Jade Gresham the most talented player under 21 in the league ?

[master bate]

He's a beauty. I love his side step and ability to break a tackle.

But he's not a super quick forward pocket who will sprint or crumb a bag of goals, nor is he a marking player (which is normal for a 177cm player). Then when he goes in to the midfield he doesn't smash them at the clearances, doesn't seem to rack up huge disposals nor does he have true line breaking speed.

Every team would love him as that 5th or 6th midfielder playing half forward because he's super clean with the ball and can be damaging but at this (ver early) stage unless he moves in to the middle and starts racking up touches I wonder if he has a ceiling.

I could be made to look silly saying that but hey it's a thread about judging young players.

The Saints decision to trade for Carlisle and Gresham will be a real hit if Carlisle plays the way he can, but if it's Gresham as the best player with an assist from Carlisle it might not look so great.

 

[Fear Boner]

He's a beauty. I love his side step and ability to break a tackle.

But he's not a super quick forward pocket who will sprint or crumb a bag of goals, nor is he a marking player (which is normal for a 177cm player). Then when he goes in to the midfield he doesn't smash them at the clearances, doesn't seem to rack up huge disposals nor does he have true line breaking speed.

Every team would love him as that 5th or 6th midfielder playing half forward because he's super clean with the ball and can be damaging but at this (ver early) stage unless he moves in to the middle and starts racking up touches I wonder if he has a ceiling.

I could be made to look silly saying that but hey it's a thread about judging young players.

The Saints decision to trade for Carlisle and Gresham will be a real hit if Carlisle plays the way he can, but if it's Gresham as the best player with an assist from Carlisle it might not look so great.

Pity it's Carlisle

 

[hairy biker]

Spoiler: You have to give Nuggetchef some credit

he's caught a few to drop into his deep fryer.

 

[aussierulesrules]

If he isn't then someone else sure is!

He was rated the best under 20yo for his position by Champion Data last year though and some of the stuff he does is seriously freakish, like the goal he kicked at the end of the first quarter on Saturday (how that didn't get a nom for goal of thew week is embarrassing for the AFL) and the one he kicked up against the boundary at the death against Geelong last year to put us in front or whatever.

At this early stage he looks like he could be another Milne for us (his fancy footwork is eerily similar and he's much better at the same age), if he is played forward pretty much all the time, but he has much more midfield potential than Milne ever did, so I imagine unless he's just kicking too many goals to move out of the forward line, he will spend a fair bit of time in the midfield going forward.

When played there his killer sidestep and aggressive handballing (he did a couple of crackers last year that really opened up the game for us) will be two of his big weapons.

 

[Eaglespur]

Venables

 

[bullish23]

It's amazing since the Bont's 21st bday how many of these threads have popped up

 

[00Stinger]

Looks set for big things ?

Lol wasnt even in the two most talented under 21's running around in the melbourne v saings game on sat

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[aussierulesrules]

He's a beauty. I love his side step and ability to break a tackle.

But he's not a super quick forward pocket who will sprint or crumb a bag of goals, nor is he a marking player (which is normal for a 177cm player). Then when he goes in to the midfield he doesn't smash them at the clearances, doesn't seem to rack up huge disposals nor does he have true line breaking speed.

Every team would love him as that 5th or 6th midfielder playing half forward because he's super clean with the ball and can be damaging but at this (ver early) stage unless he moves in to the middle and starts racking up touches I wonder if he has a ceiling.

The thing with him is that he hasn't really spent much time in the midfield though, as his tank is meant to be a long way from where it needs to be for that and given that he's so useful forward at the moment, there's no need to rush him in there until it is.

Our game against Carlton in R20 last year was really the first time he'd spent any significant time in the midfield and he was moved in there after about quarter time in that game, and he had about 5 clearances for the quarter and ended up with a game-high 8- to go with 25 disposals (13 contested- only Cripps had more that day) and 460m gained, from just 73% game time.

In the weeks leading into that game his disposal numbers had been steadily increasing (16 & 1 goal, 16 & 1, 19 & 1, 19, 19 & 1, 17- which are more than acceptable numbers for someone under 20yo playing mostly forward) and then he was given a real crack in the middle and he killed it. It wouldn't surprise me if that game in the midfield took a fair bit of of him though, as he dropped back to 16 disposals for his next/last two games.

