TweeBeard
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If Clarke is going to be playing as anything but a ruckman then he may as well not be in the team IMO
National Draft Pick #17 - Michael Apeness
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If Clarke is going to be playing as anything but a ruckman then he may as well not be in the team IMO
pokerspiv
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He will be playing as a backup ruckman. The question is where he is when Sandilands is rucking. Sandi rucks 75% of the time. You can't have your other ruckman sitting on the bench for all that time if you want to keep midfield rotations going. The beauty of Clarke is that he's quite flexible in what he can do when he's not rucking.
hotchips81
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Needs to get some mongrel into him. His form patch this year was when we played GWS, Gold Coast and the D's. Massive potential, but still only half the player he needs to be.
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I thought he started showing some aggression towards the end of the year. I was always pretty critical of his endeavour, but Clarke seems to be on the right track. He should realise how good he could be if he just showed some intensity. Reckon he'll be a very good ruck in 2014.
I thought Clarkey had a good game against Sydney, Carlton and was pretty good in the Geelong final just off the top of my head. He's getting a bit bigger and his confidence is growing with that in my opinion.
Yeah he played a lot of places with Harvey.
Harvey was also a nutcase. I think I recall Harvey playing him as a rover in a pre-season game once.
What did you think of his performance playing on a wing against Sam Mitchell in that epic fail at the MCG in 2011.
A lesson in how to lose a game that you had been dominating, from a lead of 28 points 12 minutes into the last qtr and lose it with diabolical coaching moves like Clarke on Mitchell.
Clarke is a Ruckman FCS. Not a rover, forward or a defender.
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TweeBeard
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No he isn't. Up forward he is usually pretty useless and he hasn't really played anywhere else under Lyon.
Maybe the mods can slip most of the last 2 pages into Clarke's thread and leave this one for Apeness?
Apeness and Big Jack Hannath will look awesome running around at training.
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Jack in Appy's thread .
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Jack in Appy's thread .
Apeness and Big Jack Hannath will look awesome running around at training.
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Jack in Appy's thread .
Maybe?!?!?
Still haven't seen him play but with a blind leap of faith I am more and more glad we took Apeness with our first pick
We just have to have a real crack at developing our own
Croad, Tarrant, Anthony, probably now add Gumby to the list - a decade of taking calculated risks on guys with baggage to get a 6-8 year full forward that didn't pay off.
Apeness won't play this year but it's good news he's here
We just have to have a real crack at developing our own
Croad, Tarrant, Anthony, probably now add Gumby to the list - a decade of taking calculated risks on guys with baggage to get a 6-8 year full forward that didn't pay off.
Apeness won't play this year but it's good news he's here
What did you think after watching the peel game caterina ?
( assuming you did)
I really liked what I saw for an 18 yr old KPP. Most impressed by his agility and speed off a step or two. I think he'll be quite different to Taberner who looks more suited to the running, marking Richo role if he ever makes a mark in the big league. Apeness looks like the pack making, crash and bang machine that we seek. To me, he moves a little like roughy - deceptive for a guy his size and seemed to keep his balance and centre through the air. Great signs for an 18 yr old and will only get better as he adjusts to his body and swaps teen shape for muscle.
Really like what is already there with apeness, can't wait to watch his development
I didn't go to the game, hard to judge on TV but I noticed him do a couple of nice things.
From the little I have seen I'm still a little sceptical of his timing when he goes for grabs but it will be the best draft decision we've made since 2009 if he can be developed into the pack marking key forward that you describe.
I think I will have to see him in a few WAFL games live but I trust your judgement DMan.
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I did like his two marks but geez he hardly touched it in both games I've seen of his.
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He was always going to be a raw project that would take time to develop. Unless you have the luxury of a top 5 pick it's pretty hard to find key forwards who are anywhere near ready to go.
I reckon a lot of our ressies players might start to look better as the season wears on once Peel has had the chance to gel a bit. They looked noticeably disjointed to me in comparison to EP last week.
strobe00
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Nice chase and tackle that created a goal for Thornton. In general his chasing was pretty good. Got up the field a bit as well.
He grabbed another contested mark inside 50 in the last quarter. At least three genuine contested marks that I counted, in what looked like a pretty tricky breeze. Two were (as you said) pack marks, which is something we've lacked much of over the last several years.
Liked his aggression... attacked the ball in a couple of marking contests, and although he didn't come down with it the defender in front certainly felt it. One incident left McGovern very sore and sorry. Rewatched it a couple of times and there was no malice in it. Just a big, big kid with eyes on the ball going for the mark.
You're right though. Didn't do a heap. But he's already showing that he can take the kinds of mark in seniors that he was taking in juniors. Definitely good signs.
strobe00
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Saw the same thing you mention in the game against Peel. Seemed to misjudge the flight and wasn't catching it at his highest point. Seemed to have to readjust in the air and take the catch off to the side a bit. I assumed the breeze was throwing him off.
The comforting thing though is that he kept coming down with it despite the late adjustment. Good hands.
Had a very deliberate looking ball drop in the one shot I can remember him taking out near 50. Seemed to be trying to keep the drop quite low. The kick came out pretty straight from memory, but drifted a bit in the breeze and missed for a point.
I know very little about kicking technique, but from what I've heard it's a good sign that he's trying to keep a low and consistent ball drop... not much point marking like Cloke if you kick like him as well. (Though I'd still have Cloke in the forward line
)Saw the same thing you mention in the game against Peel. Seemed to misjudge the flight and wasn't catching it at his highest point. Seemed to have to readjust in the air and take the catch off to the side a bit. I assumed the breeze was throwing him off.
The comforting thing though is that he kept coming down with it despite the late adjustment. Good hands.
Had a very deliberate looking ball drop in the one shot I can remember him taking out near 50. Seemed to be trying to keep the drop quite low. The kick came out pretty straight from memory, but drifted a bit in the breeze and missed for a point.
I know very little about kicking technique, but from what I've heard it's a good sign that he's trying to keep a low and consistent ball drop... not much point marking like Cloke if you kick like him as well. (Though I'd still have Cloke in the forward line
Good points, I forgot about the conditions
