35. Ben Warren

[Darth German]

The Official Ben Warren thread for 2007. Designated reporter is Darth German.

player profile
Ben Warren
Fast Facts
Jumper No: 35
Height: 185.9
Weight: 77.9
DOB: 11/02/1989
Recruited From: Zillmere Eagles

If someone who can post a picture would like to do so, thanks. Otherwise: he's the lad with white hair.

Warren bounds to 'Roos
NOVEMBER 29: Zillmere Eagles forward Ben Warren is one step away from a life-time dream of playing AFL football after he was drafted by the Kangaroos last Saturday.

The Sandgate State High Sportsman of the Year for the last three years was claimed by the Roos with selection number 69 in the draft.

One of a record 11 Queenslanders drafted and at 17 still eligible to represent Queensland at under-18 level next year, he was the 11th-youngest on the list of 81.

Sitting at home with his family watching the draft via the Internet, Warren said he was ``incredibly nervous''.

``I nearly fell off the chair when they read my name out,'' he said.

``It's what I've wanted to do all my life, ever since I started playing Auskick as a four-year-old.

Warren was likened to Kangaroos captain Adam Simpson by 25-year Kangaroos recruiting manager Neville Stibbard.

Stibbard said he'd tracked Warren since the 2005 national under-16 championships in Brisbane, where he was a standout playing centre half forward as vice-captain of the Queensland team.

Warren's draft selection capped a rollercoaster ride for the blond forward, who switched to Zillmere this year to play in the AFL Queensland State League after playing all his juniors with Aspley.

Warren was due to head to Melbourne on Tuesday.

[Ted]

AFL Website 2007 Kangaroos Preview

Ben Warren - Missed the National Under-18 Championships because of a broken thumb but went on to star in the second half of last year's AFLQ season. At age 17, Warren booted 13 goals in his first three games at senior level and proceeded to impress Roos recruiters with his athleticism and strong overhead marking.

[Lidge]

Zillmere boy gives Roos a lift
26th January 2007
http://zillmereeagles.aflq.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=114534

Former Zillmere teenager Ben Warren caught the eye in a pleasing practice match for Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley this week.

The Kangaroos had their first serious match practice of the new year by playing three 15-minute ‘quarters’ in a fast and skillful game.

Laidley has made no secret of his plan to rebuild his team’s game style from a slow, possession-oriented scheme to faster, more attacking football.

"We have been working on changing a few things since October and it's pleasing for the coach to see that the group are listening," Laidley told the Herald Sun after his first look at the re-tuning. "I thought some of the things we were trying worked pretty well.

"It's just pleasing that they are taking it all on board and carrying it out."

Laidley directly mentioned Warren among the more pleasing performers, alongside leading goalkicker from last season Nathan Thompson, new recruit Aaron Edwards, and top draft pick Lachlan Hansen, who looks like being given every opportunity in the key centre half-back position.

Warren burst onto the AFLQ scene with a string of quality big-game performances after injury ruled him out of the Australia Post Queensland Scorpions Under 18 side.

He may well have secured his drafting by the Kangaroos at No.69 in the National Draft with his effort as a 17-year-old in his third senior game for Zillmere against Morningside.

In the highest quality game for many years, Warren was one of the standout players on the ground with his hard running around the forward line, strong marking, and ability to kick goals.

Warren is wearing the No.35 in his debut season, a number made famous by premiership player and leading goalkicker John Longmire.

The Roos’ scratch match also gave players, coaching staff and observers the opportunity to view the new rule interpretations, particular relating to pushing in the back, in action.

Laidley wasn’t drawn into saying whether the new rule was good or bad.

"You’ve just got to keep schooling your players up and educating them to make sure they get around those sort of things," he said.

Laidley also told the Herald Sun that veteran Glenn Archer was likely to be shielded from the long Perth trips this season in a similar way to Collingwood ‘resting’ Nathan Buckley last year.

"It will be a suck-it-and-see case with him, but probably trips to Perth will be out of the question," he said. "There will certainly be some sort of management program for him.”

[Darth German]

Practice Match - Tasmania v West Adelaide, North Hobart, 24/3/07

Arrived at the game a few minutes late with 3 kids in tow.
Took a few minutes to identify Wazza. Tassie had 3 or 4 blondies running around (Ben Ross, Sam Wish-Wilson..), but Wazza had no darker growth underneath.

