Doggo

Spencer a better prospect than Vickery and Graham? I like tangles, but geez that's a big call. Thought Angus Graham was pretty impressive this year, and Vickery has talent to burn. That said, Richmond are so crap tho. Will likely spend the next 4 or more seasons in the bottom 4. bleeding_red&blue, you're safe as houses mate!

Huge wrap for the kid, already mentioned this in 'Rookies' thread. Plenty of info and discussion about him in that thread. Let's draft him! Hopefully he's still there at 50 or our first rookie pick, otherwise lets take him at 34 if we have to. Unbelieveable athletic upside and potential to this kid, and he's been playing footy for about 5 years, about as long as Stef Martin, comparable or even favourable to most basketball converts. At his current rate of improvement, he could be special in a few years time.

Haha Cameron Cloke.

I rate Scully enormously, but anyone that thinks he's going to slot in next year and perform to the levels he has at juniour level is kidding themselves. Size will have a lot to do with it, in these early development stages. He simply won't be able to play the style of game that he does at juniors, and will be forced to play as more of a wide ball carrier in his first and second years. Not saying he won't be effective, but we won't see him play to his full potential as an in and under midfielder until he gains at least another 5+kg. Trengove will be ready to go come round 1, and his scope for improvement will be far lesser than Scully's. But what he''ll deliver now will be very very good.

Check him out on youtube:

Has just been announced. Lyon appointed AFL Academy Coach FORMER Melbourne captain Garry Lyon has been appointed head coach of the Victoria Country Under-16 AFL Academy, a development role with the AFL and AFL Victoria. Lyon's appointment follows the Herald Sun's August 11 report that he would replace Collingwood's Nathan Buckley. Lyon, a former AFL development officer, returns to a key role at the league. Lyon said he was delighted to have the opportunity make a meaningful contribution. “To be able to work with such talented and committed youngsters, and help them to maximise their potential, as both footballers and young men, is genuinely exciting, Lyon said. “At the same time, helping to foster the most positive, safe and respectful environment at Junior football level around the country will remain a passion that I’m looking forward to pro moting in conjunction with the AFL and AFL Victoria.” - More to come

Can't believe Jamar hasn't been selected in the starting 18 after his 5 big ones last week! My early tip for the bench to be: Jamar, McNamara, Whelan, Bennell. Stiff on Martin but he looks lie he's been carrying a niggle for about a month, no point risking him now. And disappointing Valenti, who's playing for his career. But i think he'll come in for one last crack if Whelan doesn't come up.

Agree, seems like a bit of a w@nk really. As long as we have 1 & 2, i couldn't really care less to be honest! BTW, nice profile pic!

I tend to agree with that, Scully will ultimately be the better player, but Trengove is more likely to have an immediate impact. Scully is still very small and despite being sublimely talented, isn't likely to be having a huge influence on matches until his 2nd or 3rd seasons, realistically. While i'd love for him to plug in in round 1 and dominate off the bat, it's just not going to happen given his size. I'd liken his game similar to a G.Ablett Jr, but that's against kids and he won't be able to play that way against the best and strongest in the biz. Will spend a lot of time on the forward flank and wing next year you'd think, and probably play between 14-18 games. Trengove would be a good bet for the rising star next year, as he's likely to slot in in round 1 and never lose his place (ala Joel Selwood). He's as close to a shoe-in to play all 22 games in his first year as anybody, barring injury of course. Is ready-made and will make any club that drafts him very happy straight away.

Whelan is on the extended bench. They'll give him right until the last minute to prove his fitness you'd think.

Might be what's keeping Martin from being rated in the top 3 or 4 possibly. I was also very impressed with Rohan at the championships, and rate him higher than Martin. On the final day, i actually thought he was the most impressive player i saw, behind Scully, and i wouldn't be upset if we took him at 2, depsite probably not being the best available. Has the potential to be the best of the lot down the track IMO.

