Poor HM.
I hope he saved copies of all FS reports.
Poor HM.
I hope he saved copies of all FS reports.
Nope...
I'm sure you can test the swear filter HM.
If its helps HM first thing I thought of was your thread. A thing of beauty
I'm sure you can test the swear filter HM.
Drat.
I am happy to see that Jydon Neagle is getting another go in the twos, in a very important game.
Joe Daniher is going to be a star
If its helps HM first thing I thought of was your thread. A thing of beauty
Oh I can probably reconstruct most of it without too many problems, I've got all the stats pages bookmarked, and all the observations of games I've been to are backed up in my posts in the BF draft forum. I'll lose all the archived stuff, which nobody really read anyway, and probably a bunch of the commentary from other posters or links to articles etc. Meh We shall rebuild...
(I'll probably give myself a couple of weeks before trying it though, cos it'll be a shit of a job and I figure I'll give Riolo etc a bit of a chance to resurrect the old one from the backups before I resign myself to the necessity. F/s stuff will be in this thread in the meantime...)
This is now the 2013 edition of this post. Info will be scarce or missing at times, especially since EFC haven't updated the JHA page since 2011! To prevent it from getting too long and confusing (what, me, write an overly long post? The very idea is ludicrous...) I'll archive some of the smaller details of previous seasons to later posts in this thread, just so people can find them if they're really interested.
Going to keep this post updated, to keep track of how things are going and to hopefully prevent a million threads on the same topic springing up later on as we get closer to draft time.
A lot of this (especially re the younger kids) is unverified and may be wrong, if anyone has any more solid info, or knows about others, then please PM me or reply to the thread and I'll update the top post accordingly. I know there's some people on here who know loads more than me about these guys!
Since July 2010 the club is running the 'James Hird Academy', run at Windy Hill for f/s prospects and talented kids from other walks of life (presumably with a focus on NSW and international scholarship kids who we can pick up for nothing!) The first intake included Ned and Joe Daniher, Tom and Chris Carey, Tom Fields, Todd Vander Haar, Matthew and Jyd*n Neagle, Daniel Thompson, Isaac Madden, and Jake Long, plus i'm sure there were others. Article here, though the kid labelled as Jedd Clothier in the photo is actually Jett Bewick, cos the Hun stuffed up their captioning...
The official page for the JHA is here. The Hird Academy link from the main site menu is out of date (get on it, uncy!), it won't get you to the up-to-date page. Note that as far as I know the blokes listed under 'player profiles' are not everyone at the Academy. Also note that when I have conflicting height/weight stats for a kid from the JHA site and from the TAC/champs record, I'll go with the latter, given efc.com.au's ... um ... slightly creative past history when it comes to player sizes. Anyone else remember when they listed Atkinson at 194cm one preseason, only to shrink him down a month or so later when they decided they wanted to play him as a running backman?
There was a nice Bomber TV feature on the Academy done in April 2011. A few familiar faces there, you can spot little Longy, Joe D, Clothier, Todd Vanders, 10+1 Jett Bewick and a bunch I don't recognise.
And a bit more here in the Engine Room in July 2011. Lots of Thompson, little Vanders, and little Long.
The rules for f/s picks are as follows: A player is eligible to be selected father-son if his father (or HER father, in the case of Stephanie Hird ;)) played 100 games for the club. Expansion clubs that haven't been around long enough have a convoluted set of rules involving local leagues, sliding game limits, etc etc that I've never bothered to find out about. A potential f/s player must agree to be nominated as a father-son pick (if they don't, they go into the draft as normal like Marc Murphy did, despite being eligible for Brisbane through the Fitzroy connection). If a player's father played 100 games for more than one club (ie, Darcy and Joe Daniher whose father Anthony played 100 games for both of Sydney and Essendon) then the player can select which (if any) of the clubs is his preferred destination. Before the start of trade week, other clubs are able to bid a pick that they would spend on the f/s player. The player's preferred club can then choose to take the player with their next pick after the highest bidded pick. If they do not choose to do this, the club that made the bid must pick up the player with their bidded pick. If no other club bids on a player, then that player's preferred club can take the player with their last live draft pick. From 2012 onwards, clubs can also 'express interest' in their f/s prospects. If a club expresses interest and the player is not selected in the national draft, then the club can select the player with their last rookie draft pick. It's open slather in the main draft though, so no guarantees they'd fall through!
The rules for NSW and international scholarship kids are as follows. A scholarship holder can be taken, guaranteed, with the club's last live draft pick. Alternatively, the club can offer the player a spot on the rookie list. In this case, the player can choose whether to accept the rookie list spot, or knock it back in which case he goes into the draft as normal. A club can have up to three scholarship program kids on the rookie list which do not count towards the normal number of allowable rookies. Jedd Clother will be the last EFC NSW scholarship holder. No new NSW scholarships can be awarded - the NSW kids can now sign with the GWS academy, which gives GWS rights to them as if they were f/s eligible, with the bidding system and the whole shebang.
Eligible this year:
Jydon Neagle: 185cm, 77kg midfielder, son of Merv, half-brother of Jay, eligible 2012 but not picked up after getting a fairly serious back injury part way through the TAC Cup season. Differing reports on him - some say he cut it up, others that he's an ok player but lacks fitness and speed. Will play as an overager for Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup in 2013. Selected as an overager in the NSW/ACT u18s state squad.
From Knightmare on BF: "Neagle is a strong mark overhead and can take a contested grab you are correct. Would be mid to high 180cm type range at this stage without having his measurements. Footskills solid but his decision making and composure are the real strengths. Work rate also looks solid but haven't seen him play a full game through the midfield to know whether he could play that perminant midfield role. Plays as a fwd/mid and looks good in either position."
TAC Rnd 2 vs Geelong 9 touches at 55% effective, 6 marks, 4 tackles, kicked 2.1, named in the best.
TAC Rnd 3 vs Bendigo 19 touches at 58%, kicked 3.2, 2 tackles, 2 marks, named in the best.
TAC rnd 1 vs North Ballarat (yes, they played round 1 between round 3 and 4...) 4.1 from 10 touches at 80% effective, 3 marks, 1 tackle.
TAC rnd 5 vs Eastern, 10 touches at 50%, 6 marks, 2 tackles, kicked 1.1.
TAC rnd 6 vs Dandenong 10 touches at 60%, 4 marks, 3 tackles, kicked 0.1
TAC rnd 7 vs NSW 3 goals from 11 touches at 72% effective, 1 mark, 1 tackle. Bit weird for him, playing against the team he'll be playing for at the champs next week...
u18 Champs round 1 vs SA 14 touches, 5 marks, 2 tackles, 3 goals, 6 inside 50s. Named as NSWs best. From dlanod at BF "Neagle was creative up forward and was easily their most dangerous forward. I liked the look of him, especially at the end of an overmatched midfield.""
u18 champs rnd 2 vs Vic Metro Very good overhead, but relied a lot on positioning himself cleverly in the fwd line and having space to work in. Had real trouble getting his hands on the ball when Metro pushed back and clogged up the f50. I don't think he could have had more than about 6-8 touches - though admittedly, he had 5 score involvements by my count. Strong mark on the lead then a kick to the hotspot for a good mark by King who converted, good contested mark one-out in the goalsquare for a goal, free kick for oof from about 45 which he pushed across the face, scrambled bouncing snap from a stoppage which also went across the face. Didn't see his 2nd goal. Haven't heard the best things about his preparation/condition, but at least he's not Jay-level out of shape, looked passably like a footballer.
Bit of footage of his first two champs games here
u18 champs rnd 3 vs NT Very big game. 21 touches, 12 marks, 6 goals 4 - admittedly against a very weak side. From Snoop Dog on BF "Neagle has improved out of sight. I have never been a massive wrap for him but some of his performances this year remind you of the old man and how he strutted around the field. His son is develong that swagger of confidence and I reckon its bc he is learning to use his physical attributes. His hands are strong and his feet dont let him down. I reckon his testing will be important as keen to see things like his agility etc."
u18 champs rnd 4 vs Qld 4 touches, 3 frees against. Very disappointing game, was marked closely and well by eventual all-Australian Liam Dawson, and simply couldn't get into the game. Beaten in the air (though service into the f50 was admittedly pretty poor), didn't contribute on the ground. Might have been better off pushing up the ground, or focusing on his forward pressure and chasing, or ANYTHING to make a difference, but didn't (or was asked to keep doing what he was doing by the coach, dunno which) and had no impact at all.
u18 champs rnd 5 vs Tasmania Played. No goals, not named in the best. From The Melkman "First half very quiet, was soundly beaten, playing as a medium forward. Should say conditions were terrible for forwards, very strong cross ground breeze making kicking and marking difficult. Second half however, Neagle moved onto the wing and was one of NSW's better players for the remainder of the game. Footskills impressive in the conditions, made one bad mistake attempting a short pass late in the last quarter but was very solid otherwise in the 2nd half. Set up a couple of goals, particularly liked one where he was able to stand up in a strong tackle to lay off the handball to a team-mate who converted. Did play very outside though, and didn't appear to have a tight opponent. "
Bit of a segment on him from TAC future stars (I haven't watched this yet, so dunno what it's about!)
