Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn, James Worpel, pick #43 2017 - Peter Crimmins medalist 2019

[Ned Ryerson]

ill tell you right now his disposal is nowhere near the level of danger's as a fact.

Look I was only going by the facts of Worpel going at 67% last year and 63% this year and since 2015 Dangerfield has gone between 66-69%. So that’s kinda near Danger’s, as a fact.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

He looked flat on the weekend which is understandable. Carried a decent load to date.

 

[bris tarangau]

My oh my does this boy's disposal need some work!

I get the feeling that Worpel tries to be too cute a lot of times. However, it is just not in his repertoire to be that sort of player.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

I get the feeling that Worpel tries to be too cute a lot of times. However, it is just not in his repertoire to be that sort of player.

Expect he is just learning how good he is at this level. As a junior, I bet he could do a lot of things.

He has played 19 games and averaged 20 disposals, 4 tackles, 4 clearances, etc.

In his 8 games this year he has averaged 24 touches, 5 tackles, 5 clearances, etc.

If he was a top 5 pick at Essendon, the AFL and media would be going crazy over him.

 

[VandoHawk]

Expect he is just learning how good he is at this level. As a junior, I bet he could do a lot of things.

He has played 19 games and averaged 20 disposals, 4 tackles, 4 clearances, etc.

In his 8 games this year he has averaged 24 touches, 5 tackles, 5 clearances, etc.

If he was a top 5 pick at Essendon, the AFL and media would be going crazy over him.

His stats this year are remarkably similar to those of Tim Kelly in 2018.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

19th in the comp for contested possessions.

Go have a look at how many other 1st or 2nd year mids are in the top 30.

The answer is none.

 

[Davo-27]

My oh my does this boy's disposal need some work!

our midfield has been a bit sloppy for the past 3 years since Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis left the Hawks, so lets look at all the relevant midfielders numbers

2019 midfield numbers
JOM - 26.9 disp, 3.4 marks, 6.7 clearances, 6.3 tackles, 7/4, 66% DE
Henderson - 26.3 disp, 8.1 marks, 2.8 clearances, 1.9 tackles 6/2 75.2% DE
Worpel - 24.4 disp, 3.3 marks, 5.4 clerances, 4.5 tackles 3/4 64.1% DE
Shiels - 21.8 disp, 3.4 marks, 3.8 clearances, 5.6 tackles 5/3 63.3% DE
Smith - 21 disp, 4.3 marks, 1.9 clearances, 2.6 tackles 4/2 71.4% DE
Scully - 19.9 disp, 2.9 marks, 1.6 clearances, 2.6 tackles, 3/2 73.4% DE
Howe - 18.3 disp, 4.3 marks, 4.5 clearances, 5 tackles, 0/0 75.3% DE
Cousins - 18.1 disp, 3.7 marks, 1.7 clearances, 3.7 tackles 6/3 71.7% DE

if you criticise Worpel for his poor disposal, you also should be bringing up JOM's poor disposal or Shiels poor disposal? i agree all 3 need to be cleaner going forward which would make us a better team overall(most players should be aiming at over 70% DE, being 80% DE is elite), but sometimes mids just have to get it on the boot as they dont have time to hit up leads, sometimes they need to take ground.

 

[4THAWN]

our midfield has been a bit sloppy for the past 3 years since Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis left the Hawks, so lets look at all the relevant midfielders numbers

2019 midfield numbers
JOM - 26.9 disp, 3.4 marks, 6.7 clearances, 6.3 tackles, 7/4, 66% DE
Henderson - 26.3 disp, 8.1 marks, 2.8 clearances, 1.9 tackles 6/2 75.2% DE
Worpel - 24.4 disp, 3.3 marks, 5.4 clerances, 4.5 tackles 3/4 64.1% DE
Shiels - 21.8 disp, 3.4 marks, 3.8 clearances, 5.6 tackles 5/3 63.3% DE
Smith - 21 disp, 4.3 marks, 1.9 clearances, 2.6 tackles 4/2 71.4% DE
Scully - 19.9 disp, 2.9 marks, 1.6 clearances, 2.6 tackles, 3/2 73.4% DE
Howe - 18.3 disp, 4.3 marks, 4.5 clearances, 5 tackles, 0/0 75.3% DE
Cousins - 18.1 disp, 3.7 marks, 1.7 clearances, 3.7 tackles 6/3 71.7% DE

if you criticise Worpel for his poor disposal, you also should be bringing up JOM's poor disposal or Shiels poor disposal? i agree all 3 need to be cleaner going forward which would make us a better team overall(most players should be aiming at over 70% DE, being 80% DE is elite), but sometimes mids just have to get it on the boot as they dont have time to hit up leads, sometimes they need to take ground.

i cannot comment based off the stats, can only say that from what i've seen Worpel's disposal has been poor. Not to say others have had really good disposal in the midfield. Yes JOM against one side this year made a lot of costly turnovers and used the ball poorly but I feel overall has been better with the ball than worps.