1st half: Played a HF role, marked by Murray Hamblin from WAdl. Constantly on the move and seemed to find space fairly easily, but the ball didn't come his way much (timing? decoy role?).

3rd Q: Off the ground for over half the quarter. Came on and got a few touches but nothing spectacular. Took a good mark but turned over the kick into the forward 50.

4th Q: Played in defense marking Damien Cupido. Stuck fairly close but Cupido wasn't doing too much. Wazza was easily outbodied in the single 1on1 contest and the runner went out (presumably to tell him to play in front).

As a benchmark for the real season, I'd probably rate him around 4/10.

[Darth German]

Round 1 AFL / Round 0 VFL

Did not play. :p

[giantroo]

Milky struggled today in the running drills. But its all in the process of learning.

[Darth German]

Round 2 AFL / Round 1 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Bendigo, at Windy Hill on Saturday 7 April.

This from Drexl at TSK: "Warren played well early but seemed to die out a little. He kicked a goal on the run which was the 2nd of the game from memory. He spent much of the last qtr seemingly playing as a loose man in defence."

This from 75779699_06070809 on the BF NMK Board: "Ben Warren. Lively. Keen. Quick. Got a bit of the ball early. Kicked at least one goal. Faded out as the game wore on. Spent some time on bench. But often he led out very quickly and seemed to be ignored. Either needs to time his leads better or attract attention better. Dont know how you could miss him. Like his attitude. Reasonable first up game."


Seems a bit similar to the practice match I saw. Rated 1/5 by the "Bartercard VFL Player of the Year" in the Mercury newspaper (sometimes a bit harsh on the Roos players vs the locals, IMO). I'll go harsh too, just to leave Wazza somewhere to improve.

Rating Round 2: 3
Average for Season 2007: 3 (3 points/1 VFL game)

[Darth German]

Round 3 AFL / Round 2 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Geelong, at Bellerive on Saturday 14 April.

Much improved and named in the best players. Played up forward all day with little/no bench time. Started on the HF line, but was moved deeper at times. Wasn't running around as much as the game I saw at North Hobart, but seemed to have more purpose and his leads were better timed. Presented well and took several marks. Kicked one goal and directly set up 2 or 3 others, although he sometimes made the recipients work a bit to take contested marks. No opportunities in the last quarter, when Tassie was being slaughtered out of the middle and in the back line.

Rating Round 3: 6
Average for Season 2007: 4.5 (9 points, 2 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 4 AFL / Round 3 VFL

Played with Tasmania against North Ballarat, at AUSTAR Arena on Sunday, 22 April.

This from Stagnak, on the BF NM Board: "Ben Warren was on and off the ground all day. Went for mark of the year in the first qtr but was way off. Had a handball in the last qtr but can't recall him getting a kick."

Rating Round 3: 1
Average for Season 2007: 3.33 (10 points, 3 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 5 AFL / Round 4 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Frankston, at Aurora Stadium on Saturday night, 28 April.

According to MRobbo on the main NM BF board, had about 4 possessions and was well beaten.

Rating Round 5: 1
Average for Season 2007: 2.75 (11 points, 4 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 6 AFL / Round 5 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Box Hill, at Bellerive on Saturday, 5 May.

Comments from the main NM Board were "super quick" (KingyOrTheKing) and "good in the second half" (Sagnak).

My observations
Q1: On the bench.
Q2: Came on at HF and was lively. Took 3 leading marks but got dragged after kicking direct to an opponent from the last mark. Came on in defense in the last minute of the quarter.
Last half: Was up forward - kicked 1 goal and seemed to be pretty good. I was distracted a bit, as my 4yo son was starting to wander off.

Rating Round 6: 3
Average for Season 2007: 2.80 (14 points, 5 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 7 AFL / Round 6 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Werribee, at Bartercard Oval on Saturday, 12 May.

Unable to find any comments on his performance. Only scored 1 out of 5 in the Bartercard Player of the Year voting.

Rating Round 7: 1
Average for Season 2007: 2.50 (15 points, 6 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 8 AFL / Round 7 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Coburg, at Bellerive Oval on Saturday, 19 May.