TAC rnd 13 vs Nth Ballarat 22 touches at 59%, 7 marks, 3 tackles, kicked 0.1
History here
Daniel Thompson, 189cm, 96kg(!) key defender, son of Bomber, eligible 2012. Member of the James Hird Academy in 2011. Was on the fringes of the Calder Cannons side for most of 2012 but got an opportunity to play a bit of footy when the side was depleted during the champs, and impressed. Held his spot for most of the rest of the season, and was named most improved Cannons player for 2012. Will go around again as an overager for Calder in 2013.
TAC Rnd 1 vs Northern: No stats yet. Looked like your old-fashioned full-back stopper, stuck to his man, didn't give an inch, spoiled well and marked when he was absolutely sure it was safe, reliable and conservative with disposal. Big boy, listed at 189cm and 96kg. Not sure if he's got a role at AFL level given his size and play style, but he was important in the context of the game.
TAC rnd 2 vs Oakleigh: 3 touches at 67%, 1 mark. Foot injury during the second qtr, took no further part.
VFL rnd 1 vs Bendigo played for EFC 2s as the 23rd man. 4 touches at 25% effective, 1 mark. From youcandoit "Absolutely no chance if last night means anything. Am sure the kid was nervous but he was woeful in the warm up and didn't improve much from there. Nice bit of play where he set up a goal in the 2nd quarter, but apart from that really struggled. Every other time he touched it resulted in a turnover. Jumper wasn't flattering, but had a spare tyre around the guts. Big ■■■■ and looks slow. I realise his cousin has a large posterior, but he looks still fit enough."
VFL rnd 2 vs Box Hill 2 touches at 50% effective, 2 marks.
TAC rnd 5 vs North Ballarat 3 touches at 67%, 4 tackles. Dunno what happened there!
TAC rnd 6 vs Queensland 15 touches at 60% effective, 5 marks, kicked 0.1. Mind you, this was in a side that won by 100-odd.
TAC rnd 7 vs Geelong: 7 touches at 71% effective, 6 tackles, 3 marks
TAC rnd 8 vs Dandenong. Named in the best (no stats available for this game, for some reason...)
TAC rnd 9 vs Bendigo. Kicked 2.2 from 10 touches at 70% effective, 4 marks, 3 frees against.
TAC rnd 10 vs Gippsland 13 touches at 61% effective, 1 mark, 5 tackles.
TAC rnd 11 vs Oakleigh 16 touches at 75%, 5 marks, 4 tackles, named in the best
TAC rnd 12 vs Northern 6 touches at 67% effective, 1 tackle
TAC rnd 13 vs Western 11 touches at 82% effective, 2 marks
History here
Jedd Clothier: 187cm 80kg midfielder, eligible 2013. From Narooma, dominated local seniors. Moved to Belconnen in the NEAFL in 2011, dominated their u18s, bumped between seniors and the u18s for the 2012 season. Has moved down to the Calder Cannons for the 2013 season, which is probably a good move if he wants to get drafted. Will play in the NSW u18 state squad.
TAC Rnd 1 vs Northern. No stats yet. Was shoved into an unfamilar position on a half-back flank, most of the time I've seen him previously he's been playing as a medium forward, though I reckon inside mid is his natural location and he's being played down back to teach him a bit more about defensive structures etc. Didn't look very confident in the role (was opposed to some genuine first round quality in Lennon a lot of the time) or his positioning, and was probably only ok. Goes in very hard and has good hands, maybe lacked just a little bit of pace. Got only a moderate amount of the ball (spent a lot of time on the pine, 6-man interchange will do that) and disposal was competent rather than a feature.
TAC rnd 2 vs Oakleigh. 20 touches at 55% effective, 6 marks, 3 tackles, kicked 0.1, named in the best. According to UpTheBombers: Clothier played really well as a rotation through the middle of the ground as well as half back. Got lots of the footy and used it well when he had it.
TAC rnd 3 vs Western 14 touches, 7 marks, kicked 0.1. Got talked up on the Cannons twitter as being 'on fire!' at one stage, fwiw.
TAC rnd 4 vs Sandringham 17 touches at 53%, 6 marks, 3 tackles.
TAC rnd 5 vs North Ballarat 27 touches at 52% effective, 7 marks, 5 tackles, kicked 1.1, named in the best.
TAC rnd 6 vs Queensland 17 touches at 53% effective, 4 marks, 4 tackles, kicked 2.1
TAC rnd 7 vs Geelong 25 touches at 32% effective, 8 marks, named in the best.
u18 champs rnd 1 vs SA 12 touches, 2 marks, 3 tackles, 3 clearances, 3 inside 50s. According to dlanod "Nice leg on Clothier but it's hard to think of someone who looks less like your stereotypical AFL-level player unless it's Edwards. He's built like a brick shithouse - so stocky, you just don't see that body type at AFL level. Good long kick though, got around the park pretty well and popped up here and there but didn't seem to impact the game too much.", though bobcat notes that he got a corkie early and didn't really shake it off duing the match.
u18 champs rnd 2 vs Vic Metro Clothier was right up there in NSWs best in the first half. Played off a hff and did a lot of lead-up work (had a brief run in the midfield later on but didn't impact). Lead mark kick to the next guy, working along the boundary. Strong hands, able to get separation, pretty competent kick. He slowed very badly in the 2nd half though, I think he was just completely out of juice - doing little half-hearted waves for the ball from stationary and 2m from his opponent rather than leading hard and demanding it, and he gave up one goal by being unable to push back to cover his man who was running loose into the 50. By my count, about 14-15 touches in the 1st half and was very damaging, but I don't think he would have gotten more than 5 in the 2nd half. I'm not really sure where he fits at AFL level tbh, he's built like a fridge but seemed very reluctant to use his strength or hit a contest hard, he doesn't appear to have much explosive speed or lateral agility, and the lead-mark style of his game meant I couldn't really evaluate his vision, reaction speed, or work in traffic. Goal was very good, received the handball from a stoppage and kicked a smart ball around the corner for a small fwd to run onto at the 50m line, but the ball took an evil bounce, he followed it up, collected the handball, and ran through the 50 to dob it. Kicked 1 behind from a well-judged mark about 40m out in the pocket after outbodying his opponent. Named in the best.
u18 champs rnd 3 vs NT No goals, not named in the best (though Cal Twomey mentioned him on twitter before the official bests came out). From Snoop Dog again "Clothier have always liked bc of his physicality but lets be honest his testing is going to be important. He reminds me a lot of Chaz Sergent so not getting to confident on him. Whilst he is big it was his ball use and decision making when the ball was in dispute which was good. He even showed a burst of speed to get out of some boundary line areas when being chased so yeah he had a v good game."
u18 champs rnd 4 vs Queensland 20 touches and named in the best. Played in the midfield most of the game (NSW missed his leadup presence across half-forward though) and was very quiet for the first half. Seemed to be hesitant, perhaps a bit unsure of structures etc, not quite instinctively aware of when to go and when to hang back. Combined with his slightly plodding running style, it made him look really slow. Worked his way into it later though, with some decent work in traffic, solid awareness and good footskills. His apparent lack of natural athleticism is my one huge knock on him when it comes to moving up to the next level, i have to admit, and he doesn't seem to have the natural drive to barge in at full pace and hurt people that could make up for it.
u18 champs rnd 5 vs Tasmania no goals, not named in best. I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere that he got 18 touches, but can't guarantee it because the AFL hasn't bothered putting anything resembling a match report up, a week after the fact. Coverage of the u18s has been absolute pants this year. anyway, according to our handy source The Melkman: Will struggle I think. As I mentioned, not a day for the forwards, but he looked fairly one paced, and played as a permanent forward all game, and it would be difficult to see him converting his game to AFL level. Bar a few nice moments he was generally quiet.
TAC rnd 13 vs Western 22 touches at 50% effective, 5 marks, 2 tackles, kicked 0.3
History here
Jordan Williams: son of Daisy, 18 years old, 178cm, 77kg midfielder, eligible in 2012 but not picked up. Member of the James Hird Academy in 2011. Will play for Frankston in the VFL in 2013, which given past history probably means we're a monty to grab him in a season or two...
