2013 Under 18 AFL Football

Nope. Just Sicily and Greiser from western but neither played yesterday.

 

Nah, Freeman, McDonald and Magennis played as inside mids.

 

Haven't seen heaps, but he's okay. Late to rookie if at all, I'd have thought.

 

Very much so. Late/rookie chance for those who are after a midget without an elite component to their game.

 

I dropped a review on bigfooty that answers all this.

I'll post it here.

I was only at the Metro v NSW/ACT game yesterday - but still manage to have a mass (mess) of notes.

Metro only really put a gallant NSW/ACT side away after half-time - lots of junk goals at the end made it look distinctly one-sided, but it was a fair dinkum contest for a half. In saying that, all through the first half it was obvious Metro had the edge in class.

I have lots of players written up - I'll give you the favourites plus requests (King, Spencer and Le Grice).

Metro:

You can't go past Tom Boyd. Boy, he was sensational yesterday. He doesn't have break neck speed but he times his leaps and leads so well, has sensational hands, hits the ball at the highest point and protects his body superbly. Good luck spoiling him when he goes straight up or straight out with those dukes extended. Kicked six goals in 3 quarters (all to one end) and possesses a long, straight shot at goal.

Like everyone else, I'll talk about Salem. Was a livewire, particularly up forward, constantly harrassing, chasing and creating pressure - and he's more than smart enough to capitalise when he gets chances. Kicked 3 goals - one off a lead-up mark and goal off a neat Josh Kelly hit-up and another from a contested marking situation where he outbodied his opponent and took a strong grab. Kicking was OK throughout - missed one or two targets but was creative by hand and his off-ball pressure was electric.

I really liked Max Hayes throughout. Mobile 191 cm forward who won't be a KPF at AFL level, but he's got more than enough tricks (agility, great hands below his knees, leaping ability, nice burst of speed) for someone to give him a chance as a third tall. Hit the ball hard and constantly with searching leads, possesses a nice little sidestep and a fantastic defensive workrate. Can't measure his worth purely in terms of goals kicked - I thought he showed bucketloads of promise yesterday.

Josh Kelly started slow, I thought, but really came into the game in the second half. It was he and Karl Amon (another short, slight left-footer from Sandringham) who were really crucial in blowing the margin out late. He's almost purely outside but runs all day and creates options down the line, trusts his skills to turn in board and hit leading forwards and uses his hands intelligently to create run and spread. Barely saw him miss a target all day.

Luke McDonald was largely unobtrusive for the most part - strong, smart and tough in the contest but not quite creating and dashing on the outside in the same way we've seen him do. Went off sore in the second quarter but came back on before tweaking whatever it was again in the third, but gritting his teeth and carrying on. I would have though calf/hammy. Super-intelligent and creative with his hands and short-kicking, but didn't break lines as expected.

Until yesterday, BF hadn't heard of Karl Amon. Now thanks to writeups like this, you will hear more. The 180 cm Sandringham wingman/flanker played in the Kelly mould - providing run and dash off the wing - and he did it with aplomb. Kicked three, set up a few with some searing hit ups and he rarely wasted a kick. Hard-running wing-man who can use their footskills to rip sides open always excite fans and recruiters - but runs mostly in straight lines thus far and maybe doesn't have the pace/agility combo Kelly does. In saying that though, he was very impressive.

I thought Nathan Freeman played in flashes and patches yesterday. Kicking wasn't flash and he needed to think his way through contests rather than just jamming the ball on his boot but he broke lines, (invariably through the corridor) got his hands on lots of contested ball and hurt NSW/ACT with his quick hands and dash.

Alex Spencer, Tom Cutler and Elliot Le Grice all played on NSW/ACT's gorilla forwards and gave up lots of height and weight, but used their agility, pace, leaping ability to neutralise contests. Spencer and Le Grice are more your KPD's, while Cutler is that offensively gifted third tall who can play on a wing and up forward. Spencer's slightly taller than Le Grice and possesses a bit more run and dash with the ball but I thought they both defended intelligently, playing a little bit off their man and running in at pace to spoil and effect the contest. They got in good positions and made the NSW/ACT forwards infringe illegally. Cutler got pulled up-field by Clothier but read the play superbly and got a timely fist to lots of contests as third man up. Spencer and Cutler in particular took lots of intercept marks.

Michael Apeness has lots to work on still, and didn't dominate the hit-outs but did some things that made you sit up and take notice. Couple of times hit it straight down the throat of midfielders and floated across packs to take strong marks around the ground. Bit to work with there.

Jack Billings went off injured late in the first and thought Hugh Curnow was impressive as a really busy flanker/wingman with neat kicking.

NSW:

Jake Barrett - thought he was really impressive. Tough as nails midfielder who did really well in the contested situations, used the ball by hand intelligently and kicked 3 crucial goals. His kicking and disposal in general was clever but limited. I don't know how high is ceiling is but he was ahead of Perris, Gibbons and Clothier as NSW/ACT's best and had a super day.

Lloyd Perris however was the NSW/ACT player who most impressed me in terms of upside. Seemed to have an eternity with the ball, used his combination of pace and strength to bust through opponents and racked up heaps of the footy. Burst through three opponents to have a shot on goal in Q3 (it missed, but would have brought the house down) and kicked truly from a nice grab on the final siren.

Michael Gibbons racked up heaps of the ball and positions himself really well - and really aided outside runners in Ellis, Barrett and Perris (these later 2 are in-out mids) by feeding them lots with creative handballs and short kicks.

Jedd Clothier lead really hard at the ball and presented well all day. He rewarded his hard work with a nice goal from 50 in Q2. Took most of his marks out in front as that lead-up forward and was the only one of NSW/ACT's forward line to really have a win.

Max King kicked NSW/ACT's first goal from a clean, standing pluck in a pack but looked short of a yard against Metro's quick KPP's. Too often used his hands to push out rather than his body. Played both up forward and in the ruck, where he broke even with Apeness but got outmoved around the ground.