Draft falls short of tall prospects
Emma Quayle | July 2, 2009
A TOP 10 dominated by strong-bodied, versatile midfielders, a small, inconsistent group of taller talent and a shallow draft pool — these were among the recruiters' thoughts heading into the challenging last half of their season.
Western Australia won its second under-18 title in three years yesterday, wrapping up the national championships with a 48-point win over Vic Country while placing another large bunch of future AFL players on show.
Where Jack Watts, Nick Naitanui, Michael Hurley and Tyrone Vickery were entrenched at the top of the draft order by this time last year, the talk is all about onballers: Tom Scully, Jack Trengove and Anthony Morabito, above others.
Scully is a pure midfielder: he can find the ball in packs, feed it out and find targets under pressure. As the most talked-about player leading into the championships, he has found the ball and used it well in a team that has struggled.
Trengove is a bold player and his marking ability makes him a promising forward-line prospect.
Morabito stands at 190 centimetres, weighs 90 kilograms and is quick: he is not your everyday wingman. Both players, as well as Scully, would not look out of place in an AFL side at the weekend.
Among the other well-regarded onballers are Koby Stevens, Ben Cunnington, Dustin Martin and Gary Rohan, all of whom can play in multiple spots.
This year's top group is not quite as big as last year's, or quite as gifted. But the midfielders' strength and flexibility, said Collingwood recruiting manager Derek Hine, gave the current group its point of difference.
"There weren't too many like that last year," he said. "You had Daniel Rich, and a couple others were playing senior footy, but they weren't as ready physically. But this year there's a real group of midfield/utility types who have really got the bodies to come in and play pretty much straight away."
On the flipside, the better taller prospects have been harder to identify. John Butcher is the best of them, despite not having a dominant carnival. He has been double-teamed on occasions and played yesterday with a chipped bone in his thumb.
South Australian Matthew Panos made people notice him, kicking 14 goals in the five-match series and proving the most consistent tall target. Jack stuff has played forward, back and in the ruck, but faded in and out of games. Ben Griffiths had a lousy preparation due to injury, Daniel Talia has looked impressive up forward for Vic Metro and Jake Carlisle (Metro) hasn't played a heap of game time, while Dylan Jones (Metro) looms as a key-position prospect despite spending a lot of the championships in the ruck.
Others will emerge, but it is difficult to see many talls, other than Butcher, and perhaps Gippsland ruckman Nathan Vardy, pushing into the top 10 at this early stage.
"There just aren't many of them," said Adelaide recruiting manager Matt Rendell. "Last year was a great tall draft, but there aren't too many in there this year."
Of the overall depth, Rendell felt that a full round of talent had essentially been removed: had the draft age not been changed, he said, 20 players (12 of whom can be signed by the Gold Coast as 17-year-olds this year) would certainly be in the mix. The fact that Queensland players are off limits and the better NSW players are on AFL club scholarships has also affected the depth: a handful of good Tasmanian players aside, the clubs basically will be drafting from the four division-one sides, as well as any extras they find in the state leagues.
Rendell thinks the talent will dry up by the end of the third round and expects clubs to elevate a record number of rookies this year.
"It will be really interesting to see what happens and what clubs decide to do. You'll be able to tell what they think when they decide whether to keep players on for another year or not. I think there's a bit more depth in next year's draft."
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