ADE
1 v WSW
0 42'
NM
0 v ADE
0 PM
MEL
0 v GEE
0 PM
FRE
0 v HAW
0 PM
PAR
0 v STG
0 PM
NL
0 v NH
0 PM
WES
0 v NQ
0 PM
POR
0 v DET
0 PM
WEL
0 v WUN
0 PM
OKC
0 v PHI
0 PM
MAC
0 v BRI
0 PM
UTH
0 v SAC
0 PM
ILL
0 v CNS
0 PM
BRO
0 v LAL
0 PM
SYD
0 v SEM
0 PM
PHX
0 v WSH
0 PM
CLE
0 v TOR
0 PM
GS
0 v HOU
0 PM
COL
9.6
60 v GWS
14.6
90 FT
GCS
8.11
59 v CAR
9.16
70 FT
WB
10.13
73 v BL
8.6
54 FT
POR
11.13
79 v RIC
11.11
77 FT
STK
15.12
102 v WCE
13.4
82 FT
SYD
26 v CRO
18 FT
GC
42 v NEW
16 FT
NZ
12 v MAN
13 FT
CLA
17.6
108 v SFR
13.14
92 FT
GLE
13.13
91 v WWT
9.8
62 FT
EFR
8.5
53 v SUB
12.14
86 FT
CBD
18 v MEL
52 FT
KT
10.7
67 v LDL
15.6
96 FT
STU
6.9
45 v NWD
10.6
66 FT
NA
9.12
66 v STH
11.11
77 FT
GLE
8.7
55 v CLA
13.9
87 FT
WES
11.10
76 v ADE
12.10
82 FT
WP
19.6
120 v WCE
6.6
42 FT
PER
6.13
49 v SWA
14.15
99 FT
PA
8.16
64 v CEN
7.5
47 FT
PEN
30 v CAN
10 FT
EP
7.7
49 v PT
24.10
154 FT
OKC
102 v CLE
129 FT
ORL
106 v IND
111 FT
DEN
121 v SA
119 FT
ADE
83 v PER
68 FT
NEW
1 v MVC
2 FT
BOS
145 v MIN
136 FT
NO
101 v PHI
94 FT
MEL
84 v NZB
78 FT
ILL
82 v SEM
80 FT
MIA
110 v LAL
104 FT
SAC
101 v DET
113 FT
GS
107 v WSH
110 FT
LAC
126 v HOU
109 FT
SYD
1 v MCY
1 FT
LAC
113 v PHX
103 FT
NY
133 v MEM
129 FT
MIL
119 v CHA
127 FT
ATL
120 v CHI
108 FT
UTH
122 v POR
103 FT
TOR
113 v CHI
122 FT
DAL
116 v MIL
101 FT
Player Watch #30: Brandon Zerk-Thatcher
- Thread starter eDPS
- Start date
- Tagged users None
![30 - [PLAYERCARD]Brandon Zerk-Thatcher[/PLAYERCARD].jpg](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='928' height='452' viewBox%3D'0 0 928 452'%2F%3E)
Big Slam
Debutant
- Aug 9, 2020
- 95
- 116
- AFL Club
- Essendon
He’s added some good size to his frame, which is great to see.
Also kept his feet well all game. In previous seasons he’s seemed to go to ground too quickly/easily/unintentionally, something that’s negated his impact.
I really liked his game yesterday. Not spectacular but really, really solid.
Also kept his feet well all game. In previous seasons he’s seemed to go to ground too quickly/easily/unintentionally, something that’s negated his impact.
I really liked his game yesterday. Not spectacular but really, really solid.
He's probably just a placeholder given his speed and kicking prowess but more games like that will see him stay on the list as solid depth.
And I agree that his presence made a huge difference to the games of the other defensive talls.
And I agree that his presence made a huge difference to the games of the other defensive talls.
Megabattimus
Team Captain
Simply must play every game until Stewart's fit and ready to go. The backline looks and plays way better with him back there.
Played ok but looks a deer in the headlights when he has the pill and if anything seems to be moving worse. Not against giving him a few games to see if he can find his feet but if winning games is the goal I think Gleeson would perform better.
Megabattimus
Team Captain
Gleeson would be a billion times worse. He's not big enough to go with KPFs like BZT can.
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Did Zerk win any 1 on 1s against King? Port got by in 2020 playing Trent McKenzie at FB. Team defence is much more about getting numbers to the drop of the ball then having the size to win 1v1s.
As I said I’m happy to give Zerk development time but your overvaluing 4cm and 5kg if you think he’s currently better than Gleeson.
Zach Package
Kyle Langfourd
Terrible take, having Zerk in the side allowed Francis and Ridley to boss the game and be really proactive in their positioning.
Megabattimus
Team Captain
Did you miss us getting torn apart against Port two weeks ago 'cause we didn't have a big enough backman to compete with Dixon/Georgiades? Or how Freo and North got torn to shreds by key forwards? 1 on 1 defending is back, baby.
