Welcome to Demonland Will Verrall

[spirit of norm smith 16,587]

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

 

Some very impressive ruckwork here.  Could be a very good rookie and time to develop without risking him too early. 

[DeeSpencer 26,080]

40 minutes ago, Turner said:

ah yes professional institution of 163 years cannot concurrently develop 4 players amongst a squad of 40, doh! why didnt the recruiters think of this first!! what a waste!

Given it’s unlikely they’ll be physically ready to hold down heavy ruck minutes it’s going to be a real struggle to get both Kyah and Verrall in the same VFL side. Especially with a first and second year key forward up forward. Plus a first year key defender and a medium tall who’s come from school footy.

We haven’t messed around with too many project players in the Goodwin era, and especially since the cut down on footy cap, which hasn’t jumped back to pre covid levels. That’s allowed us to keep big numbers on the training track and train to a high standard with a lot of competitive drills.

I’m happy we’re seemingly keen to use Casey as a development side and that we’ve got some quality talls on the list. But 2 baby project rucks at the same time seems hard work, not to mention we haven’t replaced Daw as the 3rd string ready to go ruck either. 

[DeeZone 10,100]

Welcome to MFC Will Verral future forward/ruckman, some impressive highlights and MVP’s. Good height and weight for an 18 yo, 200cm, 95kg. Looking forward to watching you develop with Kyah, under the tutelage of Max and Brodie. Personally I can now relax knowing that we have now nailed the areas of greatest weakness on the list. Thanks JT and TL what a remarkable Draft and Trade period your team have pulled off.

[John Demonic 5,850]

[Master Deebater 492]

24 minutes ago, DeeZone said:

Welcome to MFC Will Verral future forward/ruckman, some impressive highlights and MVP’s. Good height and weight for an 18 yo, 200cm, 95kg. Looking forward to watching you develop with Kyah, under the tutelage of Max and Brodie. Personally I can now relax knowing that we have now nailed the areas of greatest weakness on the list. Thanks JT and TL what a remarkable Draft and Trade period your team have pulled off.

Great summation.

Really looking forward to these kids develop at Casey. Great work by JT and his team

[manny100 1,595]

Well done Will to be selected. Get's an opportunity to learn from the best.

[Mincho Mania 530]

4 hours ago, fr_ap said:

I count 6 different hairstyles across that gamut of videos 

This alone is very impressive

And his nickname is Horse, maybe he likes apples😐

[Nasher 33,617]

4 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Given it’s unlikely they’ll be physically ready to hold down heavy ruck minutes it’s going to be a real struggle to get both Kyah and Verrall in the same VFL side. Especially with a first and second year key forward up forward. Plus a first year key defender and a medium tall who’s come from school footy.

We haven’t messed around with too many project players in the Goodwin era, and especially since the cut down on footy cap, which hasn’t jumped back to pre covid levels. That’s allowed us to keep big numbers on the training track and train to a high standard with a lot of competitive drills.

I’m happy we’re seemingly keen to use Casey as a development side and that we’ve got some quality talls on the list. But 2 baby project rucks at the same time seems hard work, not to mention we haven’t replaced Daw as the 3rd string ready to go ruck either. 

Really for Casey rucks, there are two strategies that are both valid, depending on circumstance:

1- a "ready to go" senior ruck and a developing ruck. Pros: player immediately available to backfill if a senior ruck gets injured. Cons: ready to go (and probably AFL NQR) ruck hogs all the game time at Casey, seriously impedes the development of the developing ruck
2- two development rucks, with the better of the two getting the lion's share of gametime at Casey. Pros: bets are hedged if one of them turns out to be no good. Cons: both could turn out to be no good.

With Gawn and Grundy both in the side, strategy 2- makes the most sense to me. It's a position of luxury, really. We don't really hurt too badly if one of the seniors gets injured; we just make do with TMac or Schache playing second ruck. If they both go down obviously we're stuffed, but I don't think having a Daw like player really mitigates that anyway.

