Players that took a long time to come good

[Smoky]

Thomas has already shown he's worth 700k.

Say that again.?.?.

 

[SickQwon]

Say that again.?.?.

2010 & 2011 he was in amazing form

 

[SSSSSS]

I always thought Jordan Lewis could have done more. Always showed signs of being an elite midfielder but was always a rung below. Last year he took his first big step. This year he blew me away and asserted himself as one of the best midfielders in the competition.

Think he got a bit screwed around with Clarko throwing him here and there and taking advantage of his versatility. Made him a better player now though.

 

[chaelsonnen]

Goddard took a fair while. Looked very clumsy at the start of his career and then one day it just started to click.

 

[Damon_3388]

Micheal Tuck played a million games in the reserves before he played a million in the seniors.

Was a regular senior player from averaging 18-20 disposals per game from age 20 (1974) onwards.

 

[CaptainSparrow]

Mitch Brown. Was a joke of a player before Adam Simpson took over the club. Now he has turned into a very reliable defender, although his decision making at times leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[floodbuster]

Say that again.?.?.

 

[Heir_Apparent]

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Simon Prestigiacomo.
First season was 1996 as an 18 year old forward.
Didn't get many gigs due to injuries until 1998, after being trialed in defense where he impressed.
Only real thing to show for the next decade is in 2000 he finished equal third in the bnf and in 2002 when he actually had a decent season.

So at age 24 in 2002 he's had 2 decent seasons out of 6.
But that's all he ever was, decent.

Then in 2009 he found a whole new level.
Almost Scarlett level, but not as agile.
In 2010 Presti started the season as he played throughout 2009 then injury struck again, at the peak of his powers.
This forced the combination of the young N Brown and B Reid to come together, and we all know how they turned out.
Presti couldn't recover for the 2010 drawn game and following week's GF and decided to retire at the seasons end, being 32.
Presti was a man mountain by the end of his career, both Richo and Jono Brown have both stated that Presti is one of the hardest players they have played against.

So similar to Brian Lake, but Lake has been an elite player for longer. Presti was a solid player but was never really elite until his last 2 seasons.

 

[doug85]

Steve Johnson.

 

[James Colorado]

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Simon Prestigiacomo.
First season was 1996 as an 18 year old forward.
Didn't get many gigs due to injuries until 1998, after being trialed in defense where he impressed.
Only real thing to show for the next decade is in 2000 he finished equal third in the bnf and in 2002 when he actually had a decent season.

So at age 24 in 2002 he's had 2 decent seasons out of 6.
But that's all he ever was, decent.

Then in 2009 he found a whole new level.
Almost Scarlett level, but not as agile.
In 2010 Presti started the season as he played throughout 2009 then injury struck again, at the peak of his powers.
This forced the combination of the young N Brown and B Reid to come together, and we all know how they turned out.
Presti couldn't recover for the 2010 drawn game and following week's GF and decided to retire at the seasons end, being 32.
Presti was a man mountain by the end of his career, both Richo and Jono Brown have both stated that Presti is one of the hardest players they have played against.

So similar to Brian Lake, but Lake has been an elite player for longer. Presti was a solid player but was never really elite until his last 2 seasons.

The thing I will always remember about Presti is his unselfishness. He spent years in mediocre teams, and then when on the cusp of glory, realized that his injury made him a liability, so he put the team first. I hope he got a medal for being a top Bloke, cos he sure deserved a premiership.

 

[master bate]

Well if you don't want to look at the kids we can focus on the experienced players born before 1990:

Quality (5)
Gibbs - top class midfielder who's rounded out his game
Judd - 31 and coming off injuries. Shouldn't be relied upon
Murphy - silky player who can be physically overpowered
Henderson - quality swingman, but yet to produce a career defining year, injury prone
Simpson - 30, but solid back flanker who gives his all

Middle Class (9)
Rowe - bloomed in to a reliable key defender in 2014
Everitt - interesting player who needs to back up good patches
Curnow - solid outside running tagger
Jamison - on his day he's great, but his days are interrupted by injury and poor games
Touhy - solid back pocket
Carrazzo - 31, injury prone, but good tagger still when fit
Thomas - hopefully improves, but at the moment he's only shows flashes of brilliance
Kreuzer - Lots of injuries and doesn't impose on game
Walker - Is he a defender or forward?

Battlers (5)
Warnock and Wood - lump them together, they both seem depth rucks. I'd be inclined to trust Wood more and that sounds ridiculous. Cats.
Armfield - battler
Ellard - double battler
White - angry battler. Actually I think he's ok. He has a go at either end. But he shouldn't cemented a spot by now if he was up to it as a long term option

So 2 of the best 5 are over 30. 3 of your standard middle class players are taggers (Carrazzo, Curnow and Everitt) and plenty of them are injury prone. There isn't enough reliable ball winners on this list when you go away from Judd, Murphy and Gibbs. Neither is there enough outside run and skill. Also severely lacks goal kickers.

