Whispering_Jack

The Kobe Farmer story has been shrouded in a bit of mystery from my perspective. A few months ago, the word was that he was likely to go to Freo as a father/son or NGA ahead of Melbourne. Then he suddenly appears here in early December, nominates for the draft and misses out entirely. Our romantic side tells us it would make a great story. The return of the prodigal son of one of our legends is here to mesmerize us with the same magical exploits of his father. I hope it happens but a couple of things do bother me — why have the Dockers fallen off Kobe and by the way, did I miss something else like his measurements? It took a bit of searching but I eventually found these statistics from the Peel Thunder site. They appear to be recent and, if correct, put him at 2cm shorter than Kozzie. The stats suggest he has an uphill battle to make the grade. Caleb Daniel at 168cm is the only player in the AFL shorter than him and even Brent Daniels is taller at 170cm but they are both extremely accomplished players. Anyway, good luck to him!

Well, we’re just about done for the year. The next changes ... SSP and MD will be part of 2021 - let’s home we can keep away from COVID-19.

The deadline for the SSP was supposed to be yesterday so the fact that Smith isn’t on the list provided above would suggest that he’s not going to be training with Melbourne. This doesn’t rule out Casey and he might get his chances in the 2021 midseason draft if he can prove himself. AFL 2021: The train-on players and clubs which have list spots available

Here’s the Herald Sun’s compilation of top prospects for 2021:- The top AFL draft prospects to watch in 2021

The 21 best prospects have been selected in an elite academy squad ~ 2021 AFL Academy Squad announced Father-son pair among 21 players in elite AFL Academy squad

He’s lived with it all his life and hopefully, has learned to cope with the mostly unreal expectations placed on his shoulders. No doubt the club is well aware of this and will ensure that he’s well mentored over the coming months. I would expect that Nev Jetta would be fantastic in the role.

The article doesn’t mention whether the club has issued an invitation to anyone else. Is Smith a definite starter as well?

There’s a chance that we might leave both slots open for the mid season draft. It seems to me that there are likely to be a number of players who missed their Under 18 year and didn’t have sufficient time or exposure to show the improvement that they might otherwise have demonstrated but for the pandemic.

We have the room for a player or two invitees for the supplemental selection period but the only player named by the club as a possible candidate to start on 6 January next year is our undrafted NGA prospect Deakyn Smith. This is what it’s about ~ AFL 2021: The clubs which have list spots available ahead of the supplemental selection period Meanwhile, Oscar McDonald is one of three players invited by Carlton as SSP prospects.

Joe Burns on 2 not out about to get his highest score for the season to date.

KC’s currently in Queensland with his folks. Should be back here in March.

The Melbourne Football Club website has a report on the start of the preseasons for the Casey Demons VFL and VFLW groups. The leading recruit for the VFL group is former Sydney Swan Zac Foot, a 19 year old 181cm, 73kg midfielder, who made his AFL debut in Round 12 but was delisted last month after only two senior matches. The list is led by stalwarts in Jimmy Munro, Mitch White and Jack Hutchins along with Kurt Mutimer who joined the club earlier this year and Foot. Others who attended the first hit-out were promising youngsters Riley Baldi, Ryan Sparkes, Tye Hourigan and Andrew Courtney.

Apologies - I checked and it was 18.

Jake Bowey’s father, Brett Bowey wore the number 16 in his 85 games for St Kilda. The number was recently vacated by Kade Kolodjashnij.

I know how you feel. I bumped into Wayne Johnston (who I have known since he played his first game of VFL) recently and he expressed an interest in perhaps helping out with some training sessions for my grandson’s junior footy team. I mentioned this to the coach (mid to late 20s) and he hadn’t heard of him. I said between the two of us, we’ve played in four premierships and over 200 games of league football. The youth of this world have collectively lost their perspective on life.

More information on the supplemental selection period from the Age:- “Under AFL rules clubs are allowed to invite a maximum of six players to train with the squad from January 6 to trial for a spot on the rookie list during the pre-season supplemental selection period which ends on March 9. They need to submit their list to the AFL by December 18.“

Coincidentally, sorted out well beyond the (extended) time allowed under the rules and after the draft. Hmmm ...

The next couple of seasons are going to present a number of new challenges to recruiters. How to catch up with what's been lost during Covid19 in 2020? If we take this year's Under 18s in Victoria, there would be numerous players who recruiters have not been able to keeps tabs on because they simply have been unseen unless invited to combines. This filters down to this year's bottom agers and younger players who have been developing in all aspects and many potential high level players would be virtually unknown to drafters. I know of players in NAB Cup Under 17 squads for 2021 who are there basically because of what they did in 2019. There would be many among their peers who have in the interim grown and matured physically and mentally at the same time who might deserve recognition and inclusion into squads but might not get the opportunity for training and further improvement because they've become part of the Covid backlog.

We’ve been going for four hours. The 2020 AFL National Draft is starting to rival the American election for length of time taken to reach a finish.

Yes.

The interesting thing from my perspective is that the club has chosen three Victorians who played very little football this year so we’re comparing players from interstate with exposed Under 18 form to exposed Victorian Under 17 form. The theory is that there’s more upside with these players in terms of added development. Naturally, only time will tell.

Another Dragon! Fraser Rosman Height, Weight: 194cm, 84kg Profile: A freak athlete at his height, Rosman is an elite speed/endurance athlete achieving 5:52 minutes in the 2km time trial, two seconds off Jay Rantall's draft combine record set last year, while also placing in the top-10 in the 20m sprint. Rosman gives recruiters the option either to develop him as a tall wing or key forward. (Knightmare)

I tipped this!!! Back in form after all these years.

Great pick! Bailey Laurie Height, Weight: 179cm, 78kg Profile: With impressive speed, agility and evasion, Bailey Laurie impacts games as a small forward who can push through the midfield for periods. While his movement stands out, he lowers his eyes and finds inside 50m targets by foot, is an excellent front-and-centre crumber and provides second and third tackle efforts. (Knightmare)

I tipped this.