Steele Sidebottom - 2008 AFL Draftee Profile
At first he was most famous for his rather unusual name, but it hasn’t taken long for football followers to learn a lot more about Steele Sidebottom. Sidebottom produced probably the most remarkable game seen in the TAC Cup Under 18 competition for a very long time, when he absolutely dominated the Grand Final with an amazing performance. Try this stat line on for size - 32 possesions, 14 marks, 11 inside 50’s, 10 goals and 3 behinds. Incredible.
Height: 182cm
Weight: 79kg
Position: Listed as a Defender, but this bloke has impressed though the midfield, and can obviously play up forward also!
Team: Murray Bushrangers
Who we think he may turn out like: Michael Voss (big call, but similar mould!)
Who we hope he won’t turn out like: Ezra Poyas
Over/under on bad jokes about his surname: Sadly, this has already hit the over…
The TAC Grand Final performance was far from a one off. Throughout the NAB U/18 Championships, Sidebottom showed some excellent characteristics which caught the eyes of recruiters. He provided some good clearance work in close, yet also displays an excellent running ability (came 2nd in the two endurance tests at the draft camp) and very good skills on either side of his body - something becoming more and more rare in today’s game.
But don’t get caught up just yet … ever heard of these names? Ash Arrowsmith, Ezra Poyas …. both had very big TAC Cup Grand Finals themselves, so it’s not the proven ticket to stardom that you may think.
However, it is quite unfair to tar Sidebottom with the same brush. He has shown himself to have an excellent football brain - some recruiters have been quoted as saying he was simply born to play football. He’s also bottom aged, making him an even more enticing prospect for potential recruiters. While listed as a defender, Sidebottom looks ready made to fit in wherever needed - his feel for the game, running ability, skills and ability in and under make him the perfect fit for the modern game.
So where will Sidebottom go? After his TAC Grand Final effort, he was touted as high as top 3 - which seems now to been a bit of an overreaction. With Hurley a very strong tip for pick 4, Sidebottom finds himself in a group of players which are expected to go between picks 5 and 8 - highlighting the depth of this draft.
We’d love to hear your comments on Steele Sidebottom! Would you be happy to see him at your club or do you hope for another player instead? Let us know!
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Comments
Looks to be the wildcard of the draft for mine. Just dont know if his Grand Final performance was a once off or it is his true form. Def has great footy smarts thought.
[…] Nov 1 - Jack Watts Nov 2 - Nick Naitanui Nov 3 - Daniel Rich Nov 4 - Michael Hurley Nov 5 - Steele Sidebottom Nov 6 - Jack Ziebell Nov 7 - Jordan Roughead […]
[…] - Jack Ziebell (Murray U18) 10 - Adelaide - Phil Davis (North Adelaide) 11 - Collingwood - Steele Sidebottom (Murray U18) 12 - Sydney - Lewis Johnston (North Adelaide) 13 - St Kilda - Tom Lynch (Sandringham […]
top 5 might be a bit early…
and Ash Arrowsmith has played a few good games in the WAFL this year.