THE GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE DRAFT

[Whispering_Jack 27,887]

THE GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE DRAFT by Whispering Jack

There have been a few enquiries about whether we would be doing a preview of the forthcoming national draft and I suppose the answer is self-evident.

It was tough enough last year when the Demons came in with a first round pick at 12 but, with selections 36, 52 and 54 this week, it's almost impossible to predict who will end up in the Melbourne camp on Thursday night and what's more, there are a lot of people who don't care!

We can all speculate as to the type of player the club will pick up with these selections, and we're all no doubt hoping that players of quality will somehow slip through the cracks and fall into MFC National Recruiting Manager Barry Prendergast lap, the history of these picks is not all that flash (see here, here and here) .

As far as the national draft itself is concerned, there has been a substantial amount of coverage about the potential high draft selections rangy from the well thought out analysis of Emma Quayle in the Melbourne Age - Guide to the 2011 AFL draft and Jobs for the boys: building a club, finding a roughie to the various phantom drafts on various Internet sites.

Jay Clark of the Herald Sun also produced a The SuperFooty Phantom Draft with the assistance of Sam Landsberger along with the unbelievably hyped up Pick Me series of 30 profiles of potential draftees in which the theme was to compare each with a current AFL player.

But it's all a yawn this year because Melbourne went and traded away its only first round draft pick - admittedly it received a better player than pick 12 will probably achieve but it's taken all of the interest out of the draft despite Jay Clark's attempt to hype up some players who might never get a game of AFL footy.

Our resident draft expert Stevo who has previously been involved with TAC Cup clubs and keeps a close eye on that competition and the national championships believes the series went way over the top in terms of hype. Geelong Falcon prospect Jai Sheahan was thus compared with Carlton's Jarrad Waite but Stevo doesn't see the resemblance. Liam Sumner the next Dale Thomas? More wishful thinking than anything else at this stage.

Stevo won't be drawn into much on this draft although he believes that it is very much on the shall side with a few of the best players already taken as 17 year olds by Greater Western Sydney a year ago. He concedes that the Giants franchise comes in with a big advantage but he also believes that the proof will be in the pudding and much will depend on how recruits are brought into the system, how the transition from junior football to an elite club is made and how well they are coached and mentored.

As far as Melbourne's selections are concerned, he says that no matter what happens, pick 36 will always remain pick 36 but there may be some advantages gained from having to sit back and wait for so many selections to go through before the Demons get their first choice. He has promised to come back and look at the club's selections after this draft and the preseason and rookie drafts but he says he would not be surprised if more than a few Pick Me candidates are available when Barry Prendergast finally gets his chance to clear his throat and call out a player's registration number.

If anyone really cares, here are the 36 Pick Me candidates for Thursday's Draft:-

Taylor Adams

Andrew Boseley

Dylan Buckley

Matthew Buntine

Jack Crisp

Hayden Crozier

Sam Docherty

Brandon Ellis

Todd Elton

Sam Frost

Toby Greene

Will Hoskin-Elliott

Elliott Kavanagh

Adam Kennedy

Sam Kerridge

Billy Longer

Daniel Markworth

Jackson Merrett

Jack Newnes

Jon Patton

Sebastian Ross

Jai Sheahan

Tom Sheridan

Clay Smith

Devon Smith

Liam Sumner

Michael Talia

Adam Tomlinson

Dom Tyson

Alex Woodward

[... 11]

He concedes that the Giants franchise comes in with a big advantage but he also believes that the proof will be in the pudding and much will depend on how recruits are brought into the system, how the transition from junior football to an elite club is made and how well they are coached and mentored.

Thanks for that summary WJ. I agree strongly with the line I have quoted you on above. To go a step further, I have some hope that we have players already in our team who will surprise us with their improvement next year for the same reason. If Neeld and co are as good as we hope they are, we may already have the team that can take us to a premiership. We won't die wondering if we had enough good draft picks to build it.

[deeflog 679]

2011 draft = MEH

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

I firmly believe we should all take a BEX and have a good lie down.

If you can get excited by Thursday night then you haven't got a life.

Then again if you have a life you shouldn't be responding to this inane post.

[Pink Freud 325]

The best 18 year old in the country by far comes from Paramatta in Sydney's western suburbs and GWS should draft him with their first pick.

His name's Patrick Cummins.

[Biffen 12,298]

I firmly believe we should all take a BEX and have a good lie down.

If you can get excited by Thursday night then you haven't got a life.

Then again if you have a life you shouldn't be responding to this inane post.