 

[4THAWN]

I get the feeling that Worpel tries to be too cute a lot of times. However, it is just not in his repertoire to be that sort of player.

have nothing but faith in the likes of S.Mitchell to help worps improve this area of his game

 

[4THAWN]

Look I was only going by the facts of Worpel going at 67% last year and 63% this year and since 2015 Dangerfield has gone between 66-69%. So that’s kinda near Danger’s, as a fact.

i just mean i'm strongly of the opinion that dangerfield's disposal is better than worpels, and d/e% stats cant account for factors like being tagged, metres gained, difficult of disposal etc.

 

[4THAWN]

You're correct - his disposal has been much better than Danger. There's some serious recency bias going on here. His disposal against GWS was very poor. His disposal throughout this season has ranged from reasonable to good. When given time and space he can drill it onto the chests of our forwards but due to the nature of his role, our weakened midfield and his relative inexperience he is often bombing into long forward in pressure situations. I would argue that for a player whose supposed weakness was his disposal that he has improved admirably and earlier on in the season I felt more confident with Worps ball in hand than Jags. I genuinely think people are forgetting he is a second year player who hasn't even played 20 games. I will acknowledge that his disposal has been dodgy the past two rounds (particularly his handballs in close) but there are a variety of factors that may contribute to this. So yes - improving his disposal should be his priority and he is no doubt working hard on it. But I don't think posts like your above 'my oh my' contribute anything other than putting down his exceptional efforts and may be going the early crow.

I can say personally last few games I've been extremely worried whenever worps had possession, and am generally confident in Jaeger when he has the pill.

Jaegers 68% this year as #1 mid, being tagged very often, having 2.5 more disposals per game as well as 15.4 kicks/11.4 handballs 7 Score involvements
versus
Worpel's 66% as clear #2/3 mid, having 2.5 less disposals per game with 12.3 kicks/12.1 handballs 4 score involvements

jaeger's disposal has clearly been better than worp's this year imo, jaeger's de% is just lowered by the fact he is carrying the midfield and being forced to kick more than handball

 

[marklar]

He has played 19 games in his AFL career, FFS last sunday was his first ever game against GWS and he hasn't even played against Collingwood or West Coast!

Honestly I think we need to just leave him alone for at least another 31 games and enjoy watching him play and learning from the best in the business.

 

[MrPremiership]

ill tell you right now his disposal is nowhere near the level of danger's as a fact.

nowhere near as bad?

 

[MrPremiership]

He's a kid.......a kid FFS

He's playing 2nd mid and just a beast.

I'm amazed at what he's putting out at the moment. Let's enjoy this.

 

[Hodgey09]

He's a kid.......a kid FFS

He's playing 2nd mid and just a beast.

I'm amazed at what he's putting out at the moment. Let's enjoy this.

Preach.

This kid is a freak in comparison to his career thus far.

We all need to appreciate just how lucky we are to have him, especially in consideration of his draft pick price.

 

[4THAWN]

Preach.

This kid is a freak in comparison to his career thus far.

We all need to appreciate just how lucky we are to have him, especially in consideration of his draft pick price.

im not trying to knock him, i know how good he is for his age. Just saying imo that is obviously a key area he needs to work/improve on to become a better player

 

[Davo23]

He's a kid.......a kid FFS

He's playing 2nd mid and just a beast.

I'm amazed at what he's putting out at the moment. Let's enjoy this.

He's not even just a kid, he's a baby in footy terms, he's still in nappies.
Like James Cousins, he's still learning and it's totally unfair to judge players at this stage of their careers.

Give them time, you bastards!

(not aimed at you, MrPremiership)

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

NEWS JUST IN: 20yr old player still has things he needs to improve on!





More news as it comes to hand.

 

[Jaeger]

He's done a mountain of work over the first two months of the season, I hope our supporters will be sensible enough not to lose it should he fizzle out a bit as the year goes on... which you would think is likely to happen over the next 14 weeks.

 

[threesixpio]

Wanna marry him

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Wanna marry him

Means a lot of your inlaws would be Handbaggers. Big risk!

 

[threesixpio]

Means a lot of your inlaws would be Handbaggers. Big risk!

Be better than the present in laws

Bombers...

 

[Davo-27]

Be better than the present in laws

Bombers...

not only is your forum name cursed, but you married into an essendon family, i pity you

 

[Brishawk]

Be better than the present in laws

Bombers...

Remember that scene in walking dead when carol asks the little blond girl to look at the flowers?....

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Be better than the present in laws

Bombers...

Thoughts and prayers!