Not a lot of attention being paid to Acres, but every draft watcher has him in their top dozen or so. Was injured during the year and playing colts in Western Australia, so he is very much 'out of sight out of mind'.

Tall midfielder or flanker that runs really well, uses it very well and has a lot of class. Definitely suits the way we've traded. Given all of this, why wouldn't we draft him at 9?

Thoughts?

You still have a good eye for talent Bob but there's not much to go on other than a few highlights which are always going to show a player's better side. The plusses are that the vision we have does show a tall composed midfielder who knows where to go and takes a decent grab.

The only news I have about him is that I was informed that earlier in the year, there was a belief among a few in the know in WA that either Freo or West Coast were trying to hide him away from everyone's view and that the injury wasn't as bad as was being made out.

I'm not sure who does our recruiting in WA these days but he would no doubt be well aware of this player who, based on reports, looks a likely choice between 10 and 20, so if the club recruiters like him, he should be available at our selection. However, so also should be at least one or two from Bontempelli, Freeman, Lennon and Salem.

As always, we'll have to place our faith in our recruiting guru and for the second year in a row, his initials are not BP.

The question is will WC take him ahead of Sheed.

I said in another thread I feel acres could be the best player to come out of this draft. Have to agree with wj, I think he has been hidden away for that exact reason. Plays a style of footy that will stand up in high pressure games and just has that assertive presence around the ground.

Viney showed last year he can spot a player, and with Jason Taylor on board as well, I feel we will be able to trust their choices more so than we have the previous recruiters of the past decade.

  On 02/11/2013 at 05:59, Whispering_Jack said:

You still have a good eye for talent Bob but there's not much to go on other than a few highlights which are always going to show a player's better side. The plusses are that the vision we have does show a tall composed midfielder who knows where to go and takes a decent grab.

The only news I have about him is that I was informed that earlier in the year, there was a belief among a few in the know in WA that either Freo or West Coast were trying to hide him away from everyone's view and that the injury wasn't as bad as was being made out.

I'm not sure who does our recruiting in WA these days but he would no doubt be well aware of this player who, based on reports, looks a likely choice between 10 and 20, so if the club recruiters like him, he should be available at our selection. However, so also should be at least one or two from Bontempelli, Freeman, Lennon and Salem.

As always, we'll have to place our faith in our recruiting guru and for the second year in a row, his initials are not BP.

He was touted to be one of the top picks early, but as you say there is a feeling that he will be another Darling, carefully tucked away so one of the WA clubs can get him at a later pick.

Trouble is we only have only one pick.

  On 02/11/2013 at 06:15, RobbieF said:

Trouble is we only have only one pick.

We only need to pick him once.

  On 02/11/2013 at 06:10, rjay said:

The question is will WC take him ahead of Sheed.

I felt that sheed was fortunate that his carnival efforts were probably of a higher standard than he had shown previously, I think that he is a quality player, but I feel others will overtake him. I see a lot of Brent reily, jack ziebell in him though, average footballer but always will get a game. Good luck to him though.

  On 02/11/2013 at 06:19, Axis of Bob said:

We only need to pick him once.

If it comes down to a choice between Acres, Freeman or Lennon, it will be interesting to see who they take.

Acres wouldn't surprise me but neither would Freeman.

Well here we go Robbie, I'll make my first player statement.

I've been waiting for this thread because I think he is our man. Can play multiple roles, is big bodied, a good kick and can get the ball. IMO Freeman is high risk and Lennon has been over hyped on this forum.

I've some mates in WA who have mentioned him a number of times and reckon he's in the Nat Fyfe category. He's under everybody's radar.

I'll be fascinated to see if he's our man.

Sounds like a 60's television series.

That was Green Acres BBO with the beautiful Eva Gabor.

Well, she was beautiful to me anyway.

  On 02/11/2013 at 07:49, Baghdad Bob said:

That was Green Acres BBO with the beautiful Eva Gabor.

Well, she was beautiful to me anyway.

And a sexy accent Darhling!

  On 02/11/2013 at 07:42, Baghdad Bob said:

Well here we go Robbie, I'll make my first player statement.

I've been waiting for this thread because I think he is our man. Can play multiple roles, is big bodied, a good kick and can get the ball. IMO Freeman is high risk and Lennon has been over hyped on this forum.

I've some mates in WA who have mentioned him a number of times and reckon he's in the Nat Fyfe catagory. He's under everybody's radar.

I'll be fascinated to see if he's our man.

Well there you go Bob, possibly a good call and great to see you've offered one up at last.

I hope you're right, I read a bit about Blake early on, but he seemed to just disappear, at one stage about a year ago I think they were talking about him as a possible number one.

There must be something there.

  On 02/11/2013 at 07:46, Bitter but optimistic said:

Sounds like a 60's television series.

You thinking about Dallas; Blake Harrington?

They are only short highlights, but I really liked the way he moved. He was able to work very easily into space, not unlike another 6'3 West Australian kid we used to have on our list.

  On 02/11/2013 at 08:48, Axis of Bob said:

They are only short highlights, but I really liked the way he moved. He was able to work very easily into space, not unlike another 6'3 West Australian kid we used to have on our list.

You talking about the Duke?

I think Meth Coast will take him at Pick 11 and IMO is a better mid than Sheed and would fit in well to their midfield. He would slot into our side rotating through the middle and can set up play off a HBF. Gets plenty of ball at West Perth colts and they look to play through him all the time, hence the high possession counts. He has been a good player through his junior career and had a shoulder injury this year, which affected him a little and otherwise I think he would have played seniors at West Perth.

