and incredibly consistent. never plays a bad game

4 hours ago, tiers said:

From one who saw the Teddy Whitten inspired "flick pass" phenomenon come and go, Clarrie's handballs are nothing like a flick pass.

He obviously has the most flexible, rotatable wrists that ensure that the ball is struck by a closed fist each time, not by an open back hand that was the feature of flick passes.

 

Obviously it's not the same. I was only using it as a comparison but he doesn't handball in the traditional sense - still legal though

His original Youtube Highlights clip showed it all. 

We have one of the great AFL bargains. 

Clayton is number 1 Draft Material

$cully and Trengove were right out of their depth, as was our administration of the day. 

Clayton hunts the ball. That is his job

 

Redraft the thread title

Clarry "one of the best to emerge in last 20 years"

 

Isn’t it amazing that he was nearly lost to AFL as he wasn’t fit enough. I think he couldn’t train due to the drive??? 

 

Lost four kilos a couple of weeks before draft camp as he didn’t think he was attending. 

 

Watching him makes me wonder what other ‘talent’ hasn’t made it due to their location etc 

GET OUTA THE WAY!! THE CLARRY CHOO CHOO EXPRESS IS COMING THRU.............

When he changes his handball to kick to handball ratio and kicks a few more goals (you cant handball a goal yet) he will win a Brownlow - something not achieved by MFC since 2000.

Otherwise, he compares favourably to Dustin Martin - and we all know what he achieved last year.

Clarry to Martin (Averages per match this year)

Marks 2.6 to 3.4

Goals .5 to 1.5

kicks 9.1 to 14

handballs 19.2 to 10

contested possession 16 to 11

clearances 7.3 to 5.4

tackles 7.7 to 1.7

inside 50's 4.5 to 5.2 (more kicks will improve this)

metres gained 328.5 to 423 (more kicks will improve this too)

So yep  I think he is the most exciting talent we have uncovered for a long time

5 hours ago, don't make me angry said:

It is a myth we don't have leg speed, salam is quick, viney is quick, Clayton is quick, Bradshaw is also quick, can't believe how many think we are slow, it is not true, hibbo is also quick. 

Bradshaw is so quick I didn't even see him. 

Can I just say 1 last time , I shook Clarry's hand in the supermarket just after he got drafted. I thought I noticed something special about that hand.

8 hours ago, tiers said:

Why has it taken so long for the so called experts to realise this simple fact? It was apparent from the start.

Clayton plays his own game unlike anyone before. His vision, awareness and football smarts are outstanding but, in addition, his ability to win the ball in close and distribute quickly to advantage set him apart.

His tackling, running, contested marking and strong kicking would almost be enough even without his extraordinary talents.

I have noticed that his "don't blink or you will miss it" hand passes are catching on amongst his teammates who have improved greatly in their disposal. It also helps that when we are winning players are willing to run to good positions to receive.

This 'running to good position' is now the key to success in our game.

Two things. Still no-one's talking about how good of a kick he is. This isn't a "get Clarry to kick it more" post. Moreso I'd just love to see folks talk his footskills up more. When he does get boot to ball to go inside fifty or to kick at goal, he is as good as you would ever want a kid to be by foot. 

Second thing... We should really scoff at the AA selectors. Averaging around 30 touches with a truckload of tackles and clearances. He'll do that (or better) his whole career, and still will get shunted to the bench, or even onto the squad for the AA side. It's a joke he wasn't in the team last year, so if he gets in this year, it'll only make that decision more ridiculous, as he's had an identical season.

In real time:

 

From Clarry's perspective:

 

Edited May 28, 20187 yr by Skuit

He is so clean inside of a contest. Right at the point where players panic, Oliver seems to relish. I don't think I have seen a player so good on close. He is exceptional in tight. For that reason I think he may be one of the greats by the time he is done. Most us probably believe that by now. The media is just catching on because opposition fans don't like Oliver for his incidents in the past.

2 minutes ago, KingDingAling said:

He is so clean inside of a contest. Right at the point where players panic, Oliver seems to relish.

Remember when Scully was recruited the talk was he was a professional athlete with Simon Black hands. He's a good player, but his hands in juniors didn't come through to seniors. He's just a hard running distance machine now. Clarry though, somehow went to another level once he started playing with the grown ups. You could see he was good in tight, but no-one could have seen he'd be THIS good.

