Weid Hits the Ground Running

[Demonland 65,582]

 

[Wrecker46 2,672]

That does not look like the kid I saw and spoke to 2 years ago. He looks ripped now.

It's hard to see where he fits in but the club has shown faith in him and he has backed himself in.

Barring injury I can only see him coming in for T Mac and after just watching the Bang Bang Bang blitz again it's T Mac who punches the ball to Petracca and T Mac who bench presses the bloke so Sparrows goal goes through. He played a pivotal role.

[adonski 9,163]

That's a mean looking haircut. A 40+ goal year on the horizon judging by that.

[Cards13 9,117]

Come on Weids!! If he can take two steps up and clunk those marks in the contested he gets too along with kicking a higher % of shots on goal he can be a real asset and look to put pressure on Tmac and BBB for one of the tall fwd roles. 

[drdrake 3,038]

Competition for spots is what makes you a strong list.  You will have injuries and players out of form, he needs to make the most of any opportunities he does get.

[Sir Why You Little 34,600]

There is only one way that Weid plays in the Senior Side. 
He has to smash the door down and play better than TMac or Benny

Either way The MFC benefits

Good Luck Sam…

[faultydet 7,593]

Without bothering to open the story up to read it, I'm betting it will be just like pre-season videos of Ben Simmons making 3 pointers and jump shots.

[BDA 20,189]

Make or break season. Really hope he has an injury free preseason to give him the best chance of success

[Demons1858 1,662]

Has really struggled in the final year of his contract twice now and has previously said he didn't handle the first time well. Hopefully the resigning is out of the way now and he can show what he is capable of

[BAMF 3,787]

16 hours ago, BDA said:

Make or break season. Really hope he has an injury free preseason to give him the best chance of success

I feel like this has been said before. He is contracted for two years so I technically we could be saying the same thing this time next year. I get what you are saying though... if he can't put it together this year then I think even the more ardent supporters will lose patience. 

What would be the bare minimum pass mark for Weid this year? I think he needs to show that he can consistently kick multiple goals.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,463]

I don't know if it's just the military grade haircut, but to my eyes he looks to have significantly bulked up, particularly in the upper body. Am I imagining that?

[Dante 2,562]

Personally I hope he makes it, he's got the talent all he needs is confidence. Time after time he gets his hands to the ball but just can't hold them, if he clunks a few it may all come together. 

 

[Dante 2,562]

35 minutes ago, BAMF said:

I feel like this has been said before. He is contracted for two years so I technically we could be saying the same thing this time next year. I get what you are saying though... if he can't put it together this year then I think even the more ardent supporters will lose patience. 

What would be the bare minimum pass mark for Weid this year? I think he needs to show that he can consistently kick multiple goals.

He has to really dominate at Casey, not just 3 goals a week he needs to kick 4 or 5 and on good days kick 6 or 7, he has to show he's too good for Casey. 

He has to displace someone and that will be hard, but if he kicks goals consistently, they won't be able to ignore him. Tmac will have to be more consistent if that's the case.

He's got a tank, I recall one game he played in when Jesse was still with us and he was second on the ground to Jesse in ground covered at half time.

[dl4e 5,593]

There is something very familiar about this thread.

[Wrecker46 2,672]

21 minutes ago, Dante said:

Personally I hope he makes it, he's got the talent all he needs is confidence. Time after time he gets his hands to the ball but just can't hold them, if he clunks a few it may all come together. 

 

I think that's a bit of a myth. I reckon time after time he doesn't get his hands to the ball at least at AFL level and that's the problem.

In that picture he looks alot bigger than in previous years. Hopefully he can start making a contest and clunk a few.

[Wrecker46 2,672]

4 minutes ago, dl4e said:

There is something very familiar about this thread.

Not for me. I've never seen a thread where someone is training the house down trying to break into a premiership side.

[Pates 9,537]

He’s pretty much the only player you would say is “under the pump” to perform, he will also need a little bit of luck to fall his way but this has to be his time to wrestle the second forward position away from TMac (can’t see Brown losing his spot). 

Him, Hunt, Tomlinson, and Melksham should be coming with the most motivation I would have thought. 

