Do We Bite the Bullet?

[Stiffy_18]

I was looking through some draftee profiles from last year and I came accross this one for Knights. In all honesty, I think he is described to a T in this one.

http://www.footydraft.com/players.php?player=chris_knights

I would think that Knights has not missed a beat stepping from TAC Cup into SANFL seniors. His game is the same. He gets a lot of the footy and kicks a goal or 2. He can also break open the game with his hard work and goals (as he did in a Prelim?????? final against Port in the 3rd quarter where he picked up 15 touches and kicked a goal or 2). He is a monty to break into our best 22.

 

[CaptainDangerfield]

I've seen most of his games since he played A grade SANFL and I'm excited!!

IMO he is the next Simon Goodwin of the Crows.

He is an on-baller who keeps his feet all the time and reads the fall of the ball beautifully.

Rests on a HF flank and once again crumbs the ball beautifully.

He is an absolute ball magnet.

The player that was referred to as becoming one of the best Crows players ever was Van Berlo. A huge rap for an 18 year old, but when did we last have an 18 year old playing in finals. I think it was John Reid that made that statement, but I could well stand corrected on that one.

Whether he reaches those heights or nots, Van Berlo will develop into a very very good player at worst - as will Knights.

Why does the AFC do that. Just let the kids develop without the added pressure from the AFC spin doctor.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

On zero pre-season - which was the case for Knights this year?

He can only get better WW.

As for slowing down towards the end of the season - that is factually incorrect.

Admittedly only a mere22 possessions in a Grand Final but 30 and 31 possessions in the 2 finals before that.

Yes, the 18 year old really did stop to a walk, didn't he.

No Macca I'm not talking about number of possessions I'm talking effective possessions.

No where near as damaging - not being critical Macca just stating the fact you have already made - long season with no PS at 18 years old - what else should we expect

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Gee we really do judge Knights harshly don't we. He was the standout player in the 2 finals leading up to the GF and beucase he ONLY has 22 possessions in the GF there are now doubts over his ability. Do we honestly expect an 18 years old to have 30+ possessions in every game.

The kid is going to be a gun - end of story.

Now who the hell said that!

I merely said the LONG season started to take its toll - thats not questioning his ability.

Who said I expected 30 plus possessions - people need to be a bit realistic with this kid - he's not Judd so don't put him on a pedestal and say he doesn't have faults or he can get tired at the end of a long season

 

[DaveW]

I was looking through some draftee profiles from last year and I came accross this one for Knights. In all honesty, I think he is described to a T in this one.

http://www.footydraft.com/players.php?player=chris_knights

Any improvement in his kicking?

 

[macca23]

Any improvement in his kicking?

His kicking is a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes very good, sometimes a bit careless, particularly when under pressure.

The good thing is that there is nothing wrong with his technique or distance of kick. His short passing is very good. His brain power is very good.

They'll work on the deficiencies as he has a good base.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Any improvement in his kicking?

He still kicks a fair bit of floaters IMHO.

 

[Rave Slave]

The player that was referred to as becoming one of the best Crows players ever was Van Berlo. A huge rap for an 18 year old, but when did we last have an 18 year old playing in finals. I think it was John Reid that made that statement, but I could well stand corrected on that one.

Whether he reaches those heights or nots, Van Berlo will develop into a very very good player at worst - as will Knights.

Twas Van Berlo but Bill Sanders was the man who said it.

Apparently they've even earmarked him as a potential future captain

 

[Stiffy_18]

Twas Van Berlo but Bill Sanders was the man who said it.

Apparently they've even earmarked him as a potential future captain

He does have leadership abilities. He was captain of the U18 WA side for the Championships last year.

Interesting that we have Van Berlo and Rutten in our ranks and both were captains of their state at the U18 championships.

 

[Rave Slave]

He does have leadership abilities. He was captain of the U18 WA side for the Championships last year.

Interesting that we have Van Berlo and Rutten in our ranks and both were captains of their state at the U18 championships.

