Ok guys, I've been a bit bored since our PSD and waiting for the season the start so have taken the liberty to start to do some short write ups about each team's draft picks. I'll do a few each night when I get some time and will post them up once completed. Enjoy. Ararat Pick 6: Darcy Parish, MID Pick 18: Jake Barrett, MID Pick 48: Nathan Broad, DEF Pick 52: Brandon Jack, FWD Insider kicked off his draft by selected one of the highest rated mids with his first pick. Parish was rated the 5th best prospect by Champion Data and as the best midfielder by Essendon since Dodoro didn't bother to bid on any Academy players before selecting Darcy. Jake Barrett joined Ararat with pick 18, a young GWS mid who tore up the NEAFL last year and who will eventually start to push for a place in the best 15. Insider then addressed some needs by selected a mature aged defender and a young Swan forward to provide some depth at either end. Both Broad and Jack might not yet be best 22 but they have the chance to make a career out in Ararat. Rating: Dodoro gives it the thumbs up. Banchang Pick 4: Sam Gray, F/M Pick 40: Dan Currie, RUC Choppers picked a much needed forward with his first pick at pick #4. Gray was the 21st best averaging forward last year who will slot in nicely at F2 for the Barcrawlers. Chopper's will need to keep the faith because Hall and even Menzel have both shown a little more than Gray this preseason but the Power is due to bounce back after a disappointing 2015 so his potential could possibly be higher. Finished off his draft by grabbing Goldy's former understudy Currie who's now vying to be first ruck at the Suns and will hopefully provide an alternative to Banchang's Minson during the year if he can win the Barcrawler's ruck coach Rodney Eade over. Rating: Like one of those cakes sitting in the cafe window, it looks good but you're not quite sure if it's the right choice. Blanchetown Pick 35: Travis Varcoe, D/F Pick 53: Mitch Brown, D/F Age is highly regarded in Blanchetown and it showed when a 27yo and 25yo D/F got picked up to make the Bunyips the second oldest squad in the FU this year. After finishing runner up, Marty has addressed his weaker areas and, at worst, drafted some decent depth to push for a FU flag in '16. Varcoe should give the Bunyips a couple of years until Goddard comes along while Brown will be pushing for a spot in the starting 15 and will probably eventually replace SDT. It might be a tough year for the Bombers this year so this may have an impact on Brown's ability to score well in 2016 but he showed in the first preseason game his potential. Rating: Turned up, got what he needed and left. Didn't stay the night. Christmas Island Pick 23: Matthew Kennedy, MID Pick 32: Daniel Menzel, FWD Pick 46: Billy Frampton, RUC Pick 64: Riley Bonner, DEF With no first round picks Damoh started his draft strongly by picking a highly rated Academy prospect in Matthew Kennedy. With Hodge and Rischi getting on, he's a good pick to replace one of these aging warriors and will start to push for a starting 15 position in a few years. With his second pick Damoh got the steal of the draft in my opinion. Yes he's got shonky knees but Menzel seems over the injury concerns and has proven he can hit triple figures. He's shown some good signs this preseason and will probably cement a starting 15 position in the Smugglers squad. Got the 4th and final ruck that was picked in the draft in Billy Frampton with his 3rd pick who should be starting to push for best 22 in about 3/4 years when Kreuzer and Maric are nearing the ends of their careers. Champion Data rated the rebounding defender Bonner the 19th best youngster. He provides another option down back if he manages to get a game this year but it looks like he needs to do a bit more to impress the selection committee. Rating: Thief. Coolgardie Pick 9: Orazio Fantasia, DEF Pick 27: Ryan Clarke, MID Pick 45, Luke Partington, MID Pick 63: Jake Redpath, FWD JPK started his night picking a young Bomber who earned himself a Rising Start nomination in round 23 last year. This one was definitely a surprise to me but with everything that's happened in Tullamarine he's one player who will likely play plenty of games and could slot in at D4 for the Prospectors. Added two young mids in Clarke (who scored the 4th most CD points of all TAC players) and outside mid Partington who will take a few years to establish themselves but will give O'Meara great support when they do. Redpath was selected with his final pick to join colleague Dickson and provide some depth up forward. Rating: Surprise party planners are impressed. Cow Bay Pick 1: Jacob Hopper, MID Pick 10: Ben Keays, MID Pick 19: Reilly O'Brien, RUC Pick 37: Darcy Tucker, DEF Started the 2016 draft by picked a player likened to a young Dangerfield in Hopper and followed up by picking another Academy prospect Ben Keays to add to the engine room that's lacking in fire power. O'Brien was a reach and will take a few years to develop it's hoped he will eventually push for a starting 15 position and compete with Ceglar and Lycett. Darcy Tucker was a top 10 pick and the start of the year but his inability to transition into the midfield saw him slide in the National Draft. The rebounding defender has impressed this preseason but is unlikely to get games under