Player Watch #22 Nick Blakey

tXbJBXbU.jpg


Nick Blakey
Nick Blakey is a prodigious talent with a laser-sharp left boot, an outstanding overhead ability and searing pace. The QBE Sydney Swans Academy product booted 21 goals in 19 games in a brilliant debut season en route to winning the club’s 2019 Rising Star award, and while he added a lively element to the forward line last year, he’s likely to play on a wing or in the midfield in 2020. Nick is the son of former Fitzroy and North Melbourne champion John Blakey, who’s had a variety of roles on the Swans’ coaching panel since 2006.

Nick Blakey
DOB: 27 February 2000
DEBUT: 2019
DRAFT: #10, 2018 National Draft
RECRUITED FROM: University Of NSW-Eastern Suburbs (NSW)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You guys reckon he will stay in the midfield after his great performance against Gws??

About 6-8 weeks too late, but yes. I'd be shocked if they didn't try to get the same type of game out of him as last week.
 
Jul 20, 2001
23,298
28,498
Sydney
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Sydney Swans
Putrid 2020 for blakey

I thought he has been alright since going to the midfield / his return to seniors.

During those 5 games he has averaged 13.4 disposals, 2.6 marks, 2.6 tackles, 3.2 inside 50, 1.2 rebound (and missed 3.6 clearances) all at around 70% game time.
 
Last edited:
Jun 19, 2011
11,085
15,832
Sydney
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Wallabies
I thought he has been alright since going to the midfield / his return to seniors.

During those 5 games he has averaged 13.4 disposals, 2.6 marks, 2.6 tackles, 3.2 inside 50, 1.2 rebound all at around 70% game time.

Agreed. His impact on games has been far better the last 5 weeks where he's taking far more inside midfield time than ever than his first 10 games which were terrible (understandable in some respect but also just not what is expected). Having so many injuries to talls this year really didn't help him to start the year as he was forced to play KPF rather than where he was doing really well at the end of last year (wing/midfield).
 
I thought he has been alright since going to the midfield / his return to seniors.

During those 5 games he has averaged 13.4 disposals, 2.6 marks, 2.6 tackles, 3.2 inside 50, 1.2 rebound all at around 70% game time.

I thought he was the best of our youngsters against Melbourne, now one bad game later and he's back on the scrap-heap.

What I will say is he needs to eat steak. Steak for breakfast. Steak for lunch. Steak for dinner. And maybe a tartare for his midnight snack. Because the biggest thing restraining his capacity to play at the minute is just his body. It's not yet right for any of the positions we would like him to play.
 

Crust

All Australian
Jun 9, 2016
817
2,163
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
SUANFC
Agreed. His impact on games has been far better the last 5 weeks where he's taking far more inside midfield time than ever than his first 10 games which were terrible (understandable in some respect but also just not what is expected). Having so many injuries to talls this year really didn't help him to start the year as he was forced to play KPF rather than where he was doing really well at the end of last year (wing/midfield).

I agree. I think we forget this is only his second season, and a disjointed one at that.
 
I thought he has been alright since going to the midfield / his return to seniors.

During those 5 games he has averaged 13.4 disposals, 2.6 marks, 2.6 tackles, 3.2 inside 50, 1.2 rebound (and missed 3.6 clearances) all at around 70% game time.

His stats lifted of late agreed

But for the hype he doesn’t look likely most of the time, does some stupid things

Just concerning for the great hope

I’m sure he will be better next year and yes agree last patch is better but the year as a whole is a d minus imo
 

dazedjosh

Cancelled
Aug 13, 2020
691
1,145
AFL Club
Sydney
Let's rate him again when he ways more than 90kg. I'm convinced he will be a gun, he's shown signs already, but he's not physically ready yet. I think we tend to forget that most draftees take a few years to develop, kids like Rowell and Walsh are so rare because they are league ready. The vast majority of kids will fade in and out over a season. Especially the taller ones like Blakey who all of a sudden have to go up against grown men that are 25kg of pure muscle bigger than them. Especially when they don't have senior guys around them to take the number 1 and number 2 opponents.
 