VFL rnd 1 vs Casey 9 touches at 67% effective, 4 tackles.[/color]According to HFF: "started the game on a forward flank but really struggled to get into the match, hardly sighted him getting a touch until cleverly sneaking on from the bench to pick pocket a Casey switch only to over use trying to be 'too cute' centring. Should have been selfish and had a shot on the run from 40m, but stupidly ran towards the boundary and got himself into trouble. "
HFF has dug up his season stats from somewhere or other! So:
VFL rnd 9 vs Werribee 1.0 13 possessions, 3 handball receives, 1 mark 3 tackles
VFL Rnd 10 vs Northern Blues 1.1 15 possessions, 6 handball receives, 1 mark, 5 tackles
And also from HFF: Add his 6 VFL Development League Games with 4 times in the bests 2 of those b.o.g's and two other times in the bests. Kicked 4 goals, 3 in one b.o.g against Box Hill.
History here
Todd Vander Haar: son of Paul, last I he was 181cm, 71kg midfielder but that was a couple of years back. Eligible 2013, but didn't make the TAC Cup squad after a couple of injury-ruined seasons. I'll try to keep an eye out, but if you don't make the TAC then 99.99% likely you won't get drafted.
History here
Callum Daniher, who a couple of years ago was a 180cm, 71kg ruck(?!), son of Chris, eligible 2013. Now a 'tall utility' whatever that means. Also eligible for GWS as a zone selection. Playing in the Riverina league and for Ungarie alongside dad. Not sure what level he's playing at, but he's eligible this year and he's in the Hird Academy so I'll try to keep track of him (no matter how hard the #$#$%! website makes it...) Is having an ACL reconstruction, might be able to play a few games late in the 2013 season
History here
Potentially eligible in future:
Jake Long: son of Michael, eligible 2014 (the JHA site posts his height and weight, but it's years old and probably not even close to accurate any more!)
Apparently captained his Xavier school footy side in 2011. Went overseas with the Flying Kangaroos indigenous side, and was apparently shortlisted to captain that too. Played for the NT in the 2012 u16 champs.
Played for St Marys up in the NT during school hold. 6 NTFL u18 games, 1 goal and in the best every time. 1 NTFL premier league (I assume this is the seniors) game for one goal, and 6 Dvision One games (I assume this is the senior ressies) for 2 goals and 4 times in the best. Presumably is back to school footy in Melb now, but reasonable chance of getting a game as an underager in the u18 champs after being named in the squad
History here
Tom Wallis, son of Dean, eligible 2015, is one I've heard there's decent wraps on. Played in the u15 champs, was selected in the u16 Calder squad and invited to the Vic Metro u16 tryouts. Described as "Great kick of either foot, fast and elusive."
Playing for Doutta Stars u16s in the EDFL at the moment, 9 games, 11 goals, named in the best 6 times. Wasn't listed as playing for a couple of weeks in the middle of the year, so I assume he's either on u16s Vic Metro duty, or else injured (u16 VM got slaughtered by 100 points by SA the other day after losing a bunch of their better players to injury - not sure if Tom was in the 'better and injured' group, or whether he was in the side that got pantsed, and not sure which is better!)
History (what we have of it...) here
Harvey Daniher, other son of Chris, eligible 2015, is another. "High 180cm". Also eligible for GWS as a zone selection.
According to the Herald Sun (though don't believe what they say about the f/s bidding rule, they're idiots...)
Named in the NSW state u16 squad. Played all three games for NSW (who eventually won the div 2 championship) at centre half back, and conceded two goals for the series.
History here
Jett Bewick, son of Darren, 16yo, midfielder, named in the Cannons u16 development squad, playing for Airport West u16s (in div 1). 4 games, named in the best 3 times.
***
Others of unknown age: an O'Donnell who may be a soccer player, Michael Duckworth (who kicks like his mum according to Billy).
Little tackers 14 or below, included for completeness: : Tex Wanganeen (son of Gavin, eligible for Port), a Denham, an O'Donnell, three Hirds, two Fletchers, a Misiti, two Caracallas, two Barnards, a McPhee (with another coming), two Alessios, two Lovett-Murrays, a Hamilton, two Ramanauskases, a Peverill, a Johnson (Mr Sunbury jnr),[/color] at least three and possibly more additional Neagles (seriously, Merv is making my life hard - there's at least four Neagles running around, one of which absolutely killed it last year in the u13s, but I'm not sure whether they're all Merv's boys, and there seems to be two that share the same name but are different ages, and it's all making my head hurt), a Lloyd, another Bewick, a Solomon, and yet another Daniher. Not all are enrolled in the Hird Academy (like McPhee jnr, for obvious reasons!) but all are eligible regardless.
***
Now or previously at the club
Joe Daniher: history here
James Webster: history here. Delisted Sept 2011
***
Not Eligible or eligible previously but not selected:
Chris Carey. Steve's youngest son. CHF type, didn't quite make the TAC Cup. History here
Kieran Brennan. NSW scholarship player from right on the Qld border. Ruckman, ex-basketballer. Played as an overager in the Queensland state u18s squad in 2013, though I'm 99% sure he's not scholarship-eligible any more. History here
Tom Fields. Neville's son, 3rd tall defender with a beautiful kick, represented Qld at the champs a couple of times. Currently playing for South Adelaide, and is still probably an outside chance to be picked up if his footy develops in a stronger comp than the NEAFL he was playing in up to now.
History here
Isaac Madden. Simon's son. Inside midfielder, eligible 2010 I think. Wasn't selected to play TAC Cup footy.
Jordan and Joel Madden. Calder Cannons in 2011/12, not Simon's sons.
Sam Dunell, son of Frank, midfielder/fwd. Late bloomer who came through the VAFA to play some games for Bendigo in 2011 at the age of 21. Was not nominated as a f/s pick, was selected by St Kilda with their first rookie draft pick and is now a filthy Saint. Stats etc here
Nick Ryan, draftable 2010/11. NSW scholarship kid, fwd/ruck who had an injury-hit 2010 and didn't do much as an overager in the TAC cup in 2011, but went back to Sydney footy and won the Rising Star there. Didn't get picked up. Stats etc here
Oliver Tweeddale, draftable 2011. Kpp/tall utility. Talented but inconsistent NSW scholarship kid. Was not selected. Stats etc here
David Meli, draftable 2011. Small fwd. PNG scholarship kid, did some good things for Calder but didn't quite make the step up. Stats etc here
Brody Mihocek, 18 yo, son of Jack. Tassie state u18 representative this year (and definite quality draftable player), but Jack unfortunately only managed 14 games, so Brody isn't eligible f/s. Didn't get drafted after some poor test results.
There was a Luke Madden going around for Calder in 2010 - a 180cm midfielder/defender type, but I have no idea if he's any relation to Simon.
Joel Madden: 17 years old, 186cm, playing as an underager for Calder in the TAC in 2011. Justin's son, not Simon's. Eligible for the Blues. Booooooo!
Josh Cole: 185cm, 80kg, injury-crueled midfield/utility. Scholarship kid. Had some talent, but spent most of his last 2 years of underage footy on the injury list. Played for GWS and NSW/ACT in 2010.
2010 summaries here.
Ned Daniher: 20 years old, 203cm, 84kg ruck. Son of Anthony, brother of Darcy and Joe. Very late starter to football, improved rapidly in his second year in the TAC Cup, but still a long way off AFL level. Playing for Aberfeldie seniors at the moment, but I think is in reserve on the Bendigo list.
TAC summaries here.
Tom Carey: 19 years old, 190cm, 84kg forward. Son of Steve. Played on and off for Gippsland Power in 2010, did not get picked up as a father-son selection. Eligible to play for Gippy as a 19 year old in 2011, but not listed.
2010 summary here.
Jack Long and Anthony Long - they're Michael's nephews rather than his sons. Not that we let this little detail stop us with Anthony... :) In fact I can expand this to include BOTH Jack Longs, the one from a few years back and the one who's going around in the NT u18s in 2012.
Scott Carey: son of Steve, supposedly goes alright but in his early 20s and seems to have missed out on the drafting track. Played for Warragul in the VCFL 08 and was described as 'up-and-coming young gun', but didn't make the cut for the Gippsland TAC cup side.
Jake Foulds: was eligible in I think 05, didn't make it.
There's a few Ezards running around at the moment, one interstate (WA or SA, can't remember) and one for the Cannons/Vic Metro u18s in 09. Pretty sure neither of them is Alan's son (the Calder one barracks for Collingwood ffs!). Update: they're Alan's nephews.
Darcy Bailey, son of Dean. Age 16, played very well in the 2010 u16 championships and will play for Calder in the 2012 TAC Cup and Vic Metro in the 2012 u18 champs, but Dean only played 53 Essendon games so his son isn't eligible for f/s.
Two Danihers, Neale's sons. Pity about that knee, isn't it. :( One of them is Ben Daniher, who's about 21 and currently playing in the WAFL
Lachlan Salmon: son of Paul, approx age 20, also eligible for Hawthorn. 197cm ruck. Has played junior footy for Carey I think and last year played for the Balwyn reserves alongside a couple of quality local/borderline VFL footballers like Todd Daniher, but I'm not sure whether he ever really wanted to play AFL. Given that I think 09 was his draft year, unless he makes a late charge at things or goes through the VFL, it looks like nothing's going to happen here.
