Review Ex Giants player watch

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For those who remember James Stewart, our 27th draft pick in 2012, has now signed for a VAFA club after Essendon delisted him last year

www.zerohanger.com

Delisted Essendon forward's new club revealed

The veteran tall has made the move to local footy.
www.zerohanger.com
 
Interview with Jeremy Cameron @ afl.com. These couple of answers pretty much confirms that COVID occurring that year pushed Jezza to depart to be closer to his family. Would he have stayed, if not for COVID? Obviously, can't be definitive now, but I suspect it would have been much more likely.

www.afl.com.au

Jezza on Cats' hopes, his future and Pies' interest

Jeremy Cameron chats with Cal Twomey about the Cats' season, his future and why he wouldn't be bored if he retired today
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au

Go back to 2020. At what point of that year did you realise you'd be leaving the Giants?
It was a lot later in the season than a lot of people thought. Naturally people think you're exploring early in the year or at some point early in the year, but it wasn't that case for me at all. I was always 'No, no, no' to my manager, who never pushed but said there were options there. It was late in the year and I don't know how much the hub and being locked away with COVID had to do with that. One thing it did show me at that point in time was how important family and people around you are because suddenly I didn't have any of that. You've got your phone and you can contact them that way but I didn't have my partner, Indi, with me and like everyone I wasn't seeing my family. That maybe played on me a bit as well that if I did make the move then mum and dad were only two and a half or three hours away and my sister's only two hours away rather than a big flight. My parents always made the effort to get up as much as they could to Sydney – it wasn't once every six months, it was once a month and that was more so to keep me happy as well.

Did you consider any other club but Geelong?
I spoke to Collingwood at that time. (Hemisphere Management Group manager) Alex (McDonald) was always like 'There's lots of options'. I was always thinking if I was going to go somewhere it was Geelong because it's country and rural and suits me. It was more so that there was no harm in saying no but hearing what teams had to say. I spoke to them (Collingwood) briefly but I always knew deep down that I didn't want to take them for a ride knowing I'm a country fella and why would I move from a big city to the middle of a big city when the only reason I'm making a move was because I could live on a farm closer to mum and dad?
 
Giant Strides said:
Interview with Jeremy Cameron @ afl.com. These couple of answers pretty much confirms that COVID occurring that year pushed Jezza to depart to be closer to his family. Would he have stayed, if not for COVID? Obviously, can't be definitive now, but I suspect it would have been much more likely.

www.afl.com.au

Jezza on Cats' hopes, his future and Pies' interest

Jeremy Cameron chats with Cal Twomey about the Cats' season, his future and why he wouldn't be bored if he retired today
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au

Go back to 2020. At what point of that year did you realise you'd be leaving the Giants?
It was a lot later in the season than a lot of people thought. Naturally people think you're exploring early in the year or at some point early in the year, but it wasn't that case for me at all. I was always 'No, no, no' to my manager, who never pushed but said there were options there. It was late in the year and I don't know how much the hub and being locked away with COVID had to do with that. One thing it did show me at that point in time was how important family and people around you are because suddenly I didn't have any of that. You've got your phone and you can contact them that way but I didn't have my partner, Indi, with me and like everyone I wasn't seeing my family. That maybe played on me a bit as well that if I did make the move then mum and dad were only two and a half or three hours away and my sister's only two hours away rather than a big flight. My parents always made the effort to get up as much as they could to Sydney – it wasn't once every six months, it was once a month and that was more so to keep me happy as well.

Did you consider any other club but Geelong?
I spoke to Collingwood at that time. (Hemisphere Management Group manager) Alex (McDonald) was always like 'There's lots of options'. I was always thinking if I was going to go somewhere it was Geelong because it's country and rural and suits me. It was more so that there was no harm in saying no but hearing what teams had to say. I spoke to them (Collingwood) briefly but I always knew deep down that I didn't want to take them for a ride knowing I'm a country fella and why would I move from a big city to the middle of a big city when the only reason I'm making a move was because I could live on a farm closer to mum and dad?
Click to expand...
Will never not like Jezza.

Very happy for him and the success he achieved at Geelong.
 

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Dylan Buckley - seems to have done well post his AFL career, with his own digital media business employing 13 people

After 41 games in eight years for Carlton and GWS, the son of Blues premiership great Jim Buckley thought he’d never play footy again.

