Player Watch #24 Sam Grlj

[energyquant]

Every team now employs some version of the 2015-era West Coast Eagles "web" defence. This was the successor to the horrible flood defence from earlier in the decade.

To combat it, every team uses the switch across half back to the fat side of the ground ("stretch the web"). Most teams also try to attack with the 45 degree kick to hit the web at it's weakest internal point (around 30m from the ball, the point where man-on-man becomes zone defence).

This is all very relevant for a player like Grlj.

He offers a different way to break the web. He is agile enough to buy some space. If he is skilled enough, he will be able to hit a short target (hand or foot) and then speed past for the second line-breaking possession. This is what "1-2" players like N.Daicos and Merrett do so well and why they as so damaging in the modern game.

It's no certainty, but he's got plenty of potential.

 

[spky1234]

100% correct. Your reactions mirrored the reality, most people were shocked &/or disappointed that we went in that direction. The team needed some speed, but most felt a 182cm HBF was not the top of our biggest problems. I think most people want to see pillars being added that give us a clear group to build around - Cotchin, Jack, Dusty, Rance - we can look at all the other bits that went into a flag, but for the players, they were "Chapter 1" of that story. I actually had no reaction to Grlj being drafted as i have been really transparent i did no homework - it was only once i watched your feed and checked this board i realised - ohhhh this is probably the most unpopular pick we have made since JON. That's unfortunate for the player, but i think everyone will want him to do very well & think he can do very well, but a player with his build & on-field position, your ceiling is not as high as others. Off the top of your head, name the last speed-based HBF Brownlow medalist. It's a position that, commonly, elite options can be found in the arse end of the draft (Short, Baker, Houli), or a player who plays further up the field can develop into fairly quickly (Dan Rioli).

With reading the reactions & reports with the draft done and dusted, Robey sounds like the type of guy we wanted, & you did too from memory. Us recruiting Grlj doesn't change that. Supporter are allowed to be vocal, disagree, argue, be disappointed etc & as the players, the ones who can deal with that best tend to end up the best.


It sucks for the kid he has to come in and immediately have the "Fiora/Tambling" ghost hanging around him, but it is the reality of being a professional sportsperson. Porzingas had to cop it in New York, and he made them eat his ass. Its why you can eventually earn $2,000,000 a year doing what you love - comes down to handling the pressure.

This draft for me, it will either make Hartley a legend, or closer to Greg Miller. People forget Greg won some flags too before he was a Tiger & some of the rookies he recruited did end up coming Premiership Tigers too, but Miller/Wallace years were also a fumbling. This draft they took some wild swings with Grlj & especially Zane. More than likely this draft either ends a few careers, or they are with us for the next decade. It's hard & normal to be skeptical. If Grlj & Kane were there targets, then they likely could have packaged 4 & 38 up to be worth future / more assets. Watching the draft live, i felt like the next 6-7 picks would have been the same, even if Grlj was still on the board, the players they picked were very definitive to what they needed. I think the real pressure is not on Samuel, but now on Hartley. He & his team chose to zag when the rest of us wanted to zig. His the boss, but its always only "for now". The big swing on Samuel & Kane was strategically handled very poorly. We all celebrated when 38 turned into 30, just to watch us take the 94th rated top prospect. The reaction is normal all things considered

Grlj is being drafted to be a midfielder.

He played in midfield for Oakleigh chargers the entire year.

He is not simply a half back flanker, that is just where he will start his career.

Just because he's not a big bodied tall mid doesn't mean he's a dud or doesn't have an elite ceiling - 2 of the top 5 players in the comp are small mids in Daicos and Butters.

People are severley over-exaggerating the "reach" of this pick, we overlooked 1 or 2 other guys for him, not 50. Even if we traded down to pick him, we would've gotten a second round pick, which would've been a skeptical talent. Not a first rounder or future 1st like 90% of this board were nonsensically banging on about anyway.

Anyway in a weak draft, at pick 8, these talents would likely typically be in the teens anyway, where every club is picking more for needs (as the talent is close) anyway. And our list is far more balanced now because of it.

Midfield consisting of Lalor, Hotton, Smillie, Grlj, Cumming, Seth, McAullife has speed, skill and damage - Can't wait to see Lalor, and Hotton freakishly good hands give it to Grlj blitzing past everyone.

