Draft "Who" in Pre Season

[torch]

Andrew Browne (Murray Bushrangers)
David Gourdis (Richmond)
Kade Klemke (Murray Bushrangers)
Nick Liddle (Coburg)
Patrick Nicholls (St Bedes)
Matt Suckling (Sandringham Dragons)
Justin Van Unen (Oakleigh Chargers)
Bryn Weadon (North Ballarat)

so who will be draft in the Pre-Season and who will be Rookied???

[yellowandback]

What happened to the Irish Kids?

[one-eyed]

What happened to the Irish Kids?

We weren't interested. Conor Meredith ended up signing with North and I presume McKeever flew back home to Ireland.

[one-eyed]

lol GB. That should be Kade ...doh!

A hawk fan on BF has outed the 'tennis player' so no point hiding his name any more. He's Patrick Nicholls and he was a budding tennis champion. I was told he even played at junior wimbledon. Nicholls is now playing footy for St Bedes Mentone in A section Ammos. He's a good size, solidly built at 188cm and 90kg. There's interest in him because he's only played competitive footy for a year or so, so he's seen as having plenty of upside. The guy on BF said Nicholls starred all year on bigger bodies and wiser heads and reckons he would flourish at AFL level. They call him 'buddy'. Has the same attributes - very tall lanky left footy with pace and alot of skill and flair.

Come again?  ???

From the photos he does look taller than 188cm when compared to the other players he's training with.  But if he is 188cm, I wouldn't say he's 'very tall' or even 'tall' for an AFL player.  8cm shorter than Franklin.

Nicholls may have grown taller since but that height measurement is from his Tennis Australia profile page:

http://www.tennis.com.au/pages/PlayerProfile.aspx?id=4&pageId=1047&HandlerId=2&PlayerID=120

[yellowandback]

What happened to the Irish Kids?

We weren't interested. Conor Meredith ended up signing with North and I presume McKeever flew back home to Ireland.

Ta, that is a bit of a shock.

[one-eyed]

The Tigers have said they will take a young player with their sixth pick in the draft.

Eight players are currently training at Punt Road that are not on the Tigers' list -
Andrew Browne (Murray Bushrangers),
David Gourdis (Richmond),
Kade Klemke (Murray Bushrangers),
Nick Liddle (Coburg),
Patrick Nicholls (St Bedes),
Matt Suckling (Sandringham Dragons),
Justin Van Unen (Oakleigh Chargers),
Bryn Weadon (North Ballarat).

Richmond took Gourdis with the first pick in last year's Pre-season Draft, but he only played one game last season. The Tigers look likely to pick him up again, but could do so in the Rookie Draft.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24780995-19742,00.html

[mightytiges]

Interesting to see if all 6 we pick up come from those 8 or we go for someone training elsewhere.

Fort isn't listed there. Sad for him that his height wasn't made for AFL footy.

[one-eyed]

There's more than just those 8 training with us. Ch 10 quickly showed Elroy Gilligan and another indigenous kid at training today.

[peggles]

There's more than just those 8 training with us. Ch 10 quickly showed Elroy Gilligan and another indigenous kid at training today.

exactly.  hence i don't really know what's the rule in terms of clubs releasing the list of trainers to the afl.  i also saw elroy gilligan in photos from the training on monday.

for all we know,the clubs that are listed as only having a couple of players down at training may have like 10 players there.

[torch]

Gourdis never debut???

didn't he???

[Chuck17]

Gourdis never debut???

didn't he???

Pretty sure he didnt

[one-eyed]

Another kid not listed above but on Richmond's radar and played in the praccy match on Wednesday.

Healey's Richmond run
Bendigo Advertiser
12/12/2008

BENDIGO’S Rhys Healey says he isn’t getting his hopes up ahead of next week’s AFL rookie draft, despite having the opportunity to play in a 50-minute game in front of the Richmond coaching staff on Wednesday.

Healey played a mix of forward and midfield in the game at Victoria Park, which included players from Richmond’s VFL affiliate, Coburg, as well as players vying for a spot on the Tigers’ rookie list.

“I thought I did all right,” Healey said. “I got a few touches, used the ball well and put on a couple of good tackles, so I was pretty happy with it.” One of Healey’s opponents was another Bendigo player in Andrew Collins, who has been on Richmond’s list for the past two years.

Healey played in Wednesday’s game after a trial training session with the Tigers last Sunday.

Next week’s AFL rookie draft will be held on Tuesday following the pre-season draft, where the Tigers could spring a surprise and select Ben Cousins.

“The only club that has been in contact with me has been Richmond, but I don’t know how I will go next week,” the 18-year-old said.

http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/sport/general/healeys-richmond-run/1384394.aspx

[one-eyed]

Rhys Healey

Age: 18
Hgt: 186cm
Wgt: 81kg
Club: Bendigo Pioneers

Position: goalkicking midfielder - averaged 20 possies per game and kicked 25 goals in the TAC Cup.

Stats:
http://www.sportingpulse.com/team_info.cgi?player=Rhys%20Healey&action=PSTATS&pID=186935933&client=0-3020-0-67827-8058929

Brief spiel from snoop on BF:

Again one that went under the radar and whom would seem to fit what the Pies are looking for. I think he has the potential to be an A grade midfielder. Was very well rated for his year by the coaching staff at Bendigo in what was a pretty ordinary year for them. Wins a lot of footy and has good endurance. Could play a variety of roles and might be a sneaky to win promotion sooner than one thinks.

[mightytiges]

Emma Quayle was on SEN before 7pm tonight. She reckons there's strong talk Melbourne will take Matt Deboer at pick 1 in the PSD.

She said she sat down yesterday and came up with 15 good "left-overs" from the National draft. Her top ones were:
Tom Rockliff - she said she was surprised he didn't get picked up as he's got good skills, can kick goals and played well in the TAC Cup GF. The knock is his lack of pace.
Casey Sibosado  - she said recruiters don't agree with her though.
Kade Klemke
Jamie Sheahan

[yellowandback]

Emma Quayle was on SEN before 7pm tonight. She reckons there's strong talk Melbourne will take Matt Deboer at pick 1 in the PSD.

She said she sat down yesterday and came up with 15 good "left-overs" from the National draft. Her top ones were:
Tom Rockliff - she said she was surprised he didn't get picked up as he's got good skills, can kick goals and played well in the TAC Cup GF. The knock is his lack of pace.
Casey Sibosado  - she said recruiters don't agree with her though.
Kade Klemke
Jamie Sheahan

Sibosado and Rockliff are the interesting ones, quite sure they will end up rookied somewhere