Will Gould (Drafted by Sydney)

[Binmans PA 25,979]

3 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Gould isn't big enough for CHB. He's a half back like Young, was BOG against Vic Country so I'm not sure why he is so low in the draft.  

Hasn't interviewed well, allegedly.

[Lord Travis 10,158]

On top of the interviews, it's his key attributes and how he'll adjust to AFL level. He's a 106kg half back flanker who often lines up on players 30kgs lighter than him. It means he can out-wrestle them, break tackles etc very easily. He'd need to lose 10kg to cope with running at AFL level, and he will no longer have a huge size advantage. That nullifies the key parts of his game from underage level.
His agility is average, speed average-good straight line but average otherwise, kicking good, reading ball drop average-good.

Recruiters would likely only see a few attributes that translate to AFL level when his size advantage is removed. Whether that's right or not is another matter, but it's easy to see why he's slipped from potential top 5-10 pick to more like a 20-35 pick.

[Demon Dynasty 15,365]

2 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

On top of the interviews, it's his key attributes and how he'll adjust to AFL level. He's a 106kg half back flanker who often lines up on players 30kgs lighter than him. It means he can out-wrestle them, break tackles etc very easily. He'd need to lose 10kg to cope with running at AFL level, and he will no longer have a huge size advantage. That nullifies the key parts of his game from underage level.
His agility is average, speed average-good straight line but average otherwise, kicking good, reading ball drop average-good.

Recruiters would likely only see a few attributes that translate to AFL level when his size advantage is removed. Whether that's right or not is another matter, but it's easy to see why he's slipped from potential top 5-10 pick to more like a 20-35 pick.

There is something to be said with size/agility and stepping up to perform against the big boys that's for sure.

From what i've seen his reading of play / ball drop however, is very good to elite (at the under 18 level).  Whether that translates to similar at AFL level?  Who knows.  Much of the ability to transition is a bit of a coin flip and ao many factors come in to play here.

Edited November 1, 2019 by Rusty Nails

[Lord Travis 10,158]

Yeah it's a really hard thing to judge, and the recruiters obviously look for specific things to help make judgement on how well certain attributes will translate to AFL level. There's no exact science though. Every year we see players who were taken lower in the draft go on the become superstars (e.g. Fyfe), while more highly rated juniors fail (e.g. Toumpas).

I don't mind Gould and would like him on the list if we split and got another pick. I don't think he's worth a top 10 pick, but it's harder to judge the man-child types. Players like Tom Boyd and Josh Schache were giants at under-age level so were dominant, but then fail to translate against bigger bodies at AFL level. Gould falls into the camp due to often being 20-30kgs heavier than his opponents on the flank. Hard to judge how his skillset and size will translate to the AFL level. I think he'll be decent though!

Edited November 1, 2019 by Lord Travis

[Watson11 1,882]

In Adelaide and went to the gym next to Adelaide Oval.  Will Gould was training and doing weights.  He’s tall, but if he put some weight on post season he has obviously put his head down recently and now looks in ripping nick. If our squad were training as hard as he is in the off season I’d be pretty comfortable about next season.