List Mgmt. Welcome to Geelong, Tanner Bruhn

[Mr Meow]

Haha I’m just laying low here.

Warhorse is fighting the good fight for the old me.

Bruhn is tracking nicely, although he is still the least productive mid we have (but I’ve come to terms that that is ok due to his age).

Some of the people putting in votes most weeks and talking him up saying “he was great again” after 17 touch games is going a little far for mine…. But I can see Bruhn is improving and is at least playing consistently solid off the bench.

He has zero coaches votes for the year, so not one time this year has either coach in our games thought he was in the top 5 players on the ground (not the end of the world though).

He kicked nicely last night and finally adjusted his radar which was encouraging.

Would I swap him back for the draft pick we gave up for him? No shot.

He is going ok and I think next year he and Holmes might really click.

I will note that he will certainly go up a level as soon as we have a ruck that can win a tap to advantage and make a plan around getting it to him at stoppages, because that area is his strength and should only get stronger as he gets older… So come on down Toby Conway in a couple of years.

Having him allows us to release Holmes to the wing.

Having him has allowed our midfield to be competitive enough to beat Melbourne and Bulldogs without Dangerfield and Guthrie - remove him from the Sydney game and there's another loss.

He stood up when Dangerfield went down in the Adelaide game.

He was brilliant before his injury in the Port game and almost a lone hand.

His first few games he struggled but besides that, he is giving us plenty as a kid and new recruit.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

He's a chip off the old block that's for sure.

 

[Warhorse]

Haha I’m just laying low here.

Warhorse is fighting the good fight for the old me.

Bruhn is tracking nicely, although he is still the least productive mid we have (but I’ve come to terms that that is ok due to his age).

Some of the people putting in votes most weeks and talking him up saying “he was great again” after 17 touch games is going a little far for mine…. But I can see Bruhn is improving and is at least playing consistently solid off the bench.

He has zero coaches votes for the year, so not one time this year has either coach in our games thought he was in the top 5 players on the ground (not the end of the world though).

He kicked nicely last night and finally adjusted his radar which was encouraging.

Would I swap him back for the draft pick we gave up for him? No shot.

He is going ok and I think next year he and Holmes might really click.

I will note that he will certainly go up a level as soon as we have a ruck that can win a tap to advantage and make a plan around getting it to him at stoppages, because that area is his strength and should only get stronger as he gets older… So come on down Toby Conway in a couple of years.

As of last Friday this board had him ahead of Hawkins in the best and fairest.

Yes he is improving but he is currently our worst mid and not fit enough to play much more than 60% game time. He has had 3 pre seasons ffs surely he can run out a game a little better.

And that's also disregarding what his opponent is doing throughout the game. By position he is below average right now. I call it as I see it on how he is playing this year.

Others give him votes and rate a 17 disposal game as 'excellent' based on some future scenario in which he is a gun.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Possession numbers don't mean a great deal either.

Bruhn doesn't need to average 25+ dpg to have a big impact.

He's tracking beautifully for a player with under 50 games experience.

 

[cats_09]

As of last Friday this board had him ahead of Hawkins in the best and fairest.

Yes he is improving but he is currently our worst mid and not fit enough to play much more than 60% game time. He has had 3 pre seasons ffs surely he can run out a game a little better.

And that's also disregarding what his opponent is doing throughout the game. By position he is below average right now. I call it as I see it on how he is playing this year.

Others give him votes and rate a 17 disposal game as 'excellent' based on some future scenario in which he is a gun.

Except he played 72% TOG on Saturday night, meanwhile Blicavs who wasn't subbed out played only 64%...

I'm guessing Dangerfield isn't fit either since he's had a few sub 60% TOG matches recently?

Comparing the average TOG of our inside mids this year to last year and it actually looks very similar across the board and it looks more of a coaching directive/player management plan rather than specific to one or two players seemingly not being fit. We look to rotate those players on & off the bench more than we do those at either end of the ground, trust our KP players to have the endurance to stay on the park for longer periods

A good example of the changes in TOG is Dangerfield - from 2010 (when we've got recorded data) until 2020, his lowest average TOG was 80.7%, he never averaged lower than 80% TOG across those 11 years. In the 3 years since, his average has been slowly dropping, 2021 - 72.8%, 2022 - 74.7%, 2023 - 64.9%. And yes his disposal count has taken a slight hit dropping from an average of 27.1 in 2019 (last season of full length games) to 23.2, 22.4 & 21.6 over the past 3 years, but he's up in other areas - including inside 50s, goal assists, clearances etc, and funnily enough there's not too much difference between his metres gained stats across his last 9 seasons, excluding his Brownlow year of 2016 which was a phenomenal year


So yes Tanner is averaging a lower TOG, but I wouldn't be so quick to jump on it being reflective of an apparent fitness concern - the club looks to have changed their approach to the role his playing and seeing less minutes from our inside mids, but looking for them to a higher impact in those minutes they are on the ground

 

[calder_daddy]

Here’s a fun fact
In the past fortnight Atkins has had less time on the ground than Bruhn

#Unfit

 

[D BRIDGE]

Having him allows us to release Holmes to the wing.

