Mature aged recruits hidden gem longshots

[Ants]

Given our picks, this thread is now very relevant!

[anon71769209]

Kelly and Schloithe please.

Insta midfield

[Mr_Sunbury_1]

Surely they’ll go before pick 48 in this “weak” draft?

[westozziebomber]

Can’t be bothered posting it anywhere else but we are into ben miller and have had a couple of discussions with him. Tall ruckman/key forward from over here, plays for Subiaco. I’m related to him

Our interest with ninyette is still around the mark too

[Alan_Noonan_10]

Can’t be bothered posting it anywhere else but we are into ben miller and have had a couple of discussions with him. Tall ruckman/key forward from over here, plays for Subiaco. I’m related to him

Our interest with ninyette is still around the mark too

The Ben Miller who was in the early seasons of Death in Paradise and was Alexander Armstrong’s comedy partner?

Can’t see it myself.

[DonAtBirth]

I think you’d be right. Kelly got an invite to the national combine, and West Coast have loaded up on picks this year for a rebuild.
Unfortunate, Kelly would be a handy addition.

[Captain_Jack]

Any specials for this year benfti?
Must be about time for his annual thread.

[jtd]

Anything you could tell us about either blokes?

[Ants]

Kelly and Schloithe please.

Insta midfield

Surely they’ll go before pick 48 in this “weak” draft?

I think you’d be right. Kelly got an invite to the national combine, and West Coast have loaded up on picks this year for a rebuild.
Unfortunate, Kelly would be a handy addition.

Yep, you’d think WCE would snaffle him unfortunately. Sounds exactly the type we want (not slow, inside/outside, good disposal).

[Ants]

Can’t be bothered posting it anywhere else but we are into ben miller and have had a couple of discussions with him. Tall ruckman/key forward from over here, plays for Subiaco. I’m related to him

Our interest with ninyette is still around the mark too

Cool. I love me my talented HFF players. Here is what I had on him earlier in the thread:

Someone was mentioning a really skinny WA player who they compared to Fantasia. Not Ryan, someone else. Can anyone recall which thread it was in? I haven’t found mention of him going back in this thread, and he had me curious.

This one maybe?
List build - where are we? Where are we going next

Yep, that was him. Thanks. Cody Ninyette. Looked him up, averaging 16 disposals, 1.6 goals, 3.8 tackles, and 2.9 marks.
But only 175cm/58kg.

List build - where are we? Where are we going next

Has been playing as a small forward. Lightning quick, great mark and good below his knees would be his main strengths. He could no doubt be a outside half forward imo

In a shallow draft, sounds like a candidate for the rookie list. Long odds, but has forward pressure and good skills (from what others are writing).

But then, I like my classy HFFers!

[benfti]

Any specials for this year benfti?
Must be about time for his annual thread.

Just about there, and given our new draft position I’m having a lot of fun with this one now.

And for those wondering yes Sambono and Dom Grant are there.

[Ants]

Any specials for this year benfti?
Must be about time for his annual thread.

Here is one I baked - sorry, prepared earlier.

Another interesting one: Clubs in a flap over NT Thunder go-go gadget

TO TRULY appreciate the Adam Sambono story, you must first know he didn’t play an organised football game until he was 17.

Now, at age 20, the Aboriginal rising star leads the NEAFL’s goalkicking – equal with his Northern Territory Thunder teammate Darren “Boof” Ewing – and has sent AFL clubs into a flap.

His 21 goals in six matches across his rookie season include hauls of six (on debut), five, and four (twice).

Sambono is all arms and legs; standing 188cm and just 65kg, with Thunder coach Andrew Hodges joking he only reached that weight when the Top End heat drenched him in sweat.

His go-go gadget arms and huge leap make him a match-up nightmare close to goal, but his vision in football traffic is a wonderful complement in his unique package. If you’re wanting an AFL comparison, think Darryl White.

“He has an amazing reaction time and gets the ball from hand to foot very quickly,” Hodges said.

“He’s really keen to improve and do the one-on-one video reviews and wants to get to that next level. He’s just so raw and that’s the best way to describe him.”

Sambono used to make the 450km, six-hour round trip from Daly River to Darwin to train for the Buffaloes – Andrew McLeod’s original club – but made a permanent move in February this year.

His formal training in his early days was watching AFL on TV.

Sambono is such an untapped talent that the AFL this week granted him special permission to represent the Allies at this year’s Division One NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

That news came a week after he was named in the NEAFL’s representative squad, which he followed with five more goals against the Gold Coast Suns’ reserves.

“I’m pretty amazed with what I’m doing, on and off the field,” Sambono told AFL.com.au.

