Young players face a reality checkEmma Quayle | October 3, 2009
IN ANY draft year, it is inevitable that as some young players arrive on the scene, improve and force their names up the order, others, who started shining a lot earlier, will go the other way. Perhaps one of the reasons Daniel Rich reached No. 7 in last year's draft was that he had been in the under-18 system for two full seasons, giving people more time to find things they didn't quite like. It gave them longer to seek out some flaws, and longer for him to present them.
This year, that player is John Butcher. At the start of the season, the 18-year-old had established himself as a very gifted player. Had he been in last year's draft his efforts, playing at centre-half-forward as a 17-year-old, would have seen him snapped up early, without question, by a very happy club. At the start of this season, he was seen as a top three pick, if not a potential No. 1. Now it is more difficult to see where he fits in. Some suspect he may slide, although there seemed a building sense this week that when things settle he will sit somewhere inside the top 10.
Ultimately, a club may decide that talented key forwards don't come around too often, that the Gold Coast and western Sydney will be getting the best ones that turn up in the next few years, and that they should just go with him. It is difficult to see him getting past Essendon at No. 10, at the very least, given Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas have retired, Scott Gumbleton hasn't played for two years, Jay Neagle hasn't proven much and Michael Hurley is so suited to defence. But he may well go much earlier.
So, what has happened? Most recruiters remain impressed with Butcher's marking: he makes the ball stick and he is quick on the lead (he ran a 2.99 second 20-metre sprint this week) although he can be outbodied. He can grab a ground ball, and his agility is fine. He has some issues with his kicking, including his routine.
Consistency is another query - one week, said a recruiter, he'd chase, tackle and harass, and the next he would simply stand around. Add to that a disappointing national carnival, and there are your question marks in a game that has plenty of positives. He has a quiet nature, but is a really nice kid and, said a few recruiters, was excellent in his interviews.
Butcher has been working on his kicking. When he was in the AIS-AFL Academy two years ago, he had his technique filmed, and it was identified that improving his core strength would improve his action. Slowly this season he has grown stronger around the hips and thighs. And remember Nick Riewoldt was still missing shots when he had become an AFL star, and everyone had an opinion on what he should be doing.
''I had a little bit of a slump at the hip because I didn't have enough core strength, and I probably kick with a bent knee, so I've been trying to straighten that out a little it. Every chance I get I go out and have a few shots, so it's definitely something I've [been] working on,'' Butcher said.
''The AIS was good. We did a video analysis, all the biomechanics stuff, and they left no stone unturned to help me improve. I still have days where I'm a bit inaccurate, but I think it's improved and I'm still learning how to stick with my routine and still go through it when I miss a couple.''
After starring for Vic Country in last year's championships, eyes were always going to be fixed on Butcher again this year, and he himself felt let down at the end of it, like he didn't do enough for his team (others will say he's too hard on himself). In the first quarter of the opening game, he swept onto a loose ball on the 50-metre line, scooped it up cleanly and goalled on the run from a tight angle, but from the next centre bounce onwards he had two opponents by his side almost all day. It was attention he wasn't used to.
''It just takes a bit of getting used to, and you have to live with it because it's going to happen, the higher up you get it's going to get more and more difficult, so you have to get your head around it and take it on, I guess.''
There are other pieces to the Butcher puzzle. In December, he had surgery to shave a bump off his hip joint, and a pre-season that didn't start until it was almost March. In the third game of the championships he hurt his shoulder, but decided to keep playing; in the second-last match, he chipped a thumb but chose to play in the final. ''I just tried to push it to [the] back of my mind, because if you're out there playing, you have to perform,'' he said. He exposed himself and he didn't play well, but he may have impressed for other reasons.
It's worth remembering, too, that country kids who spend two years in the system are travelling long hours each week. Butcher lives in Maffra, an hour from the Gippsland Power's training base and three hours from Melbourne. He has spent almost every week at centre half-forward, and he loves it there - ''I love leading up, working hard to get the ball and then getting it down to full-forward,'' he said - although one recruiter wondered why the Power hadn't given him a run at centre half-back some weeks, to see if he could do it, but also to give him a mental break.
For Butcher, it has felt like a long two years. He still has his year 12 exams to get through, but he is looking forward to November. ''It's been a long year and a slow year,'' he said. ''Even the last couple of months have really dragged, but I'm trying to just look forward to it now. Hopefully I'm lucky enough just to get the chance, it's something I've been waiting so long for.''
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