Doing better than Chayce Jones, Tarryn Thomas, Dylan Stephens, Fischer McAsey, Hayden Young, Liam Henry, Tom Green, Lachlan Ash, Paddy Dow. None of them are stars already


Random array of players and I’ll take the on advisement for most of them
 
Is there a better defence Than he shouldn’t be a star yet?

He hasn’t deserved senior footy most of this year imo

I think he can be a star one day I like the tools he has but this year despite age weight etc etc is a disappointment imo

He got a contract extension before playing a game let’s not forget this, he is highly rated
 

dazedjosh

Cancelled
Aug 13, 2020
691
1,145
AFL Club
Sydney
Is there a better defence Than he shouldn’t be a star yet?

He hasn’t deserved senior footy most of this year imo

I think he can be a star one day I like the tools he has but this year despite age weight etc etc is a disappointment imo

He got a contract extension before playing a game let’s not forget this, he is highly rated

What defense of Blakey are you looking for? He's a young KPF, they take time. That's the reality. Has he progressed as much as we would like this year? No. But there was a significant stretch where he was the tallest player that we had in the starting lineup, he had to carry a burden that not many players are ready for at his age so he struggled.
 
What defense of Blakey are you looking for? He's a young KPF, they take time. That's the reality. Has he progressed as much as we would like this year? No. But there was a significant stretch where he was the tallest player that we had in the starting lineup, he had to carry a burden that not many players are ready for at his age so he struggled.


Something like what you wrote is more reasonable

I might Be to wary/worried about draft busts too, just not seeing star qualities much

Maybe I’m too harsh sorry
 
Is there a better defence Than he shouldn’t be a star yet?

He hasn’t deserved senior footy most of this year imo

I think he can be a star one day I like the tools he has but this year despite age weight etc etc is a disappointment imo

He got a contract extension before playing a game let’s not forget this, he is highly rated

You keep going back to how highly he is rated though, he was a top 10 pick, he's meant to be a star, etc etc. Which tells me that your view is still being skewed by what you want him to be rather than just accepting what he currently is, which is a talented youngster who has had a pretty textbook case of the second year blues this year.

No use comparing him to the players he was drafted with as it's just way too early. If you looked at the top 10 players from that draft right now (let's say Walsh, Smith, Rozee, Butters, King, King, Rankine, Lukosius, Rowbottom and Duursma) I will almost bet my hat that at least half of those won't be the best 10 from that draft when it's looked back on in 5-10 years time. Some will fade, others will come out of nowhere, others will just take longer than others.
 
You keep going back to how highly he is rated though, he was a top 10 pick, he's meant to be a star, etc etc. Which tells me that your view is still being skewed by what you want him to be rather than just accepting what he currently is, which is a talented youngster who has had a pretty textbook case of the second year blues this year.

No use comparing him to the players he was drafted with as it's just way too early. If you looked at the top 10 players from that draft right now (let's say Walsh, Smith, Rozee, Butters, King, King, Rankine, Lukosius, Rowbottom and Duursma) I will almost bet my hat that at least half of those won't be the best 10 from that draft when it's looked back on in 5-10 years time. Some will fade, others will come out of nowhere, others will just take longer than others.


He is highly touted and rated and is promoted by the club as such so Ok yes I except to see signs of it and I don’t see much of it

Seems not to have a position, seems to do stupid things and mis read the play the odd flash is good but I’m not that impressed , but ok maybe I am expecting star I’ll reconsider that

I definitely didn’t compare him to anyone though


Forgot what he should be could be eyc

This year is a pretty woeful year for an AFL player imo
 

dazedjosh

Cancelled
Aug 13, 2020
691
1,145
AFL Club
Sydney
Here are the first two seasons of Blakey, Ben King, Charlie Curnow, Nick Reiwoldt, Nick Larkey, Josh Schache, and Lance Franklin. I could have picked any number of others but ultimately I felt they provided a decent sample of players with similar pedigree who were roaring successes, developing prospects, and one bust.

