Our five most improved for 2023

1 Trent Rivers: A massive pre-season saw him look stronger and more confident after a dismal 2022. He really looks the part now intercept marking and his thumping kicks have meant that the coach now occasionally deploys him on the ball in the hope he can kick over the lines. We may have lost to Freo again, but he did overcome his Michael Frederick demons winning or squaring most contests with him this time around. To me, he’s one of the few players who can be deployed to help solve our forward problems, being quick enough to apply tackles and capable and tall enough in the air to provide a third-man up contest when needed. But under Mr “conservative” Goody that won’t happen this year.

2 Tom Sparrow: With Olly out, we’ve had a really good look at whether he’s up to the midfield level required in the AFL now and there’s no doubt he is. He’s a battering ram and he tags as well as almost anyone in our side – from Ben Cunnington to Max Holmes – he’s a real nuisance for opponents. His games against the Blues and Pies showed he can also provide run and drive from clearances – I reckon it’s just a matter of time now before he has a really breakout game by the numbers – ie: 30-plus disposals etc. 

3 Jake Bowey: It’s hard to believe this guy spent a week in the VFL as a result of backing into Jake Lever’s knee against Carlton. Like Rivers, he’s shrugged off the flag lethargy and shown he’s even more committed and clean with his hands. His size means he’s going to be beaten occasionally in the air, but once the ball hits the dirt, it’s advantage Bowey – he’s reminiscent of Richmond’s Liam Baker with his quick vision. I also reckon he deserves a shot at Nibbler’s high half-forward/midfield conduit role because he’s a better kick than ANB, but as with Rivers, don’t worry, it won’t happen under our ‘devoid of risk’ coaches.

4 Judd McVee: Chris from Camberwell was a big wrap for this bloke on SEN even if he couldn’t figure out how to pronounce his name after his game against Carlton and he’s not alone. He was handy at best in the VFL last season and most of us were shocked when he got a gig pre-season against Richmond. But a super game on Bolton that day stamped his round 1 papers and since then he’s shown he’s AFL level. Given that Goody gave away Jayden Hunt, his extra pace is crucial to our defensive line-up and he’s also an elite, quick kick. He’s also why we can now send Bowey or Rivers forward if we want to.

5 Jacob van Rooyen: The Roo’s received a lot of publicity which is understandable given his role up front. As with any kid, he’s a bit up and down but as we saw with his last quarter cameo against Richmond he keeps buttering up for a contest and he can be a matchwinner. His game against the Blues showed he had enough vision in traffic to play a little higher and his goal that day from 50m out on the members flank confirmed to me, and others, that he can kick the ball almost as far as Neiter when required. 

Not sure I'd have Sparrow up there.

Is his form any different to last year?? Yet to see anything from him that suggests he's taken the next step.

Rivers and McVee are the standouts. Viney is also having a great year 

Same on Sparrow, need to see more.

Probably the disappointment of the year, bar the first couple of weeks , has been Kozzy. We all expected him to have a major role this season and it hasn't come to fruition.

I still trust and expect him to become a key player for us, but Goodwin needs to rediscover his confidence and perhaps use him better on the ground.

Luke Jackson!

A good list but another question is can you see any of these players going into the top 5 during their careers.

Perhaps JVR but the rest have a ceiling. Rivers has upside but I'm not sure how much.

Watched a half of the Freo game against Essendon and yes......Jacko is very good

2 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

A good list but another question is can you see any of these players going into the top 5 during their careers.

Perhaps JVR but the rest have a ceiling. Rivers has upside but I'm not sure how much.

Watched a half of the Freo game against Essendon and yes......Jacko is very good

He's been good when there is no hard competition on the other side. I wonder how the game would've been had Draper played?; Essendon's defensive line is also not elite.

Not saying he won't be good, but like Freo, his performances are a bit up and down.

Jackson has been massive for Freo the last couple of months, wouldve be a huge asset in our team this year. The thing that’s surprised me the most is his forward craft, he’s kicking goals and taking big marks lately, hopefully this is not an inditement on our forward system/development and just a young player getting better… 

Can someone please find out/tell me what has happened to the Kozzy midfield experiment. It’s all we heard about over the summer and he has not attended a centre bounce in months. Does he have a niggle? He needs to get his hands on the ball to get his belief and confidence back, why can’t he go through there just 2-3 times a quarter? Hasn’t been tried enough to be proven unworthy of. 

Despite his drop in form over the last month, Chandler has been a huge standout so far this season.

 

 

If I'm being honest Rivers has probably been our only player who's taken a big step since last season.

