Firstly I am not a player basher and I don't enjoy criticising one of our own. There will be some strong reaction to this I am sure but here goes.

Cale Morton should not be playing senior football at the moment. He just does not have the confidence in his body to put his head over the footy and win possession. He shows all of the classic actions of a player playing with fear, taking his eye of the football at the crucial moment. I would also suggest that fear is the major reason that his disposal can be less that satisfactory.

I watched Cale closely yesterday and he shirked not one or two but numerous contests. I know he is just a kid but continually shirking these contests can't be tolerated by the club regardless of the experience of the player and is much more onerous than other mistakes that are made on a footy field. Cale himself need to understand his reponsibilities before career long habits are developed. If cale doesn't have the confidence in his body then he needs to train and build up to get to the stage where he has.

I understand that we have one or two others that are not physically ready for AFL footy at the moment but at least they keep thier eyes on the footy.

I played footy for a long time and perhaps I am a bit old fashioned but fear and uncertainty spread like a cancer in a club and courage should be the minimum requirement for any player who pulls on our guernsey.

The club is hopefully entering a period of improved depth and needs to take a stand on issues such as courage, accountabilty and workrate.

Yes.

There are aspects of his game that need work. But I think he is clearly in our best 22 and with the right coaching he will continue to improve and gain confidence.

Yes.

There are aspects of his game that need work. But I think he is clearly in our best 22 and with the right coaching he will continue to improve and gain confidence.

He is ..... but so is Jack Watts. Agree with this post 100%

he should be playing senior footy, but not for an AFL listed club. his kicking is below vfl standard.

Firstly I am not a player basher and I don't enjoy criticising one of our own. There will be some strong reaction to this I am sure but here goes.

Cale Morton should not be playing senior football at the moment. He just does not have the confidence in his body to put his head over the footy and win possession. He shows all of the classic actions of a player playing with fear, taking his eye of the football at the crucial moment. I would also suggest that fear is the major reason that his disposal can be less that satisfactory.

I watched Cale closely yesterday and he shirked not one or two but numerous contests. I know he is just a kid but continually shirking these contests can't be tolerated by the club regardless of the experience of the player and is much more onerous than other mistakes that are made on a footy field. Cale himself need to understand his reponsibilities before career long habits are developed. If cale doesn't have the confidence in his body then he needs to train and build up to get to the stage where he has.

I understand that we have one or two others that are not physically ready for AFL footy at the moment but at least they keep thier eyes on the footy.

I played footy for a long time and perhaps I am a bit old fashioned but fear and uncertainty spread like a cancer in a club and courage should be the minimum requirement for any player who pulls on our guernsey.

The club is hopefully entering a period of improved depth and needs to take a stand on issues such as courage, accountabilty and workrate.

I've also noticed this, Its a hard decision because we obviously want to get as many games into our youngsters as possible. I dont know what he's going to learn at Casey? I mean I dont think you can teach courage, you either have it or you dont.

Just read that Rhys Palmer has done his ACL and is out for the season.

Now that is shocking news for Freo.

he should be playing senior footy, but not for an AFL listed club. his kicking is below vfl standard.

Wow. Just wow.

That has to be the stupidest thing I have ever read on Demonland... and I have read a lot of crap written by Yze_Magic. Amazing.

I saw Morton put his body on the line at least a couple of times, so in a word, yes, he should be playing AFL.

I saw Morton put his body on the line at least a couple of times, so in a word, yes, he should be playing AFL.

Its not enough, I saw him fail to do so approximately five or six. Its not just about Cale, its about attitude for the club as a whole.

Errors can be tolerated to a point, correct attitude must be not negotiable if we are to get to the pinnacle. And I realise we have a couple of other players in our current side who don't display the correct intensity for the ball.

Firstly I am not a player basher and I don't enjoy criticising one of our own. There will be some strong reaction to this I am sure but here goes.

Cale Morton should not be playing senior football at the moment. He just does not have the confidence in his body to put his head over the footy and win possession. He shows all of the classic actions of a player playing with fear, taking his eye of the football at the crucial moment. I would also suggest that fear is the major reason that his disposal can be less that satisfactory.

I watched Cale closely yesterday and he shirked not one or two but numerous contests. I know he is just a kid but continually shirking these contests can't be tolerated by the club regardless of the experience of the player and is much more onerous than other mistakes that are made on a footy field. Cale himself need to understand his reponsibilities before career long habits are developed. If cale doesn't have the confidence in his body then he needs to train and build up to get to the stage where he has.

I understand that we have one or two others that are not physically ready for AFL footy at the moment but at least they keep thier eyes on the footy.

