Mayonaise & The Electro-Pop Superstar



While we Geelong fans bask in the dim light of Grand Final ‘towel-up’ afterglow and nurse several vital organs back to health after the all-out alcohol war waged upon them, the vigilant staff at the GFC are, not unlike a certain captain, *ahem*,still at work, preparing, planning and tweaking an already loaded roster in search of back-to-back premiership glory. So while most refer to this as the off-season, it’s more like the ‘off-the-field’ season. (See what I did there?) This is what’s happening:

Trades
As covered a while back, The Cats offloaded Tim Callan to the Bulldogs for pick 62, Hank Playfair to Sydney, astonishingly, for Pick 44 and Steven King and Charlie Gardiner to St. Kilda for pick 90 and half a jar of ‘Miracle Whip’. These trades freed up salary cap room and did the right thing by players who couldn’t crack the Cats regular rotation. What it also did was free up roster spots on the Cats list.

List Management
The AFL allows each club to keep 40 players on their senior list, as well as up to 2 veterans and a maximum of six players on the rookie list. For 2008, kidney-man Tom Lonergan and Jason Davenport have both been promoted from the rookie to the senior list.

We all know Lonergan’s off-field story pretty well by now, but on the field he does seem to have an excellent set of mitts, something you can’t teach. It’ll be interesting to see how he progresses with a full pre-season and weight training schedule throughout 2008.

Jason Davenport is a lightly built, skilful, lightning quick flanker/winger who loves a goal, (38 in the VFL). He kinda reminds me of Jason Akermanis in the way he can burst away from a pack, close to the 50m line and then finish from the distance. Also, like Aka, he doesn’t mind celebrating a goal.

Leaving the club are Matthew Spencer, Stephen Owen and Sam Hunt, who have all been delisted. Spencer, a Mrs Watson favourite, couldn’t quite pull it all together, Sam Hunt didn’t have the ‘pedigree’ for the top flight and Owen will miss 2008, and therefore 2009 AFL, recovering from an ACL. On top of this, 2007 rookie listed players Joel Reynolds and Todd Grima will not be retained, while Liam Bedford will spend another year on the rookie list.

Grima is the big surprise here for me, having led the VFL team in goal-kicking and shown some real talent. I dare say he’ll find a home somewhere else. It also shows a fair bit of faith in Nathan Ablett and Hatchet Hawkins, as Grima was the only other key position forward in the VFL side.

So to recap, gone are Steven King, Charlie Gardiner, Henry Playfair, Tim Callan, Matthew Spencer, Stephen Owen, Sam Hunt, Todd Grima and Joel Reynolds. While in comes Jason Davenport, Tom Lonergan and Father/Son draftee Adam Donohue.

The Draft
All this means that The Cats will use 5 draft picks (17, 34, 44 and 50 plus the Adam Donohue pick) and have four rookie spots available. The other draft selections they have, yet are not obliged to use, are 62, 82, 90 and 98.

I don’t know much about Adam Donohue, except that he is a mid-sized player, apparently suited to the flanks and midfield. What I do know is that another forward flanker is not exactly at the top of our needs list.

Of the players that have gone so far, most of them (Playfair, Spencer, Hunt, Owen, Reynolds) have either occupied that key, tall defensive role, or were being groomed for it. On top of this, Milburn is 30, Harley and Scarlett are close and we missed Egan desperately against Collingwood in the prelim.

The Cats should be looking to draft a tall defender with the 17th pick. Here’s a brief rundown on who might be available:

The Blue-Chipper: Tom Collier (192cm, 86kg)
Collier is a tall, versatile, quick defender who could play on most types of forwards. He can also run and attack from the back if required. Collier has senior experience at VFL level and was captain of the Tassie Mariners U/18 side. He was almost drafted last year and could probably step right into the AFL, round 1. Unfortunately, Collier will likely be gone by pick 17.

The Reach: David Gourdis (193cm, 88kg)
Gourdis is an athletic type who can play both ends of the grounds and has been compared to Fremantle’s Luke McPharlin. He’s fast, having won the 20m sprint at the draft camp, but possibly a bit of a stretch at pick 17 as he’s expected to go in the mid-20’s.

The Local: Chris Kangars (193cm, 84kg)
Geelong Falcon Chris Kangars’ first choice sport was 400m running, in which he has recorded sub 48 second times. He also won the 30m repeat sprint event at the draft camp, an event used to measure speed, recovery and endurance. He has been compared to Jared Brennan, although he’s probably faster, in that they are both athletes with the height of a key position player. Contests well but may need to work on his skills and reading of the play.

The Plan B: Pat Veszpremi (181cm, 83kg)
Veszpremi would be a complete 180 from picking a key defender but is one of the best midfielders in the draft likely to be available at pick 17. He is a hard-tackling presence, runs hard, has great skills, does all the little things and has shown the ability to kick goals.

The Pick: Tayte Pears (192cm, 90kg)
Pears brings good size to the position at 192cm and 90kg, considering that Matthew Scarlett is 192cm and 95kg. He is very strong in the air and should be ready for the AFL. He wasn't far off AIS selection last year and was one of the more impressive defenders over the course of the U/18 carnival: Against Vic Country he had 17 disposals, seven marks and four rebounds from defensive 50. Plus, with a name like that he should be fronting a British electro-pop band, which will give Mrs W and I plenty of ridiculous nickname opportunities. If Pears is there at 17, The Cats should grab him.

Bring on 2008.