Trent Harvey: son of Mark, age 18ish. Included for completeness, as far as I can tell he's not playing football at any significant level right now (there's a Trent Harvey playing for Hobart in the TFL, but he's a grizzled veteran of Tassie footy and is not our boy). Photo here.
Chris Goulet: something that seems to come up every so often. Chris is not a father-son candidate, nor did his father play footy for anyone to the best of my knowledge, let alone Essendon. But Chris is the only grandson of John Coleman, who, as we all know, only had daughters. I think he's about 23 now - played a little bit of junior footy and is at Aberfeldie now I think, but never made it into the AFL picture (though I don't know if he ever really tried)
Marcus Considine: playing for Calder Cannons in 2010. I have no idea whether he's related to Ed or not, but regardless, Ed only managed 49 games for the Bombers, so Marcus isn't eligible (and isn't getting a game at the time of writing, anyway)
There is another Considine going around for Calder in 2012, again, Ed didn't make the games cut-off.
Sebastian Rioli and William Rioli, both about 17at the moment. Sebastian is Dean's youngest brother and William is a Rioli/Long cousin like Cyril (and according to benfti, plays like him too). Ben Rioli in the same boat. Ben and Willy have been named in the NT u18 champs side in 2012.
Rhys Sporn, son of Keiran. 17 years old, captains the West Adelaide u18s in the SANFL in 2010, but his dad didn't manage to crack the hundred games for us, so he's ineligible.
Max Lavai and Victor Rame: PNG scholarships from 2010, but as of May 2012 they don't seem to be around any more. Info here
... wayback machine archive of the top post from the old thread. Very outdated (the most recent archived version is from 3 Feb), so I'll have to redo all of this year's stuff and re-locate and re-link all the videos etc, but just posting it here for my own reference, as a basis to start reconstruction from later on.
This is now the 2012 edition of this post. Info will be scarce or missing at times, especially since EFC haven't updated the JHA page from last year! To prevent it from getting too long and confusing (what, me, write an overly long post? The very idea is ludicrous...) I'll archive some of the smaller details of previous seasons to later posts in this thread, just so people can find them if they're really interested.
Going to keep this post updated, to keep track of how things are going and to hopefully prevent a million threads on the same topic springing up later on as we get closer to draft time.
A lot of this (especially re the younger kids) is unverified and may be wrong, if anyone has any more solid info, or knows about others, then please PM me and I'll update the top post accordingly. I know there's some people on here who know loads more than me about these guys!
As of July 2010 the club is running the 'James Hird Academy', run at Windy Hill for f/s prospects and talented kids from other walks of life (presumably with a focus on NSW and international scholarship kids who we can pick up for nothing!) The first intake included Ned and Joe Daniher, Tom and Chris Carey, Tom Fields, Todd Vander Haar, Matthew and Jyd*n Neagle, Daniel Thompson, Isaac Madden, and Jake Long, plus i'm sure there were others. Article here, though the kid labelled as Jedd Clothier in the photo is actually Jett Bewick, cos the Hun stuffed up their captioning...
The official page for the JHA is here. The Hird Academy link from the main site menu is out of date (get on it, uncy!), it won't get you to the up-to-date page. Note that as far as I know the blokes listed under 'player profiles' are not everyone at the Academy. Also note that when I have conflicting height/weight stats for a kid from the JHA site and from the TAC/champs record, I'll go with the latter, given efc.com.au's ... um ... slightly creative past history when it comes to player sizes. Anyone else remember when they listed Atkinson at 194cm one preseason, only to shrink him down a month or so later when they decided they wanted to play him as a running backman?
There was a nice Bomber TV feature on the Academy done in April 2011. A few familiar faces there, you can spot little Longy, Joe D, Clothier, Todd Vanders, 10+1 Jett Bewick and a bunch I don't recognise.
And a bit more here in the Engine Room in July 2011. Lots of Thompson, little Vanders, and little Long.
The rules for f/s picks are as follows. A player is eligible to be selected father-son if his father (or HER father, in the case of Stephanie Hird) played 100 games for the club. Expansion clubs that haven't been around long enough have a convoluted set of rules involving local leagues, sliding game limits, etc etc that I've never bothered to find out about. A potential f/s player must agree to be nominated as a father-son pick (if they don't, they go into the draft as normal like Marc Murphy did, despite being eligible for Brisbane through the Fitzroy connection). If a player's father played 100 games for more than one club (ie, Darcy and Joe Daniher whose father Anthony played 100 games for both of Sydney and Essendon) then the player can select which (if any) of the clubs is his preferred destination. Before the start of trade week, other clubs are able to bid a pick that they would spend on the f/s player. The player's preferred club can then choose to take the player with their next pick after the highest bidded pick. If they do not choose to do this, the club that made the bid must pick up the player with their bidded pick. If no other club bids on a player, then that player's preferred club can take the player with their last live draft pick. From 2012 onwards, clubs can also 'express interest' in their f/s prospects. If a club expresses interest and the player is not selected in the national draft, then the club can select the player with their last rookie draft pick. It's open slather in the main draft though, so no guarantees they'd fall through!
The rules for NSW and international scholarship kids are as follows. A scholarship holder can be taken, guaranteed, with the club's last live draft pick. Alternatively, the club can offer the player a spot on the rookie list. In this case, the player can choose whether to accept the rookie list spot, or knock it back in which case he goes into the draft as normal. A club can have up to three scholarship program kids on the rookie list which do not count towards the normal number of allowable rookies. No new NSW scholarships can be awarded - the NSW kids can now sign with the GWS academy, which has rights to them as if they were f/s eligible.
Eligible this year:
Joe Daniher: 18 years old, 201.5cm, 89kg forward-ruck, son of Anthony, brother of Darcy, eligible 2012. Will be selected as a father-son pick in the 2012 draft, unless someone outbids us which seems distinctly unlikely.
Played a couple of spectacular games in the 2010 u16 championships. Played in the 2010 u16 Aberfeldie premiership side. Currently attending the AIS AFL academy. Will play for Calder in the 2012 TAC Cup, and has been named in the Vic Metro squad. At this stage, is being talked about as a top 5 draft pick in 2012. Calder people have been quoted as saying he's the best talent they've seen come through, ever. We will see.
From foj1 on bigfooty, who I rate highly as a judge of young talent.
"Joe is going really well and can confirm he is in the 90 s weight wise. Essendon are absolutely committed to him and have put 2 years development into him already.
...
Joe is much further advanced than ayce [HM note: Cordy] ever was. If you watched Joe dominate at the national 16s carnival in west Sydney you would have seen a potential high grade key forward. He also has a rare desire to be the best he can be.
...
I think he will end up as a super key fwd in the mould of reiwoldt or cloke. He hasn't rucked much at all. Btw I understand that he has put on 15 kg. I understand he is outlifting some of this years first year players/ rookies in the gym. Think you find he will be pretty keen to play as much as he can which would be about 12 tac games and 4 national carnival games. There is no hope we will avoid paying a first rounder for him unless we come bottom four.
...
Joe d is about 12 kg heavier than this time last year and looks FIT!"
According to Emma Quayle on the AIS academy Europe trip "he is a STAR. The recruiters are all saying essendon should have to give up 2 picks for him "
Knee injury before round 1 of the 2011 TAC season. This plus a later back injury meant he didn't play footy at all in 2011. Apparently linked to growth plate issues. I'm not 100% sure he'll play from day 1 in 2012 either - he was training with the senior squad all summer (though due to the severe case of closed-session-itis they've contracted down at Windy Hill, nobody really knows whether he's been doing full training), but Sam Landsberger said something in March about him still rehabbing. The AIS will play a few games over the next month or so and TAC Cup starts next week, we'll see what happens.
Did not play in TAC round 1.
Played in the AIS squad against Box Hill in the curtain raiser to the Round 1 Rich-Carl game. From various sources, he kicked 4 goals from 5 kicks, set up a couple more, and marked strongly. Worth noting this was his first game (other than part of a TAC practise match in 15 months.
Currently in Europe with the AIS Academy squad. He's writing a tour diary which can be read on AFL.com here
Played in the AIS squad against a combined European squad. Kicked 4, though the AIS kids handed out a 20-goal thrashing, so almost everyone snagged a goal or two seemingly!
TAC rnd 4 vs Western. 3 goals 2 and 16 touches at 69% effective, 9 marks, 7 hitouts, 3 tackles as Calder handed out a 19-goal thumping. According to foj1, who saw the game (but I didn't cos Craigieburn is a) a hole and b) too bloody far away): "Joe played first tac game and was very impressive. Kicked goals, tackled, rucked and took exceptional mark. One afl recruiter I was with claimed number 1 draft pick if in open market. ... He is not a monster but he is not a Brahmins either. He is a natural footballer who can do most things on the footy field. My favorite thing about him yesterday was he has the ball handling and kicking of a midfielder. " No, i don't know what a 'Brahmins' is.