Not gonna cry if he can end up being like Rozee or Mckercher at half back anyway either.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

100% correct. Your reactions mirrored the reality, most people were shocked &/or disappointed that we went in that direction. The team needed some speed, but most felt a 182cm HBF was not the top of our biggest problems. I think most people want to see pillars being added that give us a clear group to build around - Cotchin, Jack, Dusty, Rance - we can look at all the other bits that went into a flag, but for the players, they were "Chapter 1" of that story. I actually had no reaction to Grlj being drafted as i have been really transparent i did no homework - it was only once i watched your feed and checked this board i realised - ohhhh this is probably the most unpopular pick we have made since JON. That's unfortunate for the player, but i think everyone will want him to do very well & think he can do very well, but a player with his build & on-field position, your ceiling is not as high as others. Off the top of your head, name the last speed-based HBF Brownlow medalist. It's a position that, commonly, elite options can be found in the arse end of the draft (Short, Baker, Houli), or a player who plays further up the field can develop into fairly quickly (Dan Rioli).

With reading the reactions & reports with the draft done and dusted, Robey sounds like the type of guy we wanted, & you did too from memory. Us recruiting Grlj doesn't change that. Supporter are allowed to be vocal, disagree, argue, be disappointed etc & as the players, the ones who can deal with that best tend to end up the best.


It sucks for the kid he has to come in and immediately have the "Fiora/Tambling" ghost hanging around him, but it is the reality of being a professional sportsperson. Porzingas had to cop it in New York, and he made them eat his ass. Its why you can eventually earn $2,000,000 a year doing what you love - comes down to handling the pressure.

This draft for me, it will either make Hartley a legend, or closer to Greg Miller. People forget Greg won some flags too before he was a Tiger & some of the rookies he recruited did end up coming Premiership Tigers too, but Miller/Wallace years were also a fumbling. This draft they took some wild swings with Grlj & especially Zane. More than likely this draft either ends a few careers, or they are with us for the next decade. It's hard & normal to be skeptical. If Grlj & Kane were there targets, then they likely could have packaged 4 & 38 up to be worth future / more assets. Watching the draft live, i felt like the next 6-7 picks would have been the same, even if Grlj was still on the board, the players they picked were very definitive to what they needed. I think the real pressure is not on Samuel, but now on Hartley. He & his team chose to zag when the rest of us wanted to zig. His the boss, but its always only "for now". The big swing on Samuel & Kane was strategically handled very poorly. We all celebrated when 38 turned into 30, just to watch us take the 94th rated top prospect. The reaction is normal all things considered

You are falling into the trap that most posters are.

The club pays Rhy and his staff to get the best players in the land. They have exhaustive statistics and follow kids for several years.

They have their own ranking, as do all other recruiters. Look at the way NHH and others were not drafted. It's moronic to say Kane was the 94th-ranked player because we have no idea how any of the other clubs ranked him. It's just one lot of people's opinions that follow these guys a lot less and never interview them to see their character.

Blair doesn't get involved with actual player selection either. With that aspect, it falls squarely on the shoulders of Rhy and his team.

In the end, it's an inexact science, and to criticise our recruiters because it doesn't suit your far inferior opinion is silly.

 

[tigerfan1961]

We all celebrated when 38 turned into 30, just to watch us take the 94th rated top prospect. The reaction is normal all things considered

This last line sums up what many are saying on here but it’s so wrong. Just because the fox footy ranking was 94 doesn’t mean that’s where he should be drafted, same with Grlj.
It’s so laughable that many base a lot of their comments on what a random panel decides a player should be ranked. Same with mock drafts from so called junior talent watchers. Our recruiting team watch these kids for 3-4 years at least before ranking them.
We turned 38 into 30 because we wanted the player we clearly rated at that level. And perhaps we got word that another team with a pick before 38 were going to take him. As was the case with Faull last year when many said we went too early on him.
We won’t know for years whether we made the right calls in this draft, but we have to back in our team of talent spotters as like I said, they’ve been watching them for years, not months like most of us. We have a highly rated, long-standing and respected member of the recruiting team (Cousens) that watches the young talent in SA and WA, and most of the draftees for us this year were from SA. If he says they should be considered, they should be, as he has identified many gems over the years.

