he's not quick but he's got good defensive workrate, good skills, and looks to have found a role in the backline

hopefully he continues to develop

It's never easy to admit to a mistake.

But as one who did not think last season that Kolt had what it takes to reach AFL standard, I put my hands up.

He seems far more at home in a defensive role and also is now looking more effective and composed in pressure situations.

There are still some rough edges, but Steven King has clearly found attributes to work on.

I’ve been very impressed and pleasantly surprised by Kolt this year,

He seems to have gone up a notch in skill and confidence and you just gotta love the energy he brings to the team.

Love him in the back half

Super clean by hand on the weekend

Just went back and had a look at his draft year wondering if we made an obvious clanger selecting him so early in the draft but there isn’t any obvious players that you look at and think ‘can’t believe we got Kolt instead of him’. There are a few absolute rippers from left field selected late (Wilson, Morris, Mannagh, Freijah, Humphries) who all have Kolt covered but Kolt increasingly looks to be one of the top couple selected in that 10-30 range.

He still has the odd fumble, but the other thing thats stood out is his evasiveness. It seems he's learnt to just take an extra step or two, either backwards or forwards, to evade a tackle long enough to get the ball away

11 hours ago, Demon Jack said:

Tholstrup is a reminder that not all players are ready made as soon as they are drafted.

Not everyone can be Clayton Oliver, Sam Walsh, or more recently, Murphy Reid and dominate matches from day one.

In year three, Kolt is starting to look like he belongs in the team and justifying that high draft selection.

Agree. Don't think it helped his cause that the club were pumping up expectations that he was one of the players likely to get games early, from the moment we drafted him. Maybe there's a lesson in that.

Every team needs a Kolt. He’s that player who effortlessly gets under the skin of the opposition. He distracts his direct opponent, he talks incessantly, he asks them random questions about random things. And if you see him laughing, he’s laughing at them not with them.

He’s one of a kind, is our Kolt.

18 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Every team needs a Kolt. He’s that player who effortlessly gets under the skin of the opposition. He distracts his direct opponent, he talks incessantly, he asks them random questions about random things. And if you see him laughing, he’s laughing at them not with them.

He’s one of a kind, is our Kolt.

Max mentioned the other week on Triple M that Kolt is a hilarious tagger. Would love to have him mic'd up for a game. Would be a great listen.

38 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Agree. Don't think it helped his cause that the club were pumping up expectations that he was one of the players likely to get games early, from the moment we drafted him. Maybe there's a lesson in that.

Really?

Alternatively, Goody deserves much credit for gifting Kolt games he didnt deserve to fast track Kolt's development and getting critical AFL experience into him, and by doing so putting the club and Kolt's interst ahead of his own.

Edited Tuesday at 22:585 days by binman

17 hours ago, layzie said:

The one thing I missed with Kolt early on was his endurance. I thought he was more your FP, HFF maybe push into middle kind of player but he's looking a lot more like a run all day guy.

Last week top 5 distance covered

15.2km - J Fletcher
14.9km - K Chandler
14.6km - E Langdon
14.6km - H Sharp
14.5km - K Tholstrup

Athletic profile stepping up.

53 minutes ago, sam6172 said:

Max mentioned the other week on Triple M that Kolt is a hilarious tagger. Would love to have him mic'd up for a game. Would be a great listen.

I asked Kalani how he’s going living at Porz’s (host) house. He said, “It’s mostly me and Luker watching Kolt do Kolt things and shaking our heads.” 😂

2 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

I asked Kalani how he’s going living at Porz’s (host) house. He said, “It’s mostly me and Luker watching Kolt do Kolt things and shaking our heads.” 😂

Kolt was living with Caleb XL and Howes - did they kick him out 😂 ?

The way that Kolt's playing reminds me of Miichael Hibberd not quick but does not panic when under pressure this season.

His disposal has improved with each game along with confidence he belongs in the team.

13 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Purely and simply, he is playing the Angus Brayshaw team role.

Now has the ability to plug holes whenever he is needed.

We have seen him as a tagger, wingman, half forward and now doing a great job down half back.

We havent had this type of player since Gus retired.

He seems to bring a similar upbeat energy to the team that Gus brought too!

27 minutes ago, Greg Schneider said:

Kolt was living with Caleb XL and Howes - did they kick him out 😂 ?

Probably 🤣 I imagine he’d be hard to live with. An example: the last time he lived at Porz’s was when Molly O’Hehir was living there too. Kolt was peed off with Molly for never picking up her dog’s poo. He nagged her to do it and she said she would but never did. So, one day when Molly was out, Kolt collected some of the dog poo and put it in the pocket of Molly’s jacket which was hanging by the front door!!! True story.

43 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

Probably 🤣 I imagine he’d be hard to live with. An example: the last time he lived at Porz’s was when Molly O’Hehir was living there too. Kolt was peed off with Molly for never picking up her dog’s poo. He nagged her to do it and she said she would but never did. So, one day when Molly was out, Kolt collected some of the dog poo and put it in the pocket of Molly’s jacket which was hanging by the front door!!! True story.

Did she learn a lesson?

14 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Purely and simply, he is playing the Angus Brayshaw team role.

Now has the ability to plug holes whenever he is needed.

We have seen him as a tagger, wingman, half forward and now doing a great job down half back.

We havent had this type of player since Gus retired.

Don't forget the yapping on the field...

1 hour ago, durango1946 said:

The way that Kolt's playing reminds me of Miichael Hibberd not quick but does not panic when under pressure this season.

His disposal has improved with each game along with confidence he belongs in the team.

Hibberd is one of the players we have dearly missed.

7 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

Did she learn a lesson?

Sadly, no

Probs not related but she moved out shortly after this. She now lives with her boyfriend, Ryley Sanders. I don’t know how Ryley feels about her dog’s droppings.

Edited Wednesday at 00:545 days by Ghostwriter

I personally liked Tholstrup's kickouts and would like to see him do it permanently. XL's kicks tend to be a little loopy and safe, and Salem's lack a bit of penetration. Kolt's kicks had velocity and he was willing to mix it up with low risk and high risk options.

He had a fantastic game on the weekend, and his development has him on track to be a dependable, versatile and valuable role player. As much as we'd like all first round picks to be superstars, the reality is that most don't turn out that way, particularly later first round picks. Therefore - I'd say we're getting good bang for buck for this investment.

3 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Agree. Don't think it helped his cause that the club were pumping up expectations that he was one of the players likely to get games early, from the moment we drafted him. Maybe there's a lesson in that.

Rod,you used to like talking to your opponents, didn't yu, with your teeth in?

Some promising signs after a bit of a slow start to his career, he now at least earns his spot every week but there is still a long way to go and I’m not sure exactly what his long term role is as he doesn’t seem to have any stand out attributes. When we drafted him the expectations were he would be that mid fwd hybrid but that seems to now be by the way side, is he ultimately the replacement for Salem.

10 hours ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

As much as we'd like all first round picks to be superstars, the reality is that most don't turn out that way, particularly later first round picks. Therefore - I'd say we're getting good bang for buck for this investment.

Agree with this. Not even sure he was quite a first rounder, but I think Tommy Sparrow is probably in a similar category.

Some weeks you get more Bang out of these guys though and they can play a superstar game or show traits you think could make them one and that's the tantalising and equally frustrating part of it.