Precisely ,oops .

[flamindees 16]

If Tom McDonald is anything to go by, then i think i have a lot of faith in Barry Prendergast's ability to stike some more mid- draft gold on Thursday night.

One kid who has really stood out for me is Marley Williams- his highlights video isn't anything out of the ordinary however in saying that, i really like his long left foot kicking, his size and his ability to provide some good forward defensive pressure.

I also read somewhere here i think, that he would compliment the way Tappy plays quite well and i certainly think he would be well worth a look at- hopefully a top 20 slider will fall into our laps with pick 36 but if that doesn't happen i hope we give him due consideration.I'm not sure that he'll still be available at 52 but if he is i really hope we take him!

What i hope we get with our three picks are a Mid sized defender, Smallish defensive forward and a pacy, run and carry type outside midfielder.

Alternately, i would also be satisfield with three midfielders.

[Demonworship 5]

A good summary but isn't it true that we have already picked the best player from this year's draft, Mitch Clark?

[flamindees 16]

A good summary but isn't it true that we have already picked the best player from this year's draft, Mitch Clark?

Needs-wise i think that Mitch Clark was the best player we could have picked up this year, now with our three remaining picks being so low, i think we're better off going for best available, rather than picking to address needs- we can do that next year when we have better draft picks available to us.

Although next year i would certainly be open to us using our compensation picks to get into a bidding war with GWS/Collingwood over Pendles- if we land him it would be fantastic, but if not, then driving up his salary and antagonising Eddie whilst still having three of the top 20 picks in a strong draft is still a great outcome for us!!!

[jayceebee31 666]

Great summary of where we are at - Draft time right now ... You are the one who brought Waylen Manson to our attention, and I hope we go and get him.

If not I have got full faith in B P & team, to bring home the bacon once again.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I expect GWS will pass on a lot of their picks this year (shallow draft), and keep them on ice for next year (deep draft).

Absolutely stoked we got Mitch Clark, but pick 12 may result in the Lions getting a player a little before number 12 in the draft.

[RalphiusMaximus 5,993]

I expect GWS will pass on a lot of their picks this year (shallow draft), and keep them on ice for next year (deep draft).

Absolutely stoked we got Mitch Clark, but pick 12 may result in the Lions getting a player a little before number 12 in the draft.

Why would they be able to do that? Next year they'll only have the regulation number of picks plus any compensation picks they have managed to trade for. They'll almost certainly have pick one and if they have any mid-first round compo picks that would give them pick 2 as well, but they can't bank their picks from this years draft and carry them over.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I've heard they can and will - GWS source. But this is absolute hearsay and could be very unreliable - I don't know the rules.

And, assuming the bit about the deep draft next year being true, we have two first round compo picks up our sleeve for next year. You can only be happy about that.

Edited November 22, 2011 by Ron Burgundy

[Pink Freud 325]

Just a thought WJ.

Who impresses you the most of the draft prospects and if you had to plump for someone available at our selections, who would you go for?

[daisycutter 28,435]

I've heard they can and will - GWS source. But this is absolute hearsay and could be very unreliable - I don't know the rules.

And, assuming the bit about the deep draft next year being true, we have two first round compo picks up our sleeve for next year. You can only be happy about that.

Ron, I presume what you heard was probably the 16 out-of-draft picks they have which they can use across 2011/12

[daisycutter 28,435]

Why would they be able to do that? Next year they'll only have the regulation number of picks plus any compensation picks they have managed to trade for. They'll almost certainly have pick one and if they have any mid-first round compo picks that would give them pick 2 as well, but they can't bank their picks from this years draft and carry them over.

compo pick positioning in draft always reverts back to the position of the original club that traded them (in the year they are used)

[H_T 2,941]

Wondering if someone can shed some more light on Stephen Hill's brother, Brad. I did hear Kevin Sheehan speak of him and he see's him going around the 30-40's mark. Midfielder with pace and he believes he is a late bloomer who has much improvement to make up, and who could be good pick up and handy midfielder.

Smashed the beep test record set back in 2002 by Jarrad McVeigh with a 16.1 at AFL Darft Combine. He also had an excellent 3km time trial recording the fastest time and was top 10 for repeat sprints. Played in the WA representative side as well as West Perth. Kevin Sheehan has put him in his top 30. Brad apparently was said to have had rapid improvement in his game throughout 2011.

http://www.afl.com.a...x?newsid=124728

http://wap.afl.com.a...ITION&listId=22

In stark contrast, Quigley's Mock Draft for 2011 says the following under a heading where he doesn't rate a dozen or so players (and couldn't find a place for him in his top 50 - given his comment below...maybe even top 100!

