Biggest Improver(s) for us in season 2015

[VitalDread]

Is there really room for Stevens in our midfield though? With Jong emerging and Wallis on the brink, I just cant find a spot for him. Add in the outside run from at least one of this years draftees and once Smith gets his body right, where does he fit?

Stevens can also play half-forward
Did a lot of that during his VFL times

 

[Cori]

That'd be great if he could play that bruiser Chapman style forward. Be stoked if he grew into that.

 

[hatescaptcha]

Three players i expect will have a good year in '15:

Mitch Wallis will have a Libba-esq breakout season.
Lachlan Hunter will play every game and will become embedded in our best 22.
Caleb Daniel will have an immediate impact and play 15+ games.

 

[TempletonTheRat]

Considering 34 of the 44 players on our list will be aged 24 or younger at the start of the 2015 season I would hope the majority of these players will improve.

From what I saw last year I think Fletcher Roberts will be the biggest improver.

Lachie Hunter should start having bigger impacts on games

Lin Jong is the other big improver for me.

 

[the dog's kennel]

Three players i expect will have a good year in '15:

Mitch Wallis will have a Libba-esq breakout season.
Lachlan Hunter will play every game and will become embedded in our best 22.
Caleb Daniel will have an immediate impact and play 15+ games.

I agree with every word of this.

 

[King Harold]

I'm on the Wallis bandwagon as well. This kid has Cross like determination but with far more ability.

 

[Cori]

Where do you think Honeychurch fits? He reminds me of Hrovat as he was a midfielder as a junior but it seems we're trying to groom him as a goal sneak. Reckon he'll have a chance to improve next season?

 

[King Harold]

Where do you think Honeychurch fits? He reminds me of Hrovat as he was a midfielder as a junior but it seems we're trying to groom him as a goal sneak. Reckon he'll have a chance to improve next season?

He is going to have to improve significantly to cement a spot.
We have a lot of short people with some ability and they won't or can't all play together.
He has a great attack on the contest , but lacks a little polish.

 

[DognBones]

When asked this question last year I responded with Koby Stevens whose pre-season form was excellent. Although having a solid year he didn't achieve the heights I predicted. Perhaps Koby's reached his ceiling.
Next year I hope the improvers are Jong and Redpath both promoted off the rookie list and who both could add very interesting dimensions.
The ones I predict will improve are Wallis and Hrovat and the dark horse is Prudden.

 

[McCraeBF]

BIG WATCH

• Boyd (42 GOALS)
  
• Stringer( 40 GOALS)
  
• Hrovatt
• Talia
• Hunter
• Walliss

 

[Yojimbo]

Where do you think Honeychurch fits? He reminds me of Hrovat as he was a midfielder as a junior but it seems we're trying to groom him as a goal sneak. Reckon he'll have a chance to improve next season?

Yes they both won the MVP for Vic Metro.
I was doing the stats the other day and i noticed we had seven players at
or below 180 cm, Dahlhaus, Honeychurch, Hrovat, Johannisen, McLean,
Daniel, and Fuller. Bit Walt Disney don't you think Dalrymple and the seven
dwarfs.
Personally i hope some of the bigger guys step up to the plate as i feel
there is plenty of talent in the smaller brigade.
Talia, Roberts, Grant, Biggs, Kelly, Hamling, Redpath, Cordies, some of them
have to step up. Plus it would be great if Macrae, Bontempelli and Stringer
continued their rapid rise.

 

[Next Waiting]

I'd like to say Hunter, but if he's still doing brunch with mummy everyday I'll moderate my expectations. If not, sky's the limit.

 

[timtamWB]

BIG WATCH

• Boyd (42 GOALS)
  
• Stringer( 40 GOALS)
  
• Hrovatt
• Talia
• Hunter
• Walliss

Hrovat and Wallis both only have one letter at the end

Also, if you think Boyd will kick 40+ goals, then I think you're setting yourself up to be disappointed. Remember, he's still extremely young, and isn't going to get much support in terms of another KPF. He also has to gel with the team, and learn the new running patterns and how we play.

I doubt he gets above 25. I just want to see natural improvement and some flashes of brilliance.

