2015 AFL National Draft prospects: The next batch

[ILLDieADemon 804]

The only way Petracca will be a bust is through injury. I can only assume you've had no exposure to him at all to even suggest he could be a Watts or a whipping boy.

Your right PD, I have only seen a couple of highlight of him as a junior but Watts TAC highlights looked like he was going to be a once in a generation player also with his quick thinking and wheezing through traffic.

We put so much expectation on these young blokes before they have even played there first AFL game and when they don't succeed our expectations we put them in the wiping boy bin.

AB looks the goods but let's just wait till CP plays his first season before we call him a once in a generation player, he may not transition into the AFL as well as every expects him too.

[dazzledavey36 55,990]

Your right PD, I have only seen a couple of highlight of him as a junior but Watts TAC highlights looked like he was going to be a once in a generation player also with his quick thinking and wheezing through traffic.

We put so much expectation on these young blokes before they have even played there first AFL game and when they don't succeed our expectations we put them in the wiping boy bin.

AB looks the goods but let's just wait till CP plays his first season before we call him a once in a generation player, he may not transition into the AFL as well as every expects him too.

Really? I never got that with Watts at all. Infact i thought his highlights were underwhelming.

[ILLDieADemon 804]

Really? I never got that with Watts at all. Infact i thought his highlights were underwhelming.

We still had high expectations on him.

Maybe I haven't seen enough of CP then. Got any highlights?

[The Third Eye 288]

Sure you'll get plenty of vision if you google his name and you tube.

I kept Knightmare's write up on my iPad:-

3. Christian Petracca (VIC – Mid/Fwd)

Height:186cm, Weight: 92kg, DOB: 04/01/1996

Recruited from: Eastern Ranges

Draft range: 1-3

Best position/role: Rotational midfielder/forward.

Strengths:

Front half talent –Petracca can play both deep in the front half as a marking target and off a forward flank to a high standard when playing forward. Deep in the front half Petracca provides strong scoreboard impact and is an imposing marking presence with his 1v1 strength, overhead marking ability, marking on the lead and superior ability to read the drop of the ball. He can deep in the front half also win the ground ball. Petracca can also play off a forward flank and have a big impact, he can on a forward flank accumulate the footy in bunches, do damage with his footskills, present as a strong marking target, provide strong scoreboard impact and push up the field.

Midfield talent – Petracca is an improved midfielder this year having improved his endurance and decreasing his skinfolds. He’s got a nice mix between inside and outside game. He’s a very good contested ball winner and stoppage player and these areas of his game can continue to improve given his size and strength. He’s a strong ground ball winner. He’s also got a rare power to him not only with his strength to bully guys inside the contest but some real explosive power where he can burst through a contest, come up with the ball and break away from the contest at speed. He’s also got excellent evasiveness and can sidestep guys and burst away with some real explosiveness. Outside the contest Petracca shows that he can find the footy but also use it really well utilising his damaging footskills and vision allowing him to find damaging targets up the field.

Scoreboard impact – Forward or through the midfield Petracca provides strong scoreboard impact and is capable of kicking multiple goals and breaking games open with his scoreboard impact in any given game.

Strength and power – Not many 92kg midfielders going around and even fewer with the explosiveness and power of Petracca. He wins his own ball and can either burst through the contest or run around you with ease. He stands up through tackles and has the strength through his core and hips, he can shrug tackles and give a strong don’t argue. In the 1v1 contests he can take advantage of anyone who isn’t key position sized.

Versatility – Petracca because he can play not only through the midfield but also on a forward flank or deep in the front half as a marking target gives you options and this versatility should also help him receive on any team immediate senior games.

Footskills – Has an excellent mix between footskills hitting his targets around the ground with consistency, vision allowing him to find some really damaging targets in great position, decision making with his ability to choose the right options but also he’s got the finishing ability and set shot goalkicking to allow him to provide the scoreboard impact.

Marking ability – Few if any medium size types have the marking ability of Petracca. He’s got the 1v1 marking ability, contested marking ability and ability on the lead to take his marks and he’s got the strength overhead to take them consistently. He also reads the drop of the ball exceptionally well and uses his body well in the contest allowing him to effectively protect the drop zone making him incredibly hard to defend particularly if he can isolate a smaller player defender deep in defence.

Weaknesses:

Endurance – His endurance is building and has improved significantly this year to an extent where he can now play full games through the midfield but if he hopes to eventually become a full time midfielder further work is still required.

Skinfolds – Like with his endurance his skinfolds have reduced but his skinfolds still appear relatively high and also need to decrease.

What I expect will improve:

I expect Petracca to continue to improve his contested ball winning and stoppage work and take that area of his game from good to eventually excellent. I also expect his endurance and skinfolds to improve. Whether his endurance and skinfolds improve to an extent where Petracca will be played as a full time midfielder that is the question I still have.

