2008 Player Review - #10 Cale Morton

[Demonland 73,140]

10. Cale Morton [191cm 78 kg 18.01.90 19 games 12 goals] – Melbourne’s first draft choice from 2007, Morton showed some of the ability and the poise that earned him All Australian honours and the Larke Medal at the AFL U18 Championships.

Morton is still lightly built and needs to add some more aggression to his game and work on the quality of his delivery of the ball if he is to become a star in the future.

[Bay Riffin 1,480]

10. Cale Morton [191cm 78 kg 18.01.90 19 games 12 goals] – Melbourne’s first draft choice from 2007, Morton showed some of the ability and the poise that earned him All Australian honours and the Larke Medal at the AFL U18 Championships.

Morton is still lightly built and needs to add some more aggression to his game and work on the quality of his delivery of the ball if he is to become a star in the future.

More than happy with his progress this year in a poor side. Could not really ask for more and his standing in the rising star belied his year on the field. played a few top games that stamped his class and kicked goals as well.

He already is getting a lot of the ball and we know he is a beautiful kick although he did not always show it this year.

Will be a star once he fills out. most recruiters rated him very highly and we can see why. needs a couple of pre-seasons to build up a bit now.

[Red and Blue Flame 191]

Up there with Buckley and Garland for the best young player we have. Had a great year

[Guest RunAndCarrySucks]

Cale missed a LOT of easy passes to free players when he was in the clear. Improve on that plus gain extra size and strength and he will be fantastic.

Evasive skills are top notch.

[waynewussell 6,237]

Class act. He's everywhere! Surpassed expectations. May achieve genuine champ status within three years. Has the elusiveness, motor and marking skills of R Flower in a similar body (but will grow!) Say no more!

[titan_uranus 25,043]

I reckon a good portion of our future rests on his development. We really need him to turn into a quality player, not only to justify our selection of him but to have a star in the team. If he does become a great player then we'll have something to build on with him in our midfield. But as far as 2008 goes, I couldn't have asked for more really.

[Nasher 33,617]

Still absolutely pumped with this pick. Showed pretty much everything we couldhope for in his first year. Can't wait to see how he fills out and how he improves with confidence. Made our pathetic side worth watching this year.

To summarise:

[timD 994]

Also worth remembering is that he started his AFL career in a side that plumbed the depths of pathetic at times this year. Given his age, development level, size etc there is a good reason to expect improvement and added impact as the side also improves.

[LeBron James 41]

One of the only reasons to look forward to next year.

Absolute gun. To play how he did in one of the worst teams in living memory was just phenomenal, and all in his first year as an anorexic 18 year old.

This kid will win a brownlow one day.

[beelzebub 23,383]

Obviously quite capable and one of the few bright moments of our year to date. Seems to understand his position better as his games progress, as pointed out still has some "upper level " thinking to develop but seems to have the wherewithall to do so.

He just needs to EAT !! lol

If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.

How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?

One of those players ( even now ) who seem to be able to conjure time and space...where there are none

and hopefully...should get better and better !!

[rpfc 28,779]

I hope he fills out like his brother Mitch, because we will have Garry Lyon back in the forward line.

Needs to find a tad more aggression, but that should come as he gets more confidence and experience.

Great first year, really enjoyed going to the footy to see him play.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,939]

One only needs to look at his game against Essendon. 3 goals and about 28 touches.

Close thread.

[Guest Addam]

Best part about Cale was his consistency. Alot of first year players show flashes of brilliance without being able to sustain any form. A good selection at 4.

[Kiss of Death 755]

I can't wait to watch him running around with another 2-3cm, another 10kg and bit more confidence in his abilities.

[H_T 3,049]

How far this kid Cale goes will depend alot on the developmental work provided and implemented by the assistant and head coaches during his career. 'Potentially' a very good player.

[Mono 455]

I am going to put a dent in all the glowing praise on this thread.

Morton:

Pluses - great engine and footy smarts: knows where to run etc

Minuses - poor kicking technique (reminiscent of Bruce) and thus kicking skills; needs to develop toughness for the contest.

The toughness will probably come; not at all sure about the kicking skills.

Hope I'm wrong.

(Edit: and yes, I have watched him twice in the flesh, and a number of times on the box.)

