1 hour ago, deespicable me said:

He's pretty heavy through the thighs, his natural full grown weight will be 10 kgs heavier than Watts. Watts and Hogan are longer in the legs and probably have more spring in their legs. Oscar will get harder and harder to move in a marking contest as he has more weight closer to the ground. I think Hogan may have dropped weight in the last six months, both he and Watts will look to run a lot in the season, I think young Oscar will be more a stay at home backman on the less mobile forwards.

Definitely agree with Deespicable. He is looking thicker through the hip/thighs and has added slightly to the the shoulders. I'd give the club and the kid the thumbs up for his weight management progress over one off-season.

1 hour ago, jumbo returns said:

Sorry to ambush thread, but I'm tipping a top 5 Brownlow finish for Wattsy...

Sounds good, schwaby.

1 hour ago, McQueen said:

Sounds good, schwaby.

I don't get it....

He looks like a beast in the training photos I've seen.

2 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

Sorry to ambush thread, but I'm tipping a top 5 Brownlow finish for Wattsy...

I reckon 93 kgs is about the perfect weight for Watts. That's big without being too bulky - he needs his aerobic capacity at a good level and too much weight impedes this.

I'm a big fan of this bloke. Really hope he has a cracking season.

 

 

7 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

I reckon 93 kgs is about the perfect weight for Watts. That's big without being too bulky - he needs his aerobic capacity at a good level and too much weight impedes this.

I'm a big fan of this bloke. Really hope he has a cracking season.

 

 

Agree, Ron. His capacity to create space and make the right decisions 99% of the time means that he'll have an amazing 2017.

1 hour ago, jumbo returns said:

Agree, Ron. His capacity to create space and make the right decisions 99% of the time means that he'll have an amazing 2017.

He creates space, and then we don't kick it to him!

 

4 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

Sorry to ambush thread, but I'm tipping a top 5 Brownlow finish for Wattsy...

I'm no longer predicting anything after I tipped Port last year to be playing off for the flag but I think we'd all agree Watts best is still yet to come.

13 minutes ago, John Dee said:

He creates space, and then we don't kick it to him!

 

Enter Lewis.

He's not big by any means but he's filled out a bit and doesn't look thin either. Probably 2 more seasons and maybe 4 kg at most away from his ideal weight. Will be interesting to see if he plays stronger this year. His kicking is inconsistent but is far more natural than Tom's and at times he can kick nicely.

Tom's pretty thin after presumably doing very little upper body stuff after a shoulder surgery but he's held his own in contests against most forwards even with a thin frame.

12 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

Sorry to ambush thread, but I'm tipping a top 5 Brownlow finish for Wattsy...

Nup. The only tall forwards to finish top 5 in the last 8 years or so are Franklin and J Brown.

 

12 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

Sorry to ambush thread, but I'm tipping a top 5 Brownlow finish for Wattsy...

?

50 minutes ago, Roger Mellie said:

Nup. The only tall forwards to finish top 5 in the last 8 years or so are Franklin and J Brown.

 

Didn't realise that...I'll say top ten, then.

10 hours ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Enter Lewis.

Totally agree, wished I'd posted this first, been thinking it for awhile.

14 hours ago, jumbo returns said:

I don't get it....

Peter Schwab will be directing the umps to award extra votes to Wattsy.

On 1/28/2017 at 5:18 PM, Wiseblood said:

If Oscar is now 97kgs, then Jayden Hunt is easily 110kgs.

Oscar may not be 97 kgs, but he is bulking up. Saw a recent photo of him and the scrawny kid is gone. 

By next year he will be a big unit.

 

7 hours ago, McQueen said:

Peter Schwab will be directing the umps to award extra votes to Wattsy.

Oh! I see...didn't make the connection...

1 hour ago, Redleg said:

Oscar may not be 97 kgs, but he is bulking up. Saw a recent photo of him and the scrawny kid is gone. 

By next year he will be a big unit.

 

I'm not arguing that in the slightest... I was more commenting on the fact that he isn't 97kgs now.

On 1/28/2017 at 6:27 PM, CBDees said:

Not troubled at all by the two MacDonald's plus Frost being our KPDs.

