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
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.