 

[tigs2010]

It’s so laughable that many base a lot of their comments on what a random panel decides a player should be ranked.

What makes you think Fox have a panel to do this?

People melting coz this bloke doesn't rate our players. If anything I'd take it as a positive.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

This last line sums up what many are saying on here but it’s so wrong. Just because the fox footy ranking was 94 doesn’t mean that’s where he should be drafted, same with Grlj.
It’s so laughable that many base a lot of their comments on what a random panel decides a player should be ranked. Same with mock drafts from so called junior talent watchers. Our recruiting team watch these kids for 3-4 years at least before ranking them.
We turned 38 into 30 because we wanted the player we clearly rated at that level. And perhaps we got word that another team with a pick before 38 were going to take him. As was the case with Faull last year when many said we went too early on him.
We won’t know for years whether we made the right calls in this draft, but we have to back in our team of talent spotters as like I said, they’ve been watching them for years, not months like most of us. We have a highly rated, long-standing and respected member of the recruiting team (Cousens) that watches the young talent in SA and WA, and most of the draftees for us this year were from SA. If he says they should be considered, they should be, as he has identified many gems over the years.

Just one thing in your post. I don't think we turned pick 38 into pick 31 to take a specific player. I think 38 became 31 without us doing anything due to many higher picks being used up in bidding.

But you and other posters are spot on here. When our recruiters are seeking certain attributes, and the guy is available with these attributes, you take him. You don't worry about draft jargon like "reaching."

I guess another way to look at it is we used 4 players that were either quick(Bolton) really good runners(Baker, Graham) or both(Rioli) to get 5 first round picks to get the spine of our future team in the 2024 draft. Then in the 2025 draft we replaced the runners we gave up in 2024. So our 2028 onwards team is really taking shape now, we'd be hoping for something like:

B Miller Balta Gibcus
HB Trainor Banks Grlj Brown
Wings Ralphsmith Retschko? Ross?
Inside mids Smillie Cumming Lalor/Hotton McAuliffe + gun FA yet to be recruited
Ruck Unknown first ruck/Sims ideal 2nd ruck
HF Campbell Lalor/Hotton Mansell + either Rioli/Alger/Peucker
F Armstrong Faull Sims

It seems in theory we have just a long term ruck and maybe a winger to find. So we can see our future team is taking great shape.

 

[We are back baby!]

You are falling into the trap that most posters are.

The club pays Rhy and his staff to get the best players in the land. They have exhaustive statistics and follow kids for several years.

They have their own ranking, as do all other recruiters. Look at the way NHH and others were not drafted. It's moronic to say Kane was the 94th-ranked player because we have no idea how any of the other clubs ranked him. It's just one lot of people's opinions that follow these guys a lot less and never interview them to see their character.

Blair doesn't get involved with actual player selection either. With that aspect, it falls squarely on the shoulders of Rhy and his team.

In the end, it's an inexact science, and to criticise our recruiters because it doesn't suit your far inferior opinion is silly.

Upon review I am perplexed by the Peurker pick at 31 ... his 2km time trial was over 7min. A player with such poor endurance is unlikely to have an AFL career.

Picking Cumming and Grjl ahead of XTaylor was the right call but we will need to replace Vlastuin and Broad eventually and Kondogiannas, who performed better than Taylor for Vic Metro was available at this peuck.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Upon review I am perplexed by the Peurker pick at 31 ... his 2km time trial was over 7min. A player with such poor endurance is unlikely to have an AFL career.

Picking Cumming and Grjl ahead of XTaylor was the right call but we will need to replace Vlastuin and Broad eventually and Kondogiannas, who performed better than Taylor for Vic Metro was available at this pock.

By the time we came to this pick we already had the following defenders 26yo or younger on our list:

Miller, Gibcus, Balta, Gray, Trainor, Brown, Grlj, Banks, K Smith, and possibly Trezise. There are 10 players there for 7 spots with a player in reserve for each role.

When we traded Young and delisted Koschitzke, Blight, Bauer we were backing the above players to form our future back 7.

 

[bc27]

I’m going to go early and say this kid will be the pick of all our draftees over the last two years.