Who he can become?

I anticipate Petracca to develop into a player largely similar to Dustin Martin but without the personal issues. I see Petracca mostly playing as a damaging forward flanker who will at times push deeper into the front half and will split his minutes between playing through the front half and midfield with those midfield minutes increasing as his endurance improves.

When will he be ready to play?

Petracca is season one, round one ready to play. He’ll start off season one mostly playing in the front half and by season two or three likely play more a split between forward and midfield minutes.

How to best utilise him?

Petracca today is best utilised in the front half because he’s just so damaging forward of centre. The hope will be that he becomes more a midfielder but I’d look for him to split his minutes between the midfield and front half long term.

Interpretation of his numbers:

Petracca well and truly has the performances on the board and is one of if not the best performed player in this draft class based on his form these past couple of seasons through the TAC Cup and U18 championships. He’s finding the footy but also providing heavy scoreboard impact at both levels which such suggests he’ll provide both a strong immediate impact at AFL level but also that he will become one of the best to come out of this draft with those high production power midfielders who can provide heavy scoreboard impact of strong value to teams.

I also had a SuperCoach write up that says he averaged 129 points during his two TAC Cup years kicking 63 goals from 29 games. As a bottom age player he scored an astonishing 210 SuperCoach points in the 2013 Preliminary Final collecting 9 contested marks, collecting 23 disposals and kicking 5 goals, 5 behinds.

I don't think there's a player in this year's draft coming anywhere near to matching this bloke!

[ILLDieADemon 804]

Sure you'll get plenty of vision if you google his name and you tube.

I kept Knightmare's write up on my iPad:-

3. Christian Petracca (VIC – Mid/Fwd)

Height:186cm, Weight: 92kg, DOB: 04/01/1996

Recruited from: Eastern Ranges

Draft range: 1-3

Best position/role: Rotational midfielder/forward.

Strengths:

Front half talent –Petracca can play both deep in the front half as a marking target and off a forward flank to a high standard when playing forward. Deep in the front half Petracca provides strong scoreboard impact and is an imposing marking presence with his 1v1 strength, overhead marking ability, marking on the lead and superior ability to read the drop of the ball. He can deep in the front half also win the ground ball. Petracca can also play off a forward flank and have a big impact, he can on a forward flank accumulate the footy in bunches, do damage with his footskills, present as a strong marking target, provide strong scoreboard impact and push up the field.

Midfield talent – Petracca is an improved midfielder this year having improved his endurance and decreasing his skinfolds. He’s got a nice mix between inside and outside game. He’s a very good contested ball winner and stoppage player and these areas of his game can continue to improve given his size and strength. He’s a strong ground ball winner. He’s also got a rare power to him not only with his strength to bully guys inside the contest but some real explosive power where he can burst through a contest, come up with the ball and break away from the contest at speed. He’s also got excellent evasiveness and can sidestep guys and burst away with some real explosiveness. Outside the contest Petracca shows that he can find the footy but also use it really well utilising his damaging footskills and vision allowing him to find damaging targets up the field.

Scoreboard impact – Forward or through the midfield Petracca provides strong scoreboard impact and is capable of kicking multiple goals and breaking games open with his scoreboard impact in any given game.

Strength and power – Not many 92kg midfielders going around and even fewer with the explosiveness and power of Petracca. He wins his own ball and can either burst through the contest or run around you with ease. He stands up through tackles and has the strength through his core and hips, he can shrug tackles and give a strong don’t argue. In the 1v1 contests he can take advantage of anyone who isn’t key position sized.

Versatility – Petracca because he can play not only through the midfield but also on a forward flank or deep in the front half as a marking target gives you options and this versatility should also help him receive on any team immediate senior games.

Footskills – Has an excellent mix between footskills hitting his targets around the ground with consistency, vision allowing him to find some really damaging targets in great position, decision making with his ability to choose the right options but also he’s got the finishing ability and set shot goalkicking to allow him to provide the scoreboard impact.

Marking ability – Few if any medium size types have the marking ability of Petracca. He’s got the 1v1 marking ability, contested marking ability and ability on the lead to take his marks and he’s got the strength overhead to take them consistently. He also reads the drop of the ball exceptionally well and uses his body well in the contest allowing him to effectively protect the drop zone making him incredibly hard to defend particularly if he can isolate a smaller player defender deep in defence.

Weaknesses:

Endurance – His endurance is building and has improved significantly this year to an extent where he can now play full games through the midfield but if he hopes to eventually become a full time midfielder further work is still required.

Skinfolds – Like with his endurance his skinfolds have reduced but his skinfolds still appear relatively high and also need to decrease.

