shaun hampson threads [merged]

[Col.E.Kurtz]

Ok, folks, just had the pleasure of watching half an hour of Hampson's career highlights (with some lowlights thrown in) and have to say that I'm starting to get a sense as to why Blair sees him as a viable recruit. After seeing the footage, there's no doubt in my mind that Hampson can take a contested mark, he seems to know how to position his body to take full advantage of his height and is strong enough to go toe to toe with some of the stronger defenders in the competition. I duly noted that some of the commentators were labeling him as the second coming of Ottens so I can only assume he hit a rich vein of form. For those of you sentimental folk, there's some not so nice footage of some Richmond debacles, fortunately the chief offenders have been banished to Coburg & Altona, so let's not cry over spilled milk.

Now to balance the ledger at little, I've also seen evidence of Hampson's butter fingers, so I can only conclude he's a confidence player who might be mentally fragile when things aren't going his way. That maybe a bit harsh but its better than being completely deficient in that area. The video producer did the kind favour of putting up comparisons with Kreuzer & Warnock and it's clear that Hampson is a vastly better mark than Warnock and probably on par with Kreuzer. On that evidence, it's pretty clear to see why the Carlton brains trust played him forward most of the time.

The mental fragility was probably most evident with his kicking unfortunately, even from 20 metres out you wouldn't be overly confident he would seal the deal. His action isn't particularly fluent, and unsurprisingly, his ball drop seems to be very high. He's certainly not John Butcher unco, but if we're talking ruckman, I'd say he's a long way off Dean Cox and Brad Ottens. In saying that, he seemed to be pretty agile for a big fella and is capable of kicking running goals. This is an area that I'm starting to see eye to eye with Hartley when he talks about rare athleticism, I'm pretty certain that if Hampson is caught up in a one-on-one, he'll engage in a dogfight once the ball hits the turf. And it's clear he's got a bit of toe, the sprint times back this up and he has delivered some lovely running goals in his short career.

On the issue of ruck duties, there's not much in the highlights package but I'll give you a brief rundown on the stats.

Hampson Kreuzer Warnock
Games 63 (7 yrs) 105 (6yrs) 70 (6yrs)
Goals 32 (0.51) 56 (0.53) 13 (0.19)
Hit outs 975 (15.5) 1842 (17.54) 1575 (22.5)
Contested marks 65 (1.03) 95 (0.9) 29 (0.41)

So all things considered, maybe the difference between the three isn't as great as it would initially seem. There's also the issue of Hampson's knees but we can only trust the medicos on their assessments. It was reported that we stitched up the deal at 250k per season so it's certainly not in the Buddy ballpark as far as risk is concerned.

Anyway, if you've got half an hour to spare, have a look at the highlights. It may not be up there with NicNat but I can see a fair bit to work with. And like Blair mentioned, there's every chance we haven't seen the best of Shaun Hampson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2UqUSx4mi8

I like your optimism but I didn't come away with the same impression about his marking.

Despite being an elite athlete he seems to get bodied out of position too easily by smaller and shorter opponents. Unless he is in position A to take a mark by the time the ball gets there he has often lost the positional to the point that he is going one handed for the ball to at least make a contest. I've seen very few highlights few examples of him taking a mark from a bad position, e.g third in line that good forwards will ever now and then, hell even Luke would have a better set of career highlights doing that. But even in position A Hampson drops too many, but the good news is that his hands are so hard that the ball pops predictably down at his feet and he can often rove his own fumble.

He did have a rich vein of form at the start of 2012, but that game against Post was his career highlight. Aside from a few easy games against cupcapes like GWS and Melbourne he rarely was an influential player for Carlton, despite having the second most inside 50 targets of any Blues player from rounds 1-15 (stat from the AFL prospectus). His retention rates when the ball was kicked to hm inside 50 was poor without being awful.

Honestly I think Hampson strength is his rucking. I think he's been hired to replace Maric if his groin is iffy.

I know it's currently the fashion in the AFL because of Hawthorn, but I don't think you can play Ivan, Hampson and Ty in the same team consistently, and fully fit I think Hampson is the worst of the three.

 

[tigertim]

Ok, folks, just had the pleasure of watching half an hour of Hampson's career highlights (with some lowlights thrown in) and have to say that I'm starting to get a sense as to why Blair sees him as a viable recruit. After seeing the footage, there's no doubt in my mind that Hampson can take a contested mark, he seems to know how to position his body to take full advantage of his height and is strong enough to go toe to toe with some of the stronger defenders in the competition. I duly noted that some of the commentators were labeling him as the second coming of Ottens so I can only assume he hit a rich vein of form. For those of you sentimental folk, there's some not so nice footage of some Richmond debacles, fortunately the chief offenders have been banished to Coburg & Altona, so let's not cry over spilled milk.

Now to balance the ledger at little, I've also seen evidence of Hampson's butter fingers, so I can only conclude he's a confidence player who might be mentally fragile when things aren't going his way. That maybe a bit harsh but its better than being completely deficient in that area. The video producer did the kind favour of putting up comparisons with Kreuzer & Warnock and it's clear that Hampson is a vastly better mark than Warnock and probably on par with Kreuzer. On that evidence, it's pretty clear to see why the Carlton brains trust played him forward most of the time.