"It’s good to be a role model for my community. Hearing my name called out in the Allies team got me pretty excited and actually proud.

“AFL is something I always wanted to get to. It would be exciting and a great opportunity for me and my family. No-one has been drafted or on a Thunder list from Daly River.”

This is the same kid who took part in a Thunder clinic, run by then-coach and ex-St Kilda footballer Xavier Clarke, after his community was frantically evacuated because of dangerous flood levels on Boxing Day 2015.

The Clarke boys – Xavier and Raphael – have family in Daly River, but Sambono would become the first person from there to play AFL if the stars align in November.

Flooding is an annual event for Daly River, a community of about 500 people that boasts a single supermarket, an indoor recreation centre and an oval that borders the airport.

A typical day for Sambono, one of five children in his family, used to involve fishing for barramundi or hunting kangaroo before a kick of the footy in the afternoon.

You can only imagine how many goals he slotted in the Daly River scratch matches back in the day, but opponents outside his home were feeling his wrath even before he joined Thunder.

Sambono kicked separate 10-goal bags for two different clubs within six months of each other last year, firstly with Victoria’s Nyah-Nyah West United then the Buffaloes.

It took only one YouTube sighting two years ago for ex-North Melbourne forward and Buffaloes clubmate Matt Campbell to be convinced of Sambono’s ability.

Essendon and NT legend Michael Long is another who has given Sambono the tick of approval as an AFL prospect.

“I texted (Buffaloes coach) Mark Motlop after the game, asking ‘Who’s that kid in the No.5? He looks a goer’,” Campbell said.

Campbell was responsible for bringing Sambono down to Nyah-Nyah West United and has taken on a mentoring role with him.

Sambono learned about Victoria’s cold weather and being away from home, and Campbell said the young gun would be better for the experience.

“I’d hate for a kid this talented not to get a look in, just because an AFL club is worried about what he’d do off-field,” Campbell said.

"He’s not a risk, in terms of a Liam Jurrah. He doesn’t drink and he doesn’t take drugs.

“He’s a great kid and all he wants is a great opportunity.”

Video footage provided by AFLNT and NITV.

More By Marc McGowan

There are a few small fast forwards who I’d be interested in for the rookie draft.

[frosty]

Ben Miller. 18yo 196cm? Seems more a ruck by reading a couple of things. Can he play KP? And is he taller than 196 now?

If he was an athletic 196 who could play KP I’d be keen. Basically if he was a younger McKernan with a shorter neck!

Combine invite, so clearly a chance. 2.91 20m spring, 8.10 agility, 30/30 goalkicking.

[Ants]

I’d be looking closely at a few of the 2016 draft that got passed over. Seems to have been a strong draft and so guys may have looked poorer for having played in a talented bunch.

[frosty]

Bailey Banfield perhaps…overlooked, 188/87, gone at 25 ppg 5 tackles per game in the WAFL

[Ants]

Bailey Banfield perhaps…overlooked, 188/87, gone at 25 ppg 5 tackles per game in the WAFL

So him, Miller who you mentioned, on Big Footy someone mentioned Sam Walker, there was Scharenberg who was considered unlucky, I’m sure there are more from that crop who might be worth a look at.

[Alan_Noonan_10]

Scharenberg was expected to go top 20 or 30.
Undrafted

Someone will take him in the rookie draft.
No.

There must be some major deficiency all 18 clubs have identified. And he’s not a tall player who takes a while to come through.

All the phantom drafters on BigFooty mean jackshit. They, and the journalists who predict, don’t draft for a living.

[Ants]

Scharenberg was expected to go top 20 or 30.
Undrafted

Someone will take him in the rookie draft.
No.

There must be some major deficiency all 18 clubs have identified. And he’s not a tall player who takes a while to come through.

All the phantom drafters on BigFooty mean jackshit. They, and the journalists who predict, don’t draft for a living.

I didn’t say we should draft him, I just said we should have a second look at that draft class for maybe some hidden gems.

I’d add especially anyone who missed a chunk due to injuries.

[SplitRound]

I vaguely recall the issue with Scharenberg was that he didn’t have enough talent to make up for his personality.

[frosty]

Scharenberg was expected to go top 20 or 30.
Undrafted

Someone will take him in the rookie draft.
No.

There must be some major deficiency all 18 clubs have identified. And he’s not a tall player who takes a while to come through.

All the phantom drafters on BigFooty mean jackshit. They, and the journalists who predict, don’t draft for a living.

Kind of not Ants point though. We arent talking about people from last year, we’re talking about how people have progressed 12 months later.

Sam Mitchell also went undrafted as am 18yo.

Or for an example closer to our hearts Tippa went undrafted for years. Does that mean benfti knew jacksh*t, and then he didn’t?