Nibbler, ANB, or as Danny Frawley calls him, "Bullen".

At the risk of putting the mozz on him, I'm excited by this fella. All his stats are trending upwards after a signficant step forward last season. As an elite runner and steadily improving his all round game he could become a valuable long term asset in the midfield. 

Historically he has split opinion, although majority view has been "useful foot soldier". I'm interested in how posters view him on the back of quietly impressive 2017 season.

How do you see him progressing next season?

More importantly, what is his eventual ceiling? 

Doing everything he can with what he has. His effort can't be questioned.

A long term high quality midfielder forward with good vision and skills.

I have him in our best 20 now and on the rise. Good character too.

I think he will mature into a top 50 in the league player.   AkA Jones who improved every year.

He has better vision and twenty metre execution than everyone on our list excluding possibly  Petracca (by foot).   He is already a very good player and very underrated on these boards in a similar manner to Jones early

26 minutes ago, green_machine said:

I think he will mature into a top 50 in the league player.   AkA Jones who improved every year.

He has better vision and twenty metre execution than everyone on our list excluding possibly  Petracca (by foot).   He is already a very good player and very underrated on these boards in a similar manner to Jones early

jones has never been top 50. he barely cracks top 100.

i like nibbler. elite potential. 

31 minutes ago, praha said:

jones has never been top 50. he barely cracks top 100.

i like nibbler. elite potential. 

?? Jones has been top 50 for a few years now

5 hours ago, P-man said:

Nibbler, ANB, or as Danny Frawley calls him, "Bullen".

At the risk of putting the mozz on him, I'm excited by this fella. All his stats are trending upwards after a signficant step forward last season. As an elite runner and steadily improving his all round game he could become a valuable long term asset in the midfield. 

Historically he has split opinion, although majority view has been "useful foot soldier". I'm interested in how posters view him on the back of quietly impressive 2017 season.

How do you see him progressing next season?

More importantly, what is his eventual ceiling? 

I'd regard his season of 2017 a little more than '...quietly impressive...', P-man. His season was one of terrific improvement and his running and attack on the ball have both lifted, considerably. A duplicate season is less likely - he is more likely to put in a better season, given his overall improvements over time and his excellent return to training and team activities. I cannot foresee his ceiling but he has become the midfield-fwd line Jetta and overall, it will be bright. He's a terrific asset with what appears to be a great mindset for competitiveness and execution. I am getting strong vibes that the running game is going to be an increased feature of the Dees this coming season and for Nibbler, that is 'just down his alley'.

In an earlier post in another thread I had nominated Nibbler as one of our four most valuable players who  consistently beat their opponents one-on-one, win the ball and deliver to advantage.

Green-machine's observation that Nibbler has better vision and twenty metre execution than everyone on our list excluding possibly  Petracca (by foot) is spot on. He developed an ability to find space, stop, look, pick a good option and deliver over short distances. In the forward line, this is a most valuable skill to set up teammates for an easy shot at the goals.

I hope our players are being coached to offer themselves as targets to take advantage of his unique skills..

I have always rated ANB. Early on, his ability to get to the drop of the ball was impressive as was his ability to get on the end of a chain of possessions to score.

He looks to have improved his two way running and seems to feel more comfortable in the team which I suspect is adding to his improved performance.

Not every player in a good side is a superstar. ANB can be a vital part of our midfield in time.

A very good cog in the midfield machine

Like Powell or Rigoni in our grand Final year

Could he turn into a Cameron Ling type run with player, someone that can stop but also get his own ball. 

36 minutes ago, Petraccattack said:

A very good cog in the midfield machine

Like Powell or Rigoni in our grand Final year

Good alignment with Rigoni. Guy was very similar to ANB. ANB is very similar to Guy. Both made a significant improvement to their mobility to augment their existing attributes. 

Great runner and uses it in games to rack up the ball by getting to the right spots and does his bit defensively.

Not super quick to really break lines on the outside and not a powerful dynamic inside player so I think the half forward role is the right one for him, although more rotation minutes is a good idea.