He has a rare combo of speed/endurance/toughness that only a few have in the afl. Butters is a comparison but Grlj tends a little more coming from behind the footy then Butters.
Max Holmes is a bigger body but both have line breaking similarities. Ed Richard’s is another one, and Colby Mckercher is another who share the same type of brave dash as Grlj.

But I predict this kid to have a huge impact next year and I can see us giving him every opportunity to get a decent amount of midfield minutes.

Will compliment Lalor, Smillie and Cumming brilliantly.

Grlj and Hotton also compliment each other really well.

 

[tigerfan1961]

Just one thing in your post. I don't think we turned pick 38 into pick 31 to take a specific player. I think 38 became 31 without us doing anything due to many higher picks being used up in bidding.

But you and other posters are spot on here. When our recruiters are seeking certain attributes, and the guy is available with these attributes, you take him. You don't worry about draft jargon like "reaching."

I guess another way to look at it is we used 4 players that were either quick(Bolton) really good runners(Baker, Graham) or both(Rioli) to get 5 first round picks to get the spine of our future team in the 2024 draft. Then in the 2025 draft we replaced the runners we gave up in 2024. So our 2028 onwards team is really taking shape now, we'd be hoping for something like:

B Miller Balta Gibcus
HB Trainor Banks Grlj Brown
Wings Ralphsmith Retschko? Ross?
Inside mids Smillie Cumming Lalor/Hotton McAuliffe + gun FA yet to be recruited
Ruck Unknown first ruck/Sims ideal 2nd ruck
HF Campbell Lalor/Hotton Mansell + either Rioli/Alger/Peucker
F Armstrong Faull Sims

It seems in theory we have just a long term ruck and maybe a winger to find. So we can see our future team is taking great shape.

Thanks MR, you are correct about pick 31 coming in from 38 through bids. I was thinking of the pick for Roberts-Thomson

 

[tigs2010]

Elite work ethic.

 

[Muddiemoose]

What makes you think Fox have a panel to do this?

People melting coz this bloke doesn't rate our players. If anything I'd take it as a positive.

View attachment 2483322

 

[tigs2010]

View attachment 2483349

Franz Waterworth

 

[Toadvine]

Who's the guy who worked for the chargers that we brought into the club and works for us now?

Probably another aspect that's being underrated is we've got inside first hand experience of how Grlj compares to guys like Jagga Smith within the Oakleigh Chargers.

Combined with the experience we had bringing him in to play with the VFL side it makes Sam much more of a known quantity when compared to other players we could have chosen.

-Edit - it was Alex Davey who was the regional talent manager at the chargers who now works at Richmond

 

[We are back baby!]

View attachment 2483349

All these characters were young and good looking last time Bombers won a final

 

[4tune8]

Reckon peeps get caught up too much in what constitutes a midfield. Of course we need a strong group to attend centre ball ups, but that's just a small part of the picture where there could be just 15-20 contests. Around the ground stoppages make up the bulk of where the contested ball can be won.

Lalor and Hotton wont be involved in stoppages in the back half of the ground but we still need players around the coalface to win that contested ball and provide speed around those stoppages in defence as well as launching transitional plays linking up with those players forward of the ball, this is where wingers come into their own.

We were dead last this year for forward 50 entries (a direct result of our inability to win that contested ball in the backhalf) and it's no wonder that we were a poor scoring team off the back of it. The addition of Sam Grlj goes a hell of a long way in addressing this hole in the list, pair him up with Smillie (yeah, I know) who was an U16 AA defender with a weapon of a leg, then we have a completely different looking defensive springboard. KMac2 is another who'll add strength and versatility.

We've definitely missed having a player who can come off the back of the square with pace and provide that 2nd receiver dash, but also provide defensive pressure by disrupting the oppos 2nd receiver.

 

[We are back baby!]

Reckon peeps get caught up too much in what constitutes a midfield. Of course we need a strong group to attend centre ball ups, but that's just a small part of the picture where there could be just 15-20 contests. Around the ground stoppages make up the bulk of where the contested ball can be won.

Lalor and Hotton wont be involved in stoppages in the back half of the ground but we still need players around the coalface to win that contested ball and provide speed around those stoppages in defence as well as launching transitional plays linking up with those players forward of the ball, this is where wingers come into their own.

