[Board Project]: 2011 Player reviews for the inaugural BigFooty.com annual

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May 27, 2008
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What i'll be doing is after a bit of time on the main board moving the threads into the Buddy Board.

If you can also add your reviews to this thread that would be great.

This will keep the main board from being overwhelmed with the reviews but give them some exposure too.
 
May 27, 2008
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TOM HUNTER

Tom Hunter will go down as one of those sad stories in football. A hard nosed footballer with a reputation for putting his head over the ball and winning the hard footy. It was this trait coupled with congenital cervical stenosis (his spinal canal is too narrow for his spinal cord) that prematurely ended a promising career.

Hunter was forced to retire after a collision to his head from Luke Shuey in the NAB cup semi final against West Coast. It would be his last game of AFL. It was a big blow to our VFL team which had already lost so much experience and talent from the previous season.

In many respects you could consider Hunter a lucky man. The knock he suffered could just as easily left him in a wheelchair. As it stands it lead to the determination of the seriousness of this medical condition. A condition which could well have gone undiagnosed he wasn't playing at this level.

Hunter was kept on at the club to continue his re-hab and was used as a match-day runner for the remainder of the season. He wishes to remain involved in football and is now trying to learn as much as he can on the other side of the white line. He has aspirations to one day get involved in coaching.

It is a credit to Hunter how well he handled himself after what must have been devastating news. Instead of being bitter he was philosophical and very mature about the situation:

"You are walking and you have two functioning legs. A lot of people have it worse than me.
"I like to stay positive. It happens, and you have to cop it on the chin. A quote I like is, 'You can't control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude'."

It's a sad story but in many ways also a positive one. You could do worse than learn something from Tom's attitude in all of this.
 
May 27, 2008
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BRENT MACAFFER

Brent Macaffers 2011 AFL season was one that promised so much but due to injury delivered little. Expectations were high after a very successful 2010 which saw him play 21 games and play a crucial role up forward during a drought breaking premiership season.

Unfortunately Macaffer could only muster 4 senior appearances in 2011 after being consistently dogged by injury. It started with a torn pelvis on the eave of the 2010 finals series a condition that deteriorated and hampered his 2011 preseason. Just as he was recovering from this injury he sustained a fractured foot and not long after a fractured back. That he managed 4 senior games for the year and was in full training throughout our finals campaign can be seen as a triumph in itself.

Macaffers dramatic season continued into trade week were he was widely rumoured to be on his way out of the Collingwood Football Club with speculation rife about salary cap pressure. It wasn't until the end of trade week and following the shock retirement of Leon Davis that Macaffer was signed to a one year deal.

This is fantastic news for the club as he fills an important list need. It will be great to have a hard tackling one-on-one specialist running around our forward line in season 2012. It can only help the side, Cloke and Dawes in particular, to have an alternative marking option to take the heat off. Lets hope we see him tearing up another finals series in the not-too-distant future.
 

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JOSH THOMAS


1108_thomas.jpg


Height: 176cm
Weight: 76kgs
DOB: 01.10.1991

2011 senior games = 0
2011 senior goals = 0

2011 VFL games = 7
2011 VFL goals = 3

Since being drafted with pick 75 in the 2009 National Draft, the now 20 year old Josh Thomas has had a horrid run with injuries. This season he only managed the 7 VFL games, with a persistent foot injuries that delayed his debut for the VFL team in 2011.

When Josh did take to the field however, he showed a toughness and ability to play at a high level as an inside midfielder, racking up plenty of possessions in the process. In the 7 games he did manage with the Collingwood VFL team in 2011, he averaged 21.6 disposals, 11.4 of those contested, 2.9 marks and 4.3 tackles per game.

121510_tarks.jpg


Those statistics do give you an insight into what type of a player Josh is now, and could also develop into if he can get a break with injuries of course. In the last few games of the 2011 season, with Tom Sundberg (VFL B & F winner) out with an injury, Josh stepped up and took over as the leading contested ball winner, leading the team to a very competitive end to the season.

If there is any criticism of Josh's abilities, it usually surrounds his inability to rack up the so called “easy possessions” that the absolute top liners do, but like a Wellingham or a Luke Ball type, time and experience, as well as exposure at senior level should see that side of his game develop also.

:thumbsu::D
 
BEN REID

BenReidAFLRd5EssendonvCollingwoodQD-JoashoMJl.jpg


Height: 195cm
Weight: 102kgs
DOB: 29.04.1989

2011 senior games = 24
2011 senior goals = 1

2011 VFL games = 0
2011 VFL goals = 0

Ben Reid entered 2011 as one of the players that was destined to have benefited the most out of being a part of the 2010 Collingwood Premiership team. Towards the end of the 2010 season, Reid became a fixture at Centre Half Back for the top side in the competition, and there were little doubts that 2011 would see yet more improvement from the young man from Wangaratta. Reid managed to play every game in the home and away season, before a groin injury robbed Collingwood of one if it's key defenders for the first final against the Eagles, and then he struggled through the preliminary final and Grand Final, clearly showing he was still carrying the same injury, and he was exposed in both games.


