As I watched the AFL National Draft online to see who my beloved Bombers have picked up, I felt it appropriate to complete the men's side of the Ballarat Ultimate National Draft. The big observation to make amongst this is similar to the women's side, the social circles and inevitable recruiting that happens among the Sydney based clubs. Fakulti take up a lot of the uni club products (hence the name I suppose), while Hills attract the locals and league recruits. However this year the World Clubs team with a well-thought out working title of "Sydney" have taken up everyone who is any good, leaving Fakulti, Hills and Umlaut to fend for themselves. We're still likely to see some form of these clubs at Easterns this year, but whether all of them will make Nationals is another thing. So let's get underway with pick #1.
Pick #1 - UmlautAnd straight away I'm stuck. Umlaut at Nationals were mostly old hands at the sport who had the cash for Perth flights taking advantage of the lack of Barefoot/Thong/Feral/whatever and Manly sides who had graced the lineup in recent years. However with the birth of the WUCC-bound Sydney team, Umlaut may struggle to qualify this year, with Hills and a second Fakulti team likely to be their main competition for the 5th East spot. With Fakulti likely to be plundering the ever-growing UTS club for fresh blood, Umlaut need to make moves elsewhere. The Clay brothers can scour the Wollongong district, but I think Umlaut need to take a serious look at UNSW before Fak do. Hence the first "pick" who is the top prospect at UNSW.
Pick #1 - David Lim (UNSW)Pick #2 - ChillySo last year there were some questions over why Chilly gets two picks, one high and one low. Here at Ballarat Ultimate we like to encourage elite development, and reward clubs who have two teams at any tournament, let alone Nationals. Like Heads of State, Chilly have been sniffing around the GFUC club for a while in order to attract some young talent, however the Thunder rule of this draft has eliminated most of their prospects. Both Victorian clubs will be eyeing off Pete Nixon to see if they can draw him away from GFUC for a season, to the point where he could probably strike up a deal to play with GFUC at Regionals before going to Adelaide with another club. However there are two other players in the Victorian scene that Chilly should make some serious moves towards. I flipped a coin for this pick, with the other one going at pcik #12.
Pick #2 - Shaun Johnson (Deakin Uni)Pick #3 - SublimeAnd now we have our second club with two picks. Sublime put in a good show on home turf this year, and will be looking to do the same or improve in 2010. A number of Sublime players spent the spring spreading their wings and playing with other teams throughout Australia and Asia, and will come back to pre-season with hunger for success. And given the number of Perth players that tasted Nationals action in 2009, the competition to make the team will be fierce. Realistically, Sublime could send two teams to Adelaide again if the regional allocation formula swings their way. Looking at the crop of UWA players at Gold Coast this year, there were two who stood out and should comfortably adapt to the open game. One player was highly touted by some former UWA players, but Pick #3 stood out at the tournament and even attracted the attention of U23s personnel. He should supplement Sublime's current handler stocks quite well, and his height sees him as a deep threat on O.
Pick #3 - Rob Prast (UWA)Pick #4 - FakultiLong known as a "learning club", Fakulti face the challenge this year of their leaders looking ahead to WUCC and will leave the club in the capable hands of...I dunno. Someone. Once you take away the likes of Pete Gardner, Ken Shepherd, Ant Dowle, Tex Blakeley, Matt Faulker and pretty much anyone else you can think of, the Fakulti looks remarkably like a chick-less SUUFA. So this year we can expect them to take on board a plethora of new talent, and as well as the usual recruiting grounds of SUUFA and Macquarie, UTS is likely to be the source of said talent. Pick #4 is not necessarily the best all-round player, but SUUFA have plenty of throwers but need someone to clean up their swill in the endzone.
Pick #4 - Ashley Symons (UTS)Pick #5 - KarmaKarma are still struggling to shake the "No Pillar No Karma" tag that has plagued them since day one. They fought their way into the top half of the draw in 2009 but one Joel got injured they struggled to make an impression on the title contenders. So what do they need? First off, they need a plan B in crisis mode. The Joel-To-Sweet-As connection is one of the best in the country, but if that gets shut down when they're under the pump, they're left with a lack of options. Karma definitely have youth in their team, so anyone they'd pick would want to have some experience under their belt. Pick #5 was in contention for Thunder a few years back and recently returned to ultimate at AUG with Flinders, so it makes sense to get him on board.
