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2014 Draft/2014 Nat Champs
- Thread starter Scoop
- Start date
SkillzThatKillz said:
Very pleasing times, don't think he'd be around by our third now so we'd probably have to use a top 30 pick. It's going to be a really tough call with our 2nd pick, so many excellent prospects, hopefully we can manufacture another pick in this region.
With respect to everyone writing here who I would suggest know more about drafting and kids than me.
I think if he is there at 11. we grab him..
Nakia Cockatoo (NT Thunder)
Born 23.10.1996, 185cm, 86kg
AFL biography: Powerfully built medium forward/midfielder with elite step through traffic. His initial speed out of the contest creates separation on his opponents. Uses the ball with precision on either side of the body and can impact the scoreboard when he pushes forward. Suffered stress fracture in foot causing him to miss the NAB AFL under-18 championships after impressing in 2013.
Wally Gallio, AFLNT: "He's pretty versatile. He does his homework and he looks after himself really well, he prides himself on working hard on his skills and training hard and being a student of the game. He's very coachable because of all that work he does, he wants to make sure he understands exactly how the coach wants him to play. He's the sort of kid who is always looking out for his family and his mates, he couldn't play in the nationals becuase of his foot injury but he supported the other players and spoke up in team meetings and said 'you blokes need to do this and this,' and ran water and helped in any way he could. He started back training at the end of June and that was modified until August, but he's done everything right with his rehab and he's in good shape now. I think he'll test well, his fitness is looking pretty good. He's a utility type player who could play forward, back or on a wing, and he loves the competitive stuff. At a pinch you could almost play him on a tallish forward and get him running off them. He respects people and is just a really mannered, good kid."
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-draft-combine-harvester-medium-forwards-20141002-10pa6w.html#ixzz3F3Xp8Qry
I think if he is there at 11. we grab him..
Nakia Cockatoo (NT Thunder)
Born 23.10.1996, 185cm, 86kg
AFL biography: Powerfully built medium forward/midfielder with elite step through traffic. His initial speed out of the contest creates separation on his opponents. Uses the ball with precision on either side of the body and can impact the scoreboard when he pushes forward. Suffered stress fracture in foot causing him to miss the NAB AFL under-18 championships after impressing in 2013.
Wally Gallio, AFLNT: "He's pretty versatile. He does his homework and he looks after himself really well, he prides himself on working hard on his skills and training hard and being a student of the game. He's very coachable because of all that work he does, he wants to make sure he understands exactly how the coach wants him to play. He's the sort of kid who is always looking out for his family and his mates, he couldn't play in the nationals becuase of his foot injury but he supported the other players and spoke up in team meetings and said 'you blokes need to do this and this,' and ran water and helped in any way he could. He started back training at the end of June and that was modified until August, but he's done everything right with his rehab and he's in good shape now. I think he'll test well, his fitness is looking pretty good. He's a utility type player who could play forward, back or on a wing, and he loves the competitive stuff. At a pinch you could almost play him on a tallish forward and get him running off them. He respects people and is just a really mannered, good kid."
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-draft-combine-harvester-medium-forwards-20141002-10pa6w.html#ixzz3F3Xp8Qry
Thought I'd share my draft thoughts. (I haven't seen too much of the juniors this year, so just spit ballin'.)
I did a quick top ten mock,
1 STk Petracca
2 Melb McCartin
3 GWS Lever
4 Bris Wright
5 Dogs Durdin
6 Carl Brayshaw
7 GC Weller
8 Coll Moore
9 Adel Laverde/Goddard
10 WC Pickett
11 Rich one of Laverde or Goddard, although everyone seems set on a mid so Ahern might fit here too.
Opinion seems to have soured on Goddard, but he looks pretty decent to me. With Astbury and Grimes injury prone, Chaplin getting on, Elton struggling and Darrou given the flick, that leaves just Rance as a reliable option. Even if those guys are fit, we could swing one of Astbury or Goddard forward.
I agree we need speed, Menadue and Cockatoo look like they'd fit the bill, but not sure they make it to our second pick. A small defender seems a need too, Josh Glenn could be an option.
One player I was impressed with at the Champs was Aidan Anderson. He looked a cut above that level despite his low possession numbers (WA were pretty poor this year tho, might explain it). Apparently he also played a fair bit of seniors in the WAFL this year. Although reading the mocks most don't seem to rate him, I must be missing something.
Caleb Daniel put together a great highlights package, I think he'd be worth a punt in Round 3.
Hampson stinks, we all know that, Griff could be a back up option I guess, but still think we need a young developing ruck. I liked Darcy Cameron last year, apparently has played well this year too.