Having him has allowed our midfield to be competitive enough to beat Melbourne and Bulldogs without Dangerfield and Guthrie - remove him from the Sydney game and there's another loss.

He stood up when Dangerfield went down in the Adelaide game.

He was brilliant before his injury in the Port game and almost a lone hand.

His first few games he struggled but besides that, he is giving us plenty as a kid and new recruit.

We should be getting Holmes the pill on the outside as much as possible so he can use his speed... I have been strong on that for ages.

I'm giving Bruhn his flowers and I'm happy with how he is going, but he still has a way to go to become even just a slightly above-average player (but he may get there and go past it hopefully).

I think he had 13 touches in that Crows game and maybe 4 in the last half after Danger went off... But he chimed in with a couple of nice clearances late that people noticed... But he really was a non-factor for the entire game besides getting a few late touches.

I can't say I agree about the Port game... I remember it vividly... Bruhn showed good signs by getting the ball a bit but he was on Butters a number of times and ran under the ball which cost multiple "out the front" stoppages to his direct opponent... But yes he was getting the ball but he was still a net negative for mine in that particular game due to missing open targets by foot and his opponent at times getting very easy clearances.

I can see the signs but just me personally, I don't label that as brilliant.

I have switched it up though and I'm happy with how he is going and can see that he should develop over time to a hopefully very decent player.

 

[Generalissimo]

All the midfielders' numbers are down because we are spreading the load more evenly than other teams do, as well as rotating more non-midfielders through there occasionally. Close, Miers, O'Connor, Smith, all spend some time in the guts. I think I even saw Dempsey attend a center bounce the other week. This prevents us getting a lot of 30+ possession games from individual players, but also makes us effectively tagproof. For Bruhn to be increasing his output with this strategy and with other midfielders returning from injury is encouraging.

 

[Shadow89]

As of last Friday this board had him ahead of Hawkins in the best and fairest.

Yes he is improving but he is currently our worst mid and not fit enough to play much more than 60% game time. He has had 3 pre seasons ffs surely he can run out a game a little better.

And that's also disregarding what his opponent is doing throughout the game. By position he is below average right now. I call it as I see it on how he is playing this year.

Others give him votes and rate a 17 disposal game as 'excellent' based on some future scenario in which he is a gun.

Sorry mate, but you're completely off on this again. Have tried explaining this multiple times, but as Scott has alluded to before, our mids just don't play high minutes anymore. It's by design. Our forwards and backs play massive minutes, while our mids play 'impact minutes', which gives us an edge in there over some other sides.

If you look on the weekend these were our mid TOG numbers:

Danger - 54%

Blics (athletic beast who can play 100% if he wants) - 64%

T. Atkins - 70%

O'Connor (perma tagger needed on ground whenever Merrett was) - 79%

Holmes (mix with wing, and also athletic beast) - 84%

Bruhn - 72%

***************

So if you look at our pure inside mid rotation, he played more than anyone (except Merrick who needed to be on ground to tag Merrett whenever he was on) - including Atkins.

His TOG has been steadily increasing every week, as has his DE - which was a whopping 90% on the weekend. Nothing wrong with his tank - that seems to be a coaching decision to ease him in -, and his disposal was only impacted due to confidence early on. Has gone to another level in the past 6 or so weeks as his confidence has grown. If he had to play 80% TOG, he would.

As it stands though, our rotations have been such, that the last two years have seen us basically run everyone else on the ground for 85-90%+, and then our mids play extremely low TOG so they're fresh right throughout the game. This is by design, as stated by Scott and the players - and not a flaw of Tanner's.

 

[dazbroncos]

Caddy averaged over 20 touches and more than a goal a game in the last year at Geelong. Very good without being a star at Richmond. I think Bruhn will have similar level of success without have a year to the standard of Caddy's standout 2018 season

So then youd have to give Bruhn the same time in the Geelong system to get a fair comparison IMO.

Ill wait till then.

Caddy had 4 years at Geelong so we can look at Bruhn after 4 years at Geelong.
2018 as you referred to he was at Richmond in his second year... so you are comparing Caddy in his 8th year of footy and 2 years after leaving Geelong to a player in his 3rd year of footy and his first year at Geelong.
So im not sure you are even comparing the same player at the same club or what you hanging onto to but that cracking sound you hear is the basis of your insistence that Bruhn is limited and not good enough even thought he's clearly getting better, still young and trending upwards.


GO Catters

 

[Warhorse]

So then youd have to give Bruhn the same time in the Geelong system to get a fair comparison IMO.

Ill wait till then.

Caddy had 4 years at Geelong so we can look at Bruhn after 4 years at Geelong.
2018 as you referred to he was at Richmond in his second year... so you are comparing Caddy in his 8th year of footy and 2 years after leaving Geelong to a player in his 3rd year of footy and his first year at Geelong.
So im not sure you are even comparing the same player at the same club or what you hanging onto to but that cracking sound you hear is the basis of your insistence that Bruhn is limited and not good enough even thought he's clearly getting better, still young and trending upwards.