Even Paddy apparently beat him in a time-trial this preseason, so I think it's fair to say he won't be playing exclusively midfield any time soon, but even if he just ends up playing 70% forward and 30% midfield that will be fine- especially if he's kicking a couple of goals in that time forward and breaking lots of ankles. I could definitely see him having some 40 or 50 goal seasons if he plays enough forward and develops as hoped.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

I don't even know who he is .. is that bad? I like the ranga from Melbourne Oliver

 

[Bazza97]

Wouldn't go as far as saying he's the most talented player u21, but I'm sure the Saints would be delighted to have got him at pick 18 in the 2015 draft. Exciting that he's got the flexibility and talent to play both in the midfield and up forward which is an advantage. You'd think he'll become a more permanent mid in time but regardless he should become a very good player for St Kilda.

 

[aussierulesrules]

I don't even know who he is .. is that bad?

He's this guy, in the no. 22 guernsey:

 

[demondavey]

Lot of people aren't reading the thread properly. Most talented isn't 'best' or 'most influential'. Maybe Gresham is more talented than Parrish, Weitering, Oliver, Petracca for example..... but he isn't necessarily more influential or better.

 

[Fear Boner]

Lot of people aren't reading the thread properly. Most talented isn't 'best' or 'most influential'. Maybe Gresham is more talented than Parrish, Weitering, Oliver, Petracca for example..... but he isn't necessarily more influential or better.

He's not even close ....
Old mate nuggetchef is sharing the same meth pipe as

 

[Ambrosia]

He's a beauty. I love his side step and ability to break a tackle.

But he's not a super quick forward pocket who will sprint or crumb a bag of goals, nor is he a marking player (which is normal for a 177cm player). Then when he goes in to the midfield he doesn't smash them at the clearances, doesn't seem to rack up huge disposals nor does he have true line breaking speed.

Every team would love him as that 5th or 6th midfielder playing half forward because he's super clean with the ball and can be damaging but at this (ver early) stage unless he moves in to the middle and starts racking up touches I wonder if he has a ceiling.

I could be made to look silly saying that but hey it's a thread about judging young players.

The Saints decision to trade for Carlisle and Gresham will be a real hit if Carlisle plays the way he can, but if it's Gresham as the best player with an assist from Carlisle it might not look so great.

I think you're underrating his potential. I don't see why he can't rack up the footy when he moves into the midfield and become Lachie Hunter/Zach Merrett type player.

 

[aussierulesrules]

I think you're underrating his potential. I don't see why he can't rack up the footy when he moves into the midfield and become Lachie Hunter/Zach Merrett type player.

His tank even in a few years might hold him back from racking up really big numbers regularly. He's the type who doesn't necessarily need a lot of possessions to hurt a team though, so it might not matter that much.

 

[Nuggetchef]

Lot of people aren't reading the thread properly. Most talented isn't 'best' or 'most influential'. Maybe Gresham is more talented than Parrish, Weitering, Oliver, Petracca for example..... but he isn't necessarily more influential or better.

yeah definitely not the most influential but talent wise he would be up there.Just needs too string some games together

 

[blitzer]

I'm not sure he's more talented than any of the top 5 of his draft: Weitering, Schache, Mills, Oliver and Parish. Milera is no slouch either and Weideman (spelling?) also looks pretty good. Gresham hasn't done enough to separate himself from the pack.

 

[Acinath]

Not even top 3 in his draft class

 

[master bate]

I think you're underrating his potential. I don't see why he can't rack up the footy when he moves into the midfield and become Lachie Hunter/Zach Merrett type player.

Yep probably fair, it's more because so many good young players do it so early in their career it's now more unusual than not that guys develop in to elite players over time. I really like the guy and think he's already a quality player it's more just if he'll be a star.

 

[JVseven]

Terrible thread.

 

[freddy mercury]

Meh, give me 3 or 4 others ahead of him

 

[theprospect]

Who?

There you have it. Seems like barely anyone knows who he even is, which I suppose is a good thing as it lets him slip under the radar a bit. He's an absolute freak and tbh from what I've seen he probably has just about the most upside of any of our young guys.

I wouldn't be throwing around the old 'most talented youngster in the league' saying but he'll be a star no doubt, he has some freakishly good goal sense and his side step is almost reminiscent of one Lenny Hayes. As I said though, probably a good thing for him that he slips under the radar a bit, there are probably 10-15 other guys that the general public would say has more talent than him though, at this stage of his career.

 

[Nutsngum]

On one hand apples do have that crunchy tangy texture that gives you that really clean feeling taste but on the other hand oranges are pretty good as well. Honestly bigfooty, whats your opinion on x vs y? They both are on grids but they point in different directions!

 

[ronpingwins]

Liam Anthony would have to be close

 

[The Prosecutor]

Aaron Francis would have the most raw talent.