2014 AFL Draft

[rojo]

Defender Oscar McDonald seems as though he would be a perfect match for us. Unfortunately the last article I read about the draft suggests that he has moved up from a top 40 to a top 30 pick. The chances of him still being available at pick 37 are not great.

[tasmania60]

good if right???

[goswannies]

Our first pick is 37. No we won't get anything for Membrey because he will go in the Preseason draft.

Not even! Thry got him for free as a delisted free agent
The still have first pick in the PSD
Tigers, Saints & Dogs were pretty active with DFA's ... why not us?

[liz]

Not even! Thry got him for free as a delisted free agent
The still have first pick in the PSD
Tigers, Saints & Dogs were pretty active with DFA's ... why not us?

Because we don't have spots on the list to fill. We've chosen to place faith in three of our young rookies from last year, promoting them all to the senior list and retaining another on the rookie list (and after promoting two from the same rookie list intake to the senior list at the end of last year).

[goswannies]

Because we don't have spots on the list to fill. We've chosen to place faith in three of our young rookies from last year, promoting them all to the senior list and retaining another on the rookie list (and after promoting two from the same rookie list intake to the senior list at the end of last year).

Ah yes, wasn't thinking

[Conor_Dillon]

Would be an absolute miracle if McDonald is still around at pick 37 but he would fit in perfectly

[undy]

Jack Hiscox; He plays outside mid or HFF. He is really fast, super fast. Jack is the Australian 800 metre Champ. He clocked the fastest time at the Draft Camp for the 3,000 metres. He is giving up Athletics to concentrate on footy. He is a pretty good kick and if the opposition give him a metre he will make 100 metres out of it. He is good overhead and although still slightly built is surprisingly strong. Expect lots of Jetts like runs from him. He'd beat Jetts in a sprint I think due to his Athletics training.

Joshua Ralph is actually the Australian 800m champ. I believe that they were both in the same athletics club, Jack is about 6 seconds slower over 800, still pretty good for someone concentrating on footy.

[penga]

Abaina (Abe) Davis; He starred for the Rams at CHF. But in the last part of the season he played CHB. He is pretty strong but I would like to see him throw his weight around a bit more. He will learn that in the coming years. He is a pretty good mark and his kicking s very sound. I liked him floating across HB in the CHB possie. He is a natural there. This bloke will be ok I think if he brings more aggression to the table.

Who would you liken him to? Saddington?

[bondy]

Who would you liken him to? Saddington?

That handsome?

[wolftone57]

Who would you liken him to? Saddington?

No probably more Grundy size. I think if he is a big boy now he is only going to get bigger as he grows up. He is solid build.

I like McDonald. whether he lasts to 37 is the point I think. Maybe the Victorians have something more on him.

I also like Creeper. He is the smoky as far as I can see. I like the footage of him. The WA mob can tell us more as he is from Subi. Swans Fan 51 can maybe tell us a bit more.

Tester also impresses. He was a mid until this year apparently when he suddenly shot up to 198cm. He became a KPD very quickly, growing suddenly 6cm will do that. He marks like he is 198cm but plays the ground like a mid. Plenty to like from his footage and there are still ups for him seeing he only just switched to defence.

[troyjones2525]

Pick 37 is a very important pick for us this year seeing as it's almost certain that our first 2 picks next year (and possibly more) will be used with Mills and Dunkley which will make the rest of the league hate us more and envy our midfield. We really need to either get lucky with a McDonald type slipping or have another tall defender in mind as it could be our major weakness going forward. Here's hoping we get a beauty to add to Heeney and give us an A+ draft heading into a big 2015 and with 2 more gems waiting to be added to our list for 2016! Exciting times Swans fans!

[troyjones2525]

And following on from that we really need to be shrewd with a couple of smart rookie choices that hopefully fill some holes in the list eg young kpp's or even a genuine small forward. What would be greatest of all though would be that AJ finally get the luck that he deserves and have no more setbacks and continue to forge the career that started off so promisingly! Perhaps Goodesy's stem cell treatment could play a part in healing his knee! . Does anyone know where he is actually at and if he has had the surgery again yet, and if so was it another Lars or traditional? The boy needs a change of luck!