When Jackson was on the list, developing rucks weren't a priority. Jackson was the development ruck, it just so happened that he was good enough that he could do it in the senior side. Now the only rucks on our list are on the wrong side of 30 (edit: whoops, I've added years to Grundy. Oh well, point remains the same). I think finding the next one is a pretty urgent priority and it's risky business putting all our eggs in one basket.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Nasher

[ThreeOneSix 954]

He’s undersized at 199cm. But if he does grow a couple of inches he’ll be some prospect. Ground game is good. Ruck IQ appears well above average (on those clips). For a ruck you’d have to say he is a very good kick. Good type to compete head to head with the new young basketball kid.

[Deemania since 56 6,716]

4 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

About the most posted videos of any of our recruits as well.

Panthers are a tough team. He has earned accolades as a ruck/back whilst wearing nappies. At that level, public sympathies are also very strong - and the coverage is considerable, predictive and accompanied by some noted 'drooling' for his future. Great player to work on - coming into a great team in the Dees where ruck strength has been historical, and now steadily elite. Golly, another 'smokey' in terms of the future/our future AFL spreadsheet. Well done, JT. Big welcome, Will.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Deemania since 56

[Deemania since 56 6,716]

4 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Given it’s unlikely they’ll be physically ready to hold down heavy ruck minutes it’s going to be a real struggle to get both Kyah and Verrall in the same VFL side. Especially with a first and second year key forward up forward. Plus a first year key defender and a medium tall who’s come from school footy.

We haven’t messed around with too many project players in the Goodwin era, and especially since the cut down on footy cap, which hasn’t jumped back to pre covid levels. That’s allowed us to keep big numbers on the training track and train to a high standard with a lot of competitive drills.

I’m happy we’re seemingly keen to use Casey as a development side and that we’ve got some quality talls on the list. But 2 baby project rucks at the same time seems hard work, not to mention we haven’t replaced Daw as the 3rd string ready to go ruck either. 

Mobile young rucks in development can be adapted to many other areas of our game, let's not forget that ... rucking is great but it ain't everything ... all-rounders who improve add something special.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,877]

53 minutes ago, Nasher said:

I don't think having a Daw like player really mitigates that anyway.

Well, unfortunately it didn't last season, because all three were down at once 😥.  I think Daw would have got a game and done a more than serviceable job if that were not the case though.

For you option 2, you forgot to add that the two development ruckman get to be mentored by and learn from the best two rucks in the game.  Gawn was an understudy to Jamar when he was the games best ruck for a few years and not to forget that Gawn also says he learnt alot from sitting in the coaches box and in the stands with players while recoving from knee reconstructions.  Gawn also somewhat developed on a parallel path with Spencer and Fitzpatrick for a while, so I think your second theory has much merit and hopefully there is another champion ruck in this next batch somewhere too!

[djr 1,597]

1 hour ago, Mincho Mania said:

And his nickname is Horse, maybe he likes apples😐

Maybe its something else.

[BigBadBustling 394]

4 hours ago, djr said:

Maybe its something else.

If he keeps growing they might start calling him Rogue Elephant?

[MadAsHell 4,215]

I like the fact that Verrall is already 95kg, meaning physically he doesn't require as much development as Farris-White. 

Having Grundy as a mentor for Verrall (both drafted out of SA) and Gawn mentor Farris-White works well. Both kids get to learn off one of the games best rucks, and neither of our senior rucks are stretched too thin.

[Ugottobekidding 1,193]

I am not going commit to any assumptions on the grounds I thought Gawn would never make it.

[Jaded No More 68,972]

Ruckman are always a risk. Rarely do they go early in the draft (Jackson and NicNat are exceptions), and you can get a good one at pick 30, or pick 103. Nobody at 18 at 200cm and 9kgs soaking wet is going to show much more than some baby giraffe like athleticism. 

You gotta keep taking punts on these guys and see how they turn out. Low risk but high reward type stuff.

We have had decades of being blessed with really phenomenal ruckman from Stynes all the way to Gawn and now Grundy. That doesn't mean we have to have another one in the ranks, as many teams have won flags with ordinary ruckman. It's just about how you play it. 

