i am afraid astbury may not be in grimes 'class'
grimes is solid in the air but we arent getting a great deal of anything else from him in recent times.
astbury at 195cm 97kg 23yrs old and in yr 5 has to be capable of holding down a key defensive position. what other role is there for him in defense. play him there and he either makes it or he fails and we cut him at the end of the yr. he certainly needs to improve a fair bit for this to happen. my main issue with astbury is his pace.
it may be a little wishful with what has gone before , the thing is if he makes it it frees up rance to play dylan grimes third tall role, a role that hes more suited to. with the way forward lines have gone i really would like to see us with two big kpds and a couple of running third tall types who can defend if need be.
Darrou will be a better player anyway
He'll be delisted without playing seniors
I dont often agree with you but I dont see him having a big future in the game at this point.
Rookies never make it. Better off recruting state league players like clawski has been harping on about for decades
while im all for taking a good percentage of mature rookies i also think we need to take some juniors as well.
i reckon a prerequisite for a junior on the rookie list is a ruckman if not two.
one only needs to look at the volume of decent good ruckmen who have come thru the rookie system as juniors.
imo the first 3 rnds in the nd, trades and free agency is mainly about finding decent players or your better players and building depth.
the percentage of rookies that dont make it is high thus i belive we should have a balance between mature and junior rookie spots. you will probably get a good foot soldier with mature recruits but even with rookie juniors with the unknown element there is every chance you may get something more. of course the risk is you will get nothing with a large percentage.
logically theres a greater chance you will get something out of the mature players now, but there are plenty of circumstances where you need to back in your ability to develop juniors.
an awfull lot of clubs have done and continue to rookie junior ruckmen and reap the rewards down the track. to me its about balance.
i also think kids who have plenty of good attributes but may for example be undersized and will need some time should be taken late nd or rookie draft. eli templeton comes to mind straight away. there was a lot to like about him and for most pundits was a shock non nd pick.
or maybe a very gifted athlete whos athleticism just should not be overlooked like jon marsh. he went with pick 75ish in the nd a virtual rookie pick.
to me its about getting the most you can out of all areas while looking after now and the future. playing percentages minimising risk but not forgo possibilities because there is risk. balance.
