Opinion Bailey Williams is better than number 1 pick - Andrew Mcgrath

[Yojimbo]

These guys play similar positions and roles.

Bailey is 6 months older than Mcgrath. He’s 9cm taller and a significantly better contested mark.

They average similar disposal numbers, but Bailey has a better disposal efficiency, and the real kicker, more that double the metres gained.

If you had no idea where these 2 were drafted, I’d be guessing Bailey was the number 1 pick and Mcgrath was the late round smokey.

I’m not knocking Mcgrath. He’s going to be a nice player. But Bailey Williams is going to be a star and id rather have him on the list than the former first pick in the draft.

Discuss.

Mexican little girl meme needed, why can't we have both. Massive Williams fan there are a ton of really good
players who have been drafted of late, not always by us unfortunately.

 

[Dazb86]

Seems to have gotten used to the pace of the game. Is a gun at VFL level. Starting to translate now.

 

[Mattdougie]

Come on MD , he is going to be a great player.
Been fantastic , especially being a part of a very inexperienced back 6.
Really has the tools to be a star.

Mate let’s see how he goes against some real footy team shall we?

 

[Mutt]

Mate let’s see how he goes against some real footy team shall we?

Williams would be in our top 10 in the B&F right now. Is playing a difficult role very well for such a young player.

 

[bresker]

He’s been moved to Bev’s special position - the Matty Boyd role. A big responsibility for a young fella but he’s taking it on with aplomb. He’s been a massive part of our revival in the past few games. Rarely panics and can play long or short. He’s not afraid to slow things up. I like him a lot. Love that he takes responsibility at such a young age.

 

[King Harold]

Mate let’s see how he goes against some real footy team shall we?

Of course , but to my eye he is now a very good AFL footballer on the up.
No doubt he wil get schooled by some of the more experienced blokes going around , but I don't think you can ask for much more from him at his age.

 

[maddog37]

Looks to have gotten fitter via playing footy. Thought he looked heavy in the preseason.

Marking the ball very well.

 

[#1 Dogs Fan]

Dont know why your comparing him to McGrath when he was drafted 1 year before. Below is the top 23 picks of the 2015 draft that Baily was drafted in. atm its looking like an average draft with no real standout superstars.


1CarltonJacob Weitering
2BrisbaneJosh Schache
3SydneyCallum Mills
4MelbourneClayton Oliver
5EssendonDarcy Parish
6EssendonAaron Francis
7GWSJacob Hopper
8Gold CoastCallum Ah Chee
9MelbourneSam Weideman
10CarltonHarry McKay
11AdelaideWayne Milera
12CarltonCharlie Curnow
13GWSMatthew Kennedy
14BrisbaneEric Hipwood
15RichmondDaniel Rioli
16GWSHarrison Himmelberg
17AdelaideTom Doedee
18St KildaJade Gresham
19HawthornRyan Burton
20Gold CoastBrayden Fiorini
21North MelbourneBen McKay
22HawthornKieran Lovell
23CarltonDavid Cunningham

 

[King Harold]

Dont know why your comparing him to McGrath when he was drafted 1 year before. Below is the top 23 picks of the 2015 draft that Baily was drafted in. atm its looking like an average draft with no real standout superstars.


1CarltonJacob Weitering
2BrisbaneJosh Schache
3SydneyCallum Mills
4MelbourneClayton Oliver
5EssendonDarcy Parish
6EssendonAaron Francis
7GWSJacob Hopper
8Gold CoastCallum Ah Chee
9MelbourneSam Weideman
10CarltonHarry McKay
11AdelaideWayne Milera
12CarltonCharlie Curnow
13GWSMatthew Kennedy
14BrisbaneEric Hipwood
15RichmondDaniel Rioli
16GWSHarrison Himmelberg
17AdelaideTom Doedee
18St KildaJade Gresham
19HawthornRyan Burton
20Gold CoastBrayden Fiorini
21North MelbourneBen McKay
22HawthornKieran Lovell
23CarltonDavid Cunningham

Looks a pretty good draft to me ?

 

[maddog37]

Looks a pretty good draft to me ?

Agreed. Give it a few years.

 

[Mattdougie]

Williams would be in our top 10 in the B&F right now. Is playing a difficult role very well for such a young player.

