Ben McEvoy Is The Second Best Prospect In The Draft
Big guys win premierships, it is that simple. Ottens and Mooney, Cox and Hansen, McKernan and Carey, Rehn and Robran, even Cloke and Lee, every team that has won had the big bodies that the team was built on. The little guys get the awards and the statistics, the big guys produce team success.
Kreuzer goes at number 1, he has to. Carlton should have taken Leuenberger last year and they won't go small in this draft. The next pick could go on a number of players, and McEvoy deserves to be mentioned among Morton and Cotchin, and maybe Rance and Palmer too. Pick number 2 is in the possession of the coach of small-ball, so don't expect McEvoy to be taken here and what pick he is drafted at is something to watch.
McEvoy is huge, 200cm and 95kg, and he can mark the ball out on the lead or battling an opponent or two. With around 8 marks a game, and a third of them were contested marks, McEvoy was a consistent target in the forward line and also around the ground. He was also a very accurate kick for goal, what more could a team be looking for, and he is solid in the ruck too.
BPA seems to be the strategy for a lot of teams on draft day, as they take the Best Available Player, but when the game is on a team will always get more from a very good tall than they will from a great small.
Richmond - McEvoy would be their biggest forward, and probably close to their biggest ruckman, but they don't seem too interested.
West Coast - They only have two ruckmen, so there is a spot there, but they also have quite a number of young big forwards, so McEvoy may not be too high on their list. If he lasted until their next pick, it would be a very good draft for the Eagles.
Melbourne - They have Neitz who might be playing his last year, there is the second Juice Newton, Dunn was playing in the midfield and Miller was often in the VFL, they need help in the forward line.
Western Bulldogs - In too many drafts the Bulldogs have taken a "little guy who can run" with their earliest pick. Mark Alvey, Brad Johnson, Jordan McMahon, Leon Cameron, Sam Power, Kym Koster, Michael Martin, while some of them did become stars they had few targets to kick the ball to. Everyone is saying tall forward Jarrad Grant at this spot in the draft, and maybe everyone is right, but except for running a bit faster than McEvoy there isn't anything he does better, and the Bulldogs already have an oversupply of players who can run.
Essendon - According to a mock draft from one of the newspapers, this is where McEvoy could land. It would probably be the worst spot for him. Hille and Laycock are the ruckmen, Lucas is the centre half forward of the present and Gumbleton is the centre half forward of the future, Ryder can also play in those positions, it is difficult to see where McEvoy would fit.
Fremantle - In 2006, they were a game away from the Grand Final. In 2007, they had more problems than that new Bingo TV show. The Dockers nearly had the same team for each season, and they were even supposed to be better with Tarrant but there was another big change, Longmuir was hurt. While they will probably be too excited to take McEvoy, due to WA midfielders Palmer, Masten or Myers being available, if they do grab McEvoy it would help their ruck depth and also add a very tall forward option to take pressure off Pavlich.
Brisbane - Lynch and Brown was unstoppable, but now with Brown and someone they are only an average team. Brennan is entertaining but also very inconsistent, Bradshaw should come back with plenty of goals but he is more of a third option, Clark hasn't done a lot yet, so McEvoy would make sense.
St Kilda - Riewoldt and McEvoy would be something that St Kilda fans would be very happy with, and opposition coaches would struggle to stop. That would be a lot of marking power. For season 2007, there were times when it seemed the Saints were going to become a contender but they needed to have Koschitzke in the ruck and also in the forward line, if they get McEvoy in the draft it could be as good as having two Koschitzkes at St Kilda.
Adelaide - The Crows didn't expect Sellar to get to their pick a year ago, so they may not think McEvoy will make it this time. It wouldn't be too long before McEvoy was getting a lot of minutes in the ruck for the Crows.
Kreuzer goes at number 1, he has to. Carlton should have taken Leuenberger last year and they won't go small in this draft. The next pick could go on a number of players, and McEvoy deserves to be mentioned among Morton and Cotchin, and maybe Rance and Palmer too. Pick number 2 is in the possession of the coach of small-ball, so don't expect McEvoy to be taken here and what pick he is drafted at is something to watch.
McEvoy is huge, 200cm and 95kg, and he can mark the ball out on the lead or battling an opponent or two. With around 8 marks a game, and a third of them were contested marks, McEvoy was a consistent target in the forward line and also around the ground. He was also a very accurate kick for goal, what more could a team be looking for, and he is solid in the ruck too.
BPA seems to be the strategy for a lot of teams on draft day, as they take the Best Available Player, but when the game is on a team will always get more from a very good tall than they will from a great small.
Richmond - McEvoy would be their biggest forward, and probably close to their biggest ruckman, but they don't seem too interested.
West Coast - They only have two ruckmen, so there is a spot there, but they also have quite a number of young big forwards, so McEvoy may not be too high on their list. If he lasted until their next pick, it would be a very good draft for the Eagles.
Melbourne - They have Neitz who might be playing his last year, there is the second Juice Newton, Dunn was playing in the midfield and Miller was often in the VFL, they need help in the forward line.
Western Bulldogs - In too many drafts the Bulldogs have taken a "little guy who can run" with their earliest pick. Mark Alvey, Brad Johnson, Jordan McMahon, Leon Cameron, Sam Power, Kym Koster, Michael Martin, while some of them did become stars they had few targets to kick the ball to. Everyone is saying tall forward Jarrad Grant at this spot in the draft, and maybe everyone is right, but except for running a bit faster than McEvoy there isn't anything he does better, and the Bulldogs already have an oversupply of players who can run.
Essendon - According to a mock draft from one of the newspapers, this is where McEvoy could land. It would probably be the worst spot for him. Hille and Laycock are the ruckmen, Lucas is the centre half forward of the present and Gumbleton is the centre half forward of the future, Ryder can also play in those positions, it is difficult to see where McEvoy would fit.
Fremantle - In 2006, they were a game away from the Grand Final. In 2007, they had more problems than that new Bingo TV show. The Dockers nearly had the same team for each season, and they were even supposed to be better with Tarrant but there was another big change, Longmuir was hurt. While they will probably be too excited to take McEvoy, due to WA midfielders Palmer, Masten or Myers being available, if they do grab McEvoy it would help their ruck depth and also add a very tall forward option to take pressure off Pavlich.
Brisbane - Lynch and Brown was unstoppable, but now with Brown and someone they are only an average team. Brennan is entertaining but also very inconsistent, Bradshaw should come back with plenty of goals but he is more of a third option, Clark hasn't done a lot yet, so McEvoy would make sense.
St Kilda - Riewoldt and McEvoy would be something that St Kilda fans would be very happy with, and opposition coaches would struggle to stop. That would be a lot of marking power. For season 2007, there were times when it seemed the Saints were going to become a contender but they needed to have Koschitzke in the ruck and also in the forward line, if they get McEvoy in the draft it could be as good as having two Koschitzkes at St Kilda.
Adelaide - The Crows didn't expect Sellar to get to their pick a year ago, so they may not think McEvoy will make it this time. It wouldn't be too long before McEvoy was getting a lot of minutes in the ruck for the Crows.
