Welcome Welcome to Freo Murphy Reid - pick 17 of the 2024 Draft

[apuchar]

Zac Bailey was a purely inside mid, scoreboard impact was one of his bigger weaknesses. Connor Macdonald was drafted as a mid, 3 years later and he’s averaged a goal a game. Rhylee West had very similar mid/forward times as Reid. Even Darcy Jones did his best work through the midfield, played forward largely out of necessity with his size.

I don’t see any reason why Reid can’t have an impact across half forward.

Do you see anything that suggests wing is a possibility?

 

[Chris25]

Do you see anything that suggests wing is a possibility?

I don’t think he fits what we would want on a wing - he’s got the running, but not the speed or size we seem to prefer.

High half forward/mid for me.

 

[theGav56]

We were no orphans turning it down though. They offered it to every team from St Kilda's first pick onwards.

Yes. Actually I'm not advocating it, more just responded to another post. But, if that's what we had done, Curtin looks pretty good for next year.

 

[trentjac]

He is 181cm, how much smaller did you want him??

He is a midfielder, not a forward. Handball happy

 

[Sherriff Incorporated]

I'm thinking more Zach Merrett than Pendlebury.

Id agree. His work rate is outstanding.

 

[Sherriff Incorporated]

Zac Bailey was a purely inside mid, scoreboard impact was one of his bigger weaknesses. Connor Macdonald was drafted as a mid, 3 years later and he’s averaged a goal a game. Rhylee West had very similar mid/forward times as Reid. Even Darcy Jones did his best work through the midfield, played forward largely out of necessity with his size.

I don’t see any reason why Reid can’t have an impact across half forward.

Didnt you have him rated around 6 for most of the second half of the year.

 

[Sherriff Incorporated]

He is a midfielder, not a forward. Handball happy

At afl level he the high half forward plays pretty much as the deepest midfielder in lower grades. Switta and Walters play that role a fair bit. In is early games I think Reid will play the high half forward role and I also think his pressure will be elite from even early on in his career. At underage level he gets to a ton of contests due to workrate alone.

 

[gungho]

Zac Bailey was a purely inside mid, scoreboard impact was one of his bigger weaknesses. Connor Macdonald was drafted as a mid, 3 years later and he’s averaged a goal a game. Rhylee West had very similar mid/forward times as Reid. Even Darcy Jones did his best work through the midfield, played forward largely out of necessity with his size.

I don’t see any reason why Reid can’t have an impact across half

Bailey is the only guy of that list who has proved himself as a good AFL forward at this point.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

Bailey is the only guy of that list who has proved himself as a good AFL forward at this point.

That's just being stubborn for the sake of it. MacDonald and Jones are awesome flanks

 

[CaseySibosadoHOF]

Bailey is the only guy of that list who has proved himself as a good AFL forward at this point.

Toby Greene and Dylan Moore were also inside mids in their draft year. Hell, in 2 of Greene's first 4 AFL seasons he averaged over 28 disposals, and it wasn't til year 5 really when he played fwd. Papley only switched fwd in his draft year. Sonny was a midfielder who could play fwd.

There are doubtlessly other examples if I looked further, but suffice to say it's not exactly groundbreaking that predominant midfielders in their draft years can turn into awesome fwds at AFL level.

 

[Joao]

I'm 100% sure that Serong would cause carnage if played permanently forward. You'd never do it, but he could.

Still think having a rotation of around 8 high end mids, of which most have effective 2nd positions, to go with 2 quality rucks is extreme POD territory.

 

[apuchar]

7. MURPHY REID

Position: Midfielder/medium forward

Size: 181cm



AFL player comparison: Harry Sheezel

If anyone has any doubts on Reid, go back and watch his national carnival game for Vic Metro against the Allies. In tough, wet conditions, Reid was the cleanest player on the field, finishing with 24 disposals, 12 contested possessions, six score involvements and five intercepts. He then kicked three goals from 31 touches and eight clearances against South Australia to show how damaging he can be close to goal. Reid would go on to claim Vic Metro’s MVP award and make the All-Australian team. While he’s not the tallest or quickest midfielder in the draft class, Reid is one of the shrewdest and most composed in traffic, while he’s also added forward craft to his trick bag. His ability to perform in big games was personified by his Coates Talent League grand final performance as a bottom-ager last year, booting two goals from 19 touches in Sandringham’s premiership triumph before two three-goal hauls in the Dragons’ 2024 finals campaign. Reid is likely to come into the draft mix from Richmond’s Pick 6 onwards, with St Kilda and Melbourne to consider him too. Some rival clubs, though, wouldn’t be surprised if he slipped into the teens.