[adonski 9,163]

Interesting to note in the games Weid played this year, none were with Brown

I would suspect he'd have an easier time with Brown as clear #1 target in the same side, rather than T Mac

 

[george_on_the_outer 6,992]

6 years in the system, and he is still fringe. Unless he alters his marking techniques, he won’t go further. He is trying to replace 2 forwards who take pack marks and win one on ones. And most importantly he has to develop 2nd efforts. Can that be done? I’m not hopeful, as that is an attitude thing, not confidence.

[Diamond_Jim 11,834]

6 minutes ago, george_on_the_outer said:

6 years in the system, and he is still fringe. Unless he alters his marking techniques, he won’t go further. He is trying to replace 2 forwards who take pack marks and win one on ones. And most importantly he has to develop 2nd efforts. Can that be done? I’m not hopeful, as that is an attitude thing, not confidence.

Very true

Also I notice that he is rarely able to position himself so he is free to get the break on an opponent and take the relatively easy mark. Both Brown and Fritsch have this skill.
If he is to replace Tom Mac his ball skills will need to improve.Tom Mac is very useful as a handball receive and give. Have rarely noticed Weid demonstrating these skills.

Perhaps he is too one dimensional for the modern game

[DubDee 20,774]

T Mac and Brown are both getting on and injuries should be expected. You need three quality key fwds imo. 

most key fwds take several years to grow into Their bodies and the role. I know some adjust quicker. By 23 Brown had kicked 50 goals in his career

I reckon he will come good and play an important role for us

[DeeSpencer 23,189]

My question is: What's changed?

Physical gifts:
He had an interrupted preseason last year and is clearly motivated this year. So there's a chance he's stronger and fitter. The added physical tools then lead to better performance that then builds confidence and away he goes.

Role in the side:
He's been asked to play as the deeper target and crash packs - the Ben Brown role, but he doesn't have Brown's reach and often finds himself out of position and buffeted by strong key defenders. With more fitness he's a chance to play as a lead up CHF - the Tom McDonald role. But Tom is a freak really, there's very few who can run like he does and no matter how fit Sam gets he might not be able to do that. His best footy has also come as the back up ruck allowing him to get involved around the ground and get touches - the Luke Jackson role.

There's a chance his game starts to come together and he takes his opportunity as a key forward, but overall I think if he's only made solid but unspectacular gains over summer I'm not sure it will be enough.

So I favour the idea of a new role entirely and move him to the backline for summer and half a year. Worse case scenario it doesn't work at all and he goes back to being handy key forward depth. Best case scenario is he either excels down back or it rounds out his game by getting him more involved with the ball on the deck, more comfortable with marking situations and more confident to impact games. Then he goes back to the forward line with more tricks in his bag and confidence.

[DeeSpencer 23,189]

37 minutes ago, adonski said:

Interesting to note in the games Weid played this year, none were with Brown

I would suspect he'd have an easier time with Brown as clear #1 target in the same side, rather than T Mac

 

With Fritsch and a resting ruck - especially given that will increasingly be Gawn as he ages rather than Jackson - I just can't see the 2 big boys working in the same side unless Weid makes huge athletic improvements. Sometimes Tommy gets on the tram tracks and can't turn but he still has the tank to run up the ground and double back like a half forward flanker.

For Brown and Weid to work together I think we'd have to move Fritsch around a lot more rather than his goal kicking role and we'd probably be looking at Gawn dropping his forward 50 minutes right down too. 

It would probably even need Ben Brown to get his tank and agility right up to take his share of the hit up CHF minutes too. Which is entirely possible, Brown can certainly do that. But then you're putting miles on to that dodgy knee of his and dragging him from the goals too.

[Bombay Airconditioning 5,941]

1 hour ago, adonski said:

Interesting to note in the games Weid played this year, none were with Brown

I would suspect he'd have an easier time with Brown as clear #1 target in the same side, rather than T Mac

 

Rd 9 v Carlton, TMac kicked 3, Weid and Brown both goalless, it didn’t work and Brown was dropped (unfairly imo but was it because of fitness??). Weid went on to play a few games before making way for Brown, the rest is history….

Edited December 30, 2021 by Bombay Airconditioning

[Deemania since 56 6,170]

19 hours ago, BDA said:

'... to give him the best chance of success ...' yet again.