Weight: 83.3kg
Style: Outside leading and crumbing small forward/pinch hitting outside/inside midfielder
Preferred foot: Right/Dual Sided
Potential: 8.5-9/10
Strengths
> Excellent use by both hand and foot – dual sided, controlled, but silky smooth natural action (occasionally a little lax/loose on set shots) – powerful (can kick 60m), excellent pass weighting and very good, creative DM – just as brilliant by hand – very sharp, good power, vision and hurt factor – very good exponent of the look away handpass
> Terrific ball control
> Very high footy IQ – seems to read what’s going to happen a second ahead of his opponent and consistently positions himself well
> Very good pace off the mark and excellent lateral movement/balance
> Strong OH mark – significant reach advantage for his height, large handspan (95% at DC), reads the flight well, very good 1-1 and has the ability to consistently shield his opponent from access to spoil the footy
> Versatile - All-round forward – can play as the primary leading target (FF), crumbing forward (FP) or at HFF – can also play as a starting IV inside midfielder, wingman and even a loose, rebounding HBF
> X-factor, bucketloads of tricks and the type of player that can change a game in a 5 minute burst – amazing goal kicking instincts (and can kick bags of 4+ goals too) – highly creative and opportunistic - can do very special things with a football in his hands
>Highly credentialed, physically well developed and outstanding WAFL form with consistency – AFL ready for round 1 2009
> Very good stoppage reader – consistent first dibs threat at ruck contests and doesn’t just feed it off immediately - has the ability to exploded away and create too.
> Defensive pressure/impact – deceptive - doesn’t stick out as the traditional pesky small forward that’s always nipping at your heels, but nevertheless his production is as good as any – high tackle counts and very good impact – strong, powerful, ball bursting tackler with the unexpected stealth like ability to creep up on opponents
Weaknesses
> Poor engine – only a burst player through the midfield – can go missing for long periods (however does often play on the HFF/FP graveyard)
> Inconsistent intensity – while he has the ability to frequently make the difficult look easy, it also can work the other way around – laconic playing style
> 2008 injury run – had issues with his ankle and hamstring in 2008
Other
> Very tough childhood – father in jail, raised by a single mother since 9 and has had near death experiences (gun to head) – very shy kid when he first came to the AIS – but according to staff is now much more self confident and outgoing
> Part of the Clontarf academy
> Naturall gifted all-round sportsman - very good junior basketballer and cricketer – approached by the WACA for developmental squads.
Overall
Yarran has spellbinding football ability and has earnt the mantel as the most naturally gifted player in the 2008 draft. His 2008 season (particulary his efforts at WAFL level) exceed everyone else in this year’s draft and he should adapt to AFL football quicker than most. I think at worst you’ll have a talented but enigmatic 2 goal per game small forward, while at best he could end up a dynamic, match winning midfielder/forward.
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