Opinion Dear Billie Smedts

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The Pivotonian said:
I wasn't completely sold on Darling in his draft year but he has made me eat my words over twice.

If only....
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My understanding of it at the time was that virtually all the recruiters recognised he was a top 10 talent, however were unwilling to take him as he was considered a little shady and a flight risk. I don't think it's a standard what-if draft case.
 
manboob said:
Very much so Claude. There were big question-marks over his character.

"There was an incident with a girl on a school camp and, in the lead-up to last year's draft, an attack on him outside a Perth hotel.It left Darling in hospital with a serious head injury."
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From memory he went on a school camp and drank a 6 pack and had a girl in his tent. Jeez, what a cretin. Was always overblown. I wasn't happy when we overlooked him.
 

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manboob said:
I love all these Captains of Hindsight coming out of the woodwork. :rolleyes: Cause Wells is such a useless prick you see.
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Got talent, just played out of position. He, like Varcoe, is honestly just too dumb to play in defence. They don't have the decision making ability. That's infinitely harder to teach than anything else.
 
Pure_Ownage said:
The thing is he can make it, he has more ability than a lot on our list,but he has to learn to give first option if he`s going to make it.and that aspect of his game hasnt changed since he got here, i am not confident it will.
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This pretty much sums it up for me.

Very early this season he tried to out juke players and got pinged. Thought he was better than he is. And he is talented make no mistake. But so is EVERYONE else out there. In the VFL you can be talented above the average level and pull that stuff off. The big game it aint so easy. Caddy has learnt that.

My point is it 20 odd rounds later and he, as of Friday night, got done several times for the same thing again. Im all for backing yourself in the contest but you have to be reasonable. He has shown that he has not figured the first option thing out yet. Simon Beasley may have been right about him being th best junior he'd ever seen, but someone also said Tenace was gonna be star.

I fear im seeing some parallels and I hope Billie makes a moron out of me.

Go Catters
 
Not sure on Smedts , seems to be getting worse every time he plays. He has to start making the first option, none of this weave through contests stuff because he always gets caught. He isn't a defender either but is hardly any good as a forward and has one of the worst kicks going around.

I fear for him
 
dazbroncos said:
This pretty much sums it up for me.

Very early this season he tried to out juke players and got pinged. Thought he was better than he is. And he is talented make no mistake. But so is EVERYONE else out there. In the VFL you can be talented above the average level and pull that stuff off. The big game it aint so easy. Caddy has learnt that.

My point is it 20 odd rounds later and he, as of Friday night, got done several times for the same thing again. Im all for backing yourself in the contest but you have to be reasonable. He has shown that he has not figured the first option thing out yet.
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I agree with that Daz, but I'm not convinced he does it because he is trying to be fancy, maybe he just doesn't quite have the belief that he can pull the first option off, or is worried his teammates will think he's not weighing up all the options. I might be totally seeing things though. The couple of things I remember off the top of my head on Fri night are when he got caught HTB near our attacking goal square. It seemed like the snap at goal was on, but just as he was about to do that he thought maybe he wouldn't get it, so span around etc looking to dish off. The other one was the kick from 50 that ended in a goal where he kicked it into the Carlton player, it looked like at first he was going to just kick through it, then looked like he was changing his mind as if to pass off, before seemingly having a shot. Same with some of his decisions coming out of defence, where it looks like some of his kicks come off wobbly because he doesn't 'prepare' enough for the option he finally takes.

To put it another way, if Caddy has been learning everything he can off Selwood, it looks like Billie has picked Stevie J as his mentor :p

In contrast with his form this year, I think about the Essendon game (I think it was?) last year where he kicked 2 goals, one a beauty from 50 on the run at an important time, where it looked like he didn't have anything else on his mind other than kicking the goal. I like players who commit to that, Mitch Duncan has that vibe.

I hope I'm right anyway, that he might actually need a bit of lovin' from the coaching staff from the coaching staff to say that they believe in him and want him take the first option & commit 100% to it as soon as he can.
 
