Traded #10: Aaron Francis - Traded to Sydney w. Pick 42 + Future fourth rounder for Pick 37. Thanks Frang!

[Beerfish]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2022
Injury Status: n/a

My Boy Draft 2022: Pick 29, Mr Bultitude

 

[The Fact]

He has crazy upside at both sides of the ground, forward is where our needs are.
Why not play him there, when he's shown glimpses of being a superstar there?
I didn't say that having him down back would unsettle him.
We have Hurley, Hooker, Brown and Hartley, whom are all better backs than forwards.
Francis is now 194cm, we need a partner to Daniher, Francis has the talent, put him there.
Why do we need another backman?

Agreed it would foolish not to try him up forward looks the goods.

 

[ant555]

He has crazy upside at both sides of the ground, forward is where our needs are.
Why not play him there, when he's shown glimpses of being a superstar there?
I didn't say that having him down back would unsettle him.
We have Hurley, Hooker, Brown and Hartley, whom are all better backs than forwards.
Francis is now 194cm, we need a partner to Daniher, Francis has the talent, put him there.
Why do we need another backman?

I think he plays forward as well but if he struggles he needs to go back into the role that made him a star in under 18 footy and that is defense.
Mentioning Hurley is the case in point, better defender who was played forward but is now back and a better player for it. What we need may not always suit the player.

 

[The Fact]

I think he plays forward as well but if he struggles he needs to go back into the role that made him a star in under 18 footy and that is defense.
Mentioning Hurley is the case in point, better defender who was played forward but is now back and a better player for it. What we need may not always suit the player.

Agreed but it would be silly not to try him up forward for a season

 

[ant555]

Do Franklin, Kennedy, Lynch or Cameron play anything other than forward? Francis has three attributes of a dominant forward, we already have dominant backmen. Just keep him there, and let him develop.

Did any of them get in the AA side as defenders ? or play defense in the Champ series for their state ? If you go by this argument then he should be at CHB.

 

[ant555]

Agreed but it would be silly not to try him up forward for a season

Which is why the very first words i said where "i think he plays forward "

 

[Rack Watts]

Did any of them get in the AA side as defenders ? or play defense in the Champ series for their state ? If you go by this argument then he should be at CHB.

Matthew Pavlich was?
Just remember, Francis was earmarked to be a 3rd tall with a scope to go into the midfield.
However now he is 194cm, he's legit KPP height, he's got a great mark, smashes packs and can obviously kick a goal.
Like you say, he has to be tried at forward. He played forward and back in championships, he even went into the middle in the last half of one of the games.
I'd like to mention, I said Hurley was a FB from the get go, I said "he needed to be played at his U18 AA position", however I don't think Hurley has half the talent in the forward 50 that Francis does.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Still think he'll be a dominant half back flank, perhaps a bit like Hodge.

 

[BrunoV]

With a guy like Francis, why pigeon hole him?

Serious question. How many key position players have had elite careers not settled at one end of the ground? I can think of Grant and maybe Neitz (though both ended up settled forward).

Versatility of talls is good because there might be moments in games when a guy can be moved to plug a hole or even cover an injury for a few weeks but from what I can see there is no value in not making a decision about which end to play someone early on to settle him in that position.

Pigeon-holing Francis now is essential. Let everything else flow from his being settled in position.

 

[ant555]

Matthew Pavlich was?
Just remember, Francis was earmarked to be a 3rd tall with a scope to go into the midfield.
However now he is 194cm, he's legit KPP height, he's got a great mark, smashes packs and can obviously kick a goal.
Like you say, he has to be tried at forward. He played forward and back in championships, he even went into the middle in the last half of one of the games.
I'd like to mention, I said Hurley was a FB from the get go, I said "he needed to be played at his U18 AA position", however I don't think Hurley has half the talent in the forward 50 that Francis does.

I saw Hurley kick 6 goals in a half for Northern. He had great ability forward, he was just a better defender. He had several other under games where he played CHF and was really good and did in fact show a heap more forward than Francis did in under 18 footy. He was pretty good as an AFL forward too but he is a super star defender. I still have the notes from the 15 or so games i saw Hurley play outside the champ series.

You do not have to tell me what Francis did. I rated him the best player in last years draft before the draft. Right now all his best exposed form has been as a defender. His AA form in the Champs was in defense as it was in the SANFL colts.
I have no issue with him being used forward but at the end of the day his natural position is defender. I think he will be damaging as a forward which is what we will need . That is part of the reason why I rated him as highly as i did. The issue still is he has to convert what he has done forward into something close to AFL standard which is something i think he will do but still has to show it. As far as 191cm v 194cm , it is neither here or there. Hurley is 192cm and consider KP. It depends on the player. Francis with his bulk was always going to be a KP player if it was 191cm or 194 cm.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I don't think we need to pigeonhole him because he's not necessarily even a KPP. He's tall yeah, but that's only gonna help him.



