We will continue to work on posting all our old archives, posts, and podcasts in the coming weeks.

BOY OF THE YEAR.

Each week, we will follow the progress of young Melbourne draftee,

Clint Bartram, as he strives to cement a place in the Melbourne team

throughout 2006. Whether Clint plays for the VFL Affiliate

(Sandringham) or for the Demons in the AFL, we will look at how he is

going and keep you up to date on his performances.

We were pleasantly surprised that Clint’s hard work on the

tracksince being drafted was rewarded with a first up NAB Cup trip to

Darwin to battle the Doggies.

Obviously the pace of the game and the heat were a real step-up from

anything ‘Lamar’ (I use this in the absence of any other nickname but

anyone old enough to remember ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ should understand

- especially in relation to his Javelin throwing prowess) experienced

while playing for the Geelong Falcons but he showed enough poise and

talent to impress the coaches and selection panel.

Clint was selected to play against Brisbane in the 1/4 final and was

given a very difficult assignment – playing on Jason Akermanis.

Neale Daniher had this to say (according to melbournefc.com.au)

‘Clint Bartram’s been quite impressive. He was given a job

on ‘Aker’ last week and he did a very good job. It’s very difficult to

play on ‘Aker’. It was only ‘Aker’s’ first game, first up, but it was

very encouraging.’

High praise indeed and we look forward to seeing more of Clint throughout 2006.  (And finding him a proper nickname).

1 Comment

i trained with

clint at geelong falcons all the way untill he got drafted and he was

the hardest worker out of the whole group, the only other person close

to him was travis boak and im sure he will get drafted this year.

Comment by zach  -  April 12, 2006

KEEPING HIM UNDER WRAPS

Clint has had an exceptional pre-season – particularly when you

consider that he was taken at number 60 in the National Draft. The

coaches are very impressed with him (see comments from Neale Daniher as

previously mentioned) and his team-mates also seem to think that he has

done quite well in the practice matches.

According to Cameron Bruce in the Bostonian (23/3/06)

‘Clint Bartram has been doing some really good selfless roles throughout the pre-season games..’

This is pretty high praise coming from a senior player and we can

only hope that Clint’s improvement continues along the same path.

After watching him perform very well in a practice match against

Brisbane where he quelled the effectiveness of Jason Akermanis, I

ventured down to watch his latest match against North Melbourne.

I am absolutely amazed at how quickly Clint has fit into the senior

side. He has obviously worked hard over summer to bulk up a bit and he

is now playing as though he belongs there. The nerves that were evident

in his first NAB Cup match against Footscray seem to be gone (maybe

just because it was a practice match) but he appears to have a

confidence that you wouldn’t imagine in someone so inexperienced.

A great first quarter where he picked up close to 10 possessions and

kept Brent Harvey in check was brilliant and I would imagine that

Daniher would be rapt that his kid can obviously play. How Harvey got

in the best players is beyond me but obviously there were blokes

watching who know a little bit more about how a senior player copes

with being kept quiet by a young kid.

All in all, things look quite rosy for Clint and I for one hope that

Daniher and the match committee decide to reward him by playing him in

the first round against Carlton.

If so, I will be there to report on his progress for footytalk.com.au

It also seems that Clint doesn’t really have a nickname yet. I have

heard the players refer to him as ‘Trace’ – ( a reference to a

Melbourne radio presenter – Tracey Bartram) but personally I don’t

think it suits him. His red boots look a bit flashy to me but since

Adam Davey is called ‘Flash’, that won’t work either. Keep trying but

until then, Lamar it is.

OFFICIAL.

It’s official.

Clint is ready to hit the big time and that puts a huge smile on Disco

and the Explosion. After tipping big things for this kid after he was

picked up at pick 60 in the National Draft, he has leap-frogged many

other draftee’s and his endeavour throughout the pre-season has been

rewarded with his selection in Melbourne’s team against Carlton in

Round 1.

Well done Clint!!!

For more information click on the following story

<a href=”http://melbournefc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&amp;spg=display&amp;articleid=253951″>Story</a>

Just a little ‘Media Watch’ on this story however.

