Academy games 2023

[dejavoodoo44]

Down 47-25 at three quarter time. Goals to Cossetini and Cochran. Although he's playing as an over-ager, Cochran seems an interesting prospect. He spends a bit of time in the ruck, then a bit of time as a big bodied midfielder.

[dejavoodoo44]

Ended up losing 67-44, with final quarter goals to Chamberlain, Nandlal and I think, Ryan.

Odd sort of game, as it was competitive for the time that I was there, but we never really looked like running over the top of the Suns. I think where the Suns won the game, was that they had more possession chains, where the ball didn't hit the ground or was intercepted.

Don't want to say too much about individual players, as I'm still working out who was who. But Cochran was interesting, in that he played ruck, inside mid, spent a bit of time in defence and maybe a bit of time forward. The other rucks, Simmons and King, also seemed to spend a bit of time as inside mids. Curious to see how they develop? Growth spurt and any of them could be handy ruck prospects. No growth spurt and some time in the gym, maybe big bodied mids. Of the smaller mids, Nandlal and Jans were handy. Though perhaps the player that impressed me most was Kaiden McNamara. Playing as a medium defender, he was composed in traffic and was probably our best ball user.

[dejavoodoo44]

These are the Rookie Me scouting notes for our game against the Suns.

Scouting Notes: 2023 AFL U16s - Suns Academy vs. Swans Academy - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

[troyjones2525]

Hopefully we can improve our ladder position and still get Connor O'Sullivan, who's my main hope for our first pick. The latest power rankings have him at 12, but he might improve after today's effort. While the service to the Metro forwards often wasn't that great, he looked to be reading the ball better than them. Which lead to both some timely intercept marks and some strong spoiling. But I was actually most impressed when he ventured up the ground. He looked like a smooth moving and skilful winger. His total package seems ideal to me. A Swans supporting, 198cm key position player from Albury, who can bolster our weakened defence, then effectively rebound and who is apparently also leadership material.

Sounds like just the player we need! I hope the selectors feel the same, but they never seem to go for the ones I really want for some reason... [emoji22]

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[dejavoodoo44]

Sounds like just the player we need! I hope the selectors feel the same, but they never seem to go for the ones I really want for some reason... [emoji22]

Sent from my SM-F936B using Tapatalk

I think it's one reason to hope for a few more wins this season. With our current pick 5, our recruiters might be tempted by someone a bit more highly rated, when I'm keen on O'Sullivan. Although some of those above him are interesting.

AFL Draft Power Rankings: June 2023 - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

Currently at 3, Watson might slide into our range, but I'm not that keen. Do we really want to spend our first pick on a small forward pocket? And he may have dropped a bit in the eyes of our recruiters, when he was very quiet for Vic Metro, with our own Lachlan Cabor spending plenty of time marking him.

The Tasmanian pair of McKercher and Sanders are interesting. Both are having very good championships. Both can get plenty of ball and use it well, while they also seem to work well with our Caiden Cleary. But the big question is, will they be tempted to be a part of the new Tasmanian team?

We might be tempted to add further to or WA stocks with either Curtin or Edwards. Curtin seems similar to O'Sullivan, in that they're classy and versatile key defenders; with Curtin generally rated a touch higher. I only saw him against the Allies and I thought O'Sullivan played a bit better. Which is a touch unfair, as he had Walter to deal with and the ball coming into the Allies forward line was a lot cleaner. With Edwards, if we took him as well as May, we could probably set and forget our ruck recruitment for years. What with Ladhams still being quite young and McAndrew looking increasingly like he's at least decent AFL standard. I liked what I saw against the Allies. Very mobile for a 206cm ruck, with a good leap. When he develops more muscle he could be elite and he would add to our WA club. Perhaps the down side is that having McAndrew, May and Edwards developing at the same time, could lead to losing one or two through lack of opportunities? But you could possibly play Edwards as a key forward.

And on key forwards, Caddy was the Vic Metro player that impressed me most against the Allies. Strong hands, big kick and handy at ground level. But whether we take him if he's still there at our pick, I guess depends on how much we want another KPF?

[liz]

WATCH LIVE: Vic Metro v WA, Vic Country v Allies in U18 Champs double-header from 10.35am AEST

This link provides the teams for this afternoon's match between the Allies and Country Victoria, which is the Allies' last match of the series and their chance to seal the championship. (It also includes the link to the stream of the game, set for a 1.15pm bounce down.