Article here.
TAC Rnd 5 vs Murray. 20 touches at 90% effective, 9 marks (4 contested), 2 tackles, 8 hitouts, and 7 goals 2. Got talked up all over the place after that performance, as you'd expect. Bomber Bill (for TAC Cup radio): "And then there was Joe Daniher where do you start, 7 goals, played full forward CHF ruck, loose in defence. My highlights in no particular order, a blind turn in heavy traffic which fooled everyone he straightened then passed a 45m bullet to the leading McBean, a 25m set shot from the boundary line on the wrong side for a left footer drop punt went straight through. A 50m set shot where he read the cross breeze perfectly. He moves like a midfielder in the body of a ruckman with the lead mark and kick of a key forward and he is all ours. I liked his team ethic, he worked just as hard when he didn't have the ball, he directed his teammates in set ups in fact there wasn't much I didn't like. If you get a chance catch him live for Calder and try not to get too excited."
And the Hun recently discovered him as well. Article 1 (pre-match) and article 2 (post match)
TAC Rnd 6 vs Bendigo: Didn't seem to have his kicking boots on, judging from the stats - 18 touches at 50% effective, 2 tackles, 9 marks, kicked 2.4.
Metro vs Country pre-champs trial game: played fwd in the first two qtrs when VMs midfield were getting destroyed, and so didn't have many opportunities (and what chances he did get were in a static and crowded fwd line), though this didn't stop him running through and absolutely destroying two blokes who tried to chop off his lead at one point - you could hear the 'smack' in the top tier. In the 2nd he pushed up into the centre more to provide a long option and got a bit of the ball. Generally used it well, though only ended up with 0.2. Very impressed with his nimbleness and mobility for a big bloke.
TAC rnd 8 vs Dandenong. 17 touches at 71% effective, kicked 5.2, 7 marks (3 contested) and 11 hitouts, against a Stringrays side weakened by the u18 champs. Shifter Sheahan was a fan of his game: "He is Paul Salmon born again" and "He is a fantastic kick, you don't see that many 199cm guys that kick as well as he does. Very accurate from around the 50 mark and so terrific with his great stretch overhead ... he's an athletic freak, he's a guy that could play up through the midfield, that's the ability he's shown". From ant555 on BF "On a better note for today Joe kicked 5 goals today against Dandy. I do not want to add to the hype and he will take time at AFL level but he is as good as any under 18 forward i have seen. The only real knock i have on him is a bit of a generic under 18 forward problem and that is he can be lazy on the defensive side. Otherwise there are no real flaws at this stage. "
Age article here
u18 champs rnd 3 vs SA. 12 touches at 75% effective, 8 marks (3 contested), 7 hitouts, 1 tackle, 1 goal 2. I saw about 3 quarters of this game, and Joe was pretty good despite unstaggering stats. Would have liked to see him get involved more, but watching it on a low-quality stream rather than at the ground it was hard to see how much of that was his fault and how much of it was him gameplan. Spent a fair bit of time on the bench as VM rotated their tall forwards though (and spent half the game with a small fwd line, damned if I know why given the cattle they had) and a fair bit of time in the ruck. Looked much better as a fwd, but probably only played there for a qtr or so all up. Ruck work is ok, though he got outmuscled by a bigger body in Grundy, but he gets a bit lost around the stoppage. Very good mark indeed, game high for both marks and contested marks, didn't lose an aerial contest that I saw, brought it to ground font and centre if he didn't grab it. Extremely long arms, very hard to spoil. Fast on the lead, needs to be faster to spread from the stoppage though - has the speed, needs the nous. Goal was from a well judged mark in the goalsquare which he just read better than anyone else. One of the points was from a free kick about 50 out on the boundary which he pushed wide, the other was from a good grab about 30 out and he should have nailed. Probably should have ended up with 3 - he took another good goalsquare mark in the 3rd qtr and got pinged for a rubbish hands in the back call. Still looks skinny.
U18 champs rnd 5 vs WA. 16 touches at 44% effective (poor % mostly because of his goalkicking yips!), 11 marks (7 contested), kicked 4 goals 6, 1 assist, 1 out on the full, named best on ground. Everyone's seen this game anyway, but just for the record, it's one of the most dominant games by a kpf in the champs in recent memory, marked everything that came anywhere near him, too fast for anyone as big as him, too big for anyone as fast as him, and too good for either. Should have kicked 7 or so except he inexplicably started spraying relatively routine shots in the 3rd qtr or so.
Highlights courtesy of MickC
TAC rnd 15 vs Geelong. 13 touches at 54%, 9 makes (4 contested), kicked 2.3. Looked unstoppable when he got half-decent delivery, but with the Cannons' midfield and forward line structural issues that wasn't often. Clunked his usual huge, chanceless marks in front of goal, but also missed a couple on the lead (I think he lost it in the low afternoon sun - another problem with the lack of shelter at Highgate) and burnt his chances in front of goal too often, from gettable shots. Ended up with 2.3, and a couple of what would have been goal assists if his teammates had been able to finish. Would like to see him work harder off the ball too - jogs around a little aimlessly at times, though I'm not sure if that was because he just got a tiny bit lazy or because he was as confused about the Calder forward structure as I was.
TAC rnd 16 vs North Ballarat. 14 touches at 71%, 7 marks, kicked 1.2.
TAC rnd 17 vs Western. 14 touches at 46%, 7 marks, kicked 1.1. From HFF_10: "As the team ran out, noticed no Joe Daniher, thought "■■■■! im going home" but he ran out just after the team, had strapping on his thumb/wrist. Joe Daniher though, is a freak! nothing news breaking there, but he simply should not be allowed to do some of the things he does. Very first touch was a superb half volley pick up and then turned off two steps to kick it 50 meters inside 50. I just sat up and thought "WOW!!" was the first thing I had seen of Joe live. Played 95% of his time up forward with only a (VERY) brief period in the ruck. Started like a house on fire, had 5 - 6 touches in the first term alone, playing predominantly between the two arcs. He was the Cannons get out man, kicking the ball in his area when they struggled to find a target going forward. The thing that impressed me so much with Joe was his marking, taking the ball at his highest point, often nearly 3m off the ground, pretty hard to defend against. He took 2 - 3 really strong contested marks often out numbered as they were very 'Joe consience' from the outset. Joe dropped off in the second half, finding it difficult in the 3rd term whilst the last term the Cannons were completely outplayed by the fleet footed Jets midfielders. Overall he was ok, had maybe 15 possessions, kicked 1.1 and just showed his class. Overheard some recruiters saying what we heard during the week that he could be the best player to come through the TAC Cup."
TAC Elimination final vs Oakleigh 17 touches at 59% effective, 11 marks, 2.3. Played CHF and ended up with two, probably should have had 4 or 5 but his late-season goalkicking radar jitters continued. Had a bit of the Whitfields as well - just cruising around, already knows he's going to get drafted so went through the motions a bit. When the ball came to him his hands were chanceless as usual and Jaksch couldn't remotely go with him, but the workrate just wasn't there (especially defensively) and at times he looked flat-out lazy. Jaksch got a bit of the ball just by running harder. Set up a couple, missed a couple more, and with a couple of minutes left pulled out the party tricks, taking a low mark 70 out, then balking round his man, outrunning a pursuing midfielder and putting it through post-high from 50 on the boundary. Stupidly brilliant, but too little too late for his team. Needs the step up to an AFL environment to be honest, being a smaller fish in a big pond will be good for him for a while.
Jordan Williams: son of Daisy, 17 years old, 178cm, 77kg midfielder, eligible 2012. Member of the James Hird Academy in 2011. Will play for Eastern in the TAC Cup in 2012 after playing a few games as an underager in 2011, for moderate statistical returns. Invited to the Vic state screening day of the draft camp/combine/fiesta.
Previous year's stats etc here
TAC rnd 1 vs Oakleigh Played, no goals and not named in the best. 15 touches at 80% effective, 4 marks, 2 tackles.
TAC rnd 2 vs Northern. Was quiet. 10 touches at 80% effective, 3 tackles. Played on the wing mostly, but generally found the ball on the other wing to where he was. Did a couple of ok things (unfortunately in his most memorable passage of play he followed up a nice gather, handy baulk and brilliant blind turn with a sprayed shot on goal oof in the pocket) but didn't really impact the game.
TAC rnd 3 vs Western. 1 goal, 17 touches at 70% effective, 8 tackles.