The reality is the numbers aren't that different across the board. Reiwoldt and Franklin started to move on in year 2, but those two are up in the discussion for greatest forwards of the 21st century and even then they didn't properly kick on until season 3 or 4. Schache I thought was a good example of a young skinny forward who had to develop in a forward line with zero senior support, and we all know how he turned out.

Blakey just needs time.
 

Attachments

  • Blakey.JPG
    Blakey.JPG
    37.1 KB · Views: 23
  • Bking.JPG
    Bking.JPG
    29.7 KB · Views: 25
  • Curnow.JPG
    Curnow.JPG
    24.7 KB · Views: 21
  • Larkey.JPG
    Larkey.JPG
    21.6 KB · Views: 21
  • Reiwoldt.JPG
    Reiwoldt.JPG
    20.7 KB · Views: 26
  • Schache.JPG
    Schache.JPG
    22 KB · Views: 25
  • Franklin.JPG
    Franklin.JPG
    21.1 KB · Views: 25
He is highly touted and rated and is promoted by the club as such so Ok yes I except to see signs of it and I don’t see much of it

Seems not to have a position, seems to do stupid things and mis read the play the odd flash is good but I’m not that impressed , but ok maybe I am expecting star I’ll reconsider that

I definitely didn’t compare him to anyone though

I don't meant to psychoanalyse you here Kingy but you kind of are comparing him to others when you bring up that he's a top 10 pick. It implies you are expecting him to perform as one of the best kids in his draft like Rozee, Walsh etc are, and he is currently not.

I do agree with you on his form this year though. A few really impressive weeks aside, it's been a disappointing showing. I think two things need to happen if we are to ever get anything close to elite footy out of Blakey:

1. Needs to bulk up, obviously. Far too lean to be an inside mid, and far too lean to be a key position player either. If he doesn't change his body shape and size I am genuinely concerned he will continue to struggle to assert himself on games physically.

2. Needs to find his natural position and settle on it, and learn to nail it. Wing looks his best position like the GWS match, but even then he doesn't look a natural runner like say McInerney, who gets into space and wins easy balls. Blakey has to actually generate his run from the contest, which still relies on him being able to use his physicality and win some hard balls, which he struggles with.

In a nutshell I think he's a tricky prospect. We're gonna have to get a lot right with him as he has a lot more superstar-or-bust material than some of our other kids. But if we do get it right then he will be such a massive asset for us that pick 10 will look like a steal.
 

dazedjosh

Cancelled
Aug 13, 2020
691
1,145
AFL Club
Sydney
I don't meant to psychoanalyse you here Kingy but you kind of are comparing him to others when you bring up that he's a top 10 pick. It implies you are expecting him to perform as one of the best kids in his draft like Rozee, Walsh etc are, and he is currently not.

I do agree with you on his form this year though. A few really impressive weeks aside, it's been a disappointing showing. I think two things need to happen if we are to ever get anything close to elite footy out of Blakey:

1. Needs to bulk up, obviously. Far too lean to be an inside mid, and far too lean to be a key position player either. If he doesn't change his body shape and size I am genuinely concerned he will continue to struggle to assert himself on games physically.

2. Needs to find his natural position and settle on it, and learn to nail it. Wing looks his best position like the GWS match, but even then he doesn't look a natural runner like say McInerney, who gets into space and wins easy balls. Blakey has to actually generate his run from the contest, which still relies on him being able to use his physicality and win some hard balls, which he struggles with.

In a nutshell I think he's a tricky prospect. We're gonna have to get a lot right with him as he has a lot more superstar-or-bust material than some of our other kids. But if we do get it right then he will be such a massive asset for us that pick 10 will look like a steal.

Some pre draft articles compared him to Nick Reiwoldt and so far I think that's a pretty good comparison/plan for how he should be developed. I definitely like him moving up into the middle to get the ball moving forward, providing inside 50's and kicking goals. I'm not so sure I like him as a pure winger as I think he can have more impact on a game at CHF.

Ideally, I'd have Heeney and Blakey on the HF line attacking from all angles, with McCartin or somebody like McDonald, McLean, Thilthorpe as a pure KPF providing the target for them. Throw in small forwards like Papley, Wicks, and Bell at their feet and that is a dangerous forward line.
 
Back