Senior 29. James Worpel (2025 - )

[cats_09]

 

[dazbroncos]

Ill say this much... Geelong boy.. Falcons boy coming home after 8 years.....

And he WANTS to be here. that makes doing the harder stuff easier.... and you can never have too many on the list that WANT to be there.

GO CAtters

 

[ChrisLOA]

I have a feeling at the moment we aren’t that excited about the crab, but sometime next year, we will all be believers.

Believers of Crab.

If he can regain his agility as shown in the welcome video...

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Don’t know if he can have you seen his hairline

Dude's hairline has always been pretty cooked. Probably just one of those guys who naturally look like they've been receding from age 5.

I reckon he gives it a go, but there's a part of me that thinks it gives off cult vibes if he does.

Some weird initiation thing where you get handed a bottle of peroxide and are forced to grow your hair out.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Dude's hairline has always been pretty cooked. Probably just one of those guys who naturally look like they've been receding from age 5.

I reckon he gives it a go, but there's a part of me that thinks it gives off cult vibes if he does.

Some weird initiation thing where you get handed a bottle of peroxide and are forced to grow your hair out.

It can still work for him. Let go your fear and embrace the hairline

 

[CHAWKS2]

Ill say this much... Geelong boy.. Falcons boy coming home after 8 years.....

And he WANTS to be here. that makes doing the harder stuff easier.... and you can never have too many on the list that WANT to be there.

GO CAtters

And you know…if he wasn’t coming from the Hawks I might not mark him as hard!

Looking at his highlight package (which I know is deceiving as my highlight package would also look good - albeit it very short!) I was surprised at his skills in the early day before he became the “inside bull”

In terms of best 23 I struggle as I reckon Atkins is ahead of him and not sure we need another similar type…but with Bruhn out we seemed really thin this year if Tom got injured…so I can see why we want real choice.

a fully fit team might make selection hard - but that is the point of getting good player in I suppose

 

[CHAWKS2]

If he can regain his agility as shown in the welcome video...

my thoughts as well. I was surprised by those highlights. Let’s hope he has been carrying something and we get the best of him

 

[CatToTheFuture]

my thoughts as well. I was surprised by those highlights. Let’s hope he has been carrying something and we get the best of him

Syndesmosis can be brutal apparently. Let's hope he gets back from it

 

[Generalissimo]

Syndesmosis can be brutal apparently. Let's hope he gets back from it

Our medical team is elite. He's got the best possible chance.

 

[FootyLad0]

my thoughts as well. I was surprised by those highlights. Let’s hope he has been carrying something and we get the best of him

Wasn't that the issue this year? Had a blood clot in his leg that had to be drained and had ankle problems that severely hindered his movement and range of motion.

We saw in that Final against Adelaide that when he's up and going (healthy) he's quite good.
We also saw in the Final against the Cats some poor skills.

I imagine Cats wouldn't be grabbing him and showing their faith if they didn't think they could get the best out of him.

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

So we ditched going after Clarry and ended up with Worpel, i'm happy with that. Worpel seems like a good egg, Hawthorn fans liked him, seems like he was well respected at their club and very popular among the playing group, so i think he'll only have a positive impact at Geelong.

Very happy to have him in the blue and white hoops.

 

[cats_09]

 

[FootyLad0]

So we ditched going after Clarry and ended up with Worpel, i'm happy with that. Worpel seems like a good egg, Hawthorn fans liked him, seems like he was well respected at their club and very popular among the playing group, so i think he'll only have a positive impact at Geelong.

Very happy to have him in the blue and white hoops.

Geelong Falcons Premiership Captain.

No stranger to Gryonel Messi and also to winning in Navy Blue and White

 

[Lana]

I like what this reveals of our recruitment mentality.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

if I have to make an appearance in the “I was wrong” thread.

You will.

 

[Matthew Jelley]

Not sold but I'll hold out hope he will be a good acquisition
We do need some more grunt for sure

 

[Ratcat]

I remember being very hopeful on him in his draft year, so we finally got him, he'll be a tough contributor for us inside.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

It can still work for him. Let go your fear and embrace the hairline

View attachment 2450506

Try as he might, Nic Cage just couldn't quite pull off the 'Cam Guthrie look'!

 

[andoman21]

I thought he struggled in the finals and looked a touch slow....

 

[And_ROOS]

I thought he struggled in the finals and looked a touch slow....

He was good in their first final, ok in the second and poor against us.

Thing is of the Hawks games I saw he was good when he is not one of the top 2 mids. So if he finds himself in the middle with Smith or Holmes then getting in and feeding them the ball he will look a million bucks.

The issue will be is if we roll him through with say, Bruhn and Mullin.

 

[rapidfire7]

I think Oliver would have been very good at Geelong, but it seems they had already long committed to taking Worpel once Oliver (somewhat surprisingly) became available again (and cheaply!).

I guess they couldn't really take both, so they had to/chose to let Oliver slide, despite being massively in for him on big $$$ a year earlier.

Sort of a sliding doors situation re: Oliver & Geelong really, and it's somewhat frustrating seeing him doing so well at the Giants.

Stating the obvious, but he is a vastly superior player to Worpel, who looks far from being a guaranteed best 23 player in our side atm.

How do others feel about all this?

 

[JackFlash]

Worpel was very good against West Coast and along with the return of Bruhn opens up many possibilities with Holmes and Smith. The Geelong midfield and attack from half back has definitely changed and can only get better. I can't see Worpel being omitted from the line up at this early stage?

 

[Play it Sam]

Worpel was very good against West Coast and along with the return of Bruhn opens up many possibilities with Holmes and Smith. The Geelong midfield and attack from half back has definitely changed and can only get better. I can't see Worpel being omitted from the line up at this early stage?

Touch of class. I was one of the many fence sitting, especially when his earlier games looked like he was trying to do too much, a not uncommon fault in new players. He has learned the game plan, and looks to be moving the ball on much quicker, and with skill and greater teamwork. It might have had something to do with the expectations on him at Hawthorn to brute strength his way through. We have Atkins and Mannagh for that role. Sent back to be baptised in the Geelong way, and it's worked, with faster hands, he looks good.