In the final paragraph

‘ – .As a fourth round selection (No. 53) in the 2005 AFL National Draft,

Bartram may be considered a surprise selection for Sunday’s game, but

his form through the NAB Cup has been exceptional.’

In actual fact, Clint was taken at Number 60, not 53.

People wonder why I get irked at incorrect media reporting when it

really doesn’t matter but I think it is a case of taking the time to do

some research and get things right as much as possible.

Just my humble opinion.

A previously mentioned, a huge congratulations goes to

footytalk.com.au’s ‘boy’, Clint Bartram on making his debut last

weekend against Carlton.

I have to say that I went down to this match purely to watch how he

went. I won’t be able to cover every game he plays in person but as

this was his first game in the big time, I wanted to do it for real.

Clint started on the ground and was sent straight to Nick Stevens on

the wing. He didn’t appear to be over-awed by the occasion and seemed

to have few nerves from where I sat right up in the top deck of the

Docklands. I can only imagine how the butterflies deep in the pit of

his stomach were making him feel.

Clint began reasonably well and threw himself into the pack right from

the opening bounce. Good on him. I guess he just wanted to get a touch

early and it didn’t take too long ( a few minutes) before he got a

little handball out of a pack in the centre of the ground following an

early Davey goal. I didn’t think that Nick Stevens had a great deal of

influence early on. Clint’s reputation as a solid ‘tagger’ seemed to be

quite suitable for him early on.

Unfortunately one of his first kicks from the back pocket to a

stationary team-mate was a bit slow getting to him, allowing Carlton to

intercept, cause the turn-over and ultimately result in a goal to

Simpson.

Clint ended up being ‘rested’ after about 20 mins but I think he would have been happy with his start apart from the turn-over.

During the second-term, young Bartram showed a great glimpse of

something special. With a switch of play from the Melbourne half-back

line, Clint found himself running free. He gathered the ball on the

wing and with only Jarred Waite between he and the big sticks, he

calming and easily brushed aside the larger, stronger Waite and easily

slotted it from outside 50. A nervous wait that seemed like an eternity

stalled time until the goal umpire raised the two fingers. Well done

son! Great goal.

The rest of the game was (from an outsiders point of view) a huge

learning experience. He threw himself at every contest and I felt Nick

Stevens didn’t have a HUGE impact on the game while Clint was tagging

him. Stevens got a fair bit of the ball but wasn’t truly damaging. I

think the only thing that detracted from Bartram’s first game were a

couple of turn-overs. We could put that down to nerves I guess.

One pleasing aspect however – and this is something that Neale Daniher

and the Match Committee can be pleased about, was his endeavour and

attitude. He is quite small and slight but managed to throw himself

into the thick of the action and applied 7 tackles for the night. THE MOST ON THE GROUND FROM BOTH TEAMS NEALE!!.

Clint’s first up effort resulted in the following stats.

6 kicks, 4 handdballs, (10 possessions), 3 marks, 7 tackles and 1 goal.

Good stuff and I hope it is enough for him to retain his place in the

side in next week’s game against Footscray at the Docklands on Saturday

afternoon.

STILL THERE.

Thank Goodness that Neale Daniher didn’t blame Clint for last week’s

loss against Carlton. I felt that the few turnovers Clint effected may

have resulted in him being dropped for Round 2 but to my surprise, I

find that he has maintained his spot in the side for the match against

Footscray at the Docklands stadium on Saturday afternoon. What is

this – traditional footy at the traditional time. AD must have the fever!

Congratulations Clint and good luck mate. I hope all

Footytalk.com.au listeners and readers get behind you during 2006 and

keep their eyes on your progress.

GOOD PICK UP.

We are becoming quite proud of our ‘boy’ of the moment down here at

footytalk.com.au as Clint continues to surprise the footballing world

and to establish himself as a senior player with the Melbourne Football

Club.

This week in Carrara, young Clint was pitted against the player who

is probably one of the most explosive and skilled players that has ever

played the game.I speak of none other than dual-Norm Smith Medallist

Andrew McLeod.