I played footy for a long time and perhaps I am a bit old fashioned but fear and uncertainty spread like a cancer in a club and courage should be the minimum requirement for any player who pulls on our guernsey.

The club is hopefully entering a period of improved depth and needs to take a stand on issues such as courage, accountabilty and workrate.

Hi,

Great post here on a very debatable issue which was raised rather vehemently by a few supporters over the weekend. I am a clinical psychologist and have also watched Cale closely, and posted on this very topic in the past. To reiterate what I had previously posted I feel there are more applicable displays of his immaturity than merely putting his head over the ball. I agree with you comments on football completely concur with your thoughts on putting the head over the ball. I dont feel this is old fashioned at all, and maybe some of our players, not just Cale but other senior players should be taking the initiative and putting their own heads on the line. Cale's body language is less than authoritative , is tentative and is indecisive both when he warms up at the beginning of the game during it. I agree that his decision making is often clouded. I feel this is due to the fact that he dreads making errors. I viewed the hun today and his clanger rate is up again this week. Listening to this young man speak his intelligence and love for football is obvious and with this as a predictor, I think Cale would look at these stats. Therefore I think the weight of expectation is the problem it is written all over him week after week. The Brendon Lade incident a few weeks back cemented my thoughts, and I totally agree that if he is not already effected by this, he will be in the future if this continues. There are other players who could play this position, maybe less adequately, but they could at least hold their own. They will remain nameless because of the backlash others posters may attribute to the sentiment.

In my opinion, and I could be proven wrong here in the future, I feel that this indecisiveness in Cale may never be eradicated. Psychologically this fear will impede him longitudinally and this will make him a good but not great player. I feel his brother Jaryd, who is on hawthorns list will potentially be a superior footballer based on his greater intent and ferocity. I hope I am proven wrong.

The club psychologist will know this because it is their job to do so. In my view they have made an error drafting this young man. This is so sad because he is probably my favorite player at the moment. The question is will he ever gain weight. Mitch Morton, an hardened player is not overly robust and neither is Jaryd?

The Brendon Lade incident a few weeks back cemented my thoughts, and I totally agree that if he is not already effected by this, he will be in the future if this continues. There are other players who could play this position, maybe less adequately, but they could at least hold their own. They will remain nameless because of the backlash others posters may attribute to the sentiment.

The question is will he ever gain weight. Mitch Morton, an hardened player is not overly robust and neither is Jaryd?

Good post, and great thread. Maybe one of the best around here for a while.

In reply, you seemed to indicate that the question was whether he should be playing senior footy or not due to a lack of confidence, but then stated that the question was whether he would put on weight.

I would think that those two questions are unrelated. Many slight players over the years have had unquestionable courage. Ricky Petterd is a prime example and currently on our list.

I think the question should be, will he gain this courage and decisiveness by playing 5-10 games at casey where his build is less of an issue, and where the intensity is a bit lower, allowing him to get his disposal right? And, will it then be transferrable to AFL level when he is promoted?

Also DangerousDemon, any chance you would join the discussion in the Newton thread. Would love to hear your thoughts in there, without highjacking this one.

So who would you bring in for him?

He is 19 and cannot go a few minutes without getting a touch.

Makes bad decisions from time to time, can be caught out of position, but drop him?

He is going to have to play a lot worse than he has so far.

Oh, and BTW, don't question this kids workrate. He runs a marathon every match, end-to-end stuff.

There is nothing wrong with the workrate of Cale Morton.

(I reiterate that because there are a few that throw workrate around like a buzz word they have no understanding of.)

He is 19 and cannot go a few minutes without getting a touch.

Makes bad decisions from time to time, can be caught out of position, but drop him?

He is going to have to play a lot worse than he has so far.

Oh, and BTW, don't question this kids workrate. He runs a marathon every match, end-to-end stuff.

There is nothing wrong with the workrate of Cale Morton.

(I reiterate that because there are a few that throw workrate around like a buzz word they have no understanding of.)

I think you read the title of the thread and that's it. No-one has questioned his workrate or ability to gain possession??

rpfc i agree with you. there is nothing wrong with most of cales game. he gets piles of the ball. his disposal is average (but could be great). he runs everywhere. but my main question is, if he got an extended run at the level below (remembering that he basically stepped from under 18s to AFL) would he learn to dominate the game in a different way. At the moment is he just doing enough, and getting away with somethings that are below par, because he is young, and does this create bad habbits? if he got into the habbit of being BOG and kicking laser kicks to the spot would that translate to afl level?

Good post, and great thread. Maybe one of the best around here for a while.

