Recruiting AFL Draft Watch 2025 - Picks 9, 10, 13, 37

[Lore]

 

[Lance Uppercut]

how the **** was Hobbs a "safe pick"?

 

[ant555]

Are ppl happy with the range of players we selected? I’m not sure we needed another inside mid with where the game is going. That said, sharpe was probably best available.
I’d also have been happy with:

• Robey mid / fwd
• Taylor hb interceptor
• Lindsay elite kick (starts hb buy plays anywhere)

My guess is we really liked farrow and thought Melbourne would pick him, making sharpe the best of the rest by our third pick.
However, if there is a gulf in class between Taylor and kondogiannis then I’d have preferred Taylor. Sharpe seems an old Essendon safe pick à la Hobbs. Hope I’m wrong.

There is 100% room for inside midfielders. How do you think the outside running players are going to get a touch?
It is such an overreaction it is not funny.
The new ruck rules will favour good tap rucks and inside midfielders who can read it.
The only players who are being made redundant are the guys that are very slow and have suspect endurance.
As Vindicater mentioned the Hobbs comparison with Sharp is simply wrong. Hobbs is an undersized midfielder with poor skills and average endurance. That is not Sharp.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

We're being a little revisionist with Hobbs I think, he had his flaws but at the time he seemed like he would be a solid midfielder if perhaps one limited to inside work.

 

[Zach Package]

We're being a little revisionist with Hobbs I think, he had his flaws but at the time he seemed like he would be a solid midfielder if perhaps one limited to inside work.

The comparison to Hobbs is also a bit of a weird one because there was very clearly little to no appetite to play Hobbs in preferred position which would have masked some of the flaws and emphasised the strengths.

Hobbs the pure midfielder was essentially written off by us more than 2 years ago.

Sharp has a few more tools and I genuinely think he'll be a star but you'd also certainly bloody hope he gets more of a fair dinkum crack at it than Hobbs did.

 

[doug85]

We're being a little revisionist with Hobbs I think, he had his flaws but at the time he seemed like he would be a solid midfielder if perhaps one limited to inside work.

I seem to remember most on here being very excited by Hobbs. I certainly was. That type of player has really gone out of fashion in the last few years. You really need more strings to your bow than just an extractor.

 

[King Patty]

Hobbs the pure midfielder was essentially written off by us more than 2 years ago.

I remember Hobbs went head to head with Horne-Francis one night and got beaten, but had a crack playing in his preferred position, other than that it was few opportunities.

For me it was his kicking. When he lined up for goal, they could go straight through the middle or not make the distance from 30 due to miss hit.

Plus he never really adjusted to AFL footy - not taking first option, regularly caught and Umpired harder than the opposition IMO.

As a junior he would get high free kicks or be able to break tackles, not so much at AFL level.

 

[Vindicater]

Hobbs was done for me fairly early when he consistently missed the first handball option.

 

[joey_jo_jo]

I seem to remember most on here being very excited by Hobbs. I certainly was. That type of player has really gone out of fashion in the last few years. You really need more strings to your bow than just an extractor.

If you're an extractor you have to be elite like Libba/rowell/tom green not B level, expecially if your decision making is not amazing like Hobbs.
He was almost the anti tsatas, tsatas has no confidence in his size and gives a quick handball or dinky kicks as soon as he gets the ball. Hobbs doesnt know his limits and still thinks his the big kid in underage footy, takes on bigger guys and gets caught holding the ball too often.

 

[joey_jo_jo]

I remember Hobbs went head to head with Horne-Francis one night and got beaten, but had a crack playing in his preferred position, other than that it was few opportunities.

For me it was his kicking. When he lined up for goal, they could go straight through the middle or not make the distance from 30 due to miss hit.

Plus he never really adjusted to AFL footy - not taking first option, regularly caught and Umpired harder than the opposition IMO.

As a junior he would get high free kicks or be able to break tackles, not so much at AFL level.

My fave "hobbs as a midfielder" game was kings bday eve 2023.
Lots of injuries meant hobbs and Caldwell partnered merrett in midfield and we thought we had no hope, but they both put in a real blue collar shift and got us over the line.
I had big hopes for both after the game as we hadnt seen mids who were willing to get their hands dirty like that for a while, caldwell lived up to my hopes (barring injury issues) but unfortunately hobbs has been a victim of duz developing into a decent mid and the game going past undersized inside mids.

