Past Patrick Wearden (2011-2014)

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More detailed comments from Rob Kerr

Similarly with Patrick Wearden, a country boy. Patrick sorta showed towards the end of the year that he's got a good ability to play outside the game or inside the game, win the ball, good in traffic. 191cm - to have the athleticism he does at that height, we think we can develop him to fill a number of roles for us.
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Sounds like one of those guys that has a great mix of height and speed/agility. Seems to be one of those picks that he is someone who has natural talent and a nice physical attributes, but hasn't been in a serious environment to really let his skills flourish. These are the kinds of picks that turn out gems as these kinds of kids sometimes just explode in a full time professional environment. Hadley is usually on the money when he finds a smokey.

He seems like he plays as a HF type midfielder, getting up the ground and amongst it, but seems like he is good on the lead as well. If he grows another few cm it would be ideal, but really at 191 he is tall enough to be a KPP if he is good enough, especially with good speed and marking. Is said to have good goal sense as well, so maybe a bit like Karni in that he can crumb and kick goals without taking marks as well.
 

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The Flying Belgian said:
You seen him play chef?
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No sorry mate, the Bushies never play in Ky.

He grew up just around the corner from me and his brother used to milk my dads cows. Comes from a great family and has a good head on his shoulders. Happy for him to end up at the Lions as my two daughters are one eyed Brisbane members.
 
Looks like he has abnormally long arms. The Anti-Rich perhaps.
 
You just get he feeling he has a touch of a x-factor about him.

Seems pretty raw but looks like a potential line breaking mid to me - good speed.
 
sportsiq

#47: Patrick Wearden: The boy from the Murray Bushrangers shows great agility and speed. An extremely long kick of the football and a fantastic mark overhead. Dangerous around goals and has good endurance.

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Loving the sound of him though, strong mark and long kick, good athletic ability and dangerous around goals, sounds ideal for a decent FF target. If you can manage a FF like Fev, strong marking and leads, but also can crumb his own ball and is dangerous that way, it's a big bonus.

I like the sound of the kid, really wanna see him playing at FF in the 2nds and see what he can do.
 
chopperduck said:
o has natural talent and a nice physical attributes, but hasn't been in a serious environment to really let his skills flourish.
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This is pretty much it. I've seen him play a bit. He really has quite a high ceiling, and probably hasn't trained hard enough as a kid but will probably benefit from a professional environment.

Moves very well and makes good decisions with the ball. Apparently Hawthorn were very keen and were thinking about taking him in the 30's but banked on the fact nobody else would take him so decided to get him in the 50's, only for Bris to come in and swoop.
 
It’s not just the names, Patty 2 gives me a very similar vibe to Patty 1. Very talented but for different reasons not on people’s radars come draft day.

Given Hadley’s performance in previous drafts I have a very strong vibe about this kid.

Get the feeling that the P1 and P2 could become quite a handful in the same forward line.
 

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Redden just tweeted:

picked up patty weardin from airport. Might battle with @rockwiz38 cuddling sessions on the couch tho#timewilltell
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Obviously the surname was a bit of a struggle for him too, but great to see the boys are welcoming the cubs with open arms. :)
 
Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board

Patrick Wearden is a player from our TAC Cup affiliate side, the Murray Bushrangers. He has played 3 matches this season for Collingwood under the 23rd man rule, which allows for VFL sides to play a 23rd player from their TAC Cup affiliate.

Wearden has played 14 matches this season for the Bushies, notching up a modest 8 goals in total. He also played for them last year in 9 matches, also scoring 8 goals.
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Murray Bushrangers 2011

Code: 
                        Total   Average
Games                   14      1
Goals                   8       0.57
Behinds                 5       0.36
Effective kicks         88      6.29
Ineffective kicks       52      3.71
(total)                 140     10
Effective handballs     74      5.29
Ineffective handballs   32      2.29
(total)                 106     7.57
Handballs received      76      5.43
Tackles                 55      3.92
Frees for               9       0.64
Frees against           6       0.43
Hit outs                0       0
Contested marks         14      1
Uncontested marks       46      3.29
 
Andrew Carson (Murray Bushrangers region manager)

DOB: 6/8/93. Ht: 191 cm. Wt: 75kg.
Pos: Medium midfielder.
"Terrific size for a half forward/winger, Patrick has been through our program right from under-14s. He is a left footer who finds a lot of the footy and can really run and break the lines. Versatile player similar to Jack Crisp, and can play at each end of the ground as well as through the midfield."

wearden.jpg
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Voss-

“As we went through the list, we started ticking the players off and Patrick Wearden was still there. That was another nice surprise for us. He’s 191cm, moves really well and is probably more of an outside midfielder, but can play inside. So we’ve been able to bolster our midfield strength that’s for sure.”
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Sounds like he was targeted more as a mid than a forward. Our utility stocks are certainly increasing.
 
