Your choice for the Saints draft picks.

[borderbarry]

Who would you like to see the Saints get in the draft?
1st round. In order, if still around, T.Swift W.A, J.Hill W.A, C. Yarran W.A, S.Blease Vic M, M.Robinson Tas, M.Walters W.A. All mids.
2nd Round. Any of the above still left. Jordan Roughead Vic C or Jackson Trengove Vic M(Rk/KPF), J. Lisle Vic M or A.Cornelius Tas(KPD/F.) R. Schoenmakers S.A(Fwd), Rhys O'Keeffe S.A or Clancee Pearce W.A, both defenders.
3rd round. Any of the above still left. Kade Klemke NSW.,Rory Sloane, Ashley Smith, James Strauss, all 3 Vic M, all 4 S Def. Bart McCulloch Tas Rk, Liam Jones Tas KPF/D.
4th round. Any of the above still left. L.Shuey, D.Hanneberry, L.Stanton, all Vic M & Mids. Tom Allwright, Tas Mid. Casey Sibosado. NT KPF/D.
5th & 6th rounds. Any of the above still left. J.Post tall mid. Vic M, Kieran King W.A. Mid, John Bennell W.A. small Fwd/mid, Pat Heenan N.T. small Def/mid, Adam Cockie W.A. Mid.
Out of 6 picks, I would like to see us finish with 3 mids, 1 ruck (only because after bidding for Cordy the club must want one) 1 KPFwd/Def., 1 fwd or def.

[Animal Enclosure]

An excellent summary Baz.

A number of those names are on my wishlist. I especially like Kade Klemke later in the draft, we really could do with a smaller defender.

Joey Daye is mentioned in the Emma Quayle book as a potential draftee in 07 & I haven't heard his name thus far this year. Not sure how he went in the champs but the Hawks were considering him for the Stewart Dew pick last year.

[spiral2]

there's some good info in both these threads on BF

profiles by Ant555
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=480905

video and media links
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=499369

Haven't seen much U18 footy but caught the final between VM and WA, from your list I liked the look of Sam Blease, very quick and effective.

Also liked the way Tom Lynch went about it, very physical KPP type, apparently good pace, maybe second or third round pick??

also from your list borderbarry, Steve Hill shows some great dash - pinged a lovely long goal from 55m+, but looking at his vid highlights from that game his decision making is a bit off, runs into trouble a bit. pretty skinny too.

thought shuey looks quite composed, maybe an option for a later pick.

lots of good kids out there, you can see how difficult a recruiters job is.

[True Blue Sainter]

1st round - Sam Blease, Tom Swift, Michael Walters or Stephen Hill
2nd round - Ash Smith, Nick Heyne, Ryan Schoenmakers or Mitch Robinson
3rd round - Jordan Lisle, Neville Jetta, Zac Clarke, Tom Lynch or Rory Sloane

[MCG-Unit]

13 - Won't be around but, Steele Sidebottom Fwd, Jack Ziebell mid.
David Zaharakis mid, Nick Heyne

31 - MItch Banner mid James Strauss mid, Mitch Robinson, Matt DeBoer

47 - Casey Sibosado, KP Michael Walters SF

Rnd 4 - best available, Ruck

Rnd 5 - Brad Gilder, Sandringham

[n1ck]

Has anyone heard anything about Matthew Welburn from WA?

[st_Trav_ofWA]

31 - MItch Banner mid James Strauss mid, Mitch Robinson, Matt DeBoer

i would be stoked id Deboer is still around at pick 31

[BigMart]

Tom Swift #13

[SaintBot]

Pick 13 (Key Defender)
Best Bet: Jackson Trengove (Key defender/ruckman who had his season ended by injury. Aggressive and is a great competitor with very solid hands. Out did Ben Mcevoy on a number of occasions last season.)
Next Best: Jordan Lisle (Good rebounding defender, more the Sam Fisher type than Hudghton.)
Outsider: -
Fantasy: Michael Hurley (Has happened most years, a highly rated key defender slips out of the top ten.)
Worth Noting: No other key defenders really worth picking with selection 13. Listen out for Ryan Schoenmakers who could be worth a look with a second round selection.

Pick 13 (Midfielder)
Best Bet: Sam Blease (Good pacey midfielder who can kick goals. Might take time as he is still quite light)
Next Best: Nick Heyne (Midfielder forward with a very nice left boot. Some similarities to Alan Didak. He is 187cm and can mark so with some added muscle could also develop into a third tall/crumber.)
Outsider: Tom Swift (Two years out with knee injuries on both sides. Very highly rated footballer and leader before his injuries. Obviously a very high risk involved but so were Judd and J.Selwood.)
Fantasy: Steele Sidebottom (He was a small chance until his Grand Final.)
Worth Noting: Mitchell Banner (This guy has obvious flaws in his decision making/skills however he still has the ability to win games. Goalkicking true midfielder who can kick 3+ goals and gather 30+ possesions in the same match. If available come our second round selection he should be the top of our priorities.)