The mental fragility was probably most evident with his kicking unfortunately, even from 20 metres out you wouldn't be overly confident he would seal the deal. His action isn't particularly fluent, and unsurprisingly, his ball drop seems to be very high. He's certainly not John Butcher unco, but if we're talking ruckman, I'd say he's a long way off Dean Cox and Brad Ottens. In saying that, he seemed to be pretty agile for a big fella and is capable of kicking running goals. This is an area that I'm starting to see eye to eye with Hartley when he talks about rare athleticism, I'm pretty certain that if Hampson is caught up in a one-on-one, he'll engage in a dogfight once the ball hits the turf. And it's clear he's got a bit of toe, the sprint times back this up and he has delivered some lovely running goals in his short career.

On the issue of ruck duties, there's not much in the highlights package but I'll give you a brief rundown on the stats.

Hampson Kreuzer Warnock
Games 63 (7 yrs) 105 (6yrs) 70 (6yrs)
Goals 32 (0.51) 56 (0.53) 13 (0.19)
Hit outs 975 (15.5) 1842 (17.54) 1575 (22.5)
Contested marks 65 (1.03) 95 (0.9) 29 (0.41)

So all things considered, maybe the difference between the three isn't as great as it would initially seem. There's also the issue of Hampson's knees but we can only trust the medicos on their assessments. It was reported that we stitched up the deal at 250k per season so it's certainly not in the Buddy ballpark as far as risk is concerned.

Anyway, if you've got half an hour to spare, have a look at the highlights. It may not be up there with NicNat but I can see a fair bit to work with. And like Blair mentioned, there's every chance we haven't seen the best of Shaun Hampson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2UqUSx4mi8

I'm trying to be optimistic re SH too. I guess as a mobile ruck he can be ok. If he does clunk a few up forward maybe the word will be to ensure someone is always running past for the handball?

 

[17]

I like your optimism but I didn't come away with the same impression about his marking.

Despite being an elite athlete he seems to get bodied out of position too easily by smaller and shorter opponents. Unless he is in position A to take a mark by the time the ball gets there he has often lost the positional to the point that he is going one handed for the ball to at least make a contest. I've seen very few highlights few examples of him taking a mark from a bad position, e.g third in line that good forwards will ever now and then, hell even Luke would have a better set of career highlights doing that. But even in position A Hampson drops too many, but the good news is that his hands are so hard that the ball pops predictably down at his feet and he can often rove his own fumble.

He did have a rich vein of form at the start of 2012, but that game against Post was his career highlight. Aside from a few easy games against cupcapes like GWS and Melbourne he rarely was an influential player for Carlton, despite having the second most inside 50 targets of any Blues player from rounds 1-15 (stat from the AFL prospectus). His retention rates when the ball was kicked to hm inside 50 was poor without being awful.

Honestly I think Hampson strength is his rucking. I think he's been hired to replace Maric if his groin is iffy.

I know it's currently the fashion in the AFL because of Hawthorn, but I don't think you can play Ivan, Hampson and Ty in the same team consistently, and fully fit I think Hampson is the worst of the three.

The knock on Hampson is his lack of coordination - the athlete vs footballer conundrum.
He's built like a brick shizenhousen but is also the equivalent of a gangly two year old colt that's yet to grow into his body.
Glass half empty types would conclude he's just an unco 25 year old that's never going to deliver on his promise.
Richmond have gambled that continuity, opportunity, development and confidence can significantly improve his output.
I agree he is more ruck than forward. The recent rule changes to ruck contests suit the athlete like Hampson.
Our risk is that the athlete does not grow further into the footballer, because we already have one of those in Vickery.

 

[Rosy]

...
Our risk is that the athlete does not grow further into the footballer, because we already have one of those in Vickery.

was richo an athlete or a footballer. i think he was both but many claimed he was more an athlete. i reckon we could have handled two of him.

 

[Col.E.Kurtz]

The knock on Hampson is his lack of coordination - the athlete vs footballer conundrum.
He's built like a brick shizenhousen but is also the equivalent of a gangly two year old colt that's yet to grow into his body.
Glass half empty types would conclude he's just an unco 25 year old that's never going to deliver on his promise.
Richmond have gambled that continuity, opportunity, development and confidence can significantly improve his output.
I agree he is more ruck than forward. The recent rule changes to ruck contests suit the athlete like Hampson.
Our risk is that the athlete does not grow further into the footballer, because we already have one of those in Vickery.

Agreed, but I think we have three when you count Elton and Griffiths. I also rate Ty higher than Hampson as a footballer, he is far more coordinated and much better with the ball on the ground. Ty also lost 2 years of upper body development with his shoulder injury.

 

[dimmauchump]

To me it doesn't matter if we get the comensation pick or not when considering this trade. The recruitment of Hampson is a completely separate issue. No one forgave the Mcmahon trade because we had another pick around the same time.

