Pick 15 Christian Howard

[LostDoggy]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

OK guys, this is from someone who seriously would know.

Thanks for that, very good read.

Everywhere you read up about him, he seems to be compared to Gilbee or Eagleton. That's why i think the selection of him at pick 15 was a good one, we need to replace Gilbee in the coming years as he is getting on in age. Both him and Tutt seem to be very similar, with Tutt only being a little smaller in size.

To me, Howard seems more a Gilbee type & Tutt a Eagleton type running long kick.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

I keep reading different heights for Howard. Is he 187cm or 184cm?

[GVGjr]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

I keep reading different heights for Howard. Is he 187cm or 184cm?

Does it really matter? I believe that he is 187cm but we probably won't be sure until he comes over to club and gets his medical.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

Does it really matter? I believe that he is 187cm but we probably won't be sure until he comes over to club and gets his medical.

Yeah. 3cm is quite a lot.

[hujsh]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

Yeah. 3cm is quite a lot.

Maybe if you're looking at KPP's it can be but this guy's a midfielder/flanker. He's tall enough either way to play his part IMO.

[GVGjr]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

Yeah. 3cm is quite a lot.

I wouldn't have thought so especially for a running and long kicking mid sized defender or midfielder. I don't think he's been recruited for his marking.

If he is 184cm tall not 187cm what difference do you see that making?

[mighty_west]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

Yeah. 3cm is quite a lot.

So in that case, is 190cm too short for a power forward?

[Rocco Jones]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

Just to get a bit of an idea of what to expect from a player picked at 15, I had a looksy do at previous pick 15ers. I know it's a pretty narrow way to look at it and I really should be listing pick 16s and 17s etc but it actually became more about the pick 15 curse.

2008-Mitch Brown
2007-Robbie Tarrant
2006-Daniel O’Keefe
2005-Travis Varcoe
2004-Lynden Dunn
2003-Troy Chaplin
2002-Nick Smith
2001-Barry Brooks
2000-Simon Wiggins
1999-David Sprggs

[Rocco Jones]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

I am interested to hear about what posters have as a benchmark for pick 15.

Everyone thinks we have taken a risk using pick 15 on Howard but I really see it the other way. Howard's pace and foot skills will go along way in ensuring he has a decent career. He doesn't have the upside of taller athletes but he does have tools that suit being a valuable addition to a team playing the modern game.

[Rocco Jones]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

Oh and all he needs if for his middle name to be Right.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

2005-Travis Varcoe

Premiership player, hopefully he follows suit.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

I was just thinking. We sure do have a lot of South Australians at the kennel. Same with the Queenslanders. I suspect we have more QLD players than Brisbane does. Does our club recruit a lot of scouts Australia wide that are full time?

[MrMahatma]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

The fact is - not every top 10 pick is a superstar. Not every top 5 is. And certainly not everyone in the top 15, every year.

All you can do is pick who you think is best available, or suits your needs at that stage of the draft.

He might be a superstar, in which case probably 3 or 4 of the teams with pics before us will regret not picking him up, or he might not be much of a player, and no doubt there'll be some guys taken way low in the draft (or rookies) who will be guns. And we'll all point to this pick and ask 'why?'. Then again, he might just be a solid contributor - the fact is, when you finish 3rd, and a team has a priority pick, it's hard to get a gun, let alone when GC have raped the draft pool.

I'm glad we've gone for a guy with skills. Good skills. If anything cuts teams up, it's good kicking. I think it should be a pre-req for even getting drafted.

To be honest - I expect this year to get at least 2 contributors. If we get anything more (a superstar, or a bunch of handy players) then fine.

[Sedat]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

Just to get a bit of an idea of what to expect from a player picked at 15, I had a looksy do at previous pick 15ers. I know it's a pretty narrow way to look at it and I really should be listing pick 16s and 17s etc but it actually became more about the pick 15 curse.

2008-Mitch Brown
2007-Robbie Tarrant
2006-Daniel O’Keefe
2005-Travis Varcoe
2004-Lynden Dunn
2003-Troy Chaplin
2002-Nick Smith
2001-Barry Brooks
2000-Simon Wiggins
1999-David Sprggs

The irony of that list is that probably the best performed pick 15 came from the weakest overall draft year (although 2002 wasn't exactly a stellar year either).

If his kicking skills are as elite as has been alluded (I haven't seen him so I can't judge for myself), then he will have a very good chance of making it. A guy like Simon Cox managed to extract a career out of having nothing else other than a good left peg - he certainly had no pace, no great endurance and was poor in the contest (both aerially and at ground level). So if Howard has some core strength, decent pace off the mark, good endurance and generally makes good decisions when he has the ball (all of which it has been suggested he has), it's not a stretch at all to suggest that he will have a very good AFL career.

[GVGjr]

Re: Pick 15 Christian Howard

I am interested to hear about what posters have as a benchmark for pick 15.

Everyone thinks we have taken a risk using pick 15 on Howard but I really see it the other way. Howard's pace and foot skills will go along way in ensuring he has a decent career. He doesn't have the upside of taller athletes but he does have tools that suit being a valuable addition to a team playing the modern game.

My expectation on any first round pick is that they should be likely to play more than 100 senior games. The only reason why so many people see his selection as a risk is because he didn't follow the normal recruitment pathway especially for a first round pick having not played representative football for SA and not being invited to even the state screenings.

I think your observation that Howard is ideally suited to the modern game is spot on as there will be a premium placed on being able to use the ball well and being able to make the right decisions. These attributes are what Howard is highly regarded for.