First-year players - share your thoughts...

[Coin_Toss]

How will they go in their second AFL season. (Ie. Thomas, Pendlebury, Anthony)

Dale Thomas : I expect to see him gradually improve as he uses his first season as the stepping stone set to bigger and better things. He will learn more about his game and himself. I think he will improve - he has a good head on his shoulders - but he faces the challenge of the second-year blues that often afflict young stars.

Scott Pendlebury : In the same boat as Thomas, but he has the ability to be consistent. The whisper is he has trained closely to Paul Licuria and wants to develop into a similar player as Licuria. I hope Mick gives him midfield time and more of it.

Danny Stanley : A type of player that requires patience - he is a hard-nut. He may be a late bloomer. I have been critical of him eversince he stepped onto the scene because he lacks midfield endurance. It is an understatement to say he needs to work on his game.

Ryan Cook : He showed promise between some patchy form this year. There have been murmurs floating around about his toughness - or lack of it. He is in the Caracella mould - tended to be a fustrating player - but on his day was special to watch. He needs to play out of his skin more regularly.

John Anthony : His sudden improvement came as a surprise, he looked to do the easy things early in the year but to his credit worked hard on the little things that make top-line defenders. He seems a confident bloke who's not afraid to "come out of his shell" by expressing himself both on and off the field. He could be a surprise packet.

Sam Iles : He was thrown into the deep end and came out receiving mixed messages. I think he will gain the most experience from this first season and may react to it. He could be the answer as a small defender with great endurance.

Due to people's opinions I will not judge rookies as they were not, specifically speaking, on the list. I will say, however, like the look of Nicholls, Toovey and Cox. Malthouse must have an interest in Cox and Toovey because they have been promoted - best of luck boys, hope you two make the most of this chance.

 

[shuveradda]

Dale Thomas : I expect to see him gradually improve as he uses his first season as the stepping stone set to bigger and better things. He will learn more about his game and himself. I think he will improve - he has a good head on his shoulders - but he faces the challenge of the second-year blues that often afflict young stars.

Scott Pendlebury : In the same boat as Thomas, but he has the ability to be consistent. The whisper is he has trained closely to Paul Licuria and wants to develop into a similar player as Licuria. I hope Mick gives him midfield time and more of it.

Danny Stanley : A type of player that requires patience - he is a hard-nut. He may be a late bloomer. I have been critical of him eversince he stepped onto the scene because he lacks midfield endurance. It is an understatement to say he needs to work on his game.

Ryan Cook : He showed promise between some patchy form this year. There have been murmurs floating around about his toughness - or lack of it. He is in the Caracella mould - tended to be a fustrating player - but on his day was special to watch. He needs to play out of his skin more regularly.

John Anthony : His sudden improvement came as a surprise, he looked to do the easy things early in the year but to his credit worked hard on the little things that make top-line defenders. He seems a confident bloke who's not afraid to "come out of his shell" by expressing himself both on and off the field. He could be a surprise packet.

Sam Iles : He was thrown into the deep end and came out receiving mixed messages. I think he will gain the most experience from this first season and may react to it. He could be the answer as a small defender with great endurance.

Due to people's opinions I will not judge rookies as they were not, specifically speaking, on the list. I will say, however, like the look of Nicholls, Toovey and Cox. Malthouse must have an interest in Cox and Toovey because they have been promoted - best of luck boys, hope you two make the most of this chance.

Dale Thomas - Will have some regular second season blues but looks to be the goods as our sparkplug. Shown good skills and will improve.

Scott Pendlebury - Looks to be our gem in the making. I honestly think he has the potential to be a gun and arguably our best player in the future. Has great scope for improvement.

Danny Stanley - Rated highly in the 2005 draft and was taken accordingly ata young age. Has lots of development left in him and he looks an enforcer type. Needs to improve awareness and kicking but the pressure he is under is a bit early as he was a bottom aged player when drafted. Is somewhat of a project player.