 

[thebillynade]

With the arrogance and the silk, I hope this fella can have a Ginnivan type debut season.

 

[Gekko71]

Am I imagining it , or did he say when being interviewed that the club had spoken to him plenty of times

No you're not imagining it. Walls in his post-draft interview said they targeted Reid (amongst others) very early on.

 

[Sherriff Incorporated]

That is suprising, because one of the issues reported was defensive work rate.

Maybe the only issue is his mindset, and it could be corrected fairly easily.


FYI - this reminds me of Tommy Sheridan looking for the handball from Stephen Hill. Was never going to happen.

I watched a couple of his full games at the underage champs including his game highlighted below. His primary job was to win the ball but he's an outstanding two way runner. Id describe his defensive mindset as elite. Some of the draft write ups arent accurate.His two way running was described by Kevin Sheehan as a big strength during the SA game when Sheenhan was cooentating

 

[estibador]

Watching that last vid it struck me that there's a bit of Paul Hasleby

Paul Hasleby

Age

43

Ht

182cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.7

5star

K

9.2

4star

HB

11.5

5star

M

4.3

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

1.9

4star

No current season stats available

D

17.4

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

6.0

4star

M

5.8

5star

T

3.8

5star

about him.

I think it's to do with his kicking style where he just places it on a trajectory to land in the lap of the leading forward. And the slick handballs of course.

 

[Dayts]

Finally got around to watching his YouTube videos and can see the poise and clean disposal. Tbh reminds me of Caleb Daniel

35

Caleb Daniel

Age

28

Ht

171cm

Wt

72kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

19.5

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

CL

1.0

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

9.2

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

.
Maybe he’s our back flanker

 

[gungho]

Toby Greene and Dylan Moore were also inside mids in their draft year. Hell, in 2 of Greene's first 4 AFL seasons he averaged over 28 disposals, and it wasn't til year 5 really when he played fwd. Papley only switched fwd in his draft year. Sonny was a midfielder who could play fwd.

There are doubtlessly other examples if I looked further, but suffice to say it's not exactly groundbreaking that predominant midfielders in their draft years can turn into awesome fwds at AFL level.

If you go back to the conversation, and how it all started, you will see that Snuffy suggested that Reid will be fighting for the half forward position in the first few years - and not the midfield spot. Guys that are drafted as midfielders rarely make an immediate impact as half forwards. The only legitimate example of that has been Bailey - mentioned by Chris.
So yeah, it's rare. Your point about Greene spending four years as a midfielder before moving forward kind of proves mine. Midfielders don't get put forward and immediately have an impact in the first few years. (Papley and Sonny were definitely drafted as forwards by the way)

 

[gungho]

That's just being stubborn for the sake of it. MacDonald and Jones are awesome flanks

MacDonald this year kicked 28 goals. Not bad for a half forward but not elite. He has also done it once, so in my opinion it's too early to tell how good he will be. Darcy Jones was recruited as a small forward. True midfielders that do well forward are pretty rare. Guys like Dangerfield and Dusty Martin would be examples, but they didn't do it in their first few years and are also legends of the game.

 

[CaseySibosadoHOF]

If you go back to the conversation, and how it all started, you will see that Snuffy suggested that Reid will be fighting for the half forward position in the first few years - and not the midfield spot. Guys that are drafted as midfielders rarely make an immediate impact as half forwards. The only legitimate example of that has been Bailey - mentioned by Chris.
So yeah, it's rare. Your point about Greene spending four years as a midfielder before moving forward kind of proves mine. Midfielders don't get put forward and immediately have an impact in the first few years. (Papley and Sonny were definitely drafted as forwards by the way)

I think you're out of your mind if you think that Toby Greene couldn't have contributed as a fwd basically right away. He didn't play midfield because he wasn't good enough for the fwd line, he played midfield because he was too good not to play midfield. Also re Sonny: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/number-38-michael-sonny-walters-pick-53-2008-nd.522066/

The issue is the best prospects are usually high picks, the highest picks usually go to the worst teams, and the worst teams usually prioritise giving the best young players maximum early exposure. High level young mids who could easily play fwd if needed would instead play midfield, as those teams need to prioritise that midfielder's development. If we had Harley Reid this year instead, I'd put my life on him having substantially less CBAs than he had for West Coast.

