Weight: 83.0kg
Preferred foot: Right
Role: Outside/Inside midfielder/wingman
Potential: 6-7.5/10
Strengths
> Good ball use by hand – quick, clean execution, good vision and ability to get hands free in tackles
> Well credentialed – dual WA U18 rep, AA U18 centre, WAFL colts TOTY wing and AFL-AIS graduate
> Good all-round ball winning ability – prolific ball winner both inside and outside contests, very good extraction/HBG ability (very good at shielding the ball using his body to block the opponent) and good at finding and running hard into space to receive
> Excellent work ethic both ways – provides very good defensive pressure
> Reads and gets to the ball at stoppages effectively
> Very good all-round athleticism – though his 20m testing time did surprise me and I don’t find him to exhibit that pace on-field – he does however cover the ground well with a footy in hand (can break lines), show good evasive skills and is capable of a high work rate, running hard all day (the type of player that will be running at the same speed in the last ¼ as he was in the first)
> Good OH grab – clean hands, holds his position well and has no fear in backing into packs blindly (TM of his) – very courageous in that respect
Weaknesses
> Below average kick – decent accuracy and weighting over a mid-short range distance but one-sided (RF), long load up time, unbalanced, poor timing, very prone to kicking floaters, kicks aren’t damaging and have too much hang time on them, struggles to kick over 45m – unadventurous/predictable DM – kicks to a lot of contests up the line or chips sideways
> Doesn’t kick enough goals playing through the midfield/off a flank or push forward often enough – plays as an old fashioned centreman, linking plays between the two 50m arcs
> Not routinely clean at ground level
Other
> Played U18 nationals last year and was eligible to nominate but decided not to and started FT study at UWA (Law/Commerce) – solid form at WAFL League level in 2008
> Sound frame and build for AFL
> Potentially could play as a HBF, midfielder (inside or outside linkman) or tagger (doesn’t have the instincts to play as a forward)
Overall
Despite his much berated footskills, DeBoer has many valuable qualities that should still hold great value at AFL level. He will never be the star of a show or win games single handily, but at worst he will always provide pressure with his form at state league level on the main squad and at best will be a solid and consistent workhorse through the midfield (and a gun DTer).
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