I'll say it again. OHB is a CAT B rookie.
-
AFLW 2025 - AFLW Trade and Draft - All the player moves
-
Mobile App Discontinued
Due to a number of factors, support for the current BigFooty mobile app has been discontinued. Your BigFooty login will no longer work on the Tapatalk or the BigFooty App - which is based on Tapatalk.
Apologies for any inconvenience. We will try to find a replacement.
Player Watch #40 Tyler Sonsie - Re-Signed For 2026
- Thread starter Sterge
- Start date
- Tagged users None
🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.
- Dec 8, 2003
- 6,983
- 12,076
- AFL Club
- Richmond
And also a developing RUCKMAN. Something we lack on our list.
Exactly is why cricket teams have extra wicketkeepers or soccer extra goalkeepers etc even though they're not getting regular games. Specialised positions that you just need cover for, not comparable to a player like Sonsie, who are dime a dozen.
OHB improved a lot last season, from a very low base granted. Said at the start of last season that he like Ryan was too weak and gets pushed around, but unlike Ryan, that improved markedly over the year. He is backup only, so no big deal.
Log in to remove this Banner Ad
Yeah - but we still have Ryan, because the club committed to Ryan.
Based on that, why the **** do we need both of them? If we have Ryan contracted and plan to honor than contract, then thats our guy. Do we really need 2 x 25 year old VFL level ruckman? Would rather use the rookie spot on a fresh talent each year than using a spot for 5 years on developing a player with next to zero AFL fundamentals, which is exactly what we did with Mate Colina.
Between 2014-2019 we got the below blokes through our rookie spots.
Anthony Miles
Jayden Short
Kane Lambert
Marbor Chol
Tyson Stengle
Liam Baker
Ivan Soldo
Jason Castagna
Sydney Stack
Jake Aarts
Instead of using the spots on long term development projects, use it to get short term looks at undrafted talent. Use them to turnover players and get more "looks", not longer looks at guys who really don't appear to have very high ceilings. If we need a mature age ruckman to fill in the gaps for us for a few years, then that sure as **** sounds like something we should be using Free Agency to achieve, not several years of a Rookie list spot to develop. It just seems super inefficient to me
Last edited:
And we should target a young project ruckman, won't be in the draft because we don't have the picks, but you'd hope via the rookie draft. But that means nothing for next season.
The Ryan contract was a year too long but we still need back-up this season. He is a better ruck now than early on so at a pinch he can stand in if needed next season. OHB looked more likely to overtake Ryan the longer the season went, so probably more value than Ryan right now.
Sims is the hope as a long term second ruck/forward and will be better this year than last you'd think.
Couldn't agree more. We've developed the habit of focusing on depth role-players and long-term project talls in case we have a bad run of injuries while chasing a gf, and we've kept that habit even though we're now cellar-dwellers.
Our best 22 is so bad it's easy to break into, if someone hasn't cemented their spot pretty quickly then just move on. We demand our recruiters nail every pick because we're giving them so few bites of the cherry in the first place, because we have list-cloggers getting 2 and 3 year deals. Up or out should be the motto for a team at the bottom of the ladder.
Probably been clarified many times before and I'm probably wrong- but aren't Category B rookies additional to the normal list + cat A rookie numbers limit?
If so, then don't you generally have 2 Cat B spots to gamble on ex-basketballers or gaelic footballers, etc that can't be used for another Kane Lambert?
If so, then don't you generally have 2 Cat B spots to gamble on ex-basketballers or gaelic footballers, etc that can't be used for another Kane Lambert?
This is correct. OHB & Colina dont impact our rookie list in any way shape or form. I agree we should be looking at some irish recruits however instead of Colina who is gone now.
Our rookie list is full of midseason recruits:
- Bauer*
- Blight*
- Gray
- Trezise
- Young*
- Lefau
- Campbell
Campbell is a gun who will be promoted to main list. Blight and Bauer delisted already. Young traded. We are going to have at least 4 spots available. Of those left both Gray and Lefau have shown a bit. Personally id be happy to delist Trezise but if its a weak draft happy to give him one more year
I know Dow is gone but if we end up splitting one of our picks reckon Sonsie is gone as well.
