Retired #26: Cale Hooker - Has announced his retirement at season's end 🍷

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Contract Status: Retiring at the end of Season 2021
Last Game Played: Round 19, 2021 (omit)
Injury Status: n/a
 
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Bombers36

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Jul 15, 2008
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anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???
 
anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???
Only one game.
 
anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???
He didn’t stop trying and put enormous amount of pressure on. We scored so many opportunistic snap goals. The pressure he, Jones and stringer were applying, and at least being able to bring the ball to ground makes his off game still important
 
Sep 22, 2011
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anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???

WTF
 
Oct 6, 2020
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anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???
I thought he was fine. Took their main defender which allowed Wright to get better match-ups. Sure he didn't kick any goals, but that's more a bonus to what he already does by being in the forward 50.

Really don't think Ambrose can play that same role tbh. He's nowhere as good a mark as Hooker, so I feel like whoever's manning him would eventually start zoning off without having to worry about getting burned the other way.

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Schnitzengruben

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Had a game similar to one of Townsend's. Was actually a hindrance spoiling his own teammates, getting in their leading lanes etc. Love him and I hope that game was an aberration.
 

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Didn’t get amongst the goals, I might be mistake but I don’t think he got outmarked all day by his opponent and always made sure the ball came to ground - which is always a great sign.
If he's fit, he plays

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anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???
No totally. Did not have a great day but a lot of the ball kicked to him he brought to ground and we held it in the forward half. If he was being out marked time and time again it would have been more of a concern.
 

BrunoV

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May 5, 2009
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anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???

Not worried in the sense that he's a fading gun and some really bad games are to be expected from someone who will struggle to cover the ground to the extent he does.

He'll probably play 50/50 good and bad depending on whether we can get the ball into that phone box in which he is most effective.

It's just not going to happen every week. So far he's still been effective enough to have a good farewell tour.

I'd like to think next year Bryan comes in and Wright replaces Hooker as the no 1. Lots of water to pass under the bridge yet.
 
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BrunoV

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Re: Cale Hooker


Very fast. 2.88 in the 20m sprint and a 7.94 in agility, with good endurance all at 195cm. Seems like an athlete, but can he play footy?


This is in the first few posts in this thread (for whatever reason I was diverted to page 1 or palm mashed or something).

Imagine if Hooker maintained that athleticism proportionate to the weight gain (I assume everyone slows a bit with the weight).

Hooker would have been the key defender of his generation and in the discussion as one of the best ever. Like the rich man's version of Harris Andrews (if you could picture such a thing).
 
This is in the first few posts in this thread (for whatever reason I was diverted to page 1 or palm mashed or something).

Imagine if Hooker maintained that athleticism proportionate to the weight gain (I assume everyone slows a bit with the weight).

Hooker would have been the key defender of his generation and in the discussion as one of the best ever. Like the rich man's version of Harris Andrews (if you could picture such a thing).
He's not 195 anymore either, I wonder if that was his legs growing a bit more and that caused his hammies to go?
 

BrunoV

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He's not 195 anymore either, I wonder if that was his legs growing a bit more and that caused his hammies to go?


Who knows, sounds like that could be part of it but he was also recruited at 19 so it would have been a pretty late growth spurt.

I also sometimes think height measurements are like they were during a footy camp I did at school many years ago.

Basically walking past measurements on a wall with some old guy calling out what he thinks the height looks like through his cataracts and sitting in a chair.
 
Apr 23, 2016
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anyone else a bit worried about Chook? he's been good all year and structurally he's very important for us...but he was ordinary against the Pies - 0 goals, 3 free's against (mainly out of frustration), 1 mark, 2 tackles....hope he just had an off day and bounces back against the Blues this week. OR we could rest him and give Ambrose a go at full forward against the Blues...???

Nah.

He missed two very gettable shots, competed hard all game, didn't get outmarked. He's fine.
 

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