In reply, you seemed to indicate that the question was whether he should be playing senior footy or not due to a lack of confidence, but then stated that the question was whether he would put on weight.

I would think that those two questions are unrelated. Many slight players over the years have had unquestionable courage. Ricky Petterd is a prime example and currently on our list.

I think the question should be, will he gain this courage and decisiveness by playing 5-10 games at casey where his build is less of an issue, and where the intensity is a bit lower, allowing him to get his disposal right. And, will it then be transferrable to AFL level when he is promoted.

Also DangerousDemon, any chance you would join the discussion in the Newton thread. Would love to hear your thoughts in there, without highjacking this one.

I sorry I do apologize for adding insightfulness and some critique to this argument which is far from anything lot of posters offer on here. If you feel that I have hijacked the thread closely monitor the other people who post on this site.

He is 19 and cannot go a few minutes without getting a touch.

Makes bad decisions from time to time, can be caught out of position, but drop him?

He is going to have to play a lot worse than he has so far.

Oh, and BTW, don't question this kids workrate. He runs a marathon every match, end-to-end stuff.

There is nothing wrong with the workrate of Cale Morton.

(I reiterate that because there are a few that throw workrate around like a buzz word they have no understanding of.)

I cannot believe this thread; of course he should be playing.

He is an unbelievable runner. Sure he is skinny but he runs to create an option much like Chance Bateman does for the Hawks. He was a number 4 draft pick and has probably been playing against bigger bodies for the last 3 years in the WAFL and in the Under 18 champs (where he won the Larke medal as best in the Div 1 carnival). When he actually steadies himself he is an ok kick. Half the side cannot kick (read Newton, Miller, Meesen even Bruce is a bit hit and miss these days. Bartram and Jones have decision making issues when they have the ball. I do not think Morton is a hard player, but he can tackle and he went back with the flight of the ball a couple of times yesterday and was unlucky to be called for a free kick against. We have Jones, McLean and Moloney to be the at the coal face midfielders who win it in close and get tackled all the time. Cale gives us something else. He will put on weight and I think with his height he will add some flexibility to the side if we need someone to play in a variety of positions. The fact he gets the ball so often demonstrates my point of his obvious worth. That is the hardest thing to teach.

At 19 this experience is invaluable and he will learn the tricks of the AFL trade and what is required at this level by playing NOW.

I think you read the title of the thread and that's it. No-one has questioned his workrate or ability to gain possession??

You question it because he is a wingman and you want him dropped.

Our best midfielders have been in this order: Davey, Bruce, Morton, Moloney, McLean, and Jones.

It is in that order (and I love the way Moloney goes about his footy) because of the work the first 3 do off the ball to run to space and move from one end to the other to help their teammates.

As long as he is selflessly running himself into the ground for the benefit of his team he will one of the first names picked by the match committee.

In my opinion, and I could be proven wrong here in the future, I feel that this indecisiveness in Cale may never be eradicated. Psychologically this fear will impede him longitudinally and this will make him a good but not great player. I feel his brother Jaryd, who is on hawthorns list will potentially be a superior footballer based on his greater intent and ferocity. I hope I am proven wrong.

The club psychologist will know this because it is their job to do so. In my view they have made an error drafting this young man. This is so sad because he is probably my favorite player at the moment. The question is will he ever gain weight. Mitch Morton, an hardened player is not overly robust and neither is Jaryd?

Doctor, do you think he will recover?

Demon 3165 is right. Too few sound judgements made on too many You tube film clips.

In answer to the question, yes Morton should be in our 22. I personally don't believe that he's being utilised properly, and his confidence is down. And when a young player's confidence is down, he appears timid and indecisive.

I know it's a modern day fad to play keepings off through innane handball, but I don't think it's Morton's natural game. His decision making in close quarters is ordinary.

His strength is his ability to find space, and it should be utilised. He should be given the freedom to run forward of the ball. We play with few options in our forward line, so having Morton run forward of the ball surely can't hurt.

I have no doubt Morton is worthy of being in the best 22

This kid shows class with lots of upside

there are players in our current 22 that will never get better

absolutley no point in playing Morton in the VFL

What would you learn their anyway ?

I sorry I do apologize for adding insightfulness and some critique to this argument which is far from anything lot of posters offer on here. If you feel that I have hijacked the thread closely monitor the other people who post on this site.

Read my post again. I said that yours was a good post in a good thread and replyed to it asking you more questions.

I then asked you to join the Newton thread to hear your thoughts on him there. I didnt want to ask you about Newton in this thread because it would move it off topic and I didn't want to highjack the thread.