Mid-Season Rookie Research

With the back end of the season coming up and rookie pickings looking a bit slim, I thought I’d do a bit of research into how some of the popular preseason picks were coming along in their efforts to get into their respective AFL teams and our Dreamteams. It’s also a great way to procrastinate and not be doing physics practice exams!

By the way, I thought I’d leave off Tom Couch from these picks as I’m sure anyone who’s reading this has heard enough rants about Mark Neeld being a dickhead and not picking someone in such brilliant form when you have a spud like Cale Morton and the dirtiest mo in the AFL in Lynden Dunn in the team…

Anyway, let’s get into it!

Sam Docherty                   DEF/MID

Brisbane Lions                 $130,200

Sam was talked up for a lot of the preseason as a rebounding defender who was going to feature prominently throughout the year for the Lions and be a very solid mid/defence link who could be somewhat of a ball accumulator, not too unlike our mate Dyson Heppell last year over at the Dons. Then he was struck down with a hip injury and had to have some surgery which threw a spanner in the works.

The Lions had a bye this week in both the AFL and NEAFL so we didn’t get an indication of how he’s going right now. Last week, however, he played his fifth game for the Lions in the reserves and was “a standout across half-back” and “had a season best outing, amassing 28 touches and providing a lot of rebound from the backline”. That sounds fairly promising to me.

One of his only concerns is the amount of half-back options Brisbane have at the moment. Pearce Hanley, Jed Adcock, Mitch Golby and Josh Drummond are all solid options there and the Lions may not need another one in the side. But given the Lions need to blood some more of their youngsters to continue rebuilding their squad and Mr. Docherty here fits that description perfectly.

Despite his higher price, I’d say it’s well and truly worth it. If he gets selected in the coming weeks, I know that I’ll be jumping right on board even if he gets vested. Quality downgrade options are hard to come by in the backline and he could even be a useful link in the midfield for some floating premo bench cover in Carrazzo/Scotland when they return. A creative defender with clean foot skills and great scoring potential… Come on Vossy, bring him in!

Stephen Clifton                 MID

GWS Giants                         $121,800

This guy could be a lifesaver for anyone (like me) who still have a multitude of midfield rookies sitting on their bench almost completely fattened up and ready to cull. He’s an inside midfielder who is one of the strong-bodied Giants’ midfielders and as a bonus is still only 23. As soon as he’s back from injury he’ll be almost a certainty to help shoulder the midfield load every week against the strong bodies in the AFL. Could be a good time for Sheeds to rest a couple of the younger guys. He won’t be spectacular like Horsley or Coniglio, but he’s not going to let you down with 40s either which is always handy.

The Giants injury list says that he’s still two weeks off, but he’ll probably play his first game or two in the NEAFL so he probably won’t play til round 14 at least. Possible downgrade for a maxed out Jmac/Treloar? All I know is he’ll be very useful to help finish off those last upgrades!

Tom Mitchell                     MID

Sydney Swans                   $98,700

This kid will be a serious bargain if he can ever get a game. The endurance, poise and raw talent of a top 5 draft pick for the price of a standard draft pick! I bet Sydney couldn’t believe their luck when they picked him up at number 21 under the Father/Son rule. This guy has amazing scoring potential as shown by some recent games in the NEAFL with 26 disposals (19 of which were contested), four tackles and a goal for 105 points against the Suns and a massive 42 disposals for 133 two weeks before that. His SC points were boosted by about 30 per game above his DT. This shows the effectiveness of his disposals and overall quality of his game which means he’s a lot more likely to get selected and keep a spot.

He has a lot of obstacles in his way to being selected alongside Josh Kennedy however as Sydney’s midfield is a very solid unit with a lot of depth. Goodes is still to come back from injury and the Swans have even upgraded rookie youngster Harry Cunningham who impressed in the NAB Cup. This to me says that he’s a fair way back in the pecking order at the moment and don’t take this as gospel but I’ve heard a couple of people say he may not even get a game this year as the Swans want him to develop in the NEAFL for a while.

Pretty much what I’m saying here is don’t hold your breath for him to get a game, and certainly don’t rely on him getting one either. All we can do is pray and thank the DT gods for this one blessing if he does in fact get a game.

Elliott Kavanagh                 MID

Essendon                               $98,700

Another one of the bargain brigade, Kavanagh featured heavily in lots of Fanfooty’s Fanplanner teams until he managed to keep getting these niggling hamstring tightness/soreness injuries. Was part of the AIS/AFL Academy, has decent endurance and topped the clean hands test with 28/30 in the AFL Draft Combine. Taken at pick 19 by the Dons, he would’ve gone a lot earlier in round 1 if it hadn’t been for his past with those troublesome hammies.

Unfortunately, talent may not be enough for this combination of an inside and outside midfielder. His major problem is the same as Mr. Mitchell’s above. Essendon’s midfield has been absolutely tremendous this season and he’ll really struggle to get a gig without an LTI. Zaharakis’ quad tear may be an opportunity for him, but even if he does get in, he’s likely to just play 2 or 3 games then not play again until preseason 2013.

Unless he puts on a brilliant show in both of his first two games in a row and then is selected the following week, I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to bring myself to pick him. If he can get over this recurring hamstring injury then he’ll almost certainly be a mainstay in their midfield in the future. This season, however, I’m not so certain.

Anthony Morabito             MID

Fremantle Dockers           $168,000

A 20 year old former No. 4 pick in the AFL Draft, Morabito has some talent and pace in spades. He lit up the Freo team in 2010 and had a couple of great games during that finals campaign and when he’s not having knee reconstructions or battling hamstring injuries, he’s a walk-up starter. That’s the thing with him though, those multiple injury clouds hanging over his head. He has returned to the WAFL recently and in his three games he’s been solid if not unspectacular averaging 17 disposals, 4 marks and 3.5 tackles per game. On that form he’s not going to break into the first team but he’s also not going to go unnoticed as he’s apparently central to Ross Lyon’s plans for the future.

His past scoring has been erratic to say the least with highs of 98 against Geelong and 96 against Hawthorn in an elimination-final win to lows of 31 against the Bulldogs and 38 against West Coast in their wooden-spoon season. These performances and his 2010 average of 56.6 doesn’t inspire confidence as a player you’d like to put on your field, but given the stage of the season we’ll be at by his 3^rd game when you bring him in, it’s highly unlikely that you’d be looking at starting him.

Look out for him in coming weeks as he regains match fitness and hopefully a bit more ball-winning ability.

And now I retreat back into my cave to contemplate the mysteries of physics, why they have to be examined and look at my horrible team.

Hope you all enjoyed this and found it helpful to gauge what’s happening with our potential bench options! Give me a follow on Twitter (@NickSjogren) if you want. I love a good chat about DT and footy A LOT. So yeah. That’s pretty much it!

Happy DTing and I hope your MBRs aren’t as painful as mine have been (ranked 200^th overall – nek minnit 1307 points with 7 donuts L )

I just couldn’t resist…

 

Nick Sjogren, DT and Footy Tragic.