Player Watch #45 Will Green

[Ticky009]

At pick 16 the Sydney Swans select AA U18 ruck Will Green

WILL GREEN



Date of Birth: 08/09/2005 ; Height: 204cm
Draft: #16 - 2023
Recruited From: Northern Knights


A developing tall, Green showcased his potential with three promising performances
as Metro's go-to. He proved hard to move in the ruck, displaying outstanding craft while also expanding his game
around the ground. There, he clunked clean marks at the highest point and was mobile enough to lay tackles. The
Northern Knights captain averaged 12 touches and 24 hitouts.

 

[McRobie]

We usually just get our ruckmen from other clubs

And always banged up or just straight up crap.
Once they develop they cost an arm and a leg. The Grundy situation was unique.

 

[The King!]

And always banged up or just straight up crap.
Once they develop they cost an arm and a leg. The Grundy situation was unique.

Yeah except for the 3 premiership ruckmen we got from other clubs.....

Hickey went ok too

 

[S120]

He looks like he's gonna be enormous when he's fully grown. Massive hands and feet, from what I can see.

Do we know if he plays with aggression at this point? Certainly seems like a skilled big bloke but wondering if we know much about how hard at the contest he has tended to be so far?

 

[Kiama Chris]

He looks like he's gonna be enormous when he's fully grown. Massive hands and feet, from what I can see.

Do we know if he plays with aggression at this point? Certainly seems like a skilled big bloke but wondering if we know much about how hard at the contest he has tended to be so far?

Did you see the tackle in the highlights? Stopped him cold. Coach's delight.

 

[McRobie]

Yeah except for the 3 premiership ruckmen we got from other clubs.....

Hickey went ok too

Hickey was average. He played a handful of decent games and shit the bed when it mattered.
Mumford was a nobody when we got him and the others were from what 15/20 years ago and had never done anything?
The point was you can’t get established quality rucks via trade unless you pay an arm and a leg.

 

[S120]

Did you see the tackle in the highlights? Stopped him cold. Coach's delight.

I did but didn't wanna just go off that. For instance, I'm interested if around stoppages does he tend to throw his weight around in confined spaces? Like it's great for a ruckman to be able to smash a tackle like that in open play when possible but would hope he does that in the clinches too.

 

[Millky95]

We had 1 pick in the draft, we identified a need and got it. Highlights look good. Hoping he can give Ladhams and Stretch some solid VFL competition. Really looking forward to seeing him develop

 

[GoTheSwannies]

My initial though was ehhh, a ruck with our first pick, not as exciting as a more dynamic, attacking player, but it makes total sense. Use our pick to cover a future need, hopefully he becomes our number 1 ruck for a decade once Grundy winds down and we overcome what's been a significant list issue.

It's better than speculating with another first round pick only for the player to fail after 3-5 underwhelming years on the list.

Good off-season for the swans. We're building towards a sustained period of success.

 

[dosser]

I like this pick and wish him all the best on his slow burn.

In the meantime, when was the last time we had a ruck who played a senior game with us, who we selected in the main draft? Was it Stafford?

 

[Millky95]

I like this pick and wish him all the best on his slow burn.

In the meantime, when was the last time we had a ruck who played a senior game with us, who we selected in the main draft? Was it Stafford?

Nankervous was pick 35

 

[dosser]

Nankervous was pick 35

There you go. Not that long ago, then. Thanks

 

[MF]

Not a big fan of drafting and developing young ruckmen, especially at the expense of a first rounder but maybe the club see something really special in him. I'll trust the clubs judgement on this one.

 

[MF]

And always banged up or just straight up crap.
Once they develop they cost an arm and a leg. The Grundy situation was unique.

Beats developing your own when it wastes a list spot for 6 or 7 years just to find out if they're AFL standard or not, and even then there's no guarantees they won't be injury prone or just up and leave because they're behind someone else in the pecking order. I think trading for ruckmen from other clubs is generally the best way to go.

 

[Tesla Tenet]

Solid kicking action for a ruck. (No fatigue though)



Road to the draft.

Sent from my SM-G990E using Tapatalk

 

[liz]

Nankervous was pick 35

And between Stafford and Nankervis we had Doyle. And maybe Simon Feast, though I can't remember if he was taken in the National ("main") draft or as a rookie.

 

[RUNVS]

Less than 20% of first round picks play in the following season. So its actually expected him not to play in 2024.

Um that does not feel right.

 

[Crust]

Greene handballs to Green who is smashed in a tackle by Green.

 

[liz]

Greene handballs to Green who is smashed in a tackle by Green.

Or even better, Green handballs to Greene who is smashed in a tackle by Green.

 

[Crust]

Or even better, Green handballs to Greene who is smashed in a tackle by Green.

That's what I wanted but I messed up the spelling.
I suppose that's the rub of the green.

 

[sthmelb_dimmies]

Kermit?

 

[grimlock]

And between Stafford and Nankervis we had Doyle. And maybe Simon Feast, though I can't remember if he was taken in the National ("main") draft or as a rookie.

Don’t forget Ricky Mott! Actually on second thoughts keep forgetting Ricky Mott

 

[Ticky009]

Great little interview - big bro doing the honours.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Great little interview - big bro doing the honours.

Big bro is funny and smart.

 

[Callipygian]

Great little interview - big bro doing the honours.

Great hug at the end!

Might seem the boring pick but really happy with this. Athletic, can kick and also mark around the ground really well which I think is vital for the modern day ruckman. KB rarely takes ruckman early on, so internally we must really rate him. Keen to see how he develops. Wonder if he'll be trialed as a key back too.

Why do you describe him as athletic? I read that he ran something like 6:34 in the time trial and jumped 87 cm in the running vertical - is that what you're basing it on?

The last time we went for a ruck early was Tim English, so when we go for one we sure can pick 'em.

?? Huh? We didn't got for Tim English, did we? Or, by "we", are you meaning Simon Dalrymple?

I like this pick and wish him all the best on his slow burn.

In the meantime, when was the last time we had a ruck who played a senior game with us, who we selected in the main draft? Was it Stafford?

And even more recently than the Nank, Darcy Cameron in 2016.

 

[Dubai Quacker]

To temper early expectations:

Tim English played a year of WAFL reserves (i.e, against men) in his draft year.

Despite that, he still looked and played like Bambi on Ice for his first couple of years in the AFL system.

Green hasn’t had any experience outside of the juniors system - if anything, he’s likely to be less “AFL ready” than English was.

He’s going to take a fair bit of time.

Years in fact.

But it’ll be good reason to keep a close eye on the VFL side.