Not a lot of opportunities this week - came on around the 20-minute mark of the first 3 quarters, and I'm not sure that he came on at all in the last (unless that was just the excitement of the goalpost-snapping getting to me). IIRC, he was reasonably lively at HF in Q1 & Q2 - couple of marks, helped set up at least 1 goal. Played on Cleve Hughes in defence in Q3 - did a decent job in the few contests that occurred.

Rating Round 8: 2
Average for Season 2007: 2.43 (17 points, 7 VFL games)

[HeLMie]

You're either a harsh critic or this bloke is just not upo to it at the moment..

[Darth German]

You're either a harsh critic or this bloke is just not upo to it at the moment..

Yeah, I don't think he's ready for AFL at the moment, but remember: -

I am being a bit harsh, to leave room for improvement (not as harsh as the voting in the Devils Player of the Year, though)
I am subtracting 1 point each week because it's VFL, not AFL
He's only just turned 18, IIRC
He's spent a fair amount of time on the bench

[Darth German]

Round 9 AFL / Representative Match VFL

Did not play. Hopefully had a chance to get back to Queensland and visit family.

[Sauce Head Wannabe]

Round 9 AFL / Representative Match VFL

Did not play. Hopefully had a chance to get back to Queensland and visit family.Darth is your dads name peter

[Mr Reliable]

Darth, I met Ben at the Cocktail party. Nice guy.

He told me he was recovering from injury and was limited (by the doctors) in the amount of game time he could have. I didn't pry into his injury but thought it might explain why he has been on and off the ground in several games.

[Darth German]

Round 10 AFL / Round 8 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Port Melbourne, at Bellerive Oval on Saturday, 2 June.

Played most of the game this week, so he must be getting over those injury concerns (thanks Mr Reliable). Was up forward for Q1 - took a couple of marks, disposal ok, lively. On the bench at the start of Q2, and then went to defence on Langford for the last 2.5 quarters. Had 3 or 4 kicked on him, but stuck pretty close and the goals I remember came from good passes. Provided the link out of defence a few times. Not a bad game, IMO.

Rating Round 10: 4
Average for Season 2007: 2.63 (21 points, 8 VFL games)

[salamander]

Liked what I saw of this guy at training early in the season and in a couple of practice games looks busy, presents well as a leading forward and looks to have good hands. Hopefully he can recover from his injury and string together a few good games for Tassie.

[Darth German]

Round 11 AFL / Round 9 VFL

Did not play - Tassie had the bye.

[Darth German]

Round 12 AFL / Round 10 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Geelong, at Skilled Stadium on Sunday, 17 June.

Named in the best players.

This from Sagnak: "Ben Warren was lively all day and whilst his possession count was pretty low he never stopped presenting and his second and third efforts were excellent. Took a screamer in the 3rd qtr. His best effort for a while."

Rating Round 12a: 6
Average for Season 2007: 3.00 (27 points, 9 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 12 AFL / Round 11 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Northern Bullants, at Preston City Oval on Sunday, 24 June.

This from Sagnak: "Ben Warren was again lively at CHF, however, found it hard to judge the ball in flight and regularly ran under the ball providing his opponents with an easy mark. Switched to defence in the last qtr when Moran went into the ruck and was better."

This from hurricane (1st half only): "Didn't see him much in the first quarter, but in the second he started leading up very strongly from the HFF. His one on one work and efforts at the ball were good, although his marks didn't stick sometimes. Kicking was a little iffy although the wind was strong."

Rating Round 12b: 4
Average for Season 2007: 3.10 (31 points, 10 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 13 AFL / Round 12 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Bendigo, at Bellerive Oval on Saturday, 30 June.

A chilly, overcast day at the BO and I had 2 brats running around trying to get themselves lost. Also witnessed a prang while leaving the ground (old guy apparently had a heart attack or something behind the wheel) and had to run back to get the St Johns Ambulance guys. Not too helpful in trying to remember Wazza's game.

Started off at HF again and was pretty good, while Tassie was getting it out of the centre. Not much opportunity while Bendigo were piling on 15 or whatever in a row. Spent the last quarter in defence against Kepler Bradley - did better than I thought he might, considering the height and weight he was giving away.

Rating Round 13: 4
Average for Season 2007: 3.18 (35 points, 11 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 14 AFL / Round 13 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Sandringham, at Aurora Stadium on Saturday, 7 July.

