AFL Player # 4: Kyle Langford - AA squad, Leading Goalkicker, McKracken Medal, 2nd in Crichton 🥈

[Beerfish]

Contract Status: Restricted Free Agent 2026
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 8, boncer34

 

[MiguelM]

I think preseason is a completely different thing to playing against a real opponent who does unpredictable things and is actually trying to beat your systems.

True, but they expected big things from all accounts. Seems fumbly & slow when he gets the ball regardless what role he has

 

[BrunoV]

I think preseason is a completely different thing to playing against a real opponent who does unpredictable things and is actually trying to beat your systems.

Imagine how good Langford would look in pre-season when there is no intensity required.

 

[Lore]

True, but they expected big things from all accounts. Seems fumbly & slow when he gets the ball regardless what role he has

I think they still do have high expectations of him. And I don't think he is always fumbly and slow with the ball. He certainly has his moments when he seems to get caught thinking, overwhelmed with choice or something and can't decide on the best option without pen and paper. Once he decides what he wants to do with it though, his disposal is actually pretty good.

 

[Lore]

Imagine how good Langford would look in pre-season when there is no intensity required.

I think most players would look good with no intensity, provided they had some semblance of skill and motivation.

 

[naraku]

Despite last season, Kyle is in his 6th season in the system and was a top 20 pick. He just does NOT look like he's an AFL footballer 75% of the time.

 

[Ati Tude]

Laverde, who was picked in same draft a couple of picks apart, has quickly gone past Kyle this year. He needs to find some mongrel and look like he cares. I think he is more of a natural forward flanker but now hard to get a gig up there with Smith, Stringer, Archie and use of Snelling as a pressure forward. Maybe they try him off half back.

 

[owen87]

Laverde, who was picked in same draft a couple of picks apart, has quickly gone past Kyle this year. He needs to find some mongrel and look like he cares. I think he is more of a natural forward flanker but now hard to get a gig up there with Smith, Stringer, Archie and use of Snelling as a pressure forward. Maybe they try him off half back.

Laverde has gone past him because Laverde has that natural aggression imo.

Langford has all the tools, but lacks that aggression.

 

[Mercurial89]

I think it's just reinforcing the point that his best position is in the forward half.
The further away he gets from it the less glimpses of what makes him a player we see.

He suffers from the same thing Ryder did, he looks laconic so he is judged harsher. He is putting in the effort but he just does a few little things that put everyone off side. I thought McGrath was just as bad decisions wise and Parish early was just as fumbly, the difference is that as they are playing their natural positions they got some opportunities to put some good things on tape too.

Langford is playing a very team orientated role and is out of the 50m arc. He had his moment late when he was isolated and couldn't capitalise, probably because he (like everyone) was cooked physically.

I'm ok with him in the team as we rebuild as he has a great team attitude and he's not a bad player. But his spot is one that the younger players will eventually take.
Which is ok, just part of being an average side.

 

[The Devils Advocate]

I love it when he's kicking for goal, he's a good mark too. He makes me nervous around the field though.

 

[11kgm]

Surely if Stringer is on ball

He could play third tall forward

 

[WindyHillWarrior]

It's like Groundhog Day with this guy.

Every year he seems to start poorly before finding form late and looking to have turned the corner, only for the next season to roll around and he's back to square one.

There has to be something to that.

 

[Lore]

It's like Groundhog Day with this guy.

Every year he seems to start poorly before finding him late and looking to have turned the corner, only for the next season to roll around and he's back to square one.

There has to be something to that.

I'm sure I've heard older players talking about it before where they were doing too much during preseason and their performance actually improved when they started to train smarter instead of harder – doing what they needed to get the best out of themselves, rather than doing every generic thing possible. Wonder if it's the same with him. Preseason King that doesn't immediately translate it to the field.

 

[Panna Witchy Salitou]

There is a genuine dispose of the theory that precedes the prediction of talent. Those who cast that dispose will always defer the predilection of their bias. Hence those who continue to express doubt despite their previous surety of their presumptions!

 

[Schnitzengruben]

There is a genuine dispose of the theory that precedes the prediction of talent. Those who cast that dispose will always defer the predilection of their bias. Hence those who continue to express doubt despite their previous surety of their presumptions!

Was that from the Old or New Testament?

 

[BrunoV]

I'm sure I've heard older players talking about it before where they were doing too much during preseason and their performance actually improved when they started to train smarter instead of harder – doing what they needed to get the best out of themselves, rather than doing every generic thing possible. Wonder if it's the same with him. Preseason King that doesn't immediately translate it to the field.

It's not that he's actually a preseason king.

He looks good every year because there is no pressure and he has the time and space for his class to really shine through.

He can get away with going at the ball at 70%, take the extra second to pull off a big handball or a tougher kick.

Then it comes to match time and he's got 2-3 seconds less for the whole sequence and he either can't take possession of ball, because he's beaten for intensity, or he doesn't have the time to dispose of it.

