Thanks for bumping this thread, you saved me the trouble of looking for it... about time we gave Crowden a bit of love .
I've pretty much been a fan of Mitch ever since I saw his draft highlights video, and since then like most of us I've been waiting for him to reproduce those highlights at AFL level. Personally I reckon that's precisely what he's now clearly doing to the clear delight of all.
The last few games he's shown the same sorts of moves I saw in his draft vid... sharp and creative handballs, twisting out of tackles, gut running, mad tackling and a laser-guided boot.
Four passages of his play over the last couple of weeks really stand out as perfect examples:
- That magnificent 50m kick to Shultz on the run against Collingwood which led to his dribbling goal
- Staying on his feet, riding two bumps then snapping a goal last week
- That lovely intercept mark of his at the offensive 50m line last week which led to a goal.
- That ball tearing late turn on the midfield boundary this week against Hawthorn to evade a tackle, then running and kicking towards the forward line unencumbered.
If you re-watch all those game highlights and then watch his draft video again (as I did), the resemblances are uncanny. It suggests to me he's still got a lot of improvement left in him (saw him tackle four separate Hawthorn players in eight seconds during one passage of play this week... that level of ferocity ISN'T there in his draft vid, though it is there in his junior stats if you dig for it)
Hats off to you Mitch, your hard work is paying rewards son - please keep it up.
I've pretty much been a fan of Mitch ever since I saw his draft highlights video, and since then like most of us I've been waiting for him to reproduce those highlights at AFL level. Personally I reckon that's precisely what he's now clearly doing to the clear delight of all.
The last few games he's shown the same sorts of moves I saw in his draft vid... sharp and creative handballs, twisting out of tackles, gut running, mad tackling and a laser-guided boot.
Four passages of his play over the last couple of weeks really stand out as perfect examples:
- That magnificent 50m kick to Shultz on the run against Collingwood which led to his dribbling goal
- Staying on his feet, riding two bumps then snapping a goal last week
- That lovely intercept mark of his at the offensive 50m line last week which led to a goal.
- That ball tearing late turn on the midfield boundary this week against Hawthorn to evade a tackle, then running and kicking towards the forward line unencumbered.
If you re-watch all those game highlights and then watch his draft video again (as I did), the resemblances are uncanny. It suggests to me he's still got a lot of improvement left in him (saw him tackle four separate Hawthorn players in eight seconds during one passage of play this week... that level of ferocity ISN'T there in his draft vid, though it is there in his junior stats if you dig for it)
Hats off to you Mitch, your hard work is paying rewards son - please keep it up.
