pretty good assessment there.
who is Colin Wiseby? it reads like its a recruiters report?
I think he used to do phantom drafts before they were cool. He apparently got caned by a lot of people on forums and went into hiding.
Here are a few of his thoughts:
2006 Draft
CATEGORY ONE - WILL BE TOP SHELF (roughly in the order of their upside but allowing for my level of confidence in them achieving it):HOULI, Bachar (42 Essendon) [8]Injury-prone (only major AFL query is durability) but smart, classy midfielder/HFF. Very good OHF and NHF (negative hurt factor). Not outside per se but, so far, has played the game on his own terms at his own pace, Predator style "off the pack" a la Shakleton,, and is on good terms with himself. Very footy-smart and potentially more athletic than his appearance/style have suggested. I've always suspected he treated underage footy with almost contempt. Will leave no stone unturned and I believe he will not only shine at AFL level but show us a more rounded game (re on-field work rate). Historical concerns re his endurance and pace but I am convinced that, when injury-free, he will have excellent endurance and quite good pace. Absolute bargain.
Others he rated as 'top shelf'..... Thorp, Sellar, Djerrkura, Albert Proud, Leroy Jetta
CATEGORY TWO - WILL BE AT LEAST GOODHISLOP, Tom (20 Essendon) [10]Aggressive powerhouse. Plug n play. Versatile bullish onballer/flanker who can play small or above his height, has fairly good pace, takes no prisoners, always gives a contest and gets a lot of contested ball but currently doesn't look for, take or hit the right option often enough - too often kicks long instead of looking for short options (hand or foot). Other main concern AFL-wise might be over-aggression. Main selling points are physicality, competitiveness, courage, intensity, overhead, endurance, balance, strength, consistency. Trademarks are (1) Hardball get, then hurried disposal, (2) Crunch a pack or an opponent, perhaps taking a very strong mark that he has no right to take. Often clean, especially at ground level in "static" situations (although not "routinely: clean overall). If not for the somewhat high number of blind and other inaccurate kicks, I would rank him about #5. I love his competitiveness and aggression at both man and ball but he must start getting better return from his possession tally. Kicking was better in VFL than at U18. He is not a bad kick per se. Good depth and dual-sided. The issue is reliability. Kicking style needs work. He tilts to the left, which limits your error margin over a short distance, and his arm movements need work. IMHO it is important for both arms to work virtually in sync, helping your body stay balanced, both laterally and vertically. Hislop's arms are way out of synch and affect his centre-of-mass transfer and his ability to kick directly through the ball. Left arm often spends time bent at 90 degrees upwards then comes forward and across his body, while his right arm stays back, hangs down and does nothing. By the end of his kick he is often off-balance. Those faults should be fairly "easily" fixed and will make a big difference to his kicking reliability. Hislop and Armitage are similar types, age, great endurance and both are virtually plug 'n play. Both courageous hardnuts with good work rate and both with sub-optimal disposal. Hislop has more pace, is a bit physically stronger, and is the better kick. Hislop arguably has greater impact too. I would definitely take Hislop over Armitage, much as I admire Armitage. Jetta is X-factor vs risk but is a very quick, electrifying magician and is capable of being a quality user (not that he is yet). Hislop is none of those but he will deliver for you every time, whereas Jetta will switch on when it suits him. Jetta's pace, daring, flair and disposal makes him potentially much more of an impact player. Hislop is more a player who stops the opposition having impact through his hardness at man and ball but he too can turn a game. Likes to take opponents on and carry the ball and is often, although not routinely, judicious. Astute in corralling an opponent but usually prefers the bone-crunching tackle or bump. I have been impressed re how very switched on and intelligent he is at the 1/4, 3/4 huddles. With ever-increasing sophistication of team game plans, being able to be on the same page as the coach is more important than ever. Exceptionally strong overhead for his size, especially the big screamer from behind but can mark from any angle/position and attacks his marks / hits the pack like there's no tomorrow. He is on the slower end of the "quick midfielder" scale rather than the quicker end of the "slightly slowish midfielder" scale. Probably best suited to HBF or onball but, despite being only 184cm, is versatile enough to play anywhere down the flanks. Could be exposed by a very quick or very tall opponent but, even then, is likely to be at least mainly competitive, such is his ability to play tall yet also have enough pace and smarts to know where to run, how to cut angles and how to pressure both aerially and at ground level. Has the motor and competitiveness to become an excellent run-with (in time) and that's the role in which I possibly favour him.
