. He hits to advantage.

Nothing like White, just because he covers ground doesn't mean he is White? I actually think he still may be developed to be a CHF in the AFL.

Watts is great. Rich is a gun. Naitanui will be the best of them in the long run, people say he looked lost.... well he has barely played footy, an AFL coach is paid so much for a reason, he will teach him all those things. I remember people saying Garland looked lost, hell I did. He has been coached well and look at him, this guy could be one of the best.

[w00dy 146]

i think dean bailey would back himself in to teach Naitanui how to play footy and make him the best player in the league...

given what he's done with our list this year, who would bet against him?

[Mono 455]

Thinking about Barassi's quote earlier this year about MFC:

"It's lacking in fearsome players, it's lacking in good players who are consistent, it is lacking in key position height (and) can only be improved by recruiting,"

Leaving aside the consistent, good bit, any of the better players show hardness, a bit of mongrel? (And I do think we need key position height.)

[JACKATTACK 17]

Just got back from the game:

Of the three names that are going to go 1,2,3 (watts, rich ,nicnat), I have made the following conclsions:

Rich: was the only one playiig AFL level football. Ball magnet and when he gets the ball is garuanteed to get it to a player. Did go quiet during the third but still a very impressive player. Best Kick on the ground.

Natanui: I was on him months ago but I don't think he is a top 2 pick (from this gme anyway), He is professional, fast, can jump. But in this game alone McKernan was the better player. Can't kick either. I was most impressed by how much ground he covers,he was everwhere all the time.

Watts: Still has a lot to learn about the game, looked completely lost at times when he didn't have the ball. BUT when he has the ball he looks like trav (all the time in the world) he is quick on the lead (Buddy) and takes a great pack mark (Riewoldt) and uses his body with great effectiveness (brown). I did however detect a hint of an unproffessional in him (richo).

So for me:

1: Watts The upside here is what excites me the most, he has all the attributes that are most difficult to teach he's stil pretty skinny and there are some basic things he could learnn about the game that would make him twice the player.

2: Rich For safe bet, the best player on the ground was Rich and he will play 200+ games for sure, and they'll be good ones.

3: Naitanui will still be a good player but he is behind Rich and Watts for mine.

I was also very impressed with McKernan, Jetta (lightning), tom lynch (though I hear he's a [censored]) and Tyrone Vickarey (fingerscrossed he slips to 17)

I know it's only one game but that's how I saw it. Tough pick between the top three I would still be very excited about any of the three.

[Old Man Rivers 326]

Just got back from the game.

Hurley by far and a way the best and most complete player on the ground. Absolutely dominated the back half. Reminds me of Chris Landford. Such a complete package. Solid, attacking, skillful and clean.

Watts showed glimpses of his undoubted talents, but was given terrible supply.

Vickery went alright. Solid mark and mobile.

Rich was all skill. Plenty of pace and grunt. Gret great user of the ball.

Natanui - overrated. Has plenty of potential. But was quite sluggish around the ground.

Just returned also from game.

Most impressive for mine was Daniel Rich & Tyrone Vickery

Rich has the body now & just oozes class

Vickery - Great hands , kicks well & moves like a footballer. Pray he's availiable Round two

Natanui - Is huge & full of potential, wasn't great today but I'm certain will dominate AFL

Watts - Didn't have a huge day, but did just enough to show he also will be a star.

His body is not there yet, but moves well & has natural football skills.

Hurley - Tough rugged reliable type, would be happy if he fell our way.

So who do we pick if we snare No. 1?

Tough, tough decision but not one to sit on the fence

My Selection - NATANUI - The upside is enormous

[Eastie Boyz 0]

thats what i was worried about. (deleted the rest by accident lol)

He definitely won the ruck duel (first quarter at least) against McKernan and Vickery, but I wouldn't say he was so good in the ruck he could afford to do nothing else around the ground.

He also cost WA 1 (maybe 2, can't remember if the second resulted in a score) shots on goal in the first quarter by getting done for holding the ball then kicked a 20m kick to a teammate 30m away and the ball happened to bounce backwards to the Metro player who pumped it inside 50.

When he gets to the contest his defensive/in close work is pretty good, and his acceleration is exception for someone hitting 2m tall. His ruck work around the ground wasn't bad but I think he'll struggle a bit against a taller, or stronger, opponent as his jump isn't as much of an advantage.

Once the ball was in general play McKernan gave him an absolute bath but he probably broke even with Vickery (only rucked against each other a few mins in the first).

He reminded me a bit of a ruckman our seniors played against on the weekend. Hadn't played footy since going to America to play bball 4 years ago. Killed our ruckman in the ruck, his tap outs were pretty much always to a dangerous spot but overall I think our ruckman still got the better of him because around the ground he actually did something.

Athletic potential is there (read that HUGE) but still has a long long way to go before he's a footballer

[Guest Dream Team]

Just got back from the game:

Of the three names that are going to go 1,2,3 (watts, rich ,nicnat), I have made the following conclsions:

Rich: was the only one playiig AFL level football. Ball magnet and when he gets the ball is garuanteed to get it to a player. Did go quiet during the third but still a very impressive player. Best Kick on the ground.

Natanui: I was on him months ago but I don't think he is a top 2 pick (from this gme anyway), He is professional, fast, can jump. But in this game alone McKernan was the better player. Can't kick either. I was most impressed by how much ground he covers,he was everwhere all the time.

Watts: Still has a lot to learn about the game, looked completely lost at times when he didn't have the ball. BUT when he has the ball he looks like trav (all the time in the world) he is quick on the lead (Buddy) and takes a great pack mark (Riewoldt) and uses his body with great effectiveness (brown). I did however detect a hint of an unproffessional in him (richo).

So for me:

1: Watts The upside here is what excites me the most, he has all the attributes that are most difficult to teach he's stil pretty skinny and there are some basic things he could learnn about the game that would make him twice the player.

2: Rich For safe bet, the best player on the ground was Rich and he will play 200+ games for sure, and they'll be good ones.

3: Naitanui will still be a good player but he is behind Rich and Watts for mine.

I was also very impressed with McKernan, Jetta (lightning), tom lynch (though I hear he's a [censored]) and Tyrone Vickarey (fingerscrossed he slips to 17)

I know it's only one game but that's how I saw it. Tough pick between the top three I would still be very excited about any of the three.

Went to the game as well and totally agree. at

Rich is a star simple as that. I find it funny we know he'll be a gun yet consider (myself included) passing on him.

Watts was good and considering this wasn't his best game there is heaps to be excited about.

Nat was ok but for someone who just doesn't mark with average disposal the upside isn't enough for where we are. At best he will be a great tap ruckman with excellent attack and effort but unless his skills improve he will always be limited. I can't think of a player that started the AFL with average skills and developed them to a very good standard.

Summary 1/2 should be Rich or Watts with Nat to slide. The really interesting picks will be 17/19 etc as there are loads of good talls which we need to throw up front.

[Eastie Boyz 0]

Nat was ok but for someone who just doesn't mark with average disposal the upside isn't enough for where we are. At best he will be a great tap ruckman with excellent attack and effort but unless his skills improve he will always be limited. I can't think of a player that started the AFL with average skills and developed them to a very good standard.

Andy Goodwin circa 2009

[Yze_Magic 3]

LOL @ anyone that said Natanui wasnt impressive today and that he wont go number 1.

He is the surest number 1 pick in draft history.

[Demons 32 235]

LOL @ anyone that said Natanui wasnt impressive today and that he wont go number 1.

He is the surest number 1 pick in draft history.

100% agreed.