It’s a tough ask for a rookie in only his third game of senior footy

but we are pleased to report that Clint aquitted himself very very

well.McLeod was, at times, his usual self.Silky disposals,

blistering pace and enough tricks up his sleeve to dance around the

oppostion however Clint generally went with him most of the way.

Our boys stats read as follows.

7 kicks

3 marks

7 handballs

3 x 1%’s and again.. importantly

5 TACKLES.

This shows that he is getting a fair bit of the ball himself but is

also getting hold of the bloke with the ball as well as keeping his

much-fancied opponents reasonably quiet.

Another good thing to report is that Clint (nicknamed Trace! by some

of his team-mates so it looks like it is going to stick) seems to be

finding the poise that he was renowned for in the U/18’s.He doesn’t

seem to be as nervous or as rushed as in his first few games (inc the

NAB Cup matches) so it augers well for his position within the team.

Fingers crossed that he continues to shine and hopefully a NAB Rising Star nomination is not far away.

Keep it up kid!

GIVE HIM A BREAK

It’s a lonely place – sitting on the pine up at the SCG.

What does a bloke have to do to get a run up there in a tight game against the Premiers?

You have to feel sorry for Clint this week.He has had a meteoric

rise from the Geelong Falcons last year to the Big Show this year and

he has handled it with aplomb- playing the first 4 games in the seniors.

This week was an interesting match for young Tracey however.He

only played for about 35 minutes of actual game time and was left to

tag Schneider for a lot of that time.Admittedly, Schneider didn’t get

a lot of the ball and neither did Clint.Unfortunately he just wasn’t

where the ball was.

His stats read as follows.

4 kicks, 4 marks, o handballs and 3 tackles.

He is still in the top bracket of tacklers in the league after 4

games and although he didn’t get a lot of game time this week he

continued to do the hard things that coaches should love.Running,

chasing, tackling, scragging etc etc etc. Doing the TEAM things that

some of the more vaunted senior players refuse to do.Keep it up Clint.

What can we surmise from this game.I guess it was a very tight

game on a tiny ground so there may not have been the need for a

close-checking tagger as much as on the bigger grounds.I don’t

imagine it is easy to step up straight away and be part of the senior

group when you are drafted at 60 but the Melbourne players seem to have

accepted him well which is great to see.

The Dee’s may be without a number of players this week so lets hope

that Clint keeps his place in the 22 this week and does another good

‘touch-up’ job on Brent Harvey in the same way that he did during the

pre-season match earlier this year.

BACK IN THE FOLD

After a weekend on the outer ( or at least on the pine) Clint found

himself back in the thick of things against North Melbourne this week.

And not before time Mr. Preacher Man!!!

Even though he spent a bit of time on the bench, he got onto the

ground reasonably quickly and played a bit on Brent Harvey, Adam

Simpson and rotated a lot through the midfield as he spent a bit of

time on other blokes.From what I saw, none of the guys he spent time

on were very damaging so young Clint continues to do his job and play

tight defensive footy. The great thing is that he is running hard and

also putting his pace and skills to good use by linking up with other

players.The deft taps and quality touches that are not counted as

official stats continue and he should be very pleased with his efforts

thus far.

The fact that he is young yet managing to maintain his place in the

team is a credit to his tenacity on the track and his perseverance.

Stats for this game are as follows.

5 kicks

2 marks

8 handballs

6 TACKLES.

I would suggest that if he continues to play this consistent type of

football,it won’t be long before he is rewarded with an NAB Rising

Star nomination.Hopefully this week against Geelong.

IN THE NEWS

It seems like footytalk.com.au’s boy of the year must be doing good

things for the Dee’s. The mainstream mejar seem to have finally caught

on.

From The Argus

<a href=”http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/05/04/1146335868778.html”>Read the story here.</a>

And from the Official Melbourne Football Club website.

<a href=”http://melbournefc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&amp;spg=display&amp;articleid=263212″>Read the story here.</a>

REALITY CHECK

No – not the reality check ladder.