BenReidNABCupRd1TigersvMagpiesuJpYfzlq_-Yl.jpg


But to concentrate on how Reid finished the season would be a massive disservice to the man who was not only nominated in the final 40 for the All Australian team, but was also named as the All Australian Centre Half Back. Think about that for a minute, coming into this season, Ben had played a total of 29 games, and was only 21 years old (turned 22 in April). To say he is one of the best young defenders in the AFL is an under statement, in fact it could be said he is the best young tall defender in the AFL at this very moment.

Reid started the 2011 season like he finished 2010, only better, using his drive and long and accurate kicking abilities off half back to send the side forward on many occasions, and at one point late in the season he lead the league for intercepted marks from opposition kicks. At times he was given tough one on one assignments on some of the games best forwards, while Chris Tarrant settled into his role as the primary full back. But as the season went on, Reid became more attacking, and his drive off half back with the absence of Maxwell, Shaw and Nathan Brown for large parts of the season genuinely helped Collingwood win the minor premiership.

Reid's ability to not only read (no pun intended) the ball off half back, but also to turn an opposition attack around into a Collingwood forward attack, should not be under estimated as far as why the team struggled significantly towards the end of the season. Reid became so important to the setup of the Collingwood backline, especially with the injury concerns around him, that at times in the last 2 games the backline really started to resemble a less then secure unit, which was far from what it had showed for the majority of the 2011 season. Keeping Ben Reid fit and ready should be as big of a concern and concentration for the Collingwood fitness staff as any other individual focus for the 2012 season and beyond, he has become that important in my opinion.

BenReidAFLRd8GeelongvCollingwoodMuGXnVbtmIAl.jpg


In 2011, Ben averaged 15 disposals and 7 marks a game, and finished 7th in the Copeland trophy voting, an amazing effort in itself for a key defender in such a talented football team. Reid went to another level in 2011, going from a reliable, nice kick off half back who could do a defensive job if asked, to becoming the best attacking key defender in the entire AFL. At 22, there is still massive scope for improvement on so many levels, and with the return of Nathan Brown in 2012, he will only have more support down back then ever.

:thumbsu::D
 

Al Scorcho

All Australian
Sep 22, 2007
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I've done one for Leroy...

Leroy Brown
He eats babies and ****s s**t up!
When he's not doing the above, he uses his mind powers to control the ball's trajectory
then he goes right back to ****ing s**t up...the end
 

carnthepies19

Club Legend
Jun 29, 2011
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I'll take on Jye Bolton, start off with someone easyish :) - If I'm happy with my final product I might volunteer to take on another player later on.
 
May 27, 2008
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I'll put my hand up for Brad Dick.

Anyone want to put their hand up for a player to review?

We are looking at around the 250 word mark or more if you're keen.

Big thanks to all the posters who have already submitted their reviews you've done a great job.
 

sirene

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Jun 17, 2011
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Has been a bad week personally for me; will get on to mine tomorrow....so sorry! (Heath Shaw)
 

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May 27, 2008
25,775
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Wherever I May Roam
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We are still looking for people to do these.

The Carlton and Brisbane boards have completed theirs.

I don't like getting beaten by Carlton at anything!

Is anyone interested in helping out?

Maybe we can find some opposition posters to help out. We might have to. I hear there are some quality posters to be found in the winty thread. Impartial too! Do we really want that? :p
 
May 27, 2008
25,775
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Wherever I May Roam
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Cheers 10th thats awesome! Couldn't find a better person to be reviewing the VFL pies from last year.

It'll be interesting to see how the new recruits go this year. Really keen to see how Yagmoor acquits himself. Who have you got your eye on this season?
 

The 10th Letter

Senior List
Aug 29, 2008
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Out of our latest crop, much like yourself I'm very keen to see how Yagmoor goes along with Elliott. Considering that both players made the trip to Arizona ahead of their first year, I'm hoping they can figure prominently at VFL level.

Number one on the wish list though would be Josh Thomas overcoming his injury woes and getting a decent string of games under his belt. I'm also really looking forward to seeing what Seedsman can serve up in year two.

Pretty happy with the collection of youth we've put together despite not having the pick of the bunch over the last few years, hopefully a couple of them will put their hands up as potential 200 gamers this year.
 

Swooop

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 29, 2007
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Thanks to all the people volunteering to take various players.

We need to get these done asap; I'll try and get a list that tells us who's done and who's yet to be done to make it easier though likely that'll be tomorrow.

Otherwise the reviews are all being put in the thread found in The Nest, so in meantime, they can be checked there.

Don't need too much detail really, just the basics and anything else a bonus.

As the Quickster says, we can't let these other boards beat us!!!
 

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