binman

'Oh, Langford - outstanding work from the young man!'

We could call it: Preseason training- how are they Traccing?

One of my favourite songs from one of my all time favourite bands immediately came to mind:

And that is the exact approach he took last season. Obviously he wasn't AFL elite fit. But unlike some of his teamates, not once did he stop giving his all or 100% effort. Sure, knock the bloke for not being in shape (though of course there are mitigating factors), but i couldn't believe some of the criticism he copped last season on this forum. Bloke left not a drop on the field. You can't ask for anything more. My respect grew for clarry last season.

Shows how talented he was/is as he was a ways off elite fitness at that point.

All good - I thought it was a map of Texas.

Indeed. In fact in the vison I've seen his contested marking is a real strength. I'll find the vid and link here (the youtube channel is called Footy Stuff), but I watched his full season highlights a week or so ago. About 15 minutes long. Great video - broken up into sections: movement, score involvements, clearances, something else - and marking Terrific way to structure it. Boy, oh boy, kid can play. Beautiful kick. Uses the natural advantage left footers have - opponents instinctively covering the right side - to wheel and kick off one step after a mark. But what really stood out was his marking technique - text book. Times his jump super well, marks out in front if his eyes with bent arms, great one on one and a one grabber. And in that vid took some absolute pack mark screamers. He looks a completely natural forward. He actually reminded me a lot of Jeremy Cameron, even more than say a big bodied mid forward like Tracc. Tracc is brutally effective as a forward, but to my eye has never been a particularly natural forward. Just very hard to beat one on one. But Langford moves and leads like a true forward. And moves a lot like Cameron, is probably almost as tall and of course is also a left footer.

Was that the first game of the season SB?

Yep, spot on. I'd add AMW. Make or break year for his career I reckon.

High heels?

Agree. I was joking, though not particularly well if I was a betting man I'd give very short odds that barrimg injury he'll make his AFL debut round one next season. I can't think of a dees draftee more ready for AFL footy than Langford . Viney perhaps, And not just because he's physically ready (boy, he's a big fella) - just seems to have the right mindset and competitiveness. He'll probably be a mid from the get go too.

2025 season?

Agree. I'm a huge fritter fan. And he has credit in the bank. But some of his defensive efforts (and on occasion his body language) in the second half of last season were way below par. Can't have that next season. And in any case Fritter plays his best footy when he is tackling and applying pressure so there's also self interest.

Review: Goody has been under a lot of pressure, needs to find the joy again and chillax Chris from Camberwell's (who surely posts on DL - c'mon fess up) recommendation: Sack Goody and replace him with a bloke that looks like he's seconds from a heart attack 30 time a game as he screams into his hands and is coming off yet another embarrassing Grand Final capitulation.

Pay that.

The key is starting in late October, early November.

Poor old claz has been sent to the back of the class again.

And is a dees fan.

On the bluey, sure it favors players that play the most games or play relatively injury free. That is true to a greater or lesser extent of all such awards. But this year nibbla finished ahead of a number of players few would describe as ordinary footballers who played a comparable number of games - langers, tmac and Windsor being three such examples. The same is true in 2023 and 2022. On pick 28, that was his market value, regardless of what we ended up using it for (though if using it to help land Francis, the steak knives must be Victroinox). I agree we could use several players to cover the role nibbla played - and we may well do so. But the high half forward role is now one used by most club - with many clubs having two high half forwards each week. A defined role in the way the wing is a defined role. No one is talking about us eschewing using wingers . Why would they - it's widely recognised now to be a key role (and wasn't a fee years back). All team defensive systems only works when players cover the whole ground. The HFF and winger positions are critical to a team's ability to cover the whole ground. So I think the most likely scenario is, if we can, we will employ at least one pure high half forward, ie cover nibblas role. To do so i think they'll use Chandler, with support from Spargo, maybe sharp and then spread from players such as kolt, langdon, bowey and Windsor. On bowey, he could be a wild card. Had the aerobic capacity, obviously the defensive chops and would be an upgrade on nibbler in terms of foot skills I'm in full agreement that we have the players to cover Nibbla, however we choose to do so. And I also agree covering nibblas leadership in the forward line will be a bigger challenge. JVR had said he aims to be a leader, hopefully he steps up. And I reckon Turner has the potential to be a leader down forward too. And perhaps there's an opportunity for koz to become more of a leader.

We obviously have very differing opinions about nibbla's ability gator Opinions are obviously subjective, and when it comes to assessing talent of footballers will vary from person to person based on their own assessment criteria. But whilst we won't agree on our personal assessments, we can agree on agreed facts that provide some measure of objective data to inform an objective assessment of nibbla's talent. It is difficult to argue nibblas record in the bluey supports an opinion that nibbla is an ordinary player. Nibbla's record in the bluey in his last three seasons is 9th, 6th and 3rd. If someone was looking to downplay the significance of that record they might point to the strange voting system that probably favors players who play assigned roles. That's not unreasonable, but it points to the importance of the role nibbla played and his ability to execute. And it's worth noting in that context that arguably the most comparable player in terms of playing a similar role (and in fact in a number of other ways) is langers. Nibbla finished ahead of langdon in all three seasons But even if someone argued the bluey is not a great guide to ability, third is impressive by any measure. The rest of the top ten were, in order, koz, langers (who had his best season since 2021), Rivers, Mcvee, Chandler, May and tmac. That's to say nibbla finished ahead of some very good players. That doesn't happen by accident. Nor is it a case like bates finishing high in the bluey because we had a team full of plodders. Not many players in the 160 year history of the club can claim a third place in the bluey. Leaving aside the bluey, we have an even better objective data point - how the AFL 'market' rates Nibbla. The crows just gave us pick 28 for him. Perhaps some might argue the crows were prepared to pay overs to fill a need, but if true it again just reinforces the importance of the role he plays in modern footy. But really, does an AFL club give up pick 28 for an 'ordinary' player, one who is 28 and has 150 odd games of exposed form? Even if they really need to fill a role? I don't think so. Objectively, nibbla is worth pick 28 in this year's draft. That is a fact Again, langers provides an excellent comparison. Both players were late draft picks in 2014, both play a similar role and both player's one wood is their elite athleticism And both were traded to other clubs. The market valuation of langers was pick 22, 79 and a future second round selection. In return to we got Langdon, pick 26 and a future fourth round pick. Hard to line all that up, but hard to argue a straight 28 doesn't suggest the market valued nibbla higher than Langdon. And there a couple of other relevant comparisons in terms of the market vue of players with similar strengths and attributes. We traded Bedford for pick 44. And this year we traded in Sharp. For sharp, the lions received pick 49 and a future third-round pick. The industry, full time professional football people, cleary rate nibbla as much, much better than an ordinary footballer who will be easy to replace. Dem the objective facts. All that said, i wish nibbla luck but he is no longer a demon. Time for me to move on.

Disagree on easily, but agree woey might be a good option. The role, often spoken about by AFL footballers as the hardest role in football, demands elite fitness, total team first attitude and discipline. I reckon woey has those attributes. In fact the high half forward role might be woey's best shot at being a permanent best 22. I'm not convinced he works as a half back flanker, nor a mid and the wings are taken. Doesn't leave many options.

Yep. And make sure not bring him down for a mid season game against freo at the G.

And once their career ends we all be like: https://youtu.be/L8XQZYIiNgo?si=00s7OWb9cA0zF-VR

Nibbla wasn't/isn't a defensive forward. He plays the high half forward role involving all game gut running up and down the ground from arc to arc that ALL teams now employ. Nibbla is the best in the business at that role and I have little doubt he play it at the crows.