But fwiw, Stephenson was drafted as a mid-fwd and he peaked as a fwd in his first couple seasons and looked a future star. Zurhaar was drafted as a mid-fwd, and while idk if you count 3rd year as sufficiently immediate, we're talking a rookie draftee. Then you have guys like Heeney and de Goey, who peaked as midfielders but did things as fwds that every team would salivate over.

This isn't to say that small fwd doesn't entail its own skillset which players need to learn. But the idea that it's some rocket science which predominant midfield prospects cannot hope to grasp is a bit silly.

 

[apuchar]

Wallsy seems to think he will play forward, wing or even hbf.

 

[Heave Ho Bro]

This kid is going to be a cracking ruckman.

 

[gungho]

I think you're out of your mind if you think that Toby Greene couldn't have contributed as a fwd basically right away. He didn't play midfield because he wasn't good enough for the fwd line, he played midfield because he was too good not to play midfield. Also re Sonny: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/number-38-michael-sonny-walters-pick-53-2008-nd.522066/

The issue is the best prospects are usually high picks, the highest picks usually go to the worst teams, and the worst teams usually prioritise giving the best young players maximum early exposure. High level young mids who could easily play fwd if needed would instead play midfield, as those teams need to prioritise that midfielder's development. If we had Harley Reid this year instead, I'd put my life on him having substantially less CBAs than he had for West Coast.

But fwiw, Stephenson was drafted as a mid-fwd and he peaked as a fwd in his first couple seasons and looked a future star. Zurhaar was drafted as a mid-fwd, and while idk if you count 3rd year as sufficiently immediate, we're talking a rookie draftee. Then you have guys like Heeney and de Goey, who peaked as midfielders but did things as fwds that every team would salivate over.

This isn't to say that small fwd doesn't entail its own skillset which players need to learn. But the idea that it's some rocket science which predominant midfield prospects cannot hope to grasp is a bit silly.

I will make it really simple. Can you name me a single Dockers player - in the last 10 years - who has been drafted as a midfielder and made a significant impact playing forward in the first few years of his career?
Here are your options by the way:

Lachie Weller.
Connor Blakely.
Ed Langdon.
Josh Deluca.
Darcy Tucker
Harley Balic
Brady Grey
Andrew Brayshaw.
Adam Cerra.
Mitch Crowden.
Tom North.
Sam Swittowski (Was a midfielder in 2014 - his initial attempt to be drafted - but was mainly a small forward when we did draft him as a mature ager. Let's for arguments sake say he was a midfielder in 2017 when we drafted him, which he wasn't, he still has only really come on to be an ok small forward in the last few years.)
Bailey Banfield - Will give you this one, but he still didn't have much of an impact as a forward in his first 3/4 years. Most on here would say he's still not that great as a forward now.
Stefan Giro.
Luke Valente.
Brett Bewley.
Caleb Serong.
Liam Henry. Couldn't get a game in our midfield in his first few years. Was tried up forward. It didn't work.
Jarvis Pina
Tom North
Nathan O Driscoll.
Neil Erasmus
Matthew Johnson.
Cooper Simpson.

 

[s_wd6]

I will make it really simple. Can you name me a single Dockers player - in the last 10 years - who has been drafted as a midfielder and made a significant impact playing forward in the first few years of his career?
Here are your options by the way:

Lachie Weller.
Connor Blakely.
Ed Langdon.
Josh Deluca.
Darcy Tucker
Harley Balic
Brady Grey
Andrew Brayshaw.
Adam Cerra.
Mitch Crowden.
Tom North.
Sam Swittowski (Was a midfielder in 2014 - his initial attempt to be drafted - but was mainly a small forward when we did draft him as a mature ager. Let's for arguments sake say he was a midfielder in 2017 when we drafted him, which he wasn't, he still has only really come on to be an ok small forward in the last few years.)
Bailey Banfield - Will give you this one, but he still didn't have much of an impact as a forward in his first 3/4 years. Most on here would say he's still not that great as a forward now.
Stefan Giro.
Luke Valente.
Brett Bewley.
Caleb Serong.

Liam Henry. Couldn't get a game in our midfield in his first few years. Was tried up forward. It didn't work.
Jarvis Pina
Tom North
Nathan O Driscoll.
Neil Erasmus
Matthew Johnson.
Cooper Simpson.

How many of those even played genuine stints up forward.

Henry?
Serong (very briefly)
Crowden?

 

[gungho]

How many of those even played genuine stints up forward.

That's not the point. The point is, in the last 10 years there has not been a single player (not 1!) drafted as a midfielder who has made a significant impact up forward in their first few years.
So going by those stats, I think the likelihood of Murphy Reid starring in the forward line in his first few years highly unlikely.