Review 33 - Mathew Walker (2019)

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Dixie Flatline

Dixie Flatline

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Veteran 10k Posts 30k Posts Madden League - Participation A Star Wars Fan NFL Fantasy Comp Champion NFL Mock Draft Participant Hawthorn Hawks - Lowden, Anderson, Woodward Player Sponsor 2014
Jun 3, 2005
35,844
36,498
Leafy eastern suburbs
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Cartagena C.F., NYJ, A's
Mathew Walker

Games: 0
Goals: 0
Yabby medal votes: 0

Summary

Spent the season playing for Box Hill in the VFL, after being drafted by the Hawks in the 2018 national draft. Walker played 15 games for Box Hill, kicking 23 goals for the season and averaging 14 disposals per game. His best game for Box Hill came in round 15, when Walker had 15 disposals and kicked four goals against North Melbourne. Profiling as a medium-sized forward, Walker was a GWS Giants academy junior but the Giants declined to match Hawthorn's bid in the 2018 national draft. Hawthorn will expect Walker to take the next step in 2020 and press for selection.
 
Getting his body right last season.
He should get a few games this season, and I suspect he will be one of those players who takes quickly to senior level once he has the conditioning.
 
The Chad and I said:
Getting his body right last season.
He should get a few games this season, and I suspect he will be one of those players who takes quickly to senior level once he has the conditioning.
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Would have thought with the fitness demand on forwards with all the leading patterns and need for defensive pressure, he may be another year away.
 

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Collins-Langford-Ayres said:
Would have thought with the fitness demand on forwards with all the leading patterns and need for defensive pressure, he may be another year away.
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Good point. We have a lot of players who have been in the system 3-5 years now, that should have the conditioning base to start pushing for permanent senior selection. Reckon Matty Walker is probably another year away from being able to keep up.
 
Mojo said:
Good point. We have a lot of players who have been in the system 3-5 years now, that should have the conditioning base to start pushing for permanent senior selection. Reckon Matty Walker is probably another year away from being able to keep up.
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He might need another year to cement a spot and be a regular best 22 player but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that he play some games in 2020 even if it's just a few so he can see what he needs to work on.
 
“Mat Walker has been a stand-out of the whole club, not just the young guys,” he said.
“He’s ‘PBed’ in about four or five areas, (including) weight, strength testing, running - everything.
“He’s really transformed his body and his match effort in training. He’s lifted his standards across the board and he’s the one who’s really impressed everyone so far.”
- Burgoyne


Taking this with his late season spike in form/goals last year at BH, I think we can expect a breakout year from Walker.
 
The Chad and I said:
“Taking this with his late season spike in form/goals last year at BH, I think we can expect a breakout year from Walker.
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I think he went goalless in his last two games. Is he a permanent forward, or does he also run through the middle?
 
ppphawk said:
I think he went goalless in his last two games. Is he a permanent forward, or does he also run through the middle?
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Have not seen him run through the middle. Plays a medium forward role, they run him through FF at times. His fitness last year was poor. Probably the poorest at the club. He just did not get to enough contests. When he was near the footy he looked dangerous.

He needs to evolve into a lead up forward. Big leap, really good hands and a super smooth mover. Of all the BHH guys he has the most talent.
 
Easy Slips Catch said:
Have not seen him run through the middle. Plays a medium forward role, they run him through FF at times. His fitness last year was poor. Probably the poorest at the club. He just did not get to enough contests. When he was near the footy he looked dangerous.

He needs to evolve into a lead up forward. Big leap, really good hands and a super smooth mover. Of all the BHH guys he has the most talent.
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Thank you for that information ESC and I suppose that puts the pb's into some sort of perspective. It sounds like he is coming off a fairly low base for an AFL footballer.

That said, what I have seen of him on tv really interests me. The young Tony Hall similarities are there. Here's hoping for a really successful 2020 season.
 
Walker's running and fitness has gone from one of the poorest to one of the better. He has come a long way. He has really worked on it. Part his problem last year was he came to the club injured and had no pre season
 
Easy Slips Catch said:
Have not seen him run through the middle. Plays a medium forward role, they run him through FF at times. His fitness last year was poor. Probably the poorest at the club. He just did not get to enough contests. When he was near the footy he looked dangerous.

