Player Watch Pick #15 (2024) - Joe Berry

[Peninsula Boy]

I'm waiting patiently.

 

[avs]

The reality is that most people on here have their own area of expertise or profession. Imagine someone with no context, no experience in your workplace, and no visibility of internal discussions walking in and confidently telling you how to do your job. That’s essentially what draft commentary often becomes.

The truth is that almost none of us have access to the information the club does. We don’t sit in interviews. We don’t see psychological profiling, medical reports, long-term development projections or internal list strategy. Maybe the club interviewed Reid and had concerns about flight risk. Maybe he didn’t align with how they see the game evolving. Maybe they assessed his ceiling differently. There are countless variables that go into draft boards that supporters simply don’t see.

And this is all without acknowledging that the club’s first-round strike rate over the past decade has been very strong. It compares favourably with most teams in the competition. They’ve earned at least a baseline level of trust in their process.

Agree there is lot of goes behind selecting a player . But it was very clear from Reid pre draft highlights that he was very special . He had Houston like kicking efficiency before playing a single AFL game . But port stumped Berry ticket to Alberton in advance of Draft day . Flexibly in thinking was not a trait of Hinkley era .

 

[Tibbs]

You can read the same thing on any team board how player X has improved so much over the preseason.
I’m not saying his body is not stronger and he’s not fitter than last year.
All I’m saying is talk means nothing, it all comes down to performance and our season starts this week when the real stuff starts.

100% agree with everything you say there ..In general!

Yes, we have heard ...
*Berry told he needed to add weight & increase strength
*More emphasis on players with gym work and strength conditioning
*Berry touted as having a great preseason by coaches and players

But, now we have also actually seen ...
*Berry clearly looking bigger and stronger
*Looking great in training drills and match sims
*Now in 3 matches, intra-club and two preseason matches, we have seen him shine ... In fact, a 100% improvement

Yes, it is not season proper, but evidence has been clearly discernible that Berry has made some significant forward steps

Plenty to be genuinely positive about.

 

[240volt]

100% agree with everything you say there ..In general!

Yes, we have heard ...
*Berry told he needed to add weight & increase strength
*More emphasis on players with gym work and strength conditioning
*Berry touted as having a great preseason by coaches and players

But, now we have also actually seen ...
*Berry clearly looking bigger and stronger
*Looking great in training drills and match sims
*Now in 3 matches, intra-club and two preseason matches, we have seen him shine ... In fact, a 100% improvement

Yes, it is not season proper, but evidence has been clearly discernible that Berry has made some significant forward steps

Plenty to be genuinely positive about.

Yes all the pointers say he’s improved, from this weekend we will see if the pointers turn into a better footballer this year.
Hopefully it will, the wait is almost over.
I reckon you could get a dozen disposals playing against Norf.

 

[PortAdelFC1997]

2 goals and 19 touches. Promising. Just needs to convert his opportunities when given the chance and make things a little bit easier on himself.

 

[PJ Power]

2 goals and 19 touches. Promising. Just needs to convert his opportunities when given the chance and make things a little bit easier on himself.

He’s building. At least he doesn’t look below the level so far this year. Two genuine drop-of-the-pack small forward goals. Must convert the easy set shots though. He’s getting there, slowly.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

He is definitely building this year.

Needs to put on some more muscle and gain some confidence and then all of his skillsets should shine through.

 

[Macca_1870]

He’s building. At least he doesn’t look below the level so far this year. Two genuine drop-of-the-pack small forward goals. Must convert the easy set shots though. He’s getting there, slowly.

That rove and snap for goal was all class.

 

[Willsy10]

Solid game. Definitely his best game I think. A couple times he got caught trying to do a bit too much, but I think one of those times he got caught htb he was sold into trouble. 19 and 2 which probably should’ve been 3. Of course he is building, he wasn’t producing those numbers last year.

 

[Duckimus Prime]

He’s building. At least he doesn’t look below the level so far this year. Two genuine drop-of-the-pack small forward goals. Must convert the easy set shots though. He’s getting there, slowly.

Never looked like scoring off that set shot in the first the moment he went into the stutter step, which looked like it killed all of his momentum. And rather than it being a deliberate part of his run up, it looked like he'd actually completely stuffed his run up and was concerned about kicking into the man on the mark.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Berry is a frustrating player at the moment.

Gets his hands on the ball plenty of times but his kicking lets him down at the moment.