TAC rnd 4 vs Sandringham. 18 touches at 39% effective, 1 tackle, kicked 0.2 as his team got utterly smashed. Played hff mostly, with a stint in the backline later. Unobtrusive is probably the best way to describe his game. He's got an exceptional blind turn, but I'm not really seeing any standout qualities beyond that. Has to get on the scoreboard more often - he generates a few shots, but tends to miss them.
TAC rnd 5 vs North Ballarat. 15 touches at 80% effective, 3 marks, 3 tackles. Named in the best (of a terrible side) but I'm not 100% sure why. Played deep in defence and directly gave up two goals through errors in the somewhat-over-two-quarters I was there, through poor defensive work (getting front and centre in the goalsquare and completely losing his opponent with a long ball coming in to a 2 on 2, and getting run down and caught holding by the opposition chf). Seemed a game he'd want to forget, presumably he was good before I arrived and after I left...
TAC rnd 6 vs Murray: 24 touches at 75% effective, 4 marks (3 contested), 1 tackle
TAC rnd 7 vs Gippsland. 16 touches at 50% effective, 2 tackles, 4 frees against.
TAC rnd 8 vs Bendigo. 21 touches at 67% effective, 7 marks, 4 tackles, named in the best. Possibly his best game statistically for the season, against a strong Pioneers lineup.
TAC rnd 9 vs Geelong. 5 touches at 60%, 2 marks, 5 tackles. Dunno what happened there!
TAC rnd 10 vs Calder. 27 touches at 74% effective, 7 marks, 2 tackles. Slightly easier run for him coming up, with so many of the other TAC sides missing players to champs and school footy.
TAC rnd 11 vs Oakleigh. 18 touches at 78%, 3 marks, 9 tackles, named in the best.
TAC rnd 12 vs Sandringham. 26 touches at 73% effective, 6 marks, 8 tackles, 5 frees for and 4 against. Named Eastern's best player, though admittedly in a side that got beaten by 17 goals. His numbers have been good over the past few weeks, but champs reps are back next week and ■■■■ gets real once again - hope he can keep it up.
TAC rnd 13 vs Nth Ballarat. 27 touches at 59%, 5 marks, 2 tackles.
TAC rnd 14 vs Dandenong. 22 touches at 72%, 6 marks, named in the best. Report from HFF "Solid kid, played half back all game in what was an oft scrappy game. Played half back all day mostly opposed to Lachlan Whitfield who seemed more interested in his party tonight than the game at hand, kept him reasonably quiet. Wasn't overly productive going the other way, maybe had 10 - 15 for the day, and most hit the targets, pretty tough for the Eastern defenders with so much quaity supply coming from the Stingrays midfielders. When he did get it, reminded me so much of that Elliot Kavanagh hunch over when he kicks, that little composed stab pass, hit most targets. He did go back with the flight of the ball and take an absolute corker of a mark.. pity it was a Stingrays free kick back from the clearance. Im not sure what to make of him, looks a likely type, with neat skills, strong tackler who is willing to put his body on the line when it is 'his turn to go', but he often drifted in and out of the game. "
Did the TAC Cup Future Stars goalkicking comp thing against Daicos.
VFL rnd 19 vs Collingwood. Played as the 23rd man amid rumours Ess will take him f/s either via the regular method or through the new rookie f/s pathway. Stats up when available. Review from saladin: "was pleasantly surprised with Jordan Williams. Looks to have decent speed, and arrived at several contests with real physical impact. cracked in really hard. cant really evaluate his skills, only had a few possessions, but he did manage to kick the ball 40 meters into a strongish wind, so he presumably has decent distance on his kicks? had zero idea on playing and fitting intoa zone, the poor kid. Nob was giving him instructions on which player to chase, where to stand etc.It must be quite a shock for the TAC boys who don't play on the ball (just follow the play, get to stoppages etc) to try to pick up technical game plans in one-off appearances. lots of running for little reward."
VFL rnd 21 vs Port Melbourne. 8 touches at 38%, 4 tackles, 2 marks, 2 frees for.
Jydon Neagle: 185cm, 77kg midfielder, son of Merv, half-brother of Jay, eligible 2012. Differing reports on him - some say he cut it up, others that he's an ok player but lacks fitness and speed. Will play for Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup in 2012.
Until we get to see him live a bit more, some first-hand info from JDC! from a couple of years back: "Haven't seen Neagle play since his season of U16s in Darwin for St Marys about a year and a half ago. Played against him a couple of times and he didn't impress me too much. Seem to know what he was doing on the field, took the right options and executed them fairly well. Lacks speed and fitness and didn't have a big enough body to be a good in-and-under player."
Was named for NSW/ACT in the u18 championships but didn't play any games.
From Knightmare on BF: "Neagle is a strong mark overhead and can take a contested grab you are correct. Would be mid to high 180cm type range at this stage without having his measurements. Footskills solid but his decision making and composure are the real strengths. Work rate also looks solid but haven't seen him play a full game through the midfield to know whether he could play that perminant midfield role. Plays as a fwd/mid and looks good in either position."
Previous years stats etc here
TAC rnd 2 vs North Ballarat. 6 touches at 50%, 2 tackles.
TAC rnd 3 vs Northern. 13 touches at 77%, 5 marks (2 contested) 5 tackles, 1 goal.
TAC rnd 6 vs Eastern: 13 touches at 61%, 3 tackles, 6 marks (2 contested), 4 goals 1, names in the best
TAC rnd 7 vs Bendigo: 12 touches at 67% effective, 8 marks (2 contested), 2 tackles, kicked 3 goals 1.
TAC rnd 1 vs Dandenong. 3 goals from 6 touches at 100% effective, 3 tackles, 2 marks. Yes, for the Country sides round 1 is played between round 7 and round 8, don't ask me why.
TAC rnd 8 vs North Ballarat. 12 touches at 67% effective, 5 tackles, 2 marks, 2 goals.
TAC rnd 9 vs Oakleigh. 20 touches at 85% effective, 2 goals, 6 tackles, 6 marks (2 contested). Got a bit of it in a good win against an Oakleigh side catastropically weakened by school footy and the u18 champs. Will be very interested to see if he gets a gig in the NSW champs side next week.
TAC rnd 10 vs Geelong. 4 touches at 25%, 1 mark, 1 tackle, kicked 0.1. Without any actual knowledge, I suspect he got injured in this game, since he backed up this low possession tally with being a late withdrawal the week after and not being named at all the week after that.
According to demen1, is out for the year with a couple of cracked vertebrae. Yikes, hope he's ok. Article about him from the Hun is reposted
here in the wake of the sad passing of Merv.
Daniel Thompson, 189cm, 91kg half-forward, son of Bomber, eligible 2012. Member of the James Hird Academy in 2011. Played for the flag-winning Aberfeldie u16s alongside Joe Daniher in 2010, then moved around all over the place between Moorabbin and St Bernards in 2011. Will play for Calder in the TAC Cup in 2012 though was not selected for round 1. Playing at Aberfeldie u18s when not selected for Calder. 7 games, 2 goals, twice times in the best.
TAC rnd 2 vs Sandringham 4 touches at 75%, 1 tackle. Got very little of the ball as Calder copped one of the biggest pastings I can remember them experiencing.
TAC rnd 3 vs Gippsland. 9 touches at 55%, 4 marks, 3 tackles.
TAC rnd 9 vs Sandringham. Another bloke capitalising on a side weakened by champs and school footy. 18 touches at 67% effective, 6 marks, 2 contested, and kicked 0.1
TAC rnd 13 vs Murray. Back in the side! 16 touches at 62%, 6 marks, 1 tackle.
TAC rnd 14 vs Bendigo. 9 touches at 78%, 4 marks (2 contested), named in the best.
TAC rnd 17 vs Western. 13 touches at 58%, 6 marks, 3 frees against. From HFF_10: "Listed at 188cm, not sure he will play as a KPP at AFL level (should he make it), plays like an old fashioned defender, worries about limiting his opponent whilst not worrying about his own game at all. Not sure what else there is to report on Thompson, anyone who has seen Jacob Thompson play with Bendigo, Daniel is a very similar looking player, a little rough around the edges, not an athlete and just seems to get the job done despite appearing not to be capable of. "
Previous years info here
Tom Fields, son of Neville, 20ish years old. Solid-bodied, kpd/3rd defender type fron Queensland, listed as 189cm, 89kg approximately this time last year. Didn't get picked up in his u18 year or as an overager playing in the champs in 2011, but is persistantly talked about as a possible option based on his NEAFL performances, so I'm putting him back in this section. Good defensive player and a strong spoiler, very very good foot skills, can drop them on a 5c piece. Queries would be his marginal size for the role he'd need to play at AFL level, and his ball-winning ability - when I've seen him he's generally been the designated kicker, and has got nearly all his touches as handball receives from teammates with lesser footskills. Never seen him dominate a game, take big marks or win the hard ball on the ground. But I've only seen a few games of his, so what do I know?