We were dead last this year for forward 50 entries (a direct result of our inability to win that contested ball in the backhalf) and it's no wonder that we were a poor scoring team off the back of it. The addition of Sam Grlj goes a hell of a long way in addressing this hole in the list, pair him up with Smillie (yeah, I know) who was an U16 AA defender with a weapon of a leg, then we have a completely different looking defensive springboard. KMac2 is another who'll add strength and versatility.

We've definitely missed having a player who can come off the back of the square with pace and provide that 2nd receiver dash, but also provide defensive pressure by disrupting the oppos 2nd receiver.

Word is Thomas Burton from Jets (the other Vic Metro co-captain) who is also a HBF with elite speed but played midfield this year will be training at Tigerland for SSP.

 

[4tune8]

Word is Thomas Burton from Jets (the other Vic Metro co-captain) who is also a HBF with elite speed but played midfield this year will be training at Tigerland for SSP.

He'd be handy too, reckon we had a few that could provide those HBF attributes during the dynasty years, Houli, Short,, Baker.

 

[SleepingGiant]

Seems an obvious choice to me. It was a toss up between he and Robey with our second pick, and I'm sure we all would have been happy with Robey, but there isn't much separating them, but we would have loved Grijl's speed. We all get like kids in a lolly shop on draft night, I'll have one of those and one of those.

But we have a swag of forward mids, Lalor, Hotton, Cummings, Campbell, Algar, Ross, Taranto, Rioli, maybe Mansell. And we have plenty of lead up marking forwards in Armstrong, Faull, Lefau, Fawcett, Lalor again. So was Robey necessary.

We have no fast aerobic defensive mid types like Grjl. Ralphsmith is quick but a straighline player. Mansell if we used him in the middle maybe. So he is a definite need. Maybe he won't be as pretty as some, but he could be very effective. He could be a hell of a tagger as well with his agility and hard-nosed attitude, with licence to run off. Daicos would hate chasing him up the ground.

Exactly. Best post of the thread. Also, Grlj has been much more consistent for longer. Robey has bolted and could be a flash in the pan. We swung for the fences last year and need those vanilla types that do the bread and butter work in the middle. Whether people like it or not we need speed, endurance, outside flair.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

He'd be handy too, reckon we had a few that could provide those HBF attributes during the dynasty years, Houli, Short,, Baker.

It was notable that when Dimma recruited D Rioli to Suns to give them more bounce off half back, he also recruited Noble, a second player to do the same thing. So I think Richmond will be on a similar path, wanting several in the mixture who can collect loose balls and rebound, Banks, Brown, Grlj and maybe another.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

Upon review I am perplexed by the Peurker pick at 31 ... his 2km time trial was over 7min. A player with such poor endurance is unlikely to have an AFL career.

Picking Cumming and Grjl ahead of XTaylor was the right call but we will need to replace Vlastuin and Broad eventually and Kondogiannas, who performed better than Taylor for Vic Metro was available at this peuck.

How do you know who we are targeting that’s out of contract or a free agent?

You don’t.

That may influence many recruiting decisions.

As for 2km time trial, the club obviously feels he can improve on that and his other attributes like speed, thumping kick and spring were more important.

 

[Madtiger2006]

We need that Daicos type running the ball out of the middle. Grlj is the man

 

[blaisee]

Upon review I am perplexed by the Peurker pick at 31 ... his 2km time trial was over 7min. A player with such poor endurance is unlikely to have an AFL career.

Picking Cumming and Grjl ahead of XTaylor was the right call but we will need to replace Vlastuin and Broad eventually and Kondogiannas, who performed better than Taylor for Vic Metro was available at this peuck.

What is the evidence that he ran over 7 min ?

 

[Moral Disorder]

 

[FinalSirenFeels]

I’ve been a long time reader but first time poster. I was fortunate enough to attend the draft Wednesday night and the North Melbourne after party, which Richmond and the Gold Coast shared the same venue.
I spoke to the North recruiting team about Grlj, questioning our picking him earlier than most draft boards had him going. They said on their draft board they had him ranked incredibly high and well and truly in the top 10.
Was also great as the tiges had 7-8 players turn up to meet the new boys. I got a chance to chat with Yze who said the new boys would really add to and compliment the way we want to play. Was a great night!