 

[Zach Package]

I remember Hobbs went head to head with Horne-Francis one night and got beaten, but had a crack playing in his preferred position, other than that it was few opportunities.

For me it was his kicking. When he lined up for goal, they could go straight through the middle or not make the distance from 30 due to miss hit.

Plus he never really adjusted to AFL footy - not taking first option, regularly caught and Umpired harder than the opposition IMO.

As a junior he would get high free kicks or be able to break tackles, not so much at AFL level.

Certainly loved a blind turn and certainly didn't have a massively high ceiling but I think we're all lying to ourselves if we think we got the most out of him and really tried hard to make it work.

And you do actually need to try to make it work, contrary to popular belief.

Self saucing puddings like Heppell, Merrett and McGrath who just work it out on their own despite the level of nonsense happening around them are a rare commodity.

 

[jannissary]

Hobbs was done for me fairly early when he consistently missed the first handball option.

that's what infuriated me the most, he'd just get himself into trouble constantly trying to be a smart ass with it

 

[ant555]

We're being a little revisionist with Hobbs I think, he had his flaws but at the time he seemed like he would be a solid midfielder if perhaps one limited to inside work.

He failed because he did not develop endurance wise and body wise. He had the ability to play inside midfielder if he had of been able to develop those areas.

 

[Old Campaigner]

He didn't really have any outside hurt factor, he might've been better at the pure inside work compared to some of our other midfielders but they had more run and better disposal

 

[joey_jo_jo]

Certainly loved a blind turn and certainly didn't have a massively high ceiling but I think we're all lying to ourselves if we think we got the most out of him and really tried hard to make it work.

And you do actually need to try to make it work, contrary to popular belief.

Self saucing puddings like Heppell, Merrett and McGrath who just work it out on their own despite the level of nonsense happening around them are a rare commodity.

Hes just a victim of circumstance, good list management also means not holding on to too many of the same type of player hoping they work it out. Sometimes you need to make the tough calls and cut your losses too. If we didnt have caldwell and Durham kick on in 2024 then I am certain Hobbs would have been given more midfield time, if he had Setterfield's height then im sure he would have had as much a go as Setterfield too.
At end of day he was recruited when we had a dearth of hard at it defensively minded mids but by the end of his career with us he had three guys that were better at his role than he was, plus we clearly had Sharp in our sights for a while who looks like an upgrade too (based on size/leadership).

 

[faible]

The comparison to Hobbs is also a bit of a weird one because there was very clearly little to no appetite to play Hobbs in preferred position which would have masked some of the flaws and emphasised the strengths.

Hobbs the pure midfielder was essentially written off by us more than 2 years ago.

Sharp has a few more tools and I genuinely think he'll be a star but you'd also certainly bloody hope he gets more of a fair dinkum crack at it than Hobbs did.

I think this misses quite a bit really. Clubs see players in far more detail at more than just AFL games. Hobbs' would have played on-ball at training plenty of times. It's not as though the coaches only ever see them when they run out at games like we do.

 

[Old Campaigner]

I think this misses quite a bit really. Clubs see players in far more detail at more than just AFL games. Hobbs' would have played on-ball at training plenty of times. It's not as though the coaches only ever see them when they run out at games like we do.

are you suggesting coaches might know more than fans??

 

[Call Me Cake]

The comparison to Hobbs is also a bit of a weird one because there was very clearly little to no appetite to play Hobbs in preferred position which would have masked some of the flaws and emphasised the strengths.

Hobbs the pure midfielder was essentially written off by us more than 2 years ago.

Sharp has a few more tools and I genuinely think he'll be a star but you'd also certainly bloody hope he gets more of a fair dinkum crack at it than Hobbs did.

Hobbs wasn't even tearing the wall down at VFL level in his preferred position and for someone who was taken a year before Tsatas he was certainly given a lot more leniency for some reason. Time to see it for what it was, this ain't on the club, Hobbs was cheeks and always was. A figjam who didn't try hard enough and just expected it to fall into place.