[LeBron James 41]

I am going to put a dent in all the glowing praise on this thread.

Morton:

Pluses - great engine and footy smarts: knows where to run etc

Minuses - poor kicking technique (reminiscent of Bruce) and thus kicking skills; needs to develop toughness for the contest.

The toughness will probably come; not at all sure about the kicking skills.

Hope I'm wrong.

(Edit: and yes, I have watched him twice in the flesh, and a number of times on the box.)

His kicking technique is actually very good. He has suffered confidence issues at AFL level IMO, and his 'poor kicking' was blown way out of proportion.

18 year olds miss targets.

[Mono 455]

Found this from a summary of potential draft picks in the Age last year:

3. Cale Morton

(Claremont. 17, 192cm, 79kg) Plenty of clubs would take the third Morton brother if they had the No. 1 pick.

Others dropped away after his finals series, where he was subjected to some close opposition attention.

Morton boasts elite skills, especially for his size, and his running power.

He's a true utility and he has all the attributes to thrive in today's precise, uncontested game.

Interesting.

Of interest to me is that some club's interest fell away after his final series where he got some close attention. And the last sentence: he will thrive in today's precise, uncontested game. That isn't going to win premierships.

Plenty on this forum are convinced he will be a gun. I am not.

The article is here - interesting 20/20 read.

[LeBron James 41]

Sigh.

He is AN OUTSIDER PLAYER!

All clubs need them. He is a [censored] gun, all our players don't need to be in and under the packs, we need someone for them to feed the bloody thing out to.

[LeBron James 41]

Couple of vids of Cale pre-draft:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp9k754zabQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8lsthtbM90

[Mono 455]

Sigh.

He is AN OUTSIDER PLAYER!

All clubs need them. He is a [censored] gun, all our players don't need to be in and under the packs, we need someone for them to feed the bloody thing out to.

Sigh.

And in the finals, when the pressure is on, every possession is contested. Tell me one Geelong or Hawthorn player who is exclusively OUTSIDE. That's what he is, exclusively outside.

We don't need a player who is exclusively outside. IMO of course.

[LeBron James 41]

Xavier Ellis. Close to BOG too.

[Chook 15,022]

Sigh.

And in the finals, when the pressure is on, every possession is contested. Tell me one Geelong or Hawthorn player who is exclusively OUTSIDE. That's what he is, exclusively outside.

We don't need a player who is exclusively outside. IMO of course.

Top post, Mono. But then, I can't remember the last time I've disagreed with one of your posts. One can only hope that with a bit of added bulk, Cale Morton will be able to develop the contested part of his game, too.

But for the time being, I'd like to see the outside, skillful Cale Morton blossom - after all, that is why Craig Cameron, in all his infinite wisdom, drafted him.

Just by the way, it seems that the footy term "outside," i.e. "frilly, weak and inferior," has developed a bit of a negative connotation recently, while it's uglier brother "inside," with its big muscles, chipped teeth and horse-face, gets all the glory. I for one would not like a team of Nathan Joneses running around jumping on top of the ball all day.

[dazzledavey36 55,347]

Sigh.

And in the finals, when the pressure is on, every possession is contested. Tell me one Geelong or Hawthorn player who is exclusively OUTSIDE. That's what he is, exclusively outside.

We don't need a player who is exclusively outside. IMO of course.

Clinton Young! the bloke was talked up as a seriouse norm smith contender before injury.

[Deestroy All 14,266]

Sigh.

And in the finals, when the pressure is on, every possession is contested. Tell me one Geelong or Hawthorn player who is exclusively OUTSIDE. That's what he is, exclusively outside.

We don't need a player who is exclusively outside. IMO of course.

So if you watched him this year, why the [censored] would you go back, incorrectly interpret a paragraph from before he was drafted, and hang your hat on that?

First of all, todays game is an uncontested paradise, create space, and you will be the preferred option. Morton is an artist at creating space.

You say he's exclusively outside. You've watched him twice, I'm sure you'd have noticed how skinny he is, you mustn't have noticed any of the times he went in and extracted the ball however. The guy is a stick figure, he shouldn't even be attempting an inside game with his frame against AFL bodies in his first year, yet he has, which shows me he's not exclusively outside at all.