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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Steve94

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Oct 30, 2020
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I don't mind him but suspect he might be one that doesn't quite make it. If he does stay on the list I don't mind the half back calls at all.
The HBF call isn't a bad one. Playing on the wing he lacked the size to be a marking and link up option
 

Pweter

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If you're Ham's size and build you need some serious campaigner in you and be tough as nails. Dean Laidley was like Ham, maybe a little taller, but was always a rake. A seriously tough campaigner of a rake though.
 
Lachie Neale did it.
Totally different body shape even though they are the same height range.
Ham is 20 and he still has pretzels for arms and legs.
 

BrunoV

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And even if he does....can he carry the extra weight and and retain the running ability that is his main attribute? Its a small frame so maybe not.

I wouldn't even try to bulk him up - just try to get him wiry strong and hard bodied like a Kade Simpson or Bob Murphy, turn him into a running machine and see if he can play like that. Fletch another example of a skinny guy who seemed to play to his strengths rather than try and change his body shape. If he cant then he just wasn't cut out for AFL footy.


Add Brad Hill and Andrew Gaff to the list of the sizes and shapes that look well within Ham's ability to match.

The flaw in this is that we're talking about very good players, A grade players. It is possible these players are so good that their bodies are irrelevant.

I just read that Ham needs to bulk up and I wonder what it is we are talking about. Growing into an adult frame which is what the others did or "bulking up" to something he does not need to be to have an AFL career.

If our strength and conditioning cannot put 5 kgs on him then we need new people. I recall David McKay being drafted pencil thin.
 
Apr 23, 2016
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In his first few games in 2019 he looked to be in the right spots most of the time, didn't get a lot of the ball because teamates didn't opt to use him, but you often saw him around the play, seemed to have decent ball use and good IQ.

2020 he didn't quite seem to have that, but given the disrupted nature of the season and the shorter game time, he probably should get another 12 months to see where he's at and whether he can get strong enough to compete at AFL level. Whitfield isn't exactly a big guy, but manages to make it through work-rate and smarts.
 

carloss

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I watched the Hawthorn game live, it looked like he had Zaharakis role of guarding space around the contest.
Not the best use of what he has to offer.
 
Apr 30, 2006
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I still think there is hope for the kid. He's faster, more run, better kick and better football than Gleeson.

Next year will be crucial as at 22 he'll need to establish himself in the 22.

He's got a similar frame to someone like Kade Simpson who took a few years to get there.


... but if he is still out of contract and not signed for next year, the writing is on the wall and no one in the club believes he has the capacity to make it. Might be one of those delisted, re rookied scenarios that never works out.
 
Jul 16, 2013
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I still think there is hope for the kid. He's faster, more run, better kick and better football than Gleeson.

Next year will be crucial as at 22 he'll need to establish himself in the 22.

He's got a similar frame to someone like Kade Simpson who took a few years to get there.


... but if he is still out of contract and not signed for next year, the writing is on the wall and no one in the club believes he has the capacity to make it. Might be one of those delisted, re rookied scenarios that never works out.

I reckon for Ham ot completely relies on what happens to list sizes.

If stays the same he gets another year or 2.

If it drops sorry buddy.
 
Add Brad Hill and Andrew Gaff to the list of the sizes and shapes that look well within Ham's ability to match.

The flaw in this is that we're talking about very good players, A grade players. It is possible these players are so good that their bodies are irrelevant.

I just read that Ham needs to bulk up and I wonder what it is we are talking about. Growing into an adult frame which is what the others did or "bulking up" to something he does not need to be to have an AFL career.

If our strength and conditioning cannot put 5 kgs on him then we need new people. I recall David McKay being drafted pencil thin.
We have new people.
He is 21 and 70kg. Even if he puts on 5kg he is still only 75kg.
Brad Hill is 79 kg. Gaff is 85kg.
There is pencil thin and then there is pretzel thin.
 

Vander18

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Apr 22, 2011
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We have new people.
He is 21 and 70kg. Even if he puts on 5kg he is still only 75kg.
Brad Hill is 79 kg. Gaff is 85kg.
There is pencil thin and then there is pretzel thin.
They are both more solid.

Kade Simpson strikes me as a good comparison. Small frame and super skinny but wiry strong - bet he could do chin ups all day.
 
We have new people.
He is 21 and 70kg. Even if he puts on 5kg he is still only 75kg.
Brad Hill is 79 kg. Gaff is 85kg.
There is pencil thin and then there is pretzel thin.

My son's only 14 and he weighs more than Ham. I don't know how Ham manages to play against the bigger guys. Maybe they should get him into boxing, my son's been doing that the last couple of years and he's noticeably filled out and lost the puppy fat he had when he was younger.
 

Shinboner1

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I'd take him at North, lots of pace and somewhat decent skills.
You'd hope that he gets a contract soon because there will be suiters.
 
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