Player Watch Welcome James Blanck. Extends to 2026!

[Mojo]

His spoils easily clear the danger area. A real advantage. Not many defenders can do it.

Gonna take it right out of the Danger Zone

 

[HappyHawk_1]

In addition to the hype thus far, I think what one of the really promising signs is that he is learning rapidly from his experiences, which is great to see and another really promising thing that bodes well for his ongoing development.

If everyone can recall that first game, he spoiled a ball right down to the feet of Rhylee West

14

Rhylee West

Age

23

Ht

183cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.3

3star

K

5.7

2star

HB

6.7

4star

M

2.5

3star

T

1.5

3star

G

0.5

3star

D

12.0

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

6.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.0

3star

G

0.3

3star

D

13.0

4star

K

5.6

3star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.2

3star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.6

3star

in front of goals, but now he is absolutely pummelling the ball out of the area and away from the goals.

As much as he may have been a bit crazy for not nominating for the ND, he at least appears relatively switched on when on the ground!!

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

Those punches at :36 AND :42 - massive!

And in the WRGAF category, can't believe there wasn't even a single one of his spoils on that pathetic Golden Fist segment this week?

We were the late show, no time for production to get the footage ready, they come from the earlier matches.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Absolutely shocked.

I cannot for the life of me remember a KPD come into the game and just immediately have it like he has.

And he hasn’t even Scratched the surface yet.

 

[TylerDurden]

So impressed with this guy.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

He made so many good and smart decisions today. Watching him at the ground is a bloody delight. The upside here is immense.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

He's what Jarrad Boumann might've been had he not found some trouble one night.....

kidding, but I can see a likeness in the way he moves.

 

[Tall Tales and True]

We're either very lucky or very good at this sort of recruiting. He looks that good!

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[TheFourPillars]

We're either very lucky or very good at this sort of recruiting. He looks that good!

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

We knew exactly what he was capable of has trained and played for box hill under Sam and has attended pre season the last couple seasons. It is astounding that his transition has been this good even with all of these things going for him. Just imagine him with a couple Afl pre seasons. Sensational pick up giving us a real leg up in our rebuild. This is liquid gold.

 

[theiaofseed]

He's what Jarrad Boumann might've been had he not found some trouble one night.....

kidding, but I can see a likeness in the way he moves.

Jarrad Boumann never showed the same level, I have no idea why North overlooked Blancked twice.

 

[toomanysquibs]

Jarrad Boumann never showed the same level, I have no idea why North overlooked Blancked twice.

Definitely never in the same class, but had similar dimensions and athletic ability. Seemingly a screw loose though, at least to the casual observer.

Blanck is a real mystery, I've never seen anything like these two guys we've picked up in the 2021 and 2022 mid season drafts. Unbelievable pickups that are playing like high end national draft picks.

Newcombe was Martin like with his movement in centrebounces a couple of times this week. Just carved through traffic, stayed balanced and upright then delivered the ball with incredible precision.

Blanck not far behind him in terms of winning his position.

 

[Billyc]

Not sure if true but heard yesterday he botched his paperwork for the national draft last year.

Watching him it is hard to see him not making it as a valuable key defender. Does all the things required in that role well. We have found another key piece in the bargain bin of the MSD

 

[burner1]

How does a kpd move from vfl to afl and play better? Reckon he’s showing more than he did at box hill (prob why slid in msd as he wasn’t smashing it). Amazing find.

 

[kirbatron]

Thing that I like the most is his composure/ decision making.

 

[KermitJagger]

If Blanck's recent performances are any indication, well done Moore on breaking that bloody curse.

 

[cryptor]

Jarrad Boumann never showed the same level, I have no idea why North overlooked Blancked twice.

Probably because they had no recruitment team and we had their ex-list manager.

 

[Blackhawk42]

How does a kpd move from vfl to afl and play better? Reckon he’s showing more than he did at box hill (prob why slid in msd as he wasn’t smashing it). Amazing find.

Likely that he has a personality that thrives on complete concentration and rational thinking.
Combine that with his athletic blessings and you get a player who steps up a level and instantly has every mental and physical box ticked.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

How does a kpd move from vfl to afl and play better? Reckon he’s showing more than he did at box hill (prob why slid in msd as he wasn’t smashing it). Amazing find.

Some smarter folk than I answered this in another thread. From memory I think they mentioned that the forward entries are somewhat more predictable at AFL level and the game is a little more erratic in the VFL and this helped defenders when they make the transition.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Definitely never in the same class, but had similar dimensions and athletic ability. Seemingly a screw loose though, at least to the casual observer.

Blanck is a real mystery, I've never seen anything like these two guys we've picked up in the 2021 and 2022 mid season drafts. Unbelievable pickups that are playing like high end national draft picks.

Newcombe was Martin like with his movement in centrebounces a couple of times this week. Just carved through traffic, stayed balanced and upright then delivered the ball with incredible precision.

Blanck not far behind him in terms of winning his position.

Its also got me thinking that our two mid season pick ups in Newk and Blank hit the ground running from their first games whereas some of our top 30 selections from the 2020 draft haven't even made a debut yet!

Could it be that a 19/20 year old mid season selection who has proved himself against men in the VFL/SANFL/WAFL is actually a safer bet than a 18 year old kid who has never played against men before?

Bit like the NBA in that you have to be an absolute star like Kobe to get drafted straight out of high school, most of the scouts would rather see how they go after at least a couple of years in the college system.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Its also got me thinking that our two mid season pick ups in Newk and Blank hit the ground running from their first games whereas some of our top 30 selections from the 2020 draft haven't even made a debut yet!

Could it be that a 19/20 year old mid season selection who has proved himself against men in the VFL/SANFL/WAFL is actually a safer bet than a 18 year old kid who has never played against men before?

Bit like the NBA in that you have to be an absolute star like Kobe to get drafted straight out of high school, most of the scouts would rather see how they go after at least a couple of years in the college system.

Thought this for a while, and having the physical attributes is pretty key to playing senior footy. Why sometimes I tend to think a first year recruit could spend 12 months in the gym and training before even playing would be worthwhile

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Thought this for a while, and having the physical attributes is pretty key to playing senior footy. Why sometimes I tend to think a first year recruit could spend 12 months in the gym and training before even playing would be worthwhile

The problem being that some players can never develop an AFL body no matter how hard they hit the gym purely down to their genetics.

Whereas Newk and Blank were physical units (especially Newk) from the moment they were drafted so their is no risk in terms of their physical attributes not meeting AFL requirements.

 

[Alite]

Looks a 200 gamer. He is exactly what our team needed.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[Pessimistic]

12-30 Q1 north sees ruckman loose 50m on from the contest sprints and causes enough doubt for Morris to come in and save a goal

 

[Howe Amazing]

We must have been confident getting Blanck with our 2nd pick in MSD. Been a great find. Selection next year will be tough which is great problem to have