Seems to be able to find space inside 50, just that we haven't got the talent to get it to him sufficiently yet. And his set shot under pressure is as good as Jack's, I think

20 minutes ago, Watts the matter said:

Interesting you say this, while he does evade quite well I would say his agility is poor for a player of his size. He seems to have a rather large turning circle and his evasive moves normally result in him going the wrong way. He is tracking nicely but this would be my main concern along with his slow ball drop at this stage.

Cough test?

4 hours ago, dl4e said:

Stretch is seriously a good player. Think he will be as good as his old man and that is saying something.

Big statement - Unfortunately his old man has blight on his career which I do not think defined him - but otherwise Steven Stretch was a great player  - good skills, fast, but could take a very good mark which I dont think will be Billy's go - that's not to say Billy will not be a good player

Progressing nicely, could become my favourite type of AFL player - a reliable best-22 quality who gets the job done and doesn't often stuff the whole thing up.

May we see 200+ underrated games from the kid.

And hes still 19 and played just 23 games!  Looks like a reliable poised 150 gamer out there

4 hours ago, nutbean said:

Big statement - Unfortunately his old man has blight on his career which I do not think defined him - but otherwise Steven Stretch was a great player  - good skills, fast, but could take a very good mark which I dont think will be Billy's go - that's not to say Billy will not be a good player

What blight do you speak of? Getting the lemonade and ending up at Fitzroy? 

I said he was my big improver for 2016, and I'm glad he proved me right. 

For such a slight frame, he isn't afraid to go hard. He always finds time and space, and gees he can use it. Reminds me of Watts in terms of footy smarts and ball use. 

Massive upside too. 

He has one of modern football's most important traits - good running skills. He runs all day, he runs to the right spots, and he has pace. He can kick at full burst, too, also important.

Really happy with his development this year. 

11 hours ago, Jaded said:

For such a slight frame, he isn't afraid to go hard. He always finds time and space, and gees he can use it. Reminds me of Watts in terms of footy smarts and ball use. 

He has the Sydney and Hawthorn frame, lean yet strong through the hips.

Edited August 1, 20168 yr by Clint Bizkit

Absolutely love him. 

Me and my mate joke about how he's never made a mistake. He's so clean. Kicked it out on the full yesterday, that could be one mistake, but I'm going to blame whoever he was kicking to for not being able to jump high enough. 

 

Exactly the the sort of player we need to, so his development is coming along nicely. Will be another big improver after a good preseason. 

1 hour ago, Deemented Are Go! said:

What blight do you speak of? Getting the lemonade and ending up at Fitzroy? 

Hawthorn, Dippa......most will know. Stretch was a great player for MFC.

On 1/8/2016 at 10:09 PM, Deestroy All said:

Absolutely love him. 

Me and my mate joke about how he's never made a mistake. He's so clean. Kicked it out on the full yesterday, that could be one mistake, but I'm going to blame whoever he was kicking to for not being able to jump high enough. 

 

Exactly the the sort of player we need to, so his development is coming along nicely. Will be another big improver after a good preseason. 

Big Billy fan also, but Re your point on mistakes, might I remind you that he also missed that challenging, but quite gettable goal against North earlier this season.

Not that I pin that loss on Billy at all and generally speaking, I agree that if there was someone from our side that I wanted to kick that clutch goal from a set shot, I'd be most comfortable with it being in the hands of Jack Watts, Christian Salem or Billy.  From a set shot Billy is exclent, soaks up the pressure and calmly slots it through as cool as a cucumber.

Edited August 2, 20168 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Really pleased with his year. It was either a most improved thread or most looking forward to seeing this year type thread where I thought Billy might surprise us versus other expected performances (eg Trac). 

He's one of only maybe half a dozen players I have confidence with, when he has the ball a Melbourne player will be the next to receive it.  Watts, Petracca, Bernie (last week excluded) Salem, Jetta the others.

Billy's father gave us mature deees tragics something to cheer about. Here's a Stretch for the new millennium. Billy will be one out of the box. If he's as good as his dad ended up being........ Happy days !!!! 

Where are the sons of Jurrah, Jakovich, Grinter and Healy ?? 

Thread needs more Billy Love!!

How was the roar when Billy dashed through the middle inside 50 and nailed the goal.

Future 200 game player is our little Billy!

On 01/08/2016 at 11:45 AM, Rusty Nails said:

He is already in our top 10 IMO ... has occasional brain/skill fade but who doesn't. Especially so new to the game. Great spread/ link player and quick thinker/mover of the air conveyance.

A very solid outside pick up who occasionaly goes in when needed as well.

I think that's crazy talk - there'd be 15+ guys I'd reel off before Strech even entered the conversation. He's showed some good signs though and I'm interested to see where he's at in two years time. I think the competition for spots in our best team will be fierce.

Going to be a very handy player

Slips under the radar and doesn't get half the media attention of Viney etc, but in time will be a very good player - another Father / Son success!

Great goal in the last quarter.  Hawks in front. Demons mucking around. 

Billy runs fast. Gets the handball. Burst through and BANG. Straight through. Demons back in front and go on with the job. Great work Billy Stretch. Run hard. Kick it. 

2 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Great goal in the last quarter.  Hawks in front. Demons mucking around. 

Billy runs fast. Gets the handball. Burst through and BANG. Straight through. Demons back in front and go on with the job. Great work Billy Stretch. Run hard. Kick it. 

His running kick to Weideman (for his first goal) was pretty good as well.......

Between him and Hunt we have some line-breaking speed which is very exciting.

Edited August 9, 20168 yr by jnrmac

His work rate is sensational. Runs bloody hard and makes good decisions. He'll be a fixture on the wing for years to come I hope.

13 minutes ago, jnrmac said:

His running kick to Weideman (for his first goal) was pretty good as well.......

Between him and Hunt we have some line-breaking speed which is very exciting.

Add in Salem...

Billy Stretch is not only under-appreciated by the supporters, he's under-appreciated by the coaching dept. He's regularly been dropped after playing ok the week before, whilst other young players are given extended time in the seniors despite playing poorly.

His ball handling, decision making and disposal is underrated. There's definitely not enough love for Billy on Demonland.

On 8/7/2016 at 10:56 AM, dazzledavey36 said:

Thread needs more Billy Love!!

How was the roar when Billy dashed through the middle inside 50 and nailed the goal.

Future 200 game player is our little Billy!

Even better was the analysis of that play on, I think, the Sunday Footy Show on Nine. First time I've watched that show in years such was my euphoria of the win.

They highlighted that Stretch was playing on Mitchell on our half back line, ran really hard up the middle and was rewarded for his efforts whereas Mitchell half jogged and was left 50 metres behind where the ball was. A great highlight of his workrate and willingness to get to contests

15 minutes ago, mo64 said:

Billy Stretch is not only under-appreciated by the supporters, he's under-appreciated by the coaching dept. He's regularly been dropped after playing ok the week before, whilst other young players are given extended time in the seniors despite playing poorly.

His ball handling, decision making and disposal is underrated. There's definitely not enough love for Billy on Demonland.

Not really, he is in just about every week now, 1 rest about a month ago but he is still young. I highly doubt that they are under-appreciating him.

I love how penetrating his kick is, as he develops his meters gained will continue to go up. The fact he can run 30-40m then kick it 50-60m and hit a man in the goal square can never be understated.