Retired #43: Anthony "Walla" McDonald-Tipungwuti - Will play his last game this weekend - 24/8

[Lore]

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2023
My Boy Draft 2023: Pick 5, citizen-erased

 

[ant555]

He actually looks a bit tired.

 

[DapperDon]

If we are even whispering the 'F' word around the club his spot in the team needs to be questioned. He's so gassed when he takes a mark he can't kick 35m

 

[ghostdog]

Really thought he'd be closer to AFL fitness by now. He made noticeably great improvements over summer but yet has arguably gone backwards in the last 3-4 months.

You'd slim down very quick doing an AFL training program so makes you wonder what his diet is like.

Have to agree unfortunately. It's gotten to the point where his lack of fitness has undermined his confidence. He looks afraid to have a crack at the moment.

 

[Bjchan13]

I'm backing him to keep improving his fitness and having more impact. I was surprised they didn't rest him from tonights game but maybe next week can rest and then come back for Carlton

 

[Doss]

He looks pretty cooked, I’m sad to say. Or at absolute best, in need of a rest. That HTB in the pocket from the Weid pass, he weaves and kicks that 9 times out of 10 when he’s the old Walla.

And the old Walla goals with that final miss 101 times out of 100.

 

[Blind Turn]

He needs a pre-season without the burden of finding conditioning. Last pre-season does not a pre-season make. I hope Walla and the club are realistic about this fact and back him/himself in for another tilt beyond this year.

 

[ghostdog]

He needs a pre-season without the burden of finding conditioning. Last pre-season does not a pre-season make. I hope Walla and the club are realistic about this fact and back him/himself in for another tilt beyond this year.

You may be right. I've eaten humble pie re: Dyson the last few weeks. I might mind my business about Walla for a bit, but he really should be finding his feet in the VFL at the moment. He can't keep up with the pace let alone set it. He's also been back at the club for a good 6 months now and doesn't look any less rotund than he did when he returned - someone might want to correct my physiological ignorance, but to the eye, sheesh.

 

[Ambrosia]

Probably the one who makes way for Shiel

 

[ant555]

He needs a pre-season without the burden of finding conditioning. Last pre-season does not a pre-season make. I hope Walla and the club are realistic about this fact and back him/himself in for another tilt beyond this year.

Good point. He has had to do a power of work to get where he is now off a very low base.

 

[Vander18]

Thought he was pretty good in Dreamtime game….saw glimpses of the old Walla and thought things might have been turning.

He looked exhausted last night. Slow and indecisive from the first bounce.

Maybe a rest can help, maybe he never gets back to an AFL level standard of fitness. Hopefully the former.

I’d play him v North and then pull him out for a block of hard training.

 

[ant555]

Thought he was pretty good in Dreamtime game….saw glimpses of the old Walla and thought things might have been turning.

He looked exhausted last night. Slow and indecisive from the first bounce.

Maybe a rest can help, maybe he never gets back to an AFL level standard of fitness. Hopefully the former.

I’d play him v North and then pull him out for a block of hard training.

He certainly looks like he needs a spell so to speak. Bit of a break from the game side of things and a few weeks of just conditioning work. I am not sure I am playing him next week. Was watching him after the dreamtime game and he was spent. He could barely run back to the players after his interview. I think he can get back but he lost pretty much all his base fitness as even the months before he retired he was not training fully. He is basically doing next years pre season now.

 

[MiguelM]

Thought he was pretty good in Dreamtime game….saw glimpses of the old Walla and thought things might have been turning.

He looked exhausted last night. Slow and indecisive from the first bounce.

Maybe a rest can help, maybe he never gets back to an AFL level standard of fitness. Hopefully the former.

I’d play him v North and then pull him out for a block of hard training.

That or maybe completely rest him this week and bring him back for the Blues.

Probably should have been rested last night. After all he built himself up for dreamtime so last night was always going to be a letdown/lacklustre game.

 

[MiguelM]

He certainly looks like he needs a spell so to speak. Bit of a break from the game side of things and a few weeks of just conditioning work. I am not sure I am playing him next week. Was watching him after the dreamtime game and he was spent. He could barely run back to the players after his interview. I think he can get back but he lost pretty much all his base fitness as even the months before he retired he was not training fully. He is basically doing next years pre season now.

Probably does need a few weeks.

You're right, I watched his last few VFL games and he was barely jogging. Mind and body were elsewhere.

Is Davey ok to come back in?

 

[ant555]

Probably does need a few weeks.

You're right, I watched his last few VFL games and he was barely jogging. Mind and body were elsewhere.

Is Davey ok to come back in?

He is named in the VFL so he must be a chance.

 

[blitzer]

I'd give him a rest next week but wouldn't make too big of a deal of it and I'd still definitely be playing him the week after. He was good last week and this week he was down. Nothing really went his way and yeah he was a bit buggered when he got his shots at goal.

Giving him a few rests throughout the year probably works well with our current list: Davey for instance is capable of impacting but not week in week out so its an easy swap and we have other blokes that could play small forward as required: Snelling, D'Ambrosio, Tex etc. Not to mention we'll get our midfielders back soon and that will probably push Hobbs/Caldwell more up forward.

