Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Richmond.
Overall we came 4th (so far) out of the 7 possibilities with hawthorn leading. IMO i believe that Hawthorn do have the best crop of youngsters coming up compared to us, even though i voted for essendon
. There mix of talent which spands across ALL positions on the field and there experience gained from already playing a handful of AFL games is something which gives them the edge. Compared to Carlton who have a solid midfield group with little onfield experience, a possible forward line that has had a slow development and very little to nothing to talk about in the backline and ruck. so long story short i was going to compare our youngsters to everyone elses but it takes to much effort.... so i'm just gonna talk about our youngsters and dance and jive about how wicked our side will be.
The established youngsters
Angus Monfries - his hard running, courage, confidence and desire for the ball has already made him a star, capable of playing forward and kicking goals but is more known for his midfield ability which is yet to be fully discovered.
Jobe Watson - ball finding ability, hard running and marking are probably his key attributes, is a very one gear runner which brings him down but on the upside he is an oversized midfielder and can play forward KP. His strength and height advantage over everyone in the midfield makes him a good battering ram for the hard ball gets and a midfield sweeper.
Brent Stanton - another hard runner, fast, can kick goals and finds space and alot of the ball. Its what we all expected Mark Bolton to be like but never lived upto the expectations... Stanton has. Already an important player to the team, needs to put on bulk and get abit of mongrel about him, is pushed around much to easily.
Courtney Johns - big, strong, quick off the mark, long kick, good hands and has firey passion to kick goals. if he gets a solid pre-season under him and works a little bit more on his game he could be anything.
Jason Laycock - strong hands, good leap, hard running, looks good in the ruck and loves to crash the pack. If he can stay injury free and do a full pre season Laycock could be a very very very good player for us from what we've seen. If he continues to be injury ridden and incapable of playing Ryder will look likely to take over him.
Ricky Dyson - quick, good skills, goal kicker and doesnt mind the hard ball. Ricky found his spot in the team last season but is yet to establish a consistancy about his game, tends to drift in and out and doesnt really have a strong defensive side to his game. Gets killed in aerial contests and needs to also put on bulk.
Keplar Bradley - Tall, good overhead, fletcher-esk body shape and finds the ball. His use and disposal of the ball is shocking, tends to panic under pressure and fumble alot. it HAS been said that he has a good engine and is fast for a TALL player, looks good as a third third tall not a KP player. Also as a HF drifting into the midfield but that doesnt look likely with new recruits and other players already filling this position. will be a handy player for us, will become a utility player if anything.
up and coming
Jason Winderlich - is at the top of this group and next season should be his breakout season, played a few games with the Senior group and looked the goods before injury struck. Fastest player on our list, ball finder and can kick a goal, similarities to Dyson.
Henry Slattery - good honest footballer, very much a defensive unit with clean disposal and abit of mongrel about him which the side is lacking.
Jay Nash - Looks the goods, silky skills, finds the ball and breaks off his man and loves to go for a run. Thought he looked really good playing off the HBF, know he is more than capable of playing in th midfield judging off his younger days.
Patrick Ryder - great vertical leap on him, good skills and looks like he does alot of running on the field. Is capable of playing ruck and KP forward but needs to add muscle and grow a pair of balls on him, shits his dacks in the ruck and jumps to early.
Courtenay Dempsey - another fast indegenious boy, has the skills and looks like he can find the ball. Needs to add bulk if he wants to play AFL dont know how he will fit into the side let alone any other of the players that are similar.
Andrew Lee - Tall, good body shape, strong hands and a decent kick for a big bloke. haven't seen much of him but has played a few games down back for us, i think he looks better as a forward but there are now to many tall foward options. were will Lee fit in?
Jay Neagle - haven't seen much of Neagle, seen him play alot as a HBF in VFL even though he is known for his FF ability. Touted to be a CHB, hopefully he plays some good games and breaks into the side and shows us what his got.
Richard Cole - from what i've seen he has decent skills, good pair of hands and can break lines but came to the club overweight and has been dragged down with injuries...dont know if cole will make it with this crop of youngsters coming up.
Sam Lonergan - Jason johnson-esk, thought he looked pretty good playing against st.kilda but was unfortunatley dropped. Know he does pretty well for himself in the VFL and deserves more shots in the sides then he has been given.
Draftees
theres a video someone made of all the of essendons draftees playing for there clubs, has anyone seen this? pretty good.
Scott Gumbleton - strong over head, hard runner and courage are what they are saying, looking forward to him playing. Mainly a CHF but can play CHB, i hope he lives upto expectations...no pressure mate.
Leroy Jetta - speed, skills and magic... with an abundance of quick players Leroy is bound to put someone out of the picture and steal there spot. has a very light frame and has been compared to ashley sampi.
Top Hislop - one to look out for, hard nut with strong hands and can run all day. has a good body shape about him and will definatley give a few people a run for there money.
Houli Bachar - looks the goods in training, mate has commented that he is a freak playing against him. This man could be ANYTHING.
Kyle Reimers - heard very little to nothing about this boy. midfield/HFF player?[/b]
Established Senior Players
just thought i'd throw this in.
Adam Mcphee - 2004 season was an outstanding season and every season since has made him look pretty ordinary despite 06 stats pretty much matching his 04 stats. has had alot of injuries and is being played out of position, has also lost his pack marking ability. none the less he runs hard, generally makes good use of the ball, still has solid hands on him and can kick a goal.
Andrew Welsh - highly under rated IMO, high posession winner, makes good use of the ball, strong hands, loves the rough stuff and doesnt mind the hard ball get. people say his kicking doesnt have penetration and lacks distance, this is wrong, when you win so much of the ball every posession cant be a clean one, not everyones....chris judd? but he does lack in foot pace and strength and can also get caught out breaking off his man.
Mark Mcveigh - such a wasted player, has pace, strong hands for a little guy, beautiful kicking skills and good around goals. is played as a defensive unit doing tagging jobs and back pocket work, he's prime use is as a play making/scoring forward and an attacking midfielder. Has mongrel about him and is under rated. Unfortunatley and disgracefully is used sparingly and the coaching panel refuse to allow him to play his natural game which will be the edge for him to move back to sydney some day.
Nathan Lovett Murray - Damaging player off HBF, ball finder, has speed, breaks the lines, kicks goals, can play forward and likes to throw punches. capable of taking a mark but sometimes lets his man run loose and generally loses out in the 1 on 1's.
Andrew Lovett - Fast, furious, and relentless. Lovett didnt have a great season last season due to injuries and other issues but when on his game he can turn the game on its head within a matter of minutes. good defensive game, strong hands and knows were the goals are only criticism is he's kicking for goal on the run can go astray sometimes but i dont know many people who can kick straight when there running at lightning speeds. look out for him in 07.
07 starting line up
A.Welsh, M.Michael, J.Nash
N.LM , D.Fletcher, A.Mcphee
R.Dyson, J.Johnson, B.Stanton
A.Monfries, S.Lucas, A. Lovett
J.Hird , M.Lloyd , C.Johns
Rovers, J.Watson, M.Johnson
Ruck: D.hille
Interchange: J.Winderlich, S.Gumbleton, M.Mcveigh, J.Laycock
Understandably this has been done many times before but i think it makes for good disccusion so....
thoughts on players? positions? etc.
