Weight: 72kg
Preferred foot: Left
Role: Midfield/Wing
Potential: 5.5-7.5/10
Strengths
> Very clean hands below the knees
> Very good ball user by hand – sharp reflexes, neat, appropriate power and good hurt factor
> Good vision and poise in traffic – good extractor in traffic and has the ability to create time with his evasive skills with creative handballing ability to regularly release players into space
> Excellent evasive ability/balance and very good leap
> Good all-round ballwinning ability both in close and in space
> Very good defensive work-ethic – chases, tackles, pressures and does the 1%ers with good impact - run down tackles are a speciality
> Plenty of tenacity and courage - sticks his head over the footy consistently - surprisingly effective and prolific tackler
> Good pace off the mark (seemed to have more zip last year, but still better than DC results for 20m) and good top speed/ability to cover ground (and very good closing speed), impressive leap and exceptional evasiveness (and defensive agility) – capable of being a creative and dynamic playmaker that can use his athleticism effectively both in congestion and space (saw much more of it last year)
Weaknesses
> Lack of physical strength and very skinny build – easily pushed off the ball by bigger opponents in contests – would be concerns about how well he’ll bulk up
> Below average kicking reliability and one-sidedness
> Average running capacity, but given his lack of strength and size he needs to have much more – is prone to going missing within games
Other
> OK-decent LF kick – typically good weighting over short-med range, can get good depth but not consistently or reliable, but lacks power, seems one sided and hasn’t got slightly below average reliability (prone to shanks)
> Slight reach advantage for his height
> Very good BA U18 year in 2008 where he thrived on the step up from division 2 to 1 in the 2008 U18 championships, doubling his output (and producing his best performance against Vic Metro) – however not quite as impressive this year and struggled at times with extra attention – not as dynamic
> I see his best position through the midfield, but with his build and frame it may be a reach at AFL – could alternatively play off a wing or HBF (if he improves kicking reliability)
> Physically he isn’t ready for consistent AFL action next year due to his build
> Has senior experience in TSFL
> AIS-AFL squad member
> Played in 2 U18 championships (2008 and 2009)
Overall
Crichton is a dynamic medium midfield option, who despite showing a lot of promise last year as a bottom ager, hasn’t kicked on as much this year as a top ager. At worst he will struggle to bulk up and won’t fire much of a shot at AFL, at best he could probably be a top 150 player in the competition. I see his value as a mid second round to early 3rd round selection.
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