NAME TOM MCNAMARA

CLUB MELBOURNE

ORIGINAL CLUB SOUTH ADELAIDE

DOB 29/04/1990

HEIGHT 190.1 CM

WEIGHT 84 KG

POSITION

Tall Defender

BIO

Good reader of the play who marks well in contested situations. Has good vision and makes sound decisions. SA U18 representative this year and an AIS/AFL Academy graduate.

STATS

Kicks: 8, Handballs: 6, Disposals: 14, Marks: 2, Goals: 0 (Averages from NAB U18 Championships)

Tom McNamara

Medium Defender. 189cm, 84kg. South Adelaide/Happy Valley

Very athletic, apparently. SEN bloke reckons he may be a key-position player at some stage.

Only pick 73 left now, and I wouldn't be surprised if we pass. Doesn't look good for Sampi.

SEN says he's athletic, could be key position

I was wondering when the taller defender would show up... must be one of CAC's little surprises )

Athleticism for a defender is a very good start. That and reading the play are probably the two most important characteristics at this age. The rest can be taught to them.

people queried rances height at 192 and this bloke is shorter...i dont mind or care, but he might be a bit short for a KPD, and could possibly fit the carol mould better...

people queried rances height at 192 and this bloke is shorter...

I guess he is only 17 - possibility he might still be growing?

Only pick 73 left now, and I wouldn't be surprised if we pass. Doesn't look good for Sampi.

Why is that?

Sampi will be available in the PSD, and I'm not sure what else will be on offer...

Only pick 73 left now, and I wouldn't be surprised if we pass. Doesn't look good for Sampi.

just maybe we learned ( as a club ) the Byron lesson !!

people queried rances height at 192 and this bloke is shorter...i dont mind or care, but he might be a bit short for a KPD, and could possibly fit the carol mould better...

Well thats right Deanox. He is no certainty to be a KPD, he is only considered a medium defender at this stage, it seems. But he could develop into one I gather. Hopefully he is bottom aged and has some more stretch in his body.

Hopefully he can turn out to become a Andrew Raines or Adam Mcphee type

people queried rances height at 192 and this bloke is shorter...i dont mind or care, but he might be a bit short for a KPD, and could possibly fit the carol mould better...

By the sound of his bio, he seems like a Jared Rivers type.

what I really thought we needed was a Dustin Fletcher type..

62 – KANGAROOS – TOM McNAMARA

South Adelaide, SA, Tall defender, April 29 1990, 190.1cm, 84kg

The Roos will be eager to snap up a tall defender with one of their picks in the draft, although it will be interesting to see if they opt for a younger prospect or more experienced type. The Kangas have been linked with both – the younger McNamara and also Coburg defender Jarrod Silvester. Both loom as potential picks late for the Roos. Another ruckman is not out of the question either and if Dean Putt was available, he could come into their calculations. Harry Croft is another possible key tall option.

Bio: Good reader of the play who marks well in contested situations. Has good vision and makes sound decisions. SA U18 representative this year and an AIS/AFL Academy graduate.

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this guy looks to become a key defender, but is only tall enough to be a running, athletic 3rd tall... i'll trust CAC on this coz i know nothing about him.

one thing that surprised me a little from this draft was that we picked up midfielders (Morton,Grimes), HBF (cheney) and Maric (FP) and McNamara (atheletic 3rd tall type).

i thought we would surely go for atleast one player of true Key position size around 194cm+

i thought we would surely go for atleast one player of true Key position size around 194cm+

yep !! me too ... its still very much a gaping hole in the line up. Id likek to see as much effort put into thinking about stopping golas as there is kicking them !!

possibly....the thinking is he will still add a few cm's and wil fill out as he adds days to his still young age. Maybe this is a good pick looking down the track.. is a bit light for a defender at moment..if to play as the tall.

still...

with Rivers, Frawley and Garland we have 3 young quality key defenders coming through... Newton and Bate (perhaps Dunn but more likely tall midfielder) are young key forwards coming through.

This draft we really stocked up on our running players...perhaps next year we'll focus on talls...

but at the end of the day, we went best available and thats what i'm happy with.

the only player that we couldv perhaps picked up was Rance at 14, but i'm more than happy with Grimes at 14.

we can still pick up tall athletic KPP in the rookie draft...Kangars, Gourdis and Geartner are 3 that come to mind that i would look at.

we could still pick up an 18 yr old in the PSD

all good salient points.. lets hope huh !! For me this is the greatest problem with our lineup..we have no 1st class FB !!... Lets see maybe how the Mac at Back stacks !!

http://www.newsphotos.com.au/ImageDetail.asp?RefNum=24822860

i dont know how to post a picture on here so i put a link up here

couldnt be happier with the draft...morton was always gonna get picked at 4, grimes aka doggy brown is good at 14, and garic looks a bit like the stokes mould...very excited..on cheney and mcnamara, these two are CAC's little secrets...gonna be a good couple of years for melbourne...they have made the right choices

I guess he is only 17 - possibility he might still be growing?

Well apparently people can be expected to grow until 21-22 (which i find hard to believe as i haven't grown much in 4 years and i'm 20!)

i thought we would surely go for atleast one player of true Key position size around 194cm+

This really wasn't the draft for KPP's. Last year was the KPP draft.

I guess he is only 17 - possibility he might still be growing?

He's a bottom aged player so there is scope for improvement.

Tom Collier last year. Nominated as a bottom aged player but no takers, now top 20 pick this year.

1998. Matthew Pavlich nominated as a bottom aged player. No takers with Adelaide the only one considering him but took Ken Mcgregor with pick 75. Pick 4 next year.

A bit of optimism for everyone.

wil be interesting to see how Lovell uses him !!

wil be interesting to see how Lovell uses him !!

TOM PUTS TEAM FIRST

All the picks look really sound, but they always do at this time of year. Obviously we've targetted skill, endurance and character, but also reading the play as well. I really like the comments by the SA Development manager on our last pick McNamara...

" He played reserves for us and I didn't see him lose a contest. He plays half back but will develop into a centre half back. he reads the play well, is cool under pressure, he wins contested footy and is very disciplined in everything he does."

Gee I wonder who he'll be compared to?

Just by way of interest. Daniel Bell (186)is 2cms taller than Leo Barry(184) and 2cms shorter than O'Keefe (188). Height is one prerequisite for playing KPP, but if you have enough of the other attributes, then the difference between a 192cm and 194 cm defender is irrelevant.