I'm hoping that the next few weeks prove the doubters wrong. 

 

chappy was talking him up on the official mfc podcast too

ordinary against the cats, serviceable against north and the bears

would like to see his possessions when he does get them - because he's not been a big ballwinner as yet - be more impactful in terms of scoring chains

But speaking on Inside Melbourne, Chaplin said Wagner had been the player to impress him the most this pre-season.  

“Wags has been very, very good this year,” he said.

“A lot of people probably don’t realise what he does, because it doesn’t always come down to stats, but he’s probably been the most consistent defender across the three games so far.

“The way we want to play and the system – he hasn’t let us down at all. His best two games have been the Kangaroos and Geelong game. He was a standout for us and it’s been recognised internally, but probably not externally at the moment.”

Onya Waggers, keep proving people wrong. 

Expect 22 games plus from you this year and you’ll only get better

As with Gawn, Tmac, and Omac, Wagner is playing in a high pressure position, and takes time to develop. The way people have carried on about OMac has been embarrassing, and now they're eating their words...but have redirected their whip onto poor ol' Wags.

It's been a consistent theme with blokes like Wagner: they have the smarts and the awareness, but are ultimately scrutinised to the highest level because they play in a position where good things are subtle contributions and rarely acknowledged, but a single mistake can lead to a bad turnover or cost a goal.

Undoubtedly does far more good than bad, but people hyperventilate whenever he gets beaten in a 1v1, or sprays a kick. Yeah, there is less margin for error in the backline than anywhere else on the ground, but Wagner and the rest of his fellow young backmen play with levep heads that you'd expect from 150-gamers. They never seem intimidated, they never stop defending. 

We have three beasts down back in Omac, Wagner and Frost, and some supporters are too dense and broken to realise it. We are building towards an Essendon 2000-esque defense. Wagner is such an important component to our growth and rise as a team.

Just goes to show maybe the coaches know a bit more about football than some people typing on a keyboard 

  On 11/04/2018 at 14:55, brendan said:

Just goes to show maybe the coaches know a bit more about football than some people typing on a keyboard 

we'll see if he's there in 12-18 mths mate. i'm not convinced. he's an honest player, but has clear limitations

 

  On 11/04/2018 at 14:07, praha said:

We have three beasts down back in Omac, Wagner and Frost, and some supporters are too dense and broken to realise it. We are building towards an Essendon 2000-esque defense. Wagner is such an important component to our growth and rise as a team.

Ridiculous comment.

Viney is a beast

Wines is a beast

Martin is a beast

 

Wagner? Oscar?  pfffffffttt

 

  On 11/04/2018 at 13:37, DemonAndrew said:

chappy was talking him up on the official mfc podcast too

ordinary against the cats, serviceable against north and the bears

would like to see his possessions when he does get them - because he's not been a big ballwinner as yet - be more impactful in terms of scoring chains

Thought he looked pretty good at the game on Sunday, went home and watched replay and he looked even better, reckon hes improved bigtime since last year, we have a very deep list at the moment

  On 11/04/2018 at 13:46, bing181 said:

But speaking on Inside Melbourne, Chaplin said Wagner had been the player to impress him the most this pre-season.  

“Wags has been very, very good this year,” he said.

“A lot of people probably don’t realise what he does, because it doesn’t always come down to stats, but he’s probably been the most consistent defender across the three games so far.

“The way we want to play and the system – he hasn’t let us down at all. His best two games have been the Kangaroos and Geelong game. He was a standout for us and it’s been recognised internally, but probably not externally at the moment.”

Curious. Interesting to see that post of our heat-maps as well. His whole streak was outside of the defensive-50 just short of centre. As far as we know his role may be to simply defend the corridor and push the opposition wide.

Wagner a beast. Wow, what rubbish!

And NO, the coaches don’t always know better than all the keyboard warriors.  If Demonland selected the side, we’d be 3 - 0.  Still can’t believe that they picked Magner and didn’t select Frost & Tyson from Round 1.

The same lot cost us games early last year when they refused for weeks to select Pederson.

The same lot made a horribly short sighted decision to rush Viney back, look how that’s working out!

Just because you’re a manager or a coach doesn’t mean you’re always right. 

Those on here that continually say, ‘in Goodwin, we totally trust” are too easily pleased.  

 

  On 11/04/2018 at 20:09, goodwindees said:

Wagner a beast. Wow, what rubbish!

And NO, the coaches don’t always know better than all the keyboard warriors.  If Demonland selected the side, we’d be 3 - 0.  Still can’t believe that they picked Magner and didn’t select Frost & Tyson from Round 1.

The same lot cost us games early last year when they refused for weeks to select Pederson.

The same lot made a horribly short sighted decision to rush Viney back, look how that’s working out!

Just because you’re a manager or a coach doesn’t mean you’re always right. 

Those on here that continually say, ‘in Goodwin, we totally trust” are too easily pleased.  

 

Yep crazy choice...considering he has been off our list for over 5 years!  

