Craig talks up Callinan

In a recent Neil Craig Q&A on the Crows website Neil talks highly of Callinan pushing his claims for a birth in my Dream Team for 2011. Is he on your radar?

The club has an opening on its senior list to play a nominated rookie as early as round one of the season proper. Rookies Ian Callinan and Matt Wright both played in the first round of the NAB Cup, but is it fair to say Callinan is leading that race?

"Ian has been very good in his preparation the whole pre-season and I thought his performance the other Friday night…the longer he played the more comfortable he looked and that was to be expected.
He certainly noticed the change in speed compared to the SANFL, but he adapted really well. Whether he can continue the improvement to warrant a position on the senior list and to fill that vacancy, I'm open minded about it. From what I've seen so far Ian should've been in the system four or five years ago. Senior coaches, recruiters and I owe him an apology. I had an opportunity to recruit him just as all the other clubs did five years ago, but we thought we were too smart."

Later in reference to Adelaide's forward line set up Craig also mentions McKernan as well as Callinan so both look to be in his plans.

"If we can keep Jason Porplyzia up there fit and healthy with Dangerfield, Ricky Henderson, Chris Knights, Taylor Walker, Shaun McKernan - because I thought he showed a bit last weekend - and maybe a Callinan… we've got those types of players who can go through the forward line, so we have some talent there. We've just got to make sure we don't just rely on Kurt to be able to take a strong contested mark. We need to share the workload."

As stated in my recent post Callinan comes in at the juicy Mature Rookie price of $80,400 (M/F)
McKernan in his 2nd year is also dual Pos. and is priced at $97,600 (F/B)

Mature Age Rookies on the Radar

Ian Callinan (FWD/MID, $80,400) ADEL
Won Jack Oatey Medal as best afield in this year's SANFL grand final and finds himself in career best form at the ripe age of 27. Touted as a possible goal scoring replacement for the Porpz, enabling him the freedom to move to the midfield. Callinan was taken at pick 64 in the rookie draft and after his impressive itra club match last week looks to have a foot in the door to a round one birth.

Paul Puopolo (DEF, $92,500) HAW
Recruited from Norwood and taken by Hawthorn at pick 66, 22yr old Puopolo looks to be the front runner to grab the hole left be the departure of Campbell Brown to the Suns. He was a stand out in Hawthorn's intra-club game in Tasmania. He is hard at the ball and is blessed with a nice turn of foot.

Nick Duigan (DEF, $92,500) CARL
Another Norwood recruit Duigan is 26 and comes to Carlton with pick 70 in the 2010 National Draft, Duigan showed talent as a youngster but injury set backs have severely hampered his career to date. He is known for his strong mark and rebound out of defence. Nick is another one to keep a close eye on in the NAB Cup.

Tendai Mzungu (FWD/MID, $92,500) FREO
MATURE-AGE Fremantle recruit Tendai Mzungu looks to be first in line to replace injured teammate Roger Hayden across half-back for Fremantle this season. The 24-year-old, has been a standout runner and looks well suited to the half-back role. Mzungu polled 20 Sandover Medal votes last year and won WAFL club Perth's best-and-fairest. Despite his Fwd/Mid classification Mzungu played more of a mid/back role for Perth in doing so amassing 28 possessions per match. Could be a more than handy Dream Teamer with DP as a bonus.

Wayde Twomey (Mid, $80,400) CARL
Made the switch from Werriby to Swan Districts in the WAFL at the end of 07 and is looking to have a similar impact to that of ex team mates Barlow and J-Pod. Wayde is 24 yrs old and is determind to prove himself in what may be his only crack at the big time. He had a run with the Western Bulldogs in 2006 and '07 after showing promise as a youngster with Werribee. Twomey is a mid come rebounding defender and was a shock pick at 51 in last year's AFL rookie draft.