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The James Aish Thread



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They ask that question for it to be an attention-grabbing headline for an otherwise pedestrian article.

I see Aish as being a hard worked, having good skill and decision making, and having great agility and lateral quickness like a Dayne Beams.

Worthy of a top 5 pick.

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He's not big, but I think he has a perfectly acceptable size for a kid that age.

Not too dissimilar to Cotchin's size at the same age.

Hardly an indictment.

I don't subscribe to the strategy of drafting big bodied kids to compete straight away.

You're drafting them for what they will become.

That means you assess their body type and how they will fill out.

& don't go for kids with a small bum and small hands.

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Sounds as if he would be a good pick up, though hate to say it but he looks a bit skinny. Not Mortonesque, and I guess all the views of Jesse Hogan may shift one's focus a bit.

A very condescending article though.......perhaps we deserve it!

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No doubt that Aish will need to put on some size (as most 1st year players not named Oliver Wines do), but Aish’s got very few holes in his game and is off the charts when it comes to poise and decision making. He gives himself more time than most to pick the right option and has the skill to execute under pressure.

He weighs in at about 72kgs at 183cm tall. Just as a point of reference, a quick comparison with previous players of a similar ilk drafted:

Marc Murphy 179.1cm, 74.7kg

Dale Thomas 182.8cm 75.2kg

Bryce Gibbs 187.4cm, 77.6kg

Travis Boak 183.3cm, 76.4kg

Trent Cotchin 185.6 cm, 79.5 kg

Hamish Hartlett 184.1cm, 76.6kgs

Stephen Hill 183.7cm, 68.9kgs

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Sounds as if he would be a good pick up, though hate to say it but he looks a bit skinny. Not Mortonesque, and I guess all the views of Jesse Hogan may shift one's focus a bit.

A very condescending article though.......perhaps we deserve it!

No we don't.

The best kids go to the worst teams. That is how this works. To ask a teenager to judge a footy club is beyond the pale.

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If we get the priority pick we will get Sheed and Aish.

We will then have a great young midfield to build upon, when you add Viney, Toumpas and Barry to the mix.

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Jockeys weigh 70 kgs , it would take 4 preseasons to get him ready, FFS Melbourne pick a kid with a frame.

Without wanting to derail a thread on a promising youngster, I want to make a point about weight/size.

At 17 I was 184cm and 70kgs wringing wet. By the time I turned 19 I was 188cm and 87kgs. I can safely say it wasn't fat, and I was still able to run and jump the same amount as I could at 17. A year later, I was 191cm and 91kgs. In a touch under 3 years I grew 7cm and 21kgs, all of which was pretty much muscle and bulk.

My point is, everybody develops at different rates. You can look at Aish, Kelly and billings and see that all 3 of them have muscle definition and a frame. Billings will turn out a bit bigger as he has shoulders already, like judd when he was young. Dangerfield always looked like becoming the horse he is nowadays even when he was 17. You don't need to be built like darling or ollie wines, or tapscott at 17 to become a great player, but you can tell the shape of gysberts and Morton were different very early on as opposed to masten or ziebell. Same applies to watts and Hurley. Ones mature at 19, the other is developing. Everyone was big on Hurley past year or 2 as he was ready to play, but watts scope for development is a lot higher than Hurley in my opinion.

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Without wanting to derail a thread on a promising youngster, I want to make a point about weight/size.

At 17 I was 184cm and 70kgs wringing wet. By the time I turned 19 I was 188cm and 87kgs. I can safely say it wasn't fat, and I was still able to run and jump the same amount as I could at 17. A year later, I was 191cm and 91kgs. In a touch under 3 years I grew 7cm and 21kgs, all of which was pretty much muscle and bulk.

My point is, everybody develops at different rates. You can look at Aish, Kelly and billings and see that all 3 of them have muscle definition and a frame. Billings will turn out a bit bigger as he has shoulders already, like judd when he was young. Dangerfield always looked like becoming the horse he is nowadays even when he was 17. You don't need to be built like darling or ollie wines, or tapscott at 17 to become a great player, but you can tell the shape of gysberts and Morton were different very early on as opposed to masten or ziebell. Same applies to watts and Hurley. Ones mature at 19, the other is developing. Everyone was big on Hurley past year or 2 as he was ready to play, but watts scope for development is a lot higher than Hurley in my opinion.

