Player Watch #20: Nick 'Souva' Larkey - kicks 5 vs Essendon, then 6 vs Richmond, then 9 vs GCS to finish with 71 for '23 - 2023 All Australian - Congrats Souv!

He's not really a half forward though. he's a full forward.

To be fair. Neither is Campbell, nor indeed any of our current "options" getting games.
 
Apr 24, 2013
81,024
153,170
Arden Street Hill
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Essendon Lawn Bowls Club
A bit skinny but still he's had 3 preseasons. Time to give him a crack. Can't fault Campbell's effort but he's not a forward.

He's got great hands, smarts and execution, but he needs the tank/rig to compete at the next level.
 

Hojuman

조수미 사랑해요
May 20, 2012
22,493
65,627
Seoul
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I remember when Kevin Morris was the publican there, and they used to have the coldest beer anywhere in in Nth.


Remember the $5 & $10 notes pinned to the roof for the RCH appeal ?

If l remember right was the former publican Jack " Skinny " Titus, Richmond legend, who died out the front after a fight on the footpath ?
 
Don't reckon he could offer less than Campbell.

As far as frame goes, i just had a look at his stat's v Eric Hipwood, was surprised to see he outweighs him by 3kg, less than a year younger, but drafted a year later, Hipwood already up to 55 games v Nick 2, has already won the goalkicking at VFL level, give him a go.
 
Remember the $5 & $10 notes pinned to the roof for the RCH appeal ?

If l remember right was the former publican Jack " Skinny " Titus, Richmond legend, who died out the front after a fight on the footpath ?
Jack Titus was definitely previous publican, not 100% sure about his demise though.
 
He's got great hands, smarts and execution, but he needs the tank/rig to compete at the next level.
Throw in that he also seems angry this year compared certainly with last year. Seemed to, dunno, not cruise, but almost just play in the praccy games. Saturday night he was as aggressive at both ball and player as I have seen. Might be car pooling with CZ
 

jess_1804

Club Legend
Aug 21, 2013
2,501
6,826
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Hipwood's still a bit skinny too. Didn't stop him kicking 6 against Port, who had Rozee again a bit skinny but bobbed up for a small bag as well albeit not as a key position player but still way undersized compared to his direct opponent. Not like we want Souva to stand there one on one and wrestle Talia for the contest.
A bit skinny is putting it lightly. If Hipwood turned sideways you wouldn’t be able to see him.
 
Apr 24, 2013
81,024
153,170
Arden Street Hill
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Essendon Lawn Bowls Club
Throw in that he also seems angry this year compared certainly with last year. Seemed to, dunno, not cruise, but almost just play in the praccy games. Saturday night he was as aggressive at both ball and player as I have seen. Might be car pooling with CZ

GOOD!

 
He's got great hands, smarts and execution, but he needs the tank/rig to compete at the next level.
There’s skinny and there’s skinny. Look at Taylor and Crocker, they’re fresh out of school, spaghetti arms, would be eaten alive. Larkey's not that kind of skinny any more. He can get on his bike and make it less of an issue too.
 

koshari

Brownlow Medallist
Mar 24, 2011
22,457
35,498
AFL Club
North Melbourne
watching larkeys highlights reel from the weekend game he seemed to pretty much take most of his marks from separation rather than contested marks.

is he reading the play a lot better than his opponants or just playing on really ordinary defenders?
 
watching larkeys highlights reel from the weekend game he seemed to pretty much take most of his marks from separation rather than contested marks.

is he reading the play a lot better than his opponants or just playing on really ordinary defenders?
The 1st couple his opponent was Danny Neilson who was one of us until the end of last year. He is neither slow nor an easy opponent to push aside, certainly at VFL level, so the credit goes to both Larkey and the fella hitting him up. Another factor for Larkey is the more ruckwork/ruck training he does, the better he becomes in a one on one contest, strength and positioning wise.
 