Poor form by the club if true. If we have players available, they should be playing for Casey IMO. Period.

My understanding of Dustin is that he's a late starter to footy and has been a very fast developer and improver. Has come from nowhere in the last 2 years. Likely to be a really good player, but i do have one concern. Watching him live, he seemed to be a bit one-paced. Not a great turn of speed or acceleration, but good endurance. I question whether he is the type of player we are looking for, as he gets the majority of his footy in close and is similar to what we already have. Scully has real pace, and while i'm not sure of Trengove's speed, his undoubted football ability/background, his love of carrying the footy and delivering nicely on both feet, and the fact he has played and done well against men in the SANFL has him ahead in my books. Martin will go top 10 though, no doubt, maybe even top 5.

Trengove for me, but would be happy with Morabito or Rohan also. Not keen on Butcher, hoping Panos or Carlisle are still available at 18. Or, highly unlikely, Talia, who's probably the best of the lot, and definitely should go top 10.

Agree AdamFarr. His best footy is very very good. It took a long time, but as u say, if he can develop his consistency, it'll have been worth the wait.

Off the top of my head, Moloney is 25, Green 28, Davey 26. I'm a huge wrap for Moloney, and have given my reasons at length in previous Captaincy threads. But Aaron as captain would also be a fantastic result. And so would Green.

36 touches against the Dogs, but his ball-use was deplorable that day IIRC. If you go back and find the votes thread from that match, I'm sure you'll probably find that he was easily covered for votes by Beamer and Cale (37 disposals each), and Davey (28). Hardly a "stand-out" performance. I might be being a bit harsh on Brock, but only because i rate him highly and expect more from him as a player. Sadly he hasn't delivered this year. The reason i brought stats into the Sylvia thread was more to show the vast improvement he has made. With Brock, the stats show nothing except perhaps that he has plateued from his early career-form. While comparable disposal wise, he has failed to recapture the impact he had in his 2006 season. Stats are largely irrelevant when discussing Brock's form IMO, because of the nature of his role. I've no issues with his ball-winning capabilities. He wins inside contested ball and is smart ball-winner that'll always get his 20 or thereabouts if given some latitude. Problem is, so will his opponent, and often in more dangerous parts of the ground and with more damaging effectiveness. The main issues i have had with him this year are his inability to impact games the way he has in previous seasons, his inability to limit the influence of his (often much faster) opponents, inability to find space and be damaging with his ball use, inability to work hard enough to shake a tag (Bris and Geel games great examples), and a general lack of defensive pressure. He's a great tackler, but only in tight. Running like molasses means his chase is basically non-existent. Now a lot of this may be fitness related, but is that really a viable excuse? If he's playing, he's fit, and there is a certain level that i have come to expect from him when he is fit. I guess I'll reserve full judgement until i see how he performs next year with a full-preseason under his belt, but at this stage he strikes me as the least valuable component of our future midfield. That's not to say i don't like him or want him to get back to where he was; just that i'm not enitrely convinced he can do it. If you're satisfied with his form, then good for you. But IMO he has had a poor year and i know i expect more from such a talent. Feel free to flame away, but that's just how i've seen him this year. edit: Found the votes thread from that Bulldogs match HG, not one person had McLean as their best player, and many didn't have him in the votes at all, yourself included.. http://forums.demonland.com/index.php?show...02&hl=votes

Davey called to say hi...

He'll be one extremely sought after suburban/amatuer/VFL footballer who'll probably get paid a packet to go to one of the local league clubs and have an influence there. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours, at whatever level he's playing at.

Just the way i've seen him this year. Don't expect everyone to see it how i have, but that's just my call. It's all about impact HG. McLean is averagaing 0.2 stats less per game, but his impact has been well short of Colin's IMO. I struggle to remember a game this year where he has been the standout performer on the ground.

Can't see McLean making the top 5.

