Toast Tom Atkins

[goyoucatters]

Crameri was a nice story but really .. its obvious now Atkins should have been doing this 12 months ago.

Of course. To the degree that there's probably a thumbnail of our current #30 in the dictionary where 'hindsight' used to appear.

In the end, a reasonable number of mature-agers get drafted now across the competition.

And for every Tom Atkins, there are probably three or four Tom Ruggles...

 

[Max Milburn]

Of course. To the degree that there's probably a thumbnail of our current #30 in the dictionary where 'hindsight' used to appear.

In the end, a reasonable number of mature-agers get drafted now across the competition.

And for every Tom Atkins, there are probably three or four Tom Ruggles...

Two out of three Toms ain't bad.

 

[goyoucatters]

Two out of three Toms ain't bad.

Might be time for Wells and co. to get a couple of subtle alterations going on the team list down at the club, then?

#28 Tom Fort
#45 Tom Abbott

You know it makes sense...

 

[romeohwho]

Am a big fan.

 

[patience]

A terrific player. Gotta love the mature age recruit that appreciates every minute of their playing time.

 

[Moggy]

He really started to blossom yesterday and was absolutely central to our play at pivotal moments, including at the first bounce IIRC.

I have upgraded my opinion of him significantly, as have many others I think.

I had no idea that this (questionable) rookie pick was, in fact adding a tough, hard-bodied, hard-at-it midfielder who can attack and create as well as hunt and tackle.

What’s not to love?!

 

[Man0gwaR74]

Atkins is the type of player that I love! HE IS ACCOUNTABLE! Watch his disposal; he always does the right thing with it at the right time in close!

 

[Falconx]

I think his last 2 matches have showed he has enough to make it to say 100 games. One think I liked in particular was when he was being chased by Saad he had enough awareness to know he was behind him and avoid being rundown. Some players only see whats infront of them. You can just tell though that he knows he's lucky to be getting the opportunity to play AFL and he doesn't want to waste it by not giving 100%. Some players at the club could definitely learn from his work ethic.

 

[Ratcat]

Some would say he’s not your typical Geelong type player, a no frills hardnut whose all in at every opportunity to win the pill.
Love what he brings to the team.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

He's a tough little nugget that's for sure. Becoming a cult hero of the Cats.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Huge fan of Atkins, hope he can play like that more often. At one ball up we had Stanley Guthrie Kelly and Atkins in the guts and I thought wow how different this team looks and he smashed it out of the middle.

That's actually not a badly balanced brigade. Guthrie as the defensive mid, Atkins as the contested hard but, Kelly as the silk

 

[Tuggacat]

Love his work. The way he can stand-up in a tackle reminds me of a certain GAblett.

 

[finale]

Really loving his work; he's fast becoming a favourite of mine, so I hope he can keep it up. I was particularly impressed with how well he handled the pressure and him being quite clean in the contest last week.

 

[Cats_R_Cool_4_Ever]

I loved Atkins from the beginning and pointed out that he’s going to superstar for the Cats, his form is looking positively good so far.
I’m excited to see what his future brings!
Just came up with a nic name for him - Go Atomic Kitten!

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Gonna nickname this kid planet earth because he's got a core so strong it must be iron-nickel.

 

[AlcoaCat]

I loved Atkins from the beginning and pointed out that he’s going to superstar for the Cats, his form is looking positively good so far.
I’m excited to see what his future brings!
Just came up with a nic name for him - Go Atomic Kitten! [emoji1360][emoji16]

Me too. Knew immediately he was pivotal for us.

 

[Vdubs]

Wrong thread for me. Gotta say I WAS WRONG. Thought he would last about as long as Ruggles (who had some positives), but Atkins is like Stewart in many ways, uncompromising, fearless, and skilled.

 

[Pollywaffle]

Interesting to see where they play him against north who have a couple of hard nut mids themselves. I know we dont really do that much anymore but head to head with Cunnington would be intriguing.

 

[Turbocat]

Wrong thread for me. Gotta say I WAS WRONG. Thought he would last about as long as Ruggles (who had some positives), but Atkins is like Stewart in many ways, uncompromising, fearless, and skilled.

I think for a few of they guys at lower levels .. the elevation to the next level exposes deficiencies. Ruggles pace got exposed on grounds like the G, it rushed his kicking imo. Where as Atkins very quickly showed he could handle the phonebox.
Its why , as much as some dislike it , clubs will focus on base level attributes , stuff that Blitz had and could be added to. The irish guys are another example.

 

[Turbocat]

Interesting to see where they play him against north who have a couple of hard nut mids themselves. I know we dont really do that much anymore but head to head with Cunnington would be intriguing.

Im starting to think we have picked a 23 yo potential inside mid. Cunnington would be a tough ask.. but no one that would scare him imo.

Far too early but he was a capt at lower levels , he must have leadership potential.

 

[Warhorse]

Was talking to a few experience wafl guys over west. Wafl/vfl form does not transfer over at all to afl. I certainly didn't think his ability would transfer over but looking back his game is so defensive based it makes sense the chances would be greater

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Was talking to a few experience wafl guys over west. Wafl/vfl form does not transfer over at all to afl. I certainly didn't think his ability would transfer over but looking back his game is so defensive based it makes sense the chances would be greater

Absolutely, and it's "effort" based too. He just grits his teeth and pushes through whatever it is he needs to push through, be it a chase, run through a contest or contest a high ball.
That kind of thing, as you said, does tend to transfer well.
We look at some awesome passages of play that resulted in goals like the Miers goal vs Crows or Ablett... multiple times, watch those again and it's Atkins at the base of a pack fending off 2 or 3 opponents to break out and get a handball away.
He's a gem.

 

[Turbocat]

Was talking to a few experience wafl guys over west. Wafl/vfl form does not transfer over at all to afl. I certainly didn't think his ability would transfer over but looking back his game is so defensive based it makes sense the chances would be greater

Id have thought form at the Wafl standard has shown to transfer reasonably well ..like with kelly , with some extra training etc. Interesting comment.

 

[Warhorse]

Id have thought form at the Wafl standard has shown to transfer reasonably well ..like with kelly , with some extra training etc. Interesting comment.

Only on some attributes and certain types of players. An outside winger will struggle to get a kick in the vfl for example. There is a reason Kelly was picked ahead of his team mate who won the best and fairest.

 

[Turbocat]

Only on some attributes and certain types of players. An outside winger will struggle to get a kick in the vfl for example. There is a reason Kelly was picked ahead of his team mate who won the best and fairest.

Excellent observation.