With the way we kick and handball at the moment I'm surprised more of our players don't get injured. I don't want any of our Lads to get Petraccarised and hope they stay healthy with whatever decision they make. Well until Finals because then i expect them to sacrifice an arm or a leg to win a contest.

6 hours ago, Oxdee said:

This fan base would rather see trac going back against the flight, get poleaxed and spend the remainder of the year on the side line? No need for moronic decisions.

I for one am glad that trac is playing next week instead of nursing an another broken rib. The season still has 18 weeks

I don’t want to see that at all, in fact I applaud it. As you said, the smart players are acutely aware of what’s going on around them and can make decisions that set them up for the next contest and the one after that. Some players need body contact to remain engaged (Viney) others just need to get the ball (Langford)

What I do have issue with is Langford being called out for taking ‘short steps’ when our next captain (allegedly) is not even hiding the fact he is short-arming contests.

Our current captain often does it as well - again, no issue if it gets him to the next contest or keeps him playing the next week

Edited April 25Apr 25 by BW511

18 hours ago, Adam The God said:

Yep, that was the footsteps one. It was from a cute but good kick from Kozzy. He needed to go and didn't. I was disappointed. Needs to get that out of his game.

Easy to say that from the comfort of the stand though.

My initial thoughts were her was just leaving it for his team mate in a better position, and the commentators made into something it’s not

6 hours ago, 4_Kent_Watts said:

With the way we kick and handball at the moment I'm surprised more of our players don't get injured. I don't want any of our Lads to get Petraccarised

Strange comment.

Ok folks I think we have all made our points. Can we get back on topic about how good the lad is.

Agree with others that his pace seems fine to me. For me he’s a great wing man to have on the opposite wing to Langers. A great target when we are coming out of defence with his height and contested marking and great player to link up with forwards with his kicking ability. Also seems to have great positional awareness and ability to find the ball.

Great start by Langford after a strange start. Sub then dropped. Strange by Goody.

Love his composure. Love his tackling. Love his sense of a goal. Dont make him too selfless. We need midfielders that eye the goals and kick them.

Just one tip for the youngster. Kick through the footy. A few chip style kicks that needed distance to clear the zone and push into forward half.

Edited April 26Apr 26 by spirit of norm smith
Yme

Gunna be a champ. 20+ disposals. Great tackle on Toby.

Like Windsor and Lindsay, has that basic fundamental skill, can get the ball.

18 hours ago, Roost it far said:

That's the thing though, he doesn't, from time to time every player in the league, bar none, takes a short step to avoid contact. It's instinct. Harvey will likely do it from time to time but he'll still end up one of our sides best players. Anyway it's a pointless argument, you won't admit you're wrong.

Peterson was widely pilloried in what may have been his first game for us for ducking an “accidental” spoiling fist - went on to be a very handy player who I don’t remember ever being questions again. He had his nose flattened I think v Brisbane when he didn’t shirk.

On 25/04/2025 at 13:24, deanox said:

For all the discussion around lack of pace, according to the AFL app he had the top speed of any Melbourne player last night.

I don't know how good those stats are, but my observations have been that it's his first few steps that are slow but once he has some space his coasting speed is ok. He also seems to have a knack for running angles in those first few steps that gives him more space.

Very accurate as they use a GPS tracker.

But I reckon average speed and repeat sprints are better measures of a player's pace (and fitness to a lesserdegree).

Quickest can be misleading if, for example if the player only does one such sprint for the game.

But if he can do it once it's more about development and building an AFL tank

After 2 more preseasons I don’t reckon people will be talking about his pace - he's going to be a beast.

Edited April 26Apr 26 by binman

he lacks that 'burst speed' but his 'cruising speed' seems fairly strong

On 21/04/2025 at 22:22, Earl Hood said:

I went to a Tom Hafey talk years ago and I think I remember him saying Sheedy had been knocked back after training with Melbourne, Norm Smith thought he was too small and too slow as a centre man. He then came to Richmond and he fitted Hafey’s model perfectly. Hafey was big on fitness and aggression, he spoke highly of how Sheedy set such high training standards. Not often Norm got things wrong like that.

