Post 2013 Draft reflections (waddya reckon)

[Podpicken]

Time will tell, but you can't help but feel excited. To think we have just landed Grundy, Kennedy, Broomhead, Adams, Scharenberg and Freeman in the past two years is phenomenal really. Six first rounders with serious talent and potential, a big dose of toughness in there, too, have you noticed? Then to think there's Karnezis, White, Armstrong, and later picks like Ramsay, Marsh, Langdon etc.

Young, Toovs and Faz to rock back into the equation and there's a buzz. Might take a bit to settle but the future is set.

Podpicken, you've mentioned only six first rounders... In fact, it is SEVEN first round pick in 12 months... Karnezis was also a first round pick. I doubt that any club has ever had that many first round picks enter the club in such a short space of time whist still playing finals. We brought in three first rounders last year and four this year...

Awesome work by the recruiting team... Hine, Rendell and co.

Absolutely correct, thanks for picking that up. 8 first rounders in two years. That's almost half a starting line up. Some serious talent and toughness kicking around with that crew. Time to win three flags in a row some time in the near future.

[watt price tully]

South Australia might be the new Gippsland Power.

I think the Sandringham Dragons might be the new Gippsland Power as well

Funny coz (I think) they didn't win too much in the U18 comp this year yet were such prolific draft providers last night.

[Beast]

Once it became clear The Suns were going to pick KK getting Sharenberg was my dream result. No pressure on the kid but he looks like a taller Hodge to me... Aish would have been nice too but there's more of a chance of him not leaving up to expectations than Matt.
Originally wasn't a fan of Freeman as he looks quite sloppy to me but can understand why the Club chose him ahead of Lennon.
Can't make up my mind on Langdon as he doesn't seem to possess any outstanding attributes but Marsh has an x-factor and could a big steal of the draft if everything goes according to plan.

All in all bloody stoked with the outcome

[OEP]

Very happy the pies drafted Matt Scharenberg, some have concerns regarding his feet and given what happened with Dale Thomas over the last two seasons that's understandable. In saying that the fact the Pies still drafted Scharenberg even after the Thomas problems should be reassuring to all supporters because if any club is well versed in feet injuries it's Collingwood and they still chose him. Says to me Collingwood believe his current feet problems aren't an issue.

Nathan Freeman looks to be a very good player and adds some much needed speed to our midfield rotations. I've read some are concerned that his disposal by foot can be poor at times but I've googled him and looked at all the video I could find of him and some of the elite (by foot disposal) talent that was also in the draft and he's not far off their level.

Tom Langdon I know sweet F/A about this guy so can't really give an intelligent assessment on what I think, but best of luck to the bloke.

Jonathon Marsh has some massive upside and slightly (very slightly) eases the pain of missing out on McCarthy but as others have already commented he has a lot of work to do before he's AFL ready. Though I must admit I'm staggered he was still there at pick 77 when so many other clubs (like Brisbane, Essendrugs, Carlscum, and Freakmantle) needed a player like him, he would've been an absolute steal for these clubs in the third round and the Pies managed to grab him in the fifth round.

All-in-all very satisfied with another virtuoso performance by Hine at the draft table.

[Jezza]

Overall I was quite happy with the way we performed in this year's national draft. We've selected some really good kids who have the potential to have a major impact with the club in the future. Hine and his fellow recruiters have done well yet again.

Selecting Matthew Scharenberg at pick 6 was a no-brainer in my view. He's an extremely talented individual who could have an instant impact in the senior side if injuries don't get the better of him. He's a fantastic recruit and I heard from 'experts' on SEN that they rate him as the second best player in the draft and that it was only injuries that lowered his positioning on the draft. It's also very pleasing that Scharenberg is also close friends with fellow South Australians Brodie Grundy and Ben Kennedy so therefore it will definitely create 'player unity' as September Zeros emphasised earlier. Overall I'm very pleased that Hine and Co opted to go with Scharenberg as opposed to Aish.

I'm also satisfied with our number 10 pick as we decided to go with Nathan Freeman. I must admit I was a major advocate to select Ben Lennon at pick 10 because of his elite foot skills and the fact that he's a versatile player and that he can play half-forward (his preferred position) or half-back, but the one thing that Lennon doesn't have as opposed to Freeman is elite pace. Freeman's pace is unbelievable and it's definitely something we needed to add into the midfield as we don't have the fastest side going around at the moment. Going by what Hine said post-draft, he seems to think that Freeman could play quite a few games next year. I also love Freeman's toughness at the contest as well which is an element of his game that I love hearing about. One thing that he'll have to work on is his disposal efficiency by foot but overall the strengths clearly outweigh the weaknesses in Nathan Freeman.

At pick 65 we opted to go with Tom Langdon as opposed to Cameron Conlon which a lot of people were hoping for. I must admit that I don't know too much about Langdon but after reading a little bit about him and seeing some highlights of him I must say I can see why we went for him. I admire Tom for the fact that while he missed out on last year's draft he never gave up and this motivated to work harder this year and he demonstrated some excellent leadership qualities with Sandringham Dragons this year and he looks like a composed player who could develop into a useful player for the club. Definitely worth the punt in my view, especially since we need more leaders at the club.

At pick 77 we've selected Jonathan Marsh who in all honesty could be anything. He could be the absolute steal of the draft or he could turn out to be quite a poor player for the club who languishes in the reserves. It did seem surprising to many experts that he was picked so low in the draft considering most of them had him at around pick 20 to 35. He's got that x-factor and unpredictability about him. On his day he could potentially single-handedly win us a game if he's on song. I think it's fantastic that we've taken a risk on selecting Marsh. He could turn out to be an excellent player for the club and it looks like a good kick and he's got a strong set of hands.

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the way we performed in this draft. I'm pretty certain that Scharenberg will be a superstar for us. Freeman's going to be excellent and will provide plenty of width in the midfield. If he's kicking improves then look out. Langdon could prove to be vital for us in terms of his leadership qualities and Marsh could be anything. We'll be laughing if he fires for the club!

Well done Hine and Co for another good year of recruiting

[Jezza]

All our four new recruits looking superb in the black and white!!