Thats a fair call mate, my main concern is he will be running around like Barry at Casey all next season because of his size, it's a big risk, Morton, Cook , Gysberts, Blease and Strauss were all stick ants , we've been down this path and last time we recruited this way we weren't on AFL life support, surely there's a top midfielder in the First 5 picks that weighs 80 kg , time is not on our side, Billings looks just as good as Aish and he has a body ready to go.
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Thats a fair call mate, my main concern is he will be running around like Barry at Casey all next season because of his size, it's a big risk, Morton, Cook , Gysberts, Blease and Strauss were all stick ants , we've been down this path and last time we recruited this way we weren't on AFL life support, surely there's a top midfielder in the First 5 picks that weighs 80 kg , time is not on our side, Billings looks just as good as Aish and he has a body ready to go.

speaking to our local scout. his reaction

we can guess , hope ,want,if it works out we say were genius. if it doesn't then blame the coaching

if it does work out well, take the credit

he was very adamant its all a bit of judgment but mostly luck. and used gumbleton as example

every scout said he was the BEST and injury has cruelled him. we all see the same kids and hope the ones we pick , turn out ok

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Thats a fair call mate, my main concern is he will be running around like Barry at Casey all next season because of his size, it's a big risk, Morton, Cook , Gysberts, Blease and Strauss were all stick ants , we've been down this path and last time we recruited this way we weren't on AFL life support, surely there's a top midfielder in the First 5 picks that weighs 80 kg , time is not on our side, Billings looks just as good as Aish and he has a body ready to go.

Look, I don't think aish will be that far off. He reminds me a bit of James Kelly at the cats, but with better skills. I think he is a guy who will improve very quickly. Billings I can see a bit of chad wingard in, he will start slowly and look a bit lost, but after a year and another preseason he will become a very classy player.

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He's not big, but I think he has a perfectly acceptable size for a kid that age.

Not too dissimilar to Cotchin's size at the same age.

Hardly an indictment.

I don't subscribe to the strategy of drafting big bodied kids to compete straight away.

You're drafting them for what they will become.

That means you assess their body type and how they will fill out.

& don't go for kids with a small bum and small hands.

i agree.... With Aish its not just his ball skills and awareness, its the way he moves... This kid has got it!! Will be a star...
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Will come down to him or Sheed, but i really love the look of Scharenberg,

I'm not an expert by any means having only seen and read bits and pieces on these kids - however I would have thought Sheed would be right up our alley and am surprised he is being touted as a late first round pick. Aish seems like he will be a good player but we get dominated out of the centre and desperately need to develop a midfield who can extract the ball as well as use it. Aish seems like more of an outside player whereas Sheed is inside/outside (and can hit the scoreboard).

Scharenberg seems like a classic utility but could go into the midfield down the track in the vein of the tall Freo midfielders. However it seems like at the moment he would be playing a similar role to Watts or perhaps Garland and I think we need to focus exclusively on the midfield. Billings is another who looks more like a flanker than a midfielder.

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I'm not an expert by any means having only seen and read bits and pieces on these kids - however I would have thought Sheed would be right up our alley and am surprised he is being touted as a late first round pick. Aish seems like he will be a good player but we get dominated out of the centre and desperately need to develop a midfield who can extract the ball as well as use it. Aish seems like more of an outside player whereas Sheed is inside/outside (and can hit the scoreboard).

Scharenberg seems like a classic utility but could go into the midfield down the track in the vein of the tall Freo midfielders. However it seems like at the moment he would be playing a similar role to Watts or perhaps Garland and I think we need to focus exclusively on the midfield. Billings is another who looks more like a flanker than a midfielder.

Could be similar to Fyfe. It's going to be hard choice at the top end that's why I'm greedy and want 2 shots at it.

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