He has built a digital media and podcasting empire with his business Producey and extremely popular Dyl and Friends show.

7news.com.au

Dylan Buckley makes sudden footy backflip in moment of clarity

The AFL player turned podcaster has a new reason for motivation after confirming his comeback.
7news.com.au 7news.com.au
 
MelbourneGWS said:
Dylan Buckley - seems to have done well post his AFL career, with his own digital media business employing 13 people

After 41 games in eight years for Carlton and GWS, the son of Blues premiership great Jim Buckley thought he’d never play footy again.

He has built a digital media and podcasting empire with his business Producey and extremely popular Dyl and Friends show.

7news.com.au

Dylan Buckley makes sudden footy backflip in moment of clarity

The AFL player turned podcaster has a new reason for motivation after confirming his comeback.
7news.com.au 7news.com.au
Click to expand...
He is good at that stuff.
Glad he is doing well.
 
Orange crush said:
Setterfield is looking ….settled at the dons this year. Taken a long time for him to establish himself but well done to him. Not the most dynamic player, but he gets his hands on it
Click to expand...
Shits me that our academy zone was altered because of;

Setterfield
Brander
Spargo
Macreadie

McChins talked all of these boys up as potential pick ones and these are the names as to why it was altered.

*ing loud mouth red faced germ.
 
Not really sure what to make of this article. Some quotes from Phil Davis are used in a positive way; but was Caldwell really committed to the Giants or rather more concerned to see out his two years and move regardless. Other posters will have better insights.

Essendon midfielder Jye Caldwell opens up on difficult start to career with GWS and finally making his mark on the AFL

By JON RALPH

SPORTS REPORTER

NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA SPORTS NEWSROOM

24 APRIL 2024

Jye Caldwell relished the belief his co-captain Phil Davis placed in him when he labelled the GWS Giants draftee a talent worthy of a 10-year deal.

The No.11 draft pick felt “special” to be given such affirmation as he embarked upon what he expected to be a long and decorated career in western Sydney.

And yet as the years went on for the nuggety inside-mid from Bendigo, nothing went to plan.

He played just 11 games in two years at the Giants before a trade to Essendon, where a hamstring injury decimated his first season at a club that handed over pick 18 for his services.

If that Davis comment was not exactly an albatross around his neck, the performances of his draft alumni increased the pressure to perform.

Taken in an AFL "super draft", that year’s No.1 pick, Carlton’s Sam Walsh bolted to 61 games to Caldwell’s 13 after three years as Connor Rozee and the King brothers, Ben and Max, also showcased their talent.

Caldwell will run onto the MCG today after the best fortnight of his AFL career, steeled by the lessons of those four challenging seasons. He has finally separated his football identity from his self worth through intensive work with a mental skills coach and psychologist.

He now knows a poor game doesn’t mean he is a bad person.

A player squeezed in between Zak Butters and Nick Blakey in that 2018 national draft has taken down Tom Liberatore in round 5, then played an expansive 26-possession, 10-tackle game when handed more significant midfield time against Adelaide.

Having learnt the challenging lessons of those early games, Caldwell is intent on making up for lost time.

“I think it’s just believing in myself,” he told the Herald Sun ahead of his third Anzac Day contest this week. “I feel like I can make it at the top level. Last year was a step in the right direction, playing consistent footy, but I had come off a low base. I played 13 games in three years and I was trying to get out on the track and play every week. But I have gone past that point. I want to have an impact at Essendon, but also in the AFL.

“Going to the Giants and not playing much footy up there then getting injured in my first year at Essendon; you are up with fairly high draft picks and everyone else around you has played 50 or 60 games and I have played 13. It’s hard.

“You get stuck talking and imagining what it could be like for you: ‘I could be doing this, or I could be doing that’. But as a player it builds a lot of resilience, to front up and get it done.

“I don’t take playing football for granted because I realise how bad it is when you can’t play.”

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Caldwell’s journey to AFL acclaim has taken some twists and turns – from the Bendigo Pioneers and a burgeoning junior boxing career to Geelong Grammar, to the Giants, and then Essendon ahead of rival bidder St Kilda at the end of 2020.

It was Dons recruiter Adrian Dodoro who sold occasions like Anzac Day as a lure to Caldwell when the Saints were also coming hard.

