Michael Apeness......

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Fat Nyfe said:
People are entitled to an opinion, but if your opinion follows a trend of constant criticism toward the club, negativity, and insulting players under the pretense of being a realist, then you are simply a pain in the arse.
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mate i suggest you look at my posting history - you are talking out of your arse.

the only one with a negative attitude here is you - pull your head in.
 

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Belnakor said:
good luck to him.

but yet another example of our recruiters taking a punt with a first round pick on a player that other clubs didn't rate as highly.

Someone coming off an ACL that is late to AFL is always going to take awhile to come good. But equating that to "potential" is pure stupidity.
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Belnakor said:
it was a speculative pick where we picked for position, not best available. It was a punt. Not a risk. He had just done his ACL and we had almost no information on him.

Just because you are 200cm and 100kg doesn't mean you aren't a spud. Apeness is very potato like and IMHO he will be delisted within 3 years. He'll get an extra year because the recruiters don't want to admit they had another punt that didn't pay off.
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I think your history might be a bit off.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-11-03/apeness-looms-large
"EASTERN Ranges ruckman Michael Apeness is shaping as a possible top-20 draftee, with many clubs interested in the 200cm prospect.
While his TAC Cup and Vic Metro teammate Tom Boyd grabs the attention, Apeness has quietly snuck into first-round contention.

Since the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, Apeness has had a majority of clubs interview him, and a number believe he will have his name read inside the first 25 picks at the Gold Coast on November 21."

http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/news/2013-11-21/first-draft-pick
"Michael is a key forward/ruckmen who had a breakout year after coming back to AFL from two years away with the Melbourne Rebels rugby union junior squad."
"After going there and enjoying that really intense, professional environment for a couple of months, I realised I missed out on some great opportunities in footy and I was also just missing the game as well.” – on leaving Aussie Rules for rugby union in The Age, 4 October, 2013

He wasn't late, he just had some time off

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...at-his-best-in-first-love-20131003-2uxfg.html
"As an under-15, Apeness was playing representative football with TAC Cup club, Eastern Ranges, but wasn't enjoying it.

So in the search for something new, to quench his thirst for the ''bash and crash'' element of competitive sport, he followed a couple of South African-born friends to Box Hill Rugby Union Club...
In a club game for Box Hill, Apeness blew out one of his knees, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament. ''I was wearing really long metal studs and they stuck in the ground, and when I tackled the guy, my body twisted. But my leg stayed still,'' Apeness said.

Such was his potential, the Melbourne Rebels added him to their development squad anyway and allowed him to rehabilitate his knee under their guidance"

So he did his knee at about 15 allowing plenty of time to show his ability later in the TAC Cup and under 18's carnival.
 
DudleyDocker said:
I agree - why would you take a risk on a 200cm 100kg key forward when there are lots of midfielders and flankers who will develop much quicker.
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I wonder about 200cm key forwards. They seem few and far between. Most decent ones are between 192-197 cm.

Maybe once you're up around 200cm you're too lumbering. That's your average ruckman's size.
 
sproketman said:
I wonder about 200cm key forwards. They seem few and far between. Most decent ones are between 192-197 cm.

Maybe once you're up around 200cm you're too lumbering. That's your average ruckman's size.
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Yeah, I think they were hoping for a forward / ruckman so they could play one "main" ruck with Apeness able to pinch hit and give him a break.

Hopefully he can still develop into that - time will tell.

From a list management point of view I thought he was a good risk - imagine the outcry if we'd passed him up forbest available who undoubtedly would have been a midfielder / flanker. :)
 
i think Apeness is gone as well, so drafting adams is a must this year.
 
Apeness was the Vic Metro key forward in the championships when Tom Boyd went down. He played very well, with his contested marking and long kicking being his standout features. After the championships, the general consensus (not just bigfooty, draft experts like Emma Quayle too) was that he would be a late first round/early second round pick. Pick 17 was not a reach, he was the best available key forward at the time, and went exactly where he was expected to go.

He was never going to be as dominant in the contested stuff at WAFL level in his first couple of years as he was at under 18 level. He has a massive frame though - he is 95 kg and looks like he is about 85 kg. He will take a while to come on.

If we had a 25 year old key forward ready to go this thread wouldn't exist.
 
Eski3 said:
Apeness was the Vic Metro key forward in the championships when Tom Boyd went down. He played very well, with his contested marking and long kicking being his standout features. After the championships, the general consensus (not just bigfooty, draft experts like Emma Quayle too) was that he would be a late first round/early second round pick. Pick 17 was not a reach, he was the best available key forward at the time, and went exactly where he was expected to go.

He was never going to be as dominant in the contested stuff at WAFL level in his first couple of years as he was at under 18 level. He has a massive frame though - he is 95 kg and looks like he is about 85 kg. He will take a while to come on.