Currently playing for Labrador in the NEAFL - 18 games, 4 goals, 4 times in the best. Invited to the Qld state screening day of the draft combine thingy.
Details from previous years are here
Kieran Brennan: age 17, 198cm, 93kg - eligible in 2012. Converted from basketball in 2009. He lives right on the Qld/NSW border - is eligible for the Qld state squad because he plays footy in Qld, but he actually lives in NSW, so is eligible for scholarship. Otherwise he'd probably be zoned to the Gold Coast.
Previous years info here
Played 14 games for Broadbeach in the SEQAFL (effectively the Qld 2nds league, now the best guys are playing in the NEAFL). 7 goals, 3 times in the best. Two games in the SEQAFL u18s, 1 goal, once in the bests. Also played two games for GC in the NEAFL (not sure why, presumably some sort of Qld academy thing or other). Selected in the Qld u18 squad for the u18 national championships butdidn't play any games.
TAC rnd 7 vs Dandenong (Qld squad practise games before the u18 champs): 2 touches (1 effective), 1 tackle, 1 mark, 20 hitouts, 2 frees against.
Christopher Carey: son of Steve. The youngest of Steve's sons and apparently the best. 193cm, 100kg forward/ruck, eligible 2012. Member of the James Hird Academy in 2011. Missed out on the Gippsland TAC Cup squad in 2012, and it's a hard road back to getting drafted after that, but I'll do my best to keep an eye on him anyway. 15 games in the Warragul u18s, 9 times in bests, 11 goals, and 4 games in the seniors, for 2 goals - often doubling up on the same day or weekend.
Previous years stats here
Potentially eligible in future:
Jedd Clothier: 187cm 80kg midfielder, eligible 2013. From Narooma, dominated local seniors. Moved to Belconnen in the NEAFL in 2011, dominated their u18s, looks set to play seniors as a 16/17yo in 2012.
Match report from round 1 vs Ainslie.[/u] No goals, not named in best. Review from SplitRound: "I'll just dump my thoughts here, I don't watch a lot of non-AFL football so I didn't really have a yardstick to work on for quality, but Ken McGregor (ex mediocre Crow) was the dominant forward for Ainslie.
Watched the game from halfway through second quarter, and missed another five minutes or so from the stream dropping out a few times. Jedd played most of the game in the forward pocket. Didn't see much of him in the second, Belconnen were getting annihilated, so it's not surprising I guess. He played a bit on the ball in the third, don't know if he got a possession, but laid at least one good tackle.
Belconnen made the scoreboard look respectable in the last, and as a consequence there was a bit more to see of Clothier. He got absolutely towelled up in the air a few times by being pushed off it easily (as you might expect at his age). Did some good work around the packs, lot more handballs than kicks. Excluding the quarter and a half I didn't see, I'd guess he got somewhere in the realm of 10 disposals. Overall I'd say if I wasn't keeping an eye for him I wouldn't have noticed him."
Played a total of 4 NEAFL seniors games for 1 goal. Played in the GWS academy side over the last couple of weeks as a warmup/trial for the NSW/ACT u18 championships side. Dropped back to the Canberra league u18s this week and treated it with contempt, 4 goals and BoG.
Played one game for the GWS 2s as part of some Academy/state squad arrangement, like the one that baffles me with Brennan. Kicked one goal
After his rnd 2 vs Sydney Uni was nominated as the NEAFL rising star for the round Link Part of the game is watchable here - Jedd plays deep forward, doesn't get a heap of it (6 touches for the half by my count). Shows very clean hands off the ground but lacks body size in close against men and doesn't always know where his teammates are going to be.
Info from Blowfly: Jedd clothier playing for gws academy on Sunday may 13 . Second game for them chosen in best in 1st game by Ryan houlihan and big wrap from Lachlan buzzard who described in Canberra times as 188 cm tough mid who won hard ball , spread well to kick 2 goals and very strong
Overhead . Jedd has relocated to Canberra for footy and school playing for belconnen under ex collingwood player matt lokan . Has not played 2 weeks , knee soreness ( growing pains ) and early diagnosis of shin splints .nsw rams squad chosen Monday 14 th may . Would be a nice achievement to make squad as an underager .
Named in the NSW/ACT state squad for the u18 championships.
u18s rnd 3 vs NT. 15 touches at 73% effective, 7 contested, 3 marks, 2 clearances, one goal. Named in the best.
u18s rnd 4 vs Tassie: 8 touches at 62%, 6 contested, 3 clearances, 1 mark and one goal, named in the best. Spent the first half in the forward line and looked a little lost, but went into the middle later in the 3rd and started winning clearances. Is an inside mid rather than a fwd, should be played that way. Reminds me a bit of Josh Caddy when he was in the u18s - pretty good overhead, big and strong - especially for an underager - but needs more run and spread in his game, and to get to smarter places to receive the ball.
u18s rnd 5 vs Qld. 10 touches at 80%, 2 marks, 2 goals, 2 tackles, 3 frees against and 5 clangers! Eventful game, it seems...
Previous season info here
Todd Vander Haar: son of Paul, 16 years old, 181cm, 71kg midfielder, eligible 2013. u14s coached by Paul in 2009, mum an Olympic high jumper(!), was rumoured to prefer golf to footy.
Was at Surrey Park colts (u16s) in 2011, but that comp doesn't post results worth a damn so I can't tell you how he's going. But he made the u16 Oakleigh Chargers squad which is a very good sign, so if he keeps that up he should be in the TAC next year. Was selected in the 2012 Oakleigh Chargers side according to bomber mag, but once the squads were named in March he wasn't on the list. Maybe the Bomber Mag was thinking of the u16 squad?
According to MickC he's now 197cm-ish, which seems surprising (no offense, but I'll take that one with a grain of salt for a bit!)
I haven't worked out where he's playing in 2012 yet - Surrey Park don't seem to have a u17 side and he's not playing in their u19s as far as I can tell. School maybe? I have no idea, though I did seem him at a Chargers TAC game on the weekend with his old man, and he was wearing a Surrey Park jacket, so maybe he is still there and I just haven't found his comps results on sportingpulse yet...
According to demen1, is out for the year with a broken foot.
Jake Long: son of Michael, eligible 2014 (the JHA site posts his height and weight, but for blokes who are this young I'm not sure it's very useful to know!).
Some first-hand info from JDC!, though this is from a few years back now: "To be honest, I haven't seen enough of him to make a fully informed judgement. From the very little I have seen, he may be one of those kids that gets a lot of praise and attention due to his last name. That's not to say he won't become a good footballer, I just think it is way to early to say he'll be AFL standard. He's cousins with Jack Long, another mate of mine. I've played a fair bit of footy with Jack and he's a reasonable player. He is composed with the ball and ended up coming third in the NTFL U16s competition medal while playing for St Marys. Originally he wasn't picked for the NT Thunder U16s but was later included in the squad, and ended up going away with the side after a player got injured."
Apparently captained his Xavier school footy side in 2011. Went overseas with the Flying Kangaroos indigenous side, and was apparently shortlisted to captain that too. Will play for the NT in the u16 champs later in the year.
Currently playing u18s for St Marys as a 16yo, will presumably go back to school footy in Melb once the school year starts. 7 games, 6 goals (mostly from a single bag of 5 against Wanderers), named 3 times in the best.
According to this episode of the Hangar (about 20 minutes in) is being talked about as a potential first round pick.
Tom Wallis, son of Dean, eligible 2015, is one I've heard there's decent wraps on. Playing u16 for Doutta Stars in the EDFL, 8 games for 4 goals, 5 times in the best. Has also represented his league, and was in the best for the EDFL when they won the 2011 Metropolitan u14 championships. Selected for the EDFL representative u15 squad and will particpate in Vic Metro trials. Described as "Great kick of either foot, fast and elusive."
As far as I know there's 4 more eligible Danihers besides Darcy, Ned, and Joe (going by Koala's EXCLUSIVE BB interview of Terry here. Not sure of the exact number (and there's two of Neale's who we don't get a shot at), though I think a few have already past draft age and are going around for Box Hill in the VFL. Go along and have a chat to Terry!
Callum Daniher is one of them. 180cm, 71kg ruck(?!), son of Chris, eligible 2013. Playing for Mangoplah u17s in the Riverina league, 7 games, 10 goals, named four times in the best. Also played for Ungarie in the Northern Riverina League, earlier in the year before the transfer came through, 4 games for once in the best in the seniors, 3 games for one goal and once in the best for the u17s. Yes, that IS two games per weekend!
Harvey Daniher, other son of Chris, eligible 2015, is another. Also played at Ungarie earlier in the year (7 games for 11 goals and once times in the best in the seniors, 3 games for 2 goals and once in the best in the u17s), but now seems to be at Eastlakes in the Wagga district junior league, where he's played 10 games for 14 goals and 7 times in the best though take these stats with a grain of salt the size of Bolivia, because they seem to change retrospectively from week to week....
