Top 3 for 2008 National Draft

[scottwade]

According to Wayne Hughes (Carlton Recruiting Manager) , he would have taken Naitanui before Kreuzer.

http://heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,22820354%5E19742,00.html

JUST two days was the difference between outstanding teenager Nicholas Naitanui spending another year playing in Perth or being Carlton's No. 1 selection in the national draft. Blues recruiting manager Wayne Hughes did not hesitate when asked whom he would have taken as the first pick in the national draft if the ruckman of Fijian descent had been available.
"Naitanui," he said yesterday.
"He is the most exciting player I have seen and he missed the draft by two days (because of his birth date).
"People won't believe how much money they will pay to go through the gates to watch him play. I've never seen anything like it."

 

[Books]

What about Symon Lee from Gippsland Power? Is he rated? Where would he go?

 

[bringbackschwarter5]

What about Symon Lee from Gippsland Power? Is he rated? Where would he go?

Wouldnt think so

 

[Crows4Flag]

Dont be silly.

The Crows will most likely overlook him for a Victorian wanting to sit out for the next couple of years to do a sky-diving course.

haha classic

 

[HBF]

What about Symon Lee from Gippsland Power? Is he rated? Where would he go?

Nick Heyne is the guy from Gippsland that I would be watching next year.

 

[megladon]

No KPP's in WA....... some very quick mids
Cornelius and Hartlett very good but at 190cm half forwards at best
Hurley at 192 only just but looks like he may put on 2 or 3cm
any young KPP's in Vic, SA, Tas, Qld or NSW

 

[Gus2Gumby]

Nick Suban, Aaron Cornelius and Mitch Banner

Gun! Gets a heap of it

Swear the kid brings his own footy some weeks!

 

[jocko99]

im cannons fan, these r the names im gunna chuck to yas and give me feed back, trengove well i tink his final series proved wat he can be and i have no doubt he will be a top 5 pick, german, really determined football, with a great motor but dosn't look like growning and may hurt him come draft time, mckernan is a gun has then massive hands and holds almost everything, but i think he is to small to be a ruckmen. white is a good skilled running midfielder/ defender if no one knows who he is, i go to the same gym as him, has certainly bulked up, down fall is his consistency, week by week, any feedback?

 

[footyman]

Nicholas Natanui, Michael Hurley, Ashley Smith, Chris Yarran, Daniel Rich are five names I'd expect to be up amongst the top bracket. Depends if the draft age gets changed cos there are some good U16s coming through too who will give things a shake, depnding on their form next year of course.

im cannons fan, these r the names im gunna chuck to yas and give me feed back, trengove well i tink his final series proved wat he can be and i have no doubt he will be a top 5 pick, german, really determined football, with a great motor but dosn't look like growning and may hurt him come draft time, mckernan is a gun has then massive hands and holds almost everything, but i think he is to small to be a ruckmen. white is a good skilled running midfielder/ defender if no one knows who he is, i go to the same gym as him, has certainly bulked up, down fall is his consistency, week by week, any feedback?

Trengove will be up there, great leap in the ruck, he'll be popular cos of that. We had this draft where so many of the big blokes didnt leave the ground, so next years Natanui and Trengove should have AFL clubs drooling. He may need to work on his kicking a bit.

German seems like a real goer, gotta rate players who are tough and give 100% to every contest. Liked some of his finals games.

Agree with you on McKernan, sticky hands, funny kicking action but not too ineffective.

I have no doubt that White's consistency will come next year, was a hard worker down back this year and uses the ball well, hopefully added some strength, works on his leg speed and can work into the midfield, looks promising. The best kick of the ball out of the four you listed - maybe he should give them some kicking lessons.

 

[Upgrayedd]

I would almost take Rich ahead Of Naitanui. Watch him in the prelim final, he wasnt just making up numbers as the 17 year old kid

 

[macca69]

Nicholas Natanui, Michael Hurley, Ashley Smith, Chris Yarran, Daniel Rich are five names I'd expect to be up amongst the top bracket. Depends if the draft age gets changed cos there are some good U16s coming through too who will give things a shake, depnding on their form next year of course.


Trengove will be up there, great leap in the ruck, he'll be popular cos of that. We had this draft where so many of the big blokes didnt leave the ground, so next years Natanui and Trengove should have AFL clubs drooling. He may need to work on his kicking a bit.

German seems like a real goer, gotta rate players who are tough and give 100% to every contest. Liked some of his finals games.

Agree with you on McKernan, sticky hands, funny kicking action but not too ineffective.

I have no doubt that White's consistency will come next year, was a hard worker down back this year and uses the ball well, hopefully added some strength, works on his leg speed and can work into the midfield, looks promising. The best kick of the ball out of the four you listed - maybe he should give them some kicking lessons.

It's funny that the two tall blokes that could actually jump in Gourdis and Gaertner weren't picked up, especially considering like you said the lack of athletic talls.

Banner is a jet and it'll be interesting to see how much his lack of height counts against him as he has so much going for him.

One bloke I'm tipping recruiters will like is Alex Goodingham from Dandenong. Good size, big body, tough, good overhead and very good aerobically. Big chance to come into consideration for a 1st round pick IMO

Like you said, some definite quality to come out of the 16's this year assuming the eligibility for the draft isn't changed.

 

[footyman]

One bloke I'm tipping recruiters will like is Alex Goodingham from Dandenong. Good size, big body, tough, good overhead and very good aerobically. Big chance to come into consideration for a 1st round pick IMO.

Very good call.