[MCG-Unit]

31 - MItch Banner mid James Strauss mid, Mitch Robinson, Matt DeBoer

I would be stroked if Deboer is still around at pick 31

Yes it would be great to get the DeBoer at 31 - at 85 Kg he's ready to play - maybe his disposal could see him slide.....

Any of DeBoer, Banner or Strauss would be good at 31 - they're all inside types

[Otiman]

1st Round - Naitanui
2nd Round - Rich
3rd Round - Watts


Something tells me this won't be happening

[Animal Enclosure]

1st Round - Naitanui
2nd Round - Rich
3rd Round - Watts


Something tells me this won't be happening

Those 3 would fill our needs nicely!

[LTN16]

13- Nick Heyne – 187cm, 79kg – Gippsland Power. - Medium Forward

31- Rhys O’Keefe – 187cm, 80kg – North Adelaide. - Defender/Midfielder

47- Jaime Sheahan – 178cm, 73kg – Murray Bushrangers. - Midfielder/Forward

63- Riley Milne – 192cm, 78kg – Murray Bushrangers. - Tall Defender

79- Jarred Reddan – 202cm, 88kg – Woodville/West Torrens. - Ruckman

[evertonfc]

31 - MItch Banner mid James Strauss mid, Mitch Robinson, Matt DeBoer

I would be stroked if Deboer is still around at pick 31

Yes it would be great to get the DeBoer at 31 - at 85 Kg he's ready to play - maybe his disposal could see him slide.....

Any of DeBoer, Banner or Strauss would be good at 31 - they're all inside types

De Boer update - taken on the rookie list by Fremantle (we overlooked him in favour of Zac Dawson) - has been upgraded today.

We could have had De Boer and Clancee Pearce with our first two rookie picks...and probably gone back in for Dawson as late as we liked.

Anyway, be interesting to see how they go.

[sainter35]

De Boer update - taken on the rookie list by Fremantle (we overlooked him in favour of Zac Dawson) - has been upgraded today.

We could have had De Boer and Clancee Pearce with our first two rookie picks...and probably gone back in for Dawson as late as we liked.

Anyway, be interesting to see how they go.

On the flip side, we took 13 players in the two drafts (including 11 17/18 year olds) and are now facing the start of the season without Max and Goose so you'd suggest the clubs rationale for choosing Dawson has been proven correct. As for the kids, we've taken more than we ever have so we just have to hope the recruiting staff have made the right choices.

[MCG-Unit]

31 - MItch Banner mid James Strauss mid, Mitch Robinson, Matt De Boer

I would be stroked if Deboer is still around at pick 31

Yes it would be great to get the De Boer at 31 - at 85 Kg he's ready to play - maybe his disposal could see him slide.....

Any of De Boer, Banner or Strauss would be good at 31 - they're all inside types

De Boer update - taken on the rookie list by Fremantle (we overlooked him in favour of Zac Dawson) - has been upgraded today.

We could have had De Boer and Clancee Pearce with our first two rookie picks...and probably gone back in for Dawson as late as we liked.

Anyway, be interesting to see how they go.

Thanks, I didn't know De Boer was upgraded, read his draft profiles on BF and only seen him briefly in a pre-season game, he looked good.

Would liked to have taken him - just have to hope one of the Saints draft picks/rookies turns out ok

[Armoooo]

I was absolutely shattered we didn't take DeBoer and Pearce.. Fremantle have done exceedingly well in this years draft... I just hope that when they all want to leave we can snag a few of them.

[Bernard Shakey]

Interesting to note that borderbarry kicked the ball out on the full with the OP.

[skeptic]

13- Nick Heyne – 187cm, 79kg – Gippsland Power. - Medium Forward

31- Rhys O’Keefe – 187cm, 80kg – North Adelaide. - Defender/Midfielder

47- Jaime Sheahan – 178cm, 73kg – Murray Bushrangers. - Midfielder/Forward

63- Riley Milne – 192cm, 78kg – Murray Bushrangers. - Tall Defender

79- Jarred Reddan – 202cm, 88kg – Woodville/West Torrens. - Ruckman

nice effort

[evertonfc]

De Boer update - taken on the rookie list by Fremantle (we overlooked him in favour of Zac Dawson) - has been upgraded today.

We could have had De Boer and Clancee Pearce with our first two rookie picks...and probably gone back in for Dawson as late as we liked.

Anyway, be interesting to see how they go.