Jett Bewick, son of Darren, 15yo, playing for Airport West u16s as an underager. 15 games, 4 goals, 5 times in the best.
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Others of unknown age: an O'Donnell who may be a soccer player, Michael Duckworth (who kicks like his mum according to Billy).
Little tackers 14 or below, included for completeness: : Tex Wanganeen (son of Gavin, eligible for Port), a Denham, an O'Donnell, three Hirds, two Fletchers, a Misiti, two Caracallas, two Barnards, a McPhee (with another coming), two Alessios, two Lovett-Murrays, a Hamilton, two Ramanauskases, a Peverill, a Johnson (Mr Sunbury jnr),[/color] at least three and possibly more additional Neagles (seriously, Merv is making my life hard - there's at least four Neagles running around, one of which absolutely killed it last year in the u13s, but I'm not sure whether they're all Merv's boys, and there seems to be two that share the same name but are different ages, and it's all making my head hurt). Not all are enrolled in the Hird Academy (like McPhee jnr, for obvious reasons!) but all are eligible regardless.
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Now or previously at the club
James Webster: history here. Delisted Sept 2011
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Not Eligible or eligible previously but not selected:
Isaac Madden. Simon's son. Inside midfielder, eligible 2010 I think. Wasn't selected to play TAC Cup footy.
Jordan and Joel Madden. Calder Cannons in 2011/12, not Simon's sons.
Sam Dunell, son of Frank, midfielder/fwd. Late bloomer who came through the VAFA to play some games for Bendigo in 2011 at the age of 21. Was not nominated as a f/s pick, was selected by St Kilda with their first rookie draft pick and is now a filthy Saint. Stats etc here
Nick Ryan, draftable 2010/11. NSW scholarship kid, fwd/ruck who had an injury-hit 2010 and didn't do much as an overager in the TAC cup in 2011, but went back to Sydney footy and won the Rising Star there. Didn't get picked up. Stats etc here
Oliver Tweeddale, draftable 2011. Kpp/tall utility. Talented but inconsistent NSW scholarship kid. Was not selected. Stats etc here
David Meli, draftable 2011. Small fwd. PNG scholarship kid, did some good things for Calder but didn't quite make the step up. Stats etc here
Brody Mihocek, 18 yo, son of Jack. Tassie state u18 representative this year (and definite quality draftable player), but Jack unfortunately only managed 14 games, so Brody isn't eligible f/s. [Didn't get drafted after some poor test results.
There was a Luke Madden going around for Calder in 2010 - a 180cm midfielder/defender type, but I have no idea if he's any relation to Simon.
Joel Madden: 17 years old, 186cm, playing as an underager for Calder in the TAC in 2011. Justin's son, not Simon's. Eligible for the Blues. Booooooo!
Josh Cole: 185cm, 80kg, injury-crueled midfield/utility. Scholarship kid. Had some talent, but spent most of his last 2 years of underage footy on the injury list. Played for GWS and NSW/ACT in 2010.
2010 summaries here.
Ned Daniher: 20 years old, 203cm, 84kg ruck. Son of Anthony, brother of Darcy and Joe. Very late starter to football, improved rapidly in his second year in the TAC Cup, but still a long way off AFL level. Playing for Aberfeldie seniors at the moment, but I think is in reserve on the Bendigo list.
TAC summaries here.
Tom Carey: 19 years old, 190cm, 84kg forward. Son of Steve. Played on and off for Gippsland Power in 2010, did not get picked up as a father-son selection. Eligible to play for Gippy as a 19 year old in 2011, but not listed.
2010 summary here.
Jack Long and Anthony Long - they're Michael's nephews rather than his sons. Not that we let this little detail stop us with Anthony...In fact I can expand this to include BOTH Jack Longs, the one from a few years back and the one who's going around in the NT u18s in 2012.
Scott Carey: son of Steve, supposedly goes alright but in his early 20s and seems to have missed out on the drafting track. Played for Warragul in the VCFL 08 and was described as 'up-and-coming young gun', but didn't make the cut for the Gippsland TAC cup side.
Jake Foulds: was eligible in I think 05, didn't make it.
There's a few Ezards running around at the moment, one interstate (WA or SA, can't remember) and one for the Cannons/Vic Metro u18s in 09. Pretty sure neither of them is Alan's son (the Calder one barracks for Collingwood ffs!). Update: they're Alan's nephews.
Darcy Bailey, son of Dean. Age 16, played very well in the 2010 u16 championships and will play for Calder in the 2012 TAC Cup and Vic Metro in the 2012 u18 champs, but Dean only played 53 Essendon games so his son isn't eligible for f/s.
Two Danihers, Neale's sons. Pity about that knee, isn't it.
Lachlan Salmon: son of Paul, approx age 20, also eligible for Hawthorn. 197cm ruck. Has played junior footy for Carey I think and last year played for the Balwyn reserves alongside a couple of quality local/borderline VFL footballers like Todd Daniher, but I'm not sure whether he ever really wanted to play AFL. Given that I think 09 was his draft year, unless he makes a late charge at things or goes through the VFL, it looks like nothing's going to happen here.
Trent Harvey: son of Mark, age 18ish. Included for completeness, as far as I can tell he's not playing football at any significant level right now (there's a Trent Harvey playing for Hobart in the TFL, but he's a grizzled veteran of Tassie footy and is not our boy). Photo here.
Chris Goulet: something that seems to come up every so often. Chris is not a father-son candidate, nor did his father play footy for anyone to the best of my knowledge, let alone Essendon. But Chris is the only grandson of John Coleman, who, as we all know, only had daughters. I think he's about 23 now - played a little bit of junior footy and is at Aberfeldie now I think, but never made it into the AFL picture (though I don't know if he ever really tried)
Marcus Considine: playing for Calder Cannons in 2010. I have no idea whether he's related to Ed or not, but regardless, Ed only managed 49 games for the Bombers, so Marcus isn't eligible (and isn't getting a game at the time of writing, anyway)
There is another Considine going around for Calder in 2012, again, Ed didn't make the games cut-off.
Sebastian Rioli and William Rioli, both about 17at the moment. Sebastian is Dean's youngest brother and William is a Rioli/Long cousin like Cyril (and according to benfti, plays like him too). Ben Rioli in the same boat. Ben and Willy have been named in the NT u18 champs side in 2012.
Rhys Sporn, son of Keiran. 17 years old, captains the West Adelaide u18s in the SANFL in 2010, but his dad didn't manage to crack the hundred games for us, so he's ineligible.
Max Lavai and Victor Rame: PNG scholarships from 2010, but as of May 2012 they don't seem to be around any more. Info here
Posted the 2013 Edition above for you HM.
Yeah, yours is a lot more recent, great work WT22, you've saved me a lot of work! Google archive beats the webarchive.org this time round!
Commiserations HM.
#WeWillRebuild.
stood near Vanda and his boy today at box hill. he is a good size but not 197cm.........built like his old man
HM - all your hard work gone. Can't believe they couldn't save it? Was there a crash and all lost, or just an upgrade?
Burky33 - if you went to Box Hill you would have seen Jydon Neagle play, how did he go?
HM - all your hard work gone. Can't believe they couldn't save it? Was there a crash and all lost, or just an upgrade?
Burky33 - if you went to Box Hill you would have seen Jydon Neagle play, how did he go?
A crash.
We managed to pull much of it from Google Cache, from July 25th.
So, only a few weeks work lost really. All in the above posts.
All the private school kids back in the TAC Cup this week, things starting to get a bit serious.
Didn't see any of the games, have a crummy cold so stayed at home and significantly depleted the world supply of olive bread and vegie soup.
Clothier was Calder's leading possession getter in the Cannons' suprise win over ladder leaders Geelong, but somehow managed not to get named in the best. Suspect his disposal had something to do with it - 23 touches went at only 48% effective. 3 marks, 4 tackles. Was going to make excuses for him based on the weather (jeez it was windy at times over the weekend!), but then realised that early round prospects Taylor and Tsitas both got possession counts in the mid 30s and went at over 75% effective (Taylor nearly hit 85%). Hmm. Still, whatever gets you the win I guess...
Thompson in the same game, 10 touches, only one ineffective, 5 marks, 2 tackles, gave away 2 frees.
Neagle 13 touches at 84%, 1 goal, 5 marks, 1 tackle. Named in the best. Without seeing the game it's a bit hard to judge, but if he played fwd that's a creditable effort against a Sandringham midfield stuffed full of likely early draft picks now that the private school boys are back playing real footy.
Tom Wallis is back playing again after I think being injured. Not recapturing his early season form though, last three games he's kicked 2 goals, not made it into the bests.
One day I'll resurrect the old thread from WT22's link and re-update it. But today is not that day...
Cheers HM!
Davey to clock up 100 games this week! 4 sons of his own!!!!
How are they going at Auskick HM?