Clint actually found out how hard and uncompromising senior footy is

this week.He was presented with a very very tough assignment when

told he was to pick up Paul Chapman.I think that Chapman is the

barometer down there at Kardinia Park and he would have secretly been

very pleased to see Clint standing next to him at the beginning of the

game. I think I saw a sly smirk on his face from my vantage point at

the G that night.

Clint tried hard in the slosh and rain but Chapman is a very

dangerous player especially close to goal and Chapman managed to get

free enough times to kick 3 goals.From what I saw, Clint seemed to

get sucked into the play a little bit rather than stick next to Chapman

a few times but they were enough to get him three goals.One was a

good mark behind a pack that Clint just couldn’t get his hands in to

spoil.One was a snap following a handball from Ablett – who Clint

went to tackle because there was no-one else around.The third goal

also was a lucky one but all in all, 3 goals was more than what Daniher

would have hoped.

Watching him tagging Chapman around packs as well, it seemed that

Clint seemed to choosee the wrong path a few times.Chapman ran close

to the pack in order to get someone to provide a screen or to lose his

tag, while Clint tended to go around the far side of the pack to ‘cut

him off at the pass’.Didn’t seem to work on occasions.

Still it was a steep learning curve and he will get a lot from it.

I hope that the coaching panel doesn’t deem fit to drop him after this.

Stats for Clint – 3 kicks, 1 handball, 1 mark and ony 2 tackles.I

don’t know who does the official stats down there at the AFL but by my

reckoning Clint whacked on about 7-8 really good tackles.Not quite

his ‘Brokeback Mountain’ type that was captured in the Bostonian last

week but still good effective tackles.

Welcome to real footy Clint.Good show and don’t be too disappointed.

RISING STAR – WELL DESERVED

It has taken 7 weeks but Clint has finally received the formal accolades that we thought he should have deserved 3 weeks ago.

www.footytalk.com.au is proud to announce that Clint Bartram has

received the NAB Rising Star Nomination for Round 7. Disco and The

Explosion would like to pass on our sincerest congratulations on behalf

of all footytalk.com.au listeners to Clint and wish him well for the

rest of the year.Things can only get better for our ‘boy of the year’.

Clint has worked tirelessly over the pre-season and especially over the

past 7 weeks to firstly find a spot in the squad, and then to cement a

place in thebest 22. He has had some good successes over players such

as Nick Stevens and Andrew McLeod in terms of restricting their

effectiveness, and he continued this form with another stellar

performance against Peter Bell last weekend.The Freo skippers

influence was not as great as one would expect thanks to Clint’s

close-checking and niggling style of play.

Clint’s stat’s read as follows.

7 kicks, 6 handballs, 8 marks.He also laid 5 effective tackles to

keep him at number 7 in the most tackles for the league after 7 games.

Not a bad effort for an 18 year old kid in his first season of senior

footy.

For the record, Bell picked up 6 kicks and 12 handballs – when he

normally averages over 13 kicks and 10 handballs throughout his career.

To read some of the main stories regarding Clint’s nomination for NAB Rising Star, follow the links.

<a href=”http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&amp;spg=display&amp;articleid=266099″>From the Official AFL Site.</a>

<a href=”http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,19152541-23210,00.html?from=rss”>From Foxsports. </a>

<a href=”http://melbournefc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&amp;spg=display&amp;articleid=266099″>From the Official Melbourne Football Club website.</a>

I will add more links as the mejar catch up with the news.

1 Comment

I LOVE Clint Bartram.

when i heard that he had won the rising star award for round 7 i was so happy. He is such a great player!

I love Clint

He is gorgeous

I hope he enjoys his first season of afl football.

Comment by Emma Wood  -  May 19, 2006

PROGRESSING WELL

Again, my apologies for not being able to have this review up for a

few weeks.  Humble apologies to Clint, his family and friends and all

those who have been following his progress through www.footytalk.com.au

Round 9 saw the Dee’s travel to Perth for a tough match against the

raging hot premiership favourites in West Coast.Whilst the game went

as expected, it was Clint’s form that we were particularly impressed

with.

Playing his customary role off half-back and tagging the rotating midfielders, he had a very good game.

