I was speaking just now with a person who works in the TAC Cup system and he expressed the view that if there was one key player/big man worth investing in if he had a pick in the top three then it would be Two Metre Peter Wright who is tall, can play forward and play ruck. I was told that he would take little time to adapt to the rigours of AFL and would be a perfect replacement for Mitch Clark as a forward/ruckman in todays football.

I mentioned Luke McAlister's phantom draft in another thread. This is what he says about TMP ~ Luke McAlister's Phantom Draft

Peter Wright (Vic Metro, full forward/second ruck)

203 cm, 102 kg, 8/9/96

Range: Top 6

Style: Sam Jacobs (Ruck)

Comparison: Kurt Tippett (Forward)

Wright is perhaps the biggest risk vs reward player in the crop. There is every chance he becomes a maligned key position bust who never looks like hes at the standard. But theres also a real chance he becomes a truly dominant and imposing forward who can chop out in the ruck. In my opinion his ceiling is the highest in the draft. He already begins with the natural head start of being 203 cm. Despite being that height hes got great acceleration and a good top speed. His agility is excellent and his turning circle relatively small. He leads to the right places, times his leads well and has the work rate to lead repeatedly. He takes the ball at the highest point, often in one grab and that coupled with his wingspan and height makes him truly imposing on the lead. If given a run at the ball hes able to steamroll packs and take huge contested grabs he just needs to improve his consistency in this regard. 1 on 1 hes able to use his bigger body to win contests often. His set shot goal kicking is excellent, with his accuracy and distance both elite. His field kicking is also excellent as is his composure with ball in hand.

Wright can almost be considered two different players Wright the forward and Wright the ruck. With his height hell always be considered a ruck option and while his tap work is reasonable he lacks something dominant through the ruck which he has when forward. He doesnt like to physically impose on the contest like many modern day ruckmen do instead preferring to remain outside the contest as a link up option similar to Sam Jacobs except he doesnt read the play as well and doesnt impact the game enough. The worry with Wright is that hell be labelled as a ruck due to his height and be thrown in there regularly despite the fact that its just not something he excels in. He has a history of back injuries which needs to be considered as well. He also goes missing at times and isnt incredibly fit. At ground level hes serviceable but occasionally struggles to get down quickly and loses balance.

What Wright has that most 203 cm players dont is genuine forward ability. He shares a lot of similarities with Kurt Tippett but at the moment looks like his ceiling is even higher. The risk is there that he just doesnt develop. His TAC and championships form this year has been a little below expectations too, he hasnt truly dominated like previous elite KPFs have at this level.

and from Callum Twomey on the afl.com.au site

An injury-free season was dashed at just the wrong time for the Calder Cannons big man, who missed his team's TAC Cup Grand Final with a minor knee injury. Everyone has different opinions on where he plays best, but Wright feels most comfortable as a lead-up centre half-forward and dominated some games there this year. Athletically he is very sound and it is rare a player of his size kicks so well.

My informant says if we got Brayshaw/Wright with picks 2 and 3, we would have a perfect combination of players from the early reaches of the draft and we would have to be tempted with a very, very special (pronounce in McAvaney style) trade to part with either of those picks.

Of course, as mentioned by McAlister, the risk/reward aspect of taking a big man early is high but I relish the thought of a combination of this bloke and Jesse Hogan dominating our forward line and destroying opposition defences for the next ten to fifteen years.

Sounds pretty similar to Vickery!

Sounds pretty similar to Vickery!

So cruel.

We cant afford he risk/reward trade. Had too many of those over the years.

We need an immediate reward trade.

thought it was mids mids mids !!

McCartin seems a much safer bet.

thought the idea was you built the engine room then went shopping later for talls etc. Trade them into the club later when you KNOW who is good or not ...just saying

We already have some project talls.

Not keen on this path personally

I can't see us taking Wright. Roos is into winning games next season and has said that picking talls in the draft is too much of a lottery.

While he shows a lot I too don't think that early in the draft is the place to pick up a speculative tall.

At the place that we are at I am recruiting the ball magnet who ticks all the boxes in contested footy and skills with foot and hand. The bloke who is coachable and has a good head on his shoulders and is willing to work. Just keep picking those guys untll we have the luxury of playing with the speculative guys in future seasons, or pick them up later in the draft.

