Eagles recruiting for season 2023

goddy11 wrote:Is Collier-Dawkins out there? I haven't read any mention of him for a while. Apologies if he has been mentioned.

Definitely out there. Been training well. Didn't participate in the trial match, had a slight niggle.
Some bad news, Riley Knight had an achilies op. last Tuesday, not a major op. but will set him back a while.
Hopefully he will be back around our first match.

Riley Knight's tendon achilles op is very disappointing. Even a small cleanup would be expected 8 weeks minimum before he starts jogging, then another 4 weeks to build up some match fitness. But midfielders often say that if they miss a large chunk of preseason training, they never catch up.

hawke wrote:Riley Knight's tendon achilles op is very disappointing. Even a small cleanup would be expected 8 weeks minimum before he starts jogging, then another 4 weeks to build up some match fitness. But midfielders often say that if they miss a large chunk of preseason training, they never catch up.

Heard the op. went very well. Riley is very professional the way he goes about his footy. Was looking extremely fit, will of course lose fitness. When he starts playing again I would expect him to spend lesser amounts of time on the ball, this would give Zane Williams a possible chance to play a little bit of on ball footy.

I have previously mentioned Patrick's Weckert's conundrum of whether to play football or cricket. Weckert has knocked back a two year rookie deal with the SACA to concentrate on football.

hawke wrote:Riley Knight's tendon achilles op is very disappointing. Even a small cleanup would be expected 8 weeks minimum before he starts jogging, then another 4 weeks to build up some match fitness. But midfielders often say that if they miss a large chunk of preseason training, they never catch up.

I hope it's not that bad. I read Achilles and I see season out maybe career.

wimpy wrote:I have previously mentioned Patrick's Weckert's conundrum of whether to play football or cricket. Weckert has knocked back a two year rookie deal with the SACA to concentrate on football.

Excellent news. Hopefully he's out at training shortly and puts in the hard yards to catch up with the rest of the team. Reckon he can be a very valuable player for us this year when not undertaking U18 duties.

Knight's injury is a big blow. As already mentioned, best case scenario is still a likely 10 week injury. However I am reasonably optimistic we could cover him because we have great depth for midfielders. It does present D'Aloia with a great opportunity to spend more time in the middle though. Did D'Aloia play in the 'probables' team the other night at training?

I'm also wondering how Welsh is training? It would be a big ask for him to feature in the league side this year but he looks physically mature certainly looked a star at U16 level. Age is just a number. I think Stokes debuted for the Eagles as a 16 year old? Perhaps also Fairclough. That said, these two were both midfielders and it is easier to perform at top level in those slots than it is as a key position player.

And way back when, I think the great Lindsay Head was only 16 when he started too.

Anyone go to the under 18 trial game at thebbie

I'm also wondering how Welsh is training? It would be a big ask for him to feature in the league side this year but he looks physically mature certainly looked a star at U16 level. Age is just a number. I think Stokes debuted for the Eagles as a 16 year old? Perhaps also Fairclough. That said, these two were both midfielders and it is easier to perform at top level in those slots than it is as a key position player.

Welsh is basically doing all the training, looks up to the standard as a 16 yo.
Has a slight niggle at the moment. With Weckert choosing football there will be less pressure on the club to play Welsh. Just ease him in to senior footy, if good enough give him a game of league football, just remember he still has 2 years left at under 18's level.

goddy11 wrote:

hawke wrote:Riley Knight's tendon achilles op is very disappointing. Even a small cleanup would be expected 8 weeks minimum before he starts jogging, then another 4 weeks to build up some match fitness. But midfielders often say that if they miss a large chunk of preseason training, they never catch up.

I hope it's not that bad. I read Achilles and I see season out maybe career.

No. A complete rupture of a Tendo Achilles is season-ending, not a clean up of chronic scar tissue around the tendon as hopefully, Knight hopefully has had done.
Problem is that he will still need to "manage" it throughout the season thereby not being 100% match fit by his high standards, at least not until later in the season.

Eagles trials

A little light reading from today's Tiser.

