WAFL Wrap: Round 16

Perth vs East Fremantle

East Fremantle

Kane Lucas

Stats: 10K 8H 6M 1HO 5I50 1.0

Lucas started the first quarter on a HFF opposed to White and he was quite busy with 6 disposals, (3/3), 2 marks, 2I50s and 1 score assist (after receiving a handball under some pressure and threading an overlapping one on the bounce over an opposition player to Hardingham in space).

He started I50 in the 2nd quarter with Braddock moved onto him, then moved onto a wing opposed to Young/Cook before coming off for a rest and then returning to the wing later in the quarter. It was his best quarter both statistically and in terms of impact with 8 disposals (5/3), 3 marks, 1 hitout, 2I50s and 1 goal (after being too quick for his opponent on the lead and taking an UC mark 40m out close to the boundary with an accurate SS kick for goal)
and should’ve also had a scoring assist if the ball wasn’t kicked OOTF by the benefactor after Lucas produced a good burst of pace on the lead to take a double take contested grab on the HFF and then centred a pass to with the right weighting to a small contest.

He started the 3rd quarter on O’Sullivan across HF before going off briefly at the 18 min mark and returning later to finish with 4 disposals (2/2), 1 mark and 1I50 for the quarter.

He missed the entire last ¼ (unsure for what reason).

He showed a good burst of pace, genuine footy smarts and good all-round ball winning skills, good vision in traffic, strong OH marking skills (often under contested pressure) with clean hands at both ground level and in the air. His kicking is normally good to excellent at U18 level, but overall his effectiveness was probably a bit down from what he usually produces – he also seems to lack a bit of penetration over the longer range on his kicks.

Overall it was a very good performance from Lucas– he has become very well adept at playing across HF after an impressive carnival where he won AA honours playing much of his football there, and looks set to be a definite top 10 pick at the end of this year.

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Brad Sheppard

Stats: 9K 9H 2M 4T 3I50 0.1

Sheppard started in defence (unsure of opponent) in Q1 and then moved onto a wing on Vendetti later in the quarter. He had 4 disposals (3/1), 2 tackles, 1I50 and 0.1 ( a slightly offline running shot on goal from 40m near the boundary after a HBR).

In Q2 he was matched up on Kayler-Thompson on HBF and had 4 disposals, 2 marks and 1I50.

He continued to follow Kayler-Thompson in Q3 and had 4 more disposals (1/3) and 1 tackle, but struggled to contain Kayler-Thompson’s output (though not through lack of effort/application).

In Q4 he was moved onto Young at HBF and then Armstrong later in the quarter. He had 6 disposals (1/5), 1 tackle and 1I50.

He maintained a good level of intensity, accountability and work-ethic throughout the game on some very challenging opponents and also displayed his pace, reliable and accurate footskills (was entrusted with many kickouts too and hard running line breaking ability when he got an opportunity to run off his opponents.

Overall it was a very good effort against some challenging opponents all of whom are top notch WAFL players, have state credentials and/or have held places on AFL lists/been considered for. After a good carnival where he won AA honours he is set to be a strong top 30 candidate by the end of the year and will certainly creep up the order if he can continue to put in strong performances at WAFL level as he did earlier this season.

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David Swallow*

Stats: 12K 4H 2M 8T 1FF 2FA 1.1

Swallow started the first ¼ on the bench, coming on around the 11 min mark to play on a wing opposed to Young and then being shifter to HB. He slotted in comfortably with 4 disposals (2/2), 1 mark, 3 tackles and 1 goal from his first kick in league football after taking a good chest mark under contested pressure, giving off a defensive handbpass and then running onto the contest at FF where he swooped on a spill from the pack to kick a goal from straight in front.

He continued to play in the midfield opposed to Young in Q2 and had 3 disposals (3/0), 3 tackles and 2FA.

He started Q3 on the bench and came on halfway through to play across HB with 2 disposals (1/1) and 1 mark.

He was given greater opportunity in the final ¼ playing in the midfield for almost the entire duration on Cook and Sneeuwajt later on. He stepped up to have 7 disposals, 2 tackles, 1FF, 0.1 and was part of a goal scoring chain (after fumbling a poor pass to him, but scrapping hard to win it at ground level, winning a FF and weighting a 35-40m pass down the line well to a teammate who handballed onto the goal scorer).

He provided very good defensive pressure throughout the game and all his tackles had the strength of a much more senior player not a 16 year old in his first game.His hard running ability (the goal he scored particularly highlighted this), tenacity to fight for the ball, efficient ball use and decision making and smarts at stoppages to get his hands first to the ball on several occasions.

Overall it was a very promising debut from a 16 year old, but a hugely talented one at that, winning both AA honours and the coveted Larke medal at the 2009 U18 Championships. GC17 will be licking their lips at the potential of drafting him early next year with potentially a stack of WAFL League football behind him and ready to go for season 2011.

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* ineligible for the 2009 AFL draft (eligible for 2010 AFL Draft)