Rob Kerr

His pre-season involved one session per week with the Bushrangers, and in season he trained only twice a week with the Bushrangers squad, often getting home at 10.30-11pm at night. This information helped us appreciate that Patrick has had very little exposure to a program at anything like the intensity that many of his peers in the cities had experienced. It also provided some explanation as to why his season was a little up and down as the demands on his time, including working the family farm, were significant.

As a player, Patrick is a good mark, can run well and demonstrated towards the end of this season that he is capable of coming off the wing and involving himself in heavy congestion, winning the ball and delivering it to a team-mate on the outside. His knack of keeping his hands clear when under pressure so that he can deliver a clean handball to a team-mate is also eye-catching.

When in traffic, he is also very agile and competitive. Patrick has a unique ball drop, but is generally an effective kick although no doubt the coaches will work on the way he positions his hand over the ball. At 191 cm and very lightly built, Patrick comes to the Club in a condition not unlike Patrick Karnezis. He can be expected to build his body up over the next year or two and when he does, it is hoped that we have a player who can win his own ball as well as play outside on the wing and flanks or even been rotated through a key forward position to change things up.

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Photo courtesy of Jorgo
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Wearden wonderful
By Michael Whiting
12:59 PM Wed 30 Nov, 2011

He can play anywhere from half-back to wing to half-forward and at 191cm is a good size in any position.

Wearden missed selection in the Vic Country team that contested the U18 national championships, but he says that setback did not slow him down.

"A lot of people don't expect those that miss out on the rep sides to get picked up in the draft," Wearden said.

"I was lucky enough to get a few VFL games with Collingwood and I think that might have helped my chances a bit.

"I think a lot of clubs see a bit of upside with the country boys because we don't have the exposure with the facilities that the city boys do, so I think that might have helped my chances as well."

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Quigley

Patrick Wearden
DOB 6/8/93 Ht 190.9 Wt 74

First up I have seen stuff all of Wearden so my write up is based on a pretty small sample size and a few comments from those who have seen a bit of him. First up what position will he play? Cotter seems to have his heart set on him being a FF but I really don’t see it.Too me he looks like a flanker most likely at the forward end. He played 14 games for the Murray Bushrangers this year in the TAC and finished with 17.5 possessions a game but only managed 8 goals in total. He did not always play in the forward half but he did get forward enough for that to be a disappointing return. He also played 3 games for Collingwood in the VFL as a 23rd man and acquitted himself well from all accounts.

Wearden is a good size for a flanker and gets around the park pretty well. He has good hands overhead but he doesn’t really get off the ground much in the marking contest. At AFL level he might do okay on a flank but I think he could struggle to mark the ball as a leading target where the bigger AFL guys can jump over him and spoil. Athletically he is fine but nothing spectacular. He has nice pace for a tall (2.97 in the 20m) and was pretty much bang on average for agility and endurance (8.57 agility, 14.15 beep and 11.02 3km).

Kerr played up the fact that Wearden was a country boy in his post draft comments and him supposedly having less exposure to a high intensity program. This was pure spin and a complete furphy. Wearden has been in the Bushrangers elite program for the last four years and whilst he might be from country Victoria it’s not like he is from central Queensland. He has trained with very good players, had access to high level coaching and been on a high performance program since he was 14 years old. Brett Deledio is from the same area and he did not need the “he’s from the country” excuse. There are plenty who you could certainly trot that line out for (e.g. Manson and Schloithe) but Wearden is not one of them in my opinion.

Wearden weighed in at only 74kgs at Combine and this did surprise me quite a bit. He has a decent set of shoulders on him and looks heavier than the 74kgs he actually is. I see him as a lot like Collier in height and build and in probably the types of positions he will play. At this stage you would hope that he has a bit better skills than Tom demonstrated but he does lack some of Tom’s physicality and defensive attitude.

He is very much an outside player and lacks a bit of grunt / intensity in his play. He and Yeo are much alike in this regard and it did surprise me to see us take two actually very similar players. Like Yeo, Wearden also has a fairly good, penetrating kick. He tends to kick the ball a bit more on its point than is usual but he does get pretty good accuracy and feel on his kicks. He is a left footer and pretty one sided.

Overall I thought Wearden probably did not have the runs on the board to be taken in the national draft. That is not to say he won’t end up justifying the pick but merely that there were others available who had done more with the opportunities they have been given. Wearden has been picked on upside that the recruitment staff see in him as he develops physically and with the work that will be demanded of him in a full time environment. At the stage where he was taken that’s fair enough and I hope he more than justifies the selection.
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