RegHickeyStand said:
For a Geelong recruit he was light on, like Mitchell Brown. It just may take him a while to mature. And for 2014 he was played out of position down back for most of it. He has been training hard playing good in the twos and I think he should be given the chance to see how one more decent preseason produces. Spesh if he hits the weights and puts a few pound on.
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While I don't disagree with you regarding him being played out of position it appears all of us on BF see Smedts differently to the MC as he started Friday night in defense once again.

While I've been happy to cut him some slack previously in that regard (and I also think he was selected earlier this year before he was ready to go) I'm not too sure the excuse can constantly be thrown up when the people in charge keep playing him back there.

If he is going to continually be played back there then that's where I'm going to start forming my judgements on him (fairly or unfairly).
 
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sarah.13 said:
His lack of awareness and decision making are his problem not the position he is playing.
Lacks footy nous. Overthinks things and ends up indecisive.
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Which makes the idea of him playing in defense even more puzzling.

Amplifies any mistakes he makes.
 
sarah.13 said:
His lack of awareness and decision making are his problem not the position he is playing.
Lacks footy nous. Overthinks things and ends up indecisive.
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Agree with this totally. And I'm not sure that poor decision-making can be improved on, you either have the composure under pressure and footy-smarts or you don't.

I think the club has invested a lot into Billie because of his raw talent, they used a high draft pick and gave him lots of games early. So I don't think they'll be ready to cut their losses just yet. But I still fear for Billie's future, as there are many other talented young players on the list who may soon be pushing for selection ahead of him.
 
I would be surprised if he wasn't the first one out at next weeks selection table.
 

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The Pivotonian said:
Which makes the idea of him playing in defense even more puzzling.

Amplifies any mistakes he makes.
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Piv, coughing up the ball anywhere on the ground is costly as sides score just as heavily from turnovers as much as anything else.
I think he's played back so he can run straight rather than his trible side baulks and twists he tries.
It's he's decision making that's the issue no matter were he plays
 
sarah.13 said:
Piv, coughing up the ball anywhere on the ground is costly as sides score just as heavily from turnovers as much as anything else.
I think he's played back so he can run straight rather than his trible side baulks and twists he tries.
It's he's decision making that's the issue no matter were he plays
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At least if he does in the front half we have some players (hopefully) between the turnover and the opposition goal.

Not saying it isn't costly (look at Enright on Friday) but at least he'd some have back-up if it happens in the forward line.

Why am I even defending him?? :confused:
 
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sarah.13 said:
His lack of awareness and decision making are his problem not the position he is playing.
Lacks footy nous. Overthinks things and ends up indecisive.
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Seems to have started doubting himself.
 
manboob said:
I love all these Captains of Hindsight coming out of the woodwork. :rolleyes: Cause Wells is such a useless prick you see.
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Melbourne wishes it has hindsight right now.

'09 pre season draft they picked Jurrah and let Rockliff slip through... Ouch.
 
Pretty obvious in my mind that Smedts is not at all suited to defence, but as someone else said, he's got more to work on than just convincing the coach to play him elsewhere. I still believe he could become a very good player with the right coaching and development (would need another 30-40 games leniency basically), however I'm not overly optimistic that he'll get that opportunity.
 
Bobby_ said:
perhaps a name change is needed for young Billie . . . Jimmy went that route when things were somewhat bleak and we saw the real James emerge from then on.

Bryce Smedts?
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Maybe just a simple change to 'Billy' so his name sounds a little more masculine. He is playing AFL footy after all. The only other Billie I know is Billie Piper, and her singing career hasn't exactly set the world on fire after 'Honey to the B'
 
Rankin_1925 said:
Maybe just a simple change to 'Billy' so his name sounds a little more masculine. He is playing AFL footy after all. The only other Billie I know is Billie Piper, and her singing career hasn't exactly set the world on fire after 'Honey to the B'
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What about Billie Jean who, Michael Jackson claimed, was not his lover? And we all know what happened to MJ....
 
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