Draft Night Reflections - Is Gia the main man?

[GVGjr]

A little bit of a different approach but I think Daniel Giansiracusa becomes one of the key men of the summer to help develop the players we drafted tonight.

Lets look at the group:

None of the guys are overly athletic and certainly not fleet of foot. We can't rate the combine results that highly and are clearly backing our development pathway.

Dale and McLean were in the bottom 20% at the Combine for sprints and that's really being a bit kind. The others were around the middle of the mark.
McLean aside the other 4 posses good agility and tested well in that area.
Hamilton rated well in the repeat sprints but the others were at best average or a long way off.
All of them had good beep tests. 14 - 6 was the lowest which is still pretty good. Daniel at 16 - 1 was the standout.

Caleb Daniel aside the other 4 players are forwards who rotate into the midfield more than the other way around although I think they can all make it as midfielders in time.

When we look at Daniel Giansiracusa, he had a great career but his physical capabilities were somewhat similar to the boys we drafted tonight but he learned how to overcome any weaknesses.
Generally speaking he was regarded as a good user of the ball, a touch slow but great endurance and an excellent footy IQ.

I don't think we could have hand picked a better coach to develop these players than the guy who was recently added to our coaching ranks.

I'd be trying to get Gia working with these guys sooner rather than later.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Thought provoking post GVG,

My thoughts were two fold. Firstly, Dalrymple now has an amazing history of drafting good smalls (Dahl a rookie, Hrovat in the 20s, Honeychurch late). Secondly, these players are now playing for a head coach who was a small man not blessed with pace.

Im amazed Dale tested slow - looks quick. All look agile

[Go_Dogs]

Im amazed Dale tested slow - looks quick. All look agile

That's my view, too.

They look good movers on the field, and whilst their testing isn't standout, they have good endurance, move well on the park and seem to have good agility to move through traffic and recover well after picking a ball up off the deck.

McLean has a great leap based on his marking exploits, but even his vertical leap testing wasn't a standout.

I guess it just demonstrates that perhaps, what you see on the field is perhaps a better indicator than what you get at the DC (in some instances).

[boydogs]

I guess it just demonstrates that perhaps, what you see on the field is perhaps a better indicator than what you get at the DC (in some instances).

That's an important point. There's a clip in Bailey Dale's highlights where he hits the ball at pace and takes off to kick the goal - maybe he doesn't have the pure pace of other players but he knows how to use what he's got

[jeemak]

Forwards who can play through the middle and use the ball well can easily turn into defenders who can use the ball well.

These guys like any draftee will need to developed to suit their best chance of being an AFL player irrespective of what they achieved in their junior careers, and with our current list shape that's likely to see some of them playing in defence.

[Mofra]

Im amazed Dale tested slow - looks quick. All look agile
Ditto - looked quick enough on the field.
He does dispose of the ball well in traffic which is something Gia was outstanding at

[divvydan]

One thing I noticed with Caleb Daniel is that he always seems to be on the move. Around stoppages or even just after disposing of the ball, he's always moving, looking to create an option. That's probably why he looks faster on the field than his testing shows.

[lemmon]

One thing I noticed with Caleb Daniel is that he always seems to be on the move. Around stoppages or even just after disposing of the ball, he's always moving, looking to create an option. That's probably why he looks faster on the field than his testing shows.

Looks like he has the potential to be a very good linking and spreading player for us with his beep test, silky skills and ability to break from the contest. He doesn't need to be tall if he can get his hands on some outside footy around the centre and use it going forward.

[Ghost Dog]

Good call GVG.
It's called football, and the key word is foot. It's the foot-weapon teams like Hawthorn who have succeeded over the grind of teams like Sydney. Precision kicking. I would agree and add I hope we can get Lindsay Gillbee back or another elite ball user to complement Gia.

Hawthorn again, are a team that has proved you don't need an overly tall list to beat a taller team, like Sydney. Sam Mitchell also proves you don't have to be overly fast in the middle.

[bornadog]

I think midfield coach is going to be well and truly in demand as is Gia.

[LostDoggy]

Is McLean our next Johnson? Haven't seen a set of mits like that on a short bloke for some time!

[The Bulldogs Bite]

After sleeping on it, like many above, I am pretty happy with our picks.

Since 2011 we've had massive issues with decision making and skill execution. On face value it would appear that all of the players we've drafted have footy IQ and skill.

We are short a key defender and a key forward but if we didn't rate what was available there is no point in taking one for the sake of it. In 12 months time we'll have a better idea if Talia/Roberts/Hamling/Redpath/A. Cordy can fill any of the key post positions and then either use free agency, trading or drafting to address the holes.

I really like the McLean, Webb and Dale selections. Daniel is probably an upgrade on Honeychurch, Hamilton is the one I am uncertain about.

Our strategy in the rookie draft will be interesting.

[bornadog]

We are short a key defender and a key forward but if we didn't rate what was available there is no point in taking one for the sake of it. In 12 months time we'll have a better idea if Talia/Roberts/Hamling/Redpath/A. Cordy can fill any of the key post positions and then either use free agency, trading or drafting to address the holes.

I think we also need to persist with Roughead in the backline as well. It will be his third season there, so he should be improving.