What I expect will improve:

I expect Petracca to continue to improve his contested ball winning and stoppage work and take that area of his game from good to eventually excellent. I also expect his endurance and skinfolds to improve. Whether his endurance and skinfolds improve to an extent where Petracca will be played as a full time midfielder that is the question I still have.

Who he can become?

I anticipate Petracca to develop into a player largely similar to Dustin Martin but without the personal issues. I see Petracca mostly playing as a damaging forward flanker who will at times push deeper into the front half and will split his minutes between playing through the front half and midfield with those midfield minutes increasing as his endurance improves.

When will he be ready to play?

Petracca is season one, round one ready to play. He’ll start off season one mostly playing in the front half and by season two or three likely play more a split between forward and midfield minutes.

How to best utilise him?

Petracca today is best utilised in the front half because he’s just so damaging forward of centre. The hope will be that he becomes more a midfielder but I’d look for him to split his minutes between the midfield and front half long term.

Interpretation of his numbers:

Petracca well and truly has the performances on the board and is one of if not the best performed player in this draft class based on his form these past couple of seasons through the TAC Cup and U18 championships. He’s finding the footy but also providing heavy scoreboard impact at both levels which such suggests he’ll provide both a strong immediate impact at AFL level but also that he will become one of the best to come out of this draft with those high production power midfielders who can provide heavy scoreboard impact of strong value to teams.

I also had a SuperCoach write up that says he averaged 129 points during his two TAC Cup years kicking 63 goals from 29 games. As a bottom age player he scored an astonishing 210 SuperCoach points in the 2013 Preliminary Final collecting 9 contested marks, collecting 23 disposals and kicking 5 goals, 5 behinds.

I don't think there's a player in this year's draft coming anywhere near to matching this bloke!

Watched his highlights, looks like a very good player at TAC level.

He is a big bodied 17 year old playing against a bunch of undersized 17 year olds.

To put a label on this bloke as a once in a generation player as stated by ProDee is enormous expectations on a bloke who has only played at TAC level.

I hope he will be as good as he was at TAC level but until he plays his first game I won't be expecting anything from this bloke.

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

Watched his highlights, looks like a very good player at TAC level.

He is a big bodied 17 year old playing against a bunch of undersized 17 year olds.

To put a label on this bloke as a once in a generation player as stated by ProDee is enormous expectations on a bloke who has only played at TAC level.

I hope he will be as good as he was at TAC level but until he plays his first game I won't be expecting anything from this bloke.

I don't know about generational but I was told by someone in the media that the Club rates Christian as only slightly behind Hogan for talent.

[Gator 18,014]

Your right PD, I have only seen a couple of highlight of him as a junior but Watts TAC highlights looked like he was going to be a once in a generation player also with his quick thinking and wheezing through traffic.

We put so much expectation on these young blokes before they have even played there first AFL game and when they don't succeed our expectations we put them in the wiping boy bin.

AB looks the goods but let's just wait till CP plays his first season before we call him a once in a generation player, he may not transition into the AFL as well as every expects him too.

I'll please myself as to my prognostications and stand or fall accordingly.

Petracca will be a superstar if his knee holds up.

[Gator 18,014]

Watched his highlights, looks like a very good player at TAC level.

He is a big bodied 17 year old playing against a bunch of undersized 17 year olds.

To put a label on this bloke as a once in a generation player as stated by ProDee is enormous expectations on a bloke who has only played at TAC level.

I hope he will be as good as he was at TAC level but until he plays his first game I won't be expecting anything from this bloke.

My expectations are exactly that, mine.

I've seen extensive videos over two years, seen him train and noted Goodwin's comments that he's never seen such an exciting talent through his football journey.

There's a reason he was pick 2 and touted as pick one for most of the year.

The guy is a bull with speed, a fantastic mark and can kick 70 metres. No-one loves Hogan more than me and this guy equals Hogan in the talent stakes and possibly shades him.

You don't like my comments or "expectations" ? Please yourself.

[ChaserJ 5,189]

Great work ChaserJ. Thanks!

Thanks mate, appreciate it.

[ILLDieADemon 804]

My expectations are exactly that, mine.

I've seen extensive videos over two years, seen him train and noted Goodwin's comments that he's never seen such an exciting talent through his football journey.

There's a reason he was pick 2 and touted as pick one for most of the year.

The guy is a bull with speed, a fantastic mark and can kick 70 metres. No-one loves Hogan more than me and this guy equals Hogan in the talent stakes and possibly shades him.

You don't like my comments or "expectations" ? Please yourself.

Mate, I hope he is as good as you say he is.

[Deeoldfart 8,165]

I don't know about generational but I was told by someone in the media that the Club rates Christian as only slightly behind Hogan for talent.