SnowyontheTram

Senior List
Sep 13, 2016
290
771
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Throw in that he also seems angry this year compared certainly with last year. Seemed to, dunno, not cruise, but almost just play in the praccy games. Saturday night he was as aggressive at both ball and player as I have seen. Might be car pooling with CZ
I agree entirely. First quarter as the ball was delivered poorly to a 30-70 contest in the middle of the ground, Larkey was never going to win it, however he hunted the man and threw himself sideways at the contest. The sound echoed around the ground, I feared the worst, yet was most impressed to see Larkey up and pushing hard to the next contest. Opponent took a while longer. Don’t need to wait any longer, he’s as ready as he’ll ever be.
 

The Dingrel

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 25, 2013
5,414
10,771
Brisbane
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Brisbane Bandits
I don't think Larkeys ever gonna be a bulky looking guy, he just genetically isn't built for it. He'll be at best, akin to Petrie's build.

If we're gonna wait on a day he walks out as big as Majak Daw, well it's never going to come and even then achieving hypertrophy and increasing mass/skeletal density takes years. We'ret exactly in a position to be patient right now. We had 2 years to cover our ass for the eventual Waite retirement, and its on the club for not doing so properly. So now we're left with putting Larkey in earlier than desired.

Here is the thing, 2017 and 2018, members, fans, the general north community, the media, AND in particular the board, basically gave the coaching staff a free pass. Play the kids, blood them, get games into them, we expected to finish down the bottom some where providing young players coming through. Despite having the second youngest list, the actual team taking the field was actually one of the oldest. We probably outperformed last year and got well ahead of ourselves but it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. Now this year, we've gone out and brought in 4 experienced players and now expect results. Particularly with key talls Thompson, Goldstein, Tarrant, etc much closer to the end of their careers. What we've done in the last couple of years is have got no games into emerging talls McKay, Durdin, Larkey, Preuss, Nielsen. Preuss would have been a better starting option the vast majority of 2017. We never really know what he might have done given half a chance. Nielsen showed promise and I thought McKay's debut a couple of seasons ago was pretty damn good and deserved to play last season. That said our performance last season didn't surprise me in the least with a solid spine when players fit. Brown, Waite, Goldy, Tarrant, Thompson, Daw. BUT Waite, Goldy, Thompson realistically while reliable have played their best footy. Tarrant has had an injury ravaged career and isn't far behind them, while Maj was an absolute revelation last year. The reality is, our spine is aging, we just simply haven't taken any risks to regenerate it while expectations were for us to bottom out, while we have had young talls performing well at VFL level.
 

The Dingrel

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 25, 2013
5,414
10,771
Brisbane
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Brisbane Bandits
To be fair. Neither is Campbell, nor indeed any of our current "options" getting games.
To be brutally honest, I expected Campbell to play precisely zero games this year and to be pure insurance in case Goldy got injured. Then again no one could have expected Maj's unavailability.
 

Billy Not Really

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 7, 2018
6,593
17,321
Licking windows at the back of the bus.
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Here is the thing, 2017 and 2018, members, fans, the general north community, the media, AND in particular the board, basically gave the coaching staff a free pass. Play the kids, blood them, get games into them, we expected to finish down the bottom some where providing young players coming through. Despite having the second youngest list, the actual team taking the field was actually one of the oldest. We probably outperformed last year and got well ahead of ourselves but it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. Now this year, we've gone out and brought in 4 experienced players and now expect results. Particularly with key talls Thompson, Goldstein, Tarrant, etc much closer to the end of their careers. What we've done in the last couple of years is have got no games into emerging talls McKay, Durdin, Larkey, Preuss, Nielsen. Preuss would have been a better starting option the vast majority of 2017. We never really know what he might have done given half a chance. Nielsen showed promise and I thought McKay's debut a couple of seasons ago was pretty damn good and deserved to play last season. That said our performance last season didn't surprise me in the least with a solid spine when players fit. Brown, Waite, Goldy, Tarrant, Thompson, Daw. BUT Waite, Goldy, Thompson realistically while reliable have played their best footy. Tarrant has had an injury ravaged career and isn't far behind them, while Maj was an absolute revelation last year. The reality is, our spine is aging, we just simply haven't taken any risks to regenerate it while expectations were for us to bottom out, while we have had young talls performing well at VFL level.

