AFL Player 24: Nick Bryan

[Lore]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2025
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 16, ant555

 

[FootyGuru]

I’d give him a game and rest goldy. I don’t think Bryan is capable of playing as the second ruck/ forward. He has no presence in the air and can only take contested marks when he floats in from the side.

He is ready to be a number 1 ruck though so let’s test him vs nank. If he plays well we could give goldy a mid season freshen up vs Gold Coast too, and then have them fight for the number 1 spot for the rest of the season. In a perfect world Bryan goes past goldy, but I feel goldy after a freshen up will come out on top.
Draper to be played as second/ruck forward when 100% healthy and in form.

 

[bombreys]

I know most do, but some don’t.

If he keeps owning the VFL Essendon would be crazy to trade Bryan at this point in his career. He could end this year deeply annoyed at the club, be retained against his will then play 20 games next year and be a bomber for life.

I think the only way that happens though, is if Goldy doesn’t go round again, right?

 

[Old Campaigner]

If he’s not clearly ahead of Goldstein next year then he’s being delisted, not traded

 

[bombreys]

So similar to here? The position is his if he earns it?

This is probably the first week you'd say his VFL form was banging the door down whilst Goldy struggled. Which is exactly what we want from him. Lift your game. Be better than a 35 year old Goldstein.

People seem to want us to play Bryan based on him not demanding selection through form, because he might go elsewhere and get games despite being worse than pretty much every other clubs starting ruckman?

It's a really weird line of argument. He's still young for a ruckman, hadn't come on physically as much at the start of the season as supporters would have hoped, and less than half way through the season hasn't yet played an AFL game. He's played a string of decent games at VFL level that haven't told us anything about him we hadn't seen, and has now finally produced a game that is genuinely starting to show that he could match it at AFL level right now.

Well he’d immediately be Melbourne’s second ruck. Here, he can’t get a game with Draper out.

You don’t think he’s earned it? His last month he’s averaging 20 stats 4 marks and 38 hitouts.

I think your severely underrating how good he’s been playing, not just for a week.

 

[bombreys]

Depends if Goldy stays.
Let’s face it he should be close to prime next year. Draper gets injured all the time Goldy is near the end.
It will come down to where we see he is at . Given he is contracted it will be if Scott rates him or not.

You keep saying he should go but the landscape is still not clear. He is contracted and it will really be the end of this year that we will actually know if he is going to take the final step.
The inside word I hear is up until now he has not reached the level of physically they want from a ruck which is why Draper has still been in front of him.

I think he runs into the same problem somewhere else if he goes.
Who is taking him as number 1 ?
If he is really up to it he will be number 2 for us minimum.

Definitely. And if we go after another ruck.

Do you think the physicality thing is a little overstated? Goldy’s not overly physical. Draper obviously is, but he has other flaws.

 

[ant555]

Definitely. And if we go after another ruck.

Do you think the physicality thing is a little overstated? Goldy’s not overly physical. Draper obviously is, but he has other flaws.

Goldy is more physical than people realize but he obviously is not a beast. The thing with Goldy is he is always in there scrapping and then working in the contest and leading up at the footy or working back. That is why Xerri physically went after him to wear him down. So he is not physical like Draper but he simply always makes a contest and he absorbs the pressure.

I do not think it is over rated. Generally the best sides have blokes who are physical in the ruck more than blokes who get midfield type numbers. There are the odd exceptions but generally their rucks play a rough and tumble game.

If we are going after another ruck then obviously Scott does not rate Bryan .

 

[faible]

Goldy is more physical than people realize but he obviously is not a beast. The thing with Goldy is he is always in there scrapping and then working in the contest and leading up at the footy or working back. That is why Xerri physically went after him to wear him down. So he is not physical like Draper but he simply always makes a contest and he absorbs the pressure.

I do not think it is over rated. Generally the best sides have blokes who are physical in the ruck more than blokes who get midfield type numbers. There are the odd exceptions but generally their rucks play a rough and tumble game.

If we are going after another ruck then obviously Scott does not rate Bryan .

This.

You've got a bloke on the opposition who's ~ 110kg (or more) that's bashing in to you over, and over, and over. You have to have a certain level of physicality to compete with that for an entire game.

Even if you're not a Shane Mumford handing out hits, you still need to be able to endure that contact. Goldy isn't as young as he once was, but you don't ruck the amount of games, and gametime, he has without being physically competitive.

At VFL level the big units don't necessarily have the skill or fitness to really punish you if you're not able to handle it, by the time you get to AFL level they do.

 

[bombreys]

Goldy is more physical than people realize but he obviously is not a beast. The thing with Goldy is he is always in there scrapping and then working in the contest and leading up at the footy or working back. That is why Xerri physically went after him to wear him down. So he is not physical like Draper but he simply always makes a contest and he absorbs the pressure.

I do not think it is over rated. Generally the best sides have blokes who are physical in the ruck more than blokes who get midfield type numbers. There are the odd exceptions but generally their rucks play a rough and tumble game.

If we are going after another ruck then obviously Scott does not rate Bryan .

Fair enough.

I can’t think of another game Goldy has been comprehensively beaten like he was by Xerri - and I don’t think he would have thought he’d be rucking games solo at 35.

