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

Being played out of position but i think we all understand why.

It is concerning because i personally just don't see him being a half forward. Fingers crossed it is just some growing pains and he will get the hang of it but jeez it is tough viewing at the moment.
Agreed. I was hoping he could rest FP at the feet of the talls, in a defensive means to stop opposition breaking away from our forward thrusts, but that doesn't appear to be on the cards.
 
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he was bad first few rounds of 20 and got on track before getting injured, and in 19 his best footy was easily after the bye

he's only just played his 50th game and is still figuring it out. nothing to worry about. if he has to get dropped to work on a few aspects of his game at some point this year then so be it

he will be back and a contributor for years to come
 

Coathanger

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He just didn't look interested yesterday,and played accordingly. Our midfield has no mongrel in it and he can be that person.
Hopefully Monday he turns his form around.
 
May not actually be the case but it seems like he's going to ground far too often. Takes himself out of the play.

I wanted to see him get the job on Dusty. That would've been a great learning experience as he's got the raw power to be a similar type to him. Who coincidentally doesn't go to ground himself.
 
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They are different players but Worpel is only two CMs shorter than Dusty. And for a long time Dusty’s big knock was he was a butcher of the ball.

There’s still so much time for Worpel to find his best role - I would love it to be an inside/outside mid who can brute force out of stoppages and kick goals
 

archiemoses

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Hey all, oppo fan but big fan of Worpel. Thought he was going to step up again this year but looks like he's playing off HFF. Why is that?

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
 
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They are different players but Worpel is only two CMs shorter than Dusty. And for a long time Dusty’s big knock was he was a butcher of the ball.

There’s still so much time for Worpel to find his best role - I would love it to be an inside/outside mid who can brute force out of stoppages and kick goals

Don't think Dusty was ever considered a ball butcher. His initial issues were that he showed lots of talent and class, but was never a consistent 4 quarter player.
 

Zack

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At the moment his issue simply put is Tom Mitchell. They are both chasing the same pill and TOM is better at it.

We cannot carry two defensive liabilities. Jaeger for example has changed his entire game to cover 4 them. Shiels looks like ditto to jom this year as we don't have isaac, hendo or Scully on wings running back.

Worpels only really good season was when TOM was out so he got that freedom to get the pill as TOM wasn't there. (Yes he had developmental one/s which we were ok with)

It's a problem, it's as if Clarko chased 4 blokes like himself and just worked out it may have been the wrong idea. Worpel in certain other teams would be doing fine. Including teams above us.

In our club he's just more of the same atm with Mitchell back, can he change that? Time will tell. Mind u Tom goes down he'll probably be the new favourite 4 b&f. With Tom there tho what does he bring?

That is the balance he and the club need 2 find for him.
 

natio

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Honestly, am I the only one that thinks we are a better side when Worp plays the "get ball" midfielder role we currently have Mitch playing.

I know Mitch won a Brownlow and still coming back from his broken leg, but I think Worps uses the ball more creatively and utilises angles better. There is a reason Oppo coaches don't tag Mitch.
 
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Honestly, am I the only one that thinks we are a better side when Worp plays the "get ball" midfielder role we currently have Mitch playing.

I know Mitch won a Brownlow and still coming back from his broken leg, but I think Worps uses the ball more creatively and utilises angles better. There is a reason Oppo coaches don't tag Mitch.

Mitchell is a much better midfielder in essentially every way. Worpel has not been tagged and the year he won the PCM it was JOM that was copping the attention.

Mitchell has been tagged many times in the past, and the only two that have curbed his influence were Steele and Hewitt. No one else has got close to stopping him (inc Curnow, Libba, etc).
 

Milkshaker

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Honestly, am I the only one that thinks we are a better side when Worp plays the "get ball" midfielder role we currently have Mitch playing.

I know Mitch won a Brownlow and still coming back from his broken leg, but I think Worps uses the ball more creatively and utilises angles better. There is a reason Oppo coaches don't tag Mitch.

I get your drift. Worps can definitely be more explosive and provide more hurt than Mitch on the ball when numero uno.
 

hfc70

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No better game than this week for Worpel to show us what the kid is made of. I’m expecting an extremely physical game from James - one where we all come away thinking this kid has got a long career at the Hawks.