[chook fowler 19,528]

9 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Ruckman are always a risk. Rarely do they go early in the draft (Jackson and NicNat are exceptions), and you can get a good one at pick 30, or pick 103. Nobody at 18 at 200cm and 9kgs soaking wet is going to show much more than some baby giraffe like athleticism. 

You gotta keep taking punts on these guys and see how they turn out. Low risk but high reward type stuff.

We have had decades of being blessed with really phenomenal ruckman from Stynes all the way to Gawn and now Grundy. That doesn't mean we have to have another one in the ranks, as many teams have won flags with ordinary ruckman. It's just about how you play it. 

Jamar was good as well - All Australian

[BangBnagBang 703]

13 hours ago, ThreeOneSix said:

He’s undersized at 199cm. But if he does grow a couple of inches he’ll be some prospect. Ground game is good. Ruck IQ appears well above average (on those clips). For a ruck you’d have to say he is a very good kick. Good type to compete head to head with the new young basketball kid.

what size do you need to be to be a ruck and whats his leap like and how big is his arm span?????????

What's better 208cm ruckman that cant jump or a 199cm ruckman that has elite running jump stats

Running Vertical Jump

James Van Es (GWV Rebels/North Ballarat) – 98cm

Aaron Cadman (GWV Rebels/Darley) – 93cm

Will Verrall (South Adelaide/Christies Beach) – 90cm

Josh Weddle (Oakleigh Chargers/Eltham) – 90cm

Edited December 1, 2022 by BangBnagBang

[manny100 1,595]

Highlights reel looks good.

[Little Goffy 14,639]

19 hours ago, chook fowler said:

Taken as a rookie, but I predict he will be escalated quickly.

[daisycutter 29,731]

16 hours ago, ThreeOneSix said:

He’s undersized at 199cm. But if he does grow a couple of inches he’ll be some prospect. Ground game is good. Ruck IQ appears well above average (on those clips). For a ruck you’d have to say he is a very good kick. Good type to compete head to head with the new young basketball kid.

one of the summaries has him as 200cm, so it seems he is still growing

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,877]

15 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Well, unfortunately it didn't last season, because all three were down at once 😥.  I think Daw would have got a game and done a more than serviceable job if that were not the case though.

For you option 2, you forgot to add that the two development ruckman get to be mentored by and learn from the best two rucks in the game.  Gawn was an understudy to Jamar when he was the games best ruck for a few years and not to forget that Gawn also says he learnt alot from sitting in the coaches box and in the stands with players while recoving from knee reconstructions.  Gawn also somewhat developed on a parallel path with Spencer and Fitzpatrick for a while, so I think your second theory has much merit and hopefully there is another champion ruck in this next batch somewhere too!

Also forgot that Steff Martin was another future of the developmental ruck options the early Gawn era.  Obviously not every hits a winner, but I think the MFC has a great recient history of developing champion ruckman.  Having Greg Stafford around a ruck coach is probably another very good ingredient to have.

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,939]

3 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

as many teams have won flags with ordinary ruckman. It's just about how you play it. 

Spot on.

The most recent premier has had it's ruck department questioned for at least the last 5 years.

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,877]

2 hours ago, BangBnagBang said:

what size do you need to be to be a ruck and whats his leap like and how big is his arm span?????????

What's better 208cm ruckman that cant jump or a 199cm ruckman that has elite running jump stats

Running Vertical Jump

James Van Es (GWV Rebels/North Ballarat) – 98cm

Aaron Cadman (GWV Rebels/Darley) – 93cm

Will Verrall (South Adelaide/Christies Beach) – 90cm

Josh Weddle (Oakleigh Chargers/Eltham) – 90cm

Tall ruckman are always a good premium to have I recon.  As they say, they don't get any shorter as the game wears on, but endurace and mobility around the ground is also a good thing in this regard, so in the end who really knows.  At the end of the day, as coaches of mine also repeatedly said, "footy is players above the sholders" so knowing how to and having the confidence to consistently play your own game to the best of your ability is what sets out guys like Max from the rest.