Steele Sidebottom (Murray Bushrangers/Vic Country) - Draft Profile

Height: 183.6cm
Weight: 80.5kg
Preferred foot: Right/Dual Sided
Playing Style: Creative predator/outside/inside midfielder/5^th man in HFF/HBF/leading and marking small forward

Potential: 6.5-8/10

Strengths

> Strong aerial ability for his height – leaps at the footy – good judge off flight - however at a reach disadvantage for his height

> Genuinely dual sided – equal ability on both feet - technically very good

> Exceptional play reading ability and reaction time

> Excellent ethic – hard at the footy, runs all day and gives his all (like a Labrador pup) – > possibly the most enthusiastic player in this draft - routinely chases and tackles tenaciously and produces the 1%ers– has a very good impact defensively too

> Big game player – TAC Cup GF MOTM (10 goals)

> Slippery and evasive – hard to get a handle on – moves well through traffic

> Range of tricks

> Clean hands – swoops on the footy

> Creative and opportunistic football brain

> Good ball winner that wins a large chunk under contested pressure

> Excellent engine – gut runner

> Versatile – can play as a creative rebounding small defender, midfielder in a variety of roles (inside/outside/predator or even run-with) or clever small forward

Weaknesses

> Very slow off the mark - covered somewhat by his exceptional play reading ability/reaction time and perpetual motion style of play – however should never ever take the man on the mark on again

> Kicking lacks penetration over 50m and hurt factor – a lot of short kicks – also not a routinely reliable kick – reliability overrated

> Tends to bomb away quite regularly at clearances in particular (would like to see him distribute it by hand more frequently as he has very good vision) – tends to kick off one step too often

> Lacks lower body strength – particularly evident in his lack of acceleration

Overall

Sidebottom has a range of attractive attributes, however I feel his flaws (particularly his severe lack of pace) will prevent him from ever being an out and out star at AFL. He’s a safe bet though and I think he’ll at least be serviceable best XXII player as he has tremendous work ethic and seems to be one of those types that will leave no stone unturned. I think late 1^st round to early 2^nd round is a fair price for him.