Past #16: Aiden Bonar - drafted by GWS #11 '17 ND - traded to NM end '19 - 25 NM games - thx Bon

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Battled manfully against some bigger opponents. Yet another player cooked by instability, shit development, and his confidence was shot.

His best work was playing on big midfielders resting forward, but we couldn't give him that luxury because we dicked around with key position stocks. Now that we do have depth, he has become redundant because we cannot fit him anywhere else.

Another player with upside burned. It's incredible how badly this club manages to not get the best out of players with upside that can change the outlook. We took our time to realise we ****ed up but the damage was already done. Don't really need to repeat myself as I've already vented in the Mahony thread, but even though brighter times are ahead, it's important to acknowledge that not everything is the player's fault. They play as they are instructed. If they are playing a crap position they cannot excel, don't expect their performances to overcome that.

Still, at least the club took a risk on him. Only that the direction stopped there and we didn't really do anything with him. It's almost like we were okay with just plonking him somewhere and then calling it a day. **** that's shithouse.
 
Can't develop your game or attributes if you can't stay uninjured, and he couldn't stay uninjured. Long term, medium term, short term. Career riddled with the lot of them. Add to the mix us being shit on and off the field, including but not limited to burning any confidence he might have been able to build by consistently playing him against bigger blokes (something I think he did alright at more than you would expect) in the back 50 of one of the worst teams around.

I find it hard to fault him for the way things turned out. Down a couple of grades with less stress on the body he'll probably ****ing dominate all over the ground. Is what it is. Good luck to him.
 
justroyal said:
We just drafted a guy with good kicking skills and acceleration? * me. We've been asking for that for the past decade. Who knows how far we can take it now :oops:
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Turns out we didn’t. 😞

Also turns out the draft analysis write-up was a load of crap in hindsight.

His write-up which made him sound like a future hall of famer is a good example of the unreliability of some of these draft write-ups, especially after about pick 5.
 
The constant injuries that Aiden had, meant he was up against it to make the grade.
Don't think he spent any longer than 4-5 weeks on the park at a time, never able to get any continuity. The 2 ACL's he had before he was drafted didn't help either.
His body simply couldn't stand up to AFL footy
 
Bonar is just one of those stories I reckon.

Probably more of a big body mid, but not good enough to crack an AFL side in that position, and didn't really get the chance to show he could through injury and positional needs.
 
Smoocher's eating tonight. My conservative estimate would be that 35% of his total posts since 2020 have related to Aiden. His blind rage reminds me of that John Cheese anti communist sketch
 
He had some really good games, but just got injured almost every time he played. List sizes just don't give you the luxury of holding on to too many players that take too long to get on and stay on the park.
 
r_boy said:
This bloke was pretty unlucky with injuries I reckon

Unfortunately he just never showed enough nous with ball in hand and offensive play which was his downfall.
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This.

His speed and athleticism made him a pretty good one on one defender, although he wasn’t quite big enough to take the true key position types, even though we trialled him there.

Unfortunately a mid size defender also needs to provide attacking run and he never seemed able to add that to his game despite his athletic gifts. I’m not sure if it was lack of instinct or confidence but it left him without an obvious position at AFL level.
 

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apollo_creed said:
Turns out we didn’t. 😞

Also turns out the draft analysis write-up was a load of crap in hindsight.

His write-up which made him sound like a future hall of famer is a good example of the unreliability of some of these draft write-ups, especially after about pick 5.
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Remind me to shut my ****ing mouth when we draft any player. Ever.
 
apollo_creed said:
Turns out we didn’t. 😞

Also turns out the draft analysis write-up was a load of crap in hindsight.

His write-up which made him sound like a future hall of famer is a good example of the unreliability of some of these draft write-ups, especially after about pick 5.
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This is it, he just wasn't ever as good as the expectations that were placed on him as a junior and didn't warrant the original pick he was taken at. Even when he came to us, we as supporters, considered him a top 10 draft pick and expected him to perform to that standard. And this is what annoys me when arse clowns in the media sook about the number of first round picks on our list, counting all of these players who were let go by their original club and many of them coming to us for a second or third round pick at most. Once they are traded for second or third rounder, it's pointless to keep regarding them as first rounders.
 
Tough run with injuries and average development abilities at the club probably ruined the opportunity for Bon. Had heaps of Waite (potential) but not enough size for the role he was pidgeon holed into.

Best of luck Bon. Got the most out of what your body was willing to give.
 
Aiden Bonar = The Shin
 
Set to train with the GC

 
 
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