If we had a 25 year old key forward ready to go this thread wouldn't exist.
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I don't think many are doubting his talent . Its those 2 bloody busted knee's that are the worry especially with the bulk he is lugging around. On his few appearances and the way he carved up Luke, Johnno and Zac in a practice game a couple of seasons ago lets hope the footy Gods look kindly on him and us.
 

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Eski3 said:
He has a massive frame though - he is 95 kg and looks like he is about 85 kg. He will take a while to come on.
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From what I recall, he was drafted at over 100 kg. I understand this year he put on some serious muscle in the gym and was weighed at around 108kg. I also understand he had to slim down a bit and is back at around 100kg. Putting on muscle is not a problem for him, he is a very big lad with a massive frame. He will be a very imposing beast when he develops properly.
 
MadDocker said:
Knee injuries probably had something to do with it also.

How many second year tall forwards walk into a top 4 side and have a consistent impact? Not many, if any, not many, if any/Scribe.
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A huh, a huh, I don't know any body/ Scribe


In all seriousness he doesn't appear to have the same natural talent as McCarthy or athletic qualities. I've seen him look pretty average for Peel however won't write him off just yet because of his injury set backs.
 
I reckon 90% of the posters in this thread are like me and haven't seen anywhere near enough of him to know one way or another.
All I can tell you is that almost 12 months ago now I ran into Duffield and he was very bullish about him, said we have a good one there but he won't be ready before 2016. With his setbacks this year I assume we can push that out to 2017, but at least one guy that should know rates him.
 
sproketman said:
I wonder about 200cm key forwards. They seem few and far between. Most decent ones are between 192-197 cm.

Maybe once you're up around 200cm you're too lumbering. That's your average ruckman's size.
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Completely agree. Will be interesting to see how guys like Schache, McKay and Hipwood turn out. I have doubts they'll be worth their draft position. Not enough evidence yet to suggest that 200cm KPF are the way of the future. So far, the level of someone like Dixon or Tippett seems to be the ceiling, and there would be a lot of forwards better than them.
 
Bit worried about him. Can put aside his 1st season but hes a had a couple of pretty major injuries now and only played what, 4/5? games this year. I'd try to gift him a handful of games next year but he really doesn't look likely atm especially as the bulky 200+cm KPF which seems to be going out of vogue lately.
 
There's plenty of key forwards who are 200cm or just under/over. Lynch, Boyd, Patton, Vickery, Griffiths, Jenkins, Tippett, B.Brown, Daniher, Hawkins, Clark, Dixon. Reckon I forgot many as well.

I'm not saying Apeness will/won't make it but the fact he is 200cm won't be what's stopping him. 200cm key forwards is the way of the future. They'll still be good quality 192-196 more mobile types. If anything the game is moving towards forward lines with as many different types of players as possible. Most of the top teams have one taller guy, two more mobile talls, two mediums and two smalls. It's also important most can either play midfield or in the case of the taller guy ruck.
 
Docker82 said:
There's plenty of key forwards who are 200cm or just under/over. Lynch, Boyd, Patton, Vickery, Griffiths, Jenkins, Tippett, B.Brown, Daniher, Hawkins, Clark, Dixon. Reckon I forgot many as well.

I'm not saying Apeness will/won't make it but the fact he is 200cm won't be what's stopping him. 200cm key forwards is the way of the future. They'll still be good quality 192-196 more mobile types. If anything the game is moving towards forward lines with as many different types of players as possible. Most of the top teams have one taller guy, two more mobile talls, two mediums and two smalls. It's also important most can either play midfield or in the case of the taller guy ruck.
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Of those listed how many are very good or even just good?
 
Not sure why somebody can't have a contrary opinion without being smashed from pillar to post or faced with a diatribe in an attempt to convert their opinion to yours.

I don't agree with it, I hold hope he can be a quality forward target for us but I at this point I wouldn't begrudge someone for thinking perhaps that ship has sailed.
 
Apeness played in at least one of the pre-season games though. I know he hardly touched it against Sydney, but to be picked he must have had a good pre-season behind him, as what we've learnt so far from the coach is that he rarely plays anybody pre-season that he's not considering for Round 1.
 
He'll be fine. He showed some aggression when he was rarely out on the AFL arena, and he had a determination to get to the footy. Half the battle of a power forward is the mental side: knowing you're capable of beating equally or bigger defenders. Jack Watts is a sparkling example of a big guy who bullied his way through juniors, but is far too pleasant and kind for arrogance, grit, and gall.

I reckon Apeness' playing rugby for a few years helped him. It'd be a worry if he was a bonafide rugby man his whole life and then crossed into Aussie Rules, but he went there because he was bored. Fair enough. No different to kids being good basketballers or soccer players on the side (as opposed to being converted from those sports). It showed he was angry and physical.

The club should and will give him another two years. He's been unlucky, but he has the promise. You can't teach mental toughness, which is why I think Taberner, Hannath etc. will always struggle.
 
Apeness in mora categories,potential is always there but injuries stop both to go further hope freo medical team can do something about it.
 
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