Hill – athlete not a footballer and does not seem to be willing to work on his game. Needs one of those footballs for the blind with bells in it to find it.

Strange description given he made the WA representative side ... Kevin Sheehan is a respected talent scout. Will be interesting to see where he falls in the draft.

edit: Snoop dog's assessment from BF: -

# 49 Western Bulldogs – Brad Hill (West Perth / 178 / 72 / 93)

Seems to polarise people but at this stage of the draft he is well worth hitting. Personally, have had Brad pretty high all year actually. If you have seen him play he just looks the business. Has all the attributes of his brother but probably just hasn’t shown the same results. Still worth a punt for them at this selection and if their development coaches can get him together over the next 2 years they will have a player. Has all the athletic credentials you could want as evidenced at DC – is quick and can do it all day. Just needs to be taught to get more involved – particularly defensively.

AFL Comparison – Stephen Hill

Personally, I think we still lack speed in the midfield, even moreso since HW$NBN looked around. Blease would be someone to look to to add to the midfield mix dynamics. I would see something like this as an inspired pick. You'd have to back in your development coaches for the defensive side of the game - as with any player, as well as getting more involved. The key is Hill's undoubtedly an elite athlete who can run like the wind - that's a big weapon. Sheehan has him listed in the top 30, other have him going much lower. I think he's worth some serious consideration and as Snoop dog assessed...worth the punt given our medium to slow mids.

[Whispering_Jack 27,887]

Just a thought WJ.

Who impresses you the most of the draft prospects and if you had to plump for someone available at our selections, who would you go for?

I haven't seen enough games to qualify as anywhere near an expert on these things and I try not to be influenced by You Tube highlight clips which are generally just that - highlights which don't tell you enough about a player with warts and all.

At around the time of the National Under 18's (June/July), the favourites were Patton, Coniglio and Wingard. On what I saw of these players (I think Wingard missed the televised game thanks to an alleged sling tackle from Jack Viney), I think they should go top three although my favourite player of those on display this year has been Jack Viney (no bias here ).

The player I would think would be a good pick in the draft with one of our selections is Alex Woodward of the Sandringham Dragons. He's not tall but he ticks the boxes including having played well in a grand final (one of Mick Malthouse's criteria), is a good midfield extractor which is what we want, has a bit of pace and is good around the goals so he can fill that role if not one in the middle. I'm mindful of that passage of play in the 2011 Grand Final when a similar sized player Christiansen marked between two opponents and took off resulting in the crucial goal of the game. I think Woodward is in that mould.

Having said that, I suppose we'll take three talls with our picks.

Who knows?

[old55 21,204]

I'm very interested in the draft. We're going to pick 3 players who will be on our list for a minimum of 2 years. Last year we picked Howe, Davis and McDonald with similar picks to this year's - and they are 3 very exciting prospects. I think it's a reasonable suggestion that we specifically went tall last year with at least some, if not all those picks. It will be interesting to see if there's a trend this year based on what Neeld thinks we need.

[Whispering_Jack 27,887]

I've just read the AFL site's phantom draft and it has Chad Wingard going to Port Adelaide at 6.

If that turns out to be the case then the three players GWS go for ahead of him would have to be sensational footballers.

It would mean GWS gave away Jaeger O'Meara for pick 4 and don't rate Wingard worthy of that selection or the one immediately after.

Pretty incredible IMO.

[monoccular 15,992]

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE DRAFT - when is it?

[s-t-i-n-g-a 439]

What time does it start?

[Rogue 585]

I will be writing my own 'guide for those who really don't care about the draft' on or after Thursday night.

It will include the player profiles of three players; those picked at 36, 52 and 54.

Don't bother reading profiles of players we probably won't pick up, wait until after the draft and then read about the players who will actually play for us.

Who honestly cares about some mid-draft scrubber who ends up on the list at Fremantle or North? Not me.

[Whispering_Jack 27,887]

I will be writing my own 'guide for those who really don't care about the draft' on or after Thursday night.

It will include the player profiles of three players; those picked at 36, 52 and 54.

Don't bother reading profiles of players we probably won't pick up, wait until after the draft and then read about the players who will actually play for us.

Who honestly cares about some mid-draft scrubber who ends up on the list at Fremantle or North? Not me.

That's the spirit.

The only thing that interests me is how some of these scrubbers get billed as the next Matthew Pavlich in the phantom drafts only to be drafted with pick # 64.