On the flip side, we took 13 players in the two drafts (including 11 17/18 year olds) and are now facing the start of the season without Max and Goose so you'd suggest the clubs rationale for choosing Dawson has been proven correct. As for the kids, we've taken more than we ever have so we just have to hope the recruiting staff have made the right choices.

I'm quite happy we took Dawson - I just felt very confident no other club would have touched him.

Without wanting to turn this into another recruiter-bashing thread, I would have punted that we could have taken De Boer or Varcoe at 13 (Dawson), Andrew Browne at 29 (though Simpkin isn't a bad option), Pearce at 44 (Howard), Gaertner at 58 was the right punt and finished up with Tunga & Dawson.

I exclude Wade Thompson because I honestly knew nothing about him at the time

Look, the likes of McGarry, Simpkin, McGrath may turn out to be very good players, I was just a little disappointed we overlooked some well-known talent in what I felt was arguably the deepest rookie draft in years.

We definitely went with a needs-based rookie draft rather than best available...which isn't the *worst* strategy for this draft usually, I just reckon there was a great number of really good types/projects we overlooked.

(And before anyone does a head gasket about it being early days, YES, it is early and NO, I'm not getting on the backs of the players we did draft. I want them to do well.)

[borderbarry]

I was miles out on the players I suggested we pick up. The only one I chose was Ash Smith. Although I was close with the types we wanted.
"Out of 6 picks, I would like to see us finish with 3 mids, 1 ruck (only because after bidding for Cordy the club must want one) 1 KPFwd/Def., 1 fwd or def." On second thoughts, no, not very close at all.

[vacuous space]

The only one I chose was Ash Smith. Although I was close with the types we wanted.

Ash Smith went to West Coast. We got Alistair Smith.

Anyone know if Zac Dawson was nominated? The AFL website only lists Aaron Joseph and Sam Jacobs (Carlton), Cam Stokes and Matt Suckling (Hawthorn) and de Boer and Greg Broughton from Freo.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

De Boer isn't exactly the type of player we need here. He's a centre square player with poor disposal.

[sainter35]

I don't know how much TAC CUP or underage football in WA or SA that you all see but as I don't watch any I'm not going to criticise the club for their selections.

When I look at De Boer and Pearce I see them as kids that all 16 clubs overlooked in the national draft, the pre-season draft and in the early stages of the rookie draft so I'm not going to tear into our recruiting department for not selecting them. All 16 clubs, not just St Kilda, had their reasons.

[True Blue Sainter]

De Boer update - taken on the rookie list by Fremantle (we overlooked him in favour of Zac Dawson) - has been upgraded today.

We could have had De Boer and Clancee Pearce with our first two rookie picks...and probably gone back in for Dawson as late as we liked.

Anyway, be interesting to see how they go.

On the flip side, we took 13 players in the two drafts (including 11 17/18 year olds) and are now facing the start of the season without Max and Goose so you'd suggest the clubs rationale for choosing Dawson has been proven correct. As for the kids, we've taken more than we ever have so we just have to hope the recruiting staff have made the right choices.

I'm quite happy we took Dawson - I just felt very confident no other club would have touched him.

Without wanting to turn this into another recruiter-bashing thread, I would have punted that we could have taken De Boer or Varcoe at 13 (Dawson), Andrew Browne at 29 (though Simpkin isn't a bad option), Pearce at 44 (Howard), Gaertner at 58 was the right punt and finished up with Tunga & Dawson.

I exclude Wade Thompson because I honestly knew nothing about him at the time

Look, the likes of McGarry, Simpkin, McGrath may turn out to be very good players, I was just a little disappointed we overlooked some well-known talent in what I felt was arguably the deepest rookie draft in years.

We definitely went with a needs-based rookie draft rather than best available...which isn't the *worst* strategy for this draft usually, I just reckon there was a great number of really good types/projects we overlooked.

(And before anyone does a head gasket about it being early days, YES, it is early and NO, I'm not getting on the backs of the players we did draft. I want them to do well.)

Good summation, Ev.

I also remember posting that we could have safely left Dawson until our last couple of picks, and picked up a couple of kids like De Boer & Pearce. We all know what Dawson can do at AFL level, but the other two (or any other highly rated junior) have potential, which means that they MAY turn out to be a better AFL-level footballer than Zac.

Happy with Ross and McGarry - Simpkin and Gaertner seem OK, but I think we could have done better with our first two picks in the rookie draft. I was shocked to see De Boer slip psat the first three rounds of the National Draft, let alone the first two in the rookie draft!

[plugger66]

How would anyone here know if Dawson would or would not have gone later in the rookie draft. We got him and he is likely to be the first upgraded so it sounds like a good pick to me. The other may or not make it and someone on here can then say I told you so but at the moment none of them are likely to be upgraded in the near future.