That may be true and I did not say he isn’t going on just questioned the use of the word “Star”

And unfortunately it isn’t hard to be in our top ten this year mate

 

[Mutt]

That may be true and I did not say he isn’t going on just questioned the use of the word “Star”

And unfortunately it isn’t hard to be in our top ten this year mate

You're right about it not being hard to be a top 10 player for us this year. Nevertheless, that's what Williams is. A top 10 player in his third season with only 25 games under his belt. We should be happy with that. The kid can play and is getting better with every game.

 

[Scary_Foot_9]

Dont know why your comparing him to McGrath when he was drafted 1 year before. Below is the top 23 picks of the 2015 draft that Baily was drafted in. atm its looking like an average draft with no real standout superstars.


1CarltonJacob Weitering
2BrisbaneJosh Schache
3SydneyCallum Mills
4MelbourneClayton Oliver
5EssendonDarcy Parish
6EssendonAaron Francis
7GWSJacob Hopper
8Gold CoastCallum Ah Chee
9MelbourneSam Weideman
10CarltonHarry McKay
11AdelaideWayne Milera
12CarltonCharlie Curnow
13GWSMatthew Kennedy
14BrisbaneEric Hipwood
15RichmondDaniel Rioli
16GWSHarrison Himmelberg
17AdelaideTom Doedee
18St KildaJade Gresham
19HawthornRyan Burton
20Gold CoastBrayden Fiorini
21North MelbourneBen McKay
22HawthornKieran Lovell
23CarltonDavid Cunningham

I'd take Bailey over everyone except Oliver and Curnow.

 

[Bont2Bruce]

In terms of current impact on games for their teams, I tend to agree that Williams is going better than McGrath.

I don't know enough about McGrath to do a proper comparison, but at this stage I'm not seeing whatever it was that made McGrath go at No.1. Looks like a nice player but not seeing anything super-special just yet.

Williams does some things that remind me of Murphy and I hope he can be as good over a long career with us. But he isn't there yet, although the signs are looking positive. For me, Williams needs start by eliminating getting caught holding the ball so often and to reduce the clanger count. He seems to bite off more than he can chew a bit too often. Hopefully these things can be improved over time.

 

[webbo]

I'd take Bailey over everyone except Oliver and Curnow.

Mills, Hopper, Rioli, Doedee, Burton are all serious players. Lot of talls in there that need time and probably make the grade too (Weitering, Schache, Weideman, McKays, Hipwood). I reckon that actually looks like a very good draft.

 

[Scary_Foot_9]

Mills, Hopper, Rioli, Doedee, Burton are all serious players. Lot of talls in there that need time and probably make the grade too (Weitering, Schache, Weideman, McKays, Hipwood). I reckon that actually looks like a very good draft.

Rioli might be a push I'll concede that, he could be very good I guess if he gets up into the middle eventually.

The talls are a lottery at this point. It wouldn't surprise me if one or two of them came good, but equally it wouldn't surprise me if a good majority of them have a Tim Walsh esque career. I think its fair to not be overwhelmed by anything they've produced thus far, Hipwood has the best chance but I really don't like some parts of his game (very selfish, not physical, a touch of the Casboult's with regard to his kicking).

Mills, Burton and Doedee are actually very similar players to BW in their roles (help defender, interceptor, rebounder and creator). I would argue that they are all playing in a far more experienced backlines with some of the best defenders in the comp around them (Laird, Talia, Grundy, Rampe, Stratton, Sicily) and certainly performing no better than him currently (as my previous post states, if you look at some of the key stats for a HBF, BW is actually having a ridiculous season for 20 year old). Burton probably comparable in terms his offensive potential to create and penetrate with his footskills and general class with ball in hand, but I don't think he as well rounded in terms of contested ball and intercepting (at least from what I've seen so far). Doedee is the best intercept player of the lot and can probably play on more KPF types as he goes due to his size, but offensively kinda meh, at least so far (only played 8 games though). Mills has the contested part down and is a really solid decision maker, but after watching him closely for a few years he seems more really good 250 game player than someone who will be a true upper echelon player.

 

[bontshow]

Much prefer the 2018 version to the 2017 version. Used to hate the way he would get caught and not get the ball off, it was very costly. He's gained a yard of pace and thinks quicker

 

[ossie_21]

Never looked like a lost clogger. Always looked quality with ball in hand - 24 months ago at least.

List clogger: Christian Howard etc.

Never ever thought he would be a list clogger. That's being the ultimate pessimist.
His rate of improvement has being going north since he walked in the door.

Probably should have put a disclaimer, but this wasn’t my own view, just recall a lot of posters on here calling for him to be dropped, not AFL standard etc.

