Young Blokes

[damienc]

I would be interested in getting the consensus on how our draft recruits are going after the intra club and the NAB?

Did McCartin, Lonie, Sinclair, Acres all impress? Acres isn't new I know but his appearances were curtailed last year through injury. There is quite a bit riding on these guys in terms of our future success as a football club.

I note a couple of threads have already been created on Jason Holmes so no need to talk about him here. But......

Do we give our potential young guns a pass mark so far? Are we excited even? I'm interested in getting your opinions so don't be shy.

[Saintberra]

Personally, from the limited vision we have seen of the players, my opinion is that:

McCartin has the potential to be play a large role within the St Kilda forward line in 2-3 years time. His definitely has the body, and the presence of a big time forward. At this point in time, he must go through his routine, get fitness levels up, spend hours on end practising set shots, and work on techniques to push off his opponents. When he plays this year, If he plays on more experienced backmen he will struggle a little, but if he were to play on a less experienced bloke, he could easily kick a bag of three.

Lonie, personally, is the most intriguing player for me. Whilst he did not get a whole lot of the ball during the games, when he did you could feel a whiff of energy. Someone that knew exactly what to do with it, and where to put it. He ran good lines, just needs to do it on a much more regular basis. His fitness levels will improve with time, and will learn how to work around our other forwards.

[Con Gorozidis]

I would be interested in getting the consensus on how our draft recruits are going after the intra club and the NAB?

Did McCartin, Lonie, Sinclair, Acres all impress? Acres isn't new I know but his appearances were curtailed last year through injury. There is quite a bit riding on these guys in terms of our future success as a football club.

I note a couple of threads have already been created on Jason Holmes so no need to talk about him here. But......

Do we give our potential young guns a pass mark so far? Are we excited even? I'm interested in getting your opinions so don't be shy.

My

McCartin - I'm already impressed. I dint think hed do much this year but I have already re-assessed by expectations. Looks like a natural footy player. Smart and robust. Good pick-up. Will play senior footy this year.
Lonie - I'm already impressed. Skilful and clever. Another natural footballer. Good pick-up. Will play senior footy this year.
Sinclair - See how he goes tomorrow. Not enough information.
Acres - Has been discussed a lot. Broadly positively. Probably not going to have a big impact for another year or two. Sometimes disposal is sloppy but shows good signs. At best might end up a roaming beast who can go back midfield & fwd.

[stinger]

saw acres play his first game....against the hawks....slow as a wet week....a plodder...but hey...we had 22 plodders that day...

[spert]

Watched Acres in the VFL and thought he had something special- great awareness and ability to get the ball. Unfortunately he was thrown in at the deep end against Hawthorn last year in a team who had no idea what they were doing all day, so not a great experience for a young player. Lonie looks like a class act with great vision and awareness, and McCartin looks like he will be a force, but is a season off at least, but will be worth the wait I think.

[Bluthy]

I'm trying not to get too carried away with McCartin but I'm loving everything I'm seeing from him. Has this affable, knockabout, country boy persona that is the handling the no. 1 draft pick burden with ridiculous ease. There is a real Jono Brown swagger about that screams future captain and players will walk taller with him on the field. On the field last week he worked really hard, pushing up the ground and linking play up effectively which surprised me. The coach loved the way he got bashed up going with the flight of the ball, got bandaged up and then wanted to get back out there. At this rate I see him going straight into the firsts and probably staying there. Richo likes to get AFL games straight into the quality kids and likes to have them directly under his control.

I was impressed watching Lonie's highlights after the draft - he's a damn good user of the footy and ball reader and showed it against Brissy. There is a bit of the Rioli about him - speed, can do that tappy tappy thing without taking possession to get it out of traffic and hits up his fellow forwards. As little guy things are against him a bit but his x-factor and ability to set up his fellow forwards could get see him make it.

