Can the big man play?

[Mitcha]

Could someone who has seen the boys train give an honest opinion of Tom Williams. I believe the club has taken a huge risk using such an early draft pick on such a long term project. I realize that we will not know whether we have a good one or not for a couple of years but having seen Tim Walsh over the last few years I would hate to see the same thing happen with Williams. Walsh had early injury problems but from what I have seen he struggles to read the game and looks far too slow to ever make an impact on AFL football.

[OldSchool]

Mitcha, I like the way you structured your question about Williams amd Walsh.
For mine, it's not a huge gamble but the problem we have is that in general terms our supporters expect results too quickly from our draftees.
There has been speculation on and off for the last 12 months here that Walsh won't make when in reality he is currently just half way through his 3rd pre-season with us. He's even been called a dud.
By the end of the season we will know if Walsh has what it takes but I think he will make it as a KPP. Probably as a defender.
Williams is very athletic and has all the basic ingredients needed to make a very good players for us. Needs a lot of work but the club should be confident that they have landed a real player of the future.

We need to balance our list with KPP and over the last few seasons we have landed Walsh, Minson, Wight, Williams and Wells and we will just have to hope that the club has the right support and skills coaching available to get the most out of them.

[BloodyRedHead!]

How do you separate the elements of whether or not he can play against knowledge and experience which he is lacking?

I take faith in the fact that with a proper coach and AFL being the highest level, he would be taught the right things and not having bad habits from years of playing.
Thing is he needs a lot to digest in how the whole game comes together.

Give him a simple task: Run, mark, kick a goal.
All the rest is based on him watching footy, just like anyone else who comments on footy, only he has on-the-job training.

I feel a lot more confident now then I did before today.

When I was talking to him something was apparent:

The club wants him to have a footy in his hand at all times.
And the way he was unconsciously handling the ball, spinning it around he seemed to handle it easily enough. And we know he can mark.

[Gilbee9]

I am happy with the selection of Williams, as i would prefer to have long term sucsess with Williams, If Williams fuffils his potential he could become a superstar. I am willing to be paitent and wait for a player to develop into a gun as opposed to select a ready made player who will impact early but wont improve much.

OldSchool what are some of Willaims main attributes, What players would you link him to, Is he able to take pack marks. In the long run what position do you see him becoming, i would imagine an attacking CHB.

I find it interesting that people are calling Walsh slow, at the draft camp i remeber him running a very quick 20 meter sprint. What may of caused this? I think Walsh is a good example for some people on this board. Some Posters belive that we should always take the best tall over the best player, Then in a differnt post say how much of a failure Walsh is this contradicts themselves. Im sure if we had of taken Byron Shammer alot of posters would of said "Another skinny running type, we should of taken a tall" but as it turns out the tall may not even have an impact at AFL and the best available could be a future brownlow medalist.

[Freezing]

Thoughts on this topic (re: Walsh and Williams) vary, but as a few have said, time will tell. Its too soon to call either.

We are all a tad impatient here, Walsh showed some positive signs in 2003 at Werribee ( when he was still in high school) then got injured. May have struggled somewhat in 2004, yet he was clearly not alone there! Walsh has added considerable bulk since he arrived at the club, and is training well, he will be judged at the end of 2005 and realistically in 2006!

So hold on judges.

[OldSchool]

OldSchool what are some of Willaims main attributes, What players would you link him to, Is he able to take pack marks. In the long run what position do you see him becoming, i would imagine an attacking CHB.

I suppose from a Bulldog point of view there is a bit of Daniel Bandy about him but he is a fair bit quicker than Bandy and I think he could alternate between a flank and a KP. He also has a competitive nature and while he is not strong pack maker now his instincts are still good.
I think he also has very quick reaction time which helps with his decision making. He did OK with that at the draft camp. His skills need to be refined but I think he will go well for us.
I'd set him long term for a defenders role but equally they might try and ease him into a HFF role for a season or two.


I find it interesting that people are calling Walsh slow, at the draft camp i remeber him running a very quick 20 meter sprint. What may of caused this? I think Walsh is a good example for some people on this board. Some Posters belive that we should always take the best tall over the best player, Then in a differnt post say how much of a failure Walsh is this contradicts themselves. Im sure if we had of taken Byron Shammer alot of posters would of said "Another skinny running type, we should of taken a tall" but as it turns out the tall may not even have an impact at AFL and the best available could be a future brownlow medalist. I agree at times the ones who are the stongest on picking KPP regardless are also the ones to quickly write off any who haven't come good straight away. When we take another midfielder albeit the best available they get very frustrated because it is perceived that we are already overstocked.

I think Griffen (the 2nd best player in the draft) and Williams (the best KP prospect still available at number 6) were good selections.
We are just going to have to be willing to wait a bit longer for Williams.

[Bentleigh]

For mine, it's not a huge gamble .

I dont see how anyone can argue it is anything but a huge gamble.

I think Griffen (the 2nd best player in the draft)

Who was the best?

and Williams (the best KP prospect still available at number 6)

Messen looks a player.

[OldSchool]

Messen looks a player.
I rate Meesen but he is limited to perhaps just one or two positions.

[stefoid]

The club wants him to have a footy in his hand at all times.
And the way he was unconsciously handling the ball, spinning it around he seemed to handle it easily enough. And we know he can mark.

He can mark? He can mark! How well? If he can mark at this stage of his career, then he really might be a player.

What is his kicking like at this stage. Anything better than crap and Id be very impressed.

[stefoid]

I am happy with the selection of Williams, as i would prefer to have long term sucsess with Williams, If Williams fuffils his potential he could become a superstar. I am willing to be paitent and wait for a player to develop into a gun as opposed to select a ready made player who will impact early but wont improve much.

OldSchool what are some of Willaims main attributes, What players would you link him to, Is he able to take pack marks. In the long run what position do you see him becoming, i would imagine an attacking CHB.

I find it interesting that people are calling Walsh slow, at the draft camp i remeber him running a very quick 20 meter sprint. What may of caused this? I think Walsh is a good example for some people on this board. Some Posters belive that we should always take the best tall over the best player, Then in a differnt post say how much of a failure Walsh is this contradicts themselves. Im sure if we had of taken Byron Shammer alot of posters would of said "Another skinny running type, we should of taken a tall" but as it turns out the tall may not even have an impact at AFL and the best available could be a future brownlow medalist.

I would have had a complete hissy if we had taken schammer instead of walsh. Not all the 'best availables' come through either, do they? Will macmahon or power ever crack into the side on a permanent basis, or will more recent draftees pass them by? Clayton was very specific when he said he selected Walsh as the 'best available tall'.

Walsh sounds like he has put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time, and has spent some time out with injury as well - maybe he looks slow because he is adjusting to moving in his new body?

[Dry Rot]

By the end of the season we will know if Walsh has what it takes but I think he will make it as a KPP. Probably as a defender.


We need to balance our list with KPP and over the last few seasons we have landed Walsh, Minson, Wight, Williams and Wells and we will just have to hope that the club has the right support and skills coaching available to get the most out of them.

If you're right about Wash being a defender, he joins Harris, Wight, Morgan and probably Skipper as developing defensive KPPs.

So we'll have to hope that our next CHF & FF come from last year's draftees.

[Cyberdoggie]

in respect to walsh, his skills don't seem to be the problem,
from what i've seen he can take a fantastic pack mark and kick a
booming goal. He just appears to have no football brain, and
is/has been very unfit for an afl player. He also runs like he's going to trip over his own feet. I really hope he can make but to be honest he's going to have to work very hard to make the grade IMHO.