Norm could probably tell he was a [censored] of a bloke 😂😂😂

19 hours ago, JJJ said:

Meh. He is fine. Better than that, he is an elite talent playing AFL for us.

I am reliably informed that the club is on him about other tendencies which need tweaking. Courage or hardness isn’t one of them.

He is extremely confident in his abilities, sometimes to a fault. Tidying up his disposal in close is another area they want him to take a bit more time.

Consider his youth and inexperience and how effective he is in a range of roles, just be happy that he plays for us.

Wait until he leans up, gets fitter and gets another 20 games under his belt and he’ll be a great player.

If only Kolt and Jefferson had shown as much in their 1st season at the club.

He’s looked fantastic so far. My only query/flag/concern is that he is very very left-sided

Left footers have a natural competitive advantage. Call it the Tubby Taylor effect.

It helps even more when he is laser precise.

On 20/04/2025 at 18:18, Adam The God said:

We backed out of Houston. We didn't want to pay a top 5 pick for him when we realised it was going to land top 5.

Come on - that's nonsense. Houston backed out on us because we were is disarray.

4 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

Come on - that's nonsense. Houston backed out on us because we were is disarray.

This is fact

5 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

Come on - that's nonsense. Houston backed out on us because we were is disarray.

oh well it worked out better for us so who cares really, he will continue to snipe ppl and miss lots of games

On 26/04/2025 at 18:46, deegirl said:

He’s looked fantastic so far. My only query/flag/concern is that he is very very left-sided

Wasn't Brad Green very left sided too? Did OK.

On 26/04/2025 at 17:13, whatwhat say what said:

he lacks that 'burst speed' but his 'cruising speed' seems fairly strong

Thankfully, that can be improved with high impact gym work and specific training as @binman touched on earlier in this thread. A sprinters top speed (e.g., Usain Bolt) is all down to them striking it rich in the genetic lottery. While their acceleration is also largely influenced by genetics it can be improved with specific training to help increase explosiveness and improve mechanics during acceleration.

Edited April 27Apr 27 by Stu
One word changed

I genuinely find it quite bewildering that some are poised to put this lad in the nqwwthw* basket

(*not quite what we thought he was )

Gobsmacked really.. he's all but half a dozen games into a career. He's not the jack rabbit some thought he might be. Bin him....

He's got good footy nouse and by God we need more of that. To my minds eye he's just working himself into the AFL rhythm and to be fair doing it in our team is a big ask.

He will be a gem. More games, another preseason. That's not to say he won't put in some ripper games in 25... but ppl.... a little patience perhaps.

Those people could be very wrong too, BB...

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

I genuinely find it quite bewildering that some are poised to put this lad in the nqwwthw* basket

(*not quite what we thought he was )

Gobsmacked really.. he's all but half a dozen games into a career. He's not the jack rabbit some thought he might be. Bin him....

He's got good footy nouse and by God we need more of that. To my minds eye he's just working himself into the AFL rhythm and to be fair doing it in our team is a big ask.

He will be a gem. More games, another preseason. That's not to say he won't put in some ripper games in 25... but ppl.... a little patience perhaps.

Best first year player at the club since Oliver. I must be watching a different game to most.

5 minutes ago, VoiceOfReason said:

Best first year player at the club since Oliver. I must be watching a different game to most.

100% agree. He looks passionate too, celebrates hard after kicking goals. He's got a knack for finding the scoreboard regularly as a midfielder.

I believe he'll become our next Trac, Clarry, Gus level midfield star. Super excited to get him to the club!

11 minutes ago, VoiceOfReason said:

Best first year player at the club since Oliver. I must be watching a different game to most.

I am not sure he is the best first year player in the team this season.

2 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

I am not sure he is the best first year player in the team this season.

Fair comment.. We're lucky to have both ;)

Has anybody actually said they don’t rate him?