2019 trading, drafting and list management: players and personnel

[Markwebbos]

Yeah apparently Will Gould's endurance numbers in the combine were pretty poor and a fair few people have him sliding as a result. His skills are supposed to be good, but the word is that most teams view him as needing at least a full season in the 2's before he is fit enough for an AFL match so he might slide to the 2nd round as a result.

That might work for us, but I know the Swans tend to NOT draft players with poor endurance.

[707]

That might work for us, but I know the Swans tend to NOT draft players with poor endurance.

Hence why half way through his U18 year we bluntly told Will Hayward to get fit! As we did Will Gould recently!!

Where there's a Will there's a way :-)

[dazedjosh]

I suppose if Gould falls to us in the 30's we might snap him up, but personally I want us to pick Sam De Koning with our pick in the 20's if he's available. We need the KPD depth and he looks like a decent project that we could put some time into. He needs to put on 10-15kg.

[MattW]

Nice preview of the upcoming draft and some tasty players by Cal Twomey and Matthew Lloyd: On The Clock: A great draft launches them into the top four - AFL.com.au.

Can't bring myself to listen to Lloyd since the trade period.

[liz]

I suppose if Gould falls to us in the 30's we might snap him up, but personally I want us to pick Sam De Koning with our pick in the 20's if he's available. We need the KPD depth and he looks like a decent project that we could put some time into. He needs to put on 10-15kg.

Far less of a priority, IMO, than some contested ball winning midfielders. This draft seems quite strong for solid midfielders touted to go in the second and third rounds. Most of them may turn out to be "meat and potato" type inside mids but there's nothing wrong with having a couple of those in the team so long as they can win the ball and feed it out to the more skilled players on the outside. I think we've built a decent outside brigade over the last few drafts but their development will be stifled if we don't have some up and comers who can actually win more of the hard ball.

[Ludwig]

Far less of a priority, IMO, than some contested ball winning midfielders. This draft seems quite strong for solid midfielders touted to go in the second and third rounds. Most of them may turn out to be "meat and potato" type inside mids but there's nothing wrong with having a couple of those in the team so long as they can win the ball and feed it out to the more skilled players on the outside. I think we've built a decent outside brigade over the last few drafts but their development will be stifled if we don't have some up and comers who can actually win more of the hard ball.

I had some similar thoughts about midfielders in this year's draft. We could pick up a couple of good ones with our 2 second round picks.

What would you think about taking Jackson with our first rounder, if he's still available, and fill the midfield with a couple of these 2nd rounders along with Campbell and Gulden in next year's draft?

If we land Daniher as a FA next year, we should be solid all over the ground, with no fears heading into the post Buddy era. We've added a lot of pace the past few years. Jackson, Daniher and handful of solid midfielders looks nice for 2021 and beyond.

[Markwebbos]

Hence why half way through his U18 year we bluntly told Will Hayward to get fit! As we did Will Gould recently!!

Where there's a Will there's a way :-)

You are right 707:

Category: | Herald Sun

Glenelg premiership defender Will Gould – described as one of the best leaders in this year’s draft pool – has responded to questions about his fitness by shedding 6kg and slashing his skinfold levels in two weeks.

Admitting to being “a bit rusty’’ at the AFL Draft Combine, which was held just nine days after he helped the Tigers break a 33-year league premiership drought, Gould said he had been stung by some “pretty direct instructions’’ in his meeting with Sydney. ... The Swans had told Gould – SA’s under-18 captain this year – that his skinfolds needed to be measured at 55 or below before a club would draft him.

[liz]

I had some similar thoughts about midfielders in this year's draft. We could pick up a couple of good ones with our 2 second round picks.

What would you think about taking Jackson with our first rounder, if he's still available, and fill the midfield with a couple of these 2nd rounders along with Campbell and Gulden in next year's draft?

If we land Daniher as a FA next year, we could should be solid all over the ground, with no fears heading into the post Buddy era. We've added a lot of pace the past few years. Jackson, Daniher and handful of solid midfielders looks nice for 2021 and beyond.

I don't watch enough underage football to really form a view on who we should take. But some general observations...

I'm not a fan of drafting ruckmen with very early picks. I wrote about that a few days ago and won't repeat it.

I do see the benefits in this year's draft of not using that first pick on a pure midfielder (other than Green, were he to miraculously be available) because I can't see what those touted as top 5 choices offer that those touted as second round choices don't. In particular I was underwhelmed by the highlights reel for Flanders. I realise the limitations of these because they show only a smidgeon of what a player has done. They (usually) don't show the times a player mucks up. And they don't give any feel for how consistent a player's effort is. But just like watching NEAFL football and trying to project towards what a player might be capable of at senior level (eventually), I figure it is folly to assume (or even hope) that a player will do something at senior level that he's shown no evidence of doing at a lower level. The challenge is more the other way - ie will they be able to reproduce the good stuff as they move up a level? Some players actually look better at higher levels of footy, where the overall team is better skilled and more organised, than they do in scrappy teams. Especially outside "silky" players. But I can't recall suddenly realising a player is a great kick, or excellent decision maker, or relentless runner, or avid tackler if they've never shown it at underage or reserves level.