Kirk isn't named in the Allies' team this week. He's not even an emergency, which suggests he's out injured rather than omitted. Cabor, Cleary and Gander are in the team, while Rider is an emergency.

[Maltopia]

I think it's one reason to hope for a few more wins this season. With our current pick 5, our recruiters might be tempted by someone a bit more highly rated (snip)

We could trade our pick 5 for say pick 8-10 plus second round pick, which would reduce us “overpaying” for Sullivan whilst getting more points for matching on Cleary etc?

[dejavoodoo44]

Allies did pretty well to get back into it, after it was all Vic Country early. They then fell behind to a late Duursma goal, who's showing why he's highly rated. Our academy players fairly quiet, although Cleary won a few hard contests. Possibly the best for the Allies were Rogers and Sanders. Walter doing his reputation no harm up forward and O'Sullivan has had a bit of influence in defence.

[liz]

We could trade our pick 5 for say pick 8-10 plus second round pick, which would reduce us “overpaying” for Sullivan whilst getting more points for matching on Cleary etc?

a) We don't know where our first round pick will end up. I am optimistic that we'll win a few more games this season so could end up a couple of places higher on the ladder.
b) We don't know if O'Sullivan would be the club's first choice if we do get a pick in that range (and don't trade it out for an experienced player). Zane Duursma looks another attractive option - though I've seen some pundits suggest he might go in the first handful of picks and others putting him lower down the pecking order.
c) We actually have plenty of points to match a bid on Clearly. We have two second round and two third round picks, all of which are going to be fairly early in those rounds given they are linked to our finishing position and the Hawks' finishing position.

[dejavoodoo44]

Nice vision by Gander to get it to Gotthard for that goal. Cleary having plenty of influence this quarter.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Cleary has been good without being truly impactful, May a bit quieter than last week but has had some nice taps, and Cabor has had a bit of it but his disposal has been subpar for mine.

The Suns have a total beauty in Walter. As well as all his offensive tricks, he loves tackling and hunts players. It’s the second game I’ve seen from Connor O’Sullivan that’s impressed me and like a few others on here, would like him to be an option for us. A 198cm player who can genuinely defend as we come into an era of 200cm plus forwards but also has good disposal skills is super valuable.

The two Tasmanians in McKercher and Sanders are very good, but I wouldn’t be drafting them till we know the concessions the AFL will apply to the Tassie team. If they have an off contract rule like they did for the Suns and GWS, you could lose a great player for zero. Steer clear on those two for me if there’s no clarity provided.

[dejavoodoo44]

Odd quarter, in that the Allies appeared to have the better of the play, but Vic Country increased their lead by a point. The usual suspects in the Allies midfield had a lot of ball and were giving the side plenty of drive.

Of the Swans, Cabor was good in defence and Cleary was his usual combative self in midfield. Gander only had a few touches, but one of them was telling and he could've had a shot from the goal square, if the umpires hadn't ignored what seemed a clear hold. May did a few good things in close, but was a bit slow to move a couple of times, when the ball came his way while resting forward.

[dejavoodoo44]

Cleary has been good without being truly impactful, May a bit quieter than last week but has had some nice taps, and Cabor has had a bit of it but his disposal has been subpar for mine.

The Suns have a total beauty in Walter. As well as all his offensive tricks, he loves tackling and hunts players. It’s the second game I’ve seen from Connor O’Sullivan that’s impressed me and like a few others on here, would like him to be an option for us. A 198cm player who can genuinely defend as we come into an era of 200cm plus forwards but also has good disposal skills is super valuable.

The two Tasmanians in McKercher and Sanders are very good, but I wouldn’t be drafting them till we know the concessions the AFL will apply to the Tassie team. If they have an off contract rule like they did for the Suns and GWS, you could lose a great player for zero. Steer clear on those two for me if there’s no clarity provided.

The Suns fans must be really excited by their upcoming draft haul. As well as Walter, I've really liked the way that Rogers can slice through traffic and Read does a lot of nice stuff around the contests.

[i'm-uninformed2]

The Suns fans must be really excited by their upcoming draft haul. As well as Walter, I've really liked the way that Rogers can slice through traffic and Read does a lot of nice stuff around the contests.

Oh yeah. Walter will be 1 or 2, Read I could easily see going 4-8, and Rogers not far behind. They have a bucket of points, and they’ll need them. But it’ll considerably strengthen the good list they’re already building.

[dejavoodoo44]

You'd assume that Cleary has plenty of confidence: calling for the ball while Walter was lining up for the set shot. Nice 'pass' too.