Opinion Who do you think are going to be the break out players in 2016?

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He looks to have the Goal sneak ability of Milne (not as good but not many were) with the way he can move in that forward 50 and also the natural football brain of Schneider. It will be interesting if he is able to push up into the midfield ala brent harvey.. I was thinking more of a Lachie Neale (fingers crossed)

Going to games last season I was really impressed with Lonie and Sinclair's ability to get back in defence. He is naturally a more complete player than Milne but I see him as forward predominantly but with the ability to play some on ball. My son took a liking to Lonie after meeting him preseason and we watched him pretty closely. His ability to get the ball on his boot quickly and his clean hands are excellent. He isn't as accurate as Milney but he still does the miraculous like his kick along the boundary goal. My son runs around doing "Lonies" now when ever he kicks freak goals, three years ago it was "Milnies".
 
Feb 11, 2013
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Acres @ $51 for the rising star?

Easily worth a quick 10 buck bet.
I got him at $67 and parted with a fifty.
Hopefully he pulls through and earns me a couple of weeks in the sun somewhere at the end of the season.

No pressure though Blake :D.
 

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Sep 22, 2015
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Going to games last season I was really impressed with Lonie and Sinclair's ability to get back in defence. He is naturally a more complete player than Milne but I see him as forward predominantly but with the ability to play some on ball. My son took a liking to Lonie after meeting him preseason and we watched him pretty closely. His ability to get the ball on his boot quickly and his clean hands are excellent. He isn't as accurate as Milney but he still does the miraculous like his kick along the boundary goal. My son runs around doing "Lonies" now when ever he kicks freak goals, three years ago it was "Milnies".

After watching Jack Sinclair for 5 second last year, the player that came to mind was Sam Mitchell. I remember keeping a close eye on him and the more he played the more he resembles Mitchell. The kid just oozes class and never loosk rushed anywhere on the ground. he uses the ball so well and is always composed, its remarkable to see from a first year player let alone a rookie.

On Lonie, he just has that touch of freakish ability that you just sit back and go man what a kick (the boundary one as you said) but the good thing about him is that he does the simple things well and doesnt over complicate it as some tend to do with that many tricks in their bag.
 

felsty

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After watching Jack Sinclair for 5 second last year, the player that came to mind was Sam Mitchell. I remember keeping a close eye on him and the more he played the more he resembles Mitchell. The kid just oozes class and never loosk rushed anywhere on the ground. he uses the ball so well and is always composed, its remarkable to see from a first year player let alone a rookie.

On Lonie, he just has that touch of freakish ability that you just sit back and go man what a kick (the boundary one as you said) but the good thing about him is that he does the simple things well and doesnt over complicate it as some tend to do with that many tricks in their bag.
On Sinclair, what reminds me of Mitchell are those short snappy steps that he makes on the spot, pivoting, making space, and taking really calculated steps while keeping his feet. Mitchell does it so well and stays in the game longer and executes better because of it. His retention rate would be ridiculously high!
 
Yea he seems to be able to accumulate them, but he is not damaging enough (can be with his kicking). At the end of the game you look at the stat sheet and it says he got 25 but you only really notice a handful of those. Its hard to explain, but they for a guy who gets it 25 times he does do enough damage with his kicking even though he is a really good user by foot.

I used to be like that with joey. I would do the "he had a s**t game" to mates and look up the stats and see he got 32 possessions. He does everything so evenly and with out fuss so you don't notice him. He also is physically quite un-outstanding so gets lost. He sat at 4th or 5th at the club across nearly every stat last year except hit outs and goals which is a pretty fair effort. He got better late too. His move onto a wing took time to pay of. I looked out for him one day and was surprised by how many touches he does accumulate...I think it might have been the bombers game so there wasn't much opposition probably.
 
On Sinclair, what reminds me of Mitchell are those short snappy steps that he makes on the spot, pivoting, making space, and taking really calculated steps while keeping his feet. Mitchell does it so well and stays in the game longer and executes better because of it. His retention rate would be ridiculously high!

There were times last year where he was running with his wide legged gait and I thought of Robert harvey...just pumped those big thighs and takes off. He is very balanced like both those guys.
 
Sep 22, 2015
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I used to be like that with joey. I would do the "he had a s**t game" to mates and look up the stats and see he got 32 possessions. He does everything so evenly and with out fuss so you don't notice him. He also is physically quite un-outstanding so gets lost. He sat at 4th or 5th at the club across nearly every stat last year except hit outs and goals which is a pretty fair effort. He got better late too. His move onto a wing took time to pay of. I looked out for him one day and was surprised by how many touches he does accumulate...I think it might have been the bombers game so there wasn't much opposition probably.

Yea he is a solid all round player, but I just think he needs more of a killer edge when he has the footy and be able to hit the score board way more often if he wants to play on the wing. I still have high hopes for him to take that next step and was a bit dissapointed when he didn't grab the on ball chance at the start of last year. The good thing is about him, every year he has gradually improved and I see no reason why that will stop anytime soon.
 

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Not a break out young bloke that hasn't made a permanent mark but my prediction for 2016...