 

[Howard Moon]

Theres basically zero point wasting draft picks on a ruck, unless they are top ten elite which are like hens teeth. The same thing happens every time, you put the time in, develop them then they eventually get upset that they are not played and get poached - all that time and effort is down the toilet. Then you go and poach another clubs kid, round and round the ruck merry go round goes. He wont play this week, and he'd be every right to stink up...there's one key tenet that should underpin every club and selection, you reward great form. If you don't you are settling a bad example, he's been in super form yet, probably just played the best game of his life yet is still being usurped by a 36 year old who was probably originally traded in as a backup and good teacher. Clearly there's thinking about the now and thinking about the future, near or far. Goldy playing solo is thinking about today only, anything further than that has Bryan as its answer. Scott always trota out the same lines in pressers, we have a way to go, we are still building for the future...its just words unless we start seeing Bryan on the field

 

[Ambrosia]

Theres basically zero point wasting draft picks on a ruck, unless they are top ten elite which are like hens teeth. The same thing happens every time, you put the time in, develop them then they eventually get upset that they are not played and get poached - all that time and effort is down the toilet. Then you go and poach another clubs kid, round and round the ruck merry go round goes. He wont play this week, and he'd be every right to stink up...there's one key tenet that should underpin every club and selection, you reward great form. If you don't you are settling a bad example, he's been in super form yet, probably just played the best game of his life yet is still being usurped by a 36 year old who was probably originally traded in as a backup and good teacher. Clearly there's thinking about the now and thinking about the future, near or far. Goldy playing solo is thinking about today only, anything further than that has Bryan as its answer. Scott always trota out the same lines in pressers, we have a way to go, we are still building for the future...its just words unless we start seeing Bryan on the field

Disagree. Bryan is already providing value to our list as a 3rd ruck capable of playing AFL and has scope to improve further.

There’s also the point that whilst he’s turned out a ruckman when drafted he was an athletic 200cm player with good skills. We’ve seen plenty of similar prospects end up as KPPs recently.

 

[brain taylor]

Theres basically zero point wasting draft picks on a ruck, unless they are top ten elite which are like hens teeth. The same thing happens every time, you put the time in, develop them then they eventually get upset that they are not played and get poached - all that time and effort is down the toilet. Then you go and poach another clubs kid, round and round the ruck merry go round goes. He wont play this week, and he'd be every right to stink up...there's one key tenet that should underpin every club and selection, you reward great form. If you don't you are settling a bad example, he's been in super form yet, probably just played the best game of his life yet is still being usurped by a 36 year old who was probably originally traded in as a backup and good teacher. Clearly there's thinking about the now and thinking about the future, near or far. Goldy playing solo is thinking about today only, anything further than that has Bryan as its answer. Scott always trota out the same lines in pressers, we have a way to go, we are still building for the future...its just words unless we start seeing Bryan on the field

reckon goldy is a big part of the emergence of duz/caldwell/perkins as genuine inside mids, who i assume brad plans to keep playing in the future

 

[HirdsTheWord]

If he’s not clearly ahead of Goldstein next year then he’s being delisted, not traded

Bryan has had more than a fair crack at AFL level and has not shown much improvement.

I would have liked to seen him play against Richmond though. See if he has made any improvement.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Well he’d immediately be Melbourne’s second ruck. Here, he can’t get a game with Draper out.

You don’t think he’s earned it? His last month he’s averaging 20 stats 4 marks and 38 hitouts.

I think your severely underrating how good he’s been playing, not just for a week.

he has been rubbish every time he has played in AFL. He might just be a good VFL footballer, wont be the first or the last to not be able to convert it to the AFL.

I would have liked to see him against Richmond, but again he has shown next to nothing in his 14 senior games to date.

 

[bombreys]

he has been rubbish every time he has played in AFL. He might just be a good VFL footballer, wont be the first or the last to not be able to convert it to the AFL.

I would have liked to see him against Richmond, but again he has shown next to nothing in his 14 senior games to date.

‘Rubbish’ is harsh. He’s literally had one game in the AFL where he was on the field for 70+% of the game - and he had 14 stats, 5 marks, a goal and 25 hitouts.

‘More than a fair crack’ also isn’t true - he’s played 14 of a possible 94 games - so averages less than 3 games a season. If you go one step further and take his actual played minutes into account, he’s played less than 8 full AFL games (obviously no ruck is playing 100% game time, but just shows how little he has actually played).

You may well be right that he’s one of those elite at VFL level/ordinary at AFL level type guys. But given we’ve put 5 years into him, I think it’d certainly be worth seeing what he’s got, especially with Draper out.

 

[nipst@r]

Sporadic opportunities and limited game time. In the same time span Phillips and draper both played worse games than byran has.

I think he has looked alright and stats by game time are okay.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Backed up last weeks performance today.

Must be given a game.

 

[ant555]

Have not seen the game . Stats look like he was our best . Played against nothing much . We got done by 60 points to a side that was pretty much looking for players on street corners.

 

[Vindicater]

he has been rubbish every time he has played in AFL. He might just be a good VFL footballer, wont be the first or the last to not be able to convert it to the AFL.

I would have liked to see him against Richmond, but again he has shown next to nothing in his 14 senior games to date.

He has not been rubbish

 

[andleanback]

Backed up last weeks performance today.

Must be given a game.
View attachment 2000226

He was rucking against a local footballer

 

[DERO]

He was rucking against a local footballer

What was his name?

 

[jmoo wan]

What was his name?

Thommo or Macca, probably

 

[carnthedons]

Thommo or Macca, probably

Chook

 

[JayJ20]

Bryan is leaving for a 36 year-old Goldstein. That would be very frustrating with all the development we've put in Bryan.

 

[BrunoV]

I thought he was only solid v Richmond VFL, bearing in mind I didn't see Q4.

He was up against a guy who was hardly more than 6'3. While he dominated the hit outs and had lots of ruck clearances I don't think he really imposed himself on the game.

I rated last week at 8-8.5/10, this week was only 6.5-7/10.

 

[Keystone agony]

I dont care its against Witts next week

Goldy out, Bryan In