Is he worth pick 9 possibly as you will get 150-200 solid games out of him at AFL level and he is a safe pick, don't believe there is any x-factor in him to become a game changer but then again would fit in very nicely.

I read an article he was quoted in recently. If he was correctly quoted, I'd assess his media performance as a excuse-laden. Maybe its a case of a young bloke, not yet fully media savvy, big fish, bit of an ego etc but he just sounded like he was trying to explain himself a bit too much for my liking.

Tall midfielder from WA, composed with good skills, can find it etc - doesn't that sound like someone else we had recently? Freeman for me.

We won't draft him with pick 9, and won't pick him up at pick 40, so no point discussing it.

  On 02/11/2013 at 09:12, Left Field said:

I read an article he was quoted in recently. If he was correctly quoted, I'd assess his media performance as a excuse-laden. Maybe its a case of a young bloke, not yet fully media savvy, big fish, bit of an ego etc but he just sounded like he was trying to explain himself a bit too much for my liking.

Tall midfielder from WA, composed with good skills, can find it etc - doesn't that sound like someone else we had recently? Freeman for me.

It didn't say he was built like a stick insect did it?

  On 02/11/2013 at 09:26, RobbieF said:

It didn't say he was built like a stick insect did it?

Nah RF - seems like this one is strongly built. If equal though, there is no "go home" factor in picking the Victorian so that's where I'd go with pick 9.

The name resonates with me for another reason.

When I was at uni studying property law, we had a lecturer who used to discuss the subject by referring to one property as "Blackacre" and the other as "Whiteacre". Used the description in exams as well. I guess if we draft Blake Acres, I will always think of him as a legal puzzle.

It's about time Acres got some love around here, I'd be stoked if we pick him up. For me it's between Freeman and Acres as preferred choice at pick 9, they both have something our midfield lacks and they're both strongly built and ready to go.

I posted this a while ago in the pick 9 thread but nobody picked up on it so I'll put it here.

Acres dislocated a shoulder 2 minutes into the first game of the champs and tried to play on but gave up after 2 substandard games.

The injury has pushed him out of top 10 calculations for a lot of people but he has all the weapons a modern footballer needs. He stunk up the combine competing just 4 weeks after shoulder surgery but the WAFL colts boys do a pre season mini combine at Edith Cowan University and here are his results:

Pre shoulder surgery combine results from WA testing at ECU Cowan University

20m sprint 2.94 sec

Agility 8.28 sec

Standing vertical 69 cm

Running vertical jump ® 80cm

Running vertical jump (l) 92cm

Repeat sprint 21.51 sec

Beep test 15.2

No 3 km was tested

188cm 83.7 kg

In the combine these results would have placed him

20m sprint- Equal 9th

Agility- 8th

Standing vertical- 1cm outside top 10

Running vertical jump ®- Equal 10th

Running vertical jump (l)- 2nd

Repeat sprint- 1st

Beep test- Equal 5th

No 3 km was tested

188cm 83.7kg

Sourced from Kawalsky from Bigfooty

Virtually top 10 in every category, 188cm, 84kg, plays inside and out and has above average disposal. He has height and speed and our midfield needs both, add his endurance and evasiveness and he's a perfect fit for us. If his shoulder is ok I'd take him at 9 for sure.

And the Morton comparisons are laughable.

  On 02/11/2013 at 20:00, furious d said:

It's about time Acres got some love around here, I'd be stoked if we pick him up. For me it's between Freeman and Acres as preferred choice at pick 9, they both have something our midfield lacks and they're both strongly built and ready to go.

I posted this a while ago in the pick 9 thread but nobody picked up on it so I'll put it here.

Acres dislocated a shoulder 2 minutes into the first game of the champs and tried to play on but gave up after 2 substandard games.

The injury has pushed him out of top 10 calculations for a lot of people but he has all the weapons a modern footballer needs. He stunk up the combine competing just 4 weeks after shoulder surgery but the WAFL colts boys do a pre season mini combine at Edith Cowan University and here are his results:

Pre shoulder surgery combine results from WA testing at ECU Cowan University

20m sprint 2.94 sec

Agility 8.28 sec

Standing vertical 69 cm

Running vertical jump ® 80cm

Running vertical jump (l) 92cm

Repeat sprint 21.51 sec

Beep test 15.2

No 3 km was tested

188cm 83.7 kg

In the combine these results would have placed him

20m sprint- Equal 9th

Agility- 8th

Standing vertical- 1cm outside top 10

Running vertical jump ®- Equal 10th

Running vertical jump (l)- 2nd

Repeat sprint- 1st

Beep test- Equal 5th

No 3 km was tested

188cm 83.7kg

Sourced from Kawalsky from Bigfooty

Virtually top 10 in every category, 188cm, 84kg, plays inside and out and has above average disposal. He has height and speed and our midfield needs both, add his endurance and evasiveness and he's a perfect fit for us. If his shoulder is ok I'd take him at 9 for sure.

And the Morton comparisons are laughable.

Very impressive results, it will be interesting to see if this is the player that they knew would still be there at 9 and allowed them to trade away pick 2.

  On 02/11/2013 at 08:58, Pennant St Dee said:

I think Meth Coast will take him at Pick 11 and IMO is a better mid than Sheed and would fit in well to their midfield.

This sounds believable. WC was happy to trade down to 11 and it's quite likely I think that Acres and not Sheed has been their target all along.