Please at least have a look at the guy!!!

[Northern Pie]

Been following the WAFL pretty keenly this year and although this guy has been overlooked in 2 drafts he is an out an out star, has all the makings of a fantastic Midfielder...with a few Roookie's likely to be promoted PLEASE PLEASE atleaast have a good look at the guy.

Matt Priddis is his name....good football head, lovely silky skills! surely worth a look....

[bwphantom]

Watched him play last night on ABC 2. He is a hard running midfielder that is great on left and very good on his right. Subi kicked 8 goals in the last 1/4 to win and the main reason was this guy. One pass he did was fantastic runs from HB full pace lets go a 45 m kick to a leading FF bang on the chest right in front...and he was being chased down. worth a look i reckon.

Oh no he is 21...nah forget about him.

[the pain]

How tall is he and whats his pace like?

[HAL]

Let me guess. 2 meters?

[bwphantom]

D.O.B: HEIGHT:


21/3/1985 182cm

He is quick across the ground. And he moves the ball well. Has nominated for the draft the last 2 seasons and has been overlooked.

Also just some stats for you to think about. So far 22 rounds of footy played in the WAFL. Priddis named in BOG 16 times. Of those 13 Top 3, and 9 BOG for season. Pretty damn impressive i reckon.

[the pain]

sounds good

[leonmagic]

Don't hold your breath - our recruiters can barely think INside the square, let alone outside it..

[Northern Pie]

Unfortunately I agree leon..the guy is 20 and because of the 2 occasions he has been overlooked no one will even look at him now as an option. Washed up and no hope of an AFL career at aged 20...if that doesn't smack of something being wrong in the system i don't know what the hell does!!!

Cheers

[Dreamer]

sounds too good for us.

now if he had taken 14 marks in a game when he was a thirteen year old, he might be a chance

[skaman]

I agree NP, from what you say the guy is worth a look. You would reckon most clubs would have heard or looked at him in the last two years. Wonder if there is any underlining factor stopping recruiters/clubs from selecting him? Just a thought, but on face value he does look the goods!

[Damien]

lets pool some money and back him for the sandover medal

[bwphantom]

Damien i reckon he is a big chance for the sandover medal indeed. I just think the system of only drafting 17-18 yr olds is a farce. We say great kid we have drafted you here is $50,000 a year. They say' yea thanks i played one year of footy in a, so called, elite competion and now I get paid for playing footy, oh but what am I supposed to do for the rest of the time I am not training; I know play X-Box.

Great!!!

Now that is what I call hardening these players up. Also the difference between an 18 yr olds body compared to a 20-21 yr old is quite significant. These kids have not had the chance to gain some toughness in the body and are susceptible to injury. Look at travis and Rusling this year. After Brisbane ruffed up Travis he has been avoiding the hard stuff because he got hurt. When you are 17-18 and you are up against 25-26 yr old veterans whao have been toughened it is quite normal to be a little apprehensive.



At least with these guys who are playing in the VFL, SANFL,WAFL etc. They have toughened their bodies up to receive knocks. A lot of them work as well as play to support themselves; therefore most or some at least have a work ethic, oh and what is that, yes they have developed pride. If you were to say to me that a 17 yr old kid is a better footballer than Priddis I would say you live in a fairy land. And not just him for that matter.

Now apparently this draft system is patterned after the American Version. Hello what happens in the USA. They play High school sport, if good enough attain scholarship to play college. They cannot be drafted until they

1. either finish College
2. if leave college before finishing have worked for 2 years or more

So either way by the time they are ready to play in the major Leagues most of these guys are aged between 20-22. Umm so how is our current draft system patterned after the USA system exactly???

Yea that is my point.

[DaicosMagic]

BWPhanton I agree and have always said similar things about the US sports system.

As an example, when I was in the VAFA VIC U/19 Rep side about 7 years ago, we played the best of the U/18 comp from NSW & ACT RAMS. These were guys who would be nominating for the draft, but because most of the players in the U/19 team (me included) had predominantly played VAFA Seniors that year, we smashed the so-called draftee hopefuls by 10 goals becuae they weren't used to the hardness and bumps and tackling and we were hardened and experienced playing against 'men'.

Kids being drafted these days are SOFT. Play them for a year in the seniors, then make a call on whether they're that good.

[HAL]

How many kids do you have?

[Cannibal]

It's hard to imagine EVERY club has overlooked him in two drafts, especially the two WA clubs, for no good reason. Maybe he just hasn't been ready before and is now blossoming. However, if the stats, performances, etc. are being correctly stated and the guy does end up winning the Sandover by the length of the street, you'd have to think every club will look him over again. That sort of performance doesn't go unnoticed. We wouldn't be the only ones casting our eyes over him.

I'd be happy to draft him. After all, our top two 1st round picks and our 2nd round pick, plus the 2nd PSD pick are about all I'm interested in using for gun 17 year olds and an experienced player from another side. If this bloke is likely to stick around in the draft long enough for us to use our 3rd (or 4th) round pick on, then do it. This is supposed to be a pretty ordinary sort of draft outside the top half dozen or so, therefore I figure we would have nothing to lose.