Toby Bedford

[fr_ap 2,148]

For those jumping on me for knocking him, yes I did watch him on the weekend. I've watched him since he joined the list, at training, in intraclubs and generally in every game he's played. 

I agree he was fantastic on the weekend and his pressure and aggression alone will be enough to get him games given the MO of our forward line this year....Spargo wouldn't want to have a few quiet weeks in a row. For me he was BOG ahead of Weid.

I maintain though, and this is evident if you watch the weekends game without bias, that his disposal is his significant weakness. Short kicking could not be further from A1 if it tried - honestly can't believe someone has said that. He's got very little control (and the speed at which he moves Is no doubt part of the problem - see Treloar for years), overkicks significantly the majority of the time. He's in some respects the polar opposite of Spargo - he's got speed, agility, bounce and power, but far less skill and guile. Charlie lacks in explosiveness and speed and tricks, but his kicking and weighting of the ball IS A1. (The combination of the two is basically Kozzie). Chandler is another who has a higher natural skill level and is a touch cleaner particularly on the deck, but doesn't quite have Toby's explosiveness. 

Absolutely not writing him off - he has improved significantly with the benefit of a couple of pre-seasons and his strong attributes are indeed high level. Natural skill/feel for kicking is hard to mask though and may put a ceiling on his potential. More than happy for him to prove me wrong - he wouldn't be the first player to improve his skill level (Jobe Watson, Nathan Jones, Tom McDonald all good examples)

Seems many aren't capable of nuance - he's got tricks, and deficiencies. If he didn't he'd already be in the side....

 

 

[Cranky Franky 1,486]

Watched the whole Casey game & both Toby & Chandler impressed.  Toby was a bit quieter in 2nd half.

If they keep that form up both will be in the firsts before too long.

 

[RalphiusMaximus 5,993]

He played a really good game on the weekend.  He used to be a bit flashy, dropping out for long periods.  He seems to have moved past that, at least based on that game.  He showed real presence and leadership in the middle and kept at it all game. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by RalphiusMaximus

[whatwhat say what 18,945]

could do worse than model his game on shai bolton - lightly framed, quick, but strong, and hard at the contest 

[DeeSpencer 23,134]

2 hours ago, fr_ap said:

For those jumping on me for knocking him, yes I did watch him on the weekend. I've watched him since he joined the list, at training, in intraclubs and generally in every game he's played. 

I agree he was fantastic on the weekend and his pressure and aggression alone will be enough to get him games given the MO of our forward line this year....Spargo wouldn't want to have a few quiet weeks in a row. For me he was BOG ahead of Weid.

I maintain though, and this is evident if you watch the weekends game without bias, that his disposal is his significant weakness. Short kicking could not be further from A1 if it tried - honestly can't believe someone has said that. He's got very little control (and the speed at which he moves Is no doubt part of the problem - see Treloar for years), overkicks significantly the majority of the time. He's in some respects the polar opposite of Spargo - he's got speed, agility, bounce and power, but far less skill and guile. Charlie lacks in explosiveness and speed and tricks, but his kicking and weighting of the ball IS A1. (The combination of the two is basically Kozzie). Chandler is another who has a higher natural skill level and is a touch cleaner particularly on the deck, but doesn't quite have Toby's explosiveness. 

Absolutely not writing him off - he has improved significantly with the benefit of a couple of pre-seasons and his strong attributes are indeed high level. Natural skill/feel for kicking is hard to mask though and may put a ceiling on his potential. More than happy for him to prove me wrong - he wouldn't be the first player to improve his skill level (Jobe Watson, Nathan Jones, Tom McDonald all good examples)

Seems many aren't capable of nuance - he's got tricks, and deficiencies. If he didn't he'd already be in the side....

 

Just rewatched the first half to confirm it and you're spot on. 

Bedford has excellent speed and clearly his endurance is great too, so that combination alone is a fair bit to work with. But I watched a number of his junior games and his game was really forward pressure and some really excellent burst from stoppages - he was often used in the centre square. Otherwise he just didn't find much of the ball.

Having watched the first half I was impressed by the way he found a lot of the ball but the best parts of his game remained forward pressure and the great burst from stoppages which is how he kicked 2 nice goals. A number of his other kicks went nowhere near the target apart from a nice centering ball.

As you said Chandler doesn't have the pace but his skill and ability to weave through traffic is far more advanced than Bedford's. He was finding more of the ball in the corridor and getting to the drop.

I would've thought if Spargo goes out of the side then Chandler is the best replacement. If Bedford were to come it could be more to cover part of what Kozzie and ANB do. I'd really only have confidence in his pressure and work rate and then hope he's given some chances to get on the burst at stoppages.

[Redleg 37,599]

13 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

One match does not a swallow make but...seemingly substantial improvement in many areas on 2019 Mr Leg.

Agility, evasiveness & quick off the mark.  Much stronger through the core, able to break the odd tackle.  Closing down speed quite good.  Tackling quite good also.  Able to hit loose players on the 45 and on the lead with ease and accuracy.

Short kicking is A1.  Can't say i took enough notice of how he did going longer.

Goal sense and snaps appear to be improving also.

Of course this is all at VFL level.  Will he cut the mustard taking the step up?

Probably won't set the world on fire in his first dozen matches or so but not many do.  However he's definitely looking likely and worth having a look at as the year progresses if a window opens.

Lots of upside and could end up being a regular small forward, tearing it up in the seniors at some stage.  Not saying he'll be a Kozzie.  But he could end up being a very handy addition inside 50, possibly even more than that.

Lots of class on show on Sunday / cheeky goal sneak potential also!

Did you notice a new found aggression and a bit of nastiness as well? 

[Redleg 37,599]

As I said earlier in the thread I was really impressed with Deakyn Smith. He is very balanced and composed and sure with his ball handling. I think we have found another player.

[Slartibartfast 15,774]

So many players, so few spots........

[Redleg 37,599]

11 minutes ago, Baghdad Bob said:

So many players, so few spots........

One of the signs of a good club.

The good thing is we can now bring in more players who are not terrible.

Incidentally I thought Joel Smith was playing really well until injured. He can’t take a trick.

[640MD 2,795]

26 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Did you notice a new found aggression and a bit of nastiness as well? 

Yes I did, maybe it was confidence in his ability or his fitness. Not sure but it was there and not over the top but he wanted the win.

[Demon Dynasty 15,447]

47 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Did you notice a new found aggression and a bit of nastiness as well? 

Yes i did Red for sure.  Certainly wasn't the same somewhat timid player staying on the outside looking for scraps i have seen previously.

Occassionaly had to look twice!

[Redleg 37,599]

Wow, did I mozz him? 

First quarter against Tiges he missed a set shot from about 12 metres out, straight in front and then kicked into the man on the mark and nearly conceded a goal.

Didn't see him touch it other than that, though i missed the first few minutes of the quarter.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,183]

40 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Wow, did I mozz him? 

First quarter against Tiges he missed a set shot from about 12 metres out, straight in front and then kicked into the man on the mark and nearly conceded a goal.

Didn't see him touch it other than that, though i missed the first few minutes of the quarter.

Yep, has made some poor execution errors and not been as involved as last week. 

[Redleg 37,599]

29 minutes ago, big_red_fire_engine said:

Yep, has made some poor execution errors and not been as involved as last week. 

Actually very poor so far.

[Pickett2Jackson 3,904]

Thats disappointing, loved his work last week. He will bounce back!