Booked by 2 umpires for charging Ben Holland. Has accepted a 1 match ban. Must have been a good hit for skinny young Wazza to leave Holland "sprawled on the deck". Couldn't find any specific comments on his performance.

Rating Round 14: 4
Average for Season 2007: 3.25 (39 points, 12 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 15 AFL / Round 14 VFL

Did not play (suspended). Missed the win!!:(

[Darth German]

Round 16 AFL / Round 15 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Frankston, at Bellerive Oval on Saturday, 21 July.

Played in defence for the day, and wasn't particulary effective (had plenty of friends). Probably only played 60-70% of the game - spent about a quarter on the bench after giving away a free or 2 in the first 10 minutes. IIRC, played on Luke Walker and Marcus Marigliani(?). Wazza tried to stay close, but Marigliani was fairly prominent for Frankston I think.

Rating Round 16: 2
Average for Season 2007: 3.15 (41 points, 13 VFL games)

[The big ROObowski]

he still injured? he and gav are struggling big time.

[Darth German]

Round 17 AFL / Round 16 VFL

Played with Tasmania against North Ballarat, at Aurora Stadium on Sunday, 29 July.

From what I saw of the second half, Wazza was struggling to contain a larger opponent. Presumably Cresswell wanted Wazza to run off and provide some drive, but got hurt the other way.

This from KingyOrTheKing: "Wazza seemed to stand out from the North aligned players. Was playing across half back and got alot of the ball. Used it well in most cases."

This from The Teflon Dean: "Warren was okay when he ran and linked up, however he was killed by his direct opponent Ben Hughes. I had Hughes down for 5 goals and NB won by over 100 points."..."I think Warren is more a big bodied flanker/onballer in the Riggio mould. He got killed one on one in any attempt to hold his ground but he was very good when he ran and linked up."

Rating Round 17: 4
Average for Season 2007: 3.21 (45 points, 14 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 18 AFL / Round 17 VFL

Did not play - Tassie had the bye.

[Darth German]

Round 19 AFL / Round 18 VFL

Did not play - injured?

[Darth German]

Round 20 AFL / Round 19 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Coburg, at Aurora Stadium on Sunday, 19 August.

Couldn't find any comments about his game, but only rated 1/5 in the Player of the Year voting.

Rating Round 20: 3
Average for Season 2007: 3.20 (48 points, 15 VFL games)

[Darth German]

Round 21 AFL / Round 20 VFL

Played with Tasmania against Williamstown, at Bellerive Oval on Saturday, 25 August.

Not huge game time and not much impact. A development year and will hopefully improve with another preseason. Apparently seen with his arm in a sling at training on 4 September, so that might explain his last few games?

Rating Round 20: 2
Average for Season 2007: 3.13 (50 points, 16 VFL games)

[benno87]

So where is he at? Don't hear much about him at all. Was a very young recruit.

Will he play forward this year? Did I also hear he played back for Tasmania this season?

[Twinkletoes]

I had a good chat to young Benny "the Swedish backpacker" at the players' BBQ and I was at first struck by the difference between him now and the year before when I first saw him timidly floating around in the background of the 2006 Players' BBQ. He's matured alot!

He's also rapt that the Tassie alignment's no more. I asked him if he was being given specific goals for 2008 and he said "Yeah, Dean and the assistant coaches have been really great. Dean made it clear to me that there's a spot there for me if I can work on a few things. I've been training the whole preseason in preparation for the exact improvements he wants from me. I'm really excited about next season. The place is really buzzing at the moment and I'll be doing everything I can to develop my game. I played alot of 2007 with niggling injuries, which didn't help me at all, so I'm looking forward to giving it a real crack next year. Re. Tassie: I mentioned that it must've been hard playing in a side where the kids are expected to be the team's leaders and in a side lacking older heads and bigger bodies. He totally agreed.

Having said all that, I haven't seen him do anything on the field since then but I'm looking forward to seeing him strut his stuff in the Intra Club soon.

T'toes

[75779699_06070809]

I have taken over as the player stalker for Ben Warren from Darth German.

Just read this thread again. I must say Darth German did a great job in his reports on Ben last year :thumbsu: :thumbsu:. I have big shoes to fill.