I have supported all the clubs recent trades and major FA acquisitions when they were made. But having watched quite a lot of Hampson and looked at his numbers my initial assessment of this trade is that it's the worst one we've done in the Hardwick era. I don't like it at first glance.

IMO Hampson was a cap dump, Blues would have taken a 3rd. Hampson will play plenty of football for us next year, but I see nothing in Hampson play that indicates he is a starting 22 player. You don't give a 2nd round pick to upgrade your backups.

Alternatively, If Maric is shot we should have aimed higher than Hampson.

Spot on. :clap

 

[zippadeee]

To me it doesn't matter if we get the comensation pick or not when considering this trade. The recruitment of Hampson is a completely separate issue. No one forgave the Mcmahon trade because we had another pick around the same time.

I have supported all the clubs recent trades and major FA acquisitions when they were made. But having watched quite a lot of Hampson and looked at his numbers my initial assessment of this trade is that it's the worst one we've done in the Hardwick era. I don't like it at first glance.

IMO Hampson was a cap dump, Blues would have taken a 3rd. Hampson will play plenty of football for us next year, but I see nothing in Hampson play that indicates he is a starting 22 player. You don't give a 2nd round pick to upgrade your backups.

Alternatively, If Maric is shot we should have aimed higher than Hampson.

The club thinks these recycle types will get us a flag because it worked at Sydney and now hawthorn.
I don't mind picking up players from other clubs as long as they're tough and not from Carlton.

 

[tigergollywog]

Spoken to two astute Carlton mates on Hampson. 1 described it as a win:win. We get a ruck man sick of being 4th in the queue and they get a decent pick. The other one said simply 'tigers have done very well'. I reckon hammer will be our first ruck by round 5.

 

[zippadeee]

Spoken to two astute Carlton mates on Hampson. 1 described it as a win:win. We get a ruck man sick of being 4th in the queue and they get a decent pick. The other one said simply 'tigers have done very well'. I reckon hammer will be our first ruck by round 5.

The velvet hammer.

 

[tigergollywog]

The velvet hammer.

I like it. Kinda like the old iron fist in a silk glove.

 

[evo]

'Stop. Hammer time.'

[youtube=560,315]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqpn2oyEaX8[/youtube]

 

[GEDS1]

I have woken up today as a supporter of Hampson and the trade. Spent too many hours and too much energy with being negative about it, welcome Shaun.

 

[tigergollywog]

That's the spirit gets. Hate 'em when they play for anyone else, love 'em when they are a Tiger. Unconditionally. Everyone's gonna love The Velvet Hammer by round 6 next year. By jumping on early, you get so much more joy.

 

[zippadeee]

Hamster is my favourite player at the Richmond football club.
Top 5 Finish in the B&F
Most improved in the comp
Will be in the best 10 trades in history.

 

[Ian4]

Am hoping that this is once again a very savvy decision by Blair. The thought of a McGuane/White swap for Hampson seems a logical one from a list needs POV.

you think so? gee i reckon our biggest deficiency is pace (or lack of) and we just lost the quickest player in our squad

 

[TigerFlag2017]

To me it doesn't matter if we get the comensation pick or not when considering this trade. The recruitment of Hampson is a completely separate issue. No one forgave the Mcmahon trade because we had another pick around the same time.

I have supported all the clubs recent trades and major FA acquisitions when they were made. But having watched quite a lot of Hampson and looked at his numbers my initial assessment of this trade is that it's the worst one we've done in the Hardwick era. I don't like it at first glance.

IMO Hampson was a cap dump, Blues would have taken a 3rd. Hampson will play plenty of football for us next year, but I see nothing in Hampson play that indicates he is a starting 22 player. You don't give a 2nd round pick to upgrade your backups.

Alternatively, If Maric is shot we should have aimed higher than Hampson.

I wonder if he was wearing a different jumper then you may have had a different interpretation. That he was covered in slimey blue makes it impossible for a richmond man to be impartial. Better off holding judgement until Round 1.

 

[This Is Anfield]

Hamster is my favourite player at the Richmond football club.
Top 5 Finish in the B&F
Most improved in the comp
Will be in the best 10 trades in history.

That's the spirit zips!

Looking forward to all your positive posts in this thread!

Really happy for you.

 

[Col.E.Kurtz]

I wonder if he was wearing a different jumper then you may have had a different interpretation. That he was covered in slimey blue makes it impossible for a richmond man to be impartial. Better off holding judgement until Round 1.

The thought had crossed my mind that perhaps his jumper was affecting my judgment

 

[seven]

looks like a few posters have reached level 5-6 for Hampson.

1. Denial
2. Pain
3. Anger
4. Depression
5. Adjustment
6. Reconstruction
7. Acceptance

 

[TheCan]

looks like a few posters have reached level 5-6 for Hampson.

1. Denial
2. Pain
3. Anger
4. Depression
5. Adjustment
6. Reconstruction
7. Acceptance

mmm no that he is a tiger can we say.....dud delist yet?