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Emma Quayles top 25 draft Picks
HAVING compiled this list three times now, lessons have been learnt. First, you can watch a player too much. Second, every player has fl aws and it's easy to become hung up on one perceived problem area.
Stephen Hill and Daniel Rich were probably ranked too low on my 2008 list, although there's no one rated above them that I'd be looking to move, but Michael Hurley at 13? Ouch. I was a big fan this time last year, loved his long kicking and ability to read the play, but wondered if he had enough pace off the mark to keep up with fast-leading forwards. Hurley doesn't have great pace, but it hasn't yet been exposed - maybe it will be in time, perhaps it won't. Regardless, his many other abilities combined to make his first season a very good one and I learnt not to overthink things. Hurley aside, I think my 2008 list looks OK.
This is a difficult exercise because you constantly look through the list and realise you have a player too far down the order. You think, ‘No, that's not right', move them, then go through the exact same process with another.
Apologies this year to South Australian pair Matthew Panos and James Craig, West Australians Mitch Duncan, Gerrick Weedon and Travis Colyer, as well as midfielders Josh Thomas, Allen Christensen and Anthony Long, and Geelong defender Joe Dare. And to Luke Ball, who I decided not to include given the purpose of this exercise is largely to introduce the young players. Remember, these are my personal thoughts on this year's group, not a mock draft or a list of where I think players will be picked. It's based on watching the players live, trawling through tapes and talking to them and the people who know them well. Let's wait three years and see how it looks.
To read the full article, click HERE
HAVING compiled this list three times now, lessons have been learnt. First, you can watch a player too much. Second, every player has fl aws and it's easy to become hung up on one perceived problem area.
Stephen Hill and Daniel Rich were probably ranked too low on my 2008 list, although there's no one rated above them that I'd be looking to move, but Michael Hurley at 13? Ouch. I was a big fan this time last year, loved his long kicking and ability to read the play, but wondered if he had enough pace off the mark to keep up with fast-leading forwards. Hurley doesn't have great pace, but it hasn't yet been exposed - maybe it will be in time, perhaps it won't. Regardless, his many other abilities combined to make his first season a very good one and I learnt not to overthink things. Hurley aside, I think my 2008 list looks OK.
This is a difficult exercise because you constantly look through the list and realise you have a player too far down the order. You think, ‘No, that's not right', move them, then go through the exact same process with another.
Apologies this year to South Australian pair Matthew Panos and James Craig, West Australians Mitch Duncan, Gerrick Weedon and Travis Colyer, as well as midfielders Josh Thomas, Allen Christensen and Anthony Long, and Geelong defender Joe Dare. And to Luke Ball, who I decided not to include given the purpose of this exercise is largely to introduce the young players. Remember, these are my personal thoughts on this year's group, not a mock draft or a list of where I think players will be picked. It's based on watching the players live, trawling through tapes and talking to them and the people who know them well. Let's wait three years and see how it looks.
To read the full article, click HERE
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