8 kicks, 3 marks, 6 handballs, and 4 tackles helped

him further his reputation as a tough, hard to shake tagging player.

His defensive skills are exceptional and as an added extra, he managed

to move forward and create attacking thrusts this week. To the Demon’s

delight (and I am sure his own) he managed to slot two goals this week

as well. Congratulations Trace!

I guess he has to thank the Geelong Falcons for helping him develop

the defensive side of his game to a small extent but a huge pat on the

back goes to the Reverend and the Melbourne recruiting panel who saw

potential there that they could use. Keep up the fantastic work Clint.

CONSISTENCY

Unfortunately we have been away for a while and have been unable to

keep updating the details from Clint’s performances as they happen.

We hope to be able to bring this information to you as soon as it is

fresh in our minds from now on and we hope to be able to continue

promoting Clint as much as possible. Thankfully it seems that Clint

doesn’t need anything more than his own determination and persistence

for the match committee to continue to see his work ethic and his skill

level to continue selecting him each week.

Who knows -  there may even be an NAB Rising Star Award in the offing

at the end of the year if he continues to play with the tenacity and

consistency he has exhibited so far this year.

Round 11 – Melbourne v Collingwood.

Stats for Round 11 against Collingwood in the Queens Birthday game.

Clint again showed his consistency in this game.

7 kicks, 8 handballs, 6 marks and 2 tackles.

Lots of run off half-back playing on Leon Davis and while Davis did

chip in with an early goal and late goal (3 all together), Clint ran

with him and certainly quelled his effectiveness. This is the reason

he continues to be selected each week. He is stable and consistent and

most importantly, he has a strong defensive side to his game and GETS THE JOB DONE!

Round 12. – Melbourne v Essendon

6 kicks, 4 handballs, 4 marks 2 tackles and 1 goal.2 contested ball gets and 2 forays inside forward 50.

Clint again showed his versatility by playing a rotating role

through the backline and the midfield while ‘minding’ the resting

on-ballers. He has a number of different opponents throughout the day

and calming performed his job as Daniher would have expected. Daniher

mentioned his name during his press conference after the game however

it was not with the high praise that I had expected.  thought Clint

had played a very good tight game yet Daniher mentioned that he was

down on form and hadn’t played up to his regular standard. I was

aghast as I thought it had been Clint’s best game for the Dee’s so far

this year. Maybe the Rev is down-playing the quality of the kid and

not pumping him up for two reasons.

1/.  To keep a level head on the young blokes shoulders and not let him get too far ahead of himself, and ..

2/.  To keep him under the radar of the upcoming

opponents who may not expect a close-checking quality defender to take

them. Keep his name and his growing reputation out of the spotlight.

Whatever you are doing Clint, keep doing it and all of us here at

www.footytalk.com.au are behind you in what has already turned out to

be a very successful year.

KEEPS ON GETTING BETTER

Now that the site is back and running properly, we will be able to

keep the Clint Bartram section up to date and current each week.Our

apologies to all those who have been enjoying young Tracey’s progress

and following him along with us at www.footytalk.com.au

Round 13.Melbourne v Port Adelaide.

Clint proved that he is Mr. Consistency yet again.A very solid,

close checking game that should have his Coach and the Match Committee

smiling with joy.He does his job very well on the main

half-forward/rotating midfielders.

Since I didn’t see any of this game due to interstate commitments, I

can only imagine that he may have played on blokes like Salopek, Pearce

and Ebert but please let me know if that is incorrect.Of those three

players, none was especially damaging and none scored goals.

For Clint, his personal stats were as follows.

7 kicks, 6 handballs, 7 marks, 6 tackles and 3 inside 50’s.

He also had 4 uncontested ball gets and 4 handball receives, and

continues to go from strength to strength in terms of maintaining his

consistency and doing his job.

ROUND 14.Melbourne v Brisbane

Once again Clint showed maturity beyond his years to play a solid and consistent game.

Statistics for the young fella were as follows.

8 kicks, 3 handballs, 6 marks and 5 tackles.

In addition to these he picked up 1 contested ball, 1 clearance and 3 uncontested balls.