Definitely and I do see something a little special about Van Berlo

I actually wondered the other day if we couldn't stick Van Berlo in Burton's position on the wing and move Burton up the ground. VB has a bigger tank, is quicker and has more reliable foot skills. It's not as if you have to weigh 100kg to hold down a wing and Burton certainly adds another dimension up forward.

On the captaincy however, I personally believe that both VB and Truck will have a fight on their hands with Scott Thompson now in our side (ahhh the irony of the young Port man )

 

[Stiffy_18]

Definitely and I do see something a little special about Van Berlo

I actually wondered the other day if we couldn't stick Van Berlo in Burton's position on the wing and move Burton up the ground. VB has a bigger tank, is quicker and has more reliable foot skills. It's not as if you have to weigh 100kg to hold down a wing and Burton certainly adds another dimension up forward.

On the captaincy however, I personally believe that both VB and Truck will have a fight on their hands with Scott Thompson now in our side (ahhh the irony of the young Port man )

I think Scotty is so far ahead of everyone else for the cataincy its not funny. I think he is just about a monty for the job.

I do think that Rutten and VB could be part of the leadership group down the track though

 

[- PC -]

I think Scotty is so far ahead of everyone else for the cataincy its not funny. I think he is just about a monty for the job.:

I am a long way removed from the day to day action on the Adelaide news , but what suggests Thompson is the leading candidate for captaincy?

I know the trend is to look for a long term captain and that means a 23-25 year age bracket... but what else does Thommo bring?

 

[conVINCEd]

As everyone has said, it is going to be a difficult period.

As silly as it sounds, losing Watts has changed my whole perspective on the future of our current group. We are in trouble in the key position department, although thankfully, our two key defenders are young and should be able to hold down those spots for quite a few years. Depth for their positions is non-existent however.

With Watts on our list waiting to burst onto the scene I was seriously optimistic that we could be a quality side for quite a few years. We only would really have had to worry about recruiting quality midfielders, and still had the likes of Thompson, Reilly, Mattner, Van Berlo and Knights improving as the 'old four' reached the end of their great careers.

Now we have to balance that situation with finding quality tall forwards, and the apparent lack of star power in this year's draft makes that even more difficult.

I have enormous faith in Craig though. Its reassuring to know that our coach is someone who can not only get the best out of the playing group, as a team and also individually, but he is also smart enough to realise the short-comings our list has and the need to address these.

Getting Bryce Gibbs as a Father/Son becomes vital now.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Getting Bryce Gibbs as a Father/Son becomes vital now.

Yeah it does BUT we can't rely on that. We have to plan as if we don't have Gibbs. If we get him thats a bonus.

We can't plan our recruiting around drafting Gibbs under father-son rule. As things stand right now he is ineligable. Thats how we should plan our recruiting and if we manage to chance the rules then thats a bonus.

 

[conVINCEd]

Obviously, Stiffy.

Another interesting (and painful) point.

Two years ago we recognised that we needed talls, and used our three draft picks on three talls.

In 2006 none of them will be around.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Obviously, Stiffy.

Another interesting (and painful) point.

Two years ago we recognised that we needed talls, and used our three draft picks on three talls.

In 2006 none of them will be around.

Despite picking well in 2003 draft, we only have 1 player on our list now.

Watts is gone back to victoria
Krueger was excellent in his first pre-season and was on the verge of getting some games during pre-season before a back injury finished his career as an AFL footballer before it even started.
Hudson has proven to be a real revelation but will miss next year with a knee reco.

2003 will be remembered as a draft where we picked up some real quality talls but for one reason or another we didn't get a lot out of them. If only Watts stuck around, even with Krueger's delisting, it still would have been a VERY good draft for us.

 

[dogs105]

Agree 100% with this statement. Doughty & Skippy are never going to get better, play the youth and let them develop.

Why not?

Skippy improved out of sight from the previous season, and was an extremely valuable contributor. I'm hoping that he will make a big jump again this year. He is 22 years old!!!
He might or might not improve next season, he might or might not be in our best 22, but to say that he is not going to get better seems a bit ridiculous.
He is a kid, who came on in leaps and bounds last year, apparently with an improved attitude, who we should be hoping gets better with experience.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Why not?