GO Catters

That's fair. I got the impression you were talking down Caddy when he was a pretty good player imo. I would be happy if Bruhn reached the level of borderline AA/squad by position at his peak. That would mean he becomes a better player than Atkins for example

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Here’s a fun fact
In the past fortnight Atkins has had less time on the ground than Bruhn

#Unfit

Get that fat plodder out of the team!!

In all seriousness, what has most impressed me about Bruhn in the last 6 weeks is his time and space. Watch him carefully and he rarely looks rushed, and he knows that he's going to have time on either side of his body.

It's a weapon for us in transition and it's reminded me a lot of a young Lachie Neale. He's only going to improve in this area as he becomes more comfortable with the speed of AFL level.

Similarly, as his fitness builds over another couple of pre-seasons so will his possession numbers. That 19 that we're so accustomed to is quickly going to turn into 25-30 as he gets that extra 10-15% in gametime.

Love the kid and his toughness, and could see him being a leadership staple at our club for 10-15 years.

 

[Matthew Jelley]

I'm all I'm for the Bruhn hype
Agree that he is still developing and eventually will need to have some games with more disposals but nothing wrong with the role he is playing and value to the team right now

 

[D BRIDGE]

I say this through gritted teeth… but as I say “I call it as I see it no matter what”.

I can kinda see Bruhn as a potential captain or vice captain down the road.

Either him or Holmes… Clark also potentially In the mix.

 

[Cataholic]

I say this through gritted teeth… but as I say “I call it as I see it no matter what”.

I can kinda see Bruhn as a potential captain or vice captain down the road.

Either him or Holmes… Clark also potentially In the mix.

You're expecting to become a well respected player then.

So am I.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I say this through gritted teeth… but as I say “I call it as I see it no matter what”.

I can kinda see Bruhn as a potential captain or vice captain down the road.

Either him or Holmes… Clark also potentially In the mix.

Don't grit too hard you'll need sensodyne like me.

My job gives me a lot of internalised rage

 

[catstragic]

I say this through gritted teeth… but as I say “I call it as I see it no matter what”.

I can kinda see Bruhn as a potential captain or vice captain down the road.

Either him or Holmes… Clark also potentially In the mix.

He's very composed. Its a good start.

 

[terry_bright]

He's very composed. Its a good start.

He has a step in traffic that buys him a bit more time. that’s a quality trait to build on.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I think he's going along really nicely for an inside mid that has just turned 21. He's progressed a long way from the early games when he looked all at sea. He oozes class with his step and 2-sided kicking ability.

But I think the talk has gotten a bit ahead of his performances recently and if Guthrie gets back I think he's likely to be squeezed out (possibly to play as sub). There's a difference between showing great signs and looking at home at the level, and being able to dominate games the way you need inside mids to be able to do.

So lock him in for 250+ games. But I think this year he might be one of the unlucky ones.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I think he's going along really nicely for an inside mid that has just turned 21. He's progressed a long way from the early games when he looked all at sea. He oozes class with his step and 2-sided kicking ability.

But I think the talk has gotten a bit ahead of his performances recently and if Guthrie gets back I think he's likely to be squeezed out (possibly to play as sub). There's a difference between showing great signs and looking at home at the level, and being able to dominate games the way you need inside mids to be able to do.

So lock him in for 250+ games. But I think this year he might be one of the unlucky ones.

He won't be squeezed lout, unless he has a dramatic loss of form (loss of form meaning 4 or more bad weeks in a row).

 

[Gunf]

Bruhn has

Elite step
Good to great decision making
Good to great disposal (now that he has settled)
Elite hands in close
Good to great defensive runner
Not afraid of the hard stuff and loves a tackle

Yes he has a few things he needs to work on but he has all the tool to make it as an elite inside mid

 

[dazbroncos]

Bruhn has

Elite step
Good to great decision making
Good to great disposal (now that he has settled)
Elite hands in close
Good to great defensive runner
Not afraid of the hard stuff and loves a tackle

Yes he has a few things he needs to work on but he has all the tool to make it as an elite inside mid

I think you are correct in this his ceiling may be elite but IMO he has work to do before he hits those heights.

Hes good... and getting better but elite get thrown around too much thse days.. not there yet.

Can he get there... yes.... with time

GO Catters

 

[allrighty]

As of last Friday this board had him ahead of Hawkins in the best and fairest.

Yes he is improving but he is currently our worst mid and not fit enough to play much more than 60% game time. He has had 3 pre seasons ffs surely he can run out a game a little better.

And that's also disregarding what his opponent is doing throughout the game. By position he is below average right now. I call it as I see it on how he is playing this year.

Others give him votes and rate a 17 disposal game as 'excellent' based on some future scenario in which he is a gun.

Watching from the ground he was clearly in the best v the Dons

 

[Gunf]

Watching from the ground he was clearly in the best v the Dons

I had him just outside the top 5 best probably 6th or 7th but yes he had a great night

 

[Turbocat]

With all the commotion about Harley Reids questions and answers ... I wonder what GWS asked Bruhn and how he answered them.