Acres is a player I really dig from the little I've seen of him. He seems to have that ball/play reading that BJ and Hodge have and I see him being a sweeper and mid but also tall enough to push forward (I'm a big fan of versatility in players - its stops us being so predictable which was a problem under Lyon). What I noticed about Acres is he gravitates to the heart of the action really naturally by reading the play rather than those players who mindlessly sprint after footy. Hence some will say he looks lazy like they said about BJ. Acres isn't quite used to the pace of AFL yet - he gets pinged with the footy quite a bit or alternatively over reacts. Against Brissy, he beautifully picked up a footy off his shoe laces and spotted up the Fisher option straight away but then panicked the handball and overcooked it to Fisher. Once he finds his groove I think he will be a smart, play reader that will use it with creativity.

McKenzie I'm curious to see. With his supposed pace and long kicking he could be a winger but we really need some quality dash and disposal bringing it out from the back because Geary, Savage and Ray don't have much penetration with their kicking. I think he's quite a good mark too which is vital so instead of just nullifying it, he can pick off the mark and start an attack.

Has Sinclair played? I haven't noticed him. As a rookie anything he can do is a bonus but Eli showed a bit last year so would be great to see what he can do. At the rate of our injuries already he could be used in R1! Joke . Really looking forward to getting a gander of Goddard Mark 2. Hopefully he can be that smart CHB general we need. So very, very, very ealy in the game its looks like another really exciting drafting effort by the recruitment team. But a lot of water needs to flow under all their bridges.

[saintspremiers]

Isn't Acres a bit like Fazza Ray?

[plugger66]

Isn't Acres a bit like Fazza Ray?

Both males I suppose.

[gringo]

Isn't Acres a bit like Fazza Ray?

Acres hasn't looked that outstanding yet but should be a good player I would say Mc Kenzie is more Faz like. Sinclair impressed at training and is a really solidly built kid. I could see him playing good footy if he gets a chance.

Mc Cartin is showing a bit so far with his good marking. Mc Kenzie looks like he will wind into the season but is probably going to be a bit like Acres and take a bit longer. Payne looked pretty good at training too he leads well and looks a mid sized forward like Markworth. Lonnie looks exciting. I have high hopers for all those guys but its probably to early to cal.

[bobmurray]

Isn't Acres a bit like Fazza Ray?

Do you mean with his disposal ? let's hope not.

[Old Mate]

Richo said Acres has the best athletic profile of any player on our list. He's also a very naturally talented ball player. A true all rounder. Will be a gun I have no doubts and judging by the length of his contract extension neither does the club. He is a bit like Ray with his marking presence and elite running ability but I like Acres inside game a lot more. Very smart around packs and clean hands.

[gringo]

Richo said Acres has the best athletic profile of any player on our list. He's also a very naturally talented ball player. A true all rounder. Will be a gun I have no doubts and judging by the length of his contract extension neither does the club. He is a bit like Ray with his marking presence and elite running ability but I like Acres inside game a lot more. Very smart around packs and clean hands.

I asked him about his background and he went through the bloodstock which was very impressive with a strong athletics background on both sides. The reports of him from Perth sounded like he was an outstanding young player who was likely to go top 5 if not for a bit of a bad run with injury. I think Knightmare had him at about 3 in his power rankings out of his draft year. Lots to be excited about but I would rather let him develop slowly along the lines of Jimmy Webster, both are probably similar with the ability to run and use the ball well. No pressure on him, just let him roll along at his own pace. Last year he spent preseason on crutches and never got the same fitness base as the other kids. I expect he will show a few glimpses this year but don't load the pressure on him. He's a pretty quiet kid and don't think he'd be the type to respond well to heavy expectation.

[GRAMophone]

saw acres play his first game....against the hawks....slow as a wet week....a plodder...but hey...we had 22 plodders that day...

Guess I'm the eternal optimist but I saw a very raw but exciting creativity and ability to re ad the play that day. Admittedly there wasn't much else to be excited about