Ross. Rating: Eddie will be fuming, two Academy picks taken by the Crocs in the top 10. Eden Pick 8: Zac Williams, DEF Pick 21: Harris Andrews, DEF Pick 26: Tom Scully, MID Pick 27: Callum Ah Chee, FWD Pick 44: Jed Lamb, FWD Pick 62: Mason Redman, F/M Holky drafted a FU high 6 players and started his night by drafting a young defender who will be a starter down back. Zac Williams scored well at the back half of 2015 and will be a much needed addition to a thin defensive line. At pick 21 he followed up by grabbing an Academy prospect from 2014 in Harris Andrews who showed some very good signs last year and could almost compete for a position down back in 2016. Crocs delistee Scully was picked up to provide some back up to Murphy, Miles, Jones and Crisp. Hopefully a change of scenery is what he needs as his scores were not enough for the Cow Bay list management committee to keep him on. His final three picks saw 3 forwards picked up with the view that these guys will replace Boomer and Pav who could both be playing their last season. Ah Chee hasn't featured this preseason yet but is rated highly, Jed has scored highly in the NEAFL and Redman will get the opportunity to play some AFL this year in the place of the suspended Bombers. Rating: Visy Recycling take note, the Whalers have it down pat. Gisborne Pick 5: Tom Downie, RUC Pick 39: Brayden Fiorini, MID Tomster probably pulled the biggest surprise of the draft selecting young ruckman Downie with his first pick. But when you realise his next pick wasn't until round 3 then you can see that Tomster had to make his move here to get the ruck he wanted. Downie will be pushing for a starting 22 position over the next year or so and this may prove to an astute pick for the Grenades. Finished his draft by grabbing a ball magnet and good user of the footy Brayden Fiorini. He will be given time to develop and is a few years away yet. Rating: Elderly visits to medical professionals went up. Groote Eylandt Pick 3: Jacob Weitering, DEF Pick 24: Jake Kolodjashnij, DEF Pick 36: Jed Adcock, D/F Yad obviously spent his offseason watching the Bulls dynasty of the 90s and taken Michael Jordan's advice that "defence wins championships" to this draft. But then again, his only defenders before the draft were Murphy, Burgoyne, Firrito, Frawley and Sutcliffe. Three of these guys are 30+ and if Yad wants to go back to back to back then he'll need some young talent to come through. His night started by getting the best defender (as rated by CD) with pick 3 and one who's going to get plenty of games this year. His impressive intercepting skills will give him an advantage in SC. JKolo was next. He's had a few years in the system already, is ready to go and will also get games while the Cats continue planning for life without their old defensive brigade. An experienced Adcock will provide some depth if he gets some games but it likely only cover for a year or so while Weitering and JKolo establish themselves. Rating: Paul Roos likes it.
Nice job fresh. You're pretty right with your assumption at #4. I had Hall Hunter Gray and AhChee for that pick and umm'd and aah'd for weeks til I tossed the coin a few times and Gray's name came out. Hope I pulled the right rein. And watch Currie at the Suns, especially if Nicholls gets hurt. I reckon Rocket might play both anyway. He's a good R3 in SC too at 164K.
Thanks guys. Slow morning at work so have added another 6 write ups for today plus fixed up my ratings for the first 3 profiles.
Well I've gone over the word limit so have had to continue the thread here. Annoyingly I also lost all my edits! Take 2 on the 5 additional reviews done today. Hughenden Pick 2: Callum Mills, MID Pick 7: Clayton Oliver, MID In and out with 2 picks in the first 7, Hughenden had one hell of a draft. With his picks he got two mids who were taken at picks 3 and 4 in the National Draft. Mills could have gone at pick 1 but fate handed Callum to the P Dogs. The youngster rated more highly than last year's Heeney and pick #7 Oliver dominated the lower level towards the end of the year. Both look like they will be guns in the future and will give Ward, Shiel, Shiels and Jack some competition when they start to hit their straps. Rating: Gold star King Island Did not play Rating: Party pooper Korumburra Pick 11: Aaron Francis, D/M Korumburra will have a few retirements in the coming years with SJ, Enright and Stokes all on the wrong side of 30. But realising that his defence has the highest average age, Mick used his only pick on highly rated defender Francis. He has some question marks over him as to where his best position is but Campion Data's #6 ranked prospect will get plenty of chances this year to prove the doubters wrong. Rating: Channelled Steve Bradbury well and got to the line just before cutoff. Nuytsland Pick 17: Jack Sinclair, F/M Pick 21: Toby McLean, FWD Pick 30: Dan Howe, DEF Pick 42: Jacob Townsend, MID Pick 43: Sam Menegola, MID With only 2 players in reserve at either end of the ground, the Vikings focused their attention on forwards and defenders with their first 3 picks. Rookie elevation Sinclair joined the team with their first pick, a young ball winning mid who can play at either end but found his place up front. Another ball winning forward in McLean was next. He's got some supporters within