He was the epitome of a Dodo pick even though in hindsight that portion of the draft was a weak spot to be in considering where we finished so he was simply "left-overs", but people comparing Sharp to him is literal brainrot, they are nothing alike. Sharp wasn't just best available but amongst that cohort of early names in mocks throughout, built off of 3 years being tracked as a captain, won a Larke medal like it was a chore on a Wednesday and is taller/better proportioned as a true big body mid. Doesn't mean Sharp still can't fail, he can, but it won't be because he and Hobbs are alike. Hobbs was a hobbit who stood out as an outsider around the better players picked before him.

Having said that I wish Hobbs the best and if he can make it in any form it'll be because he got a kick in the backside which is what he needed.

 

[doug85]

Hobbs wasn't even tearing the wall down at VFL level in his preferred position and for someone who was taken a year before Tsatas he was certainly given a lot more leniency for some reason. Time to see it for what it was, this ain't on the club, Hobbs was cheeks and always was. A figjam who didn't try hard enough and just expected it to fall into place.

He was the epitome of a Dodo pick even though in hindsight that portion of the draft was a weak spot to be in considering where we finished so he was simply "left-overs", but people comparing Sharp to him is literal brainrot, they are nothing alike. Sharp wasn't just best available but amongst that cohort of early names in mocks throughout, built off of 3 years being tracked as a captain, won a Larke medal like it was a chore on a Wednesday and is taller/better proportioned as a true big body mid. Doesn't mean Sharp still can't fail, he can, but it won't be because he and Hobbs are alike. Hobbs was a hobbit who stood out as an outsider around the better players picked before him.

Having said that I wish Hobbs the best and if he can make it in any form it'll be because he got a kick in the backside which is what he needed.

I agree with most of this.

Not sure about this part “A figjam who didn't try hard enough and just expected it to fall into place.”

Never heard anything like that before

 

[EnolaGay]

He's still without a club, isn't he? Speaks volumes.

 

[Zach Package]

Hobbs wasn't even tearing the wall down at VFL level in his preferred position and for someone who was taken a year before Tsatas he was certainly given a lot more leniency for some reason. Time to see it for what it was, this ain't on the club, Hobbs was cheeks and always was. A figjam who didn't try hard enough and just expected it to fall into place.

He was the epitome of a Dodo pick even though in hindsight that portion of the draft was a weak spot to be in considering where we finished so he was simply "left-overs", but people comparing Sharp to him is literal brainrot, they are nothing alike. Sharp wasn't just best available but amongst that cohort of early names in mocks throughout, built off of 3 years being tracked as a captain, won a Larke medal like it was a chore on a Wednesday and is taller/better proportioned as a true big body mid. Doesn't mean Sharp still can't fail, he can, but it won't be because he and Hobbs are alike. Hobbs was a hobbit who stood out as an outsider around the better players picked before him.

Having said that I wish Hobbs the best and if he can make it in any form it'll be because he got a kick in the backside which is what he needed.

I don't even recall Hobbs really having a strong period of onball time in the VFL and being able to build a case, yes he did play there, but it was pretty sporadic because we had very clearly and very quickly pivoted to seeing whether he could be a pressure half forward first and then do bitsy stuff in the middle of the ground as a secondary string to the bow. He certainly wasn't given the same extended VFL assignment Tsatas was.

The comparison to Sharp are natural as Hobbs was seen as the best contested ball player in the draft class at the time, as Sharp was and is and they don't really have a natural secondary position. Sharp is certainly the better prospect, bigger, more versatile but there is a natural association there.

And for me at least, there is an element of trepidation there because we have gone down the elite contested ball winning junior who dominates his own cohort path before and it's been nothing short of a disaster to this point, for a variety of different reasons.

 

[Call Me Cake]

View attachment 1000049865.mp4

 

[joey_jo_jo]

I agree with most of this.

Not sure about this part “A figjam who didn't try hard enough and just expected it to fall into place.”

Never heard anything like that before

Only heard it the numerous times cake has said it on this board

 

[P Money]

I'm no talent scout but I raised my eyebrows at the time when we already had an undersized midget brigade for a midfield and then picked up another small mid. A lot of people complaining that he wasn't given the chance to play his preferred position, but clearly there was a good reason for that. Probably the same reason that of the 17 other clubs that could have picked him up as a DFA for free, zero took up the opportunity.