  On 11/04/2018 at 17:01, dave said:

Thought he looked pretty good at the game on Sunday, went home and watched replay and he looked even better, reckon hes improved bigtime since last year, we have a very deep list at the moment

Wagner has be most encouraging and his contributions are often subtle; that has been the case for many backmen yet reliability is strengthening on Wagner's efforts, in particular. He is a good body size, as well, appearing to be mobile, team aware and good with most passing activities. Sometimes, his spoils on opponents are very pleasing, as can be his intercepts. This is a considerable improvement since 2017. Well done, Waggs. There have been a few, very few, miskicks and grubbers but I have turned a blind eye to these little niggles in the past two weeks. 

I think Wagner is a good representation, for me anyway, with the frustrated thoughts of a footy tragic. Of which I am definitely one.

Wagner wasn't a high draft pick, he doesn't have super skills or pace or size or anything really. Seems like a very vanilla footballer (which is incredibly rich coming from a bloke who couldn't crack a senior game in the beer league ?). Yet not only does he keep getting picked, it sounds like he is one of the first picked.

Football isn't just about skill anymore. It's a science, it's measured with precision. The guys can't even go to a gym session without a GPS on according to an interview with Jesse Hogan. 

Wagner must follow every instruction perfectly, not only game day which is the 2 hours the majority of the football public is worried about (unless these poor young men put one toe out of line) but through the week as well.

We are building a dedicated disciplined culture which will hold sustained success and expect the highest level of professionalism 24/7.

 

IMHO 

  On 11/04/2018 at 20:09, goodwindees said:

Wagner a beast. Wow, what rubbish!

And NO, the coaches don’t always know better than all the keyboard warriors.  If Demonland selected the side, we’d be 3 - 0.  Still can’t believe that they picked Magner and didn’t select Frost & Tyson from Round 1.

The same lot cost us games early last year when they refused for weeks to select Pederson.

The same lot made a horribly short sighted decision to rush Viney back, look how that’s working out!

Just because you’re a manager or a coach doesn’t mean you’re always right. 

Those on here that continually say, ‘in Goodwin, we totally trust” are too easily pleased.  

 

Cant tell if serious

Hey, Magner, Maynard.  Not too much difference in ability, even you’d have to agree.

  On 11/04/2018 at 13:37, DemonAndrew said:

chappy was talking him up on the official mfc podcast too

ordinary against the cats, serviceable against north and the bears

would like to see his possessions when he does get them - because he's not been a big ballwinner as yet - be more impactful in terms of scoring chains

 

 

Wagner has been improving and hopefully it continues. Picking the right option when he has the ball is his main weakness, and a wrong choice often leads to a turnover. But great to see him get better.

Re the beasts comment, it made me laugh.

OMac is coming along nicely, can see him improving and in two years time should develop into a really good full back.

I like Frosts run and aggression but not sure he has that football nous.

The one thing I would really like to see is the backline get a few fundamentals cemented:

- don’t all fly to mark or punch the ball, have a few stay down

- at ball ups and throw ins cover the cheap sharked goal

- have the player covering the goal square when necessary

10 plus years ago we had Wellman from Essendon as the backline coach and our backline were so well drilled on the above!

  On 11/04/2018 at 16:38, faultydet said:

Ridiculous comment.

Viney is a beast

Wines is a beast

Martin is a beast

 

Wagner? Oscar?  pfffffffttt

 

How does Viney, Wines and Martin at all relate to Wagnr and Omac?

I reckon he's going alright

Goes hard, but can be a bit of a nervous Nellie with the ball in his hands

I've always rated him. He is just so fierce at thw ball and ball carrier and reas the play super well. 

As i noted before round 1 he is every chance of cementing his spot and if he does (which he almost has) his confidence will grow and we will see a big improvement in his kicking. I think his kicking will become a real weapon. 

Another example of a player that many fans don't see how good they are/will be that the coaching staff clearly rate as evidenced by the fact they are regularly selected.

His first half against Geelong was really bad in terms of missed tackles and coughing up the ball under pressure. Think he gave away a 50 for a late but not really unfair spoil just before the half and after that he lifted.

He's rubbish when he's timid at the contest. Or timid with the ball. Whatever it takes to get him to the white line fever mode where he will hit contests hard and be aggressive with the ball needs to happen.

Huge test this week up against some really crafty Hawks smalls who are as good as it gets in setting up their forward line to score and heaping on defensive pressure.

  On 11/04/2018 at 23:48, DeeSpencer said:

His first half against Geelong was really bad in terms of missed tackles and coughing up the ball under pressure. Think he gave away a 50 for a late but not really unfair spoil just before the half and after that he lifted.

He's rubbish when he's timid at the contest. Or timid with the ball. Whatever it takes to get him to the white line fever mode where he will hit contests hard and be aggressive with the ball needs to happen.

 

I think this about confidence ds. Once he feels as if he is not playing for his spot each week i think he'll really flourish and become much more if an attacking weapon.

I think lever's form is also related to confidence and for him also weight of expectation. He'll be the star we are all hoping for soon enough and will also be attacking weapon from the hb.

When you factor in hibberd, who is our best weapon from hb you start to see what the fd are trying to build down back. Agressive intercept players, who read the ball well and ate penetrating kicks who can also hit difficult targets though the corridor. Combined with players who can lock down critical opposition forwards, big and small.

Quick transition from hb has never been more critical. When it all clicks, as it will soon, it will be pretty exciting.

He doesn’t [censored] it up as much as he used to.

If Wagner is doing exactly what the coaches ask for, and there is no one obviously better to go past him, he has to be picked.