If this turns out to be a bona fide and accurate assessment, then we Demonlanders really have something to get excited about. Time will tell of course, but I can't help having very high hopes for our prospects over the next 5 years or so.

[Whispering_Jack 31,285]

Another phantom draft from Jourdan Canil ~ Bound for Glory News Phantom Draft.

He joins Brett Anderson in predicting that we will take Charlie Curnow with our first pick.

Here's an quote from Mr. Canil from early on in his preview of Cornow ~

He can be a bit lazy, often looking to engage in one on one contests, rather than leading up and using space.

Yep. I'm sold *

[* where's the sarcasm metre when you need it?]

[Deecisive 1,709]

Hmm I would like to see us clear out another one or two players and take a chance on picking up another one or two in the draft of the PSD. we know the limitations on some of our bottom ranked players and clearly they are not likely to make the grade, so why persist with them.

[DeeSpencer 26,482]

I found that phantom a bit ordinary.

No one would draft Weideman at all yet alone top 10 if they thought he was the next Levi Casboult.

It only takes a few highlight videos to see Curnow is vastly different to Stringer.

Aaron Francis doesn't remind me of Goodes at all.

And not just the player comparisons but the explanations aren't spectacular either.

[KingDingAling 3,758]

Watched his highlights, looks like a very good player at TAC level.

He is a big bodied 17 year old playing against a bunch of undersized 17 year olds.

To put a label on this bloke as a once in a generation player as stated by ProDee is enormous expectations on a bloke who has only played at TAC level.

I hope he will be as good as he was at TAC level but until he plays his first game I won't be expecting anything from this bloke.

It will be largely dependent on how he recovers from the ACL. Based on his TAC cup form, I'd be inclined to agree with ProDee - Petracca did look like a once in a generation player. I remember watching him thinking he is as good a athlete as I have seen come through the TAC. Now it all depends on the knee IMO.

[dazzledavey36 55,990]

I found that phantom a bit ordinary.

No one would draft Weideman at all yet alone top 10 if they thought he was the next Levi Casboult.

It only takes a few highlight videos to see Curnow is vastly different to Stringer.

Aaron Francis doesn't remind me of Goodes at all.

And not just the player comparisons but the explanations aren't spectacular either.

Agree, dont know who that guy was but some of his player comparisons were fairly ordinary.

I too didn't like that phantom draft.

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

Good to get T.Mc out of that lot

[Whispering_Jack 31,285]

Yes, on close inspection that Bound for Glory phantom draft is pretty ordinary. Some of his player summaries aren't exactly ringing endorsements of players he has predicted to go so high. Curnow's "lazy", Parish has "flaws" etc. I have no problem with a critical appraisal but he doesn't back up the criticism with any real facts. It must just be "the vibe".

Also, he has included rookie elevations which we've been told are no longer part of the draft programme but have already been done.

[Moonshadow 17,678]

Good to get T.Mc out of that lot

Started to vomit uncontrollably when I heard Prendergastly call Lucas Cook 'elite' three times in a row. Now I have to buy another laptop. Thanks Munga...

[spirit of norm smith 16,651]

My therapist has banned me from saying or writing Prend...

He set us back 5 years in a rebuild.

Gysberts, Cook, Blease, Strauss, Tapscott, Maric etc etc etc

[old55 23,847]

My therapist has banned me from saying or writing Prend...

He set us back 5 years in a rebuild.

Gysberts, Cook, Blease, Strauss, Tapscott, Maric etc etc etc

BP didnt pick Maric, CAC did. But 5 out of 5 misses between 10 and 20 over 3 years did really hurt us. I cant really fault his early picks, I think Watts, Scully and Trengove were generally well regarded by everyone at the time. He had a decent hit rate late with Gawn, Howe, TMac, Jetta.

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

I know a few keep mentioning the thrashing at kardinia park in 2011 but i am actually really thankful that happened. It started the ball rolling for the necessary shakeup the club needed. Unfortunately it had to take a few years to play out with further backward steps taken but it was the beginning of the spotlight being planted on the administration.

The other event I'm really grateful for happening was the tanking affair. I'm sure we will look back n years to come and see that all that drama was the beginning of the end for the unprofessional basket case that was the MFC.

I remember neeld commenting on how shite the list management meetings with barry prendegast were. he 'resigned' a few months later. neeld turned out to be a bad choice but the upheaval was a necessary step in the cleansing process the club needed.

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,477]

Who are Carltons forwards again?

As good as a defender Weitering might be its easier to play key back then key forward.

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,477]

Brisbane and Carlton both need a key forward, I think the top ten will get turned on its head.

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

Brisbane and Carlton both need a key forward, I think the top ten will get turned on its head.

Carlton need a key back just as much, if not more, than they need a key forward. They won't pass on Weitering.

Their list is in too bad of a shape for them to not be taking the best available.