{"id":68491,"date":"2020-06-15T19:24:24","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T09:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afl.draftcentral.localhost\/?p=68491"},"modified":"2020-09-06T20:39:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T10:39:30","slug":"afl-draft-watch-joel-western-claremont-western-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2020\/06\/15\/afl-draft-watch-joel-western-claremont-western-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Draft Watch: Joel Western (Claremont\/Western Australia)"},"content":{"rendered":"

IN the build up to football eventually returning, Draft Central<\/em>\u00a0 takes a look at some of this year’s brightest names who have already represented their state at Under 17 or Under 18s level in 2019. While plenty can change between now and then, we will provide a bit of an insight into players, how they performed at pre-season testing,<\/em> and some of our scouting notes on them from last year.<\/p>\n

Next under the microscope in our AFL Draft watch is Claremont’s Joel Western<\/strong><\/a>, a member of the thriving Fremantle Next Generation Academy (NGA). The 172cm prospect is an excitement machine, catching the eye with his speed and agility away from the contest, combined with an innate ability to pull off improbably plays. While Western is more than capable of playing through the midfield at Under 18 level, roles off flanks at either end of the ground suit his physical makeup in terms of adjusting to the next level.<\/p>\n

After his 23 disposals helped Claremont to Under 18 WAFL Colts grand final glory in 2019, the zippy Tiger became one of three players from his club to be included in the West Australian Academy hub. Western was a prime mover in his state’s 2018 Under 16 campaign, and was part of its 2019 Under 18 squad without playing a game. Having lit up preseason testing with top 10 results in each jumping category and the 20-metre sprint, Western is primed to break through this season as a key figure once again.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

PRESEASON TESTING HIGHLIGHTS:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Standing Vertical Jump: <\/b>80cm
\nRunning Vertical Jump (R\/L):<\/strong> 88cm\/91cm
\nSpeed (20m): <\/strong>2.88 seconds
\nAgility: <\/strong>8.47 seconds
\nEndurance (Yo-yo):<\/strong> 21.5<\/p>\n

>> Full Testing Results:<\/strong>
\nJumps<\/a>
\n20m Sprint<\/a>
\nAgility<\/a>
\nYo-yo <\/a><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

PLAYER PAGE:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Joel Western<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

DOB:<\/strong> October 12, 2002<\/p>\n

Height:<\/strong> 172.cm
\nWeight:<\/strong> 67kg
\nPosition:\u00a0<\/strong>Midfielder\/small utility<\/p>\n

Strengths:\u00a0<\/strong>Athleticism, speed\/endurance mix, versatility, x-factor, skill<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

KEY SCOUTING NOTES:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

2019 Under 17 Futures All Stars<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

By: Peter Williams<\/em><\/p>\n

The West Australian was one of Team Dal Santo\u2019s better players on the day, showing good composure at half-back under pressure. He did go forward at times but looked more rushed going inside 50 with the odd turnover from a quick snap. He had a shot on goal but the kick went out on the full, and spent the second half in the defensive half of the ground, being a reliable player who picked up a number of touches back there trying to settle his team down.<\/p>\n

2019 WAFL Colts Grand Final vs. Peel Thunder<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

By: Lenny Fogliani<\/em><\/p>\n

The bottom-aged Fremantle Next Generation Academy member showed why he is one of the leading prospects from Western Australia for next year\u2019s AFL Draft. He accumulated 23 possessions, and laid six tackles, often using his speed and skill to break Peel\u2019s defensive zones.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Picture:<\/strong> The West Australian<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

>> Squad Prediction: 2020 WA U18s<\/a><\/p>\n

>> Marquee Matchup: Denver Grainger-Barras vs. Kaine Baldwin<\/a><\/p>\n

>> CATCH UP ON OUR DRAFT WATCH SERIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Australia:<\/strong>
\nDenver Grainger-Barras<\/a>
\nLogan McDonald<\/a>
\nNathan O\u2019Driscoll<\/a><\/p>\n

Allies:<\/strong>
\nTahj Abberley<\/a>
\nJackson Callow<\/a>
\nBraeden Campbell<\/a>
\nOliver Davis<\/a><\/p>\n

South Australia:<\/strong>
\nKaine Baldwin<\/a>
\nLuke Edwards<\/a>
\nTaj Schofield<\/a>
\nRiley Thilthorpe<\/a><\/p>\n

Vic Country:<\/strong>
\nSam Berry<\/a>
\nJack Ginnivan<\/a>
\nNick Stevens<\/a>
\nJamarra Ugle-Hagan<\/a><\/p>\n

Vic Metro:<\/strong>
\nJackson Cardillo<\/a>
\nNikolas Cox<\/a>
\nConnor Downie<\/a>
\nReef McInnes<\/a>
\nArchie Perkins<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IN the build up to football eventually returning, Draft Central\u00a0 takes a look at some of this year’s brightest names who have already represented their state at Under 17 or Under 18s level in 2019. While plenty can change between now and then, we will provide a bit of an insight into players, how they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":71838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11774,11607,17,8,3131],"tags":[11813,12277,12117,11316,235,553,10162,11953,771,12526,12525,5861,3332,11815,12126,1890,2198,1921,11928],"class_list":["post-68491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afl-draft-watch","category-claremont","category-national-championships","category-news","category-western-australia","tag-2020-afl-draft","tag-2020-nga","tag-2020-preseason-testing","tag-2020-under-18-national-championships","tag-afl-draft","tag-claremont","tag-draft-central","tag-draft-watch","tag-fremantle","tag-fremantle-next-generation-academy","tag-fremantle-nga","tag-joel-western","tag-next-generation-academy","tag-nga","tag-preseason-testing","tag-wafl","tag-wafl-colts","tag-western-australia","tag-western-australia-under-18"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}