List Mgmt. Our current 23 yo and under team

Pykie

Cancelled
10k Posts A Star Wars Fan Pokemon is Life North Melbourne - North 2007 Player Sponsor North Melbourne - 2013 Daw, Black and Gibson Player Sponsorship
Sep 17, 2006
20,605
45,615
Lord's
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Leeds United
Think LT as perfect example of what he's been like.

He backed him in to the point his confidence got completely shot.

He then backed him in despite the fact he was completely cooked and was happy to trade/delist him at the end of that year.

We loved LT's passion, but Scott completely misread both occasions.
 
Mar 19, 2014
5,045
13,291
Newcastle
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Coney Island Warriors, Dallas, Liverpool
Or that you can't really pick 25 year olds for a 23-and-under team.

Was drafted as an overager.
I was inferring my surprise that he's already in the prime of his career and hasn't reached my lofty expectations. This is in part due to injuries, lack of opportunity (there it is again) and form. Hope he reaches the consistent levels of performance this year. Just not completely sure he will anymore.
 
Feb 11, 2013
15,353
31,743
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I'm with you on this. See him as a slow burn. One of the chase down tackles in the VFL said enough to me that he is committed to the gig. And the stretch of games the McKay-Durdin defensive combination had in the VFL might start to pay dividends. I could see both of them potentially playing round 1 if they put together a solid pre-season.
Maj and Thompson out, might be the making of Durdin. I think he just needs to take his opportunity and put it all on the line.
 

Black2Blue

Premiership Player
Aug 15, 2013
3,943
10,299
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Maj and Thompson out, might be the making of Durdin. I think he just needs to take his opportunity and put it all on the line.
Spot on. He will know it is make-or-break time. Had the long apprenticeship and when he has been in the 1sts has been reasonable. That he can play support ruck will be crucial with Maj out.

A round 1 team with BMac, Durds, and EVW in defence and BBB and Wood as KPFs could be a milestone game for our new, emerging combination of talls.
 
I know its not the be all and end all, but heres the breakdown via draft pick;

B: 25 21 36
HB: R 16 8
C: R 4 30
HF: 23 34 R
F: 8 73 41

Rucks: 72 7 12

Int: 46 69 R 49

5 x 1st rounders
7 x 2nd rounders
10 x 3rd rounders to Rookies
A Rookie is a Japanese Wookie right?
1547544804485.png
 
Feb 11, 2013
15,353
31,743
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Spot on. He will know it is make-or-break time. Had the long apprenticeship and when he has been in the 1sts has been reasonable. That he can play support ruck will be crucial with Maj out.

A round 1 team with BMac, Durds, and EVW in defence and BBB and Wood as KPFs could be a milestone game for our new, emerging combination of talls.
I’d love to see BMac forward, BBB needs a chop out and I don’t think Mase or Ziebell are big enough targets.
 
I’d love to see BMac forward, BBB needs a chop out and I don’t think Mase or Ziebell are big enough targets.
I wonder how the boy Larkey is travelling. BMac was Tarrantesque in the backline for the VFL team. And whilst he would certainly be a massive target, could he do it? So my point with Larkey is he can kick goals, and has enough footy smarts and athleticism to be more than handy. Could we have BBB, Captain Jack and young Nicholas all rotating from the goal square? Idk. Is Larkey ever gonna be massive? But then again, we have all seen the likes of Carey, Longmire, Fairley, Scholl, Glendenning, McCann, McCarthy etc all swiing about however was needed.
 
Feb 11, 2013
15,353
31,743
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I wonder how the boy Larkey is travelling. BMac was Tarrantesque in the backline for the VFL team. And whilst he would certainly be a massive target, could he do it? So my point with Larkey is he can kick goals, and has enough footy smarts and athleticism to be more than handy. Could we have BBB, Captain Jack and young Nicholas all rotating from the goal square? Idk. Is Larkey ever gonna be massive? But then again, we have all seen the likes of Carey, Longmire, Fairley, Scholl, Glendenning, McCann, McCarthy etc all swiing about however was needed.
Larkey is the dark horse, if he comes on early next year, schwing!!
 

Gotta_Bea_Hero

Senior List
Jan 17, 2016
174
344
AFL Club
North Melbourne
When you read across the Bigfooty boards, you often see a thread about who has the best young list. The arbitrary age in most cases seems to be 23 so I looked at our list and penned our best 23 and under team as at Jan 2019:

B: Turner McKay EVW
HB: Murphy Durdin LMac
C: Zuhraar LDU Dumont
HF: Walker Watson Hayden
F: Thomas Larkey Wilkinson

Rucks: Xerri Ahern Simpkin

Int: C Taylor Crocker McKenzie Scott

Of the above, only Lmac turns 24 prior to the season.

So, is the list in good shape? What are our defficiencies? What looks to be our strengths?

Potentially the list is in good shape, potentially the midfield looks to be the strength.

Now, realistically I understand how some people say we have the worst young list in the league based on that group's output. Amongst that group, we have 1 rising star nomination (McDonald) and only 2 players that have finished in the Top 10 B&F (McDonald & Dumont). This is the group that need to improve so we can climb up the ladder and still be playing footy in late September.

Maybe our deficiencies are in the development programs that we have in place, some players have had injury issues, but this group has delivered below my expectations, I'm hoping that 2019 we can change all that !!
 
Apr 24, 2013
81,024
153,170
Arden Street Hill
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Essendon Lawn Bowls Club
This is easily our biggest problem.

We are 17th or 18th in the league for average games for players in this age group.

It's expected when we've just undertaken a significant rebuild.
 

Pykie

Cancelled
10k Posts A Star Wars Fan Pokemon is Life North Melbourne - North 2007 Player Sponsor North Melbourne - 2013 Daw, Black and Gibson Player Sponsorship
Sep 17, 2006
20,605
45,615
Lord's
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Leeds United
It's expected when we've just undertaken a significant rebuild.

We started the rebuild 2 years ago.

There is no excuse for the lowest turnover of players in the league last year, if as you say, we are undertaking a significant rebuild.
 
Apr 24, 2013
81,024
153,170
Arden Street Hill
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Essendon Lawn Bowls Club
We started the rebuild 2 years ago.

There is no excuse for the lowest turnover of players in the league last year, if as you say, we are undertaking a significant rebuild.


They require development, and it's pretty well established that Brad will stick with blokes who have fitness ratings over those who aren't there yet.
 
They require development, and it's pretty well established that Brad will stick with blokes who have fitness ratings over those who aren't there yet.

This is where I believe lies Brad's weakness.
 
Apr 24, 2013
81,024
153,170
Arden Street Hill
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Essendon Lawn Bowls Club
This is where I believe lies Brad's weakness.


Perhaps, but if blokes can't run out AFL standard games, then I don't see the point in risking their confidence.

It's hard to be too critical at this point when most of us expected a bottom 2-4 finish the year after the list got slashed.
 
Back