PSD & Rookie Draft

[meltiger]

What's the go with Sydney and EIGHT selections?!?!


Any info on Matt White Kev? Some Hawthorn people seem annoyed we took him, seemed to think Hawthorn would have taken him first in the rookie draft?

 

[CyberKev]

I'm not sure of the Sydney situation, but aren't they allowed to carry extra locals on their rookie list in the cause of advancing football in NSW?

I'd be more than happy for them to carry more still, if it absolved the other clubs from this silly notion of being forced to take one NSW player in the draft each year.

Can't tell you much about White, Craig, as I honestly don't know much about him. Apparently he's a pocket rocket midfielder with good stamina, but GoaldenHawk rates him, and he generally has a good eye for talent.

I would've probably preferred to try a young bloke like White rather than run with Guerra, but Clarkson does have a point about us requiring some extra "experienced" back-up for 2006.

I'm only too happy that this line (repeated ad nauseum in the lead-up to the rookie draft) didn't lead the club to take its eye off the ball though.

McEntee was one of three quality young ruck options available going into last month's draft, and pretty much everyone was stunned that he didn't get a gig somewhere. For mine he was the best available option in the rookie (just ahead of the likes of Jackson & Grima) and I was very happy to get him. That being said, I was very happy to get Kirkby at this stage last year too.

Collingwood have put in an interesting trade & draft period, but just may have snared themselves a tidy little gem with Daniel Nicholls. I really wanted him at Hawthorn, and think that Collingwood may have been similarly astute with pick 18 this year, as Hawthorn was last year.

 

[meltiger]

McEntee was one of three quality young ruck options available going into last month's draft, and pretty much everyone was stunned that he didn't get a gig somewhere. For mine he was the best available option in the rookie (just ahead of the likes of Jackson & Grima) and I was very happy to get him. That being said, I was very happy to get Kirkby at this stage last year too.

I'd say GM agrees ;-) .......

With our first rookie-list selection, we felt we needed to develop a young ruckman, so we identified the two best ‘talls’ who didn’t get picked up in the National Draft – Angus Graham and Luke McEntee.

We basically pitted them against each other at training over a couple of weeks, and were most pleased to end up taking Angus as our Rookie Club’s choice.

They were most pleased? Made a point to not say Angus was the best option to select ;-) GM is a master propagandist, you always need to read between the lines and loot at what he doesn't say.

In saying that, from those who saw him at training on Thursday ight ... I'm pleased to have him and expect him to make the jump to senior list by next year.

 

[CyberKev]

I'd say GM agrees ;-) .......
They were most pleased? Made a point to not say Angus was the best option to select ;-) GM is a master propagandist, you always need to read between the lines and loot at what he doesn't say.

With these things time may prove you right, wrong or simply conspire to square the two options away.

Miller is perfectly correct to push a line that is positive (if not all-encompassing) and non-detrimental (even in vague sense) to the other player.

Buckenara failed this elementary lesson after last year's draft as dismally as Mark Thompson did after the one just gone. His unwise decision to loosely backhand young Trent West by openly telling the press that Max Bailey was the best ruck option in the draft and was the guy they were after, had me cringeing.

At this stage in the game everyone's effectively all square, with noone having kicked a ball in anger during an actual top flight game, and its all about welcoming your youngsters enthusiastically and treating them like they're platinum plated. The last thing you do is publicly paint a picture that they were your second or third choice.

 

[CyberKev]

In saying that, from those who saw him at training on Thursday ight ... I'm pleased to have him and expect him to make the jump to senior list by next year.

Its interesting that West, McEntee & Graham are all similar players in that they are all sub-2m athletic ruck types.

I suspect Hawthorn ran with Bailey first because he is 206cm and they think extra height will be crucial given the changed ruck rules.

That being said, it still depends on what sort of leap the "smaller" guys can muster. I'm not sure about Graham, but I think West can get up alright, and McEntee is an ex-basketballer.

I suspect Graham would be steadier at this stage, and West would have better kicking skills than McEntee. The attraction of McEntee is that he has made massive strides despite only taking up the sport two years ago, has a big vertical leap, and recorded a very fast 2.91 time for the 20m sprint at draft camp.

Athleticism is one thing of course, but can they all get enough of the ball.

I think the new rules may make it easier to bring young ruckman through (the ultra-physical nature of the old rules made it easy to smash raw types out of it), but it'll be interesting to see how they all get on.

 

[CyberKev]

I'd say GM agrees ;-) .......

Gerg Miller's preferred top 3 from the main draft (announced after the event)...

1) Marc Murphy
2) Xavier Ellis
3) Beau Dowler

Hopefully time will serve to vindicate his thinking with the latter two at least ;-)