I think you commented a month or so ago that Flanders' highlights reel looked akin to those of second or third round picks in years gone by. I agree. He doesn't look like a dud, but I saw nothing that stood out as a "wow, he can do that" moment. I think you also compared it to Rowbottom's particularly impressive highlights reel a year ago. I moderated my excitement over that, because it was just a highlights reel, but it gave some idea of the way he went about attacking the ball, and barging through traffic, and tackling, and kicking. And luckily for us he reproduced that over an impressive half-season in the NEAFL and, by the end of the year, was also showing glimpses at senior level.

Initially I wasn't excited by the idea of taking a "half-back flanker", as I've seen Young described. But he doesn't really fit my idea of a half-back flanker. To me that's a Kennelly, or Malceski, or COR, or Stoddart (maybe). He looks more like a Dawson type -strong overhead and with a long and penetrating boot, and the willingness to take risky kicks from defence. I like our defence with Dawson back there, but I also love him floating around half-forward, where his accurate goal kicking and strong marking could be real assets. And I've seen him dominate in the midfield at NEAFL level, so I'm curious about what he might do there in the senior team if he gets the chance. He could possibly become a Yeo-type asset for us. So if someone like Young could, in time, reproduce even close to what Dawson can in defence, that would free Dawson to play other roles.

Having said all that, I don't expect Young to be available. I think Melbourne will take him. Serong comes with the advantage of being a Swans fan (or so I understand) so that might lessen the go-home factor. But then Papley was a Swans fan too before being drafted...He sounds like he has some attributes that could be useful - maybe he might become our next Kieren Jack. His small stature makes him less appealing than if he were three inches taller.

Kemp sounds like he might deliver something a bit different, albeit that he comes with a slightly higher than normal injury risk.

Ash sounds like he brings the same kind of attributes as players we've been drafting over the last few seasons. Maybe none of those will make it, but I'd prefer another kind of player in this year's draft.

So I guess landing up with Green or Young would be fantastic in my eyes, with Kemp maybe next most exciting. If the club thought Jackson is worth spending a very high pick on, so be it.

I realise I have essentially contradicted my opening sentence by proffering opinions on who the club should take, having said I don't watch enough underage footy to make an informed decision. I don't. so my views are based on the kind of players these kids are, rather than their actual ability. So probably not worth much as opinions...

[S.S. Bleeder]

Yeah apparently Will Gould's endurance numbers in the combine were pretty poor and a fair few people have him sliding as a result. His skills are supposed to be good, but the word is that most teams view him as needing at least a full season in the 2's before he is fit enough for an AFL match so he might slide to the 2nd round as a result.

There's something highly sus about Goulds combine results. His on field results against adult men have been impressive. It's fair to say that he needs to lose some weight and he will benefit from endurance training but there is no way he's as bad as his results indicated. He's either tanking or injured IMO.

[S.S. Bleeder]

I had some similar thoughts about midfielders in this year's draft. We could pick up a couple of good ones with our 2 second round picks.

What would you think about taking Jackson with our first rounder, if he's still available, and fill the midfield with a couple of these 2nd rounders along with Campbell and Gulden in next year's draft?

If we land Daniher as a FA next year, we should be solid all over the ground, with no fears heading into the post Buddy era. We've added a lot of pace the past few years. Jackson, Daniher and handful of solid midfielders looks nice for 2021 and beyond.

I'd be quite happy to take Jackson with our first. Massive upside and if he is a success his true value might be approaching that of Grundy. Rucks who can tap and play as mids are worth their weight in gold.

We still need an inside mid and fortunately this draft is loaded with them. Robertson, Stephens, Dow, Rantall, Philp, Sharp as well more mature players like Partington, Hibberd, Bolton, et al are all inside mids that may be available after our round 1 pick.

[SeanM]

The mock draft was interesting in how it was possible for decent players to slide. To have Serong, Mcasey, Stephens and Kemp still available at pick 10 is quite appealing.

[Auntie.Gerald]

For me Ash is the type of player we need off the HBF, but I suspect he is the most obvious what u see is what you get

A player like Ash who is equally a strong cut off marking defender as well as super quick and direct is not easy to find - especially a strong eastern wood / Rampe type build is ash

We lost a direct player like Jones which ensures we have flexible transitions
Mills ain’t that zippy over 20m off the HBF
Dawson more a great kick off HBF
Ash could slot into our best 22 like rowbottom and play 10 plus snr games in 2020

Green appears to dominate amongst the boys he plays against but there is a very fair argument that we are seeing teams like richmond killing it without a Cripps or kennedy style player in their midfield.....counter argument is that if u find a seriously dominant tall inside midfielder u take them cause their rare to develop or draft. Interestingly would green start in our best 22 next season with Parker, keenedy, Hewett, Heeney etc ie quite a slow midfield in comparison to a effective dominant midfield such as richmond ?

Darymple and Kinnear both have stated we need to speed up our inside mid rotation but green could take over from kennedy 2021

Green still my 1st pick then Ash

[Markwebbos]

Goddard ranks our ruck division last. Our mids and defence 16th and our Fwds about 12th.

Category: | Herald Sun

[AnnieH]

Geez.
Are we there yet?
This is the longest trade period in the history of trade periods.

[stevoswan]

Goddard ranks our ruck division last. Our mids and defence 16th and our Fwds about 12th.

Category: | Herald Sun

I think we are all quickly moving on from Brendon's 'rankings'. It will be deeply satisfying proving him wrong.