It may be too early in his career to make firm assessments BUT at this stage, other than being an enthusiastic on field celebrator, I have seen very little to impress. Seems to not have confidence in his own ability which may be justified.

I see nothing yet, I’m leaning towards a bust.

Boooooooo.

People having a crack at Windsor, Kolt and McVee need to realise they’ve all had very interrupted preseasons, which has hampered their development. It takes a while to develop an AFL level body for most players. There are exceptions to the rule, but look at Bowey. It’s taken him 60 games to consistently be at the level, after such a good start. He looked awful at times last year - because injuries disrupted his development.

Have a crack at the senior players if you want to aim at anyone. They are producing 50% of the output they are being paid for, but leave the kids alone. It takes time, and they are often being asked to do more because the guys earning the big money can’t get the job done.

4 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

Boooooooo.

People having a crack at Windsor, Kolt and McVee need to realise they’ve all had very interrupted preseasons, which has hampered their development. It takes a while to develop an AFL level body for most players. There are exceptions to the rule, but look at Bowey. It’s taken him 60 games to consistently be at the level, after such a good start. He looked awful at times last year - because injuries disrupted his development.

Have a crack at the senior players if you want to aim at anyone. They are producing 50% of the output they are being paid for, but leave the kids alone. It takes time, and they are often being asked to do more because the guys earning the big money can’t get the job done.

That’s fair enough.

I’d say we need to temper expectations on all those players. They are not likely to be the stars we expected them to be but can still be solid performers.

It’s just not easy finding stars of the competition.

3 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

Boooooooo.

People having a crack at Windsor, Kolt and McVee need to realise they’ve all had very interrupted preseasons, which has hampered their development. It takes a while to develop an AFL level body for most players. There are exceptions to the rule, but look at Bowey. It’s taken him 60 games to consistently be at the level, after such a good start. He looked awful at times last year - because injuries disrupted his development.

Have a crack at the senior players if you want to aim at anyone. They are producing 50% of the output they are being paid for, but leave the kids alone. It takes time, and they are often being asked to do more because the guys earning the big money can’t get the job done.

Have to agree...I heard Cooney talk about this the other day. Said a young player missing a preseason has a huge effect on their season. He said older players can get away with it to an extent because they have banked multiple preseasons & a larger workload over their careers.

It actually makes Lindsay's first season quite remarkable.

1 minute ago, rjay said:

Have to agree...I heard Cooney talk about this the other day. Said a young player missing a preseason has a huge effect on their season. He said older players can get away with it to an extent because they have banked multiple preseasons & a larger workload over their careers.

It actually makes Lindsay's first season quite remarkable.

I’m reluctant to give any employee an out, because he’s young or a good bloke.

We are well past that, we require people on the list who can step up when needed.

Not 25 C graders at Casey who will cobble together ten games over five years, and then disappear , due to one reason or another..

Is Kolt another, Laurie, Sestan, Verrall, Jefferson, Woey, Brownie , let’s not wait too long to find out.

25 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

Boooooooo.

People having a crack at Windsor, Kolt and McVee need to realise they’ve all had very interrupted preseasons, which has hampered their development. It takes a while to develop an AFL level body for most players. There are exceptions to the rule, but look at Bowey. It’s taken him 60 games to consistently be at the level, after such a good start. He looked awful at times last year - because injuries disrupted his development.

Have a crack at the senior players if you want to aim at anyone. They are producing 50% of the output they are being paid for, but leave the kids alone. It takes time, and they are often being asked to do more because the guys earning the big money can’t get the job done.

Bowey's first 17 games were wins. He was outstanding in a lot of them

Bad comparison

14 minutes ago, bluey said:

I’m reluctant to give any employee an out, because he’s young or a good bloke.

We are well past that, we require people on the list who can step up when needed.

Not 25 C graders at Casey who will cobble together ten games over five years, and then disappear , due to one reason or another..

Is Kolt another, Laurie, Sestan, Verrall, Jefferson, Woey, Brownie , let’s not wait too long to find out.

You need to take into account reasons where they exist.

I'm not convinced by him yet but will cut him some slack..

Certainly not 5 years of cobbled together games.

By next season we would want to really see something from him.

59 minutes ago, Wizard of Koz said:

It may be too early in his career to make firm assessments BUT at this stage, other than being an enthusiastic on field celebrator, I have seen very little to impress. Seems to not have confidence in his own ability which may be justified.

I've seen a bit. He sticks up for his mates. He's confident. He plays his role and he can kick straight.

He needs a big and uninterrupted pre season. Given he missed a lot of that this year I won’t make any judgements til 2026. He still lives in the “ could make it” category imo.

I really don't know what specific traits the recruiters saw in him in the draft.

6 hours ago, Wizard of Koz said:

It may be too early in his career to make firm assessments BUT at this stage, other than being an enthusiastic on field celebrator, I have seen very little to impress. Seems to not have confidence in his own ability which may be justified.

Overated by recruiters on what I have seen so far!

Edited June 29Jun 29 by picket fence

It's just depressing when you see the players who were drafted after him who are going so well. However get a full pre season into him & if he has no injuries next year then we'll see the real Kolt.

6 hours ago, bluey said:

I’m reluctant to give any employee an out, because he’s young or a good bloke.

