2019 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[bloodspirit]

I looked at the highlights packages. These are my thoughts:

* Young has a great kick but didn't show any contested ball winning ability at ground level - not his role but makes me question the suggestion that he would be a success in the midfield. Quite possibly I would be reassured by a different highlights package.

* Serong looks a good in and under ball winner, clean ball user and can kick a goal.

* Flanders didn't seem to be a great ball user, I wasn't sold on him based on those highlights.

* Ash was pretty good but his highlights package strangely included footage showing him kicking out on the full and another kick that was smothered.

* Stephens and Gould both looked great from that small sample although I'm cautious in Gould's case because part of his dominance may just be because he is more physically developed than the rest who will match him in physical development in time and then will he still look as good?

It's possible we miss out on Serong and Young but, if not, I think we should choose one of them (in that order) after we've bid on Green. If we do miss them both, there seem to be a fairly wide range of candidates to choose from and, while all the talk is that Flanders would be next choice, I'm not convinced. Kemp has the knee injury but a lot of upside, Ash is an appealing option but is a backman not a mid. Would consider Stephens. Couldn't find any good highlights packages for Deven Robertson but I would be curious to have a look if anyone else can post a link.

[Nico]

I looked at the highlights packages. These are my thoughts:

* Young has a great kick but didn't show any contested ball winning ability at ground level - not his role but makes me question the suggestion that he would be a success in the midfield. Quite possibly I would be reassured by a different highlights package.

* Serong looks a good in and under ball winner, clean ball user and can kick a goal.

* Flanders didn't seem to be a great ball user, I wasn't sold on him based on those highlights.

* Ash was pretty good but his highlights package strangely included footage showing him kicking out on the full and another kick that was smothered.

* Stephens and Gould both looked great from that small sample although I'm cautious in Gould's case because part of his dominance may just be because he is more physically developed than the rest who will match him in physical development in time and then will he still look as good?

It's possible we miss out on Serong and Young but, if not, I think we should choose one of them (in that order) after we've bid on Green. If we do miss them both, there seem to be a fairly wide range of candidates to choose from and, while all the talk is that Flanders would be next choice, I'm not convinced. Kemp has the knee injury but a lot of upside, Ash is an appealing option but is a backman not a mid. Would consider Stephens. Couldn't find any good highlights packages for Deven Robertson but I would be curious to have a look if anyone else can post a link.

Young looks like the perfect example of an intercept half back. I thought there was a couple of clips where he won the footy. Seems to read the ball coming in very well, ala Rampe. I didn't think Serong had a strong kick on him. If we pass on Young we have rocks in our heads, but looks the type that we would go for. Him and Dawson kicking to Buddy and Lizard appeals greatly to me. And he has plenty of filling out to do. Fingers and toes crossed. Taylor has come in and more time for Papley in the midfield, to me, satisfies our midfield needs. Don't forget McInenery.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Some of the delisted players filtering through via announcements last few days

Ben Keays - Wikipedia

Has anyone seen young Ben Keays play much in the NEAFL or for Snrs at brisbane ?

I remember looking a good player back in the draft days

[stevoswan]

Young looks like the perfect example of an intercept half back. I thought there was a couple of clips where he won the footy. Seems to read the ball coming in very well, ala Rampe. I didn't think Serong had a strong kick on him. If we pass on Young we have rocks in our heads, but looks the type that we would go for. Him and Dawson kicking to Buddy and Lizard appeals greatly to me. And he has plenty of filling out to do. Fingers and toes crossed. Taylor has come in and more time for Papley in the midfield, to me, satisfies our midfield needs. Don't forget McInenery.

Young looks the type that could quickly replace Mills at half back allowing Callum to go into the midfield......finally! With Paps in there more as well due to Lewis covering his forward role as you pointed out, yes, our mid's void could well be filled.

[Ralph Dawg]

Some of the delisted players filtering through via announcements last few days

Ben Keays - Wikipedia

Has anyone seen young Ben Keays play much in the NEAFL or for Snrs at brisbane ?

I remember looking a good player back in the draft days

Keays is a Queenslander, imo a bit stiff to be delisted. He's a young, big bodied mid / forward who has had a great NEAFL. Stuck behind a gun midfield and small / medium forward setup. I would've thought plenty of upside. We could do much worse then to consider him.

- - - Updated - - -

Nick Robertson is another who could be handy. Did a great job on Whitfield in the finals and is tough as nails. Could hold down spot as a tagger or small / medium defender, especially with the retirement of Smooch.

[Jeynez]

Young looks like the perfect example of an intercept half back. I thought there was a couple of clips where he won the footy. Seems to read the ball coming in very well, ala Rampe. I didn't think Serong had a strong kick on him. If we pass on Young we have rocks in our heads, but looks the type that we would go for. Him and Dawson kicking to Buddy and Lizard appeals greatly to me. And he has plenty of filling out to do. Fingers and toes crossed. Taylor has come in and more time for Papley in the midfield, to me, satisfies our midfield needs. Don't forget McInenery.

I would be shocked if Young falls to our pick. The general consensus is that he will be taken by the Dees at 3.

I imagine we will pick Serong, but wouldn't be surprised if we drafted Kemp or Robertson with our first pick.