 

[juddy_Like]

Am i the only one thinking Natanui isn't as good as people perceive him to be?

Sure he can jump over Mt Everett and tackle down King Kong but what does he offer? Seriously.

 

[swannies]

I think he's only been playing the game for a few years, from what I have heard at the club, so his improvement rate is still going to be reasonably high. But I reckon the Eagles and Dockers will want people to start questioning whether's he's worth it and some other Vic kid will be taken 1 and he'll slide.

 

[DCFCFAN84]

I would almost take Rich ahead Of Naitanui. Watch him in the prelim final, he wasnt just making up numbers as the 17 year old kid

I would Rich is going to be a superstar I have seen a fair bit of him and I would snap him up as soon as possible. Looks like the bottom four teams next year will be well compensated for there short comings.

 

[Smyth94]

No doubt Rich is impressive but remember he is playing in a extremely dominate team with A-grade WAFL/Boarder-line AFL players on pretty much every line. Can/will he do the same for say a Peel or Perth??

As for Natanui, his kicking is shocking and thats paramount in todays day and age. He needs alot (ok a truck-load) of polish and is ridiculously raw. But no-doubt the hunger and natural ability is there.

Dean Cox is the best ruckman in the league because he has the skills and engine of a midfielder but is around the 6'7''/6'8'' mark.

I don't see how this Natanui bloke can possibly go top 10 if he has poor kicking disposal. I'm pretty confident Kreuzer went #1 not purely because of his rucking skills but more so he played like a tall midfielder (similar to Cox) and was dominant up forward.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

I still think people are overrating Natanui a bit because he beat Kreuzer, the man everyone came to see, in the ruck at the National Champs.

That's not to say that he's not a Top 10 pick next year, but beating Kreuzer in hit-outs is hardly confirmation that he's a superstar player.

For mine, he's still an undersized ruckman with poor skills. As a comparison, I don't think he's a better prospect than Patrick Ryder was when he was drafted, and he went at #7 when it all shook down. Besides, he's going to have enough competition in the undersized ruckman stakes from McKernan and Trengove.

 

[Macca19]

Jay Shannon from the Eyre peninsula. the kid is a gun. won the A grade mail medal wen he was 16 and missed a few games due to playin U/17s with port magpies in adel. i hope that the crows have got onto him and kept him hidden out bush because he will play leagu SANFL footy this year and will play good league footy and get noiced by alot of people and miss out on him if they dont.

Id say he'll already be on the radar for most teams and I believe the Power have interest in him already. Cant wait to see him explode for the Maggies this year

 

[NeilElvis]

What about the bottom aged kids from this year that went undrafted? Any of those likely to push into the first round in 08?

 

[GoOsH]

Rich has all the skills IMO, poise, vision, great kick, takes guys on, breaks the lines and he can get the ball out of the bottom of packs as well. The footy smarts he has are very natural, can't be coached IMO, he quite simply makes the right decisions at the right time.
Natanui doesn't do it for me, very athletic and hard at it, but his skills and footy smarts aren't there. I imagine he'll end up a very good player though as he learns the game.

 

[RooDog]

Jay Shannon from the Eyre peninsula. the kid is a gun. won the A grade mail medal wen he was 16 and missed a few games due to playin U/17s with port magpies in adel. i hope that the crows have got onto him and kept him hidden out bush because he will play leagu SANFL footy this year and will play good league footy and get noiced by alot of people and miss out on him if they dont.

was over looked in this years draft

 

[Upgrayedd]

I still think people are overrating Natanui a bit because he beat Kreuzer, the man everyone came to see, in the ruck at the National Champs.

That's not to say that he's not a Top 10 pick next year, but beating Kreuzer in hit-outs is hardly confirmation that he's a superstar player.

For mine, he's still an undersized ruckman with poor skills. As a comparison, I don't think he's a better prospect than Patrick Ryder was when he was drafted, and he went at #7 when it all shook down. Besides, he's going to have enough competition in the undersized ruckman stakes from McKernan and Trengove.

Watch him Play down at the Swan Colts, the Guys about 10 times more athletic then Ryder, the hypes just not because he beat Kruizner in the ruck once, but how good this guy can be

 

[BK Eaglesfan]

No doubt Rich is impressive but remember he is playing in a extremely dominate team with A-grade WAFL/Boarder-line AFL players on pretty much every line. Can/will he do the same for say a Peel or Perth??

Having watched him play, particularly during the finals series, I don't think he benefitted from his surrounds to a level that distorted the view of his ability. He got his own ball and stepped up in the big games, impressive for a 17 year old kid for a start, regardless of who he was surrounded by.

 

[jesterwester]

No doubt Rich is impressive but remember he is playing in a extremely dominate team with A-grade WAFL/Boarder-line AFL players on pretty much every line. Can/will he do the same for say a Peel or Perth??

He was playing in a team that weren't certainties to win this year, they won very very convincingly, but Rich wasn't the player that kicked his goals with the team 10 goals in front, he was playing at his best when the game was there to be won.

The same could be said of any player on any afl list-even judd now that he's at carlton. Sure, he's chris judd, but how will he go without the help of Kerr, Cox, Cousins? How will Daniel Kerr go without Judd & Cousins.

Well.. why? Because they are champion players.
There is something about Rich that you don't see with many young players, just that knack to know the best choice when he gets the football.

 

[dave_27]

Watch him Play down at the Swan Colts, the Guys about 10 times more athletic then Ryder, the hypes just not because he beat Kruizner in the ruck once, but how good this guy can be

If this bloke has a bigger leap than Ryder then he is literally jumping houses.