He is still rated in the top 20 for total tackles in the

competition. Not bad for a young kid drafted at number 60 and not

expected to play senior footy this year according to his coach on draft

day. (paraphrasing here)

It’s a lesson to every kid out there with dreams and aspirations of

playing footy – at any level. Learn to do the hard things, the 1%’s and

selfless acts that others do not want to do and concentrate on helping

your team-mate and stopping your opponent and don’t worry about looking

flashy all the time and you will become an invaluable member of your

team and club.

Clint, you are an example to all young footballers everywhere and we

continue to wish you all the best in your debut season and hope that

your efforts will be looked upon very positively when the NAB Rising

Star is announced.

PART OF THE FURNITURE

Round 15 2006.

Melbourne v Richmond

Thankfully for us and most especially for the Clint Bartram

bandwagon, the Rev has resisted the temptation to rest the young bloke

and just continue to reward him for playing great footy.

Clint lined up on Andy Krakouer this week in what was going to be a

test against one of the Tigers who has been a shining light up

forward. Krakouer slayed his opponents last week and this was going to

be a tough ask for ‘Trace’

Clint did a fanastic job in limiting Krakouers effectiveness and

stifling his output. (Hey..that is something that is not cliched.I

have NO chance of being a serious journalist now!).AK managed the

sensational stats of 4 kicks, 2 handballs, 1 mark and only 1 point in

his time on the ground.

For his part, Clint played a very good game doing the special 1%

that he is becoming reknowned for around the club, and he managed to

get a fair bit of the ball as well.

Stats are as folows:-

9 kicks, 5 handballs, 8 marks, 1 contested ball and 2 uncontested.5 handball receives and 3 rebounds from defensive 50.

Most importantly, apart from completely blanketing Krakouer, were his 5 tackles.

He continues to knock up putting on tackles and it is a real credit to

his work ethic to have cemented a place in the Melbourne side.

It will make the girl who has done a search for ‘Where does Clint

Bartram live?’ a very happy young lady to know the object of her

desires is playing exceptional footy!

MORE MEDJA SUCCESS

Great to see that ‘The Australian’ newspaper has picked up on

Clint’s successes this year.The Medjar are finally jumping on board

the www.footytalk.com.au bandwagon and recognising just how far this

bloke has come since he ‘graduated’ 3rd in the class from the Geelong

Falcons in 2005.

It begs the question as to where are the two kids from the Falcons

who were drafted before Clint?Anyone – . anyone – ..????The Dee’s

have pulled off a major coup and there cannot be enough accolades given

to Clint for his progress this year.

Is the whisper floating around the corridors of AFL House true that

Clint’s name has been added to the squad for the International Series

against Ireland at the end of the year?We will keep our fingers

crossed.Of course, nothing is as good as Premiership glory so we will

keep our fingers crossed that the Dees make it to the last Saturday in

September, and that Clint plays a starring role.

<a href=”http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19846690-36035,00.html”>Check out the ‘Clint Bartam’ story in ‘The Australian’. (20/7/06)</a>

1 Comment

Clint, you’re awesome xo

Comment by Eloise  -  August 1, 2006

NOT MY FAULT

Melbourne v Fremantle @ Subiaco.

The Dee’s got a bit of a touch-up over at Subiaco last weekend and

whilst the whole team genearally played a bit below par, Clint again

contributed a solid performance.Solid without being remarkably

brilliant,consistent without being overly flashy.

I didn’t see this match at all so am unable to tell you who he

played on but I have heard via the grapevine that he got a bit of a

going-over by the Carr brothers.Guys who should know better.However

if big name players feel that they need to beat up on a first year

player, then it means that he has furnished his own reputation through

is play off half-back this year and his close checking is an area of

concern for his direct opponents (especially if they tend to be used as

a ‘go-to’ player’.

Let’s hope that Daniher doesn’t punish him for the Dee’s loss because he has been playing great footy up to now.

The stat’s that matter.

5 kicks, 6 handballs, and most importantly – 7 tackles, along with 2

hard-ball gets.This all means that he is a tough uncompromising young

kid and deserves all the rewards that come his way in senior footy.