[Ludwig]

How our defence structures up will go a long way in determining what the midfield looks like. Melican didn't have the greatest year in 2019, but I think he's not far off becoming that extra tall defender we need. He just needs to do better in the 1 on 1 situations, obviously a key element for a FB, but he has the size and closing speed to do it. He needs to read the play better and improve his spoiling technique. I think both will come in due course. If not Melican, then Pink, Maibaum or even McLean could be an option. We have enough prospects where one should emerge as a best 22 tall defender. That would give us as defensive unit with Aliir, Melican, McCartin, Rampe and COR. If Dawson plays defence, then McCartin can go forward, a move I'm leaning towards at this point.

The second key to the midfield next year will be the development of Stoddart and Ling. Stoddart needs to be played and developed at senior level. I see him as a HBF. He defends well, has line breaking pace and kicks long and with accuracy. We haven't seen much of Ling and obviously he needs to have an injury free pre-season to kick off his AFL career. The little playing time he's had has been enough to convince me that he will be a good AFL player. Similar to Stoddart, but a bit more thoughtful and measured with his running. He also has excellent pace, good vision and a kick that allows him to find targets. McInerney will come into the picture at some point, either at HB or on the wing.

Mills is pushed into the midfield by the weight of numbers available to play in defence. I would be looking for a quicker defence with more line breaking options. I think Mills is the missing element we need in the midfield. Even Lloyd could move to the wing; he's become a great sweeper and has improved his defence, but better options, both defensively and pace, are coming through.

I said in an previous post that Kemp would be my first choice if not for the ACL injury. I understand that having 1 ACL injury increases the chances by 20% of a 2nd. It's a hard one to call. He might have been 2nd or 3rd in the draft if not for that injury. Besides Kemp, one of Serong, Flanders and Young will be available at pick 5 and we will probably take the one that's still available. They each bring something that we need.

Opinions about the quality of this draft seem to be increasingly positive in some quarters and being compared to last year's draft. We could well find ourselves with 3 quality players going into the draft with picks 5, 25 and 32. Rowbottom was taken at pick 25 last year. It's more likely than not that we will use pick 44 as well. McInerney was take at 44 last year and Aliir went at 44 in the 2013 draft. There are still quality players available into the 40s in most drafts. Our recruiting team has a good track record and expect to do well once again in this draft.

[Blood Fever]

Young looks the type that could quickly replace Mills at half back allowing Callum to go into the midfield......finally! With Paps in there more as well due to Lewis covering his forward role as you pointed out, yes, our mid's void could well be filled.

Wouldn't be surprised if the club is planning for Mills to replace JPK in the middle when the time comes, allowing us to concentrate on speed when trading(Taylor) and drafting.

[barry]

The key to a good midfielder is to be a great "ground level" player who wins plenty of contested ball in a scrap.

Mills is a great mark, and link player, but is he a great ground level player ?
I'm not sure.

[Scottee]

I would be shocked if Young falls to our pick. The general consensus is that he will be taken by the Dees at 3.

I imagine we will pick Serong, but wouldn't be surprised if we drafted Kemp or Robertson with our first pick.

From what I have seen Ash is every bit as good as Young or Serong. Extremeley quick and has an enormous boot and footy smarts. I am pretty comfortable though that we can get a very good player no matter what order the top 5 or 6 go in.

[Blood Fever]

The key to a good midfielder is to be a great "ground level" player who wins plenty of contested ball in a scrap.

Mills is a great mark, and link player, but is he a great ground level player ?
I'm not sure.

One day we will find out I guess but as I understand it, he was a dominant midfielder as a junior.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Some of the delisted players filtering through via announcements last few days
Ben Keays - Wikipedia
Has anyone seen young Ben Keays play much in the NEAFL or for Snrs at brisbane ?

During the last NEAFL game that was played outside the SCG, I thought I saw some Swans staff paying considerable attention to the Lions forward line, I sort of assumed they were watching Ben, but with the benefit of hindsight it looks like it was Lewis Taylor that was the subject of the scrutiny.

2 observations:
I've nothing against giving Mills a run in the middle, but I also think some may be underestimating his value to the backline. I wonder whether he could well become the equivelant of Hodge in the Hawks teams, quarterbacking from the back half. My first choice to give someone extended midfield time would be young Isaac.
I'm also far from convinced that JPK is finished, he's most effective at first receiver, which he should be able to do if we actually play SamN.

[Ludwig]

I've nothing against giving Mills a run in the middle, but I also think some may be underestimating his value to the backline. I wonder whether he could well become the equivelant of Hodge in the Hawks teams, quarterbacking from the back half. My first choice to give someone extended midfield time would be young Isaac.

I've never argued that Mills is not a good defender and very useful in the backline. I see the issue being what to do with those quick outside players we recently drafted, especially Stoddart and Ling, both of whom have been played primarily in the backline in the NEAFL. So it's more a matter of who best fits in the midfield, Mills or the likes of Stoddart, Ling, McInerney, etc. My vote goes to Mills, who I've compared to Pendlebery in his style of play.

[Nico]

The key to a good midfielder is to be a great "ground level" player who wins plenty of contested ball in a scrap.

Mills is a great mark, and link player, but is he a great ground level player ?
I'm not sure.

And someone who can win centre clearances with some regularity.

[caj23]

2 observations:
I've nothing against giving Mills a run in the middle, but I also think some may be underestimating his value to the backline. I wonder whether he could well become the equivelant of Hodge in the Hawks teams, quarterbacking from the back half.

Mills doesn’t have the foot skills or attacking mindset to do the Hodge role. He plays predominantly in a stopping role and is ok at it but i don’t think it’s the best use of his skill set