Clem Smith

[OEP]

Would love to see the Pies make a concerted effort to get this guy, has everything we want / need, speed, skills, and loves physically hurting the opposition.

I believe he's a top 20 projected draft pick.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-11-22/a ... s-draftees

http://www.portadelaidefc.com.au/news/2 ... guide-port

[swoop42]

Not worth pick 4 and another lightly framed midget.

Pass unless he slips to second round or beyond.

[OEP]

Not worth pick 4 and another lightly framed midget.

Pass unless he slips to second round or beyond.

Never said he was worth pick 4 but definitely worth a late round first pick which we could get during trade week (does the AFL allow trades of picks on draft day?).

Would add a lot of toughness to the team and plays above his weight.

[OEP]

[Pies4shaw]

Have you seen him play, OEP?

[AN_Inkling]

First Lewis Taylor now Clem Smith? Derek Hine detected .

[Pies4shaw]

For comparison:

"Paul Puopolo
Born:2-Dec-1987 (Debut:23y 155d Last:26y 299d)

Height:173 cm Weight:76 kg"

He's taller and heavier than this dual Hawthorn premiership player. And, as it happens, the same height as Rioli. I'm not sure that he should be disregarded just because of his height. It really depends what skills, speed etc he brings to the table, which is why I asked OEP if he'd seen the boy play.

[OEP]

Have you seen him play, OEP?

Unfortunately I haven't seen him play, my current job just doesn't give me the time to get to any WAFL games recently. So, unlike Cameron McCarthy last year (and yeah I'm still pissed we didn't take him in the draft), I've had to rely on YouTube and TV to get a look at some of this years WA potential draftees.

What I've seen of him is, for the most part, very impressive.

The positives (as I see them):
Great agility and lateral movement in traffic is excellent.
Is strong through the core and as such is hard to bring down.
Great balance, keeps his feet really well in contested situations.
Great hand disposal.
Generally good vision and is very confident with the ball in his hands.
Very, very strong tackler and loves to physically hurt the opposition (this guy is John Worsfold like, the opposition hear footsteps when he's around).
Loves contested, hard nosed football. The tougher it gets the more he enjoys, and thrives, in the game.

The negatives:
Disposal by foot is average and something he needs to work on.
He needs to increase his tank, but then again most draftees do.
He can be over zealous with his aggression resulting in frees against, but again this can be coached and concentrated into a more controlled aggression.

As I said a good late first round, early second round pick up.

[Pies4shaw]

That's certainly a good report. I can't help thinking he might be the sort of player who could, amongst other possibilities, take Jarryd Blair's place in time.

[AN_Inkling]

^^in 5+ years time? Blair's still young.

For comparison:

"Paul Puopolo
Born:2-Dec-1987 (Debut:23y 155d Last:26y 299d)

Height:173 cm Weight:76 kg"

He's taller and heavier than this dual Hawthorn premiership player. And, as it happens, the same height as Rioli. I'm not sure that he should be disregarded just because of his height. It really depends what skills, speed etc he brings to the table, which is why I asked OEP if he'd seen the boy play.

Accepted that the kid could be good despite his height, though we do have 1 or 2 more players under 180cm than is ideal. But Puopolo? Dual premiership player he may be, but not a player I'd be drafting in the first couple of rounds.

[OEP]

Modern football is all about uncontested football through the air and contested football on the ground, so why is there such a big deal made of players height.

In this case Clem's height, he's 177cms only 5.88cms short of 6ft, that's not even the length of my little finger.

I could understand it if we were talking about 160cm midgets but we're not and personally I think this while height issue is a bit overstated.