There was plenty of commentary on the Essendon hit-out yesterday in the threads for the other SC positions.
Can anyone add their observations on how Draper shaped up?
I like him but I'd have liked to see a bit more ruck dominance against Phillips, Bryan and Cox, I actually rate the first two higher than most but you still want the clear #1 to beat them soundly, he had some nice hitouts but it wasn't dominance.
He did some nice things around the ground as well though and that's definitely the area where I think he's strongest, genuinely impressive athlete, did a good job find space and would have had 3 or 4 marks I would guess, good leading marks as well, kicking is still wild.
What I did like with his ruckwork was he definitely has a desire to direct the ball into dangerous spots, he's not a bring it to the floor guy and that attempt to be damaging may be why he didn't get the sheer hitout dominance I'd have liked to see.
I do think he's a viable option this year, I can't say I love him as a pick still and want to see a lot more in preseason but he's done enough to be on the watch list.
Perhaps the biggest problem with him is his durability record is terrible and when you pick that no man's land ruck pick you're in so much trouble if you end up having to bail out of them in round 3 or 4 as they require entire restructures or to get super lucky that a viable rookie ruck has popped up. I don't see a keeper there so you're basically taking him as a short term cash generator and they need to stay on the park.
Just logged into Supercoach to plan a team around Darcy not being in my team with these fresh injury concerns and I kept landing on NicNat as my back up option.
Can he back up his form from last year? Any WA spies have any information on how his pre-season is tracking?
Had only three scores below 100 and they all came in the first six weeks. Am I talking myself into a trap here?
If Darcy shows this niggle is a bit more than that over the pre-season and Naitanui turns up good nick then I might end up with Naitanui or still thinking about Marshall as well.
I like him, haven't heard much in preseason, I know he joined the main group a bit later but given his history that's expected.
I'm definitely finding myself far more drawn to him than I should, 31 year olds aren't generally the guys you back in...
Problem is I hate paying 10 points extra for Gawn and Darcy definitely has me on edge. None of the 90+ guys fill me with any confidence at all that they can push 115+ so you either pick from the top 4 or you jump down to the no man's land guys and hope to find a winner while Gawn settles and Darcy/NicNat prove they're fit. This can be risky in itself because even if you get the pick half right, it's very possible Darcy is fine and thus underpriced, NicNat continues his form and thus is underpriced or Gawn never settles and stays 120+ and you're facing that upgrade task!
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