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23 minutes ago, demonstone said:

That bloke at selection four might be out of our reach, moneywise.

How could we possibly afford the wages of Sinn?  It might kill us.

Well if anybody can it would have to be the Demons

 
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AFL Draft Central’s Round 2 Scouting Notes ~

#22 Mac Andrew

Melbourne fans may want to tune in and watch Andrew throughout 2021, as the NGA prospect looks to be a very exciting type. While still quite raw, there is no questioning Andrew’s athleticism and aerial nous, which came to the fore with some very handy ruckwork and impressive marking at both ends of the ground. He was clearly the dominant ruck on the day and positioned cleverly behind the ball after his work was done at the contest, which saw him take some clean intercept grabs in defence. Andrew also marked well when playing forward in the fourth quarter, but just lacked the finishing touch in front of goal. His follow-up play was also promising, as he disposed cleanly within his limits and did what was required with ball in hand at the stoppages.

 

 

NGA players games on the weekend -
13 touches, 8 hitouts and a goal for Mac Andrew (pictured)

13 touches and a goal for Kobi George 

10 touches and 7 tackles for Koo Kwet-Kim

78AB95BD-D9BD-40CE-87A2-ED9BB888BA71.jpeg


It's about this stage where if he was a young West Australian in the Eagles academy he'd be locked away out of sight, there'd be a rumour about some misdemeanor and he'd suddenly spring back after the draft with 8kgs of pure muscle added to his frame.

 

The AFL is just scratching the surface in terms of African players IMO. There could be a premiership for the club that cracks it first.

36 minutes ago, Pickett2Jackson said:

Will get taken top 20 and we wont have access to him thanks to another dumb pitiful AFL rule.

We all knew it would happen. I would tell him to stop playing.


Don't we already have 2 or 3 Mac Andrew threads started in the last few weeks...

10 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Don't we already have 2 or 3 Mac Andrew threads started in the last few weeks...

For some unknown reason it got changed to the NAB League thread.. i initially searched this up but it's been changed.

39 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

The AFL is just scratching the surface in terms of African players IMO. There could be a premiership for the club that cracks it first.

WHat? Really? Do GWS/Suns/Sydney Swans have exemptions from this rule? I swear they always get their 'academy players'.

 

What about the doggies with the 1st pick last year? Wasnt that on the basis of academy selection? 

Confused :S

Edited by CYB


20 minutes ago, CYB said:

WHat? Really? Do GWS/Suns/Sydney Swans have exemptions from this rule? I swear they always get their 'academy players'.

 

What about the doggies with the 1st pick last year? Wasnt that on the basis of academy selection? 

Confused :S

The rules for the NGA academies are based on minority parentage. The top 20 draft picks are now open to NGA players after the Dogs were gifted the number 1 pick last year. (The change was good for the game but could hurt us this year with Mac Andrew being a potential top 20 pick.)

The NSW and Queensland clubs have different academy rules which are similar to the Father Son system.

Anyone wanting to watch Mac Andrew can via the Nab League App, last weekend's game is already uploaded.  I'm pretty sure the first few rounds have been missed, presumably due to the AFL being slow to get their house in order, but I would expect highlights packages for every NAB player down the track as well.

He is certainly an intriguing prospect.  For those with a familiarity with the NBA, he is a very similar bodyshape, though not as tall, as the late and great Manute Bol - which is a different Sudanese physique to players like Majak Daw and Aliir Aliir.   One thing immediately noticeable is how slender his arms are, I can't recall seeing a player/potential draftee with such skinny arms and this marries to the fact that at under 16s level he was 59kg.  Now he's more, to the eye anyway, 200cm or so and 70-75kg. 

On the weekend, the Stingrays played the Dragons who are a very good side at the moment and featured Max Heath in the ruck, a strong bullocking overage ruckman who was in draft calculations last year and will be one of the tougher opponents for young ruckmen to face in the NAB this year.  Andrew started forward and took turns through the ruck during the day.  At this stage his lack of body mass hurts him in some competitive situations, but he has a very impressive standing jump which, in the ruck, meant that he dished out some very nice service for his Stingray midfielders and it will be a seriously attractive attribute for recruiters.  He wasn't super consistent at stoppages, but there was some ruckwork stuff that would have list managers salivating.   Around the ground, he dropped back a kick behind the play at times and took some nice marks, mostly when he had read the play well, channelling Aliir Aliir, and was able to mark uncontested.    Again, his lack of strength  hurts him in some contested aerial skirmishes. 