Pick #5 - Ben Thomas (Flinders)Pick #6 - FakultiOnce again, we look to the university scene in Sydney for Fakulti's second pick. It is interesting to note that in previous years, the bulk of junior talent has come out of Sydney, however this year there are pockets of Thunder/Terra potential in Geelong, Brisbane and the Central Coast. Is this a blight on the youth development in Sydney? No. It simply means, just it has in the university scene in the last few years, that everyone else is catching up. As mentioned before, universities have been one of Fakulti's biggest breeding grounds, and Pick #6 comes from one of the most promising clubs of the last two years.
Pick #6 - Martin "Linus" Forrest (UTS)Pick #7 - SublimeSublime's biggest problem is a lack of quality opposition to play against on a regular basis. Most WA players are lucky to see east coast opponents once or twice a year unless they're prepared to shell out for flights. The biggest losers in this are the intermediate players who are stepping up their game. They're the ones who are missing out on regularly testing themselves against quality opponents. Meanwhile in NSW and Victoria there are two (or more) club teams who scrimmage and in Queensland there's the Brisbane Premier League. While there are elite players in Perth there isn't quite enough to be able to sustain as high level play as there is in the east. So these intermediates join up with Sublime as their "next step". Pick #7 is well and truly ready for that.
Pick #7 - Peter AdanPick #8 - FirestormFirestorm are a funny bunch. Every year on paper it looks like they're finally going to make semis and challenge for the title. And every year they're left languishing around the 5-8 bracket. What is it they're missing? I have no idea. They seem to have all the ingredients in place, but it doesn't quite come together on the day. But enough of that - who is Firestorm going to add to their ingredients list this year? Up in Queensland they breed them tall, thin and fast in the mould of Mike Neild. And why wouldn't you? Who the hell would want to face a line of seven Mike Neilds? Now my lack of knowledge of the Brisbane scene is blatantly going to shine through here, so I may as well admit I looked at UQ's gold medal winning squad and just picked a name. Sorry Tyson Buhagiar and Ryan Garrahy.
Pick #8 - James JacksonPick #9 - I-BeamI-Beam are an even funnier bunch than Firestorm. Their list isn't littered with Dingos and Barramundis the way Fakulti's is, but they are a very good team nonetheless. In 2009 they fell short at the final hurdle and ended up 4th, but there's no telling what will happen this season. Newcastle Uni's team at AUG boasted many I-Beam names, who will no doubt drag Pick #9 along to have a bid for a green and...silver, I suppose, jersey. Height is a valuable currency in ultimate and this guy is one rich motherfucker. He will be a good asset on offence as he settles in to the open game, and will also be a great defender once he adjusts to the whole "floating bit of plastic" thing as opposed to leather and pigskin.
Pick #9 - James GreenPick #10 - Heads Of StateOne look at my Facebook feed after their initial training camp for the season shows that Heads Of State is more than just a club - it's a way of life, or almost a religion. These guys eat, breathe and shit ultimate, and any addition to their team will need to adopt the same attitude if they are to strut it on the main stage in April. HoS are looking to boost their B-team this season and will take on the extra numbers required to have a solid crack at Regionals. Pick #10 will be a great addition to this team, and possibly the A-team in 2011. He played a supporting role in the The Jake Angelovich Endzone Show at AUG, and has the aggression and competitive nature that will see him suited to the HoS religion.
Pick #10 - Sam Cooney (Ballarat Uni)Pick #11 - Fyshwick UnitedOk so I'm doing more than 10 picks this year. Look at this as the first round of the draft where everyone gets a pick. FU went agonisingly close to a national title this year. Well, there were 6 points difference in the final, but they had done everything right up until then - defeating everyone, including Chilly, throughout the season and the tournament. But not quite where it counted. And so the 2010 season presents an interesting dilemma - a lot of Fyshwick players are Kaboom-focussed since they qualified for World Club Championships. Are they going to focus on Worlds prep or Nationals campaign until April and then WUCC for a couple of months? There's no reason they couldn't do both. Either way, they'll be snapping up Pick #11 for the future to ensure no one else gets him.
Pick #11 - Byron Vickers (ANU)Pick #12 - ChillyIt's a bit anti-climactic having the final pick of the draft for the best team in the country being the club's second pick overall. Anyhow, Chilly are definitely on the hunt to boost their depth in 2010 with the impending but seemingly constantly postponed retirement of some big names - Tom Rogacki, Steve Campbell, Shane Vuletich to name a few. Rumoured plans for Chilly this year include a third team - something they did back in 2006 - for some of the "old boys", which would do well to fuel the rumours of a Chilly team in the Masters' division at WUCC. Either way, Chilly have a second target that was mentioned earlier in the article.
Pick #12 - Jason Gibson (Deakin Uni)So there you have it. Let's revisit this in 12 months and see how wrong I was. Thoughts and comments to the usual address.
