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Re: 2014 draft watch
STICKS SAYS
SANFL High Performance Manager Brenton Phillips ranks the best South Australian talent on offer in this year’s AFL National Draft and AFL Rookie Draft.
TOP 10
SAM DURDIN
Club: West Adelaide
Height: 197cm
Weight: 87kg
Position: Key position utility
Sticks says: ‘’He’s got an enormous amount of upside. I don’t think we’ve seen him develop in 2014 purely on the back of some injury concerns. He’s fully recovered from those and that really showed in the last month of football at West Adelaide. To me, he is in the top five of the National Draft from what I have seen this year.’’
ALEX NEAL-BULLEN
Club: Glenelg
Height: 182cm
Weight: 77kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’His ability to win contested ball is first class. It is very similar to what Luke Dunstan did for us last year. His ability to win inside ball and get the ball moving our way probably helped set up the championship win for us.’’
BILLY STRETCH
Club: Glenelg
Height: 181cm
Weight: 70kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’He comes with a huge work ethic. If you can produce that sort of work ethic both at training and in a game, that holds you in good stead. If you have that hunger and thirst to make it like Billy does, then you will forge a pretty long and nice career I would have thought.’’
HARRISON WIGG
Club: North Adelaide
Height: 179cm
Weight: 74kg
Position: Medium defender
Sticks says: ‘’He’s an elite kick of the footy, that’s what he brings. Kicking is gold at AFL level these days. If you can do that, you advance the ball pretty quickly inside your forward 50m. That’s what allows sides to score heavily, if you have got players with penetrating kicks like Harrison has.’’
CALEB DANIEL
Club: South Adelaide
Height: 167cm
Weight: 66kg
Position: Midfielder/small forward
Sticks says: ‘’He’s a real all-rounder. He will do anything you ask of him. He will push up through the midfield and play strongly through there, he will play a forward role really well. His vision and awareness on the football field is elite.’’
CORY GREGSON
Club: Glenelg
Height: 175cm
Weight: 72kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’He’s got a huge amount of X-factor. He has got some genuine power. He reminds me a bit of Ben Kennedy who played with us (SA Under-18) a couple of years ago. He has that power to really make an impact on the game. He closes people down really quickly and forces them into quick decisions. When he gets the ball offensively, he powers away from the contest and opens the game up for you.’’
DEAN GORE
Club: Sturt
Height: 183cm
Weight: 86kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’He’s a bit like Neal-Bullen in terms of being a really strong, aggressive guy. He doesn’t get the ball as much but you know he is value for touches. He has got a really penetrating kick on him and that’s what his weapon will be going forward. He will play as a half-back, wingman type to start with and then go on to be a big strong midfielder five years down the track.’’
DECLAN HAMILTON
Club: Port Adelaide
Height: 183cm
Weight: 68kg
Position: Midfielder/medium forward
Sticks says: ‘’He comes with the smarts has he has a great ability to read the game, move quickly into position and set up his team-mates. That’s what I like about him, his goal assists were in the top echelon of the national championships as he set up numerous goals for us.’’
KEENAN RAMSEY
Club: Port Adelaide
Height: 192cm
Weight: 86kg
Position: Key position utility
Sticks says: ‘’He has the ability to play at both ends of the ground. We played him mainly as a defender throughout the championships, gave him a bit of a run through the midfield in one particular game and handled that OK. He just looked like an AFL footballer every time he trained with us this year.’’
JAKE JOHANSEN
Club: Port Adelaide
Height: 171cm
Weight: 63kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’His work-rate, he is a bit like Billy Stretch in terms of his work ethic. You know he is going to produce that week-in and week-out. He’s really smart when he has got ball in hand and he knows how to set players free while also having the ability to find space.’’
ROOKIES
JAMES ROSE
Club: Sturt
Height: 186cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Medium forward
PETER BAMPTON
Club: Norwood
Height: 182cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Midfielder
TOM READ
Club: Sturt
Height: 201cm
Weight: 92kg
Position: Ruck
HENRY CAREY
Club: Sturt
Height: 183cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Midfielder/medium forward
CALLUM WILKIE
Club: North Adelaide
Height: 192cm
Weight: 85kg
Position: Key defender
MATURE-AGERS
MATTHEW PANOS
Club: Norwood
Height: 191cm
Weight: 90kg
Position: Utility
SAM BAULDERSTONE
Club: Norwood
Height: 200cm
Weight: 109kg
Position: Ruck
BRETT EDDY
Club: South Adelaide
Height: 194cm
Weight: 96kg
Position: Key forward
ANTHONY WILSON
Club: Norwood
Height: 179cm
Weight: 62kg
Position: Wing/midfielder
ROUGHIES
JOSH HONE
Club: Sturt
Height: 172cm
Weight: 74kg
Position: Small forward
MAC BOWER
Club: Norwood
Height: 190cm
Weight: 80kg
Position: Key forward
JOSH MILLER
Club: Glenelg
Height: 204cm
Weight: 100kg
Position: Ruck
BRETT TURNER
Club: West Adelaide
Height: 180cm
Weight: 75kg
Position: Midfielder
OLEG MARKOV
Club: North Adelaide
Height: 186cm
Weight: 69kg
Position: Medium defender
STICKS SAYS
SANFL High Performance Manager Brenton Phillips ranks the best South Australian talent on offer in this year’s AFL National Draft and AFL Rookie Draft.