Skippy improved out of sight from the previous season, and was an extremely valuable contributor. I'm hoping that he will make a big jump again this year. He is 22 years old!!!
He might or might not improve next season, he might or might not be in our best 22, but to say that he is not going to get better seems a bit ridiculous.
He is a kid, who came on in leaps and bounds last year, apparently with an improved attitude, who we should be hoping gets better with experience.

Well tell us what areas he has scope for improvement??????

He is a handy player but thats as good as it gets IMHO. He is too limited in too many areas to be a long term AFL player.

 

[dogs105]

Well tell us what areas he has scope for improvement??????
He is a handy player but thats as good as it gets IMHO. He is too limited in too many areas to be a long term AFL player.

I was just saying that it was silly to say that he'll never get any better.

1 - Do you agree he improved a lot from last year?
2 - Do you think that he is still young enough to improve with extra experience/training/coaching?

 

[Stiffy_18]

I was just saying that it was silly to say that he'll never get any better.

1 - Do you agree he improved a lot from last year?
2 - Do you think that he is still young enough to improve with extra experience/training/coaching?

1. Not really. Just got the opportunity. Have a look at a couple of his games in 2004 when he was actually given good game time. He had some games where he picked up 20 touches and kicked a coupel of goals in 2004 when given sufficient game time. He didn't really improve, he just got given a gater opportunity.

2. No because he is limited in a lot of areas that simply can't get better. He can't get taller, he can't get considerably faster, he can't get significant depth in his kicking.

Skippy is a handy player but he is a very limited player. He can find the footy and he generally uses it OKish. However, he is not quick enough to get to a contest for a player of his size. As a crumber he can kick some goals if he is already in position. However, if he needs to get front and square, he just doesn't get to the contest quick enough. Not because he doesn't want to but because he simply isn't quick enough.

He also does the little circular run that can be REALLY annoying and can slow the team down. How many times we got a break from HB, Skippy gets the ball, starts running forward, realises that he will get caught, then he does the 360 to avoid tha tackle. By the time he gets rid off it again, the opposition has manned up and what looked to be a great fast break opportunity to score is gone.

He will NEVER be a big kick. 40 meters in front of goals and he is out of his range. Thats just not good enough for a midfielder/small forward.

He is not strong enough. Opposition players can break his tackles. His actual techinque in tackling is pretty good but he just ins't strong enough to hold them in. You can say, yeah but if he beefs up he will be. True but then you created another problem. If he gets heavier he will get slower and you just can't afford for him to get any slower.

Skippy is a VERY hard worker, and he goes for the ball, can shirk a contest at times but overall, you can be happy with his attack on the ball and the man. He has a footy brain but he has a number of liminations in his make up that makes him a pretty limited footballer. If Skippy had Schuback's pace and kicking depth ad build, then he would easily be in our best 22. Its not his fault, its just the way he is.

 

[macca23]

I was just saying that it was silly to say that he'll never get any better.

1 - Do you agree he improved a lot from last year?
2 - Do you think that he is still young enough to improve with extra experience/training/coaching?

He had a good year this year, did young Skippy. Improved quite significantly

You're right, there's no reason why he won't improve further in 2006.

But will he improve in the area of his 2 major weaknesses - a lack of pace and a lack of depth in his kicking?

To hold his place in the long term he's going to have to improve in both these areas.

 

[dogs105]

He had a good year this year, did young Skippy. Improved quite significantly

You're right, there's no reason why he won't improve further in 2006.

But will he improve in the area of his 2 major weaknesses - a lack of pace and a lack of depth in his kicking?

To hold his place in the long term he's going to have to improve in both these areas.

I agree that these are two areas that is hard to get much improvement in. It's hard to be much faster than the your genetic makeup says you'll be. Hopefully an improvement in skills and decision making will help cover up these flaws and he can still be a good player. There are a few good "slow" footballers around.

All I wanted to say was that it was harsh to say a 22 year old couldn't get any better, when he has shown a lot of improvement recently.