AFCs preferred player profile - has it changed?

[CaptainDangerfield]

Is it just wishful thinking or does it appear as though there is a subtle change in the type of players we are looking to recruit? I look at threads related to guys like Lewis and Logan and they seem to have one thing in common - hard at it.
Craigy, as opposed to Ayres, seems to like guys with a harder edge to their game. Look at our 2004 draftees:

Thomson - Say no more,
Gibson - A player profile said he was "really, really hard at the man and the ball",
Meeson - ???,
Maric - Aggressive,
Knights and VB - Both not afraid to throw their body over the ball or go in and get the hard ball when required,
Hinge - Have watched him play a handful of games and he is not frightened to throw his body on the line.

I don't see too many Doughty, S Stevens, Smith, Jericho types in there.

Interesting times ahead I feel.

 

[-VC-]

Well I think that can only be a good thing. Of course, it would be nice to see Thommo iron those free kicks against out of his game, but everyone needs to be willing to have a crack when it's their turn.
I like to consider this sort of drafting 'finding the next AFC captain'.

 

[blighty]

Is it just wishful thinking or does it appear as though there is a subtle change in the type of players we are looking to recruit? I look at threads related to guys like Lewis and Logan and they seem to have one thing in common - hard at it.
Craigy, as opposed to Ayres, seems to like guys with a harder edge to their game. Look at our 2004 draftees:

Thomson - Say no more,
Gibson - A player profile said he was "really, really hard at the man and the ball",
Meeson - ???,
Maric - Aggressive,
Knights and VB - Both not afraid to throw their body over the ball or go in and get the hard ball when required,
Hinge - Have watched him play a handful of games and he is not frightened to throw his body on the line.

Have made the same observation privately...With the imminent passing of the guard of Roo,Macca, Edwards & Goodwin...all of whom are "inside hard at it midfielders" we need to recruit the same types...Thompson,Hinge,Shirley, Knights and if they go with Logan are all that type..
Gibson's description,his aggressivess & Jonathon Brown mimicing results in massive expectations with me...
Many on this forum describe these players being 2/3 years away from showing anything........For GOD sake the club doesn't have 2/3 years for anyone to take there time to become an AFL player. For all our sakes DO IT NOW !!!!
Thorpe,Hackett & Co were breaking Olympic & world records at 17 and 18 years of age...

 

[Stiffy_18]

Have made the same observation privately...With the imminent passing of the guard of Roo,Macca, Edwards & Goodwin...all of whom are "inside hard at it midfielders" we need to recruit the same types...Thompson,Hinge,Shirley, Knights and if they go with Logan are all that type..
Gibson's description,his aggressivess & Jonathon Brown mimicing results in massive expectations with me...
Many on this forum describe these players being 2/3 years away from showing anything........For GOD sake the club doesn't have 2/3 years for anyone to take there time to become an AFL player. For all our sakes DO IT NOW !!!!
Thorpe,Hackett & Co were breaking Olympic & world records at 17 and 18 years of age...

Some players develop slowly. Others are ready from day 1. If club doesn't have 2/3 years for anyone then they wouldn't have drafted them in the first place.

Even when drafted, people from the AFC were saying that he will take 2-3 years. Its not just the fans. Reidy, Fantasia, Trigg and even Craig all made these claims. They also said that if they are good enough they will get a game. Same was said of Maric and Griffin but both came on quicker than expected.

I am not sure what relevance your Thorpe and Hackett analysis has here because both are exceptional talents in their fields. We are talking about of the all time greats of swimming. Comparing apples with apples would be a good place to start.

In football, only exceptional talents start playing straight away. Even a player like McLeod took a little while to find his feet.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Getting back to Springy's original question, I don't think we are deliberatly picking up players that are hard at it. What we appear to be more focused on is actually recruiting someone who has the right sort of body shape for AFL footy. We appear to be going for more mature bodies rather than stick figures.

Of course VB is an exception to this but every one of our draftees from last year has the right sort of frame for AFL footy. Of the ND draftees VB is the skinniest, Meesen still has to add a few KGs BUT he has the right sort of body shape that can put on muscle. Under Craigy, I don't think you will see us recruiting Scott Stevens' of this world. A classic case of a player that has a body that will never beef up no matter what he does.

The reason we rookie listed Griffin was to see if he has the sort of body that can put on some muscle. A year later and 13 KGs heavier and he is on the senior list. I think the emphasis is on stronger bodies but of course you could say that there is a strong link between having strong bodies and going hard at it.

 

[GoSarge]

Getting back to Springy's original question, I don't think we are deliberatly picking up players that are hard at it. What we appear to be more focused on is actually recruiting someone who has the right sort of body shape for AFL footy. We appear to be going for more mature bodies rather than stick figures.

Of course VB is an exception to this but every one of our draftees from last year has the right sort of frame for AFL footy. Of the ND draftees VB is the skinniest, Meesen still has to add a few KGs BUT he has the right sort of body shape that can put on muscle. Under Craigy, I don't think you will see us recruiting Scott Stevens' of this world. A classic case of a player that has a body that will never beef up no matter what he does.

The reason we rookie listed Griffin was to see if he has the sort of body that can put on some muscle. A year later and 13 KGs heavier and he is on the senior list. I think the emphasis is on stronger bodies but of course you could say that there is a strong link between having strong bodies and going hard at it.

Just to touch on this, I think that attitude is everything aswell. Whilst I agree with the mature body thing, players like VB have the aggressiveness and the b@stard (aswell as unreal aerobic capacity) in him to make it at AFL level. The likes of Jericho and Stevens just dont seem to have the 'killer instinct' which is such a vital part of an AFL footballer these days.

EDIT : Nice post Stiffy.