With Hopper getting injured there's a good chance we might find out.You reckon he'd get them at senior level????
With Hopper getting injured there's a good chance we might find out.You reckon he'd get them at senior level????
Sure but he had 4 possessions last time up in the role before being subbed off.Same logic as what Ross struggled with.
Sonsie has to be played as a Midfielder, to perform as a Midfielder.
I'll pray hard for an epiphany then.With Hopper getting injured there's a good chance we might find out.
I think we’ve done well out of it. Injuries aside Gibcus is a gun, Brown is going to be a serious player and I’m a big wrap for Clark. The one I’m not sure about is Banks, needs a fair bit of work still. Sonz we all know is very talented but it’s up to him if he wants it bad enoughIts not good. But I'd call it a disaster if we'd botched the Gibcus pick. Injury aside, I think he'll be a gun, which is the main thing. Brown is showing a bit. For me a pass mark would be top 10 pick nailed, 1 good player/ 2 solid players from the rest.
What we wanted and what the odds say will be delivered are 2 different things. For me a disaster would be a 0 or 1 out of 10. I'd give it a 4. Could yet be a 6. To stay a contender we needed it to be an 8 or a 9, its definitely not that.
More than happy to see him get another shot so we can see one way or the other if he can cut the mustard against AFL level midfielders.With Hopper getting injured there's a good chance we might find out.
That door swings both ways. You can’t just put games into any young player and expect them to become AFL quality. You have to put games into those that show AFL traits. Our problem right now is that precious few of our young players have shown those traits.We need to play the kids, this is a re-build. WTF is the point playing a guy like Naismith who's almost 32 years old. It's comical.
I'd rather Sonsie, Ryan etc get regular games. Just need to pump games into the kids.
Good points, well saidThat door swings both ways. You can’t just put games into any young player and expect them to become AFL quality. You have to put games into those that show AFL traits. Our problem right now is that precious few of our young players have shown those traits.
We have lots of young players who have shown AFL traits.That door swings both ways. You can’t just put games into any young player and expect them to become AFL quality. You have to put games into those that show AFL traits. Our problem right now is that precious few of our young players have shown those traits.
Good points as well. If they show they have the ability and are willing to work that’s a start.We have lots of young players who have shown AFL traits.
That isn’t the issue with a lot of the younger ones, almost all have the ability. The issue is that they have to show consistency in games and they have to show consistency week after week.
That’s what playing Sonsie, Banks, Brown and others will tell us. Are they good enough consistently enough to make it as an AFL player.
We have lots of young players who have shown AFL traits.
That isn’t the issue with a lot of the younger ones, almost all have the ability. The issue is that they have to show consistency in games and they have to show consistency week after week.
That’s what playing Sonsie, Banks, Brown and others will tell us. Are they good enough consistently enough to make it as an AFL player.
Judson Clarke is a good example. He has never really had a game that you would call a break out game, he has had games where he did some really good things but wasn’t a dominant player. I posted about him preseason and said that my issue with him was not whether he had the ability because I think he has the tools. He just didn’t get enough of the ballI agree, its very simple for people to say "very few of our kids show AFL traits". I assume thats because not many of them have come in and blown it away. The reality is, not many players come into sides (particularly struggling sides) and just look like they belong, its far far easier for kids to do that in strong sides, as their weaknesses (largely due to consistency etc) aren't exposed as greatly.
As you say, we have many players that have shown AFL traits but we need to see them play a lot more games to accelerate their development which means we need to push a lot of games into them and play probably 10-12 players with under 50 games experience every game this year.
MRJ is a perfect example, has now played 33 games. I'd hazard a guess that most on here (myself included) probably thought he was likely to be delisted at the end of this year as "we hadn't seen enough AFL traits" in his first 25 or so games. We are now starting to reap that benefit as those later draft picks, gain more experience and understanding of what they should be doing.
Its why we need to keep getting games into a lot of these players that have shown that they can play at the level, to help iron out the inconsistencies that you tend to see with most players, especially those picked outside the top 20 or so in the draft (which most of our kids were). Its a shame that Clarke got injured again, just back from the shoulder and getting confidence in his body again, and does an ACL, so likely won't play much AFL if anything again next year either.
Agree. Losing a lot of games isn't an issue for junior development, but getting thrashed and being uncompetitive every week is.we need to play the kids with the required toolkit with the seasoned players while they are still around! there's your balance.