Oppo Camp Regular Non Eagles Discussion

[RookiePick]

Mid-size forwards like Alec are a dying breed in the AFL. Looking through last year's top goalscorers, the only genuine mid-size player is Mitch Wallis at #14 with 25 goals. And you could argue he's only playing forward because the Bulldogs have an entire team's worth of midfielders and don't have an elite small forward. They've just drafted one (Ugle-Hagan) so that's likely the end of that.

Basically, if you're playing forward and are under 190cm, you better be a sneaky, quick, mercurial type (Liam Ryan, Charlie Cameron, Tom Papley) or you're not going to cut it.

If Alec Waterman somehow bucks the trend and becomes a legitimate goal threat at Essendon I'll be stunned. Mind you, their forward line is sh*te (Tipungwuti, Stringer, Stewart (who?) & Langford were their only double-figure goal kickers last year) so he might do well by default as there's literally no one else there to kick goals. At West Coast we have the opposite problem so I can see why we didn't draft him.

*Laughs in Mark LeCras*

Footy has trends or fashions but quality conquers all.

 

[WCE_phil]

*Laughs in Mark LeCras*

Footy has trends or fashions but quality conquers all.

Before all the injuries, particularly the knee lecras had great agility and even better skills. He was also elite at reading the play at great overhead for his size. Waterman as a mid sized forward is more like Chapman from the cats but doesn't have the burst pace. Great footy IQ, I wish him the absolute best but if it wasn't for the glandular fever i think he would have been an elite inside mid and even still if he can get that endurance back he could still be that guy who comes in late and does well. He's Shuey sized, strong as a ******* ox and can kick the ball 60 metres.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

the Bulldogs have an entire team's worth of midfielders and don't have an elite small forward. They've just drafted one (Ugle-Hagan) so that's likely the end of that.

195cm is a small forward?

Damn.

 

[RookiePick]

Before all the injuries, particularly the knee lecras had great agility and even better skills. He was also elite at reading the play at great overhead for his size. Waterman as a mid sized forward is more like Chapman from the cats but doesn't have the burst pace. Great footy IQ, I wish him the absolute best but if it wasn't for the glandular fever i think he would have been an elite inside mid and even still if he can get that endurance back he could still be that guy who comes in late and does well. He's Shuey sized, strong as a ******* ox and can kick the ball 60 metres.

All I'm saying is that elite talent basically ignores accepted standards and norms. They make s**t happen, wherever they may be.

 

[Cm Perfect]

195cm is a small forward?

Damn.

Haha didn't realise he was that tall, my bad. Not obsessed and not a fan ;-)

 

[Cm Perfect]

Re LeCras, if he was playing today he would 100% be a mid who rested forward. You wouldn't leave a guy that talented deep in the forward line as the opposition would swarm him and drop an interceptor in front of him to block his leads.

We even played him in a similar role towards the end (as the 'spitter' who ran in to the centre square) even though he was fairly well past his prime.

 

[Coasters7]

Prime Lecca was something else. Absolutely carried that forward line for years and was 100% locked in for midfield before his knee

 

[mick06]

Where are you getting your information from? You've been asked this before and avoided answering.

Duffield said that he was approached by a number of clubs earlier and he didn't believe he was quite ready for the AFL and needed another season in the WAFL so wasn't all in.
Then the bombers persisted with the train on groups and he was given advice that he should strike while there is interest as you never know what's going to happen.

 

[Farang83150]

Quite like this idea.

How the AFL could reduce the glaring gulf in ruck stocks

 

[WCE_phil]

Quite like this idea.

How the AFL could reduce the glaring gulf in ruck stocks

I don't actually mind it either. The reality is almost all ruckmen need 5+ years in the system before they are ready to be number 1 ruckmen against experienced men. They need at least 3 years of preparing their body for it and then a couple of years experience.

Even a statistical outlier like Brodie Grundy needed 3 preseasons before he became a good ruckman and and 5 before he became top shelf in the ruck as well as his around the ground ability.

Even someone like English who like Grundy was seen as a super high level talent after 4 years in the system is a terrible tap ruckman. He's good at getting the ball and distributing around the ground but he gets destroyed by any competent ruckman in the taps.

Even Nicnat who in regards to athletic ability and tap ruckwork and was taken at pick 2 in the draft and is a generational player for us took 3 years to come on.

You can definitely see why Clubs don't want to use high end picks on ruckmen. Max Gawn who again was seen as a huge talent as a ruckman was drafted way later than expected and took 5 preseasons (a large part due to injury and injury is a very common thing for young rucks) before he become a leading hitout ruckmen and another year before he became top shelf.

Even someone who was drafted overage like Mumford and was 100+ kg's when drafted was 23 before he became serviceable and 24 before he broke out at the swans.

 

[flamingEMBERS]

I don't actually mind it either. The reality is almost all ruckmen need 5+ years in the system before they are ready to be number 1 ruckmen against experienced men. They need at least 3 years of preparing their body for it and then a couple of years experience.