 

[timtamWB]

Hunter, Hrovat, Wallis, Stevens and Talia all seem to be the most popular picks. As well as Stringer, but that's more of a confirmation that he's going to rip it up next year than a tip of who we thinks going to improve. So let's go through each pick:

Lachie Hunter: 23 games over 2 seasons (14 in 2014). This guy is an interesting one. The talent and creativity is clearly on display every time he plays. He just seems to be so instinctive and knows what he wants to do before the ball even gets to him, and if he doesn't he makes it up as he goes along and more often than not. One of my favourite plays (apart from his mark of the year attempts) was him running along the wing with Dahl, and them consistently tapping and handballing the ball to each other, pretty much playing keepings off

His main deficiency at the moment is his consistency, he struggles to be involved in games from start to finish. You can count on him to bob up in games and influence one play, but he really needs to work on his ability to stay involved in the game from start to end. A lot have also pointed out that he was reined in, and he was being taught more of a defensive side to his game. While this is perfect for him and great for his development it negatively impacted his ability to use his natural attacking instincts throughout the year, and so he should be able to do this more with a new coach. And like a few others, he needs to work on his goalkicking.

He can become a mercurial type player, like Stevie Johnson, he just needs to apply himself more, and be let off the leash a bit.

Nathan Hrovat: 19 games over 2 seasons (12 this year). Hrovat just oozes class and footballing ability. His ability to find targets was a standout this year in a team where we had few players capable of doing so. He's a good mark for his height, and is good at being able to find the ball, and most importantly he doesn't waste it too much. He was played as a forward for a lot of this year, despite his natural position being a midfielder, and still played very well, giving a lot of opportunities to score to his teammates.

It's hard to think of too many standout deficiencies for Hrovat. For a 2nd year player he has pretty good stats and can find the ball a fair bit (Macrae is just a freak so we don't measure against him). Really I just think that natural improvement will come and improve his ability to find the ball and give him more opportunities. If he does stay as a forward, he might want to impact the scoreboard a bit more, but hopefully we'll see an increase in midfield time for him next year.

The comparison is pretty obvious here: Sam Mitchell.

Mitch Wallis: 56 games over 4 seasons (13 this year). In the supporters' eyes, Wallis is either amazing and a central cog to the team, or should be delisted. He played well as an inside midfielder in his 2nd year, before falling off the place of the planet in his 3rd year. He didn't overly impress at the start of this year, but he was then reinvented as a tagger. He took on some of the better midfielders in the game and more often than not, he beat them fairly. He also managed to be a tagger that hurt the taggee (is that even a word? I don't really care) going the other way. He became an extremely important part of the team, as evidenced in the Essendon game where he curtailed Heppell for 3 quarters, then went off injured and Heppell proceeded to destroy us. And despite only playing 13 games, he managed to finish 10th in the best and fairest.

He needs to work on his kicking and his decision making. His hands are sublime, especially when he decides to chuck the ball, and somehow never gets pinged, but a few times his decision making is questionable at best. He started to limit his kicking and stick to handballing, which is a better choice for him, and something Daniel Cross did which led to him winning the best and fairest in a prelim year. I would like to see him kick a few more goals as well, but I think we have to accept that Wallis is just never going to be that sort of player. Similarly, he's pretty damn slow. But that's just part of the parcel with him.

I see him as a Daniel Cross type player, however he can be far better. Daniel Cross got to where he ended up being on hard work, as he wasn't the most skilled player. Wallis has more natural talent, so has the ability to become a better player.

Koby Stevens: 50 games over 5 seasons (20 this year). Stevens promised us the world in 2014 with an outstanding pre season, and frankly he was disappointing. I was actually very surprised to see he'd played 20 games. However, he is a brute of a man that likes to take the game on. He has a very good goal sense, he's a pretty good mark, and from all reports he seems like he has a great head on his shoulders, which can't be underestimated in the current climate. He also has some decent speed, he's not exactly fast but he's definitely not slow. His kicking and handballing isn't too shabby either, despite what a lot of people might say.

Even though he takes the game on though, a lot of the time this doesn't exactly work out how he would like to, and he gets caught. When it does pay off for him, it pays dividends. He just needs to learn to assess his options better. As previously stated, his kicking and handballing is fine. What runs him into trouble, is that when confronted, he tends to treat the ball like a hot potato. He fires it off to the first option, even if they're about to be run down. He needs to learn to slow down a bit and assess the situation better, because this is the only big flaw of his game.

I don't really know who I see Stevens as in the future. He can be our own personal Mr. Fix-it, as he has the ability to really play anywhere. Even in the ruck. Maybe not in the ruck.

Michael Talia: 16 games over 3 seasons (3 this year). And now we come to the curious case of Michael Talia. To be honest, I didn't think Talia played more than 1 game in the seniors this year. He is an elite stopper, and a great defender. He's versatile and able to play on talls and smalls. In the VFL, he marshalled the backline with Fletcher Roberts (On a tangent, Roberts seemed to escape most of these lists, despite nearly everyone on this board thinking he will be a gun. Is this because of the injury? Or is he the forgotten man?) so he showed the ability to be a leader of the backline. For a defender especially he has a knack of finding the ball, exemplified by his 32 touch game against GWS last year.

