Robbie Ando?s 2004 Phantom Draft Version 1.0

[Nico]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by robbieando

Originally posted by DST
How do you see the Ed Clarke situation Robby.

He'll either be a late round pick up at another club, or he'll end up on our rookie list. Many see his size and the fact he did so well at Under 18 level as a reason that he won't develop any further, thus clubs won't draft him. I think the Swans will be more than happy to let him go in the draft in the hope he'll be available come the rookie draft.

This size thing and not having any further development has always perplexed me. Strewth if he has the size and did well at Under 18 and is a bloody good footballer to boot, what is to say he won't be a bloody good footballer for another 10 years. Clubs have been quoted as saying they will take the best on offer, which surely will be based on form.

The true champions of our game were mostly top juniors of all shapes and sizes and just kept going to the next level regardless of makeup.

[Nico]

Agree Charlie. If there is a midfielder in the draft built like a brick out house who can play, then take the punt. Bugger this 2-3 year waiting period on skinny kids. Clubs usually only get a 2-3 year window at the top to win a flag these days, so for us now, every post is a winner.

We need to pull something special out of our lemonade really soon to reach the Holy Grail.

[caj23]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by robbieando

Originally posted by DST
How do you see the Ed Clarke situation Robby.

I think the Swans will be more than happy to let him go in the draft in the hope he'll be available come the rookie draft.

Perhaps the Swans may try and get Shaw in the same manner

[Jeffers1984]

Originally posted by Nico
This size thing and not having any further development has always perplexed me. Strewth if he has the size and did well at Under 18 and is a bloody good footballer to boot, what is to say he won't be a bloody good footballer for another 10 years. Clubs have been quoted as saying they will take the best on offer, which surely will be based on form.

The true champions of our game were mostly top juniors of all shapes and sizes and just kept going to the next level regardless of makeup.

Agree, the size issue is really a non issue IMO. Remember people were of the opinion that Adam Goodes didnt have large scope of improvement due to his mature size, but look how he turned out.,...

[dendol]

Originally posted by Nico
This size thing and not having any further development has always perplexed me. Strewth if he has the size and did well at Under 18 and is a bloody good footballer to boot, what is to say he won't be a bloody good footballer for another 10 years. Clubs have been quoted as saying they will take the best on offer, which surely will be based on form.

The true champions of our game were mostly top juniors of all shapes and sizes and just kept going to the next level regardless of makeup.

Its like sticking a 17yo kid to play in an U14 comp. He'll most likely dominate, but when you stick him with people his own size, he might not be anywhere near as impressive.

The difficulty in judging potential lies in the fact that some kids hit puberty before others, and therefore have the advantage of size and strength over kids their own age.

Ed Clarke is bigger than your average kid, so the worry is that he cant reproduce that same form against players that can match him in body mass. Meanwhile, a small skinny kid who shows courage, determination and skill against players who are bigger than him (our own Captain Courageous) has the potential to dominate even more when his body finally catches up to his peers.

So i think drafting kids "based on form" does not mean "best on offer" at all.

[liz]

Originally posted by dendol
Its like sticking a 17yo kid to play in an U14 comp. He'll most likely dominate, but when you stick him with people his own size, he might not be anywhere near as impressive.

That's true, though the Swans have had plenty of opportunity to see how Clarke goes compared to bodies of similar size since he's played a fair amount of senior football already, both in the Canberra league as a Swans ring-in, plus in the Sydney league playing for North Shore.

Sure, both these competitions are a standard or two below the AFL, but at least they have more to go on than had he just been dominating in the TAC competition.

[DST]

Such an interesting decision with Clarke. We have a kid from NSW that can obiviously play, but is seenas not having improvement left in him becuase of his body shape and size.

You can just see the kid sitting back now wondering what else he has to do to make it to the elite level.

One thing is for sure, if he does make it onto our list next year you can see him busting a gut to prove all those recruiters wrong.

DST

[chammond]

23. Collingwood - Andrew McQualter (Gippsland Power)
State: VIC. Position: Midfielder. H: 179cm W: 73kg
Profile: McQualter for Collingwood is another midfielder who it seems has got some pace about (that many didn?t know about until the Draft Camp) and when he did play in the TAC Cup he got a lot of the ball. He know what to do on the football field and is seen as somewhat of a leader. Is solid on both sides of the body, but needs to work on his defensive game as he can be exposed by his opponent. Hard at the ball which Collingwood like.

It'll be interesting to see where this bloke gets picked up. Early in the season, the Power were expecting to get at least ten of their players drafted in 2004, and McQualter seemed to be rated the pick of the bunch. Because he mostly preferred school football rather than TAC Cup, he dropped out of sight a little, but it's worth bearing in mind that he was favourably compared to Goddard at the same age (for what that's worth?), and has a good football brain.

Roughead is tough, and he's a South Gippy boy, so he's bound to be good.

[Nico]

Robbie you have only 5 in your draft from the Calder Cannons, by far the superior team in the Premier U18 comp in the land. I know a scout from Carlton who watches an U18 match every week of the season, and he is staggered at how draft pundits under rate the players in this team. He reckons at least 10 players should be up for consideration from Calder.

On the topic of size and form of U18 players. My experience of 10 years of junior football clearly showed that the top juniors keep going to the next level, and on the contrary, those who are well developed early and are at the top level are the ones most likely to cut it against older players, rather than coming back to the field as they get older.

This holds true down through the VFL and suburban leagues.

2 examples are Sam Mitchell and Damian Cupido. Played against each other in the EFL from at least U12 and were clear standouts of the comp. Guess what the talk was at U14. "These boys are mature for their ages, but I bet such and such will catch up and go past them in 2 years". Never happened. Damian finished the U14 season then proceeded to kick 6 goals the very next week in the U18's.

Both were ready to play at 18/19 and right from the start cut it physically, although Sam got drafted a year later after a BOG in the VFL GF. There are plenty of these stories and I am sure clubs are now looking more in this direction.

Theories abound. Some 10 years ago the hunched or round shouldered junior was the flavour because a few of that body type emerged as good players. Theory was they got their body over the ball better. Refer Robert Neill type.

[robbieando]

Originally posted by Nico
Robbie you have only 5 in your draft from the Calder Cannons, by far the superior team in the Premier U18 comp in the land. I know a scout from Carlton who watches an U18 match every week of the season, and he is staggered at how draft pundits under rate the players in this team. He reckons at least 10 players should be up for consideration from Calder.

Most likely reason could be that its easier to impress in a poor side (where your a stand out compared to your teammates), than in a top quailty side. Use Luke Power as an example - great player in his own right but at Brisbane he is overshadowed by his teammates, but if he played for the Tigers he'll be a superstar.

I have noticed before that the wooden spoon team in the TAC Cup gets a simular amount of players drafted as the premiers. Could be a case of players being judged well before they get to Under 18 level. You see alot of kids come from the clouds based upon a stand out year in Under 18 level.

[sharpie]

Originally posted by robbieando
Most likely reason could be that its easier to impress in a poor side (where your a stand out compared to your teammates), than in a top quailty side. Use Luke Power as an example - great player in his own right but at Brisbane he is overshadowed by his teammates, but if he played for the Tigers he'll be a superstar.

But how do you know Luke Power would be a superstar, or turn out like Des Headland. 2 years ago, i reckon everyone thought he was superstar material before leaving the Lions.