EDWARDS, Shane (26 Richmond) [26]Skinny but nimble, slick, innovative, goes hard. Ranked on upside
COLLARD, Clayton (31 Fremantle) [13]Highly skilled midfielder/ flanker. Painfully shy and naive about the workload required for AFL so will need quality mentoring but definitely has AFL ability. Query re ability to adapt so is some risk but he has big upside, class and some X-factor. Other main selling points are X-factor, smarts / vision, clean hands, evasion, balance, overhead. Trademarks are (1) Vacuum the ball off the carpet on the run, take on and perhaps make a fool of the oncoming opponent, then dob a nice goal or set a team mate up to do so, (2) Screamer. He might lose concentration before getting to the last page of the team's play book but, for every hair he might make you tear out, he'll give you a moment where you will feel smug that he is on your list. Has mainly played outside roles (HFF) but I am confident he will furnish into an inside mid option in time if/when he can get his endurance up enough. I compare him in style somewhat to Tyson Edwards but I also think he will be able (in time) to play all the roles that Tyson has played. Has always lived in the shadow, on and off-field, of his best mate, Jetta, It's often "Jetta, the star footballer, and his mate Collard". If both play AFL and get the most out of themselves, I believe Jetta will be the better player but with Collard probably not far behind. There seems a tendency in recruiting circles to talk as if Jetta is Collard's better performed younger brother. However Collard was the better performed in WAFL Seniors, was also named in '06 WA Seniors (!) state squad, and Jetta is actually 5 months older. On sheer ability, I rate Collard's AFL potential as "Definite" and only one aspect made me downgrade him to "Likely", viz "How well and quickly is he likely to settle in and feel like he belongs?". My only other significantly concern is the O.P. he has been battling. His DC weight was listed as 86kg but his fighting weight would currently be around 80kg. He "couldn't" (?) keep himself in good condition while suffering O.P. late season. Career-wise, Collard and Jetta getting split up into different states may be the best thing for both boys. Clayton can stop living in Leroy's shadow and that will be a watershed point in his development. I would definitely have been prepared to draft him with a pick around my ranking if necessary (not that it ever would have been). Assuming he settles in reasonably OK (!!), I am confident Collard will make as big a splash as most of this draft's first rounders, perhaps ready to debut in '07.
GRIGG, Shaun (19 Carlton) [39]
Consistent tall mid but burns ball way too often by foot. I have identified basic flaws in his kicking technique which should be fixable. If I somehow knew for certain that such flaws would be identified and fixed, he'd be one of the first be in this category, would have earned a very much earlier ranking from me, and I would have confidently labelled him "definite AFL 200 gamer". Kicking is probably his only major flaw as he is otherwise a very attractive package. His current kicking reliability is almost a show-stopper though.
CATEGORY FIVE - These players caused me MUCH ANGST in assessing their AFL potential Every recruiter has some kids whose AFL potential he is just not confident in nailing, one way or the other, no matter how much he has studied them or due to lack of exposure. These are mine (in draft order):CONNORS, Daniel (58 RIC) [32]
Very ordinary '05 but huge improver in '06. Vision, poise, clean hands. Can be very good both one-on-one and inside traffic. Can be very slick and left-field clever. Good (but often too ambitious) overhead (and has a significant reach advantage). Soso pace. Plays too much on his own terms. Current endurance is poor, I suspect due to a combination of bulking up 10kg in '06, lack of off-field application, and perhaps not naturally having a big tank. Hypothetically, if I had some guarantee he would work hard (especially off-field but also on-field), I might have included him in my "Will be at least good" category as his best is AFL. Given his current physical condition, application has to be questioned. (Oddly enough, despite all that, he occasionally displays the odd leadership trait). I like on-field arrogance but he overdoes it. He needs to play the percentages more, less millionairish and respect his limitations. By way of comparison, Connors' kicking, although he is no stranger to clangers, is miles better (overall reliability and best kicks) than Grigg's (whose kicking reliability and quality are both sub-standard). However, I identified major flaws in Grigg's kicking action that should be addressable, making Grigg a fairly attractive package overall and I can identify a number of AFL roles (especially onball) that I could see Griggs being able to fill. Even though Connors' best attributes are more AFL-impressive than Grigg's, I find it harder to identify either scope for Connors to lift his pace or, in particular, reasons to automatically assume he will develop good endurance and work ethic, so Connors as a total package (strengths and concerns) ultimately had less appeal to me due to concerns over "What AFL role can I, with any confidence(!), see him making his own?" (although he could at least pinch-hit in various roles forward, back and mid). That said, I would not be surprised if he makes AFL or even becomes quite good AFL. It's mainly up to him and how much he wants to make it. I do rate his best qualities (his best efforts reek of class) but the risks (or really the degree of speculation required) were too great for me to consider drafting him at my ranking number (which reflects his upside more than my confidence in him achieving it). However, he was a reasonable pick-up at #58, although I wouldn't have been personally keen to take on the risks, given other options available at that pick.