From what i've seen of Majak (mind you i've only seen him play live once), he looks to have the basic mechanics of kicking down pat. Didn't see him drill any long ones, but looks to have a nice kicking action with his field kick. He doesn't look unco at all IMO. Looks to have an uncomplicated, relaxed kicking style, so he's obviously been coached in the fundamentals very well early in his career, given that he hasn't picked up any bad habits of kicking naturally with an awkward action (like Frawley or Bate, for example). Looked a natural in kicking drills during the warm up, and apparently always works very hard on his kicking at training. My mate says he's improved out of sight this year, so i'd imagine his skills will definitely be better than when i saw him. Like Naitanui, he's seen as a long-term 'project-player', athelte first, footballer second. But unlike NN, whoever picks him up will be getting him at a bargain-basement price of probably a ND 4th rounder or a rookie-draft pick, unless one club suspects another will be going after him and wants to get in first. You never know with these shallow draftts... And in terms of marketing value and in community involvement and asymilation, it would be so fantastic for the Sudanese community to have representation in the AFL. He'd be a hero for all the young Sudanese-Australian kids to aspire to become, much in the way Liam is back home in Yuendumu. Not to mention the thousands of new members he'd attract to the club, and new supporters to the game.

Another bloke who'd i'd love to see rookie drafted, Casey skipper Kyle Matthews, who has been ultra impressive all year. I've no doubt he would acquit himself nicely at AFL level, as he's head and shoulders above VFL (not literally though, he's only a little bloke). Easily Casey's best player, and better than most of the guys we've had playing down there this year too. More likely than someone like say, Valenti, to make it IMHO.

Here come the stats : Sylvia's best games this year, statistically speaking: R9 V Haw - 37 disposals, 9 marks, 4 goals R21 V Carl - 34 disposals, 7 marks R11 V Coll - 32 disposals, 11 marks, 3 goals R13 V Bris - 24 disposals, 8 marks, 2 goals R8 V WB - 24 disposals, 8 marks, 1 goal R10 V StK - 24 disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal '09 Totals: 16 games, 354 disposals @ 22.12 (75% efficiency), 104 marks (15 contested), 16 goals 9 behinds, 14 goal assists. Interestingly, other than his three 30+ disposal games, has not gotten over 24 in any other game. That said, he has only had under 20 disposals once in his last 10 matches since round 7 (19 & 1 goal against WC, R14*). Started the year slowly, averaging just 16 disposals from his first 6 games in 09, but has averaged around 26 since. Prior to this season, he had only gathered 20+ in a game on 10 ocassions (from 70 matches), with his previous best of 25 disposals. This season, he has got 20 or more in 9 matches, and finished on 19 in a further 3 games. He is a goal-scoring mid, and has scored goals in 9 of his 16 games, including multiple goals in 4 of those. Stats can never tell the whole story, but one thing they do tell me is that Sylvia is working harder and is fitter than ever before, and hence has been able to play more midfield minutes and get more footy. While the gap between his best (which is elite) and his worst is still quite wide, he has worked hard to narrow that and is no longer playing "poor" games (15 disposal or less matches where he goes missing for long periods of time). I'm happy for him to get 20 disposals and a goal on most weeks, with the occassional 30+ game. He's far exceeded the expectations i had of him prior to the year, that's for sure. Discuss. * R14 is when he got suspended for 3 matches. source: http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/players...lin_Sylvia.html and AFL website.

Talia is firmly lodged in the top 10 for mine. Quality marking mobile tall, who can play absolutely anywhere on the ground and impressed in the midfield on final day of the champs. Our best bet for a quliaty KPP at 18 would be Panos or Carlisle, and even both those guys could be gone by then. I'm very keen on Panos; don't know why people aren't keen. What i've seen of him live and in footage has been very impressive. I just hope we don't take Fitzpatrick at 18. If he's available at 34, then i'd conder him, but taking him at 18 to fill a need instead of going for best available may come back to bite us in the ar$e.