Shane Valenti

[Yencks 8]

There has been a lot of talk about our talls and ofcoarse little Aussie, however I was wondering what most people on demonland thought about Valenti, considering a lot of us thought he would get picked up much earlier, did the club not rate him highly or secretly think he would fall so far back in the rookie draft?

Does anyone have any good facts or video footage of Shane?

[MeLbOuRnE 0]

He game second in Sandringhams B&F and he won the VFL's best young player award(i think it's called the Listons Trophy or something like that) he is super quick hard at it and got great skills i don't have any videos of him but here is a picture(don't know how it helps but i will post it any way)

[paddo 0]

he is super quick

I've actually heard that one of his weaknesses is that he is too slow - at AFL standard perhaps

[The Fergburger 0]

he actually is quite slow. A perfect comparison to the way he plays is Sam Mitchell.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

He's a little ripper. While he may not be pacey, he's as tough as the day is long. I can scarcely imagine a player who is more poised in heavy, HEAVY traffic. He's a great deliverer of the ball to his forwards... If you judge him on his weaknesses he might not get too far, but the kid has strengths... Put simply, I love watching him play. Every time I rock up to Sandy I seem to have to decide whether it's him or Juice, or him or Summers, or him or Poyas for BOG honours. I know not everyone rates him as he's very little, but I know I do.

That said, I won't be enormously surprised to see him fail at AFL level. A lot of guys play like stars in the VFL but can't hack the AFL. But if he does fail, it won't be from lack of application.

[Demonland 66,984]

He's a little ripper. While he may not be pacey, he's as tough as the day is long. I can scarcely imagine a player who is more poised in heavy, HEAVY traffic. He's a great deliverer of the ball to his forwards... If you judge him on his weaknesses he might not get too far, but the kid has strengths... Put simply, I love watching him play. Every time I rock up to Sandy I seem to have to decide whether it's him or Juice, or him or Summers, or him or Poyas for BOG honours. I know not everyone rates him as he's very little, but I know I do.

That said, I won't be enormously surprised to see him fail at AFL level. A lot of guys play like stars in the VFL but can't hack the AFL. But if he does fail, it won't be from lack of application.

The Oracle gives him quite a good wrap in his article CHANGES 2007: TRADING AND DRAFTING - PART THREE which I've just put up on the Drafting and Trading Board.

"The club's final rookie selection was Shane Valenti who has been rewarded for two excellent seasons of hard work and dedication at Sandringham. The youngster did not finish runner up in the Liston Trophy and overall winner of the Fothergill-Round Medal for nothing. He also follows Aaron Davey onto the rookie list after winning the latter award so those pundits who write him off because they consider him too small and too slow for AFL football do so at their own peril."

[Slartibartfast 16,139]

He's a little ripper. While he may not be pacey, he's as tough as the day is long. I can scarcely imagine a player who is more poised in heavy, HEAVY traffic. He's a great deliverer of the ball to his forwards...

Wow, Chris Judd watch out! Strange indeed that 15 other clubs found about 5 or 6 players each that they took before someone as good as Valenti.

Valenti is a really honest player. Courage, good hands, can find it and his disposal and vision are good. But there are reasons why he was drafted in the fourth round of the rookies. I'm pleased he's got his chance and we will all know what he is capable of because he will give it everything he has.

But those that saw and followed Adam Fisher will have little doubt about the challenges Shane faces.

[Minka Beaver 0]

Wow, Chris Judd watch out! Strange indeed that 15 other clubs found about 5 or 6 players each that they took before someone as good as Valenti.

Valenti is a really honest player. Courage, good hands, can find it and his disposal and vision are good. But there are reasons why he was drafted in the fourth round of the rookies. I'm pleased he's got his chance and we will all know what he is capable of because he will give it everything he has.

But those that saw and followed Adam Fisher will have little doubt about the challenges Shane faces.

That's about as good an assessment as you'll find. His size (176cm, 80kgs) means he is extemely limited in the roles he can play.

About his pace - he's actually quite good off the mark, and has a good burst over the first 10 metres. This allows him to break clear of packs and give him time to line up teammates by foot (a notable differentiation from Mitchell whose preferred option of disposal in close is a handpass that will break open the play). After that, he falls right off and struggles to beat opponents to loose balls.

His placement to leading forwards is excellent - he has a great ball drop and delivers some beautiful low passes. But he'll have less time to execute those passes if he makes into the AFL. The VFL is full of good footballers whose bodies and talents don't or wouldn't translate well to the AFL (eg David Robbins, Fort Caruso, Kyle Matthews). It will be tough for Valenti to break that mould.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Wow, Chris Judd watch out! Strange indeed that 15 other clubs found about 5 or 6 players each that they took before someone as good as Valenti.