 

[Foxx]

S.T. Ruggling.

Looks like lack of fitness in the pressure spread game we are playing this year.

Most of his teamates are 10% fitter than last year, and Wallas 10% the other way.

 

[naraku]

Maybe should be sub again?

 

[Bjchan13]

He was never going to just improve week on week. It'll be ups and downs with a general trend upwards. We want him peaking in the back half of the year leading into finals. He should've been rested against west coast and played north and Carlton before the bye. Should definitely be rested against North now rather than Carlton then have another rest for the bye and possibly the Fremantle road trip. Just train and ice baths and massages

 

[NAB777]

From 'The Tackle':

7. Tippa’s not fit

The fairytale return of Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti

43

Anthony...

Age

31

Ht

171cm

Wt

78kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.6

3star

K

7.6

3star

HB

5.1

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.9

5star

G

1.1

4star

D

8.7

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

4.2

3star

M

1.7

2star

T

3.8

4star

G

1.2

5star

D

16.8

4star

K

9.6

4star

HB

7.2

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

3.2

5star

G

0.0

1star

is over and he will be lucky to play another game this season. He’s not fit enough, his spark has evaporated, his once-renowned pressure is below average and he can’t find the ball. It’s hardly the CV of a player deserving of regular league football. He’s averaged just eight disposals a game this year. There’s a squeeze on in the Essendon midfield and there’s a lot of options for Tippa’s spot – Jye Menzie, Alwyn Davey Jr, Will Snelling

11

Will Snelling

Age

26

Ht

175cm

Wt

79kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.1

4star

K

4.7

2star

HB

9.4

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

4.8

5star

G

0.8

4star

D

12.6

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

8.3

4star

M

1.3

1star

T

5.6

5star

G

0.4

3star

D

16.2

4star

K

5.2

2star

HB

11.0

5star

M

2.4

3star

T

3.8

5star

G

1.2

4star

, to name a few. If McDonald-Tipungwuti is to figure in coach Brad Scott’s plans towards September, he needs another mini pre-season to get him up to scratch.

 

[TheUnicorn]

 

[Keystone agony]

Stint in the vfl again

Shiel would replace and if not for some reason then atleast play Davey ahead of him now

 

[VelvetSledge]

Hurts me to say, but he desperately needs to have a spell in the twos. Nowhere near it at the moment.

I have faith he can get back to some semblance of what he used to be, but there are some hard yards ahead.

 

[Pweter]

From 'The Tackle':

7. Tippa’s not fit

The fairytale return of Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is over and he will be lucky to play another game this season. He’s not fit enough, his spark has evaporated, his once-renowned pressure is below average and he can’t find the ball. It’s hardly the CV of a player deserving of regular league football. He’s averaged just eight disposals a game this year. There’s a squeeze on in the Essendon midfield and there’s a lot of options for Tippa’s spot – Jye Menzie, Alwyn Davey Jr, Will Snelling, to name a few. If McDonald-Tipungwuti is to figure in coach Brad Scott’s plans towards September, he needs another mini pre-season to get him up to scratch.

The Tackle is right

 

[Call Me Cake]

I think you guys are being super harsh on Tippa on the back of one match, even though he did put in some effort to cause panic and link up play at certain moments. Yes I know his main job is to kick goals but even in a game that was a bust in that aspect he still gave a f and was amongst it in moments. And everyone's acting like he's played every match this year yet forgotten that he's had long stints on the sidelines. How many chances did we give Jye "Slip on a banana peel" Menzie? How many times is Archie featuring in the side despite doing f all? How many times have we allowed Jones to try and find his feet before he went down? Or Mass despite not being a defender? Bit stiff to give strings of games for everyone else to find form but not for him. He's a confidence player, just needs his fair share of time to find confidence. Think if the team isn't losing there's no need to hasten on changes.

 

[Keystone agony]

I think you guys are being super harsh on Tippa on the back of one match, even though he did put in some effort to cause panic and link up play at certain moments. Yes I know his main job is to kick goals but even in a game that was a bust in that aspect he still gave a f and was amongst it in moments. And everyone's acting like he's played every match this year yet forgotten that he's had long stints on the sidelines. How many chances did we give Jye "Slip on a banana peel" Menzie? How many times is Archie featuring in the side despite doing f all? How many times have we allowed Jones to try and find his feet before he went down? Or Mass despite not being a defender? Bit stiff to give strings of games for everyone else to find form but not for him. He's a confidence player, just needs his fair share of time to find confidence. Think if the team isn't losing there's no need to hasten on changes.

Its not just kicking goals. If an oppo player with the ball isnt within 3 metres of him he struggles to get the pressure on now.

His best game was probably dreamtime with his tackles and pressure. Hes also just not getting the ball

The difference with Menzie and Perkins is their age and experience, also both are performing far better across the year as a whole

Im not ruling him out of doing something special for us late in the year when called upon

Id like to see him do a mini preseason over the byes and not be in the AFL side. See if we can get a 5-6 week fitness block into him, even if that means not playing VFL or have that apart of the fitness block and dont care about game performance over that time