Sparrow up there with Zeus in myth status 

1 - McVee

2 - Rivers

3 - JVR

4 - Viney

5 - Hunter (based on his last yr at the Dogs)

Kozzy, Angus, Gawn, Lever, May, Brown, Tmac ,Langdon, Spargo and even Petty have all regressed to differing extents since the premiership. We have little hope of a repeat flag. No hunger to improve and a few look very comfortable with their long term contracts. Add to that our best player out for a huge chunk of the season. I reckon GWS will roll us this week.

Ignoring 2023 debutants, I'd argue that our most improved players so far this year have been Rivers, Chandler and Salem (on the limited football he's been able to play this year).

McVee and JVR are obviously "improved" players but had nothing to compare to previously.

I'd also argue Petracca and Viney have improved this year. Petracca has taken his defensive work to another level, particularly with Oliver out. Viney's getting better with ball in hand.

I think Sparrow is a more consistent player now and is getting scapegoated unnecessarily, but I also believe he is capable of more and can lift.

1 hour ago, Lewis said:

Can someone please find out/tell me what has happened to the Kozzy midfield experiment. It’s all we heard about over the summer and he has not attended a centre bounce in months. Does he have a niggle? He needs to get his hands on the ball to get his belief and confidence back, why can’t he go through there just 2-3 times a quarter? Hasn’t been tried enough to be proven unworthy of. 

Think they gave up on it after a block experiment of approx 4 to 5 games Lewis.

He rarely if ever got to the drop at CB. 

Got on the end of a couple of receives and cleared or in the chain a few times but not much else happened.

We are now apparently stuck with a player who was a small zippy forward and was light enough on his feet to pull off the amazing who is now (possibly) a few kegs over his weight of the last year or two.

Which was fine if the mid field experiement worked.  But not so great in terms of maxing out his original talent as a zippy, creative, crafty small forward that is able to shake loose his opponents on a regular basis and get to work quite a bit / damage around goals.

He still does the latter on occasions but the consistency through an entire game now seems a little more muted vs prior years.

Edited June 27, 20231 yr by Demon Dynasty

and now to start the 15 players that have gone backwards thread  😂

1 hour ago, leucopogon said:

Kozzy, Angus, Gawn, Lever, May, Brown, Tmac ,Langdon, Spargo and even Petty have all regressed to differing extents since the premiership. We have little hope of a repeat flag. No hunger to improve and a few look very comfortable with their long term contracts. Add to that our best player out for a huge chunk of the season. I reckon GWS will roll us this week.

That’s the spirit!

1 hour ago, Demon Jack said:

Despite his drop in form over the last month, Chandler has been a huge standout so far this season.

 

 

True but it's been a significant drop since sadly.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Not sure I'd have Sparrow up there.

Is his form any different to last year?? Yet to see anything from him that suggests he's taken the next step.

Agree Sparrow always looks like he's going to go to another level bit just doesn't seem too.  

12 minutes ago, DubDee said:

and now to start the 15 players that have gone backwards thread  😂

I already did. Sorry, serial pessimist with MFCSS here.

Chandler has been fine, just needs to nail his shots at goal 

20 minutes ago, leucopogon said:

I already did. Sorry, serial pessimist with MFCSS here.

C'mon mate, I sat on Barassi's knee and bought a pair of Ron Barassi plastic boots out at Chadstone in the early 60's. Have no recollection of he '64 flag and have lived through decades of darkness with Demons. The '21 flag was a magnificent occurrence. We get to experience a Redlegs flag in our lifetime - the players who facilitated our euphoria are now eternal legends. They are Icons such as Trac, Clarry, Max, Kozzie and Fritta and are now etched into our  lore.  Chin up mate - we've got it made.

Edited June 27, 20231 yr by Diamond Tim
grammar

hard to go past mcvee as the most improved player, with jvr not far behind him

to break into that back 7 as a defensive mid with clean skills has been huge for the former, while the latter has been playing as the #1 key forward for the last six weeks

they're both super, and i can definitely see both as top 5 in the b&f in years to come, as they do things that coaches really value - good decisions, team-first, and execute at a high level

rivers is the same tbh; bowey's form i thought fluctuated from the sublime to the ridiculous prior to his head knock, but i think he's a ripper too

sparrow i don't rate overly highly - plug and play midfielder, but can't ever see him in the top 5 of a b&f but i still think he could end up as a 200+ afl game player

would have chandler ahead of him in any 'top 5 most improved 2023...so far' list but his form has cratered, coinciding with our scoring struggles - if he could kick straight we'd be a lot cheerier over the last 5 or so weeks

46 minutes ago, DubDee said:

and now to start the 15 players that have gone backwards thread  😂

Too many on here that couldn't handle reading something like this