Finally, after 41 games across his past two seasons, he has been given the midfield time he has craved in the past fortnight, with the rewards obvious.

“Probably both years to start the season, I have played more of that half forward role. We have good availability in (the midfield). So when the opportunity does come to play midfield and do the centre bounce stuff, I try to grab it with both hands and make it mine.

“Libba is an interesting one. He has got very, very good hands. Obviously our midfield coach Gia (Daniel Giansiracusa) spent time at the Dogs and speaking to him through the week I watched the majority of his centre bounce stuff. To be able to go to one of their better stoppages players, it’s not a tag, but it brings you into the game. And then it’s making him more accountable to me as well.”

Davis still remembers those early days when Caldwell and Tom Green dominated intra-club scrimmages.

“(Caldwell) was a tough inside-mid and we never quite got to see the best of him. He was also trying to force his way into a team with too many inside-mids,” the 192-game veteran said this week.

“He always had a great upside, but he has that natural instinct to compete and win the ball and we are starting to see that. Part of the game we sometimes overlook is midfield balance.

“If you have a couple of inside-mids ahead of you, you can’t play. Jackson Macrae (at the Bulldogs) is the pin-up boy for that.

“It’s taken a while for Jye to jump that hurdle and crack into the two or three best inside-mids (at Essendon). His hands in close are getting better and now we are starting to see why he was taken so early.”

MENTAL STRENGTH

Caldwell says his days off are about finding balance, then reels off an incredible list of extra-curricular activities he does to prepare for the game. Many Essendon players have also embraced the methods of new mental skills coach Ben Robbins, but Caldwell has gone all-in.

“During the week, I make sure I do everything right to play and perform on the weekend,” he said. “I see Ben Robbins, I have done a lot of visualisation. I got to a psychologist here and there away from the club. Not about footy, broadly about life stuff.

“You can get caught up in footy, footy footy. I have never had any mental illness (issues), but it’s good to have someone to talk to about life and general stuff.

“You can hold in your performances. How you are going with your form and you can take it personally. I am not playing well, am I a bad person? Things like that.

“It’s totally not the case and it’s good to speak to someone about that. Your performances don’t reflect you as a person.”

“Football games come around very quickly. If you hold onto it, you can spiral pretty quickly. I am quick to play, do your review, work on what you need to, watch some clips and push that game out of the way, because there is another coming in four or five days.”

Days off include massages, catching up with mates, swimming and most weeks a stint at The Breath Haus, a Windsor clinic that explores the power, healing qualities and benefits of a patient’s breathing.

“I have been going for a little while now. It’s like meditation. It’s for your central nervous system, you do breathing and breath holds. I recommend it, it’s really good,” he said.

ANZAC DAY MATCH-UP

If Caldwell has an Anzac Day tag coming up on Nick Daicos or Jordan De Goey coming he certainly isn’t revealing it.

But it was exactly these kind of midfield battles that the Dons recruited him for as he displays the rugged physicality that is the hallmark of his game.

“With the tackling and pressure stuff, that is part of my game,” he said.

“I like to get pretty aggressive. There are heaps of moments in the game where you have the choice to do that and I try to put that at the forefront of my mind.

“I played in the last couple of Anzac Day (games) and it is pretty surreal to be honest.

“The atmosphere and the moment, you can’t shy away from it.

“So you soak it in and then at the same time you know you are about to play in a pretty high intensity game in front of millions of people.”
 

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Brave New World said:
Not really sure what to make of this article. Some quotes from Phil Davis are used in a positive way; but was Caldwell really committed to the Giants or rather more concerned to see out his two years and move regardless. Other posters will have better insights.

Essendon midfielder Jye Caldwell opens up on difficult start to career with GWS and finally making his mark on the AFL

By JON RALPH

SPORTS REPORTER

NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA SPORTS NEWSROOM

24 APRIL 2024

Jye Caldwell relished the belief his co-captain Phil Davis placed in him when he labelled the GWS Giants draftee a talent worthy of a 10-year deal.

The No.11 draft pick felt “special” to be given such affirmation as he embarked upon what he expected to be a long and decorated career in western Sydney.

And yet as the years went on for the nuggety inside-mid from Bendigo, nothing went to plan.

He played just 11 games in two years at the Giants before a trade to Essendon, where a hamstring injury decimated his first season at a club that handed over pick 18 for his services.