Valenti is a really honest player. Courage, good hands, can find it and his disposal and vision are good. But there are reasons why he was drafted in the fourth round of the rookies. I'm pleased he's got his chance and we will all know what he is capable of because he will give it everything he has.

But those that saw and followed Adam Fisher will have little doubt about the challenges Shane faces.

Its pretty much spot on about Valenti.

[Little Goffy 13,044]

He game second in Sandringhams B&F and he won the VFL's best young player award(i think it's called the Listons Trophy or something like that) he is super quick hard at it and got great skills i don't have any videos of him but here is a picture(don't know how it helps but i will post it any way)

He certainly runs rings around the bad guy Lord Vigo from 'Ghostbusters' in the photo there. We'll be safe from transdimensional attacks into our midfield for sure!

Will be interesting to watch. I get the impression we're all agreed that he had earnt a Rookie spot but probably has a bit to prove before he gets a real crack at AFL.

Another reason this year's pre-season cup will be fascinating.

[Tex 68]

I definatly rate him. Loved watching him for Sandy. Very happy with this pick up.

I would like to see him drop 3 - 5 kilo's of baby fat, in the same manner that Jones did to increase his speed.

[Nasher 33,246]

Wow, Chris Judd watch out! Strange indeed that 15 other clubs found about 5 or 6 players each that they took before someone as good as Valenti.

I think you have quoted DD badly out of context there.

[s-t-i-n-g-a 439]

He certainly runs rings around the bad guy Lord Vigo from 'Ghostbusters' in the photo there. We'll be safe from transdimensional attacks into our midfield for sure!

Thought it was Cornes

[Whispering_Jack 28,128]

That's about as good an assessment as you'll find. His size (176cm, 80kgs) means he is extemely limited in the roles he can play.

About his pace - he's actually quite good off the mark, and has a good burst over the first 10 metres. This allows him to break clear of packs and give him time to line up teammates by foot (a notable differentiation from Mitchell whose preferred option of disposal in close is a handpass that will break open the play). After that, he falls right off and struggles to beat opponents to loose balls.

His placement to leading forwards is excellent - he has a great ball drop and delivers some beautiful low passes. But he'll have less time to execute those passes if he makes into the AFL. The VFL is full of good footballers whose bodies and talents don't or wouldn't translate well to the AFL (eg David Robbins, Fort Caruso, Kyle Matthews). It will be tough for Valenti to break that mould.

He's never going to be a speedster but I think you've summed up his attributes well. At VFL level and on smaller, more weather affected grounds, he's always hard to beat but the step up to AFL level might well find him out.

It will be interesting to see whether a few months under the eye of Bohdan Babicjzuk will help him keep up with the AFL speedsters. The funny thing is that Greg Williams' lack of pace never seemed to prevent him from accumulating his 30 to 40 possessions week in week out but then Diesel would also probably struggle to get rookie drafted these days.

Finally, I calculate that 125 players were drafted this year ahead of Valenti. Anyone who expects a Chris Judd to emerge after that number of selections would also have strong beliefs about the existence of the tooth fairy.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Wow, Chris Judd watch out! Strange indeed that 15 other clubs found about 5 or 6 players each that they took before someone as good as Valenti.

I think you have quoted DD badly out of context there.

Nash mate, nice to see you sticking up for the little guys...

You're absolutely right. Fan, if you read my whole post you'll see that I haven't pulled a Y_M and predicted Shane will win the Bluey next year...

As per usual the intention of my post was overlooked... perhaps you, like others, don't have the time to go through my posts... not exactly your fault I'll admit.

Just to reiterate... Shane has the attitude, the courage and the kicking skill (if not penetration) to deserve to be given a shot at AFL level. Throughout the league's history there have been exceptionally hard-working players who, though VERY small, were able to carve out decent careers at AFL level. In the league, at any given time, there's usually a handful of blokes that fit into this category. All I'm saying is that Shane IS small and perhaps his legs don't carry him at Judd-like speed, but apart from that he has everything you'd need to be a nuggety inside player. Put aside the one or two reservations about his stature and you have a rookie with as much a chance as any other... Yes he doesn't have flexibility in the positions he can play, but then neither does Chunk...

[mo64 5,280]

I'm with you Dappa Dan. He may not become a Chris Judd, but he may become a Matthew Priddis, an out and out midfielder with no pace, who's not versatile. Strange, 15 clubs overlooked him in the national draft as well!!!!!

[Redleg 38,629]

Put aside the one or two reservations about his stature and you have a rookie with as much a chance as any other...

Correct. He is on a list, even if only as a Rookie.

I hope for his sake he might be another feel good story. If his determination and mental attitude are strong who knows.

Yes he may not be the next Judd, but who expected him to be. He is our last pick of 2007 and while he is at the club he has a chance to impress. Good luck at the Dees Shane.

PS. I can think of some pretty ordinary footballers who played a fair bit of league football, if he gets a game he will always be an AFL footballer.