just wanted to know whats everyones thoughts on this kid? has come to the club with big wraps and hopefully he can play a few senior games next year or the year before. i really haven't heard much about him at training that much but i also wanted to know if anyone has seen him play whats he like as a player?

thanks

What are the big wraps he's come to the club with? I haven't heard much. As far as I know he played a bit of senior footy last year in Tassie kicking a few big bags (6 and 8, from memory). He's extremely skinny though, but can lead and mark. I've heard he's a career FF, but it's VERY early days to be saying that. I expect him to get a run at Sandy at some stage, since he's a proven senior footballer, but I'd be very surprised if they changed their tendencies and started playing tall forwards in their first years. Bate, Dunn and Newton were all given until their second season (though they were bottom agers), and in Newton's case, he hasn't even gotten close yet. Giving new talls a year in the reserves has been very successful, at least in the case of Bate and Dunn.

I remember at some point Mick Malthouse said playing a player before they're ready to take the step to AFL footy can set their development back up to 18 months. I'm not sure his reasoning there, but I'll take his word for it.

Who knows. Noone would have said Bartram would be a champion but we have seen that good possibility he will be. Everyone thought sylvia would be good...and look at him. Everyone thought Smith would be good...and look at him now. You can only guess these things and my thoughts are he will be OK. Nothing super just OK. But who cares...our best chance at the GF is in the next 2-3 years and he prob wont play much for the first 2 years. Phh well have to wait and see wont we.

I played with him and he is verry skinny and has to put on 10-15 kilos before he could be a FF at AFL level.

He is very agile and has extremely good hands. Neat kick for goal, but is quiet and the kind of guy who just goes about his business.

He is at least 2-3 years off playing at senior level, but I would be happily mistaken if I am wrong

Who knows. Noone would have said Bartram would be a champion but we have seen that good possibility he will be.

I'm yet to see the possibility Bartram will be a champion... A good tagging type midfielder perhaps, but certainly no silky skilled match winner

Hold on. Garland is listed as 190.6cm and 84.6cm. That isnt that skinny. To suggest that he needs to put on an extra 10-15kg in order to play is just wrong. 5kg would be fine, and thats one pre-season.

He may be listed at that, but it doesn't mean it is correct.

If he wants to play FF then 90kg's is not heavy enough, wheras if he became a Ryan O'Keeffe type player (which is possible) he would still have to put on some weight.

Looking at some photo's he looks little next to Weetra and he's no monster

If you go by the Neitz, Hall, Gehrig model of FF, then that's around the 195cm mark and 100kgs. Garland would need a growth spurt and 15 kgs to get that big.

But that's assuming he wants to play the game as they have. As Freak said, he's 5cm shorter. If he were to follow the Lloyd model, (192cm, 92kgs) he would only need another 5-8 kgs to get to that size.

And all that is assuming he's going to play FF on his debut. As long as he gets a bit of size over this or next preseason he could be played on a flank or in a pocket earlier than we think.

Firstly, Garland is half a centimetre shorter than Neitz. Secondly, Lloyd is the best full of that lot.

Firstly, Garland is half a centimetre shorter than Neitz. Secondly, Lloyd is the best full of that lot.

According to MFC.com DN is 193cm. Above you claim Garland is 190.6. Which ones are right/wrong?

If you look at my post you'll see that I'm neither agreeing nor disagreeing with anyone here, only suggesting that he probably won't debut this season.

But since we're on the topic, I would hope we'd play a player at FF in the mould of Neitz in terms of weight and height (around 195cm, 100kgs) in the distant future as I'd like to see someone who can take a fair degree of punishment, as well as kick his fair share. One of the things I love about our forward set-up is that Neitz can clean up 2 big-ish defenders, leaving the crumbs to be cleaned up by the Daveys, Picketts and Hayes type players of the team now, and in the future. What worries me is that DN's impact from here on in will only either maintain or diminish. Once he's gone, what other big-bodied FF can we rely on? Miller? That would be a scoring accuracy disaster among other things. Dunn? Bate? All are above 190cm, but can they handle the hits for 22 rounds? Maybe...

The question is, what's the minimum height for a future FF? Also what's the minimum weight? (assuming that they're good enough, have strong hands, are fast on the lead, can kick straight and long... you know... all that gubbins).

I've always thought Dunn looked like a possibility for FF. Can lead, mark and kick like no-one's business. And is sensational below his knees.

But whatever way you look at it we're a way off having Neitz's replacement ready to go should the worst happen. Garland (from what I've heard) is a genuine KP player, and won't play anywhere but in the spine, unlike someone like Frawley who is the kind of guy that apparently can play on a wing if needed, and may debut there this coming year.

Not that I DON'T want to see him played, but I'd be worried if Neita, Robbo, Miller, Dunn, Newton and others are having trouble fulfilling their roles and we need to play a kid who's only a few months ago joined the club. Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to seeing him play, be it seniors or Sandy 2s.

According to MFC.com DN is 193cm. Above you claim Garland is 190.6. Which ones are right/wrong?

The chances are that none of the above are correct. The latter measurement was taken at the draft camp in October last year but it's been explained that often the stats are unreliable for one reason or another e.g. David Neitz has been variously shown as 191cm and 193 cm and the same thing goes for a number of players. I've seen Garland at training a couple of time and looks a cm or so shorter than Neita but, at 18, could grow to the same height or taller so ultimately I don't think height will stop him from being a KPP if he's good enough.

I've been watching a video of the last VFL game of 2006 between Tassie and Box Hill and Garland started on a wing. So far I've seen the first quarter only and though he hasn't done a great deal, he looks like a good mover. I'll report later when I've seen the rest of the game.

Ta, WJ.

I'm yet to see the possibility Bartram will be a champion... A good tagging type midfielder perhaps, but certainly no silky skilled match winner

We will agree to disagree. Perhaps rewatch the games...that would help

Ta, WJ.

Well, I finally watched the rest of that game (Tasmania v Box Hill VFL Round 20) and Colin Garland's performance was reasonable for a first full game at this level. He was named on a wing but I'd say he spent a fair amount of time on a HFF and was quiet in the first half although he gave the ball off twice to rover Ian Callinan for goals in the second quarter. After the first quarter it was a pretty one sided game and Box Hill was pretty ordinary. Tassie had numerous smalls who dominated the game - Benny Beams, Simon Atkins, Troy Makepeace, Ben Setchell, Callinan and a couple of Geappens. These blokes kept chipping the ball around and ran all day - often unmarked. Garland got more involved in the second half and by the last quarter was picking up kicks at will. Not a bad effort and looks like a possible player with a lot of hard work and growing to do and you'd want to see him under a bit more pressure before giving a final assessment.

The Box Hill team contained Xavier Ellis and Beau Dowler who were both early draft picks in the 2005 National Draft. Both had an off day and Garland compared favourably with them. The most impressive player on the ground was Tassies Jack Riewoldt who was drafted by Richmond and looks a player.