Rowe, Everitt and Dale Thomas are the 3 significant additions to this list. The rest of this list is largely the guys who were assembled in the early Ratten days and brought up together as a team. Except that group also had Waite, Garlett, Betts, McLean and Scotland and included Waite, Judd, Carrazzo, Scotland, Simpson, Jamison at their prime. They didn't achieve anything then. And since Mick's taken over they really haven't improved.

The reason everyone is focussing so much on Carlton's kids is because the players above are not taking Carlton anywhere. Once you take out the 30 year olds you're left with about 10 players. A couple of decent mids, some talls who are handy and some role players.

 

[master bate]

The thing I will always remember about Presti is his unselfishness. He spent years in mediocre teams, and then when on the cusp of glory, realized that his injury made him a liability, so he put the team first. I hope he got a medal for being a top Bloke, cos he sure deserved a premiership.

Only a Hawthorn supporter would say Presti played in mediocre teams! He made a gutsy decision, but the guy had already played in 2 grand finals and plenty of other finals.

 

[illavitar]

Probably all of them since it takes them at least 18 years to become skilled at their profession.

Whereas I learned what I needed to know only when I needed to know it. That's a hard days work blood sweat n breathing coal damp air with no morning showers.

 

[Hawkas1988]

Yeah but he was never really any good.

I usually have a lot of time for your posts but this is by far one of the worst I've seen on this site.

 

[Pounce]

Ivan Maric took 6 years to play to his full potential after he was traded to Richmond and became our number one ruck.

 

[Asgardian]

Matt Lobbe fits in thread rather well, born in February 1989, so now 25, 26 before the 2015 season starts, drafted pick 16 in the 2007 National Draft, played a total of 67 games, 45 of them played in 2013/14. So the previous 5 seasons he played only 22 games.

Our faith in him is now paying off handsomely.

 

[Hawkas1988]

Matt Lobbe fits in thread rather well, born in February 1989, so now 25, 26 before the 2015 season starts, drafted pick 16 in the 2007 National Draft, played a total of 67 games, 45 of them played in 2013/14. So the previous 5 seasons he played only 22 games.

Our faith in him is now paying off handsomely.

Good story he is. I didn't realise he was a highish pick. Out of interest, were some Port fans getting impatient with him or thinking he would never make it??

He just popped up out of the blue the past 2 years and really surprised me.

 

[Hawkas1988]

Ivan Maric took 6 years to play to his full potential after he was traded to Richmond and became our number one ruck.

I still remember Neil Craig tearing shreds through him at quarter time or so in a game and thinking this guy just won't make it. Love watching the big guy play. Hopefully no injuries this year!

 

[Asgardian]

Good story he is. I didn't realise he was a highish pick. Out of interest, were some Port fans getting impatient with him or thinking he would never make it??

He just popped up out of the blue the past 2 years and really surprised me.

Yep, some were starting to lose faith, kinda like how John Butcher is now testing our faith.

 

[ManWithNoName]

I usually have a lot of time for your posts but this is by far one of the worst I've seen on this site.

Joke Joyce

 

[Hellgood]

Good story he is. I didn't realise he was a highish pick. Out of interest, were some Port fans getting impatient with him or thinking he would never make it??

He just popped up out of the blue the past 2 years and really surprised me.

Was languishing in the reserves prior to making his debut in 2010, I think there was a bit of argument with West Adelaide about his treatment so there was some speculation at the time that Choco plucked him out of the seconds to prove his point. Showed some promise, but was still fairly raw until he came on in leaps and bounds in 2013.

 

[CountryRace]

Alex Rance for the Tiges took a while to get going.

Not really, was the best defender at Tigerland land from day one.

Not saying much, but still. He went from u18 aa -> good young player (24/25 now) - AFL AA

quite fast, for a tall.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Not really, was the best defender at Tigerland land from day one.

Not saying much, but still. He went from u18 aa -> good young player (24/25 now) - AFL AA

quite fast, for a tall.

Hence he was tried in the midfield and up forward at first. Hawthorn came knocking and such was his exposed form after two years, I wouldn't have been sad to see him go.

But I'd agree that two years isn't long to wait for a 194cm player to start coming good.

 

[CountryRace]

Hence he was tried in the midfield and up forward at first. Hawthorn came knocking and such was his exposed form after two years, I wouldn't have been sad to see him go.

But I'd agree that two years isn't long to wait for a 194cm player to start coming good.

I assume the coach of your club was not-too-bright

If you would not be upset to see a top 20 draft pick, former aau18, go after two years of (so called) poor form. Then you might not be a good judge of football potential.

I assume this period when you insist Rance was struggling was around the time your club was called 'worse than Fitzory', so perhaps his team mates were not helping he.

Anyway, from my memory, every time I saw him early in his career he seemed very solid. The odd kick aside.

 

[Morris Major]

I always thought Jordan Lewis could have done more. Always showed signs of being an elite midfielder but was always a rung below. Last year he took his first big step. This year he blew me away and asserted himself as one of the best midfielders in the competition.

Think he got a bit screwed around with Clarko throwing him here and there and taking advantage of his versatility. Made him a better player now though.

To me he has always the kind of player that gets under appreciated.

We all expect A+ eliteness from a first round pick, but any team would be over the moon to draft a reliable 200 game mid with a pick 8 (?).