Just shows that young players need time to find their feet & BF posters are infinitely impatient

 

[Yojimbo]

Jacob Weitering: 46 Games.
Josh Schache: 27 Games.
Callum Mills: 54 Games.
Clayton Oliver: 43 Games.
Darcy Parish: 48 Games.
Jacob Hopper: 29 Games.
Callum Ah Chee: 32 Games.
Wayne Milera: 30 Games
Charlie Curnow: 34 Games.
Eric Hipwood: 38 Games.
Daniel Rioli: 43 Games.
Jade Gresham: 48 Games.
Ryan Burton: 31 Games.
Ben Keays: 26 Games.
Josh Dunkley: 32 Games.
Darcy Tucker: 37 Games.
Ryan Clarke: 29 Games.
Rhys Mathieson: 27 Games.
Blake Hardwick: 28 Games.
Jack Silvagni: 32 Games.
Mitch Brown: 28 Games.
Tom Phillips: 32 Games.
Sam Menegola: 38 Games.
Michael Hartley: 41 Games.

This is a list of the players from the 2015 draft who have played more games
than Bailey Williams to date, sobering thought for some. They are listed in
the order they were drafted with Mills the rising star.

 

[Mofra]

Williams was a bargain, however I'm not convinced he does make the transition to midfield.
He seems to be an effective intercept player which means he is valuable as a rebounding defender. He is only 20 so the fact he's best 22 right now and performing is a bonus for a late, speculative pick.

 

[Tommycash]

Williams was a bargain, however I'm not convinced he does make the transition to midfield.
He seems to be an effective intercept player which means he is valuable as a rebounding defender. He is only 20 so the fact he's best 22 right now and performing is a bonus for a late, speculative pick.

Agreed. It seems rare we push defenders who can play their role into the middle. JJ and Suckling get moved around a bit, but even then not too much. Much more common with our forwards. He seems a player with a great set of skills for defence as well, taking him out of there probably lessens the impact he can have.

 

[mambavino]

Much prefer the 2018 version to the 2017 version. Used to hate the way he would get caught and not get the ball off, it was very costly. He's gained a yard of pace and thinks quicker

Bailey definitely seems to have now made the mental adjustment to the higher pace and pressure of the top level.

Lewis Young is the next obvious player that I can see that needs to do the same. He does tend to look like a deer in the headlights at times when under pressure with the ball in hand.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Bloody hell I hope we do whatever we can to keep the guy that found williams. He seems to find good kids.

So long as we get rid of the bloke who got us Tutt, Howard and Declan Hamilton.

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

Williams was a bargain, however I'm not convinced he does make the transition to midfield.
He seems to be an effective intercept player which means he is valuable as a rebounding defender. He is only 20 so the fact he's best 22 right now and performing is a bonus for a late, speculative pick.

Would much rather see him in the middle than Honey, Jong, Webb, Daniel even Hunter.

In 2 or 3 years he is going to be right up there with McCrae, Bont, Hunter, Libba as one of our best players. The game is won in the middle.

Also feel we will need another big bodied mid to take the load off Bont and McCrae- if we can help them out they will last longer. Look at what is happening to Danger, Selwood, Pendlebury, Sloan, Fyfe ATM- always injured. Really liked how Bevo switched Bont around on the weekend to help him out. Result- 4 goals.

The defence will be fine- Wood, Adams, Naughton, Cordy, Williams, Crozier, JJ, Richards, Suckling, R. Smith and likely Khamis. it's not like we are lacking for intercept defenders

 

[McCraeBF]

Dont know why your comparing him to McGrath when he was drafted 1 year before. Below is the top 23 picks of the 2015 draft that Baily was drafted in. atm its looking like an average draft with no real standout superstars.


1CarltonJacob Weitering
2BrisbaneJosh Schache
3SydneyCallum Mills
4MelbourneClayton Oliver
5EssendonDarcy Parish
6EssendonAaron Francis
7GWSJacob Hopper
8Gold CoastCallum Ah Chee
9MelbourneSam Weideman
10CarltonHarry McKay
11AdelaideWayne Milera
12CarltonCharlie Curnow
13GWSMatthew Kennedy
14BrisbaneEric Hipwood
15RichmondDaniel Rioli
16GWSHarrison Himmelberg
17AdelaideTom Doedee
18St KildaJade Gresham
19HawthornRyan Burton
20Gold CoastBrayden Fiorini
21North MelbourneBen McKay
22HawthornKieran Lovell
23CarltonDavid Cunningham

Wow wouldnt Essendon love to swap Parish and Francis for Curnow and Milera lol