We should trade Dow to WCE with Young ... Mini was always a fan
Soldo was the only category B rookie there and it took him years to develop.
JackNah_8
TheBrownDog
- Jan 15, 2012
- 50,175
- 52,699
- AFL Club
- Richmond
Plus mini is happy to target Richmond players
Certainly someone was, because Dow was hyped up over the 23-24 off-season and touted as our next important midfielder even though Sonsie was playing much better footy in the VFL. I continue to wonder if we'd backed in Sonsie instead if we'd be in this predicament.
Dr Tigris
Brownlow Medallist
Dow is a relatively limited player, btu always gives his all. Sonsie has a much higher upside, but hasn't always given his all.
However, in 2025 Sonsie was often used as a workhorse. Which didn't suit him. I'd hope we keep him and try to use his skills and quick hands more. We'll see, but the club obviously sees something in him, but not so much they will keep him in any case.
Both have had ample opportunity. Sonsie as a has a high half forward could have gone on to be a Craig Lambert type, it's a pretty good role to play. Graham, another limited footballer has had a good career there. But Sonsie wasn't a good enough runner, skirted around rather than going in and under and his skills have gone backwards.
Dow has very good movement and fast hands but misses a lot of targets for someone with his attributes. Again not a good enough runner and not big enough to play the position he is best at.
It's no big deal. Hotton, Lalor, Campbell etc will easily take their position. Every club has players who almost make it, get 50-60 games in and get overtaken by new talent. Doing better than 95% of footballers out there.
sante
Emu
Sonsie was stunted because of the recruitment of Hopper and Taranto
Yze does it
Team Captain
- Sep 16, 2025
- 307
- 422
- AFL Club
- Richmond
Dow did get games when Mini took over but Yze been selecting him from day 1 2024 too.
even before the injuries hit.
2025 Dow went OK ~ won a few games with him in the middle. Got injured..
staggered Yze hasn't asked for him.
ditto Sonz.
Yze been selecting him a lot.
More to do with being shite IMO...
🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.
Thought I was hallucinating when Yze said Dow was going to start r1 on a wing.
Soldo was the only category B rookie there and it took him years to develop.
Yep and we got >60 games out of him. Realistically if the club needs some short-term ruck support, then do a deal like Carlton did and get Reidy. Cost them a downgrade of a few picks & the guy was coming off the back of a B&F for Peel in the WAFL.
Feel like the club is very committed to doing everything that absolute hardest way possible
We don't have any picks left to downgrade this year and we won't trade future picks because of our potential father-sons and NGAs in 2026/27.
Sonsie was stunted cause his balls never dropped.
Oh yeah Reidy is so good I definitely heard about him before Tuesday.
Dr Tigris
Brownlow Medallist
Yeah both have shown some ability, but nothing special so far.
Dow has been played in position, until he became a wing
. Dow is playing against the other mids we have, and sits behind them. It's likely that he will be overtaken. he is AFL quality, but at best B grade. Should get a gig at a club that needs mid depth. Sonsie played mid in the VFL and crushed it, nothing like that in the AFL. He ended up doing a lot of work like wrestling off the ball at stoppages (presumably to stop the oppo structures) and playing as an outside runner. He's OK physically, but I would never call him imposing, so why do grunt wrestling? And he didn't seem to naturally have the outside attacking take the game on style, which didn't suit the role he played in the AFL. I'm not sure if that means Sonsie is just a limited footballer, who is only good at one role, and they don't reckon he can play that at AFL, or something else. Anyway, Sonsie really needs to either play mid, or improve his outside work. He obviously has the physical ability and skill to do that outside role, but I doubt his mentality for it (from what I saw in 2025). It would be great to hear what the club genuinely thinks. Cause it seems strange how he is played.