Even a statistical outlier like Brodie Grundy needed 3 preseasons before he became a good ruckman and and 5 before he became top shelf in the ruck as well as his around the ground ability.

Even someone like English who like Grundy was seen as a super high level talent after 4 years in the system is a terrible tap ruckman. He's good at getting the ball and distributing around the ground but he gets destroyed by any competent ruckman in the taps.

Even Nicnat who in regards to athletic ability and tap ruckwork and was taken at pick 2 in the draft and is a generational player for us took 3 years to come on.

You can definitely see why Clubs don't want to use high end picks on ruckmen. Max Gawn who again was seen as a huge talent as a ruckman was drafted way later than expected and took 5 preseasons (a large part due to injury and injury is a very common thing for young rucks) before he become a leading hitout ruckmen and another year before he became top shelf.

Even someone who was drafted overage like Mumford and was 100+ kg's when drafted was 23 before he became serviceable and 24 before he broke out at the swans.

So what, just draft them later and develop them. Not sure why they need special list spots

 

[WCE_phil]

So what, just draft them later and develop them. Not sure why they need special list spots

If you're able to take them onto a rookie list type spot similar to cat B you can invest 1-2 years to see if they are worth persisting with. A lot of talent goes unfulfilled because they either don't see a pathway or they aren't in the right environment for development.

Personally I rate Jamieson as a ruck and think he'll work well in tandon with williams in the future so it's not so much for us but jus the system in general.

 

[Cuzz09]

Bruce mcAvaney is retiring from ch7 footy.

Delicious

 

[Coasters7]

Bruce mcAvaney is retiring from ch7 footy.

Delicious

End of an era. Probably went on too long but watching some of his old stuff and he was actually fairly good. Fell off a cliff over the last couple of years with all his repetitive exclamations and rhetorical questions that added nothing.

 

[WCErevival]

I think not having Rioli or Rance to call really affected him.

 

[Seadog]

End of an era. Probably went on too long but watching some of his old stuff and he was actually fairly good. Fell off a cliff over the last couple of years with all his repetitive exclamations and rhetorical questions that added nothing.

You're right he went on too long. he seems a nice bloke who loves his sport but I'm happy to see him hang up the mike.
But
Why do I get the feeling that as bad as Bruce was the last couple years his replacement will be worse

 

[Coasters7]

You're right he went on too long. he seems a nice bloke who loves his sport but I'm happy to see him hang up the mike.
But
Why do I get the feeling that as bad as Bruce was the last couple years his replacement will be worse

Looks like his replacement is going to come from what’s already there so the bar is already extremely low.

 

[RookiePick]

You're right he went on too long. he seems a nice bloke who loves his sport but I'm happy to see him hang up the mike.
But
Why do I get the feeling that as bad as Bruce was the last couple years his replacement will be worse

You just have a feeling, don't you?

 

[Bender_]

You just have a feeling, don't you?

In the context of this game, the next goal is so important. Don't you think so, Wayne?

 

[Cuzz09]

Anything ch7 do is s**t so I expect s**t

 

[Rowan18]

End of an era. Probably went on too long but watching some of his old stuff and he was actually fairly good. Fell off a cliff over the last couple of years with all his repetitive exclamations and rhetorical questions that added nothing.

Went on too long by at least 10 years. Good riddance. His victorian cheerleading was disgusting by the end.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Bruce and Dennis were a fantastic combo, he wasn't as effective without Den.

 

[THE A5]

Mid-size forwards like Alec are a dying breed in the AFL. Looking through last year's top goalscorers, the only genuine mid-size player is Mitch Wallis at #14 with 25 goals. And you could argue he's only playing forward because the Bulldogs have an entire team's worth of midfielders and don't have an elite small forward. They've just drafted one (Ugle-Hagan) so that's likely the end of that.

Basically, if you're playing forward and are under 190cm, you better be a sneaky, quick, mercurial type (Liam Ryan, Charlie Cameron, Tom Papley) or you're not going to cut it.

If Alec Waterman somehow bucks the trend and becomes a legitimate goal threat at Essendon I'll be stunned. Mind you, their forward line is sh*te (Tipungwuti, Stringer, Stewart (who?) & Langford were their only double-figure goal kickers last year) so he might do well by default as there's literally no one else there to kick goals. At West Coast we have the opposite problem so I can see why we didn't draft him.

The new lingo for midsize forward is hybrid forward but yeah their rare these days. There the plays that are not kpf but can play third tall but also powerful/quick and agile to a bit smaller.

 

[THE A5]

Honestly glad I have KAYO. Genuine paine listening to BT and probably Brayshaw

 

[bUCKET__]

Campaign to replace Bruce with Will Schofield

31

Will Schofield

Age

35

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

154.0

2star

D

5.0

1star

K

2.5

1star

HB

2.5

2star

M

0.5

1star

T

1.5

2star

MG

70.5

1star

D

7.4

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

2.0

2star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

.