Allan made a timely return to Peel’s senior side, covering as a late inclusion for Fremantle’s Will Brodie. He showed plenty of power and explosiveness with 12 disposals and four tackles in the preliminary final, before keeping his spot and having 11 and six in the decider. No other prospect has the feather of a senior premiership in their cap this year, so Allan can hang his hat on that remarkable achievement.
**Note Lombard has a senior premiership last year with suns.
Taking those views on board, you could adjust things by -
Melbourne 5 Langford (instead of Armstrong)
Nth 6 Armstrong (instead of Tauru)
StK 8 Tauru (instead of Hotton)
with Hotton then sliding back to maybe Richmond at 10 or 11.
I personally like either of Hannaford or Shanahan if we do manage to get back in for a pick in the mid to late teens. Our best chance could be Richmond, if they want to spread their riches between 24 and 25 drafts rather than put all their eggs in this year’s basket, or GWS 15&16, if they see value in gathering points for 25 given the more onerous matching rules.
I think if they had the choice between those two they would go for Tauru, but I’m wary about placing too much faith in the rumourmill. I have a sneaking suspicion that Armstrong will “slide” a bit into the teens but maybe that’s just my bias talking as I don’t think he’s a top 10 pick on talent.
There’s been some talk of recruiters anticipating a Hotton slide even later than 10/11. I guess that’s fair enough really, given an even pool you might play it safe and avoid the guy rehabbing an ACL.
I’d be fine with us trading back in to pick either of those two in the late teens, depending on the cost of course.
If a player that is good enough is still there in the mid-late teens, even in the 20’s…… I can’t see another club accepting 2 future seconds to swap.
Unless it’s someone who needs points for next year.
I think if he gets past St. Kilda, Melbourne and Nth, Richmond would surely take him at 10 or 11 (assuming they haven’t traded them to Nth as part of a deal for 2)
I’ve been keen to hear people’s opinions on why Armstrong deserves to be taken that early and there seems to be at least some aspect of it that comes down to an expectation that one or two tall forwards have to be taken at the top end of the draft.
For me he’s the most overrated player in the pool. Can’t take a mark when there’s any kind of contact, isn’t a pack marker, not great in 1v1s or good at ground level. He can be super effective when he gets to play the game his way, with a midfield that’s on top and space in front of him to lead into. He maximises his opportunities with excellent set shot conversion. I think its worth remembering that he’s played with the most dominant midfield at talent league level, and the most dominant midfield at the champs with elite disposers like Murphy Reid kicking it down his throat all season.
It feels harsh to call him overrated, but I just mean that he’s got flaws like most of the other key forward prospects. If we were talking about him being picked in the 20s I’d say it was a solid option. I think he’s got a good shot at becoming a productive AFL forward but he’s got a lot to work on.
Keen to hear from people that rate him really highly as to how they see his skill set.
I totally agree.
Jobe shows far more agility at ground level and brings teammates into play more often in my opinion, but I’d still have him late teens/20’s.
Harry seems veryb1 dimensional to me, it’s a nice dimension, but will it get him by at the top level?
He’s a guy that I could see making me look silly by doubting him, but I also think its a risky call. As you say, an extremely 1 dimensional game. It might also depend on him landing in the right environment with the right teammates to maximise what he does.
Langford took a massive clunk in the goalsquare in metro v country which I think recruiters will go nuts for.
Can see Armstrong & Smillie sliding.
Armstrong for the points you mentioned & Smillie is the type we would use a top 10 pick on based on hype and it not translate to the elite level (eg Cox). To me he looked slow at the 18s champs level which is a worry.
I heard somebody (a nobody) today describe this years draft as ‘it’s even because it’s pretty average quality, not any real standouts you could guarantee will be elite at AFL level’.
Thought it was an interesting take that goes against the consensus.
Really from the little I’ve seen, I am not that impressed either.
But I just think with their plethora of picks, Richmond is going to look at needs, and they clearly need a KP forward. They have Lynch and nothing else, and he is just about gone. North really need one as well. Possibly, St. Kilda, and possibly Melbourne.
Whoever they rate as the best KP forward is likely to go earlier than his rating as a player - consensus seems to be that the best KP forward is Armstrong. It could be Shanahan, or it could be Faull, or any of the likes of Whitlock, Gerreyn or someone else, but most of the U18 watchers have Armstrong as the best available.
I thought that was a pretty common thought from what I’d been reading.
Maybe not the complete lack of starpower at the top, but the strength very much being in the depth.
It’s why people losing it about trading out pick 9 didn’t make much sense to me. I recall reading Noober mention previously that the backend of the top10 was behind last year’s.
I think Langford will be fine.
Large, strong, durable frame.
He has a huge tank to just grind players down, and his footy IQ means he beats people there by just outsmarting them with positioning/reactions. Speed isn’t necessarily a killer for a player like him.
Harveys kicking can be damaging, his marking is good, and can be a threat foward (20.17 from 15 coates games).
Langford has kicked 15 more goals than Aaron Naughton over the last 2 years, and I’m sick of hearing how amazing he is (beside the call to send him into the backline).
Langford is effective, usually very reliable for taking strong marks and accurate kicking.