If that Davis comment was not exactly an albatross around his neck, the performances of his draft alumni increased the pressure to perform.

Taken in an AFL "super draft", that year’s No.1 pick, Carlton’s Sam Walsh bolted to 61 games to Caldwell’s 13 after three years as Connor Rozee and the King brothers, Ben and Max, also showcased their talent.

Caldwell will run onto the MCG today after the best fortnight of his AFL career, steeled by the lessons of those four challenging seasons. He has finally separated his football identity from his self worth through intensive work with a mental skills coach and psychologist.

He now knows a poor game doesn’t mean he is a bad person.

A player squeezed in between Zak Butters and Nick Blakey in that 2018 national draft has taken down Tom Liberatore in round 5, then played an expansive 26-possession, 10-tackle game when handed more significant midfield time against Adelaide.

Having learnt the challenging lessons of those early games, Caldwell is intent on making up for lost time.

“I think it’s just believing in myself,” he told the Herald Sun ahead of his third Anzac Day contest this week. “I feel like I can make it at the top level. Last year was a step in the right direction, playing consistent footy, but I had come off a low base. I played 13 games in three years and I was trying to get out on the track and play every week. But I have gone past that point. I want to have an impact at Essendon, but also in the AFL.

“Going to the Giants and not playing much footy up there then getting injured in my first year at Essendon; you are up with fairly high draft picks and everyone else around you has played 50 or 60 games and I have played 13. It’s hard.

“You get stuck talking and imagining what it could be like for you: ‘I could be doing this, or I could be doing that’. But as a player it builds a lot of resilience, to front up and get it done.

“I don’t take playing football for granted because I realise how bad it is when you can’t play.”

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Caldwell’s journey to AFL acclaim has taken some twists and turns – from the Bendigo Pioneers and a burgeoning junior boxing career to Geelong Grammar, to the Giants, and then Essendon ahead of rival bidder St Kilda at the end of 2020.

It was Dons recruiter Adrian Dodoro who sold occasions like Anzac Day as a lure to Caldwell when the Saints were also coming hard.

Finally, after 41 games across his past two seasons, he has been given the midfield time he has craved in the past fortnight, with the rewards obvious.

“Probably both years to start the season, I have played more of that half forward role. We have good availability in (the midfield). So when the opportunity does come to play midfield and do the centre bounce stuff, I try to grab it with both hands and make it mine.

“Libba is an interesting one. He has got very, very good hands. Obviously our midfield coach Gia (Daniel Giansiracusa) spent time at the Dogs and speaking to him through the week I watched the majority of his centre bounce stuff. To be able to go to one of their better stoppages players, it’s not a tag, but it brings you into the game. And then it’s making him more accountable to me as well.”

Davis still remembers those early days when Caldwell and Tom Green dominated intra-club scrimmages.

“(Caldwell) was a tough inside-mid and we never quite got to see the best of him. He was also trying to force his way into a team with too many inside-mids,” the 192-game veteran said this week.

“He always had a great upside, but he has that natural instinct to compete and win the ball and we are starting to see that. Part of the game we sometimes overlook is midfield balance.

“If you have a couple of inside-mids ahead of you, you can’t play. Jackson Macrae (at the Bulldogs) is the pin-up boy for that.

“It’s taken a while for Jye to jump that hurdle and crack into the two or three best inside-mids (at Essendon). His hands in close are getting better and now we are starting to see why he was taken so early.”
Click to expand...

Key paragraph. He had to pick himself with Cripps-like performances and he couldn’t do it - because at the time he wasn’t any better than what we had & he’s not exactly playing at that level still.

Don’t think we miss him at all. Don’t wish ill on him like I do that weak rat, Tanner Bruhn.

Jeez I wish we took the bloke that went next in Jye’s draft.
 
Feel for Hopper. Liked him when he played with us, and hope things work out for him. The contrasting trajectories of his new club and us since he left, probably would not have improved his mood though!

"Obviously angry that it happened. To cop a bit of another injury was just frustrating," Hopper said at Punt Road on Thursday.

"Hopefully (I) don't kick too many more bottles, because I ... regretted it as soon as I did, because someone could have copped a bottle to the head."

wwos.nine.com.au

Why 'angry' Richmond star apologised to teammates

'Could have copped a bottle to the head'
wwos.nine.com.au wwos.nine.com.au
 
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