What I think was most exciting about him is his fundamentals.  This is not some Sudanese kid new to the game running around out-athleting kids and doing weird things with ball in hand.  He has very sound kicking mechanics and his ball use by foot was very neat and a set shot at goal was finished smoothly with the coolness of someone who had been playing the game since he was 11 years old.   I don't know whether it is the case or not, but it was very encouraging.

So really, this is exciting ruck prospect, with likely versatility to play in other positions, perhaps key back and as a forward/ruck but very much at least a few years off having the muscle to be able to play at AFL level, certainly in the ruck at least.  But with such good fundamentals and a vertical leap, you can see why the drums are beating loud for him.   Is he a top 20 pick?  He's going to need to be dominant through the season, I'd imagine, to get near that status, or need one team with a specific focus of getting in a developing ruckman, happy to bring them on over a few years.  But he's a very interesting player and assuming he has good intangibles, can't see him not being a category B player for us at the absolute very least.  I really like the fact that he kicks the ball with good technique. With the rest of the package, it is very desirable.  You really are only needing to muscle up him up to have a theoretical first ruck option possibility your hands.  They aren't always easy to find.

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3 minutes ago, goodoil said:

Anyone wanting to watch Mac Andrew can via the Nab League App, last weekend's game is already uploaded.  I'm pretty sure the first few rounds have been missed, presumably due to the AFL being slow to get their house in order, but I would expect highlights packages for every NAB player down the track as well.

He is certainly an intriguing prospect.  For those with a familiarity with the NBA, he is a very similar bodyshape, thought not as tall, as the late and great Manute Bol - which is a different Sudanese physique to players like Majak Daw and Aliir Aliir.   One thing immediately noticeable is how slender his arms are, I can't recall seeing a player/potential draftee with such skinny arms and this marries to the fact that at under 16s level he was 59kg.  Now he's more, to the eye anyway, 200cm or so and 70-75kg. 

On the weekend, the Stingrays played the Dragons who are a very good side at the moment and featured Max Heath in the ruck, a strong bullocking overage ruckman who was in draft calculations last year and will be one of the tougher opponents for young ruckmen to face in the NAB this year.  Andrew started forward and took turns through the ruck during the day.  At this stage his lack of body mass hurts him in some competitive situations, but he has a very impressive standing jump which, in the ruck, meant that he dished out some very nice service for his Stingray midfielders and it will be a seriously attractive attribute for recruiters.  He wasn't super consistent at stoppages, but there was some ruckwork stuff that would have list managers salivating.   Around the ground, he dropped back a kick behind the play at times and took some nice marks, mostly when he had read the play well, channelling Aliir Aliir, and was able to mark uncontested.    Again, his lack of strength  hurts him in some contested aerial skirmishes. 

What I think was most exciting about him is his fundamentals.  This is not some Sudanese kid new to the game running around out-athleting kids and doing weird things with ball in hand.  He has very sound kicking mechanics and his ball use by foot was very neat and a set shot at goal was finished smoothly with the coolness of someone who had been playing the game since he was 11 years old.   I don't know whether it is the case or not, it was very encouraging.

So really, this is exciting ruck prospect, with likely versatility to play in other positions, perhaps key back and as a forward/ruck but very much at least a few years off having the muscle to be able to play at AFL, certainly in the ruck at least.  But with such good fundamentals and a vertical leap, you can see why the drums are beating loud for him.   Is he a top 20 pick?  He's going to need to be dominant through the season, I'd imagine, to get near that status, or need one team with a specific focus of getting in a developing ruckman, happy to bring them on over a few years.  But he's a very interesting player and assuming he has good intangibles, can't see him not being a category B player for us at the very least.  I really like the fact that he kicks the ball with good technique. With the rest of the package, it is very desirable.  You really are only needing to muscle up him up to have a theoretical first ruck option on your hands.

 

 

Love your work goodoil. For those who are wondering ~ Manute Bol .

7 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Love your work goodoil. For those who are wondering ~ Manute Bol .

Competed with Ricky Jackson as my very early childhood hero did Manute :)

Cody Raak (Jets). Started on fire in the NAB league. A tall 194 cms sized defender in the mould of Lever, Ridley, McGovern and has excellent skills and agility to be a rebounder and interceptor.  Probably one of the youngsters who missed the draft last year but is going to be a certainty this year.  Mid year draft perhaps for the Dees. 


2 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Cody Raak (Jets). Started on fire in the NAB league. A tall 194 cms sized defender in the mould of Lever, Ridley, McGovern and has excellent skills and agility to be a rebounder and interceptor.  Probably one of the youngsters who missed the draft last year but is going to be a certainty this year.  Mid year draft perhaps for the Dees. 

Cody is with the dogs NGA and dogs have told him they are 99% sure they will get him

 

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