Correct, we've got new blood in the best 22 now which is great, I expect to see LDU all year when fit, McKay stays in for as long as he can, Bailey Scott can own his part of the ground etc.

Mind you, this is all stuff we could've and should've done earlier with other players like Pruess, Larkey, Nielsen and with McKay being the only one thats been given the shot so far, it shows. He plays like a bloke who's played 3 games when he could've been up to 20 by now. LDU I thought got the most amount possible last year given the pace of the game wasn't ready for him yet but this season there's no good reason to drop him unless he had an absolutely poor game. All things that had Brad been a bit more loose at the selection table and didn't play favourites, we could've salvaged Preuss leaving and he'd be playing right now instead of Campbell.

The progress of Larkey has been good, he's had a great season last year and he's remained consistent throughout, so how much more is there to learn? If the club was keen on still waiting for him to develop even more now, why didn't we ask for a forward last year in trades. Our midfields stocks thankfully have depth but now we're at the expense of a depleted forward/back. So, if we're that desperate, which to me it seems we are. Woods not delivering, Garners always injured and Turner doesn't kick enough goals due to the defensive focus what good reason is there for Larkey not being in? Match fitness? Seems to run out at least 60% of a game fine. He can take a pack mark which Brown 9/10 times can't. He can kick goals which Jack Ziebell can't and he's remained fit and healthy which Garner & Wood can't.

Just pull the Larkey lever already, we've had 3 years to sort out our s**t and plan ahead for our older spine to leave and now we got another batch about to leave in Scooter, Taz, maybe Daw, and its clear to me we haven't even begun to assess that problem.
 
To be brutally honest, I expected Campbell to play precisely zero games this year and to be pure insurance in case Goldy got injured. Then again no one could have expected Maj's unavailability.

Maybe. But we didn't just lose Maj, we also lost Waite and Campbell was only ever cover for Goldstein. It's a pretty big stuff up in planning really because the role Maj played was 80% KPP and 20% Ruck. That's not really what Campbell is capable of.

Correct, we've got new blood in the best 22 now which is great, I expect to see LDU all year when fit, McKay stays in for as long as he can, Bailey Scott can own his part of the ground etc.

Mind you, this is all stuff we could've and should've done earlier with other players like Pruess, Larkey, Nielsen and with McKay being the only one thats been given the shot so far, it shows. He plays like a bloke who's played 3 games when he could've been up to 20 by now. LDU I thought got the most amount possible last year given the pace of the game wasn't ready for him yet but this season there's no good reason to drop him unless he had an absolutely poor game. All things that had Brad been a bit more loose at the selection table and didn't play favourites, we could've salvaged Preuss leaving and he'd be playing right now instead of Campbell.

The progress of Larkey has been good, he's had a great season last year and he's remained consistent throughout, so how much more is there to learn? If the club was keen on still waiting for him to develop even more now, why didn't we ask for a forward last year in trades. Our midfields stocks thankfully have depth but now we're at the expense of a depleted forward/back. So, if we're that desperate, which to me it seems we are. Woods not delivering, Garners always injured and Turner doesn't kick enough goals due to the defensive focus what good reason is there for Larkey not being in? Match fitness? Seems to run out at least 60% of a game fine. He can take a pack mark which Brown 9/10 times can't. He can kick goals which Jack Ziebell can't and he's remained fit and healthy which Garner & Wood can't.

Just pull the Larkey lever already, we've had 3 years to sort out our s**t and plan ahead for our older spine to leave and now we got another batch about to leave in Scooter, Taz, maybe Daw, and its clear to me we haven't even begun to assess that problem.

