Demon Dynasty

I tend not to complain about things that are beyond one's control Deefiant. There wasn't much else i didn't complain about thIs season however ?

Watched three matches of the Allies in the u18s DD and while he is tough in the clinches and not a bad distributor on occasions (mostly by hand pretty bog ordinary by foot) and will no doubt make a handy inside mid (hopefully for GWS) i wouldn't be upset to miss him in the draft. I'm sure there's a fair bit of upside for whoever lands him but would much rather target Kemp with 8 (if we are needing more mid type players) who to me appears to offer a tad more mobility, versatility and aerial power. But even then i wouldn't be overly excited. Green a nice player but a slower/ploddier version of Rowell imv and as a result tends to get caught / trapped inside a bit too often (even at u18 level). A poor man's Clarry if you like with even less break away speed. I'm not sure why we would target any mids with 3 in this draft as there are no stand outs by foot or anyone with any outstanding X factor in terms of agility/burst speed or goal kicking prowess outside of Rowell and to a lessor degree Serong (goal kicking forward option). You have to ask why would we want to target sub standard mids who aren't very good by foot to add to an already inside biased mid field also not so great by foot at the moment.

Why is the whole group (apart from a few in rehab & Bennell because he isn't authorised yet etc) going into seemingly full on training more than three months out from the first serious match (ie; 1st rnd JLT)? From what i've heard from experts in the fitness field (over the years when interviewed) it only takes approx 6 to 7 weeks (of full time training) to be cherry ripe for AFL football and any gains beyond that period are (apparantly) so miniscule it is not worthy of further pounding. While i'm certainly no expert and some of those interviews (where that message was loud and clear by experts) were probably 4 to 5 years ago or more, has something changed signifiacntly that we have now added about 5 extra weeks or so?

You speak as if we already have him pencilled DD. I hope he is a very quick and good learner as he is a ruckman. And who would he be learning from i wonder seeing as we (apparantly) have no forward line coach. I guess he could improvise.

Can say that again PF. Throwing good players after bad.

The guy who nearly won (and some scribes said should have won) the NS in Tiges' premiership? Having said that i would liken Ash or Gould (not in height obviously) more closely to Houli than say Young in terms of the manner in which they play and distribute the pill.

Bid on Henry with pick 3 and put Freo in a very awkward place as they will then need to make a call on Henry or Jackson and more than likely won't get both which they might if we don't bid. We don't need Green if GWS end up not countering. We DO need Henry however and imho he will be a cracker and worth every cent of pick 3 when we look back in 5 years.

Green reminds me a little of how Chunk played mid field the last 3 seasons or so.

A fair summary of his impact at this year's Nats DS. Which is why i changed my mind and decided on at least putting a bid on Henry with 3. Personally i think Ash is as good as Young (in terms of defending capability/impact) and possibly a better spoiler / intercept mark, albeit he tends to use his line breaking pace and change of direction to move the pill rather than cutting a swathe through a crowd with pin point kicking as many have no doubt already covered on here. Young certainly a brilliant kick (and handballer) at u18 level. One of the best distributors i witnessed and part of that skill appears to come from a very quick mind/football brain in what for many would be a bit of a crisis, often resulting in another turnover. Does he turn it over and make poor decisions? Like all young fellas of course. Does he lack athletisicm / reading the ball in the air vs say a Day, DeKoning, Gould and to a lessor extent Ash? Sure. But to me it seems he does turn it over less often than some of his peers when he does get the intercept if that is any consolation. What he lacks in pace and burst speed he often makes up for with his lightning decision making and precision disposal. That precision kicking can often open up the whole field and change the momentum of a match, breaking it open with one laser like 40 meter(ish) pass. No better example than the one shown in the highlights reel at the end of the u18 final. But there were a few others in the Nats. He might have an ordinary game at AFL at times but it might be 6 to 8 telling kicks that on the day might help turn or win a match on the death. I suspect he might become the sort of player you might say "well he was ok, didn't really star, but how were those three kicks he sliced the opp up with from HB that resulted in two crucial goals to help us win the match in the third/last quarter". After watching the Nats a second time i vm like the cut of Ash's jib also and would be more than happy if we landed him at 8 if we ended up going for someone other than Young at 3. He is the sort of defender player we will notice in a big way. Plenty of line breaking highlights and might also be involved in a number of significant runs/plays where you will be sitting up noticing and ranking him as a big game/impact defender, but in the end he may have a similar volume of score involvements vs say Young. Similar impact if you like but different ways of getting there. Just my amature take from the armchair which will probably be completely incorrect after we re-assess them in 5 years time!

Done

Much more to a player's make up than just disposals and accuracy but FWIW... From the u18 Nats (numbers in parenthesis - DE% = total disposals, KE% & HB% = average disposals)... DE% KE% HB% Pasini 86.8 (38) 85.2 (6.8) 90.9 (2.8) Sturgess 84.7 (59) 83.9 (7.8) 85.7 (7) B Smith 82.9 (41) 76.9 (4.3) 85.7 (9.3) Day 82.7 (75) 79.5 (9.8) 86.1 (9) Clark 81.0 (42) 75.0 (6) 88.9 (4.5) *DKoning 80 (50) 73.1 (6.5) 87.5 (6) Young 79.5 (88) 75.0 (16) 91.7 (6) *Finlay 78.0 (50) 80.0 (7.5) 75.0 (5) Johnson 77.8 (54) 73.0 (9.3) 88.2 (4.3) Rivers 77.0 (87) 69.8 (10.8) 84.1 (11) *Worrell 76.7 (43) 72.0 (6.3) 83.3 (4.5) Ruscoe 74.6 (59) 73.2 (10.3) 77.8 (4.5) *McAsey 74.1 (58) 76.3 (9.5) 70.0 (5) Ash 73.9 (92) 70.6 (17) 83.3 (6) Gould 69.8 (86) 67.9 (14) 73.3 (7.5) Sharp 69.0 (84) 60.0 (13.8) 86.2 (7.3) *Tall defenders. The rest are classified as medium defenders.