ZANE’S PAIN FUELLING AMBITION
ANDREW CAPEL
ZANE Williams cannot shake the feeling.
Despite plenty of silverware in his three years of league football, the clever
small forward has a knot in his stomach that is fuelling his ambition.
Williams, who has returned to SANFL club Woodville-West Torrens after
being selected by AFL powerhouse Geelong in last year’s mid-season draft
only to be delisted, said he has tired of being on the outside looking in.
In a rare slice of history, the 21-year-old has been a squad member of
three league premiership teams in the past three years – two with the
Eagles and one with the Cats.
But he has not experienced the unbridled joy of standing on the
premiership dias with a league winner’s medal draped around his neck.
“It stings a little bit and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t,’’ the Woodville
South product said.
“It’s been great to have been a part of clubs that have enjoyed so much
success and I’m very happy for my teammates but, personally, it’s been
tough to miss out three years in a row.
“I’m a competitor and I want to win, too, be a part of a premiership side.
That’s all I’m worried about now, not individual awards.
“I want to taste that ultimate success and until I get it I won’t feel
satisfied. It’s a major source of motivation for me.’’
Williams, who joined Woodville-West Torrens as a 16-year-old from
Adelaide Footy League club Woodville South, has experienced his share of
flag success.
He has won two under-18s premierships and a reserves flag with the
Eagles but, for various reasons, hasn’t played in a league grand final.
Williams made his league debut in round 9 in 2020, against Sturt at
Woodville Oval, but broke his wrist and was sidelined for two months,
ruling him out of the Eagles’ league finals campaign.
He returned for the reserves grand final, playing a pivotal role in the win
against North Adelaide – the same club his side knocked off in the league
decider.
The following season Williams hit the ground running before losing his
spot in the team when fellow small forward Tyson Stengle returned to the
club after he was axed by the Crows.
The classy Stengle had a stellar season as Jade Sheedy’s side won back-toback flags, which left Williams again watching from the sidelines.
Determined to make amends and with Stengle thrown an AFL lifeline by
Geelong, Williams dominated the early rounds of this year, earning state
selection for the clash against Western Australia and kicking two goals in
the four-point win.
The 15 goals he then kicked in eight games caught the attention of
Geelong, which took him at pick 12 in the mid-season draft.
But Williams, who was thrilled to be drafted by the team he barracked for,
did not play an AFL game for the Cats, despite strong VFL form.
He sat at the MCG on AFL Grand Final day on a bit of an emotional
rollercoaster as the Cats demolished Sydney in the grand final by 81
points.
A few weeks later, after celebrating the flag with teammates, he was
delisted – hugely disappointed as he had been on the list only four months
– and returned to the Eagles craving to join the league premiership club.
“It’s been tough missing out on all these premierships but it’s just
motivated me more to get there one day,’’ the 182cm Williams said,
adding he would like to see mid-season draftees given a minimum 18-
month AFL contract, rather than six months.
“While it didn’t work out for me at Geelong, which had the best small
forward group in the competition (Stengle, Brad Close and Gryan Miers), I
learned a lot there and will be a better player for the experience.’

There might be another article on another young Eagle soon.

A young Eagle, or a recruit young Eagle? A new recruit yet to be announced ? (or just one that we've already announced?) You're a writer of suspense, Wimpy !

hawke wrote:A young Eagle, or a recruit young Eagle? A new recruit yet to be announced ? (or just one that we've already announced?) You're a writer of suspense, Wimpy !

One we have nurtured for a couple of years!!!!!

SSP finishes 15/2, we will have to wait and see if the Eagles have any irons in that fire.

Re SSP,
Joshua Eyres, delisted Don trialling with St Kilda,would be nice.

Went out to training tonight - particularly wanted to have a look at Brinker-Williams.
Having only joined the club's training 2 weeks ago Brinker-Williams is being eased into it gradually (only 19 years old and a big step-up for him in intensity). He looks to be around 200cm, a fraction shorter than Ballenden. Not thick set but solid enough especially for a 19-20 year old. He wasn't doing competitive ruckwork, only jumping into the padded "body" but demonstrated a very good leap. At centre-bounces this season, he'll be getting his hand to most in the centre-circle; but question how well he'll be able to use this craft with ball-ups in general field play. He wouldn't have the strength to hold his ground against the league's powerful ruckmen but might have the "smarts" to find room to leap. We won't know this until the trial games but some promising signs.

Is Brinker-Williams a new recruit or do you mean Brinker-Ritchie, Hawke?

Yeah. Meant Brinker-Ritchie. Gosh! With these hyphenated names, there might be a few more recruits like Collier-Brinker, Dawkins-Brinker, Ritchie-Dawkins!