We are well past that, we require people on the list who can step up when needed.

Not 25 C graders at Casey who will cobble together ten games over five years, and then disappear , due to one reason or another..

Is Kolt another, Laurie, Sestan, Verrall, Jefferson, Woey, Brownie , let’s not wait too long to find out.

You remind me a lot of Kane Cornes, Bluey.

1 hour ago, dees189227 said:

It's just depressing when you see the players who were drafted after him who are going so well. However get a full pre season into him & if he has no injuries next year then we'll see the real Kolt.

Kolt is super clean with his hands and feet but doesn’t get enough of it yet and makes howlers when he overthinks the game.

I believe he will look a lot different with a full preseason and continuity of play.

As far as those who were drafted after him, I suggest go and have a look. Of the next 15 drafted, only two of them played seniors on the weekend and they were Darcy Wilson and Riley Hardeman neither who have been killing it this year. Logan Morris is the one at pick 31 that most clubs missed.

7 hours ago, The heart beats true said:

Boooooooo.

People having a crack at Windsor, Kolt and McVee need to realise they’ve all had very interrupted preseasons, which has hampered their development. It takes a while to develop an AFL level body for most players. There are exceptions to the rule, but look at Bowey. It’s taken him 60 games to consistently be at the level, after such a good start. He looked awful at times last year - because injuries disrupted his development.

Have a crack at the senior players if you want to aim at anyone. They are producing 50% of the output they are being paid for, but leave the kids alone. It takes time, and they are often being asked to do more because the guys earning the big money can’t get the job done.

Windsor & McVee are not being discussed and even if they were its irrelevant as they have shown 100 x more than Kolt.

As yet he looks like has a fantastic attitude but his skills and application of said are hard to judge, because he doesn’t win enough of his own football nor impact contests

Needs a clean run of health for a preseason

I think he has an x-factor. He doesn't get involved enough and has few possessions but as discussed above, there are reasons for that. I am happy for us to persevere with him.

And our next contestant for Lamb Slaughter of Fortune is Kolt!

1 hour ago, Lil_red_fire_engine said:

Kolt is super clean with his hands and feet but doesn’t get enough of it yet and makes howlers when he overthinks the game.

I believe he will look a lot different with a full preseason and continuity of play.

As far as those who were drafted after him, I suggest go and have a look. Of the next 15 drafted, only two of them played seniors on the weekend and they were Darcy Wilson and Riley Hardeman neither who have been killing it this year. Logan Morris is the one at pick 31 that most clubs missed.

Joel Freijah went at 45. Every club missed him, but still, wouldn’t he be a great addition to our side.

As for the OP, I agree with those who defend our kids given they are just that. Our biggest issue is the ongoing reliance on senior players who aren’t performing. 19 and 20 year olds who aren’t getting consistent runs at it are not the focal point right now.

However, I’m not quite sure of Kolt’s AFL-quality talents. You mention his clean hands - that might be fair, but he has to get more of the ball, and in contest, for us to be able to judge that.

A concerning high end pick considering we went to a lot of trouble to trade up for the pick. That bit of play where he took a nice contested mark and then centred it straight to the oppo was infuriating.

However, you can't really fully judge a player until they reach 50-60 games AFL games so we'll reserve judgment until then, assuming he makes it to 50 games.

1 hour ago, Wizard of Koz said:

Windsor & McVee are not being discussed and even if they were its irrelevant as they have shown 100 x more than Kolt.

So then in answer to your question ‘Can we talk about Kolt?’ The answer is…

‘Yes, he may be discussed, but not in any rational context with comparative examples, and only if it’s disparaging’.

Ok I’ll try again. ‘I can’t stand the guy. He’s my least favourite 12 game player, playing predominantly in starvation corner in the AFL’s worst functioning forward line.’

Am I doing it right?

I think he will play a lot of games for us and be a leader but it won’t be as a star.

Tholstrup reminds me of Luke Tapscott. I wouldn't be surprised if he is a guy who has developed earlier than his peers and until now hasn't had to put the work in to make the grade.

Now he is coming up against guys who are bigger, stronger and more experienced and he doesn't yet have the skill set, the work rate or the mental toughness to cope.

It's pretty clear he isn't good enough to be an AFL standard midfielder. He doesn't find enough of the ball, he isn't fit enough and his decision making hasn't been up to scratch to date.

So where does he fit? He currently provides very little as a half forward. Simply he doesn't get to the right positions often enough. Even from a low base in 2024, he is down on disposals, marks, goals and tackles in 2025.

With Salem on the way out and McVee uncontracted, I'd be giving him a run in defence for the rest of the season. Let his opponent take him to the football and see if he can win or halve some contests. Give him a few weeks at Casey to learn the role, then the rest of the season in the senior side if his form warrants it.

As an aside, it was a puzzling decision to trade up to take him at pick 13 and even more bizarre to contract him until 2028. The club has shown a lot of faith in him and he needs a big pre season to start delivering on his end of the bargain.

9 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Bowey's first 17 games were wins. He was outstanding in a lot of them

Bad comparison

I'd assume it would be easier being placed in a functioning backline in a team that was playing very well than what we are doing now though.

The trade up for Kolt was a gamble, but too soon for this type of thread.