ANALYSIS: What Sheezel and Ashcroft's first games can tell us about their future stardom
In a footballing sense, the formation of stars is even less concrete. The term is thrown out to describe young men in their teens and twenties, but how to quantify them is far harder.
But it was another debutant, with a slightly lower profile at a rebuilding club, that stole the attention with a Rising Star nomination, and a win, on debut. Coming into the draft Sheezel was tabbed as a damaging forward with great footy nous, with the potential to move into the midfield as he grows as a player. Instead of playing up forward, or even through the middle, Sheezel was thrown down back in his first game in the league.Sheezel looked at home in his first game, accumulating six intercepts, nine marks, 631 metres gained and 34 disposals. The AJAX FC product set several records for a teenage AFL debutant, and looked at home on the big stage.
The appeal of this pathway into the league is obvious — top draftees in the modern talent development system can enter the league with fairly complete high level skill-sets, while still lacking physical development and the footy IQ that comes with experience. It's also a good on-field vantage point for a young player to learn to understand and read the play upfield.
Unlike Sheezel, Ashcroft was thrown into the coalface in his first game, earning significant midfield minutes from day one. In a midfield studded with stars such as Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage, it was quite the sign of trust by coach Chris Fagan. While Ashcroft's numbers didn't pop off the page like Sheezel's did, even being entrusted to serious midfield time in a debut is pretty rare for a first year player.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Little NSW boy set to represent Australia at World Dwarf GamesAfter finding the confidence to compete, a little nine-year-old boy living in northern New South Wales is in training to represent Australia at the World Dwarf Games. 9News
Read more »
First Republic slumps to record low on downgrade, bank talksThe group of institutions that came to the troubled US lender’s rescue last week are now considering converting some or all of the $45 billion deposited into a capital infusion.
Read more »
SA's voluntary assisted dying scheme receives more than 30 applications in first seven weeksAt least six terminally ill South Australians have ended their lives using voluntary assisted dying since new laws came into effect seven weeks ago.
Read more »