I'd love to sit down and chat to the recruiters and actually get them to walk me through the last two weeks when we had Parish earmarked, and what EXACTLY they saw that compelled them to take a late flyer at such an early pick. Was it what they've seen from him as an MFC player? Were they projecting? Was it his "type" as an inside ballwinner?

And as another side note... we made a bid for Mills... Imagine if they let us have him? I know many say Mills is a star, but I have Oliver ahead of him by a  mile. In fact that draft year, I have only Curnow threatening him as best of his class.

Bradshaw

Players like Mitchell became renowned for their handballing ability when in the clear and could send penetrating handballs to team mates who were positioned to receive.

Clarrie is different and a type we have not seen before. He hunts the ball in close, tackles hard, wins the hard ball and delivers it with menacing purpose to a teammate who is generally close. Not for him the luxury of standing at the back of the pack and waiting for the ball to be delivered. He gets it and releases it.

As for the peculiarities and perversions of the AA team selection, for as long as he works in close and his magic is not clearly evident (think of Bruce's comment in the 3Q yesterday), he will be overlooked until we achieve team success and the so called experts and commentators get on the bandwagon.

For the time being, I am enjoying the private pleasure of watching him play his game while building to team success. We will then be able to say that we knew it all along. Sweet!

33 minutes ago, Dappa Dan said:

I'd love to sit down and chat to the recruiters and actually get them to walk me through the last two weeks when we had Parish earmarked, and what EXACTLY they saw that compelled them to take a late flyer at such an early pick. Was it what they've seen from him as an MFC player? Were they projecting? Was it his "type" as an inside ballwinner?

And as another side note... we made a bid for Mills... Imagine if they let us have him? I know many say Mills is a star, but I have Oliver ahead of him by a  mile. In fact that draft year, I have only Curnow threatening him as best of his class.

Everytime I watch Oliver play I am thankful we picked him ahead of Parish. Imagine the uproar if we had've let Oliver slip? It would be crazy. Lyon is right, Oliver is the best kid to emerge in the last 20 years. We would be slitting our wrists if we overlooked him.

Edited May 28, 20187 yr by KingDingAling

1 hour ago, pineapple dee said:

Can I just say 1 last time , I shook Clarry's hand in the supermarket just after he got drafted. I thought I noticed something special about that hand.

hope you haven't washed it, pd

Clayton’s handball keeps the game open and fast - just as the AFL like it.

Imagine if we’d drafted the disappointing Parish and were watching Clarry running around in a Bummers jumper. Those poor chaps must be seething ?

7 minutes ago, Nasher said:

Imagine if we’d drafted the disappointing Parish and were watching Clarry running around in a Bummers jumper. Those poor chaps must be seething ?

Saints fans are also seething over drafting McCartin ahead of Trac.

10 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

If they made a MENSA society for footy geniuses, Oliver would be first invited.

His football IQ is off the charts.

 

Its interesting that from the start he's had a lot to say on the field at set up time, prior to centre bounce etc. , contributing to the disicussions with Jones, Gawn, Viney. He was very vocal yesterday. Just feels like a leader and belongs in the engine room. He said a few weeks ago his re-signing was a "..no brainer..."

He's part of the scariest demon midfield Iv'e seen (since 1967)

45 minutes ago, deefender said:

Clayton’s handball keeps the game open and fast - just as the AFL like it.

Should win a Browny for that alone.

2 minutes ago, Demon17 said:

Its interesting that from the start he's had a lot to say on the field at set up time, prior to centre bounce etc. , contributing to the disicussions with Jones, Gawn, Viney. He was very vocal yesterday. Just feels like a leader and belongs in the engine room. He said a few weeks ago his re-signing was a "..no brainer..."

He's part of the scariest demon midfield Iv'e seen (since 1967)

He's not a leader. He just knows a shitload about footy. Why would he not talk?

3 minutes ago, Chook said:

He's not a leader. He just knows a shitload about footy. Why would he not talk?

 

3 minutes ago, Chook said:

 

As the great John McEnroe said:

"...you cannot be serious.."

Do you understand the various leadership qualiites?

Such as " follow me"  as a prime example, train hard, play hard, look how I play ... etc.