Also he has to stop thinking its U/18's and that he can easily get around his opponent. Has been tackled a few times this year when he didn't get rid of the ball straight away and thought he could break a tackle. Being a very left sided player doesn't help, as he would have got away with that in the junior comps he played in. Its different in the big league Joe.

 

[Enviable Tradition]

Berry is a frustrating player at the moment.

Gets his hands on the ball plenty of times but his kicking lets him down at the moment.

Also he has to stop thinking its U/18's and that he can easily get around his opponent. Has been tackled a few times this year when he didn't get rid of the ball straight away and thought he could break a tackle. Being a very left sided player doesn't help, as he would have got away with that in the junior comps he played in. Its different in the big league Joe.

I actually think he is developing well and it is just a totally normal curve that people have gotten very impatient with.

He is going to be very good IMO.

 

[StueyDaDew]

Berry is a frustrating player at the moment.

Gets his hands on the ball plenty of times but his kicking lets him down at the moment.

Also he has to stop thinking its U/18's and that he can easily get around his opponent. Has been tackled a few times this year when he didn't get rid of the ball straight away and thought he could break a tackle. Being a very left sided player doesn't help, as he would have got away with that in the junior comps he played in. Its different in the big league Joe.

He reminds me alot of Travis Boak.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

With Joe, the instinctual plays are natural and normal for him at the moment. The two goals he kicked were a bit like that. The first goal, a rove and snap is a play that not many players cannot do. The second goal was a massive run from beyond the centre to hopefully have it spill to him for the goal. It showed great commitment and he soccered it off the ground.

But when he has to think, he thinks too much. So he misses an easy set shot right in front of goals. He will nail those with time.

We still haven't seen him kick goals from the boundary. We haven't seen at high speed dodging traffic. He is getting caught but with muscle and getting up to the speed of the game will either slither out or find the hand pass.

Still plenty left in the tank. He's only 14 games in.

 

[powerrrrrrrrrrrr]

Should be dropped for Tommy C when he’s ready to return.

Just doesn’t offer anything to the team and isn’t showing signs of development. Might be better off for his development to be send back to the reserves and told to put in a solid string of games and earn a recall.

 

[PJ Power]

Persevere. He’s showing glimpses of high end talent - 2-3 nice movements per game. Yet to hit the score board in a meaningful way and needs to be better with his kicking, but he’s at least competitive this year and not looking lost any more. I was a harsh critic last year but we have bigger issues to fix than Berry at the moment. Get him up to 30 games and then let’s see what he’s got.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

Dingleberry should play the whole season.

 

[Macca19]

Theres a few moments each game where he is really clever with his movement out of traffic and finding someone with a handball or with a kick and I think, yep, there is the talent. His finishing is miles off at the moment and his ability to find a lot of the ball isn't quite there yet. But there is something there. He has to stay in the side and hopefully there will be a match in the next 4-6 weeks where it all clicks and gives him more confidence.

 

[StartTheCarr]

Dingleberry should play the whole season.

He is definitely a chance to hang in there

 

[Tibbs]

"We made our bed" by picking him, so now we have to "lie in it" by keep playing and developing him. I am sure he will end up being a very good player for us ... But, a great player?

 

[240volt]

Bog average and that’s playing against most probably the worst opponents you could munster.
Should be made to earn his spot, only thing is saving him is there’s Nothing much to replace him with unfortunately.

 

[StartTheCarr]

I feel like some here expect Berry to be performing close to what Cyril Rioli was putting out at his peak.

Objectivity has been lost on some here.

He is 19 and playing in an average team. He isn't going to be setting the world on fire when our so called guns are also half shitting the bed.

Look at positives and give more than 1 season to show more than he has.he isn't a no.1 pick.

 

[crafty_bernardo]

Reminds me a bit of an early Jasper Pittard

17

Jasper Pittard

Age

35

Ht

186cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.8

4star

K

11.7

4star

HB

6.1

4star

M

4.7

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

388.2

5star

D

14.0

3star

K

9.9

4star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.8

3star

MG

310.9

4star

D

19.6

5star

K

14.6

5star

HB

5.0

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.2

4star

. Definitely not as bad. Does some exciting things but then some you close your eyes.

 

[Cosmicwinduptoy24]

Probably needs another few years in the gym and another 35ish games under his belt to start feeling really comfortable out there. Talent is there though, have no doubt he'll be a 10 year AFL player.

 

[PortAdelFC1997]

Have to know whether he will a HFF or small forward.