Delisted #33: Brayden "Donny" Ham - not offered another contract - 18/10

33 ham.jpg

Contract Status: Out of contract 2022
Injury Status: n/a

My Boy Draft 2022: Claim here
 
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Jul 23, 2018
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He improved. Still nowhere near big or physical enough to be a best 22 wingman in a good side. Also, his disposal, decision making and general game awareness still needs a lot of work on top of trying to add muscle each year. He's contracted so gets another year to try and improve again.
 
Durham offers a physical point of difference, if you’re going to have a relatively short inside midfield you need to compliment that with some height and marking power outside which is why Durham, Cox and Langford were favoured, I also think he gets sucked in a bit too much compared to Cox and Durham who are better at actually holding width
 
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Has some skill but way too small. How long is long enough though? Could end up being on the list for 6-7 years before physically being big enough - if ever at all. I suppose that’s only 2-3 years away.
 

Ambrosia

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Durham offers a physical point of difference, if you’re going to have a relatively short inside midfield you need to compliment that with some height and marking power outside which is why Durham, Cox and Langford were favoured, I also think he gets sucked in a bit too much compared to Cox and Durham who are better at actually holding width

How can you tell that he’s poor at holding width? He wasn’t played on the wing this year for any significant amount of time.
 

blitzer

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Honestly I think he's more chance to make it as a small forward than as a winger. If he could work on his crumbing and goal kicking he might be a chance. His good tank would be a nice point of difference up forward. Nothing wrong with a hard working small forward. Maybe he could end up a Cripps (Eagles) type.
 
How can you tell that he’s poor at holding width? He wasn’t played on the wing this year for any significant amount of time.

True, just always looked like he wanted to hunt the ball, never really holding on the fat side as he should be.

The wing role is about self restraint and running patterns, he hasn’t got that down just yet and I’m not completely sure he will.

Clearly a little bit about him though so whether we continue to develop him as a genuine on baller or maybe a small forward is the question.
 

fairbump_playon

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I just don't see where the jump in performance is going to come from if he's stopped physically growing. He has some nice attributes but ultimately his slight build will probably be what costs him.
Warning: graphic post

Ham’s delts and guns are coming on nicely. When lockdown lifts I’m tipping a productive summer for him at the local pool.

He just has no leg and core strength. A solid breeze would push him over. Needs to go very hard on whatever Alec Waterman went hard on.

Sorry for saying hard on twice.
 

MiguelM

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Feb 22, 2014
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I just don't see where the jump in performance is going to come from if he's stopped physically growing. He has some nice attributes but ultimately his slight build will probably be what costs him.
Stephenson pretty good for a slightly built player, Rob Flower too!
 

Scottie65

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A light frame has nothing to do with it ... I could pluck many many player who were or are slight builds
Stephan Milne
Jaidyn Stephenson
Karl Amon
Micheal tuck
Kevin bartlett
John platten
Brett Bowie
Robert murphy

it has nothing to do with the body it has to do withwhat’s between the ears and how the read the play , using natural habits to achieve solid play ... no panicking, elite disposal , soft hands ... ect ect ... James hird wasn’t a big man... only 6,1 and lightly framed but I can’t name many others that had such a thoughtful and instinctive game.sure he was out marked by bigger bodies occasionally but not often cause he was smart .... ham needs to get smart ... certainly had some talent
 
A light frame has nothing to do with it ... I could pluck many many player who were or are slight builds
Stephan Milne
Jaidyn Stephenson
Karl Amon
Micheal tuck
Kevin bartlett
John platten
Brett Bowie
Robert murphy

it has nothing to do with the body it has to do withwhat’s between the ears and how the read the play , using natural habits to achieve solid play ... no panicking, elite disposal , soft hands ... ect ect ... James hird wasn’t a big man... only 6,1 and lightly framed but I can’t name many others that had such a thoughtful and instinctive game.sure he was out marked by bigger bodies occasionally but not often cause he was smart .... ham needs to get smart ... certainly had some talent

"Lightly framed" Hird is bullshit. At his heaviest Hird had 30kg on Ham, supposedly weighing in at 100k. The bulk he put on is said to be part of the reason for his navicular problems. Don't be fooled, he was a unit.
 