I'm not sure what others are seeing in terms of his decision making and skills. Most of the time when he gets the ball I close my eyes because I don't see a lot of confidence in his decision making. He certainly improved last year but still there were lots of games where I regretted that he was getting it 20 times. There was a strong correlation between when he was using it well and how the team was playing.

Consistent good decisions and nailing his kicks will determine if he's better than a role player.

Really like he way he goes about it. Absolute professional and will get every ounce of talent out of his body.

I'm also really interested to see how young Dion Johnstone goes this year. He is looking super fit in the training photos.

Would be interested to hear some reports o him from anyone who has been at training so far?

44 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Good alignment with Rigoni. Guy was very similar to ANB. ANB is very similar to Guy. Both made a significant improvement to their mobility to augment their existing attributes. 

Only difference Rigoni really hurt you by foot, his kicking especially over distance was elite

He's the type of player that will leave no stone unturned in his quest for the holy grail.

I'm really happy for him, his 2017 went better than probably even he had hoped for, let alone expected.

He's not a star and wont even be that good, but I expect he will be a good contributor for a long time. A player type I really like because there's not so much fanfare and they form the less obvious core of a team's culture. Plus, they contribute more value than the salary cap space they take up!

I little bit neater with the disposals and he' becomes genuine high quality, and given his attitude and progress over time it is a reasonable thing to hope for.

He is one of a group of players on the list that are going OK, but still have significant upside.  If he can continue his development, he is certainly a best 22 player, and potentially a genuine high value player.  As we start playing bigger games, and he and his team mates grow into them, we should start seeing these guys stepping up.  I think ANB will be a 'quiet achiever' that we all love to have on the list - that gets things done in his role, but can do them really well.  These are the foundations of premiership sides, these blokes.  They make the superstars look good. 

Follows in the long tradition of underrated mids, such as Dyson, Obst, Leoncelli, Powell, who can hit the scoreboard

I don’t think he’ll ever be a ‘star’ per se, but he’s bona fide best 22

18 minutes ago, DemonAndrew said:

Follows in the long tradition of underrated mids, such as Dyson, Obst, Leoncelli, Powell, who can hit the scoreboard

I don’t think he’ll ever be a ‘star’ per se, but he’s bona fide best 22

Leoncelli became great. Very damaging and could not be let loose. It was a shame that level of performance took a few years to develop.

I think he's work ethic and great attitude (focus on training in the off season) will see him end up becoming  a 150-175 gamer B or C+ type player. Richmond had an absolute abundance of these last year Ie - Houli, Grigg, Ellis etc....

I suspect he's currently in the coache's best 22 for next year. 

For much of the season he was rated as on of the top 10 midfielder/forwards in the comp by champion data. The final standings for the year are:

1. C Petracca
2. C Wingard
3. M Walters
4. S Menagola
5. D Mundy
6. S Edwards
7. T McLean
8. C Daniel
9. K Lambert
10. L Dahlhaus

Not ordinary names. And it was only a flat end to the season that cost him from finishing top 10 for the season.

Daniel, McLean and Petracca (who dees supporters chronically under-rate, but that's for another thread) are the only others on that list at the start of their careers, the rest are well-established and important members of their teams. 

ANB progressed to become a good role player in 2017, and his work ethic almost ensures that he will go on to become very good as his skills, strength and vision improve with experience and application. If he progresses to that level he will be an integral part of our team for a long time, and another very good 'call' by Jason Taylor.

He is around 15th or perhaps a little higher in my rankings of best 22.

If he can make top 10 he will do well. Don't expect any better

He seems to have the perfect attitude for modern football; both onfield as a role-player at half-forward and on the training pack where he seems determined to get the best out of himself.  He has a knack of being in the right place at the right time and he always looks for a teammate in a better and creative position.  Can the creativity and vision that he displays here translate to a midfield role..?  I'm not sure.  He strikes me as someone who can be a very good contributor to a good team, without being one to tear games apart.  There's a lot of work to go before he gets to that, but his improvement over the last two years has been very, very encouraging. 

12 hours ago, Wells 11 said:

?? Jones has been top 50 for a few years now

Nathan Jones Top 50 for a while now,  However if the Nibble  shows a bit more endeavor and consistently pile on possessions in the mid 20s , and has excellent  set of skills, then l believe he will be on the way.