2014 AFL Draft

[S.S. Bleeder]

Pick 37. James Rose.
Powerful medium forward with excellent hands and outstanding natural leap. Good on the lead, a penetrating kick and loves physical side of the game. Averaged 11 touches in five games during NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. Registered 73cm in the standing vertical jump and 87cm in the running vertical jump at NAB AFL Draft Combine.

[troyjones2525]

Rose an 186cm forward??? I guess they must know something we don't!

[S.S. Bleeder]

Oscar McDonald is still there.

[liz]

Sounds like a direct Membrey replacement.

[MadCanuck]

Just because he's listed as a forward doesn't mean he will be played as a forward

[Conor_Dillon]

Can't believe we didn't take McDonald

[liz]

From Emma Quayle's draft profiles

AFL draft combine harvester: medium forwards

James Rose (Sturt)

Born 16.4.1996, 186cm, 78kg

AFL biography: Powerful medium forward with excellent hands and outstanding natural leap. Very good on the lead and a penetrating kick. Loves the physical side of the game while also proving a difficult match-up for the opposition due to his excellent overhead marking ability. Averaged 10.6 disposals in five matches throughout the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

Brenton Phillips, SANFL: "James has some special qualities about him, he has really good closing speed, real acceleration off the mark and his vertical jump is really good. He can catch blokes out with the way he leaps at contests, he goes early and I think it can put defenders off a bit. He can look a bit laconic at the same time that he makes things happen, he's a bit like Stevie Johnson in that way, and he can play in a number of spots. I've seen him play wing, half forward, half back, and play all those spots really well."

[Ludwig]

Surprising that Oscar McDonald lasted till pick 53, so we weren't the only ones not to rate him that highly. All my favourites went early.

I think we must have done our homework on Rose to have taken him at 37 given he wasn't one of the higher ranked players. I think we will develop him into a medium defender. Perhaps our strategy is to take blonds to confuse the opposition. Rose has the same hair colour as Heeney.

[liz]

According to the Inside Football profile:

"A half back, wing type who is very athletic, clean with his hands but does need to work on his consistency...one of those kids who can do the unexpected and turn a game with a miraculous play purely through his athleticism. Loves taking the big mark but needs to work on the defensive side of his game. Has a lot of untapped ability."

[troyjones2525]

On a positive note there was a few talks that didn't even get picked like Tyler Keitel and Keenan Ramsey that we can hopefully land in the rookie draft!

[Ludwig]

I like the sound of that last line about untapped ability, Liz. Tapping ability is one of the things we do well.

Also surprising that Reece McKenzie lasted till pick 77 as many though he would go in the second round. We also could have taken Tyler Keitel if we wanted a tall.

KPDs Keenan Ramsey and Sean McClaren didn't get taken in the ND, so might be in the mix for our 1st round rookie selection.

[lwjoyner]

agree with others WHY not McDonald. We need a fwd like a hole in the head. Hopefully we can pick up some DEFENCE (key) in rookie draft. We need to plan for the future.

[sharp9]

So the rookie upgrades were not in the draft this year like they usually are. Do the passes mean that we could have taken two more players because of veterans. Currently we have 38 if the the three rookies are included.

[ugg]

Port raided the Giants academy to pick up Howard and Austin. If we had another live pick I wouldn't have minded a punt on Austin

[liz]

agree with others WHY not McDonald. We need a fwd like a hole in the head. Hopefully we can pick up some DEFENCE (key) in rookie draft. We need to plan for the future.

Maybe we are. We already have Richards and Aliir as young, developing key defenders. Probably Davis too (I think he looks more like a defender than a forward) and we might get AJ back one day. I also have a suspicion the club will finally decide to give Reid a spell in defence - he needs a better defined spot I reckon, at this stage in his development. He could move forward again later in his career but he's certainly an option.

Having lost Membrey, we don't have much variety in our forward line. Goodes will be gone sometime in the next decade. Having someone who can be a medium tall is a viable option. And he sounds like he might provide some x-factor.

And anyone taken at this stage in the draft is a lottery to a large degree.