Next Generation Academies

[Ants]

Noober’s early thoughts. At this stage sounds like he won’t be expensive. Add to our small forward stocks primarily.

@noobermensch

Following in the footsteps of Isaac Kako, Hussien El Achkar is another name for Bombers fans to get excited about from their NGA program. A nuggety and powerful forward who can rotate into the midfield, El Achkar has plenty of tricks in his bag. In this game those tricks were all on display as he racked up some seriously impressive numbers, one of few to shine on the day given the extremely windy conditions.

https://youtu.be/3dfTnP7N9Bg

@noobermensch

@Heptides

Thanks Noob. Any thoughts on his likely draft range projection? Is he a Cat B rookie type prospect, or likely to go in the draft proper?

I feel like he’s a main draft type of talent right now, but not quite top end.

There’s a lot to like there, clean with his handling of difficult balls at ground level which is super important for a small forward, nice skills although looks to be very one sided, has a nose for a goal.

I don’t know if this is just my bias but he doesn’t have a typical footy physique. He looks more like a small rugby player that’s built for short bursts of speed and power rather than endurance. Combined with his lack of height (171cm), this probably pigeonholes him into being a small forward, and that lack of versatility could hurt his draft stock a tad.

We’ll wait and see. He’s already playing a decent amount of midfield for Calder. Perhaps he’ll show up round one next year having slimmed right down and grown a few cms.