ACADEMY SCOUTING

After watching the Craven week this year a few players stood out as players I would like to be retained by the academy.  I only had the Craven Week to monitor the players and I am sure the Academy scouts have been closely monitoring the players for a while now and will probably have a better idea as far as the quality of the players are concerned. And as consistency is a major factor to consider I am sure they will differ in some selections as they have better knowledge regarding the players. Here is a list of the XV players I would like to sign that represented the Kings franchise (SWD, Border & EP) region. I have set it out as a starting XV as I heard somewhere that the Kings Academy look to sign 1 player in each position every year.
(some positions have more than one player as more than one player impressed - I put them in order of preference)

15)Malcolm Jaer (EP)
14)Duhan van der Merwe (SWD)
13)Somilha Jho (BOR)
12)Warrick Gallant (SWD) / Peet Schoeman(EPCD)
11) Lilitha Jonas (BOR)
10) Lungela Gosa (BOR) / Dewaldt Human (SWD) / Jason Vers (EPCD)
9) Remu Malan (SWD) / Jason Baggot (EPCD)
8) Martin Groenewald (EP) / Dian Koen (SWD)
7) Jedwyn Hardy (BOR) / Justin Hollis (BOR)
6) CJ Velleman (EP) / Stuart Stopforth (EPCD|)
5) Tyler Paul (EP)
4) Sintu Manjezi (EPCD) / Elandre vd Merwe (EP)
3) Thabani Mtsi (BOR) / Ronnie Beyl (EPCD)
2) no hooker as none of them really impressed (difficult to judge a hooker at school level)
1) NJ Oosthuizen (EPCD) / Stefan Grundlingh (SWD)

Of this list I think Martin Groenewald has signed with the Bulls as they put up his medical bill when he had a horrific break of his leg.


Of these the players that I have heard rumours about joining the academy are
Malcolm Jaer, Juson Vers, Justin Hollis, CJ Velleman, Tyler Paul, Sintu Manjezi, Jason Reynecke


Other players I heard rumours about joining are
David Murray (17), Them Yase, and found confirmation that Selvyn Davids (outside centre) who impressed during the 2012 Cravenweek (was not eligible for 2013) will also be joining.

If all of the rumours are to be believed a Kings Academy team could look something like this:
(players corresponding with my selection are in bold)
15) Malcolm Jaer
14)
13) Selvyn Davids (rated him highly in the previous craven week so he is also in bold)
12)
11)
10) Jason Vers
9)
8)
7) Justin Hollis
6) CJ Velleman
5) Tyler Paul
4) Sintu Manjezi
3) David Murray (from cambridge high school in border region)
2) Jason Reynecke
1) Them Yase

Players I would really like to see join this group are Duhan van der Merwe, Warrick Gallant & Dian Koen as these 3 players (all from SWD) were really impressive.

Still some gaps to fill but at this stage the team is looking promising and so far I am pretty pleased with the scouting done by the Kings this year, lets hope the gaps that will be filled will correspond with my selection. If this is the case the Kings are truly on the rise.