Player Watch #50 Marlion Pickett

He has been to jail, it’s a massive red flag. I think Dayle Garlett has scared a lot of clubs off and that’s probably evidenced by the fact Sydney Stack went undrafted. There’s a rumour going round that Hawthorn players take the piss out of duds they have drafted in the past but Dayle Garlett is completely off limits, and not because he wasn’t talented. I think they got a first hand insight into how troubled that kid actually was.

I also think recruiters have underestimated the talent going round in the WAFL. Tim Kelly went undrafted for a while then Geelong finally took a punt on him and he turned out to be a star. Once Kelly left, Pickett was shifted midfield and was dominant. He’s also a bit older than Kelly so that probably rules out a lot of rebuilding teams.

I wish we pulled the trigger earlier on him instead of drafting a vanilla VFL small forward like Jake Aarts.

Good summary, though a bit harsh on Jake. I agree we could have been more adventurous with that pick, but Jake can play.
 
May 17, 2004
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Do not agree. He has an injury to his index finger so they can still get the miles and training into him to hit the ground running.
Just needs to regain his touch and he’ll be a gem imo
You just answered it , regaining touch doesn’t equate to hit the ground running , missing so much footy combined with the step up to afl will be a challenge , I’d be delighted if he was solid at vfl after 12w out
 
Jul 3, 2008
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You just answered it , regaining touch doesn’t equate to hit the ground running , missing so much footy combined with the step up to afl will be a challenge , I’d be delighted if he was solid at vfl after 12w out
The time frame of him being available for the firsts will be like Townsend in 2017. I like the position the list is in. Lots of players becoming available at the right time. Astbury should slot in OK down back. I'd like Sheds in the middle. JR meshing with Lynch is a work in progress. Nank will slot straight back in. But the midfield is a concern. Cotch, Lambert Pickett, Ross need to hit the ground running. Balta looks like he needs a break from the top level now. He needs to go back and play the lower level for a while. (ditto Garth)
 
May 17, 2004
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The time frame of him being available for the firsts will be like Townsend in 2017. I like the position the list is in. Lots of players becoming available at the right time. Astbury should slot in OK down back. I'd like Sheds in the middle. JR meshing with Lynch is a work in progress. Nank will slot straight back in. But the midfield is a concern. Cotch, Lambert Pickett, Ross need to hit the ground running. Balta looks like he needs a break from the top level now. He needs to go back and play the lower level for a while. (ditto Garth)
Did Townsend miss 12w before his senior selection , no he was playing his ring out in the vfl , poor analogy. Read my lips he won’t have played any level of football for 12w and you think in view of that he ll leapfrog vfl and hit ground running at afl ,,, umm ok
 
Feb 4, 2008
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It is worse than being out for 12 weeks, Pickett has essentially played one full game since the 2018 prelim final. So you may as well say he has missed the whole of 2019 in terms of playing match conditioning. So it is an interesting case of a player stepping up a level, with potentially brutal conditioning in terms of his legs, but not too much ball handling behind him given his finger operation.

It is therefore probably wrong to expect much in 2019. At best he looks likely to get about 2 x VFL matches in this year with Richmond having a bye final round. It may even be decided not to produce him this year at all and just aim for 2020 if he is progressing satisfactorily. And his statistical history says he is a high impact player rather than a high possession player, so he is unlikely to step into VFL level with 2 x 30 possession midfield matches. It will be interesting to watch what happens with him late 2019. It would be great to think he could get a run at it, but there are not really many precedents we can point to that give us hope of him making a sudden late charge into the 2019 AFL finals. Yet you just know he will be getting smashed in terms of conditioning and he is tough, strong and fast and these are characteristics that can take you a long way in AFL finals.
 
Feb 4, 2008
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Was due to have the wire out of his finger around July 6th. Has naturally been getting smashed with some high level conditioning. I would think 2-3 weeks to strengthen the finger up and mobilise it and he should be appearing in the VFL team around rd 16(Box Heap) or rd 17(Pies.) You would expect him to hit the ground running fitness wise, but his ball handling could easily be a bit rusty. Likely to get a block of either 4 or 5 VFL matches in before AFL finals start.

Just enough time to make a case for inclusion if he is functioning well enough. Worst case scenario I think he is a mighty addition to our surge towards a first VFA/VFL flag in 115 years, imagine the tears from Peggy/Chief/Richo if that should happen. :)
 
Sep 24, 2017
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I heard he had a setback they have now removed the finger at the shoulder and put this on


444cb1b904dcfa29113f8b40810bdab1.jpg


Will be back for the next game


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Shazza_

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Jan 2, 2018
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Was due to have the wire out of his finger around July 6th. Has naturally been getting smashed with some high level conditioning. I would think 2-3 weeks to strengthen the finger up and mobilise it and he should be appearing in the VFL team around rd 16(Box Heap) or rd 17(Pies.) You would expect him to hit the ground running fitness wise, but his ball handling could easily be a bit rusty. Likely to get a block of either 4 or 5 VFL matches in before AFL finals start.

Just enough time to make a case for inclusion if he is functioning well enough. Worst case scenario I think he is a mighty addition to our surge towards a first VFA/VFL flag in 115 years, imagine the tears from Peggy/Chief/Richo if that should happen. :)
can we get that vfa flag counted then like geelol is
 
Improbable yes, impossible no.

He would have maintained a pretty high level of fitness with a finger injury.

Depends how good Marlion is and the talk is that he is pretty damn good.

After not playing for so long I don't think he could get through a season. Lasting and having an impact for a month? Yeah maybe.
 
Nov 23, 2000
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I heard he had a setback they have now removed the finger at the shoulder and put this on


444cb1b904dcfa29113f8b40810bdab1.jpg


Will be back for the next game


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Come GF day.He'll help us terminate West Coast!
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I just hope he comes in and does well in the VFL. More than that is a bonus. If he can break into our first team, without there being injuries, he's damn good. If he is genuinely a (minor) superman and can play firsts and add inside grunt and outside dash and class then whooooeeeeee!!! We need a bit more of that.

But I'm just wanting to see him move from injured to active and worth a list spot.
 

Vassp

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Jun 30, 2018
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Our team is starting to look thicker by the minute. Choices and choices.😎
Marlon won’t play vfl unless he is pushing for an AFL selection this season.
No point.
 
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