Player Watch #44: Cameron Zurhaar

[The Nostradamus]

Hopefully his manager Deledio remembers the mistake he made leaving his club and takes that approach with cam

stay loyal, get paid well and enjoy the future good times with his close mates

 

[big_e]

Some tough judges on here. He's not perfect, I don't think he'll ever be a consistent elite all round player. For his type and the draft capital he is a massive win though. Players much higher rated - and more expensive to pickup - deliver less in better teams. Realistic expectations are required. For the right price I'd happily have him on my team.

That's the big question, though: what's the right price?

Someone who is commanding a five-year deal should be both consistent and elite, and to just shrug your shoulders and say "he's not perfect" just smacks of low expectations.

He's been between 7th and 10th in the B & F in the last few years, which is nice, but we're talking about what he should be achieving in the next few years - and given the talent that we've accumulated in the last couple of drafts, should we be spending that money on someone who even his supporters acknowledge is inconsistent?

We need to make some really hard decisions, and I think it's reasonable for members and supporters to be questioning the club's list management strategy, cos God knows they've made some ****ing terrible decisions in recent years.

 

[Horace]

Everyone's entitled to their view, but I do hope those rubbing hands together about what draft picks might flow from Zurhaar leaving are also as enthusiastic when the next player about to enter their prime leaves, say, LDU next year.

We might get 2 and 3 again, or maybe 1 and 2.... and so on ad infinitum

I think we should trade all of our players over say 22 years of age and load up with draft picks and keep doing that every year. Then we can really get excited at every National Draft. Imagine if every year we had picks 1,3, 6, 7,10 and 122. What a draft hand that would be year in year out.

Make it happen Euge.

 

[Merlin007]

I think we should trade all of our players over say 22 years of age and load up with draft picks and keep doing that every year. Then we can really get excited at every National Draft. Imagine if every year we had picks 1,3, 6, 7,10 and 122. What a draft hand that would be year in year out.

Make it happen Euge.

pretty much, eh. If nothing else, certain to win draft night every year

 

[shinboner magic]

This. Every thread is embarrassing right now. Just people unloading on all the players. How about we wait for a larger sample size that includes some teams at our level before we start just bagging every player in sight. The coaches are obviously trying to balance having some experienced bodies and players in the side that can run out full games until the young kids can play spend more time ground.
You can't just throw a whole team of kids out there, the scoreboard would get even worse as well as the structures out on the ground.

Yeah agree with all.

Same old thing with ppl jumping at shadows and they’re minding ****ing themselves.

It’s come to me agreeing nostra - so I did second guess myself but I think cam will stay.
And improvement will come as we have 6-8 new players in the dude trying to gel at present.

 

[Merlin007]

That's the big question, though: what's the right price?

Someone who is commanding a five-year deal should be both consistent and elite, and to just shrug your shoulders and say "he's not perfect" just smacks of low expectations.

He's been between 7th and 10th in the B & F in the last few years, which is nice, but we're talking about what he should be achieving in the next few years - and given the talent that we've accumulated in the last couple of drafts, should we be spending that money on someone who even his supporters acknowledge is inconsistent?

We need to make some really hard decisions, and I think it's reasonable for members and supporters to be questioning the club's list management strategy, cos God knows they've made some ******* terrible decisions in recent years.

Fair comments, esp the rhetorical question in bold, and I'll have a go with a rhetorical answer: would a med forward with 100 games experience in one of the worst sides ever, but who despite that handicap has delivered a reasonable record including a demonstrated capacity to win games, likely improve as a talented young side improves behind him?

Each to their own, but I think the answer is yes, Zurhaar will improve in the next years.

 

[Horace]

Yeah agree with all.

Same old thing with ppl jumping at shadows and they’re minding ******* themselves.

It’s come to me agreeing nostra - so I did second guess myself but I think cam will stay.
And improvement will come as we have 6-8 new players in the dude trying to gel at present.

The Nostradamus quite often makes some good points. The trouble is he also enjoys getting up everyone else's nostrils from time to time

 

[shintemaster]

That's the big question, though: what's the right price?