TOP 10
SAM DURDIN
Club: West Adelaide
Height: 197cm
Weight: 87kg
Position: Key position utility
Sticks says: ‘’He’s got an enormous amount of upside. I don’t think we’ve seen him develop in 2014 purely on the back of some injury concerns. He’s fully recovered from those and that really showed in the last month of football at West Adelaide. To me, he is in the top five of the National Draft from what I have seen this year.’’
ALEX NEAL-BULLEN
Club: Glenelg
Height: 182cm
Weight: 77kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’His ability to win contested ball is first class. It is very similar to what Luke Dunstan did for us last year. His ability to win inside ball and get the ball moving our way probably helped set up the championship win for us.’’
BILLY STRETCH
Club: Glenelg
Height: 181cm
Weight: 70kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’He comes with a huge work ethic. If you can produce that sort of work ethic both at training and in a game, that holds you in good stead. If you have that hunger and thirst to make it like Billy does, then you will forge a pretty long and nice career I would have thought.’’
HARRISON WIGG
Club: North Adelaide
Height: 179cm
Weight: 74kg
Position: Medium defender
Sticks says: ‘’He’s an elite kick of the footy, that’s what he brings. Kicking is gold at AFL level these days. If you can do that, you advance the ball pretty quickly inside your forward 50m. That’s what allows sides to score heavily, if you have got players with penetrating kicks like Harrison has.’’
CALEB DANIEL
Club: South Adelaide
Height: 167cm
Weight: 66kg
Position: Midfielder/small forward
Sticks says: ‘’He’s a real all-rounder. He will do anything you ask of him. He will push up through the midfield and play strongly through there, he will play a forward role really well. His vision and awareness on the football field is elite.’’
CORY GREGSON
Club: Glenelg
Height: 175cm
Weight: 72kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’He’s got a huge amount of X-factor. He has got some genuine power. He reminds me a bit of Ben Kennedy who played with us (SA Under-18) a couple of years ago. He has that power to really make an impact on the game. He closes people down really quickly and forces them into quick decisions. When he gets the ball offensively, he powers away from the contest and opens the game up for you.’’
DEAN GORE
Club: Sturt
Height: 183cm
Weight: 86kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’He’s a bit like Neal-Bullen in terms of being a really strong, aggressive guy. He doesn’t get the ball as much but you know he is value for touches. He has got a really penetrating kick on him and that’s what his weapon will be going forward. He will play as a half-back, wingman type to start with and then go on to be a big strong midfielder five years down the track.’’
DECLAN HAMILTON
Club: Port Adelaide
Height: 183cm
Weight: 68kg
Position: Midfielder/medium forward
Sticks says: ‘’He comes with the smarts has he has a great ability to read the game, move quickly into position and set up his team-mates. That’s what I like about him, his goal assists were in the top echelon of the national championships as he set up numerous goals for us.’’
KEENAN RAMSEY
Club: Port Adelaide
Height: 192cm
Weight: 86kg
Position: Key position utility
Sticks says: ‘’He has the ability to play at both ends of the ground. We played him mainly as a defender throughout the championships, gave him a bit of a run through the midfield in one particular game and handled that OK. He just looked like an AFL footballer every time he trained with us this year.’’
JAKE JOHANSEN
Club: Port Adelaide
Height: 171cm
Weight: 63kg
Position: Midfielder
Sticks says: ‘’His work-rate, he is a bit like Billy Stretch in terms of his work ethic. You know he is going to produce that week-in and week-out. He’s really smart when he has got ball in hand and he knows how to set players free while also having the ability to find space.’’
ROOKIES
JAMES ROSE
Club: Sturt
Height: 186cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Medium forward
PETER BAMPTON
Club: Norwood
Height: 182cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Midfielder
TOM READ
Club: Sturt
Height: 201cm
Weight: 92kg
Position: Ruck
HENRY CAREY
Club: Sturt
Height: 183cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Midfielder/medium forward
CALLUM WILKIE
Club: North Adelaide
Height: 192cm
Weight: 85kg
Position: Key defender
MATURE-AGERS
MATTHEW PANOS
Club: Norwood
Height: 191cm
Weight: 90kg
Position: Utility
SAM BAULDERSTONE
Club: Norwood
Height: 200cm
Weight: 109kg
Position: Ruck
BRETT EDDY
Club: South Adelaide
Height: 194cm
Weight: 96kg
Position: Key forward
ANTHONY WILSON
Club: Norwood
Height: 179cm
Weight: 62kg
Position: Wing/midfielder
ROUGHIES
JOSH HONE
Club: Sturt
Height: 172cm
Weight: 74kg
Position: Small forward
MAC BOWER
Club: Norwood
Height: 190cm
Weight: 80kg
Position: Key forward
JOSH MILLER
Club: Glenelg
Height: 204cm
Weight: 100kg
Position: Ruck
BRETT TURNER
Club: West Adelaide
Height: 180cm
Weight: 75kg
Position: Midfielder
OLEG MARKOV
Club: North Adelaide
Height: 186cm
Weight: 69kg
Position: Medium defender
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