2008 AFL Draft Review – Fremantle Dockers

Fremantle went into the 2008 National Draft with the number 3 pick and for most of the lead up to the draft it looked a no brainer that they would pick talented Western Australia midfielder Daniel Rich. However as the draft came closer it was apparent that they had their heart set on other young Western Australian with that pick. They also had picks 21, 24, 37, 53, 56, 68 and 77. Fremantle used all their eight picks, making them the biggest player in this year’s draft.

Pick No. 3 – Stephen Hill

As mentioned earlier as soon as it was apparent Fremantle would have pick 3 it was deemed as an automatic selection of Daniel Rich. However, leading up to the draft Fremantle pulled a surprise by announcing that they would take Stephen Hill. Whilst still quite lean, Hill has all the ingredients to be a very exciting AFL footballer. He has very good pace and endurance something that Fremantle have been lacking in their midfield. In my view Hill is a risky pick this high but if it comes off it could look to be a master stroke.

Pick No. 21 – Hayden Ballantyne

 

 
Hayden Ballantyne is a speedy small forward who last year won the Sandover Medal for best and fairest player in the WAFL. He is a mature age draftee at 21 and has the ability to fit right into Fremantle’s side in 2009 replacing a player like Jeff Farmer as a small forward. It was quite a surprise that Ballantyne went so high as it was expected he would be picked up later if he was drafted at all but Fremantle were obviously very keen to grab him. In the WAFL Ballantyne played more as a marking forward so will need to work on his crumbing at ground level if he is too make it at AFL level.

Pick No. 24 – Nick Suban

Suban is not a bad fit for Fremantle at Pick 24 as he will give them a bit of grunt in the midfield and he is very good at winning contested footy. He will also add to Fremantle’s midfield stocks an area that they struggled in last year.

Pick No. 37 – Zachary Clarke

 

 
Clarke is a 203cm ruckman from the Oakleigh Chargers. He will come in and be a backup to Aaron Sandilands to replace the departing Robbie Warnock. Clarke comes from a basketball background so has a great vertical leap and plenty of upside. He has also shown the ability to play as a key forward or back. Clarke also has good pace for a big man so he is not your ordinary lumbering ruckman.

Pick No. 53 – Michael Walters

 

 
Michael Walters is a highly skilled midfielder from Swan Districts. He uses the ball extremely well by hand and foot mainly on the left side of his body and he has a very good footy brain. Areas of Walter’s game that needs some work is his fitness, whilst he has all the skills he does lack the endurance to run out long periods of the game in the midfield and he is not overly quick. He can also be a bit of a one way player and needs to work harder when the ball is going the other way and defensively on his opponent.

Pick No. 56 – Benjamin Bucovaz

 

 
Ben Bucovaz is a medium sized utility from the Geelong Falcons who is hard at the football and has a long penetrating kick. He will be an asset to Fremantle as he can do a lot of the bustling work up forward or be used to do a job down back.

Pick No. 68 – Tim Ruffles

Tim Ruffles is a very quick forward/midfielder who played for North Ballarat in the Under 18 competition. Ruffles also has very good skills and is an excellent athlete proven by his results at his State Testing. He is still very lean so will need to spend plenty of time in the gym to put some weight on. His defensive pressure as a forward is an area that he will need to work on and no doubt will be given the importance of it in the modern AFL game.

Pick No. 77 – Christopher Hall

 

 
Christopher Hall is a small midfielder from Woodville West Torrens in the SANFL. Hall has very good skills and is a good decision maker when he has the footy. He is only very small so he will need to work on size to make sure he can make it at AFL level. He is courage would never be questioned and he is able to win his own ball in a contested situation.

Brad Lloyd from Fremantle had the following to say after the Draft:

We felt we had a number of retirements throughout the year, so we felt we had to cover a lot of areas. Our decision was to go with the best available talent and we’ve ended up coming away with Stephen Hill with our first pick, and we’re really excited about him. He’ll be able to play a midfield role for us in the longer term, but he’s only fairly light at this stage, so there’s a fair bit of development left in him.

We’re pretty excited because it’s a fairly lean training group at the moment over at Fremantle, so to get all these new players in the club – there will be a fair bit of excitement. I know Matthew Pavlich and the boys can’t wait to get them down.

Fremantle were the biggest players in this years National Draft picking up eight players. They have drafted a lot of midfielders, an area that they have been deficient in in the past couple of seasons. A ruckman was a must considering they lost Warnock and Clarke appears to be a nice project player who could turn into a very good AFL ruckman. There are definitely plenty of talented players to work with there but as always with Fremantle it’s a matter of converting that talent to on field performances.

How do you think Fremantle fared at the draft? Did they make the right choice taking Hill at Pick 3? Leave us with your thoughts.