Let the Wazza fest for 2008 begin.

[75779699_06070809]

While Playing for Tasmania in 2007 TRUenergy VFL Seniors

Game Log

Date/Time Opposition Gls Best (1 = First Best, 6 = 6th best)
Sat 7/Apr Bendigo Bombers 1 -
Sat 14/Apr Geelong 1 5
Sun 22/Apr North Ballarat - -
Sat 28/Apr Frankston - -
Sat 5/May Box Hill 1 6
Sat 12/May Werribee - -
Sat 19/May Coburg - -
Sat 2/Jun Port Melbourne - -
Sun 17/Jun Geelong - 1
Sun 24/Jun Nth Bullants - -
Sat 30/Jun Bendigo Bombers 1 -
Sat 7/Jul Sandringham - -
Sat 21/Jul Frankston - -
Sun 29/Jul North Ballarat - -
Sun 19/Aug Coburg - -
Sat 25/Aug Williamston - -
Total 16 Games -4 goals - 9 "best" votes

Above are VFL site stats sourced from http://vfl.footballvic.com.au/?s=results

As well lets look at the "Bartercard VFL Player of the Year" votes in the Mercury Newspaper. "All players rated out of 5 (and only one 5 awarded each week). IMO favours the locals over the Roos-listed players." Thanks to Shagwell from TSK for this.

31 Votes = Warren (av. 1.94 after 16 games)

As a comparison this was the same average as Goldstein. Ben Ross averaged 2.19, Hansen 2.65 and Adams 3.67 (Adams won Devils B&F in 2007)

http://www.searchingkangaroo.com/

[75779699_06070809]

Player Bio in RoosNews Seasonguide08

Height = 186
Weight = 85
DOB = 11/02/1989 (19.1 years old)
Recruited from Zillmere Eagles

Ben was drafted as 17yo last year and has been on a steep learning curve over the last 12 months. He is beginning to understand, that for him, it is about continual improvement in a number of areas and this may allow him to play AFL football. It is good to see some of that improvement coming to fruition.

Comments above by Darren Crocker

I went to the recent intra club practice match at Princes Park really hoping to see Ben play that day (and report back here) but all I saw of him was running laps with one of the trainers. Unfortunate. As he said to Twinkletoes he was hampered by niggling injuries last year and off to a bad start this year in that regard.

He has not been selected in any of our NAB cup or regional challenge matches so far. Obiviously the injury (groin??) wouldn't have helped that.

But he must have recovered from that injury as he played in Werribee's practise match on Saturday.

"WerribeeMan" from TSK reported that

9.Warren- played mostly off a wing and showed good signs with his pace.

Interesting that he played off a wing given that he played either as a leading forward or defender for Tassie when I saw him last year. I would think for him to become an AFL footballer the wing/midfield is going to be where it is at.

I am hoping he gets a game at Cranbourne next week but probaly unlikely. Intending to go to that game with a Demon mate but I may be forced to go to watch Wazza in action at Windy Hill for Werribee to fulfill my Player Watch obligations!

[75779699_06070809]

http://www.searchingkangaroo.com/forum/upload/index.php?showtopic=4569

This is a link to a report on the recent Werribee v Geelong practise match in which Ben Warren played by Werribee general manger Mark Penaluna. The only mention of Wazza is

Goals
Nathan Thompson 7; Michael Barlow 4; Ben Warren 2:thumbsu:; Ben Davies 1; Leigh Adams 1

2 goals from the wing (I assume). Good sign.

[ben.carbonaro]

Mark didn't play, he wrote that match report.

[75779699_06070809]

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=421793

This thread has full reports on Werribee v Bendigo VFl Practise Match

For "Player Watch" here the quotes about Ben Warren from that game.

Ok All,

My report from today's Werribee praccy match.

Ben Warren - Looked very good. Missed a set shot and one kick off of the ground, but got a lot of ball and chased and tackled well. Very good work rate. Definitely showed signs of a positive future.


Here are my player reports as posted on TSK.

43.Warren- played a real team game yesterday, getting plenty of the ball and tackling hard around the packs. His work rate was first class.



Good stuff Ben:thumbsu:

Thanks to jschwag and ben.carbonaro for their reports.

[Camisado]

What are the chances of Ben being retained for next year?