Edited October 8, 201411 yr by jabberwocky

I'd take McCartin over Wright, the 'risk/reward' comment raises an eyebrow.

I can't see us taking Wright. Roos is into winning games next season and has said that picking talls in the draft is too much of a lottery.

Unless a kid like Hogan comes along I think we never 'project/risk " talls much ever again. Go buy them at the shop. Pay a fair price for a hit the ground running already run-in model..

Havent we learnt anything ????

No more risks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds pretty similar to Vickery!

I actually thought he sounds similar to Fitzpatrick.

We already have Max Gawn & he to has dodgy knees

Unless a kid like Hogan comes along I think we never 'project/risk " talls much ever again. Go buy them at the shop. Pay a fair price for a hit the ground running already run-in model..

Havent we learnt anything ????

The cupboard is bare. Ask the Dogs, Blues, Magpies, Cats and Tiges...all the teams that have none or one. That's why Mitch was chased and is worth more than we are being offered.

I think Wright would be the wrong choice.

The cupboard is bare. Ask the Dogs, Blues, Magpies, Cats and Tiges...all the teams that have none or one. That's why Mitch was chased and is worth more than we are being offered.

do we need one right now?? No

in 2-3 years time landscape will be different

edit:

Its about Priorities. Finally we have a coach and fd that live in the today as opposed the clowns that perpetuated the "in a couple of years...etc etc etc"

Edited October 8, 201411 yr by beelzebub

Wright would seem to make a more balanced forward line with Hoges and Dawes.

Dubious though as this player type often takes 3-4 years.

do we need one right now?? No

in 2-3 years time landscape will be different

edit:

Its about Priorities. Finally we have a coach and fd that live in the today as opposed the clowns that perpetuated the "in a couple of years...etc etc etc"

Maybe, but if the past is anything to go on they have always been hard to find and hard to move.

Sounds pretty similar to Vickery!

I haven't seen much of TMP but he also sounds similar to a bloke called Paul Salmon who played senior VFL/AFL for 20 seasons with Essendon and Hawthorn winning premierships, goalkicking honours, best and fairests and even made the Team of the Century at his second club Hawthorn.

I know it's all about mids, mids, mids but I would take Brayshaw first and imagine then if we picked up a midfielder in a downgrade with the Bulldogs' pick. He might still be around at 6. That gives us two ,ids and a 203cm ruckman/forward. And ruckmen play in the midfield too

I haven't seen much of TMP but he also sounds similar to a bloke called Paul Salmon who played senior VFL/AFL for 20 seasons with Essendon and Hawthorn winning premierships, goalkicking honours, best and fairests and even made the Team of the Century at his second club Hawthorn.

games a bit different now Jack, in all honesty.

TMP could be a gem.....we need diamonds now..tomorrow, next season. Hed be too expensive at this draft

Our problem is getting the ball, Dawes, Watts, The Ped, Hogan, Garlett , JKH, will take care of business, just get it down there.

games a bit different now Jack, in all honesty.

TMP could be a gem.....we need diamonds now..tomorrow, next season. Hed be too expensive at this draft

Grundy was hailed as a ready made at this draft and we are still waiting for him to arrive.

We talk about players needing 2-3 season to mature - there are few like Wines who arrive from day one - with ruckman it is an absolute given that they need a few 3-4 years to grow into those bodies - most don't mature until 24 or later - Niknat was probably the last ruckman who made an impact from day one ( and we can argue forever on how big that impact has been)

How many of the games best ruckmen or ruck/forwards were top ten picks.

A lot of the better ruckmen and ruck/forwards are picked up later or as rookies. Because of their slow progress they are ideal rookie projects.

I am a believer in picking up genuine mids or very good key position players in the first round. There are always exceptions.

Grundy was hailed as a ready made at this draft and we are still waiting for him to arrive.

We talk about players needing 2-3 season to mature - there are few like Wines who arrive from day one - with ruckman it is an absolute given that they need a few 3-4 years to grow into those bodies - most don't mature until 24 or later - Niknat was probably the last ruckman who made an impact from day one ( and we can argue forever on how big that impact has been)

Grundy also went around pick 18 not pick 3 so not many recruiters thought he was that ready made.

If we keep pick 3 it will be interesting to see who we go with.