The first thing everyone will jump at, is the fact that he's not the greatest kick around to put it lightly. However, he has fixed this up a fair bit. He's still not the greatest kick, but you can watch him kick now and not want to throw up out of disgust, and he usually finds the target. This will improve with further work. As a defender, he played very well in the VFL, definitely to the point of earning selection. But why didn't he play more AFL games? A lot of people have theories: BMac didn't like him. They wanted him to build a partnership with Roberts. They thought he still had to learn a lot of things. Whatever the case, I'd be shocked if he didn't play a lot more AFL next year.

He reminds me a bit of Dale Morris with more ability to create drive from the backline.

 

[Cori]

Lachie Hunter: 23 games over 2 seasons (14 in 2014). This guy is an interesting one. The talent and creativity is clearly on display every time he plays. He just seems to be so instinctive and knows what he wants to do before the ball even gets to him, and if he doesn't he makes it up as he goes along and more often than not. One of my favourite plays (apart from his mark of the year attempts) was him running along the wing with Dahl, and them consistently tapping and handballing the ball to each other, pretty much playing keepings off

That was easily my favourite play of recent years. Happened to be sitting right in front of it at the time. Lost my mind for about 5 minutes after it.

 

[Some Idiot]

Wallis is due to show his talent for mine

 

[Mattdougie]

Just coz I'm bloody confused

Watched Brisbane game and even commentators commented on Hrovat inablity to hit targets and missed goals on the day.

But apparently he never misses!! Three games watched constantly in wrong spot and average ball user

What the hell am I missing guys?????? Honestly he is number 24 right??

 

[Mattdougie]

Most of the players will have better years due to better coaching but top 3

JJ -will be used effectively as a carry and running player off a wing or half back in a system that suits his play more.

Hunter - progression and more game time due to being played in proper position and not made fall guy for losses.

Redpath - don't know why just have a feeling this bloke will make it

 

[VitalDread]

Just coz I'm bloody confused

Watched Brisbane game and even commentators commented on Hrovat inablity to hit targets and missed goals on the day.

But apparently he never misses!! Three games watched constantly in wrong spot and average ball user

What the hell am I missing guys?????? Honestly he is number 24 right??

No he is number 13

 

[Mattdougie]

No he is number 13

Now

Is he the same number at VFL level so I can watch out for him?

 

[Dogs54]

Just coz I'm bloody confused

Watched Brisbane game and even commentators commented on Hrovat inablity to hit targets and missed goals on the day.

But apparently he never misses!! Three games watched constantly in wrong spot and average ball user

What the hell am I missing guys?????? Honestly he is number 24 right??

This is the question you asked "What the hell am I missing". In summary to assess a players football ability. In all honesty to are entitled to your opinion but the way you bang on about Hrovat is sickening, give it a break and reassess at the end of 2015 after the guy completes his third season. Yes he has only completed two seasons!

 

[Mattdougie]

This is the question you asked "What the hell am I missing". In summary to assess a players football ability. In all honesty to are entitled to your opinion but the way you bang on about Hrovat is sickening, give it a break and reassess at the end of 2015 after the guy completes his third season. Yes he has only completed two seasons!

And the way people bag in about a bloke that has done ZERO baffles me

I actually sit down and watch the games and LOOK for the things people say he has and apart from one game he shows zero people say he has.

If people can say he is good I'm just as entitled to say he isn't.

I'm looking forward to seeing the team for round one because IMO if Hrovat Dickson or Jong are in it we are in for a looonnnngggg year.

 

[Cori]

Mattdougie in this thread.

 

[King Harold]

And the way people bag in about a bloke that has done ZERO baffles me

I actually sit down and watch the games and LOOK for the things people say he has and apart from one game he shows zero people say he has.

If people can say he is good I'm just as entitled to say he isn't.

I'm looking forward to seeing the team for round one because IMO if Hrovat Dickson or Jong are in it we are in for a looonnnngggg year.

You are being harsh on Hrovat MD, for a second year player that had an injury interrupted 2014 , he has shown enough. But I do agree his kicking needs to improve , but with a lot more games he will be more than good.
We lock horns once more

 

[Mattdougie]

You are being harsh on Hrovat MD, for a second year player that had an injury interrupted 2014 , he has shown enough. But I do agree his kicking needs to improve , but with a lot more games he will be more than good.
We lock horns once more

I may be a bit harsh and it's an early call but so is the same for the side saying he is a gun.

He has shown a little bit(nothing that honestly impressed me AND I have made it a point to watch him play in the replays) and how anyone can even attempt to say he will be a gun is bloody baffling and imo simply blind bias.

But anyway how was your xmas Queeny??