The Barton wrote:Is Brinker-Williams a new recruit or do you mean Brinker-Ritchie, Hawke?

"hawke" definitely means David Brinker-Ritchie.

I think last night was the first night when all the recruits were at the one training.
Because of D. B-R's late arrival and a couple of the recruits getting back a little late from the X-mas break this has not been possible.
Still hard to tell how good some of our younger recruits are and where they will play. Josh Mawson appears to be a smooth mover, quite skillful and a good decision maker. Max Beattie is a good runner, two sided and last night showed some very clever footwork.
Zane Williams was used a little bit on the ball in some of the exercises.
Patrick Weckert was at training and looking good, he's a powerful young fellow, already has a SANFL/AFL body.
Nathan Studham looks very fit and is full of enthusiasm and energy, while Adam D'Aloia is looking very trim and determined.
Our depth this year looks a lot better, with only the talls looking a little thin.

wimpy wrote:

hawke wrote:A young Eagle, or a recruit young Eagle? A new recruit yet to be announced ? (or just one that we've already announced?) You're a writer of suspense, Wimpy !

One we have nurtured for a couple of years!!!!!

SSP finishes 15/2, we will have to wait and see if the Eagles have any irons in that fire.

Would this article featured in tomorrow's Advertiser be the article on the 'young eagle' you were referring to Wimpy?

"Football has won the intense tug of war for South Australian sports sensation Patrick Weckert.

The powerfully-built 18-year-old has chosen the oval-shaped Sherrin over the small red Kookaburra and now looms as one of the SANFL’s top 2023 AFL draft prospects.

“It was a tough decision to make between the two sports, football and cricket, but I’ve just made the call to give footy a crack because that’s where I feel my heart lies,’’ said Weckert, who played one league game for Woodville-West Torrens last year.

“Breaking the news to my cricket club (Woodville) and SACA wasn’t easy because I had a pretty good connection with them but they handled it well and I’m really confident with my decision.’’

Weckert, a strapping 191cm and 90kg, played his final game of serious cricket last month, just weeks after representing South Australia at the national under-19 championships.

SACA officials had rated him as one of the state’s most promising young fast bowlers, comparing his style to that of Australia captain Pat Cummins – a player he had modelled his game on.
But now they will rue the one that got away after his decision, which came earlier than expected, to focus on football in his draft year.

“I felt like I was dipping my toe in the water on both sides of the fence and there is only a limited amount of improvement you can see when you are half committing to both sports,’’ Weckert said.
“So I felt it was the right time to commit to footy and see where that can take me.

“While I was lucky enough to be in quite a few (underage state) programs with cricket, I kept thinking about footy all the time, so I knew that was where my heart was.
“If footy doesn't quite work out for me in the next few years I’ll have the option to drop back to cricket but at the moment I want to get stuck into my footy.’’
Which could be good news for Adelaide Crows fans.

Weckert, a strong-marking forward, revealed he had been working on his game closely with former Crows captain Taylor Walker in the past two years at Prince Alfred College and that Adelaide would be one of his two dream draft destinations, along with Carlton, the club he has long supported.

“Taylor Walker has been a big role model for me in the past couple of years in his support role with the PAC football program,’’ Weckert said.

“He’s taught me leadership qualities and helped with my forward craft, giving me some pointers on body positioning and leading patterns which have really helped.

“While it would be wicked to play for the Blues, I’ve been brought up around family that have gone for the Crows so, throw in Walker’s influence, it would be a dream to play for one of those two clubs.’’
A country farm boy who hails from near the mid-north town of Koolunga and has a passion for fishing, Weckert models his game on Carlton John Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow and Collingwood forward Brody Mihocek.

He said making an early call on his future had “definitely taken a big weight off my shoulders’’.

Spot on "Titan2".

Interesting to speculate what position Weckert will end up playing in the AFL.. At 191cm, by AFL standards, he is too short for a key CHF, FF.. At 18 years of age, maybe he has a late growth spurt in him.

Our forward line will have a lot more fire power and options this year. Going to make it difficult for guys like Jack Wheare to get a look in but he needs to find more of the ball first to even be in consideration. Bring on the Parade big heads on the 31st March.

Yes. Jack Wheare needs a "big season" to prevent several big bodied "talls" from last year's U16s, in 2024 pushing Jack further down the pecking order re key CHF/FF (Thomas Luck, Charlie West and, if he can pick up another 2cm, Tyler Welsh)