[wolftone57]

And following on from that we really need to be shrewd with a couple of smart rookie choices that hopefully fill some holes in the list eg young kpp's or even a genuine small forward. What would be greatest of all though would be that AJ finally get the luck that he deserves and have no more setbacks and continue to forge the career that started off so promisingly! Perhaps Goodesy's stem cell treatment could play a part in healing his knee! . Does anyone know where he is actually at and if he has had the surgery again yet, and if so was it another Lars or traditional? The boy needs a change of luck!

Last time I heard AJ was just getting over the infection in his knee. The stem cell therapy Goodes is doing would be no good for the injury AJ has I don't think. If the infrction is gone he will have LARS immediately. That means 3 months out and then a he has to get fitness back to optimum because up until the third month he will be on a limited program which increases as he heals. Once he is back in full training you can expect to see him about a month later playing full matches.

[S.S. Bleeder]

And following on from that we really need to be shrewd with a couple of smart rookie choices that hopefully fill some holes in the list eg young kpp's or even a genuine small forward. What would be greatest of all though would be that AJ finally get the luck that he deserves and have no more setbacks and continue to forge the career that started off so promisingly! Perhaps Goodesy's stem cell treatment could play a part in healing his knee! . Does anyone know where he is actually at and if he has had the surgery again yet, and if so was it another Lars or traditional? The boy needs a change of luck!

This AJ situation is a huge disadvantage for us. He was one of the best players on the ground in the 2012 GF at the age of 19 or 20. Just think how good he would be for us now if he was playing. He's such a nice young kid and his family are lovely people. Shame it had to be him.

- - - Updated - - -

Last time I heard AJ was just getting over the infection in his knee. The stem cell therapy Goodes is doing would be no good for the injury AJ has I don't think. If the infrction is gone he will have LARS immediately. That means 3 months out and then a he has to get fitness back to optimum because up until the third month he will be on a limited program which increases as he heals. Once he is back in full training you can expect to see him about a month later playing full matches.

My understanding is that they are unable to do tests to see if the infection is there or not. I believe it secrets itself into the tissue or something like that. Therefore they will just wait as long as possible in the hope that it is gone before operating. Does anyone know about this?

[Ludwig]

There are some interesting assessments by Emma Quayle in her annual draft article. There's a link provided by Liz in the Heeney thread but I'll put another one here:

2014 AFL draft a level playing field for recruiters

I have a very high regard for EQ's draft analysis, so it was great to see her put Heeney at the top of the heap. She has placed a fair number of players in different parts of the the rankings compared to the consensus of other top journalists like Twomey and Anderson. The GWS academy player Jack Steele made it to 12th spot, while Hugh Goddard dropped to 23, just to name of couple of these.

Her paragraph about who missed her top 30 is interesting:

As always, there wasn't enough room for everyone. Hardest to leave out was another Sydney-bound player, Abe Davis, with Reece and Daniel McKenzie not far behind. Billy Stretch and Zaine Cordy look the goods and I can see Touk Miller, Dan Howe, Lukas Webb, Damien Cavka, James Rose, Declan Hamilton and Oscar McDonald, among others, going on to play some good AFL football

She seems to place Abe Davis just outside of the top 30. Some other analysts have put Hiscox in this range as well, so they are both looking as potential good value picks. I thought Davis drifted out of several of the games he played with the reserves squad, but did well in the NSW under 18s. He does show flashes of brilliance, especially with his marking.

Dan Howe might come into contention at our pick 37. He's a bit undersized for a key defender at 191cm, but is a strong mark and can play on talls. He looks an Alex Johnson type. I hope Alex overcomes his knee injury; it's hard to assess his chances. Howe might be a good choice given the situation.

There are a couple of brutish midfielders that will go early in the draft, probably to the Saints and Demons. These guys are already JPK size players.

3 Christian Petracca (Eastern Ranges, 4/1/96, 186cm, 95kg)
6 Angus Brayshaw (Sandringham Dragons, 9/1/96, 187cm, 91kg)

There was a strange comment from Kinnear Beatson from about a month ago that sticks in my mind. He said, IIRC, he didn't think the draft was very deep especially with KPPs. I posted a comment on that at the time. It becomes even stranger given the consensus that this is a deep draft, especially with taller types. A deep draft would be good for us, given we have 4 picks in the rookie draft and some decent players might slip through. I'm preparing myself for a weird choice by KB at our pick 37.

Despite the angst over our trading ban, we could emerge from the post season period with some good additions to our playing list.