Haelen Kay – Gippsland Power
186cm, 75kgJunior position: Wing, HBF, tall forward/back
Projected AFL position: Midfield, HBF

Wing, HBF, tall forward/back Midfield, HBFStrengths
Athleticism
Courage
Vertical leap/overhead skills

Weaknesses
Inconsistent kicking
Cleanness below knees
Frees against

Question marks
Can he get some consistency in his kicking? His best is very good but his worst is absolutely shocking.

Comments
Haelen Kay is a very athletic and courageous tall midfielder/rebounding defender. His pace and aerobic capacity are both impressive, which was reflected in his Draft Camp results where he came fifth in the repeat 30m sprints.

He has plenty of courage so isn’t afraid to throw himself into a pack or run back with the flight of the ball. This hard as nails approach is not especially common for a tall, athletic player of his type. It means that when in the midfield he can play in an outside receiving role, or he can be the guy that dives into packs to get it out. His hardness at the contest can result in giving away a few too many free kicks. He will need to improve his ground level skills in contested situations as occasionally he isn’t too clean below his knees, but this isn’t a major concern.

His kicking is a major weakness though. Not so much that he is a bad kick, it’s that his kicking is incredibly inconsistent. For as many lace out 55m passes he’ll make he’ll put one in the fourth row off a 30m kick with no pressure. Basically he can kick very well at times and very bad at times. This weakness is the reason that he is not so highly rated, because otherwise there is plenty to like about his game.

Kay is excellent in the air, combining a fantastic vertical leap with good overhead skills. He’s not afraid to go for the big screamer and pulled down a couple of very good pack marks this year and had a few more flies that would make highlight reels had he pulled them off.

Defensively he is solid in the air and has a good punch on him. His leap allows him to play a bit taller than he really is. He’s not a key position player (though he played some games in key posts for Gippsland) but does project as a third tall who can play above his height. He likes to run and carry the ball so this would make him a good rebounding defender or a winger and if he can fix up his kicking could become damaging.

Late round pick.

Stats
2007 TAC Cup Season
17 games played
17.14
209 kicks (133 of them effective)
72 handballs (59 effective)
47 tackles
63 handball receives
21 contested marks
51 uncontested marks