Delisted 8: Ben "Goblin" Hobbs - Delisted - 20/10

[VelvetSledge]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2025
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 12, Schnitzengruben

 

[faible]

spent 3 years having to play HFF and never given much of a chance to play in the role he was drafted for.

Pretty sure it was just down to not being good enough in there at AFL level.

Another in a long list of guys who make great VFL midfielders that can't quite at the next level.

 

[joey_jo_jo]

when we drafted him and tsatas we were yet to land on "Durham the midfielder" and caldwell was still injury prone, now we are also toying with "Martin the midfielder" so it was really hard to see either break into the main midfield rotation.

Tstatas has size in his favour, I hope with a bit more confidence we can see him use the size to break out of congestion and take game off, I dont think there is much more upside for Hobbs, he wins clearances and ground balls and isnt afraid to tackle, but he doesnt have the size to make an impact and his decision making is very slow.

 

[TheFrenchCut]

Even though RFK is obviously involved, think it reflects that he was drafted under a different list manager (coach and head of footy are both different now too). None of them were tied to him in the way that Dodoro was

 

[Zach Package]

3/65 is literally insane

 

[naraku]

unfortunately Hobbs just didn't progress after around 2 seasons and may times looked like he had gone backwards.


Good luck to him.

 

[Andronicus]

when we drafted him and tsatas we were yet to land on "Durham the midfielder" and caldwell was still injury prone, now we are also toying with "Martin the midfielder" so it was really hard to see either break into the main midfield rotation.

Tstatas has size in his favour, I hope with a bit more confidence we can see him use the size to break out of congestion and take game off, I dont think there is much more upside for Hobbs, he wins clearances and ground balls and isnt afraid to tackle, but he doesnt have the size to make an impact and his decision making is very slow.

Hopefully a bit of a wake up call to tsatas.

 

[windyhill]

Plenty of chances, just didn't produce. I'm not willing to say if he went to another club he'd be better. Plodder. Big heart. Plodder.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

He played that one game in the pre-season as an inside mid and did pretty well. None during the season even with all our injuries.

The reality is that ball-finding inside mids are a dime a dozen. They’re everywhere in the state leagues and even at the upper reaches of local footy.

If you’ve got no other string to your bow then really you’re nothing special. They’re all slow and may not have great skills like Hobbs.

 

[VelvetSledge]

I'm sure he'll find another home and get played in the guts.

Always a line-ball one for me, and I hope he makes it.

 

[brutus76]

Pies, Dees or Tassie VFL could use him

 

[Bunk Moreland]

3/65 is literally insane

As others have said, Caldwell and Durham went past Hobbs and Tsatas at the speed of light.

With Merrett, Parish, Caldwell, Durham… even Setterfield, McGrath and Shiel were getting midfield minutes ahead of them… the writing is on the wall.

 

[Foxx]

Understandable in our poor system.

But I think he'd be a solid blue collar in a good team
Hes a great kick for goal. A half forward role with stints on the ball was his go.
Would honestly prefer him over Gresham in his role too.

Think we might regret this one.

 

[eth-dog]

Understandable in our poor system.

But I think he'd be a solid blue collar in a good team
Hes a great kick for goal. A half forward role with stints on the ball was his go.
Would honestly prefer him over Gresham in his role too.

Think we might regret this one.

If by great you mean dogshit then I agree. He sprays so many sodas

 

[Foxx]

If by great you mean dogshit then I agree. He sprays so many sodas

Thought that was Menzies. Could be mistaken, but I feel like Hobbs was pretty good in front.

 

[eth-dog]

Thought that was Menzies. Could be mistaken, but I feel like Hobbs was pretty good in front.

5.8 this year and I can remember at least 4 OOTF.

 

[boncer34]

Thought that was Menzies. Could be mistaken, but I feel like Hobbs was pretty good in front.

Would've gone sub 50% kicking for goal this year I'd say.

Edit - What Eth said

 

[Blind Turn]

Understandable in our poor system.

But I think he'd be a solid blue collar in a good team
Hes a great kick for goal. A half forward role with stints on the ball was his go.
Would honestly prefer him over Gresham in his role too.

Think we might regret this one.

Can’t be serious.

If we’re ever going to get this list build right we need to avoid players with the kicking ability of a Gaelic footballer with stilts on. Tsatas can count himself very fortunate as I would be cutting him as well. In the harsh world of AFL football I have to say that I’m very happy to see the back of Hobbs. He obviously had little interest from other clubs too which tells you what the industry thinks.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Hobbs and Tsatas our big swings at high end contested mids.. fail.

You can say the game has moved on but there is always room for hard and talented players. So it's not the changing game, it's the drafting miss unfortunately.

Another way of saying it is that even in 2005 Hobbs wouldn't have been a star.

I sincerely hope Tsatas is in the supercharger chamber right now.

 

[King Patty]

Tsatas needs everything to go right or he will be gone next year.
At least with Hobbs gone it frees up a half forward spot for Tsatas.

 

[doug85]

As a former first round draft pick, he would’ve stayed on the list until 2032 under the old regime.

We got this one wrong, but at least we pulled the trigger quickly.

 

[Beerfish]

it frees up a half forward spot for Tsatas.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Holy shit, what a fall from grace. I reckon 18 months ago nearly 90% of us would have been thinking he may become a starting mid and become a player we needed.

His flaws were too obvious and kept getting exposed.

Another massive draft fail.

 

[Burzum]

Pretty surprised by the delisting since old Essendon would have held onto him for a few years due to where he was selected. Can't say it was the wrong decision though.

 

[Thebisc]

Delisting is the right way to go. Normally a bloke like Hobbs would stay on our list for 10 years, play 150 odd average games and only be tipped out too late. This sort of assertive list management is a step in the right direction.

 

[Espe]

Just freeing up the #8 for Bewick