Jack Steven AA, top 10 Brownlow, Saints B&F

I reckon you are safe barring injury. He and Armo only missed out because selectors like a couple of years form to take notice IMO. Both lead AFL stats all year and there were a few probably still in on reputation. Jack stacks up pretty well against most mids in the comp these days and Armo not far behind but with less flash.
 
Jan 7, 2011
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Re-watched some of Lonie's first game (v GWS) the other night and a couple of the things he did in it were seriously impressive. The first one was when he sold a couple of dummies to someone and then nailed the left foot pass into the F50 after he'd finished making him look silly and then later on he did a couple of exceptional one-touch pick-up's off the deck at speed, that very few would be able to pull off.

He certainly has some tricks and I also remember one game when we threw him into the guts for a couple of centre bounces late in the game when it was over as a contest and he immediately got the next two centre clearances.

One thing we haven't really had a lot of in my 25 years following the club is those who are able to rotate really effectively between the forward line and midfield, but I can see us having a really good group who will be able to do that effectively going forward, in Billings, Steven, Armo, Joey, Roo, Gilbo, Sinclair, Lonie, Acres, Gresham, Weller, and also Minch and Templeton, if they make it. That could be by far and away the most versatility we've had in this regard in my time following the club.
 
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Jan 7, 2011
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I reckon you are safe barring injury. He and Armo only missed out because selectors like a couple of years form to take notice IMO. Both lead AFL stats all year and there were a few probably still in on reputation. Jack stacks up pretty well against most mids in the comp these days and Armo not far behind but with less flash.
As I pointed out in a post a few weeks ago, I actually don't think Steven was anywhere near as damaging last season as he was in his first B&F season (which was reflected in his stats, which showed that aside from his tackle numbers being well up in 2015, he was a lot more effective both inside and outside in 2013, hit the scoreboard much more that year and used the ball a lot better), but I suspect that is as a result of him having a very reduced preseason last year (I was told he still hadn't started running as of about Christmas time last preseason, on the back of his leg problems that previous year), on the back of an injury-affected 2014, so I'm really bullish about what Jack might produce this year if it's correct that he had a very short preseason last year, and he has a full one this year.

Now that he seems to have the professionalism, work ethic, tank and consistency that he probably lacked in his early years, I could see him really stepping it up a notch or two this year and really killing it. I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes as much as I am any of the younger group.
 
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Jan 7, 2011
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I got him at $67 and parted with a fifty.
Hopefully he pulls through and earns me a couple of weeks in the sun somewhere at the end of the season.

No pressure though Blake :D.
Haha, he was still at $67 as of a couple of days ago with TAB, which I was pretty shocked to see. He was the same odds as Bailey Rice (who might as well be 2000-1) and NOK, which makes no sense whatsoever and was double the odds of Gresham and Paddy-Mac, who I don't think will be ready to win it this year. Think Freeman was under $20, even though he supposedly won't play any preseason games or intra-club's!

I'd have Blake ahead of all of them in the betting, so I reckon he's extraordinarily good value and am surprised he hasn't come in off the back of Richo talking him up numerous times lately in particular.
 
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Feb 11, 2013
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Haha, he was still at $67 as of a couple of days ago with TAB, which I was pretty shocked to see. He was the same odds as Bailey Rice (who might as well be 2000-1) and NOK, which makes no sense whatsoever and was double the odds of Gresham and Paddy-Mac, who I don't think will be ready to win it this year. Think Freeman was under $20, even though he supposedly won't play any preseason games or intra-club's!

I'd have Blake ahead of all of them in the betting, so I reckon he's extraordinarily good value and am surprised he hasn't come in off the back of Richo talking him up numerous times lately.
You followed my exact thought process.
I had a flick through the odds out of curiosity a few weeks ago and thought i'd gone past Blake's name when I started reaching the $35 mark, but when I found he was on par with some other clubs rookie listed players the TAB machine couldn't take my money fast enough.
 
You know how they say tall players take longer etc etc all the time. Well I think Lewie is developing quite nicely, physically. You don't hear much about him skulls wise, although you. Ever hear of him having a bad game. Having gifted Holmesy a couple of games last year, I'd like to see big Lewie given a fair run. He just might surprise.
 
Sep 22, 2015
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You know how they say tall players take longer etc etc all the time. Well I think Lewie is developing quite nicely, physically. You don't hear much about him skulls wise, although you. Ever hear of him having a bad game. Having gifted Holmesy a couple of games last year, I'd like to see big Lewie given a fair run. He just might surprise.
I think that will probably happen towards the end of the season if we have no chance of making the finals..
 

Nutsngum

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The thing about Lonie is his attitude to the game. He is a nipping little prick who will happily tackle someone twice his size, get thrown off, tackle someone else and then give them lip right after.

Take a look at him giving it to Robert Murphy during the comeback game. Not many 18yos have the confidence to sledge a veteran and a club captain to boot.

Thats what you call winning attitude and why his size is not going to impede him going forward.
 

Saintbloke

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I reckon Murdoch might be a bit of a dark horse for a step up this season. Seems to have got all the attributes for a strong half forward- good contested mark, great kick.
 

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