I did a quick top ten mock,
1 STk Petracca
2 Melb McCartin
3 GWS Lever
4 Bris Wright
5 Dogs Durdin
6 Carl Brayshaw
7 GC Weller
8 Coll Moore
9 Adel Laverde/Goddard
10 WC Pickett
11 Rich one of Laverde or Goddard, although everyone seems set on a mid so Ahern might fit here too.
Opinion seems to have soured on Goddard, but he looks pretty decent to me. With Astbury and Grimes injury prone, Chaplin getting on, Elton struggling and Darrou given the flick, that leaves just Rance as a reliable option. Even if those guys are fit, we could swing one of Astbury or Goddard forward.
I agree we need speed, Menadue and Cockatoo look like they'd fit the bill, but not sure they make it to our second pick. A small defender seems a need too, Josh Glenn could be an option.
One player I was impressed with at the Champs was Aidan Anderson. He looked a cut above that level despite his low possession numbers (WA were pretty poor this year tho, might explain it). Apparently he also played a fair bit of seniors in the WAFL this year. Although reading the mocks most don't seem to rate him, I must be missing something.
Caleb Daniel put together a great highlights package, I think he'd be worth a punt in Round 3.
Hampson stinks, we all know that, Griff could be a back up option I guess, but still think we need a young developing ruck. I liked Darcy Cameron last year, apparently has played well this year too.
Just been informed of Clem Smith's beep test time, it doesn't make for pretty reading, reckon he'll drift out to third round - rookie territory.
Stylo said:
11.11 which means he faces an uphill battle to get match fit, his lack of pace & height also goes against him. He's agile but that's where it ends as far as athleticism is concerned, I think someone will take the punt but it will be a lot later than many expected.
Classic WA boy puttin the hand break on to stay home....odds on to be picked up by a WA team nowbullus_hit said:
CC TIGER said:
Maybe, it has happened before, but there's certainly an element of buyer beware.
bullus_hit said:
Certainly some work to do. Slight adjustment, I have him at 11 - 12 for the beep. On his 3 attempts at the 20mtrs he couldn't crack 3 seconds. His VO2 was poor and for the repeat sprints were in the bottom 20%.
Interestingly his 3rd attempt at the agility test was clearly his best result.
We could be putting a bid this morning for academy player Jack Steele. If GWS want him they will have to use their second pick on him otherwise we will take him with pick 11.
Jack Steele
While some kids can't sleep without their teddy bear, soon-to-be-AFL-player Jack Steele only needed his football.
Steele is guaranteed to be on an AFL list next season, but the Greater Western Sydney academy member said it won't seem real until he knows which club he'll join.
Six AFL clubs visited the 18-year-old at his Nicholls house during the year – Richmond, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide and Port Adelaide – while Brisbane and Sydney came to Canberra to watch him play.
Most of the other 10 clubs have also shown an interest in the under-18 All-Australian who was named NSW-ACT Rams most valuable player at this year's junior national championships.
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But he could have chosen a different path, having played in the same basketball side as emerging tennis star Nick Kyrgios.
Steele played soccer and basketball from a young age, but the former Burgmann Anglican student started playing Australian football when he was eight.
When he was 12 he was forced to choose between interstate footy and basketball tournaments and his road to the AFL began.
Giants coach Leon Cameron told Steele on Thursday they were nominating him for the academy bidding process, held on Monday at 10am, which means the 17 other clubs can nominate what draft pick they want to use on him with GWS able to match the highest bid.
If none of the other clubs want him, then the Giants get him with one of their last picks in the November draft.
He will be the first Canberran drafted since the Western Bulldogs took Jason Tutt in 2009.
Steele doesn't mind where he goes, although joining Collingwood – the team he's barracked for since he was six – and being coached by his childhood hero Nathan Buckley would be a dream come true.
"Once I've been listed to a certain club then I s'pose it will be real for me, because I know where I'm moving and I know who I'll be playing for for the next two years," Steele said on Sunday.
"I think it will hit home when it gets announced tomorrow.
"I feel relieved, but there still is a bit of pressure there for me. Once it does get announced I'm sure there'll be a lot of pressure relieved."
He comes from a grounded, sporting family and that's translated into him becoming a relaxed, but confident, young man.
His mum, Jo, joked Steele was a bit of a boring kid – never in trouble, good at school and loving all sports.
Both Jo and Steele's sister, Sophie, played basketball as well.
While Jo didn't mind where her son ended up, she thought it would be a great success story for the Giants academy if GWS was to get him.
Jo said growing up, Steele always had a ball in his hand and there were red cherries on the walls to prove it.
He was forced to watch his mates play last year after a dislocated knee cap ruined his chances of getting drafted.
"I was just really excited for him, you've worked really hard and made you dream come true," Jo said.
