Peters_Nuts
Club Legend
- Oct 16, 2024
- 2,239
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- Collingwood
Just play him!
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Player Watch Harry DeMattia
- Thread starter TradeDraft
- Start date
- Tagged users None
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Yea not really sure why everyone is writing him off. He's gone from a player that could barely find the ball in his first season to consistently winning it in the midfield so the development trajectory is clearly there.
Peters_Nuts
Club Legend
- Oct 16, 2024
- 2,239
- 7,434
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
Sadly I think it’s because we picked him over Logan Morris and people are almost holding it against him.
Give him a full preseason in the midfield and see how he goes
He has the key attribute everyone is crying out for: pace. So I don't see why we wouldn't give him a chance.
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JuniorB
Norm Smith Medallist
The fact that he's won the VFL B&F means the people who count think he's progressing well.
Take the next step in 2026 Harry!
jathanas
Premium Platinum
Not everyone is writing him off. His development is exciting and deserves a senior opportunity next year.
We don't know his ceiling, and one thing is certain: he'll do everything he can to extract the most from himself.
Adam Saad played VFL for 3 years.
His problem is that his disposal is still pretty poor. So he's a fast inside mid where pace isn't super necessary, or a poor outside mid/line breaker where speed is important but skills and game sense is vital.
I've still got some hope in the kid, but at his size midfield requires a fairly elite set of skills that he doesn't yet have.
manicpie
Brownlow Medallist
- Jul 19, 2019
- 26,466
- 48,693
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
I'm going to need the names of the people who told me he can't kick and won't make it. He's just won the B&F
jathanas
Premium Platinum
boora
Team Captain
he wont make it and the 2023 Draft was a bust and time to move on from that one.
I think this is a terrific summary.
Harry has lots of AFL traits, he is fast, he is a ball magnet and can win it inside and outside, he plays with intensity, is very clean below his knees, and he is a booming long kick. Sadly his decision making needs a lot of improvement. Too often he dump kicks. Too often that booming long kick goes to nobody in particular…
PiCkLeJuiCe
Club Legend
- Nov 12, 2024
- 2,620
- 2,958
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
Nice way to up his value for a trade.
Sneaky beaky
Sneaky beaky
VinnieB
Norm Smith Medallist
- Oct 28, 2021
- 9,105
- 14,490
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
VinnieB said he panics and makes poor decisions with the ball, so not sure how that will go in the faster pace of the AFL.
I really hope he continues to improve and gets games in the seniors in 2026.
But he wouldn’t be the first to win a VFL B&F and not be able to take the next step.
- Apr 2, 2013
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Needs to be in the side for rd1. Can't fathom how he hasn't debuted yet
- Aug 3, 2020
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We’re in trouble if he is
Vicky Park
Premium Platinum
I hope you’re right about HDM’s trajectory.
I haven’t been a fan, but probably because of unrealistic expectations on my part.
Congrats to Harry.
Vicky Park
Premium Platinum
I’d forgotten that this award is named after ‘Joseph Wren’, the son of John Wren - probably our greatest (ahem) club benefactor in the first half of the 20th century. Why not name it John Wren and be done with it? Answer: because that would have annoyed and offended all the old Collingwood haters.
Anyway, seeing a Wren connection on this sunny Saturday morning has made my day.
And for those who are too young to know what I’m on about, Google John Wren and Collingwood. There’s a lot out there.
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watch his vfl games and it will be clearer. Has a lot to work on still including decision making, handballing in particular. He seems to rush possessions when under pressure even at vfl level.
jathanas
Premium Platinum
I’d forgotten that this award is named after ‘Joseph Wren’, the son of John Wren - probably our greatest (ahem) club benefactor in the first half of the 20th century. Why not name it John Wren and be done with it? Answer: because that would have annoyed and offended all the old Collingwood haters.
Anyway, seeing a Wren connection on this sunny Saturday morning has made my day.
And for those who are too young to know what I’m on about, Google John Wren and Collingwood. There’s a lot out there.
From Wikipedia:
"...
Collingwood benefactor
Wren was well known for supporting exemplary Collingwood players in the VFL's pre-professionalised era. While players were paid a per-game salary, the amount was meagre until the late 20th century when the sport became professionalised. To compensate for this, Wren was known to send monetary gifts to players who performed well, often paying ten to twenty times the normal game salary to certain Collingwood players. Among the beneficiaries included Collingwood legend Gordon Coventry after he scored a then-record 16 goals in a game in 1929; however, in his case, League Laws prevented him from doing this, so he exploited a loophole by gifting A£50 to Coventry's wife (A$4,449 in 2022 terms) to buy a suite of furniture.In 1952, Wren donated A£500 (A$20,784 in 2022 terms), which was to be distributed among Collingwood players.[6]
In another example of generosity, Lou Richards recalled on The Sunday Footy Show a time when Wren asked Richards how much he was paid the week prior. When Richards replied "a pound note, sir", Wren gifted Richards A£20 (potentially up to A$1,819 in 2022 terms, as the year this happened was not clarified).[7]
"
John Wren - Wikipedia
Vicky Park
Premium Platinum
From Wikipedia:
"...
Collingwood benefactor
Wren was well known for supporting exemplary Collingwood players in the VFL's pre-professionalised era. While players were paid a per-game salary, the amount was meagre until the late 20th century when the sport became professionalised. To compensate for this, Wren was known to send monetary gifts to players who performed well, often paying ten to twenty times the normal game salary to certain Collingwood players. Among the beneficiaries included Collingwood legend Gordon Coventry after he scored a then-record 16 goals in a game in 1929; however, in his case, League Laws prevented him from doing this, so he exploited a loophole by gifting A£50 to Coventry's wife (A$4,449 in 2022 terms) to buy a suite of furniture.
In 1952, Wren donated A£500 (A$20,784 in 2022 terms), which was to be distributed among Collingwood players.[6]
In another example of generosity, Lou Richards recalled on The Sunday Footy Show a time when Wren asked Richards how much he was paid the week prior. When Richards replied "a pound note, sir", Wren gifted Richards A£20 (potentially up to A$1,819 in 2022 terms, as the year this happened was not clarified).[7]
"
John Wren - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Nice to know that Carlton didn’t invent the brown paper bag.
- Aug 3, 2020
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Like most things they do, a cheap imitation
jathanas
Premium Platinum
Plz, VP, we did it when it was cool.
The Blues' hamfisted efforts to "brown paper bag" nearly destroyed them.
Imagine Carlton's best VFL player winning the "Pig's Arse, Jack Elliott" award.
WanderingDude
Club Legend
- Sep 9, 2025
- 1,159
- 1,493
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- Collingwood
I frequently think that they have never invented anything outside of a rank stench.