In that vein, Gleeson is useless to us except as injury cover because he's bad at defending man on man. He's famously the guy who had his soul ripped out of him by Gary Rohan four years ago.
boncer34
Formerly "Doss"
BZT is there so Francis and Ridley don't have to take the big guys.
Gleeson doesn't do that. Gleeson playing forces Francis to the big guys.
It's not BZT or Gleeson straight comparison it's BZT on bigs/Francis floating vs Francis on bigs/Gleeson floating.
I'd much rather use the BZT/Frang combination.
boncer34
Formerly "Doss"
That was a free kick to Gleeson.
Zach Package
Kyle Langfourd
Gleeson is only useless to us because we have Ridley, who I am beginning to suspect is not entirely human, Francis, Redman and now Heppell roaming the flanks. Dude is AFL standard and I will die on that hill.
Everyone at the club loves him as well, might I add.
Back to Zerk though, I don’t anticipate him playing that much when Stewart and Hurley are available this year, but right now is a chance to make hay for him.
Everyone at the club loves him as well, might I add.
Back to Zerk though, I don’t anticipate him playing that much when Stewart and Hurley are available this year, but right now is a chance to make hay for him.
GUMBLETRON
Brownlow Medallist
Better to entirely avoid situations where you rely on the competence of umpires.
boncer34
Formerly "Doss"
I'm not sure what more he could've done to be honest. From memory he had front position, Rohan wrapped 2 arms around him pinning his arms and threw him aside.
I say from memory coz it's not one I've watched repeatedly.
GUMBLETRON
Brownlow Medallist
I moreso mean be an extra goal in front of Sydney when it counts.
boncer34
Formerly "Doss"
That too
Against the Saints though Francis was on King most the game and Laverde was on Membrey.
Giving much too much credit to Zerk here. We were able to zone off because we dominated around the ball and StKilda rarely got the opportunity to kick to 6v6
Zach Package
Kyle Langfourd
I didn’t say anything about him playing well. He’s the only realistic option as a genuine key defender at the moment and we need him to set the backline up properly.
He was ok, given he’s played less than 15 games I’m happy with that.
boncer34
Formerly "Doss"
Pretty sure Zerk played on King.
Lore
Moderator ❀
- Dec 14, 2015
- 22,170
- 28,306
- AFL Club
- Essendon
Drafted end of '17, re-signed in March 2019 before he'd even debuted for the club, glowing reviews, expected to be a long-term player at the club. Debuted in round 22 that year.
Played all of the pre-season games and R1 in 2020, then a self-reported COVID breach led to a one week AFL suspension in R2. Didn't play in the AFL again until round 9, then only missed one game for the rest of the season (probably rested). I'm curious if the club imposed a longer sanction than the official AFL suspension at the start of 2020 or what the story was there.
Started 2021 with an injury-interrupted pre-season, no pre-season games except as an emergency in the last one, then three VFL practice matches and he came in against St Kilda last week.
So he seems to be in the team whenever he's available, yet somehow we perceive him as being at a crossroads with his career, after rave reviews two years ago. What the hell happened?
Played all of the pre-season games and R1 in 2020, then a self-reported COVID breach led to a one week AFL suspension in R2. Didn't play in the AFL again until round 9, then only missed one game for the rest of the season (probably rested). I'm curious if the club imposed a longer sanction than the official AFL suspension at the start of 2020 or what the story was there.
Started 2021 with an injury-interrupted pre-season, no pre-season games except as an emergency in the last one, then three VFL practice matches and he came in against St Kilda last week.
So he seems to be in the team whenever he's available, yet somehow we perceive him as being at a crossroads with his career, after rave reviews two years ago. What the hell happened?
yodellinhank
Brownlow Medallist
Too slight
Bunk Moreland
Hall of Famer
Totally was. Yet still, he literally got picked up and moved by... Gary Rohan?? It’s basically when his career died, unfortunately.
fairbump_playon
Club Legend
- Jun 27, 2014
- 2,403
- 3,271
- AFL Club
- Essendon
Arms around!
Throw in the climb the post incident and the elimination final belting and I’m a bit scared of the SCG.
BZT was only on King for the latter parts of the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Played on Battle in Q1.
He was mainly picking up McKernan when he pushed forward after the ruck.
There was a lot of zoning and swapping though.
owen87
Norm Smith Medallist
- Apr 23, 2016
- 9,984
- 12,821
- AFL Club
- Essendon
He played AFL games and didn't seem to be up to the standard?
Looks like he's a good VFL player that isn't quite able to translate to AFL level. He's still young for a KPP so there's time, but he's neither fast enough nor strong enough for the big boys at AFL level (yet).
He did ok against St Kilda, but he still looks like the slowest man in the world when he runs and I wouldn't want him left one out against most FF's in the league.