"After last year and the disappointment with his knee, he took a minute to feel sorry for himself and then after that he was very focused and very committed.
"He deferred uni this year to concentrate on his footy to give himself the best shot."
His dad, Stuart, travelled down to the MCG for the AFL grand final, where Steele starred in the curtain raiser that started a big week for the 18-year-old.
He tested brilliantly at the draft combine before the Giants told him they were nominating him for the academy bidding.
Stuart sat with the dad of Belconnen key defender Logan Austin, a good mate of Steele.
"We're not that worried about where he goes really, we're just glad he's going to get on a list somewhere and glad he's going to get a crack at it," Stuart said.
"If he goes to the Giants he's closer to home ... it just depends on where they rank him in the scheme of things.
"He's been a bit of an unknown until the national championships."
Canberra's Austin, Liam Griffiths and Tom Faul are all a chance of getting drafted next month and as Giants academy players can be pre-selected as rookies if they're not picked up.
The Adelaide Crows are believed to be interested in Austin.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/belconnen-midfielder-jack-steele-awaits-his-afl-fate-20141005-10qhql.html#ixzz3FJQU8dd1
While some kids can't sleep without their teddy bear, soon-to-be-AFL-player Jack Steele only needed his football.
Steele is guaranteed to be on an AFL list next season, but the Greater Western Sydney academy member said it won't seem real until he knows which club he'll join.
Six AFL clubs visited the 18-year-old at his Nicholls house during the year – Richmond, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide and Port Adelaide – while Brisbane and Sydney came to Canberra to watch him play.
Most of the other 10 clubs have also shown an interest in the under-18 All-Australian who was named NSW-ACT Rams most valuable player at this year's junior national championships.
Advertisement
But he could have chosen a different path, having played in the same basketball side as emerging tennis star Nick Kyrgios.
Steele played soccer and basketball from a young age, but the former Burgmann Anglican student started playing Australian football when he was eight.
When he was 12 he was forced to choose between interstate footy and basketball tournaments and his road to the AFL began.
Giants coach Leon Cameron told Steele on Thursday they were nominating him for the academy bidding process, held on Monday at 10am, which means the 17 other clubs can nominate what draft pick they want to use on him with GWS able to match the highest bid.
If none of the other clubs want him, then the Giants get him with one of their last picks in the November draft.
He will be the first Canberran drafted since the Western Bulldogs took Jason Tutt in 2009.
Steele doesn't mind where he goes, although joining Collingwood – the team he's barracked for since he was six – and being coached by his childhood hero Nathan Buckley would be a dream come true.
"Once I've been listed to a certain club then I s'pose it will be real for me, because I know where I'm moving and I know who I'll be playing for for the next two years," Steele said on Sunday.
"I think it will hit home when it gets announced tomorrow.
"I feel relieved, but there still is a bit of pressure there for me. Once it does get announced I'm sure there'll be a lot of pressure relieved."
He comes from a grounded, sporting family and that's translated into him becoming a relaxed, but confident, young man.
His mum, Jo, joked Steele was a bit of a boring kid – never in trouble, good at school and loving all sports.
Both Jo and Steele's sister, Sophie, played basketball as well.
While Jo didn't mind where her son ended up, she thought it would be a great success story for the Giants academy if GWS was to get him.
Jo said growing up, Steele always had a ball in his hand and there were red cherries on the walls to prove it.
He was forced to watch his mates play last year after a dislocated knee cap ruined his chances of getting drafted.
"I was just really excited for him, you've worked really hard and made you dream come true," Jo said.
"After last year and the disappointment with his knee, he took a minute to feel sorry for himself and then after that he was very focused and very committed.
"He deferred uni this year to concentrate on his footy to give himself the best shot."
His dad, Stuart, travelled down to the MCG for the AFL grand final, where Steele starred in the curtain raiser that started a big week for the 18-year-old.
He tested brilliantly at the draft combine before the Giants told him they were nominating him for the academy bidding.
Stuart sat with the dad of Belconnen key defender Logan Austin, a good mate of Steele.
"We're not that worried about where he goes really, we're just glad he's going to get on a list somewhere and glad he's going to get a crack at it," Stuart said.
"If he goes to the Giants he's closer to home ... it just depends on where they rank him in the scheme of things.
"He's been a bit of an unknown until the national championships."
Canberra's Austin, Liam Griffiths and Tom Faul are all a chance of getting drafted next month and as Giants academy players can be pre-selected as rookies if they're not picked up.
The Adelaide Crows are believed to be interested in Austin.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/belconnen-midfielder-jack-steele-awaits-his-afl-fate-20141005-10qhql.html#ixzz3FJQU8dd1
