I went to the Dome today and watched the last half of the Vic Country v Tassie and all of the Vic Metro v WA. Not a bad day at the footy but unfortunately all 3 games were one sided especially the games involving the Division 2 states.
My thoughts on the draftees:No Cotchin standout IMO but I'm more confident of us getting someone good with our first pick especially if we're after a tall. Not sure what they feed these kids these days but sheesh you forget how skinny U18's are.
Vic Metro vs WAWA really lacked key forwards to kick to which forced them to go short and wide a lot. They relied more in Yarran, Jetta and spells from Naitanui as forward targets. Compare that to Vic Metro who had Watts, McKernan and Vickery when resting forward. So with that in mind:
Mitch Banner: Really liked his game. Was everwhere in the midfield, got heaps of it and used it well mostly and pushed forward to kick a coulple of goals. I had BOG today although the TV gave that to Watts.
Jack Watts: Hard to seem him lasting to our pick. Good in the air as well as ground level and can play high or low in the forward line. Not the outstanding game with just 2 goals (should have been 3) but clubs won't bypass him.
Luke Stanton: An outside type who got a fair bit of it along one wing in the first half that set up Vic Metro's victory. Not the type we need any more of.
Tom Lynch: Solid game and got better as the game went along. The only question mark over him is he is listed as 191cm so he's near that in-between height. I think he would need to settle in defence in the AFL.
Shaun McKernan: I think Watts is better at ground level but wouldn't be disappointed if we ended up with McKernan. A clone of his older brother Corey. Clean mark, kicked 2 goals up forward and played 2nd ruck. The best part of today was seeing him sprint 60m to forced a WA player into error that resulted in a shot on goal for Vic Metro. Started 25m behind and got within 5m.
Michael Hurley: Solid game as usual at FB. It looked as though WA were avoiding kicking to the forward he was on (started on Mitch Marsh who did nothing). Hurley then stood Nat in the second half and apart from giving one goal away never looked threatened. Hurley is ready made at 192cm, 92kgs so has the size over his peers.
David Zaharakis: Arguably not as silky smooth as others but knows how to get the footy in traffic and at stoppages and played a key role in the midfield for the first 3 quarters to set up Vic Metro's win. Pushed forward to kick a couple of goals too. A likely second round pick (pick in the 20s to mid 30s).
Taylor Hunt: Small defender but I would have in Vic Metro's bests today.
Sam Blease: Outside type/wingman. Lovely kick and runner with the ball and kicked 2 (should have been 3). Given we already have enough of his type we'll probably pass on him.
Tyrone Vickery: Exploded out of the blocks and set up the Vic Metro lead and was solid from there. Not a Kreuzer type who can ruck rove another ruckman/forward type at 200cm. Kicked 3. Probably moved into the first round picks based on today even top 10.
Nick Naitanui: To be honest I was underwhelmed based on today. What he did stood out (especially the leap and tap in the ruck as we know) but there wasn't enough of it for mine for someone touted as #1 pick. Still will go early but he'll need work. A project type.
Daniel Rich: I can see why the Eagles want him as he was WA's best in the first half and he'll go top 3 but he drifted out of the game after half-time when they tagged him. To be fair I think he was just outnumbered by a stronger and deeper Vic Metro midfield.
Chris Yarran: JON clone who played forward and has better skills. Pass!
Kane Lucas: Good first quarter but didn't see much of him after that.
Neville Jetta: Clone of Leroy at Essendon.
Michael Walters: Another small indigenous West Australian who got a fair bit of it today and would have been in WA's bests for mine. Played off a HBF and wing. Again not the type we need.
Vic Country vs TassieLess standouts in this game for mine and hard to judge when Vic Country smashed Tassie from halfway through the third. Vic Country kicked the last 15 goals to win by 98 points.
John Butcher: - main standout from the game but isn't eligible for this draft so one to look out for in the 2009 draft. Kicked 5 goals after half-time and like Watts and McKernan is very agile for a big guy (197cm).
Tom Rockliff: played as a small forward and was just too clever for the Tassie defenders. Good skills. Another 20-35 range pick.
Jordan Roughead and Andrew Browne: Both around the 200cm mark and just were too big for the Tassie boys in the ruck. Browne is already 202cm, 106kg
. I bumped into another Tiger supporter I know who occasionally goes to training wants Roughead but I've got a feeling that maybe because we didn't get Jarryd in the first place.
Jack Ziebell, Steele Sidebottom and Nick Suban: For all of Vic Country's dominance in the second half I didn't think any of the 3 stood out as anything special. Decent but not special. Ziebell was the best of the 3 IMO and got a fair bit of footy but I didn't see the awareness/footy brain I would expect from a touted top 10 pick in phantom drafts. He often just bombed the ball forward when he got it. To be fair I only saw the second half and not the full game so that's probably why my thoughts are different to the AFL site report which has Suban and Sidebottom in the bests.
Ryan McKenzie: He's only listed at 175cm, 73kg but he looked a solid boy in the flesh and regularly broke tackles. Played as a small forward and was one of Vic Country's best.
Jamie Sheahan: Another Country small who did well up forward and got a heap of it. Agree with the AFL site report that he was second BOG behind Butcher. Probably a 40+ pick.
Aaron Cornelius: The only Tassie kid who possibly won his position. He played FF and looked the only real option to goal for Tassie when it actually went forward in the second half. Two quick goals from two strong marks dragged Tassie within 2 goals of ViC Country in the 3rd quarter before the floodgates truly opened and Tassie was blown away. He took another two good marks in the 4th qtr but missed both shots. I would stay away as he looks more a 3rd tall rather than a key forward. Stick to the better Division 1 talls.