Someone who is commanding a five-year deal should be both consistent and elite, and to just shrug your shoulders and say "he's not perfect" just smacks of low expectations.

He's been between 7th and 10th in the B & F in the last few years, which is nice, but we're talking about what he should be achieving in the next few years - and given the talent that we've accumulated in the last couple of drafts, should we be spending that money on someone who even his supporters acknowledge is inconsistent?

We need to make some really hard decisions, and I think it's reasonable for members and supporters to be questioning the club's list management strategy, cos God knows they've made some ******* terrible decisions in recent years.

I don't want to point fingers at specific players, but I would suggest we have worse players on 5 year deals right now. My expectations are fine, the rivetting football media might think every player is - or needs to be an absolute star - but teams aren't made of such nowadays. Me thinking Cam Zurhaar is more than carrying his weight has no bearing on lowering the expectations of this team. Do I think he should be our highest paid player? No. Do I think him leaving would break our rebuild, also no. But there is a spot there for him easily in the next few years.

 

[Themanbun]

[PLAYERCARD]Isaac Heeney[/PLAYERCARD] didn't finish top 10 in Sydney's BNF from 23 games. He signed a six year deal in 2022 and no one batted an eyelid.

 

[lockheed]

All of those blokes moved to significant midfield minutes, so it was partly dependent on their team.

Expecting him to track as JDG or Petracca or Dusty did when they had positional changes likely not open to Cam (we have highly touted mids playing VFL) is fraught. We need him as a forward who spends some time in the midfield now more than we need him as a mid who rests forward.

What we do know of him playing predominantly forward is that he leads our tackles inside 50 despite being the second tallest guy in there, that he gets it about 16-20 times a game, has 2-3 looks at goal a game, takes a mark or two inside 50 each game, and provides a very strong stoppage presence in the forward 50. And he knows how to not get in Larkey's way.

We simply can't measure his career progression against blokes who became mids who rested forward.

His stats this year are comparable to Heeney's from last year, who actually played a comparable role. Heeney has now become a full-time mid and his stats this year can't be compared to Cam's.

Sorry guys I know it feels like I'm dying on this hill but I just don't want people's hunches about him going to cloud how good a player he is for us.

Cam and Heeney's stats from last year:


and Cam's stats so far for this year:


Interestingly, Cam averaged slightly more disposals last year than Heeney. His average disposals this year has very marginally decreased (16.1 last year compared with 15.7 this year) but his tackle average has gone up from 2.3 to 3.7. Obviously, his stats this year are from a small sample.

And for completeness, Cam's stats for last week are:

 

[Themanbun]

Cam and Heeney's stats from last year:
View attachment 1948808

and Cam's stats so far for this year:
View attachment 1948809

Interestingly, Cam averaged slightly more disposals last year than Heeney. His average disposals this year has very marginally decreased (16.1 last year compared with 15.7 this year) but his tackle average has gone up from 2.3 to 3.7. Obviously, his stats this year are from a small sample.

And for completeness, Cam's stats for last week are:
View attachment 1948818
View attachment 1948816

Thanks King. I suspect tackles and marks on the up this year is a result of more inside 50s. He's making more inside 50 tackles than anyone on our list from what I recall.

 

[big_e]

Isaac Heeney didn't finish top 10 in Sydney's BNF from 23 games. He signed a six year deal in 2022 and no one batted an eyelid.

Isaac Heeney signed in March 2022, having finished 7th in 2021. He played 6 games in 2020 but was top 5 in the B & F the two years before that.

Oh, and Heeney repaid the faith by being am All Australian in 2022.

I like Cam, I'd never say he was a shit footballer, but he's never been top five in the B & F, and I can't honestly see his name being discussed by the All Australian selectors this year.

Happy to have him around, but five years seems a lot.

 

[spurs]

There’s no way we are getting band 1 btw

Why?

 

[Spud11]

I remember him being interviewed after we defeated Richmond (I think), late 19 or early 20 whatever it was. And he was that excited, he’d been tackling with intent and chasing everything that moved down, nailing everything, intense like a final.

