The 2014 AFL National Draft

[dazzledavey36 55,868]

My mistake RTG.

I do hope he becomes a good player but im still very confused why we didnt pick Honeychurch or Templeton.

[KingDingAling 3,758]

I wasn't overly impressed with Durdin last night.

Be interesting to see Goddard, I have not seen him play yet.

If a KP doesn't establish himself by the end of the year, IMO we might look to off load the pick.

Edited April 30, 2014 by KingDingAling

[ChaserJ 5,169]

My mistake RTG.

I do hope he becomes a good player but im still very confused why we didnt pick Honeychurch or Templeton.

Really liked Honeychurch as a player last year, very good clearance winner in junior football, but also very small. I think most clubs shied away because the perception was that he wouldn't put on the size to play that game in AFL. Plays pretty well as a small forward, hope he makes it at the Dogs.

I wasn't overly impressed with Durdin last night.

Be interesting to see Goddard, I have not seen him play yet.

If a KP doesn't establish himself by the end of the year, IMO we might look to off load the pick.

To be fair to Durdin, that was his first game in months after a hand injury, and I hear that the conditions weren't all that favourable for talls last night.

Looking forward to seeing Goddard this year. Was impressed after a couple of viewings last year, the type that doesn't like losing a contest (never mind a game).

Edited April 30, 2014 by ChaserJ

[Machsy 2,858]

I'll take your points and we can agree to disagree on the description of a project player

As for pulling the trigger too early on Hunt with regards to my original post, I would have preferred the club stacking the odds with that pick (and future late picks) by selecting players that are more likely to succeed based on good or excellent performances at a higher levels that slide in the draft (TAC Cup and U18 Champs), as apposed to a player in others inferior competitions (School Football).

Compare Honeychurch to Hunt, Honeychurch was in the premiership winning team of the TAC cup, represented Vic metro and was further named as an All-Australian in the U18 team. Hunt had a few good performances for Brighton Grammar. As for Templeton, I agree not all clubs rated him as high as some but his performances particularly during the U18 champs rated him higher than Hunt.

If the club again this year chooses a school boy who did not play TAC cup or represent his state over one that did who also performed well enough for to obtain or fall just shy of All-Australian selection I'll be livid.

I see what you're saying, but I also think we need to consider type.

Templeton - run all day vanilla mid.

Honeychurch - bog standard hard contested ball winning mid.

Hunt - rangy, speedy, athletic HBF/wingman with nice kick, not much exposure to high levels of the game/coaching.

I suspect the coaching dept think he has more improvement in him than most, having not been exposed to the TAC cup system, once they put him into the AFL system.

Also, I think they'll back themselves to turn him into a player, as Roos has a bloody good record with developing players from big ordinary into at least role players, especially foreign types like Kennelly and Pyke.

[Machsy 2,858]

And Roos likes to have an army of HBF/wingman.

At Sydney he had Kennelly, Mattner, Shaw, Malceski and others.

We can already see by the VFL player summaries that half the MFC players at Casey have been rotated through there.

[Whispering_Jack 31,131]

Injury woes and a family connection make this player perfect for the Demons

Territory draft prospect out for 12 weeks

[whatwhat say what 23,428]

The 20 players to watch at the NAB AFL U18 Champs

Interestingly, Peter Maynard, who works for the club, has a son available for selection this year, and Cal Twomey rates him in the top 20. No mention of Billy Stretch.

From what I've heard about Maynard, he's a bit like Luke McDonald for North - clean with the ball coming out of defence.

i can't believe the way that sydney (and presumably gws?) gets access to the best players from nsw/act via the academy in much the same way father-sons are eligible. heeney is meant to be a very good footballer.

[Machsy 2,858]

I really like the idea of Tom Lamb or Hugh Goddard.

Could both play as tall mids as Roosy seems to like.

[TheoX 1,222]

I'm not as impressed by Templeton as some are so far, but boy haven't we heard that line before?

I'd have loved if we forgot about the attitude for a second when we were considering Dustin Martin, or Jack Darling.

Same here, he just looks to go OK, nothing special, cetrainly shouldn't be upset we didn't draft him. Plus his hair is ridiculous.

[Carlos Danger 380]

I'm at the point now where I just don't care about the draft anymore in reference to the number of our first round pick.

Look through any draft and you can see the best player being obtained from any number in the top 10, sometimes in the 20's or even 30's.

It also takes years for a player to break out and show their full "potential", sometimes they never get there.

So really I don't care if we have pick 1, 2 or 3, I will happily see it traded again for another Tyson and Salem. Taking that punt on a pick 1 might get us another Watts, Gibbs or Kruezer all of which have underperformed, or alternatively yes a Murphy or Deledio but it's still a flip of a coin and no certainty for success - just over exaggerated media hype that takes years to determine if the pick comes to fruition.

All I ask is that the recruiting department makes well calculated and smart decisions by stacking the odds in their favour (e.g. 2 quality players with high "potential" like Tyson and Salem for 1 with high "potential" player being Kelly). I also ask they rank the players based on talent and output not entirely athletic "potential" (NOTEI love draftees that win a lot of the contested possession as they are more likely to succeed). For years clubs have let players slide because they may consider them a bit too much of a "plodder" like Luke Dunstan, or lack that physical frame like Nathan Fyfe, or will never have a big enough tank to play AFL football like Tom Rockliff - all of which killed their final U18 year. I hope they STOP drafting "smoky's" at relatively important picks like they did last year on Jayden Hunt. Nothing against him but he could have been obtained with our second Rookie pick, using his pick on say an Eli Templeton who was rated quite highly by a range of clubs.

