Went to the TAC Cup Calder Canons v Sandringham Dragons game on Saturday. Coburg’s City Oval. Beautiful day. Enjoyed the game thoroughly. Sandringham had 6 players in the Vic Metro U/18 and Calder had 5 so I thought I’d go along and have a look.
Calder killed Sandringham. The game was of a reasonable standard but strangely enough, there wasn’t really anything or anybody to write home about.
If we are looking for a tall mobile kpp player in this year’s National Draft, then Sam Robertson of Calder was probably the best I saw out there. Didn’t dominate the game, but showed that he is a great mover at 193cm. Left footer with very good skill level and a solid overhead mark. Very good balance and poise. Needs to work on his endurance. Ran out of legs on a few occasions. Played CHB.
Richard Douglas (Calder) was a disappointment. He got in the best players whilst hanging back and doing a lot of the easy work. Has little defensive side to his game. Very slight (180cm). Well balanced and beautiful kick of the football though, I have to say. He’s the sort of player you have to be wary about as far as recruiting. Exceptional skills, runs well, but is slight and doesn’t work hard enough in tight.
The other Calder reps – Bowes, Gordon and White all had reasonably good games. Bowes works very hard, has a good turn of speed and is good with his hands. But all three are very small ranging from 177cm to 179cm. I’d look elsewhere for on-ballers at this stage.
Of the others, Jarryd Allen (Calder) is a handy type. 191cm. Booming kick. Not bad overhead. Played CHF and a spell in the ruck. Competes ok.
Lachlan Baddeley (Calder) took a lot of grabs across half forward but is a unco kick and has no footy brain at all. Robert Hyde got frustrated with him quite often.
Of Sandy reps, Scott Lockwood did not play and neither did Jake Muir. Their best rep. player was Matthew Thomas. An on-baller at 184cm he goes hard at it. Not a lot of penetration in his kicking, but reasonable passer never the less. Got a bit tired towards the end of the game and made a few mistakes, but he goes ok.
Shane Valenti is way too small. Disappointing game too.
Simon ‘Flip’ Phillips had a good game. Lot of possessions, works hard. But at 172cm, his height is gonna be against him.
Robert Warnock is interesting. A 204 cm beanpole he covers the ground quite well and takes a good overhead mark when there isn’t too much competition. Whenever anyone else is in the air with him though, his light frame isn’t capable of standing up under the pressure at this stage of his development. He waned towards the end of the game, but he showed that if he fills out, he has some upside.
On the whole, there wasn’t too much to get excited about. The game was interesting to watch, but many of the better players on the day were midgets who will struggle to be picked by an AFL team.
And…..it was good to see Greg Beck turn up. Even if it was half way through the game. Even Slug Jordan was there, hobbling around having a bit of a look.
(Note: Wayne Johnston is helping out Sandringham. He is one strange fella that guy.)
Calder killed Sandringham. The game was of a reasonable standard but strangely enough, there wasn’t really anything or anybody to write home about.
If we are looking for a tall mobile kpp player in this year’s National Draft, then Sam Robertson of Calder was probably the best I saw out there. Didn’t dominate the game, but showed that he is a great mover at 193cm. Left footer with very good skill level and a solid overhead mark. Very good balance and poise. Needs to work on his endurance. Ran out of legs on a few occasions. Played CHB.
Richard Douglas (Calder) was a disappointment. He got in the best players whilst hanging back and doing a lot of the easy work. Has little defensive side to his game. Very slight (180cm). Well balanced and beautiful kick of the football though, I have to say. He’s the sort of player you have to be wary about as far as recruiting. Exceptional skills, runs well, but is slight and doesn’t work hard enough in tight.
The other Calder reps – Bowes, Gordon and White all had reasonably good games. Bowes works very hard, has a good turn of speed and is good with his hands. But all three are very small ranging from 177cm to 179cm. I’d look elsewhere for on-ballers at this stage.
Of the others, Jarryd Allen (Calder) is a handy type. 191cm. Booming kick. Not bad overhead. Played CHF and a spell in the ruck. Competes ok.
Lachlan Baddeley (Calder) took a lot of grabs across half forward but is a unco kick and has no footy brain at all. Robert Hyde got frustrated with him quite often.
Of Sandy reps, Scott Lockwood did not play and neither did Jake Muir. Their best rep. player was Matthew Thomas. An on-baller at 184cm he goes hard at it. Not a lot of penetration in his kicking, but reasonable passer never the less. Got a bit tired towards the end of the game and made a few mistakes, but he goes ok.
Shane Valenti is way too small. Disappointing game too.
Simon ‘Flip’ Phillips had a good game. Lot of possessions, works hard. But at 172cm, his height is gonna be against him.
Robert Warnock is interesting. A 204 cm beanpole he covers the ground quite well and takes a good overhead mark when there isn’t too much competition. Whenever anyone else is in the air with him though, his light frame isn’t capable of standing up under the pressure at this stage of his development. He waned towards the end of the game, but he showed that if he fills out, he has some upside.
On the whole, there wasn’t too much to get excited about. The game was interesting to watch, but many of the better players on the day were midgets who will struggle to be picked by an AFL team.
And…..it was good to see Greg Beck turn up. Even if it was half way through the game. Even Slug Jordan was there, hobbling around having a bit of a look.
(Note: Wayne Johnston is helping out Sandringham. He is one strange fella that guy.)
