Dave McNamara wrote:My only questions would be, what about a key defender, and how is McKenzie's mobility...?
As for defenders, either next year or rookie, but I really hope we go for some pace with the rookies. Tom Lamb is 193cm so he's key position size potentially, but with an elite beep test he's probably better as a midfielder.
From what I've read McKenzie has the turning circle of the titanic, but he will probably trim down which may help.
At the draft combine he weighed in at 106kg and he's 196cm, but he came equal second in the 20 metre sprint with 2.87 sec.
Reportedly he's more your Tom Hawkins type, big and strong and crashes packs/contested mark type of player.
From Knightmares phantom draft;
Reece McKenzie (VIC – KPF/Ruck)Height: 196cm, Weight: 100kg, DOB: 28/03/1996
Recruited from: Northern Knights
Draft range: 20-60
Best position/role: Full forward.
Strengths: Go to guy talent – McKenzie with his size, presence and contested marking ability is a genuine go to guy in the front half. He has the performances on the board and proven production. He can draw double and triple teams and is a handful for any key defender to contain particularly deep in the forward 50 with his contested marking ability.
Contested marking/marking ability – McKenzie has strong hands overhead and can take the big contested grabs. He has a rare presence in the front half when he goes for his marks. He takes advantage of smaller opponents 1v1 and can bully anyone physically at TAC Cup level in the contest. He takes the big pack grabs. He crashes packs. He is an excellent mark in the air and is near impossible to stop when he launches at the ball due to his size, strength and power. His contested marking numbers are strong. He is also a capable mark on the lead with his leading patterns good and with his size and strength he is hard to stop.
Size/strength/leap/power– At 100kg McKenzie has excellent size and strength for his age and he has clearly put the time and effort in, in the gym. 1v1 McKenzie has rare strength in the contest and is a near immovable object with the strength through his legs and core strength. Additionally he has excellent leaping ability for his size and is a significant marking threat in the air with his hands overhead strong in the air.
Scoreboard impact – McKenzie is one of leading goalkickers in the TAC Cup and has shown he can have some dominant games where he can individually take over games.
Capable of big games v weak opposition – McKenzie has had some big games. He kicked 10 goals v a weak Eastern Ranges. 7 goals and 5 behinds v a small Northern Territory and 16 goals for Marcellin v Yarra Valley. He will capitalise if he gets the flow of entries or if he is playing against a smaller or less capable 1v1 opponents.
Strong improvement as year has progressed suggesting significant upside – McKenzie from July onward made the shift from playing a mix of forward and ruck minutes to a full time key forward and since then he has significantly lifted his scoreboard impact and contested mark totals. His numbers over the second half of the season have been a significant improvement on what he was showing over the first half of the season and while the role change to permanent forward has definitely helped him in achieving this it is difficult to ignore the sharp improvement in his scoreboard impact and contested marking totals. Given this sharp improvement in production I evaluate McKenzie’s upside to be exceptionally high with his numbers evidence of the speed with which he is improving and I anticipate that sharp improvement to continue into the future. Additionally having spent last year playing basketball instead of football I cannot help but think the fact that he is putting up these numbers having not played TAC Cup last year suggests strong upside and substantial scope to improve further as he plays more.
Weaknesses:Does not have the same impact against better opponents – McKenzie has capitalised against weaker opponents in a big way but has up to this point failed to kick a big haul against better opposition and that will be the next step for him in his development.
Ability to hit the scoreboard from general play – McKenzie is very much a mark and goal forward who will get a large volume of set shot attempts at goal but few if any shots at goal from general play. If you have a guy who can match McKenzie for size and strength at the next level it is likely that he will get shut out of games as his game is very much just going out there and marking everything. At ground level McKenzie is dexterous and can pick up the footy relatively cleanly off the deck but he is not a goal scoring threat when he wins it at ground level as he lacks the ability to turn opposition players around and run into an open goal or create adequate time and space for himself at ground level to get it onto his boot.
Slow getting up to speed – McKenzie has a slow first step and slow first few steps on the lead. He also takes a number of steps to get up to full acceleration and does not have that immediate burst of speed allowing him to go from stationary to full speed quickly. The main limitation of this is it prevents McKenzie from turning guys around and running into an open goal. It also limits him from making quick, agile steps to create the time and space for himself after winning a ground ball to get it onto his boot for a shot at goal. As a result after winning a ground ball he will just be handballing it off to a team mate which is fine, but he is just not going to kick a whole lot of goals through this avenue during his career.
Followup work through the ruck – At McKenzie’s height and size and with a good leap he is a reasonable tap ruckman who could if required play some backup ruck minutes but at ground level again because he lacks that immediate acceleration from zero his followup efforts are slow and as a result he is not going to win much of the footy through there ruck or lay many tackles.
Set shot goalkicking – McKenzie’s conversion is above 50% but ideally he would be converting at a higher % than he is at the present time.
What I expect will improve: McKenzie I feel will continue in the most part make his strengths more dominant and take his dominant contested marking and scoreboard impact to the next level.
Who he can become?McKenzie plays that Travis Cloke style of game as that similar contested marking, mark and goal forward but I see him becoming something closer to a slightly more dominant Levi Casboult.
When will he be ready to play?McKenzie I anticipate will take four years before he establishes himself as a regular for a team and until season six before McKenzie really realises his potential and becomes a genuine go to guy. As a big marking forward he is not going to be able to take advantage of guys physically at AFL level right away so there will be an adjustment period but at his size and with his dominant marking and contested marking ability I see him taking more than enough grabs and providing enough scoreboard pressure to with time become a go to key forward.
How to best utilise him? McKenzie is best used at full forward as the go to target in the front half.
Interpretation of his numbers:McKenzie has put some dominant performances forward through the TAC Cup and for his school. His numbers are clearly best when utilised as a full time key forward as evidenced by his much improved mark, contested mark and goal scoring totals over the second half of the season. His numbers are trending sharply upward as the season which suggests he will continue this trend over coming seasons. His scoreboard impact and marking over the second half of the season have been outstanding and after Patrick McCartin has been arguably the next most dominant key forward with his contested marking numbers the strongest in this draft class.
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