Player Watch #29: Will Phillips

Remove this Banner Ad

Thewlis Dish

Cancelled
10k Posts
Sep 9, 2003
27,578
28,761
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
FGR
I think he just has an awkward kicking style more than anything - it's very mechanical rather than fluid. He's definitely a good user on both sides.

I remember thinking Rowell had a similarly awkward action and it definitely doesn't hinder him.
 

rm3504

All Australian
May 13, 2011
704
873
Perth
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Says a lot about how the club sees itself, this one. A genuine mistake if the club had any intentions of breaking that blue collar, ‘yeah they try hard but lack any star quality’, tag. Disappointed we didn’t roll the dice on Hollands. Will be a ******* superstar and has a few more dimensions than Phillips who has ok disposal and is a pure midfielder and that’s it. Might as well have traded our second to GCS...
What rubbish, u need a top 6 midfield to win a flag and we haven’t had one for 20 years
If u haven’t got a gun midfield u wasting your time, noble is fixing this first
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Souup

Norm Smith Medallist
May 8, 2005
7,794
27,441
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Says a lot about how the club sees itself, this one. A genuine mistake if the club had any intentions of breaking that blue collar, ‘yeah they try hard but lack any star quality’, tag. Disappointed we didn’t roll the dice on Hollands. Will be a ******* superstar and has a few more dimensions than Phillips who has ok disposal and is a pure midfielder and that’s it. Might as well have traded our second to GCS...

Give me a break. What a load of crap. You know nothing about Hollands or Phillips and at most have watched their highlights clips and just read the same re-hashed crap about each draft prospect in the lead-up.

I'd write more but this sort of rubbish doesn't deserve a longer response.
 

Roos1991

Team Captain
Oct 20, 2015
368
810
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Give me a break. What a load of crap. You know nothing about Hollands or Phillips and at most have watched their highlights clips and just read the same re-hashed crap about each draft prospect in the lead-up.

I'd write more but this sort of rubbish doesn't deserve a longer response.

I’ve also read a bit and have warmed to the Phillips decision. Don’t like it as much as I would’ve a versatile mix with a huge ceiling (like Hollands) but it’s fine. I don’t know why we backed that pick up with another two players who similarly are pure inside mids that don’t play other positions. Maybe we’ll train these guys to rotate in the forward line or whatever but it all seems odd. If we were taking Powell and potentially Lazzarro, it would’ve made sense to take a mid that could play on the outside and also rotate naturally through a forward line, like Hollands. I just think we’ve chosen 3 of the same mids now in the one area North is never lacking in, pure and often one-dimensional inside mids.
 

pitchster

Team Captain
Feb 5, 2012
370
657
AFL Club
North Melbourne
The way he names him in comparison to Rowell is interesting. Doesn't hesitate to name him.

Rendell is a bit of a knob but he was definite about that.
People around here have been shutting that talk down for months. Better than Rowell pah whatever. Almost as good as Rowell....no one will ever be as good as this guy and the 5 games he has played....ever...until AFL dies. Fact is this guy was showing up Rowell in some games as an underager. People look at Rowells 3 votes in 3 games in a row and assume hes going to do that constantly in his career. Dont get me wrong Rowell is going to be a superstar and most likely a brownlow medalist, that doest mean Phillips cant also be a superstar and a brownlow medalist too. Its not apples and oranges here.
 

Harpergun

Senior List
Mar 7, 2012
275
1,633
Gold Coast
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I posted on the draft wrap thread but has is anyone able to get a stat comparison between Phillips 2019 v Rowell 2018
 


She's probably giving him tips on what to expect when he gets to training....
1607566820066.png
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Mar 23, 2001
15,191
48,398
Forever Death riding *
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Other Teams
Wildcats/Pacers/Chelsea/Scorchers
I’ve also read a bit and have warmed to the Phillips decision. Don’t like it as much as I would’ve a versatile mix with a huge ceiling (like Hollands) but it’s fine. I don’t know why we backed that pick up with another two players who similarly are pure inside mids that don’t play other positions. Maybe we’ll train these guys to rotate in the forward line or whatever but it all seems odd. If we were taking Powell and potentially Lazzarro, it would’ve made sense to take a mid that could play on the outside and also rotate naturally through a forward line, like Hollands. I just think we’ve chosen 3 of the same mids now in the one area North is never lacking in, pure and often one-dimensional inside mids.
Define 'one dimensional' for us boss..
 

Roos1991

Team Captain
Oct 20, 2015
368
810
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Define 'one dimensional' for us boss..

Dimensional in terms of team structure. He looks like a fantastic inside midfielder - best in the draft. Little evidence to suggest he can have a similar impact anywhere else on the field.
 
I’ve also read a bit and have warmed to the Phillips decision. Don’t like it as much as I would’ve a versatile mix with a huge ceiling (like Hollands) but it’s fine. I don’t know why we backed that pick up with another two players who similarly are pure inside mids that don’t play other positions. Maybe we’ll train these guys to rotate in the forward line or whatever but it all seems odd. If we were taking Powell and potentially Lazzarro, it would’ve made sense to take a mid that could play on the outside and also rotate naturally through a forward line, like Hollands. I just think we’ve chosen 3 of the same mids now in the one area North is never lacking in, pure and often one-dimensional inside mids.
They are all different players tho. Slightly different but different.

Powell doesn't have the manic attack on the ball that Phillips and Campbell have both shown. If Phillips is being likened to Cunners and Swallow then there is a bit of Higgo in Powell. They complement each other more than play the same roll. Like Jy and LDU actually.
 
People around here have been shutting that talk down for months. Better than Rowell pah whatever. Almost as good as Rowell....no one will ever be as good as this guy and the 5 games he has played....ever...until AFL dies. Fact is this guy was showing up Rowell in some games as an underager. People look at Rowells 3 votes in 3 games in a row and assume hes going to do that constantly in his career. Dont get me wrong Rowell is going to be a superstar and most likely a brownlow medalist, that doest mean Phillips cant also be a superstar and a brownlow medalist too. Its not apples and oranges here.
Yeah.

I remember that about Rowell. And I've heard the talk about Phillips in comparison too. I didn't give it much thought but those junior finals stats are interesting and it was the emphatic way that Rendell rated him as good as Rowell .... well not as good but ... Rendell was obviously impressed by Rowell's workrate and effort to get from contest to contest and was going on about that then as an afterthought says wtte of "thinking about it Will Phillips does that just as well." He emphasises that there is more to Phillips than just nbeing at the top of the draft class and that he and Rowell both have a special quality about them. The way he said it was solid. You could put a gun to his head and he wouldn't change his mind.

Its funny but everyone is saying he is safe, which is just as likely to jinx him to a year of injuries as anything, but I've had no doubts or "buyers remorse" like feelings about this pick. Might have had that with anyone else, even if we'd got Campbell. At least till I'd seen them play. Not trying to count chickens or anything either. I think I would have always been unconsciously comparing whoever we got to this kid. Its just whenever i think how to describe this pick the word that comes to mind isn't "safe".

Its professional.

(There is also the term "bloody obvious" with hindsight.)

Not only does Will seem professional the pick itself is. Its exactly what we need, fills multiple needs and helps in terms of a "rebuild" cos it seems to part of rebuilding the mentality at the club and reinforcing the culture we know wins flags.

On reflection I don't see how we could have picked anyone else.

If anything I'm getting more excited the more I think about it.
 
Right, we need the club to adopt a Soviet-style genetics program and get her and LDU married quick smart.
How do members get involved?
(FWIW happy to still be apart if LDU is in) NTTAWWT
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back