Can't state clearly enough how much I agree with all of this. Daw the classic example too, we too at least 2 years more to give him an extended run in the team than was needed.
 
Aug 3, 2018
1,749
10,353
AFL Club
North Melbourne
How come West Coast can play two rucks (Hickey and Vardy) and still squeeze big boys Kennedy, Darling and Oscar Allen into their forward line while we’ve got a backup ruckman supporting our lone tall in Brown?

I don’t understand what we’re waiting for with Larkey anymore. Get him in and give him a go. We’ve literally got no better options at this stage and need to pump some games into him. The succession planning for our tall forwards has been atrocious.
 
Jun 8, 2004
13,673
30,236
Melbourne
AFL Club
North Melbourne
How come West Coast can play two rucks (Hickey and Vardy) and still squeeze big boys Kennedy, Darling and Oscar Allen into their forward line while we’ve got a backup ruckman supporting our lone tall in Brown?

I don’t understand what we’re waiting for with Larkey anymore. Get him in and give him a go. We’ve literally got no better options at this stage and need to pump some games into him. The succession planning for our tall forwards has been atrocious.

They don’t turnover the footy to start with.
 
How come West Coast can play two rucks (Hickey and Vardy) and still squeeze big boys Kennedy, Darling and Oscar Allen into their forward line while we’ve got a backup ruckman supporting our lone tall in Brown?

I don’t understand what we’re waiting for with Larkey anymore. Get him in and give him a go. We’ve literally got no better options at this stage and need to pump some games into him. The succession planning for our tall forwards has been atrocious.

Possibly because they are fitter than us and can play their mids 80% TOG or more.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Jarrad Waite urges former club North Melbourne to back-in young tall Nick Larkey

APRIL 11, 2019

Jarrad Waite says he would have considered playing on into 2019 if the club had offered him a contract at the end of last season.

But as the winless Roos forward line woes continue, the 377-goal veteran has urged North Melbourne to back in two-game key tall Nick Larkey to play alongside Ben Brown.

Waite, 36, kicked 32 goals in 13 games last year but was not prepared to go through an entire trade/free agency period before the club made a decision on whether to hand him a new deal.

Waite made his VAFA debut for St Kevins on the weekend, kicking three goals after barely missing a training session over summer.

Mid-sized forward Mason Wood has been unable to fire since signing a significant deal in 2016 while Taylor Garner is exciting but injury-prone.

Waite told the Herald Sun he wasn’t the answer to the club’s woes, adamant 198cm key tall Larkey can make an impact if backed in to play regularly.

“If there had been a contract I would have had a think about it,” Waite said.

“I had waited the year before (until October) and I wanted the run out with the kids and if I hadn’t said goodbye I might have been a bit frustrated with the end of it.

“It’s a nice compliment being thrown around but how long does it last for?

“They have got Nick Larkey who really played well in the VFL on the weekend. With where the club is at they need to start playing a few of the young players and almost throw them into the deep end.

“That’s the way teams learn. It’s the way every key position player learns.

“I think they will see real benefit in playing the likes of Larkey and getting continuity with him and Benny Brown.”

Coach Brad Scott admitted to selection mistakes in recent weeks, having tried Tom Campbell as a foil alongside Brown.

Waite said the Roos’ forward line might almost have to take a small forward to go forward with a second tall alongside Brown.

“Ben and I came in when Drew (Petrie) was playing, so he had a massive influence on us working together.

“You can only play games together to get that continuity. There might be a few teething issues at the start but they will be fine.”

Kangaroos great Wayne Carey this week lashed the club’s forward line under full forward Brown.
“He’s never laid a tackle because he can’t, he’s not nimble enough,” Carey said.

“Ben Brown has to look at himself in the mirror and ask himself whether he wants to be a star of this competition or one-dimensional.

“If he doesn’t mark it, he’s deemed useless — he has to get a couple of other tricks up his sleeve.”
 
Back