the club and his first year was cut short due to injuries. He will continue getting some games this year and should start to show what he's got. Dan Howe has turned out to be a great pick. He looks like he'll slot into the Hawks best 22 this year and will provide some depth to the defensive line. Two mids with experience in Townsend and Menegola rounded out the draft for the Vikings. Both are ready to play and will provide support to the midfield. I'm not sure if these guys will be starting 15 players but they'll certainly be pushing their case this year. Rating: The weeks of researching, studying the Prospectus and delving through old HS articles looks to have paid off. Pakenham Pick 13: Josh Schache, FWD TUP Pick: Tom Bugg, DEF Pick 31: Eric Hipwood, D/F Pick 49: Sam Gilbert, DEF One of the older teams in the competition, primarily due to having a FU high 9 players in the 28+ bracket, Pakenham had the opportunity to replace some oldies with young potential. Needing defenders, dd couldn't pass up Champion Data's highest rated forward when he saw tha the was available at his first pick. Schache has impressed the Lions already and when he comes good he'll be a great partner to Hogan and Moore in the forward line. Bugg replaces the suspended Carlisle for the year and he's already looking like he will be part of the Melbourne lineup this year so should fill this gap nicely. Hipwood will take a few years to develop but shone in the U18 championships and his intercept marking had him likened to Carlisle…ironic. Talk of Gilbert training with the mids will prove to be a great pick up in the 3rd round and ensures that Pakenham remains one of the older teams in the comp at 3rd oldest. Rating: Easily seduced early on but rightly so. Pearcedale Pick 15: Charlie Curnow, FWD Pick 33: Ryan Burton, FWD Pick 51: Daniel Rioli, FWD It didn't matter that the Panther's already had 12 players capable of playing in the forward line, forwards were the order of proceedings and the Panthers got 3 who were all picked in the first round of the National Draft. Curnow, Burton and Rioli won't play many games this year but will provide some excitement in the future when they start to get games under their belt and show us their potential. It looks like TTT has planned ahead with a number of his forward capable players look like they might get MID only status over time (Bennel, Smith, Weller, Conca) or are in the latter years of their career (Thomas, McGlynn). Rating: Decent bargain hunter with 3 first round ND picks in one draft. Serengeti Pick 12: Jade Gresham, MID Pick 20, Rhys Mathieson, MID Serengeti is already the second youngest team in the FU so trading for a player with some experience makes sense. After missing the trade deadline he took advantage of the trading window open during the draft and sent off the recently drafted Gresham to Gisborne for Vlastuin, an area needing a bit of a fix as the 57 averaging O'Shea would be playing at D4 if it wasn't for Nick's arrival. Mathieson was a solid pick at 21 and has impressed Leppa this preseason so should be getting some games this year to eventually provide Danger with some support, hopefully sooner rather than later as Danger turns 26 this year. The Buffalos would want to start pushing for finals over the next couple of years so Pat can retire with a FU premiership medallion. Rating: Took full advantage of a trading window which might close next year. Southern Cross Pick 16: Lachie Hunter, MID Pick 34: Wayne Milera, FWD Celebrations that we haven't seen since Sydney won the rights to host the 2000 Olympics erupted in the west as EE watched and jumped for joy when Hunter slid to his first pick at 16. With Fyfe, Prestia, Wallis, Duncan and B Crouch as his high scoring mids, the Sandgropers would have been relying on the likes of the relatively inexperienced Vandenberg, Sheed, Neal-Bullen And Blakely to provide support to the starting 4. Hunter comes at an opportune time where he can make a name for himself as part of the regular mids if he steps it up again this year. Finished his draft with line breaker Milera who has already impressed this preseason and will be a strong component in the forward line in future years. Rating: Kool and the Gang were certainly happy to hear Celebration being blasted over the loud speakers at Southern Cross Stadium. Staghorn Flat Pick 14: Aaron Hall, F/M Pick 28: Brendon Ah Chee, MID With Roughead out for at least half the season, Tyze needed a reinforcement in his forward line which came via Aaron Hall at pick #14. He'll slot into F2 straight away and has shown that his form at the end of last year was no fluke by impressing us this preseason with his scoring ability which the Bulls will be hoping translates into the H&A season. 22yo mid Ah Chee joined with pick #29. He's already got the experience but he's still got to force his way into a strong Port side. If he does get regular games he's a decent pick late in the second round who'll provide good support. Rating: Strong start, not quite convinced about the finish but time will tell.
Awesome stuff Fresh, really well done. Definitely agree on Menzel as a steal, can't believe he didn't go round 1
Top stuff Fresh, NAB 4 Ah Chee 24 touches and a goal = 107 SC points. Albeit against 15 fit tigers At this point in time I like the finish line!