Universal Love Welcome to Freo- Joel Western (Pick 54)

Bring back Drum

Mundy4Hundy
Jul 8, 2019
3,380
10,231
AFL Club
Fremantle
Interesting facts on Joel.
Did his early footy learning in Dunsborough where he grew up.
His old man John played at East Perth & Subiaco mid to late 80’s, mainly reserves but may have played a few league games as a nuggety back pocket & previously supported Geelong.
His mum is a DeSouza, born in Singapore, hence the NGA allowance.
His dad is best mates with Michael Mort, ex Subiaco player who will one day shortly be on the board at Freo. Michael Frederick has been living with the Morts since arriving in WA & is very close to Joel.
Joel is a natural footballer who has always had a football in his hand & will leave no stone unturned to make it.

Good luck Westy & welcome to Freo.
 
Last edited:

ignoramus

Club Legend
Aug 17, 2020
1,323
3,374
AFL Club
Fremantle
Never watched any of his highlights before, but now he's the freo draftee I'm most excited about. Those kicks across the body. You see the one where he centres to the goal square from the pocket while he's in the middle of fending off his opponent?!
 
Pretty ******* fast: his 2.73 seconds 20m time in February 2019 would be quicker than the all-time national combine record, set in 2010.

Looks like we're finally going to win the grand final sprint *cheer*
 

Bring back Drum

Mundy4Hundy
Jul 8, 2019
3,380
10,231
AFL Club
Fremantle
The Westys.

14AC5FEB-337A-4208-8D50-24F8992B9E9D.jpeg
 
Oct 18, 2013
2,226
5,289
Perth WA
AFL Club
Fremantle
Jesus frickin proverbials the kid can move!!. I'm struggling to think of any other Freo player in history that was that quick.... not even Josh Simpson or Stephen Hill in his youth had wheels like that. Only guy who might come close was Shane Yarran (RIP).

Am I nuts, or has Freo just drafted it's fastest player ever?
 

yyou

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 18, 2014
5,756
7,169
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
NY Mets, NO Pelicans, Toronto Leafs
Jesus frickin proverbials the kid can move!!. I'm struggling to think of any other Freo player in history that was that quick.... not even Josh Simpson or Stephen Hill in his youth had wheels like that. Only guy who might come close was Shane Yarran (RIP).

Am I nuts, or has Freo just drafted it's fastest player ever?
James Walker

On CPH1920 using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

Pusswah

Premiership Player
Aug 16, 2009
3,019
4,284
AFL Club
Fremantle
James Walker

On CPH1920 using BigFooty.com mobile app
Dunno mate, they reckon over 20m his figure would have broken the combine record.
 
May 2, 2017
19,679
39,989
QLD
AFL Club
Fremantle
The 20m is only acceleration testing really. You probably want a 50-100m test as well to get overall speed.

For example, pretty sure Jordan Clark ran about 3s flat for his 20m (which is decent but not rapid) but won the GF sprint because his top speed is higher.

Having said that, Western has the burst and looks to cruise pretty well. Suspect both would be quick for him and Walker too.
 
May 11, 2015
948
3,004
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Ipswich Town FC, Leeds Rhinos
The 20m is only acceleration testing really. You probably want a 50-100m test as well to get overall speed.

For example, pretty sure Jordan Clark ran about 3s flat for his 20m (which is decent but not rapid) but won the GF sprint because his top speed is higher.

Having said that, Western has the burst and looks to cruise pretty well. Suspect both would be quick for him and Walker too.

It raises the question though - in the context of playing AFL level footy - what is more important? Top Speed or acceleration?

BHill came 3rd/4th in the grand final sprint (so quick, but not quickest), but his speed off the mark is one of his most damaging traits. In contrast, one of the things that was so exciting about Frederick's draft reel last year was his top speed - but apart from his goal on debut against the Weagles we didn't see much of it last year. There were many times in congestion when he didn't look any quicker than those around him. I think that's because his acceleration over 20m is decent, but not outstanding; but give him 20-30m to cover and you then see his speed.

I look at the clips of Western (and Walker to some extent) and almost every one of them has him getting a 1-2m separation over the first 5m - that's priceless in congested footy.

I remember watching Crowden's draft highlights and being really excited when time after time he would duck/spin and evade the first tackle to get that immediate separation - but when he first started to play AFL it became clear that bigger bodied mids would just swallow him up. The good news is that he's realised this and (unlike Suban) has adapted his game so he's caught holding the ball far less than in his first season. That's quite different to Western because they won't be able to swallow him up if they can't catch him.
 

Scham

Brownlow Medallist
Sep 19, 2004
22,432
20,451
AFL Club
Fremantle
It raises the question though - in the context of playing AFL level footy - what is more important? Top Speed or acceleration?

BHill came 3rd/4th in the grand final sprint (so quick, but not quickest), but his speed off the mark is one of his most damaging traits. In contrast, one of the things that was so exciting about Frederick's draft reel last year was his top speed - but apart from his goal on debut against the Weagles we didn't see much of it last year. There were many times in congestion when he didn't look any quicker than those around him. I think that's because his acceleration over 20m is decent, but not outstanding; but give him 20-30m to cover and you then see his speed.

I look at the clips of Western (and Walker to some extent) and almost every one of them has him getting a 1-2m separation over the first 5m - that's priceless in congested footy.

I remember watching Crowden's draft highlights and being really excited when time after time he would duck/spin and evade the first tackle to get that immediate separation - but when he first started to play AFL it became clear that bigger bodied mids would just swallow him up. The good news is that he's realised this and (unlike Suban) has adapted his game so he's caught holding the ball far less than in his first season. That's quite different to Western because they won't be able to swallow him up if they can't catch him.

The 20m sprint testing is mostly useless imo. It certainly isn’t an accurate gauge of how quick a player is or plays.
 
May 2, 2017
19,679
39,989
QLD
AFL Club
Fremantle
It raises the question though - in the context of playing AFL level footy - what is more important? Top Speed or acceleration?

BHill came 3rd/4th in the grand final sprint (so quick, but not quickest), but his speed off the mark is one of his most damaging traits. In contrast, one of the things that was so exciting about Frederick's draft reel last year was his top speed - but apart from his goal on debut against the Weagles we didn't see much of it last year. There were many times in congestion when he didn't look any quicker than those around him. I think that's because his acceleration over 20m is decent, but not outstanding; but give him 20-30m to cover and you then see his speed.

I look at the clips of Western (and Walker to some extent) and almost every one of them has him getting a 1-2m separation over the first 5m - that's priceless in congested footy.

I remember watching Crowden's draft highlights and being really excited when time after time he would duck/spin and evade the first tackle to get that immediate separation - but when he first started to play AFL it became clear that bigger bodied mids would just swallow him up. The good news is that he's realised this and (unlike Suban) has adapted his game so he's caught holding the ball far less than in his first season. That's quite different to Western because they won't be able to swallow him up if they can't catch him.

I think it depends on where you play. Inside mids want acceleration to get out of the pack. This is where Western could dominate if he adapts. Same with forwards to get separation. A winger probably needs both to run in space.
 
Back