Delisted #37: Dylan Clarke - End of the road, will not be offered a list spot in 2022

37 - [PLAYERCARD]Dylan Clarke[/PLAYERCARD].jpg

Contract Status: Not offered a contract for 2021
Last Game Played: Round 23, 2021 (omitted)
Injury Status: n/a
 
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And you know the sad part? Every other part of his game is miles ahead of his brother.

It's like Kakkle said, if he had his brothers kicking he's have played 20 games by now.

He probably would have also been drafted a lot earlier..most likely by another club
 
May 6, 2007
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To be honest the hardest part about trying to overlook his kicking issues is that we don't have room for a one dimensional inside midfielder with our current set up. Would be fighting against Myers for that role whilst the other mids are more mixed use (inside/outside) with Shiel, Merret, Heppel able to play other positions also.

I like him and what he does at the lower level but feel that Mynot as his closest competitor for a seniors berth, he is fast falling behind. I would love if the coaches focus on what he does well and not what he can't but as the forementioned comments, he is fighting against other players for a berth in the seniors.
 

BrunoV

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We're not dealing with a "break out" scenario with Clarke, we'll know that his kicking has improved as a matter of hindsight.

If yesterday was the first game of the rest of his career Clarke will be an AFL player.

It was comfortably the best I have seen him with ball in hand. He was composed and used the ball well. The only dodgy kick I noticed ended up going through for a goal (the trajectory of the ball kind of looked like it was pass though maybe it looked different on TV).

Some of his work around the ball was really good too.
 
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We're not dealing with a "break out" scenario with Clarke, we'll know that his kicking has improved as a matter of hindsight.

If yesterday was the first game of the rest of his career Clarke will be an AFL player.

It was comfortably the best I have seen him with ball in hand. He was composed and used the ball wall. The only dodgy kick I noticed ended up going through for a goal (the trajectory on the ball kind of looked like it was pass though maybe it looked different on TV).

Some of his work around the ball was really good too.

It was definitely a deliberate kick for goal rather than a pass (no one was down there).
 

eDPS

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Kicking aside he still does everything else right, what I like most is the way he protects his teammate with blocks and is always first over to help a teammate. I can imagine him being very popular with teammates and I doubt we will get rid of him at the end of this year, re-rookied at worst.
 

Ambrosia

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What annoys me is we drafted him with the knowledge he had a floored kicking action. To me there should have been a specific plan to improve his footskills. It just seems he's been left to his own devices hoping that just repetition will fix it.
 
Are we sure?

Myers best quality, his mufuggen HOOOOOF is never used anymore because he loads slower than Windows 95.

In rare times Myers is dropped he dominates VFL and was more effective than Clarke who’s hoof could go anywhere other than target
 
I’m sticking with my unpopular opinion, if we were uncompetitive and we could just pick and stick him he’d prove himself to be AFL quality.

Plenty of hard nuts who do the team things really well around the AFL who just hoist the ball somewhere forward. Richmond won a flag with about 5 of them.
 
Sep 29, 2016
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If his kicking hasn't improved, that speaks for someone who doesn't consciously listen and apply suggestions on how to improve, or someone who for some physiological reason can not. You probably look at delisting on the basis of either. How many seasons has he had a spot on the list for?
Or.......
He has spent 13-14 years kicking with the same technique, developing a habit which is now second nature.

He is now trying to unlearn that, and piece together a new, more traditional technique, in a super competitive AFL environment, whilst trying to take in all the other development aspects (i.e conditioning/fitness, game plan awareness, stoppage craft etc) required from a young AFL listed midfielder.

As such, it is a glacially slow process.
 

DapperJong

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In rare times Myers is dropped he dominates VFL and was more effective than Clarke who’s hoof could go anywhere other than target

Who cares what he does in VFL? Know what I mean?
 
Clarke's kicking has improved. From what I can tell he is kicking the ball from a point where the ball is too close to his body when he makes contact with it. This results in a more central (underside) point of contact with his foot. As he gets underneath the ball, it means that some kicks are prone to 'loop' and go higher than he intends. The passes usually go straight, but he can have trouble controlling the height and depth of his kicking.

I will use the pass to Laverde last week the sailed over his head, and the shot at goal on the weekend as evidence to support this theory. Having said that, with work, and choosing targets within his limits he can still be turned into a player.
 
Clarke's kicking has improved. From what I can tell he is kicking the ball from a point where the ball is too close to his body when he makes contact with it. This results in a more central (underside) point of contact with his foot. As he gets underneath the ball, it means that some kicks are prone to 'loop' and go higher than he intends. The passes usually go straight, but he can have trouble controlling the height and depth of his kicking.

I will use the pass to Laverde last week the sailed over his head, and the shot at goal on the weekend as evidence to support this theory. Having said that, with work, and choosing targets within his limits he can still be turned into a player.

If you watch him enough he has like a small double pump in his ball drop. It is not a straight forward drop. It is that small defect in his action which as you say makes him more often than not end up with the ball too close to his body.
It used to effect his open play kicking but he has sorted that out to a degree but it still gives him problems under tight pressure which is where the short 15 meter up and under kicks come from. To his credit he has been looking for more handball options in close but to make it week in and week out at the top level you need more than one trick under pressure. You have to be able to get some distance on some of your kicks under pressure. Sides will quickly pick up if you just keep going for a handball.
The thing is if he was more of an outside player he would most likely get away with it as with slightly less pressure he does use the ball well enough out to 40 meters. The inside pressure kills him because the ball drop is a fraction slow.
 

Liberator

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I like his kicking...
More than, say, Shiel's. o_O
..(just a joke, but FWIW it's definitely improved - mostly just from choosing not to kick so much in pressure situations). I'd wager a warm jug of spumante that his kicking would run above 47%, if he was brought in...
 
I still question if he can make it but at some stage I think they need to give him a couple of games in a row to have a look.
 
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