He needs to evolve into a lead up forward. Big leap, really good hands and a super smooth mover. Of all the BHH guys he has the most talent.
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TheFourPillars said:
Walker's running and fitness has gone from one of the poorest to one of the better. He has come a long way. He has really worked on it. Part his problem last year was he came to the club injured and had no pre season
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From memory he played some midfield In under 18s but lacked consistency. My guess is that his terrible fitness levels had something to do with it. I think he will evolve into a player that can be a rotation through the middle at very least but early it will be as a forward you would imagine. Very excited to see how he develops.
 

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Good to hear he is coming on. Sounds like a very good Breust replacement for when the time comes. Maybe sounds like a mix between Breust and Cyril
 
Walker was 2 performances short of the dream run home in the VFL last year.

The 4 games before the last round of the home and away season, Walker kicked 3.4 with 0 Best on Ground votes, 1.1 with 4, 4.1 with 1 and 5.2 with 4. He is deceptively strong and he is gifted with breakaway speed, but his defensive game is really lacking considering his skill set. He has the pace to be laying 4-5 tackles a game, but he produced disappointing number of 0 or 1 tackle games last year in the VFL.

He plays much more like Bruest than Cyril, a majority of his impactful disposals and goals are collected from taking marks and receiving handballs on the run rather than laying tackles and crumbing loose balls.

He is strong over head and kicks well, but was problematic in front of the goals. He did improve his confidence, backing himself in more to take the shots himself in the back half of the season.

I think we should be excited for Walker to play senior footy, but just because Shauny is bullish on his pre-season doesn't mean we shouldn't anticipate some inaccuracy in front of goals and defensive lapses.
 
Luceor said:
Walker was 2 performances short of the dream run home in the VFL last year.

The 4 games before the last round of the home and away season, Walker kicked 3.4 with 0 Best on Ground votes, 1.1 with 4, 4.1 with 1 and 5.2 with 4. He is deceptively strong and he is gifted with breakaway speed, but his defensive game is really lacking considering his skill set. He has the pace to be laying 4-5 tackles a game, but he produced disappointing number of 0 or 1 tackle games last year in the VFL.

He plays much more like Bruest than Cyril, a majority of his impactful disposals and goals are collected from taking marks and receiving handballs on the run rather than laying tackles and crumbing loose balls.

He is strong over head and kicks well, but was problematic in front of the goals. He did improve his confidence, backing himself in more to take the shots himself in the back half of the season.

I think we should be excited for Walker to play senior footy, but just because Shauny is bullish on his pre-season doesn't mean we shouldn't anticipate some inaccuracy in front of goals and defensive lapses.
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Maybe his effort in pre-season will translate to more tackling in season.

Great write up btw.:thumbsu:
 
Luceor said:
Walker was 2 performances short of the dream run home in the VFL last year.

The 4 games before the last round of the home and away season, Walker kicked 3.4 with 0 Best on Ground votes, 1.1 with 4, 4.1 with 1 and 5.2 with 4. He is deceptively strong and he is gifted with breakaway speed, but his defensive game is really lacking considering his skill set. He has the pace to be laying 4-5 tackles a game, but he produced disappointing number of 0 or 1 tackle games last year in the VFL.

He plays much more like Bruest than Cyril, a majority of his impactful disposals and goals are collected from taking marks and receiving handballs on the run rather than laying tackles and crumbing loose balls.

He is strong over head and kicks well, but was problematic in front of the goals. He did improve his confidence, backing himself in more to take the shots himself in the back half of the season.

I think we should be excited for Walker to play senior footy, but just because Shauny is bullish on his pre-season doesn't mean we shouldn't anticipate some inaccuracy in front of goals and defensive lapses.
Click to expand...
Despite his having the pace to lay 4-5 tackles a game, do you reckon his lack of fitness/tank made it difficult for him to stay involved & apply defensive pressure, as soon as the initial contest was over?
 
Walker plays like bigger frame wise version of tony hall. He is great above his head and can mark on the lead. He has improved his fitness he is more like gunston. It will allow gunston to play further up the ground
 
Just hope, JUST HOPE, the penny has dropped with Matt.

An unbelievable talent, full on XFactor but has he got the message, has he got the the understanding you have to run, you have to tackle, you have to work when you ain’t got the ball.

Frankly we cannot afford another Bruest clone, we are desperate for more Cyril/Poppy talent AND WORKRATE.
 
Walker is not a poppy or cyril like i said tops. He is more a tony hall gunston type. He has a burst of speed that he can use to get out in space or take a big grab he has real xfactor but he isnt a rioli or poppy
 
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