Worpedo , in the words of legendary Leigh Matthews...”if it bleeds....kill it”
We all know who I am talking about (not the guy from ‘Something about Mary’.....”we have a bleeder”) but someone who plays purely for free kicks & is Cats ‘faux’ tough guy. Wouldn’t mind if he gave some attention to Omith too.
 

TylerDurden

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No better game than this week for Worpel to show us what the kid is made of. I’m expecting an extremely physical game from James - one where we all come away thinking this kid has got a long career at the Hawks.

Worpedo , in the words of legendary Leigh Matthews...”if it bleeds....kill it”
We all know who I am talking about (not the guy from ‘Something about Mary’.....”we have a bleeder”) but someone who plays purely for free kicks & is Cats ‘faux’ tough guy. Wouldn’t mind if he gave some attention to Omith too.
Worpel v Selwood. A great match up.
 

LMGjr

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Being played out of position but i think we all understand why.

It is concerning because i personally just don't see him being a half forward. Fingers crossed it is just some growing pains and he will get the hang of it but jeez it is tough viewing at the moment.
I don't understand why - sorry but he's a bull, not a running skillful flanker, sometimes we try to hard to "change" players i think - like all the forwards we have picked up to turn into defenders = madness.

If one of the other midfielders, or Worps himself, is in a slump or we can't have them all in at once for the balance of the TEAM then drop one. Team should come first.

Goes for any player if we have better in form players busting their arse to get into the side.

If we want him to be multi positional take the pressure off and let him learn at Box Hill for a few weeks or just accept he is what he is, a bull that Mitchel has to learn to share the middle with.

Both Mitch and Worps keeping their feet would make a big difference as well. It might make all the difference.
 
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I don't understand why - sorry but he's a bull, not a running skillful flanker, sometimes we try to hard to "change" players i think - like all the forwards we have picked up to turn into defenders = madness.

If one of the other midfielders, or Worps himself, is in a slump or we can't have them all in at once for the balance of the TEAM then drop one. Team should come first.

Goes for any player if we have better in form players busting their arse to get into the side.

If we want him to be multi positional take the pressure off and let him learn at Box Hill for a few weeks or just accept he is what he is, a bull that Mitchel has to learn to share the middle with.

Both Mitch and Worps keeping their feet would make a big difference as well. It might make all the difference.
Yeah true mate, turning Sicily and Hardwick in to defenders was just madness. Absolutely awful decisions...

It is not a form issue with Worpel. We literally can not play them all in the middle so we are trying to find a way to make it work, it is not like what he is offering at the moment is any worse than what his replacement would give us. We are a developing team at the moment so can afford to wear the ups and downs.

I don't know if it will work out long term but just crossing our fingers and hoping the midfield dynamic just fixes itself is silly.
 

LMGjr

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Yeah true mate, turning Sicily and Hardwick in to defenders was just madness. Absolutely awful decisions...
You can always count on cherry picking on here - throw out a bit of bait and SNAP.....hahahahaha

Lets just forget about Dowler, Throp, Dawson, Scheonmakers, Brand and even Kosi ..............LMAO at the cherry pickers.

You forgot Goo mate, he went alright when sent back too - oooh so did C.Brown......who else is their who is small to medium instead of a tall forward being sent back to make your cherry pop.....
 
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You can always count on cherry picking on here - throw out a bit of bait and SNAP.....hahahahaha

Lets just forget about Dowler, Throp, Dawson, Scheonmakers, Brand and even Kosi ..............LMAO at the cherry pickers.

You forgot Goo mate, he went alright when sent back too - oooh so did C.Brown......who else is their who is small to medium instead of a tall forward being sent back to make your cherry pop.....
Kosi was drafted as a defender, he was not sent back...

So what you are saying is we have had some hits and misses which is completely different to what you originally said.

But sure i love the idea of lets just stick with the midfield balance that clearly does not work because he is a bull and a natural mid.
 
I don't know how "Mitchell and Worpel can't play together" has become a self-evident truth to a lot of people.

Perhaps they 'aren't' playing well together, but that doesn't mean they can't. That's a coaching issue.

I've read elsewhere on the Hawthorn net that we need to get rid of one of them, because they are both inside ball-winners, and we can't play both. Apparently, each club only needs one inside ball winner at any one time.

Personally, it seems to me that if we win, it's not an issue, but when we lose, it is. And rather than say "Worpel (or Mitchell) didn't do enough, it's "They can't play together!"
 
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