Speaking of rewards -  he seems to be building up quite a posse (no

accent to put here sorry) of young – and older – groupies who are using

www.footytalk.com.au to check on his progress.There are a number of

different searches for Clint on google, even some wondering where he

lives.I better not tell Mrs. Bartram about these if I am lucky enough

to interview her again.

Keep up the great work Clint.

He has been injured with a calf apparently, over the past few weeks but played on the weekend in the Lion’s Reserves game against the Gold Coast.

News was that he played exceptionally well and picked up around 20 touches through the middle and half-forward, and actually managed to kick a goal which is great news for him.  Even better than that was that he was named second best on ground (at least for the young Lions) and is looking like he really knows how to play.

It’s a long way from the freezing cold of Tassie to the warmth and humidity of Brisbane, but he seems to have fitted in really well and is enjoying his footy.  More on the young bloke to come in the near future and we hope that he gets a look into senior footy at some stage through the year.

We haven’t had much luck with our Boys Of the Year since we followed Clint Bartram in 2006. It’s fantastic to see young Bartram still getting a game, tackling everything in sight and forging a solid if not spectacular career for himself as the Dee’s surge up the ladder.  Pity some of our other picks did not turn out as well but we have high hopes for Ryan Harwood.

We have been trying to choose kids who are picked at around 60 in the draft (where our inaugural BoTY Clint Bartram was chosen in 2006) and to explore those kids out of Melbourne.  Last year was a bit of a blow-out as we didn’t keep track of the young bloke from Adelaide enough so let’s hope that Ryan is easier to find online.

Ryan Harwood

He was drafted by the Brisbane Lions’ second selection (pick 47 overall) in the 2009 National Draft^.

He played for the Glenorchy Footy Club throughout 2009, and also played for the Tassie Mariners and the National Under 18 Champs where he had a great chamionships and recorded the most stoppage clearances.

He averaged 6 clearances and 21 possessions at the 2009 Championships.

Obviously he is a very strong in and under player and as he develops, he should become a perfect foil and replacement for the likes of Luke Power.

He has been fortunate enough to impress Vossy so far in his life up in Brissie and was rewarded with inclusion in the NAB Challenge match against Carlton a Princes Park a few weeks ago.

Here is a bit of a bio from the official AFL Lions Site.

And another bio.

We decided to go with another interstater because it is harder to find information regarding the non-Victorian players and since we have already been to Perth, Sydney and Adelaide (albeit very unsuccessfully in 2009), we are hoping to be able to find more information regarding Ryan this year.

We will also keep tabs on our former BoTY from past years and hope that Clint Bartram continues to impress at the Dee’s.

All our regular listeners and readers are encouraged to take on a boy of their own and keep us informed of their progress throughout 2010.

In the past, we have chosen Clint Bartram in 2006, who has turned out to be our best BOTY and continues to make a great impression in AFL Footy.

Following up the success we had with Bartram, we looked at a young North Melbourne player who let us down by his pathetic need to cheat and take a dive during a game. We dropped him like a hot spud from our interest and he is known by “He Who Shall Not Be Named”. It is only by a freak accident that this blokes name will ever be uttered by the Footytalk team.

In order to make up for this sort of a bloke, we also chose a young kid from Freo for the remainder of 2007 called Calib Mourish. Unfortunately Cal was unable to break into the Freo side and played a lot of footy at the North Fremantle Sharks – both in the Magoo’s and with the odd smattering of games in the 1’s but he is no longer on the Freo list.

Last year, we managed to find another gem in the draft who played a lot of footy – Craig Bird from Sydney. Whilst he has good sporting pedigree, his ability in the real game was an unknown quantity but he managed to forge a reputation for himself as a nuggety player with decent skills, and Sydney must have seen something in him as they blessed him with Bobby Skilton’s prized number 14.

This year, after checking through the draft list, we have decided that we willtry to remain true to those blokes chosen around Pick 60 (as Bartram was), and we will follow the fortunes of Thomas Lee who was picked up by Adelaide at number 60.

More information to come on Thomas Lee in the near future.