He just doesn't seem to have that switch he can flick to bring it all together.

Contrast with Perkins who as a first year player wouldn't be near as strong or able to back up but he's always hitting the play with maximum intensity so he can at least create the time to be dangerous. He then needs to slow down a bit to use the ball more effectively or eventually he'll adapt to the pace of the game as he becomes physically more capable.

Langford is the reality of Mark Waugh. Looks amazing and doesnt just look laconic but is. As talented as he is he's mediocre and should not have played as much as he has. Junior was saved by his brother captain and the "fits dressing room shenanigans" selection policy while Langford hasnt had any decent competition.

Someone like Ryder is the real version. Looks laconic but plays with the intensity and physicality to bring his game together.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

The biggest enigma at the club for me.

 

[FlyingV]

He’s gifted with such amazing natural skills. Huge aerobic tank, composure, great skills, great height, ability to put on size and stay relatively injury free...

Just goes to show how important it is to have the mongrel in you, or natural aggression to play Aussie rules.

 

[owen87]

He’s gifted with such amazing natural skills. Huge aerobic tank, composure, great skills, great height, ability to put on size and stay relatively injury free...

Just goes to show how important it is to have the mongrel in you, or natural aggression to play Aussie rules.

Yep, if Langford simply had the natural aggression to his game Laverde did, he'd be a pretty decent AFL player. Instead he's a fringe HFF / Wing type that never quite seems to have it all click.

 

[BrunoV]

Yep, if Langford simply had the natural aggression to his game Laverde did, he'd be a pretty decent AFL player. Instead he's a fringe HFF / Wing type that never quite seems to have it all click.

Decent? If he had Laverde's strength and aggression he'd be something like Bont.

 

[owen87]

Decent? If he had Laverde's strength and aggression he'd be something like Bont.

Current Langford to Bontempelli-Langford is a pretty big leap. I was keeping expectations low.

 

[citizen-erased]

Yep, if Langford simply had the natural aggression to his game Laverde did, he'd be a pretty decent AFL player. Instead he's a fringe HFF / Wing type that never quite seems to have it all click.

i don't necessarily believe that he needs the aggression a la Laverde. Perhaps more like Parish/Merrett.
For all the talk of modelling his game of Fyfe, i've always felt he was closer to a Pendles type.
Not super quick, bull-like or explosive.
But silky, skilled and considered in the decision making. Traffic cop role.

What he needs is the competitiveness. The ball should be his primary goal as one of our better users.
And putting it to our advantage every time he has it.
If he was getting the ball 30+ times a game, he'd be considered very differently.

 

[cobra land]

i don't necessarily believe that he needs the aggression a la Laverde. Perhaps more like Parish/Merrett.
For all the talk of modelling his game of Fyfe, i've always felt he was closer to a Pendles type.
Not super quick, bull-like or explosive.
But silky, skilled and considered in the decision making. Traffic cop role.

What he needs is the competitiveness. The ball should be his primary goal as one of our better users.
And putting it to our advantage every time he has it.
If he was getting the ball 30+ times a game, he'd be considered very differently.

I can see how you could compare him to Pendles... except he has no composure, fumbles every 2nd attempt at the ball and rarely plays 2 good games in a row.
Other than that they are very similar

 

[BrunoV]

Current Langford to Bontempelli-Langford is a pretty big leap. I was keeping expectations low.

He can already be decent, he played some good footy last year.

If you're going to turn his weakness into a strength you've got yourself a gun. There would be plenty of players that would be superstars if you could add elite attributes that they don't have. That's what makes Bont so good, it's the combination of the physical presence, size and ability of a Cripps, Jobe or JPK and the class of Pendlebury.

It's not a comparison.

 

[Hak94]

Honestly, could it be that the club has never really said "hey, this is your position and we're not moving you from it. Make it your own!" and backed him into one place? Rather than moving him around across his six seasons from wing to half-forward to the middle and everywhere in between. I do agree he fumbles a few every game but than he does some very crucial things i.e takes a few handy marks in the heat of the moment or wins a one on one. Arguably the most frustrating player in the 22, because I feel like we all collectively can see glimpses of his talents + his size + aerobic capacity + his ability to keep his body in good condition.

 

[ghostdog]

Honestly, could it be that the club has never really said "hey, this is your position and we're not moving you from it. Make it your own!" and backed him into one place? Rather than moving him around across his six seasons from wing to half-forward to the middle and everywhere in between. I do agree he fumbles a few every game but than he does some very crucial things i.e takes a few handy marks in the heat of the moment or wins a one on one. Arguably the most frustrating player in the 22, because I feel like we all collectively can see glimpses of his talents + his size + aerobic capacity + his ability to keep his body in good condition.

Anything is possible.
What is fact is that we only ever see his talent in glimpses.