2009 Under 18 Championships

[comrade]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

a lad to watch is Alex Carey from SA

(Got second best for SA when we got smashed by WA last year)

Was in the AIS Academy LAST year (a year younger then most inductees) and will be eligible to be drafted at the end of this year.

Is also a bloody good cricketter, and has spent the last few years working out whether he goes down the cricket path or the footy path. Has represented SA in both sports.

Is a well built on baller type, and has played up forward for Glenelg reserves as well.




(he was mentored last year by Nathan Buckley, and has had a lot to do with Luke Darcy as well, who apparently is a "top bloke".

Oh, and he's a massive Western Bulldogs fan as well...

I've heard some good things but is he quick?

[GVGjr]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Tenacious ball-winners Andrew Hooper (26 disposals, nine rebounds and four contested marks) and Dustin Martin (19 touches and nine inside 50s) were also important for Country.

Vic Country 6.0 10.3 12.3 14.6 (90)
Vic Metro 3.0 6.2 9.3 11.8 (74)

GOALS
Vic Country: Butcher 3, Cunnington 3, Keath 2, Lehman 2, Christensen, Martin, Page, Priest
Vic Metro: Carlisle 2, Fitzpatrick 2, Hoegel 2, Moore 2, Hicks, McKenzie, Scott

BEST
Vic Country: Hooper, Martin, Ko.Stevens, Cunnington, Christensen, Butcher, Vardy
Vic Metro: Scully, Toy, Gaff, Shaw, Hoegel, Melksham

Match four played at Skilled Stadium, Geelong

Castlemaine boy Dustin Martin is a real gem. I think he will go fairly high in the draft and some information from a good mate of mine is that he is a long kick with both feet and a ferocious tackler. He might be one to keep an eye out for.

[Throughandthrough]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

I've heard some good things but is he quick?

Not sure, have wondered the same myself. He's not super fast but he's pretty strong for a school "boy". Will watch with interest.


PS he's a top lad as well....

[comrade]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Not sure, have wondered the same myself. He's not super fast but he's pretty strong for a school "boy". Will watch with interest.


PS he's a top lad as well....

Hopefully he has a strong carnival.

I'm hopeful there is a genuinely pacy midfielder with good foot skills available at our pick.

[azabob]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Hopefully he has a strong carnival.

I'm hopeful there is a genuinely pacy midfielder with good foot skills available at our pick.

How things have changed!!

[comrade]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

[/B]

How things have changed!!

How indeed. We've invested in a number of talls over the last two years, to the extent where I believe we lack some depth in our up and coming mids - particularly when it comes to genuine pace and clean foot skills.

[ledge]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

How indeed. We've invested in a number of talls over the last two years, to the extent where I believe we lack some depth in our up and coming mids - particularly when it comes to genuine pace and clean foot skills.

Dont know about that with Ward, Coon, Griff, Higgins, still young, plenty of drafts before our mids get old.....

[comrade]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Dont know about that with Ward, Coon, Griff, Higgins, still young, plenty of drafts before our mids get old.....

All quality but only Griff and Cooney are genuinely pacy. With god knows how many compromised drafts coming up, we could do worse than bolstering our midfield stocks.

[Mantis]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

All quality but only Griff and Cooney are genuinely pacy. With god knows how many compromised drafts coming up, we could do worse than bolstering our midfield stocks.

Yep.

We need to look at replacing the Eagleton & Gilbee (more long term) types with kids who can run & kick.

[LostDoggy]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Yep.

We need to look at replacing the Eagleton & Gilbee (more long term) types with kids who can run & kick.

Here you go again, having a crack at Eagleton

[Mofra]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Dont know about that with Ward, Coon, Griff, Higgins, still young, plenty of drafts before our mids get old.....

In military terms we need to avoid "block obsolescence" (ie a batch of retirements at once), so regular topping up on mids is still a good idea. Even on the rookies taken last year, Daniels is probably the only real "pacy" one, although Hank White didn't seem like a slouch on the few minutes I've actually seen him on the paddock.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

In military terms we need to avoid "block obsolescence" (ie a batch of retirements at once), so regular topping up on mids is still a good idea. Even on the rookies taken last year, Daniels is probably the only real "pacy" one, although Hank White didn't seem like a slouch on the few minutes I've actually seen him on the paddock.

Gilbee, Hahn & Hargrave were all born in 81; Boyd, Lake, Murphy, Giansiracusa & Morris in 82; Cross in 83. Whether we like it or not we will be losing a big chunk of our better players all at once.

[Hot_Doggies]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

We need strong quick players that can kick. Not speedster's like Essendon who cant win contested ball.

I wouldn't be against trading a Boyd or Cross to the Goldcoast for good draft pick, to negate the effects of the "block obsolescence".

[Desipura]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Gilbee, Hahn & Hargrave were all born in 81; Boyd, Lake, Murphy, Giansiracusa & Morris in 82; Cross in 83. Whether we like it or not we will be losing a big chunk of our better players all at once.

On the flip side of that we have Jones, Roughead, Boumann,Ward, Hill and Cordy just to name a few coming up at the same time. We could potentially have two father sons next year, definately one (Wallis) from what we have heard.
Hopefully more of them will be hits instead of misses.
My point being there is enough talent coming through which by the time the above players retire, we should have them covered.

[Mofra]

Re: 2009 Under 18 Championships

Gilbee, Hahn & Hargrave were all born in 81; Boyd, Lake, Murphy, Giansiracusa & Morris in 82; Cross in 83. Whether we like it or not we will be losing a big chunk of our better players all at once.

That is a concern, however we should be trying not to repeat the experience in the future. Perhaps we are victims of our own drafting success that year, or conversely doomed to be troubled by a few failures in subsequent years.