Mr.Craig's Rookie Spotlight

[Mr.Craig]

A full page article on Ollie Wines in the Advertiser today, along with a picture on the back cover. Basically saying what we already knew about how he should play Round 1. 8)

On the flipside, Brad Crouch has been caught up in the Crows gastro outbreak and I'd imagine this increases his chances of the green vest should he play in their first game.

[Artax]

Gastro call now making it tougher. Basically have room for 2 of Couch, Lonergan & Wines. K Mitch is already on the bench which led me away from Wines a bit..

What do you think?

[Jukes]

Kane should be locked into everybodies' ground imo, should average 80, I reckon could be a smokey for 90+ and the B&F :3 very optimistic though.

Also, great early call on him by me :P

Kane Mitchell
PORT ADELAIDE
Rookie Draft Pick #5



Birthday: December 1st 1989
174cm, 76kg
Club- Claremont
Position: Midfielder

Another one of our guns at Claremont like Tom Lee and one of my favourite players, short midfielder who runs all day, has an average kick but finds the ball a lot, won the Sandover (best in comp) for this season in addition to a premiership medal. Scored 2271 dt this season playing every game for a 103.22 average, impressive seeing as our midfield has lot of other stars such as Luke Blackwell (2011 Sandover Medallist) and Paul Medhurst (Collingwood champ). May not be drafted at all, but after the season he's had I wouldn't be surprised and if he misses the first few will be a great downgrade target for those trying to get in Swanny after he drops in price. Equalled the record for most Sandover Votes at 58 (Sandover uses 5-4-3-2-1 system) with Matt Priddis. Has two premierships to his name, getting 105 DT on Sunday's grannie for 24 possessions, 5 marks and 3 goals, including the sealer in the final quarter.

WAFL scores for 2012 - 113, 76, 57, 122, 128, 102, 112, 132, 131, 57, 114, 90, 139, 84, 96, 85, 113, 133, 70, 127, 73, 107.

Also has great hair \/

[Artax]

Meant to say on the field, Couch & Viney bench mids atm. Jesse, KMitch & Jaeger on the ground

[Mr.Craig]

Meant to say on the field, Couch & Viney bench mids atm. Jesse, KMitch & Jaeger on the ground

I'd suggest finding the cash to get Wines in.

Crouch and Lonergan should both average around the 62-68 range, it might be worth picking Lonergan for Round 1 and seeing how they both go before making a final decision prior to the Round 3 price rise.

[Artax]

Thanks mate.

70k in the bank so I can afford any 2 of the 3.

[Ricochet]

Hey MC, do you have any info on Growden from GC?

[tbagrocks]

Am agreeing about Wines and he is going in at any cost

[nostradamus]

l've changed my thinking recently and am considering having Whitfield, Wines, Lonergan & Mitchell on ground, with O'Meara and Crouch on the bench.

[GM]

l've changed my thinking recently and am considering having Whitfield, Wines, Lonergan & Mitchell on ground, with O'Meara and Crouch on the bench.

Yep,likewise with Viney instead of Crouch atm.

[Toga]

l've changed my thinking recently and am considering having Whitfield, Wines, Lonergan & Mitchell on ground, with O'Meara and Crouch on the bench.

Identical midfield rookies to me, but with Viney over Crouch (apparently he was caught up in a bout of gastro at the club this week which will only help his vest chances)

Hey MC, do you have any info on Growden from GC?

GWS* ;)

But yeah, interested to hear what you think about him Craigy given the lack of fwd rookie options :-X

[Ricochet]

Haha yeah thats what I meant

[Mr.Craig]

I've spoken about Growden in a few different threads at FF. He obviously has some talent given that GWS drafted him as a 17 year old. This is his profile from last year's Prospectus -

"Growden played 11 games for Greater Western Sydney in the NEAFL last year and despite winning 20% of his disposals in the forward 50 he kicked just one goal - scoring at an accuracy of 17%. He was a big ball-winner for Woodville-West Torrens at under-18 level in 2010, especially during the second half of the season, averaging 31 disposals in his final seven appearances, including 43 in one outing. While representing South Australia at the 2009 NAB Under-16 Championships, Growden played as a defender and finished with the second-highest disposal efficiency for his side, winning a third of disposals from intercept possessions - the second-highest percentage for his side"

GWS Player Profile -

"After breaking his leg against the Gold Coast SUNS in the NEAFL in 2011 and twelve months in the GIANTS rehabilitation group, Josh Growden returned to the UWS GIANTS side in August 2012.

Growden is yet to make his AFL debut but played a number of games for the UWS GIANTS as he returned from injury towards the end of the 2012 season.

Growden is a smooth moving midfielder with a penetrating left foot kick, who can also play in a variety of roles in defence or up forward. He has been likened to James Hird and is excellent overhead and is also a sound decision maker who reads the play well.

For South Australia at the 2009 NAB AFL Under 16 Championships he averaged 10 disposals per match with an elite efficiency of 80%, along with two marks and three rebound 50s. These efforts saw him inducted into the 2010/11 AIS AFL Academy squad.
Growden Captained the AIS AFL Academy squad against Europe.

He was in the initial 2010 NAB AFL Under 18 Championship squad for his state before being pre-listed by the GIANTS at the end of 2010 and joining the club in the NEAFL competition in 2011.  At SANFL Level he played 16 matches for the Eagles at Under 18 level, recording elite averages of 26 disposals, five inside 50s and three clearances per match. Growden won the U18 SANFL Most Valuable Player Award."

The broken leg was obviously quite serious and he only played four games last year, kicking two goals and not being named in the best in any of those games. The word is that he's got a hip/groin complaint which has kept him out of the NAB and my personal opinion is that we won't see much (if any) of him until mid season. He really needs to get more NEAFL games under his belt and build up some decent form before they will throw him into the fire.

Basically I see him as the sort of guy you downgrade to in like Round 15 when you need some quick cash and are hoping that maybe he gets a few games at some point. I don't picture him being a regular contributor this year. Could be wrong, but that's my analysis at this stage.

[Mr.Craig]

Was interesting to see in the Freako rave that Dean Kent has played the equal 8th most minutes of any Demon in the pre-season. Kicked goals in both rounds and averaged 83 points per 100 minutes. One to watch.

[Ricochet]

Awesome thanks mate. Gave you another cheer