Player Watch #29: Will Phillips

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FootySmartSimpson said:
The u18 vids of Willips make him come across as some hybrid between the manic defensive pressure, tackling and acceleration out of the contest that Swallow had (think that Adelaide game where he was caning it and collected 27 possessions in the first half) and the Cunnington vision, speed-slowdown and smarts we have all come to love.

I had Willips as No.3 pick behind Thillthorpe and DGB. Knowing North was never going to take an intercepting back and knowing Thillthorpe was unavailable, I was thrilled we called his name out. Such a great surprise. I would not change that selection in retrospect. He will be the heart of the engine room with Jy and Powell. Those three will be feeding to LDU, Thomas and Sleevo for a decade.

Just let that sink in.
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You haven't even included JHF - let that sink in!
 

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ferball said:
Its funny how often people will say that.
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There is a handful of realistic people on this site, I listen to them.

You I listen to, but you still have NFI.

You’re convinced WE will make finals this year… you’re more deranged than I could ever be.

great summation re Tarryn btw
 
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Usayed Givashe said:
There is a handful of realistic people on this site, I listen to them.

You I listen to, but you still have NFI.

You’re convinced WE will make finals this year… you’re more deranged than I could ever be.

great summation re Tarryn btw
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We can't make finals this year. The season is over.

Next year we might make finals. But its unlikely.

I think we'll finish around twelfth and should be aiming for 4-6 on the ladder in 2023.

This year was an outlier. We had significant injury problems for most of it with 4 of our 6 best players from 2020 missing for most of the year. We've been thru three coaches in as many seasons, turned over the entire footy department and lost about a third of the list at the end of last season, many of them regular first 18/22 players. We have a new coach and an entirely new way of playing footy. With all that s**t to deal with we only just scraped into last place.

Even this pre season will be a little chaotic with new footy department members again but we finally have some stability in terms of footy department direction and senior coaching staff being settled. Its looking like our most settled pre-season since we drafted LDU. Hopefully we see improvements in fitness and our ability to execute the game plans Noble has been developing.

I hope we go past Collingwood, Hawthorn, GC ... well i more than hope I expect we should. Carlton, St Kilda, West Coast and even Richmond all look vulnerable too. Adelaide will either improve five or six places as well or they'll be in that bottom four group with the Pies, GC and Hawks.
 
Usayed Givashe said:
I think I prefer my reality over yours.
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BTW - When I first quoted this it was more a comment on the general state of humanity rather than being specifically about footy.
 
Usayed Givashe said:
That’s ok mate, I know I’m a good person in touch with reality.
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No one is in touch with reality. WE navigate it using maps of reality tunnels that aren't necessarily accurate but work well enough to keep most of us alive for long enough to breed then get old.

www.theatlantic.com

The Case Against Reality

A professor of cognitive science argues that the world is nothing like the one we experience through our senses.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com
 
Generally when a young kid comes to a club you want them to be adding size so they can compete with the big boys…

Looking at the photos from yesterday’s training Phillips looks like he has actually lost a bit of size through his legs/trunk and even a bit through his top half.

For a 19 y.o he looks in incredible nick.

Might be going early…but I expect him to rip at least a couple of games apart in 2022.
 
roos_fanatic08 said:
Generally when a young kid comes to a club you want them to be adding size so they can compete with the big boys…

Looking at the photos from yesterday’s training Phillips looks like he has actually lost a bit of size through his legs/trunk and even a bit through his top half.

For a 19 y.o he looks in incredible nick.

Might be going early…but I expect him to rip at least a couple of games apart in 2022.
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He got knocked around a bit last year. Likely due to the larger stronger AFL bodies. Building on his outside game is a good idea given the skills he showed. He is quality and so increasing his posession count is a must.

He was a bully in the underage comp. Very early I know but this may not translate to AFL comp given his size/stature. Feels like we picked one type of player and we've unexpectedly ended up with a different type. His development will be really intriguing.

The other consideration is whether the interrupted 2020 season set some or all these VIC draftees back a bit. Will we see some significant gains from these kids coming into 2022 on the back of some continuity in their program and a full pre-season?
 
roos_fanatic08 said:
Generally when a young kid comes to a club you want them to be adding size so they can compete with the big boys…

Looking at the photos from yesterday’s training Phillips looks like he has actually lost a bit of size through his legs/trunk and even a bit through his top half.

For a 19 y.o he looks in incredible nick.

Might be going early…but I expect him to rip at least a couple of games apart in 2022.
Click to expand...

Needs to add a yard and endurance. There'll be no problem adding size later.
 

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SimpkinByTheDockOfTheBay said:
Needs to add a yard and endurance. There'll be no problem adding size later.
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Speed isn’t an issue IMO. He was quite zippy at under 18’s level. I think he stacked on the size in his legs a bit too quickly which resulted in him struggling to cover the ground last year.

His body shape has totally changed. I reckon he’ll show more of that breakaway speed next year.
 
roos_fanatic08 said:
Speed isn’t an issue IMO. He was quite zippy at under 18’s level. I think he stacked on the size in his legs a bit too quickly which resulted in him struggling to cover the ground last year.

His body shape has totally changed. I reckon he’ll show more of that breakaway speed next year.
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Yeah, this is what I was trying to say, you summed it up better., Agree on all.

He's also got that thing where due to his kind of odd upright gait he looks like he's going slower than he is.
 
His floor is pretty much a carbon copy Dion Prestia IMO. At the very least he's going to be a good AFL footballer. Could end up a Lachie Neale type though if he develops fully and gets enough midfield time. I reckon he'd be hungry for a big year in 2022 after what I think he would consider a slowish start this year.
 
SimpkinByTheDockOfTheBay said:
Yeah, this is what I was trying to say, you summed it up better., Agree on all.

He's also got that thing where due to his kind of odd upright gait he looks like he's going slower than he is.
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He runs like Micheal Johnson.
 
DunderHead said:
He got knocked around a bit last year. Likely due to the larger stronger AFL bodies. Building on his outside game is a good idea given the skills he showed. He is quality and so increasing his posession count is a must.

He was a bully in the underage comp. Very early I know but this may not translate to AFL comp given his size/stature. Feels like we picked one type of player and we've unexpectedly ended up with a different type. His development will be really intriguing.

The other consideration is whether the interrupted 2020 season set some or all these VIC draftees back a bit. Will we see some significant gains from these kids coming into 2022 on the back of some continuity in their program and a full pre-season?
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The only time i can really remember him getting knocked around, was standing his ground marking a Xerri hospital pass, and getting his nose obliterated in the process.
 
Brent Harvey played 1 game in his first year. Based on that, Phillips is already ahead of his ‘number sake’. As they say in racing, will be better for the run in 2022.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
muttley45 said:
The only time i can really remember him getting knocked around, was standing his ground marking a Xerri hospital pass, and getting his nose obliterated in the process.
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Stuck in my mind a bit so I think I was looking for it everytime he played. He would bounce off guys in a collision because they were bigger and heavier than him. He bashed through players at underage. I really like what he brings, just pointing out that if he was a bully in underage he showed something different when he played seniors. I would say what he showed was unexpected.
 
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