Personally I see a half back flanker, pushing into the midfield at times and able to go forward sometimes. That's fine with me. Hodge and Goddard did it with aplomb, he seems like that sort of player.

 

[Seagrave_Holmes]

Didn't Francis play back as a U18?

didn't he kick 4.5 one game up forward? With accuracy like that, he would surely we a lock in forward line for the next 10 years.

 

[rumply]

Got to get him fit first & while he has looked great so far, that's going to take some time. Expectations need to be measured for another season or two I would have thought.

 

[fishardansin]

Yeah but like..

and that one where he smashed that backman v Geelong VFL, then nailed it from 55, exactly the aggression our forward line needs.

I'd prefer those traits being combined with Hurley across half back. They can cut off attacks and then return the ball quickly to beat the opposition's chance of setting up. Also when we press forward they can both be somewhere 80m from goal and that play ends in a launch for goal from 60m. Which has the double effect of lifting us and placing more perceived pressure on the opposition when we're pressing the next time.

 

[fishardansin]

I don't think we need to pigeonhole him because he's not necessarily even a KPP. He's tall yeah, but that's only gonna help him.



Personally I see a half back flanker, pushing into the midfield at times and able to go forward sometimes. That's fine with me. Hodge and Goddard did it with aplomb, he seems like that sort of player.

I am going to get hyperbolic here. I think you will see the best traits of Goddard, Hodge and Stringer. Saying he's a flanker isn't right, but he's not a KPP either. He's somewhere in the middle that will give us an a lot of options.

 

[eDPS]

What makes Francis such a great prospect is his ability to play anywhere on the ground. He can dominate at any end of the ground, I don't think he will ever settle in a position and nor should he, his strengths are his versatility more than anything

 

[The Bomb]

At West Adelaide he was played back and forward, in the champs he scored the 3rd most amount of goals and the 2nd most intercept marks, the guy has a freakish ability to be the perfect utility.
I would love him any where as long as he is playing, he is a match winner when he is on.

 

[Yoda_]

I dont give a * where he plays

Hes a bomber

 

[Schopp]

Hurley would have been a superstar forward except his wrists blew up - couldn't take marks on the lead when bullets came his way. Also gets the yips which impacted confidence. He can take floating marks no problems though. If Francis can end up being a star forward we have enough guys down back to hold the fort and most of them don't have the talent to dominate up front with the possible exception of Hooker.

 

[WEEVZ]

Didn't Francis play back as a U18?

He played pretty much everywhere.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I watch the videos of him at his best and he's everywhere. Don't know why the urgency to want to lock him in somewhere. Yes KPPs are best that way but there's plenty of other examples, such as those already raised, Hodge, Goddard, even a guy like Burgoyne who plays all around the place.

Looks like a guy we can happily play behind the ball doing his thing, and he can run into the midfield or forward from there. He's a huge weapon and who cares if we have other great backs, just means he'll have less to worry about defensively.

 

[MightyDons4]

This thread hurts my head almost as much as the Morgan one. If you've seen Francis play over the past two seasons then you will notice the biggest barometer of his game is his confidence. The idea of 'pigeon-holing' is ridiculous considering that we've already played him at both ends of the ground in both the VFL and AFL. It's about letting him build confidence in himself at AFL level, which is easier to do when playing him in his preferred position, defence.

 

[Seagrave_Holmes]

It's about letting him build confidence in himself at AFL level, which is easier to do when playing him in his preferred position, defence.

When did Aaron ever say that he prefers to play defence?

 

[mayhem20202]

I don't think we need to pigeonhole him because he's not necessarily even a KPP. He's tall yeah, but that's only gonna help him.



Personally I see a half back flanker, pushing into the midfield at times and able to go forward sometimes. That's fine with me. Hodge and Goddard did it with aplomb, he seems like that sort of player.

No midfield, not a chance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vander18]

Serious question. How many key position players have had elite careers not settled at one end of the ground? I can think of Grant and maybe Neitz (though both ended up settled forward).

Versatility of talls is good because there might be moments in games when a guy can be moved to plug a hole or even cover an injury for a few weeks but from what I can see there is no value in not making a decision about which end to play someone early on to settle him in that position.

Pigeon-holing Francis now is essential. Let everything else flow from his being settled in position.

I disagree with this.

We know he can play back but he has shown hints of being something special up forward as well. If you find a special forward, you play them there.

So let's see if he a star forward or not - barring injury, 2017 will tell us the story. If it doesn't work, then move him back where we know what he can do.

 

[boncer34]

He has crazy upside at both sides of the ground, forward is where our needs are.
Why not play him there, when he's shown glimpses of being a superstar there?
I didn't say that having him down back would unsettle him.
We have Hurley, Hooker, Brown and Hartley, whom are all better backs than forwards.
Francis is now 194cm, we need a partner to Daniher, Francis has the talent, put him there.
Why do we need another backman?

I could switch the names Hooker and Francis and make the exact same post.

Especially the part about all the others being better defenders then forwards, Francis on exposed form is a better defender then forward.