I had high hopes at that stage but I’m yet to see that replicated since.

 

[Themanbun]

Isaac Heeney signed in March 2022, having finished 7th in 2021. He played 6 games in 2020 but was top 5 in the B & F the two years before that.

Oh, and Heeney repaid the faith by being am All Australian in 2022.

I like Cam, I'd never say he was a s**t footballer, but he's never been top five in the B & F, and I can't honestly see his name being discussed by the All Australian selectors this year.

Happy to have him around, but five years seems a lot.

This is kinda my point though. Heeney signs big deals, makes AA and is thought of as a star, playing a similar role to Cam with very similar stats, and not winning best and fairests. He finishes 7th in 2021, 5th in 2022 (those same two years Cam finished 7th) and not even top 10 in 2023 yet no one bats an eyelid at his six year deal, even post signing. We all recognise when he played forward he was very good at a tough role. The point being that it's a bloody hard role to get accolades in - making AA but being 5th in the bnf is a strong example of that.

A fair amount of the gap between the two is sufficiently explained by the difficulty of the role being amplified in a historically shit side.

We put five years in front of him and the place melts down.

 

[kaboom kid]

This is kinda my point though. Heeney signs big deals, makes AA and is thought of as a star, playing a similar role to Cam with very similar stats, and not winning best and fairests. He finishes 7th in 2021, 5th in 2022 (those same two years Cam finished 7th) and not even top 10 in 2023 yet no one bats an eyelid at his six year deal, even post signing. We all recognise when he played forward he was very good at a tough role. The point being that it's a bloody hard role to get accolades in - making AA but being 5th in the bnf is a strong example of that.

A fair amount of the gap between the two is sufficiently explained by the difficulty of the role being amplified in a historically s**t side.

We put five years in front of him and the place melts down.

Great post. Doing a great job in a poor side with limited entries. Must keep for mine so five years makes sense and a sensible move by the club.

 

[Shermanator]

I think we should trade all of our players over say 22 years of age and load up with draft picks and keep doing that every year. Then we can really get excited at every National Draft. Imagine if every year we had picks 1,3, 6, 7,10 and 122. What a draft hand that would be year in year out.

Make it happen Euge.

GWS and GCS like this

 

[Samsquanch]

I would rather see Zurhaar stay at North, although I can see how there could be some who would like to cash him in if there’s the possibility of a good return. While that might be win/win it could also be a bust as there are no guarantees. I think a lot of people (including me) anticipated a bit more from him. A school report card might suggest, “You can do better if you try”.

Cam… Do the deal. You really would look a d!ck wearing a sash, orange, red and white, anything with yellow or purple etc.

 

[FlyHigh18]

They went after Naughton and failed. Then they went after Larkey and failed. They are said to be after Ugle-Hagen but will most likely fail. I could be wrong, but I don't think Cam Zurhaar is the Plugger/Buddy type box office draw they are desperately seeking.

patiently waiting for the caro articles about how many players sydney went after with big money and "failed"

 

[FlyHigh18]

His feet are more out the door than in IMO

 

[Passmore]

patiently waiting for the caro articles about how many players sydney went after with big money and "failed"

A Sydney rep usually denies there was ever an offer on the table or they "pull" an offer before officially rejected.


Sent from my SM-A908B using Tapatalk

 

[Gasometer]

How about you all back off the Goat…huge potential post AFL eitherways

 

[Gasometer]

 

[Shermanator]

How about you all back off the Goat…huge potential post AFL eitherways

Holy Moly..

At least we're not at levels like a full-blown online Petition by Eagles members and a whole Podcast by Will (the Dill) Schofield to blackmail an 18 year old Harley Reid to move to Perth and not play for the Roos..

That's still some of the most cringe shit ever.

 

[King Corey]

Holy Moly..

At least we're not at levels like a full-blown online Petition by Eagles members and a whole Podcast by Will (the Dill) Schofield to blackmail an 18 year old Harley Reid to move to Perth and not play for the Roos..

That's still some of the most cringe s**t ever.

I liked it!