Not only do I want the club to get their first pick "right" (there is a greater probability of doing this), I think it is equally if not more important to get those later picks "right" and those that are usually correct are selections of those players that slide due to physical traits like JKH's height or a presumed lack of fitness like T. Rockliff and S. Mitchell that produced highly (excellent stats) during their U18 years.

I still can't understand why we didn't take Templeton at pick 2 in the rookie draft.

Jayden Hunt might have been the smokey and the questionable call (straight onto the senior list) but to then pluck another player out of obscurity over Eli yet again in the rookie draft?

There's been very little said about Hunt or Harmes since being drafted whereas Templeton has already played 6 games and kicked 4 goals in the big time.

I'd prefer not to harbour spots on either of the lists for long-term prospects, it's a luxury this club can't afford right now.

[Ted Lasso 19,549]

Geez Peter Wright is impressive, dominates defenders and kicks big bags

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

A good mate of mine works with the Geelong Falcons, says Goddard is quite over-rated and very skinny with an extremely arrogant attitude that doesn't work well with the team when they are trying to teach them to do "team things". Says McCartin is an absolute gun, has a crack and makes the most of anything that comes into him.

Hugh Goddard

Geelong Falcons/Vic Country

24/8/96

195cm/92kg

Tall forward/defender

Goddard got a taste of things last year when he played four games for Vic Country in the under-18 championships as a 16-year-old. He has the ability to switch to both ends of the ground, but has played mainly as a forward this year. The cousin of Bomber Brendon, Goddard competes hard, flies for marks and gets his hands dirty when the ball's on the ground.

Patrick McCartin

Geelong Falcons/Vic Country

19/4/96

192cm/90kg

Tall forward

Everything about McCartin says he's a natural forward. He reads the play well, has a little burst of speed on the lead and makes space, and his hands are strong and clean. He plays with some aggression, too, jumping into packs and making a contest every time. McCartin isn't as tall as some of the other keys in this draft but plays taller than most. He starred at last year's championships as a bottom-ager, kicking five goals for Vic Country against

[jumbo returns 6,741]

Geez Peter Wright is impressive, dominates defenders and kicks big bags

Huge isn't he?

He'll end up at the Lions, I reckon.

[rjay 25,306]

McCartin has a bit of plugger Lockett about him, with Hogan who has a bit of Carey. Could a forward line work with Plugger and the Duck?

[Ted Lasso 19,549]

Yeah jumbo over 200cm and 100 kg yeah I reckon he will be pick 1

[Ted Lasso 19,549]

I reckon Hugh Goddard and mccartin could both play in the midfield

[Tatu 416]

Hey didn't Peter Moore play for us aswell?

[Demon Disciple 12,452]

Huge isn't he?

He'll end up at the Lions, I reckon.

Yep, they are calling out for their next big KPF. He fits the bill big time for them.

[Generation dee 1,336]

I still can't understand why we didn't take Templeton at pick 2 in the rookie draft.

Jayden Hunt might have been the smokey and the questionable call (straight onto the senior list) but to then pluck another player out of obscurity over Eli yet again in the rookie draft?

There's been very little said about Hunt or Harmes since being drafted whereas Templeton has already played 6 games and kicked 4 goals in the big time.

I'd prefer not to harbour spots on either of the lists for long-term prospects, it's a luxury this club can't afford right now.

What? Dont you read the vfl review? Harmes had a 30 disposal game only a few weeks ago and has been tracking nicely in the muddy conditions in previous weeks. The club almost certainly got that pick right. Even if we picked templeton, chamces are he wohld be developing in the vfl in the same way as our guys are now. We arent in a situation like st kilda where we have to play first year players. We are in a position where we have reasonable depth but they needed to know how to play.

Templeton wasnt the answer last year and i think harmes and hunt have been coming along nicely

[rjay 25,306]

I reckon Hugh Goddard and mccartin could both play in the midfield

McCartin is a pure forward.

[Ted Lasso 19,549]

He has alot in common with Nat Fyfe in a way, great turn of acceleration, good height, natural footballer

[Vitamin Dee 903]

Hey didn't Peter Moore play for us aswell?

I like your thinking, but he didn't play over 100 games for his son to qualify.

[Adam The God 30,603]

A good mate of mine works with the Geelong Falcons, says Goddard is quite over-rated and very skinny with an extremely arrogant attitude that doesn't work well with the team when they are trying to teach them to do "team things". Says McCartin is an absolute gun, has a crack and makes the most of anything that comes into him ...

Where's Freak when you need him?

[rjay 25,306]

He has alot in common with Nat Fyfe in a way, great turn of acceleration, good height, natural footballer

If you're talking about McCartin then you haven't seen him play. The only thing he has in common with Fyfe is he, well Fyfe is a great footballer, McCartin may be one.

[spirit of norm smith 16,615]

I am a huge fan of Brayden Maynard. Runner up in Sandy Dragons B&F in 2013 as a bottom age 16yo player. Strong, smart and get inside mid/half back. Top 10 choice a lock IMO.