IHurley

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He's in zero danger of getting his contract renewed. Has some good attributes certainly but he can't - and unlike Durham won't try to - tackle and he's nowhere near silky enough to compensate for being a huge liability in defence.

No way he can play small forward either. Opposition teams will waltz it out of defence.

With lower picks you hope that their glaring deficiencies will be ironed out but more often than not they won't be. That's the case with Cahill and Ham unfortunately.
 

Old man fletch

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Really think people are overblowing his weaknesses and how hard it will be for him to improve them.
Agree. Don't think he's guaranteed to make it, and I liked that the club had the depth to not gift him games at the end of the season, but he's shown improvement.

Most agree his biggest weakness is his size, but he put on significant size in the last off season, so unlike Marty gleeson he's shown he can fix this. If he doesn't put on the weight, different story, but I'm backing him to do it and play more games than he misses and get another contract next year (barring injury)
 
He's in zero danger of getting his contract renewed. Has some good attributes certainly but he can't - and unlike Durham won't try to - tackle and he's nowhere near silky enough to compensate for being a huge liability in defence.

No way he can play small forward either. Opposition teams will waltz it out of defence.

With lower picks you hope that their glaring deficiencies will be ironed out but more often than not they won't be. That's the case with Cahill and Ham unfortunately.
He’s already been signed for next year FYI.
 

blitzer

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Honestly his biggest problem is that he misses too many targets despite having a nice looking kicking action. It wasn't a problem in his first year but somehow its gotten worse. If he can fix up his composure I think he's an AFL level player and I think he can succeed as a small forward type or on the wing. His endurance and running is a weapon for him. So its not like he has nothing going for him.

Comparing him to Cahill is a bit harsh. Cahill wasn't near as athletic as Ham.
 

IHurley

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Honestly his biggest problem is that he misses too many targets despite having a nice looking kicking action. It wasn't a problem in his first year but somehow its gotten worse. If he can fix up his composure I think he's an AFL level player and I think he can succeed as a small forward type or on the wing. His endurance and running is a weapon for him. So its not like he has nothing going for him.

Comparing him to Cahill is a bit harsh. Cahill wasn't near as athletic as Ham.
I know he has attributes. I like a lot of things about his game.

But he's scared. That's a genuine problem.

I don't expect them to be Nick Reiwoldt type suicidal. In fact, I don't want them to be. I hate the idea that they need to risk missing weeks with concussion just so they don't get called "squibs".

But you have to tackle. If that means driving them into the dirt, great. If it just means wrapping your arms around them and holding on as much as possible that's ok too. Being brushed aside as a matter of course makes you a very weak link in the defensive system.

And I'm aware he's contracted for next year.

I hope he proves me wrong but from experience, being scared isn't something that can be turned around.
 

Schnitzengruben

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A light frame has nothing to do with it ... I could pluck many many player who were or are slight builds
Stephan Milne
Jaidyn Stephenson
Karl Amon
Micheal tuck
Kevin bartlett
John platten
Brett Bowie
Robert murphy

it has nothing to do with the body it has to do withwhat’s between the ears and how the read the play , using natural habits to achieve solid play ... no panicking, elite disposal , soft hands ... ect ect ... James hird wasn’t a big man... only 6,1 and lightly framed but I can’t name many others that had such a thoughtful and instinctive game.sure he was out marked by bigger bodies occasionally but not often cause he was smart .... ham needs to get smart ... certainly had some talent
Half those blokes could benchpress Ham and the other half were much better players.

It's a bit like saying you don't need to be 6'6 to have an NBA career because Muggsy Bogues wasn't. Whilst it is true, you generally are an outlier and have to make up for it in other aspects. Having a rig capable for the level is more often than not required.

Ham has shown glimpses here and there but from what I've seen in totality, it's not impressive.
 
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fairbump_playon

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As others have said he got stronger last off season and will likely do that again.

The issue is that his version of a big frame is the frame a lot start with. So by year 4 they are weapons and by year 4 Ham is at the starting line.

As I have said before it’s legs and core he needs. And maybe most of all he will need to adjust his mindset. He would always have been the skinny kid who could outrun the other kids to
keep finding the footy. Needs to want the contact.
 
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