Who knows, we might do Henry @ 3 and Jackson @ 8. Would think Freo grab Jackson @ 7 though.

Imagine him, Langdon and Bennell running around. Great crowd draw cards and excitment machines for the young kids to follow as well. I can hear the turnstiles clicking already.

Not only that, as you mentioned earlier, none of them have experience up forward other than Rooke who's been tried and moved on from that role previously. Doesn't exactly infuse one with comfidence that he's up to it if he returned to the role. Having said that, iirc i thought i saw a pic of Rooke with some players recently in the media or off a website (might have been here) chatting to a number of players who may have been a group of forwards but at the time i didn't take much notice of it. Regardless it is a concern after what happened this year (albeit injuries and compromised pre-season for many played a part) when there's been no new injection to the forward stocks in the trade period.

Going to look very silky and smooth in the red & blue ....you little ripper!.... “But I’ve had the capability to move away from family with boarding school so I’ve got the skills to be able to come to Melbourne or wherever that might be.”

In an outright sense possibly DD. On a needs basis (for us) though, i think he very much is in terms of top 10 from the u18s anyway. Whether that's 3, 7, 8 or 10 etc who knows but personally i feel he will go inside the top 10. There's plenty of talent no doubt but i can't think of anyone else who is significantly better who fits the bill (for us...and no doubt a few others) in terms of a smallish athletic outside runner who can play wing / HF with the class/finish/commitment and tricks of this bloke. I agree he may not go at 3 but that's only because we might not bid on him with 3 and the Dockers get a free shot with their pick 7 (or lower if they split down). He is obviously 95% Dockers bound regardless so yes, if they split 7 they might only need to use 10 to get him which obviously isn't pick 3.

A bit like an Aussie Rules version of a running back MFM. Will be exciting to watch wherever he ends up.

Would love to get Henry with 3. Is there any chance Freo pass if we bid and instead use 7 on Jackson and also keep 10 for say Roberston?

Ash would be a sensational pick up imho. One of the best line breaker come ball users off HB along with Gould. Anderson obviously the pick of the three but no chance for us. Neither quite at the level of Young by foot over short / medium & long range and probably by hand either but still in their own rights very solid users. Ashes read of the play and run would worry many opps even at this early stage i reckon. A few years in the system and could be something very special. Gould and Ash very courageous in the air also.

I could be wrong but vm doubt the likes of Young or Roberston will slide to 14. Even Weightman is more likely at about 12 but might still be there at 14/17, who knows. Bergman and Sharp yes. Sharp late teens and Bergman probably a tad later around mid 20s. There's a couple of young fellas as small forward options that haven't been spoken about much that would also be worth looking at if we end up splitting pick 8 and somehow end up with say a pick in the 30s to 40s range (assuming we missed getting Taylor & Pickett for some reason). Both were very impressive in the u18 Nats. Rosas probably more handy as a goal sneak than Ace. Both very raw (especially Ace) and a WIP but worth considering. Please note i am suggesting these purely on needs and assuming we missed both of Pickett and Taylor for whatever reason, certainly not 'the best available' as is often mentioned/preferred. https://afl.draftcentral.com.au/player/malcolm-rosas/ https://draftprospects.prod.afl/prospect/1005986 http://www.looppng.com/sport/png-footballer-nominated-rising-star-award-84316

I have no idea how they arrive at their rankings but i wonder if the data is a tad weighted towards factors that tend to result in inside mids accumulating somewhat more favourable outcomes vs someone who doesn't play alot of time at stoppages. I can't speak for Stephens as i can't recall seeing much of him in the Nats (inj?) but Kemp spent minimal time as an on baller, mostly playing up forward.

The west would be more than happy (hoping) we take Jackson with 3 so they can mop up the talent and/or not have to use their pick 7 (Freo) to counter a bid from us on Henry. They then sit back for a few years while he bloods himself with us then returns to the West with a few years experience and development under his belt. Why wouldn't they (eg; Sumich...their press chatter?) be be making such sugestions.

Apparently all at local Colts level BA....no footage from those games so far. There's nothing in any of the draft matches that i watched. Very solid ruckwork, distribution, getting into a freed up posi very quickly after the ruck contest to create a 4th mid option with some clearances and around the ground intercepts. Definitely worth a top 10 pick for a team in need of a potential very good to A grade ruckman with extras.

If we bid on Henry wouldn't we effectively be picking him at 7?

You are going to pick a ruckman to try and hold down a key tall forward role as an untested number 3 behind T-Mac and Weids with a top 10 pick on a wing and a prayer? If we are that keen on tallish No.3 to sit alongside T-Mac and Weid, someone who has shown genuine cred to play and hold down such a position and convert accurately in front of goal, Kemp at 8 would seem to make more sense imv.