I hope they are up to it at Sydney as they have to manage Buddy, Reid and Tippet all of who will be a handfull fo any team and will stretch the  height and strength of our backline

3 hours ago, jackaub said:

I hope they are up to it at Sydney as they have to manage Buddy, Reid and Tippet all of who will be a handfull fo any team and will stretch the  height and strength of our backline

No problems Jack, leave the sprinklers on the night before.

"Oscar played the last 14 games of 2016 and impressed with his intercepting and work in the contest. McDonald was involved in 41 defensive one-on-one contests and lost just 17% (7) - ranked 2nd at the club behind his brother Tom and seventh in the league in players involved in 30 or more contests. Of his 14 games, he didnt concede a goal to his direct opponent in 6 games and cinceded more than two just once. He averaged 6.5 intercept possessions per game, rated above average for key defenders" AFL prospectus.

Whilst I question alot of the prospectus rating systems, those stats are vital for those who question Oscar quite often. Clearly in the best 22 and this was in a season where he was often undersized.

24 minutes ago, Mad_Melbourne said:

"Oscar played the last 14 games of 2016 and impressed with his intercepting and work in the contest. McDonald was involved in 41 defensive one-on-one contests and lost just 17% (7) - ranked 2nd at the club behind his brother Tom and seventh in the league in players involved in 30 or more contests. Of his 14 games, he didnt concede a goal to his direct opponent in 6 games and cinceded more than two just once. He averaged 6.5 intercept possessions per game, rated above average for key defenders" AFL prospectus.

Whilst I question alot of the prospectus rating systems, those stats are vital for those who question Oscar quite often. Clearly in the best 22 and this was in a season where he was often undersized.

Am quoting your post so that @picket fence will see it!

When Oscar's year is seen in total rather than moment by moment that is a stunning performance, especially for a 2nd year player. 

I'm sure someone will pipe up and comment on his kicking but now that we have Hunt, Hibberd, Salem et al to get the ball out of the backline, Oscar's kicking won't be such an issue especially as we will be running the ball out more than kicking it out. 

15 minutes ago, Mad_Melbourne said:

"Oscar played the last 14 games of 2016 and impressed with his intercepting and work in the contest. McDonald was involved in 41 defensive one-on-one contests and lost just 17% (7) - ranked 2nd at the club behind his brother Tom and seventh in the league in players involved in 30 or more contests. Of his 14 games, he didnt concede a goal to his direct opponent in 6 games and cinceded more than two just once. He averaged 6.5 intercept possessions per game, rated above average for key defenders" AFL prospectus.

Whilst I question alot of the prospectus rating systems, those stats are vital for those who question Oscar quite often. Clearly in the best 22 and this was in a season where he was often undersized.

It is difficult to think of another player who has improved as much as Oscar did in the course of one season. He was no where near AFL standard in his first few games earlier last season; he looked slow, seemingly had little agility, presence, urgency or physicality.

To then go on and win the rising star in round 21 and be seen as an important part of our backline says a lot about him and also the ability of the Club's management skills to back him and get the best out of him.

I found it interesting that Oscar stayed in the team whilst Clayton Oliver was sent back to Casey during the year. 

1 hour ago, fndee said:

I found it interesting that Oscar stayed in the team whilst Clayton Oliver was sent back to Casey during the year. 

I wouldn't read too much into this. I'd be guessing that it's much easier to develop mids at VFL level than it is for key position players, especially defenders. The key forwards in the AFL are considerably bigger than those at VFL level (most are either undersized - example Tim Smith or developing - example the Weid), whereas a lot of the mids would be roughly the same size as those in the AFL.

I thought Oscar's improvement was outstanding and I really hope his confidence continues to grow. I know a lot who had both Tom and Oscar at junior level and have said Oscar was far better than Tom, that might not end up the case at senior level but if it did we'd have a very formidable CHB/FB combo.   

1 hour ago, Red and Blue realist said:

I wouldn't read too much into this. I'd be guessing that it's much easier to develop mids at VFL level than it is for key position players, especially defenders. The key forwards in the AFL are considerably bigger than those at VFL level (most are either undersized - example Tim Smith or developing - example the Weid), whereas a lot of the mids would be roughly the same size as those in the AFL.

I thought Oscar's improvement was outstanding and I really hope his confidence continues to grow. I know a lot who had both Tom and Oscar at junior level and have said Oscar was far better than Tom, that might not end up the case at senior level but if it did we'd have a very formidable CHB/FB combo.   

I've heard the total opposite from guys that played with both at Edenhope.