Ryan Cook - Looks abit soft as a player but can pull off some very uncanny things, often looks to be playing in second gear. Needs to pull intensity up and show some consistency.

John Anthony - Looks to have alot of aggro about him. Is very composed and in my opinion will be a permenant fixture of our backline for years to come.

Sam Iles - Even though a rookie pick was rated a mid round pick in the 2005 draft and was as coin-toss said 'thrown into the deep-end' last year. I still have my doubts on him but has great endurance. Lets hope he pulls it off.

Looks a good draft so far but it will be judged in four to five years when we know the outcomes of these players.

 

[goalpie]

Sam Iles : He was thrown into the deep end and came out receiving mixed messages. I think he will gain the most experience from this first season and may react to it. He could be the answer as a small defender with great endurance.

If Fletcher is to be believed, then Iles is going to be a run out of defence player this season.

 

[Coin_Toss]

If Fletcher is to be believed, then Iles is going to be a run out of defence player this season.

It's a good learning curve for the youngster. If he plays more than half the year I think that would hold him in good stead later. He has shown he has the ability, notably his performance on Bode, against Adelaide.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

How will they go in their second AFL season. (Ie. Thomas, Pendlebury, Anthony)

Dale Thomas : I expect to see him gradually improve as he uses his first season as the stepping stone set to bigger and better things. He will learn more about his game and himself. I think he will improve - he has a good head on his shoulders - but he faces the challenge of the second-year blues that often afflict young stars.

Scott Pendlebury : In the same boat as Thomas, but he has the ability to be consistent. The whisper is he has trained closely to Paul Licuria and wants to develop into a similar player as Licuria. I hope Mick gives him midfield time and more of it.

Danny Stanley : A type of player that requires patience - he is a hard-nut. He may be a late bloomer. I have been critical of him eversince he stepped onto the scene because he lacks midfield endurance. It is an understatement to say he needs to work on his game.

Ryan Cook : He showed promise between some patchy form this year. There have been murmurs floating around about his toughness - or lack of it. He is in the Caracella mould - tended to be a fustrating player - but on his day was special to watch. He needs to play out of his skin more regularly.

John Anthony : His sudden improvement came as a surprise, he looked to do the easy things early in the year but to his credit worked hard on the little things that make top-line defenders. He seems a confident bloke who's not afraid to "come out of his shell" by expressing himself both on and off the field. He could be a surprise packet.

Sam Iles : He was thrown into the deep end and came out receiving mixed messages. I think he will gain the most experience from this first season and may react to it. He could be the answer as a small defender with great endurance.

Due to people's opinions I will not judge rookies as they were not, specifically speaking, on the list. I will say, however, like the look of Nicholls, Toovey and Cox. Malthouse must have an interest in Cox and Toovey because they have been promoted - best of luck boys, hope you two make the most of this chance.

Thomas - hopefully with a full pre-season under his belt, he will be able to spend more time in the midfield and take some more knocks up forward. He already has the skill and decision-making ability.

Pendlebury - No doubting his skill, but to me he still looks like he is playing basketball, waiting on the ball instead of making it his own. I would love to see him step up in the middle and make some centre clearances as an extractor.

Stanley - Have not been impressed thus far. Will be hoping he can string some quality games together for Willi and get a senior call-up.

Cook - I like what I've seen so far, and I'm aware he's a bottom age draftee and has suffered from injuries. If he can have a consistent run with Willi, I'd expect him to get selected for the Pies at some point.

Anthony - Very pleased with what I've seen for Williamstown, he seems to have a good size, good skills, and a dose of the angry pills. Here's hoping he can start the 2007 season in the same mould as he finished 2006, and we can see him in the black and white soon.

Iles - Need to see more to believe he can be in our best 22, but he's certainly not the worst. His running has been impressive, however his disposal has not.

 

[FIGJAM]

Daisy - Freak of nature. Has everything but the tank and some bulk. Kicking could do with some polishing, but he'll fix it and I reckon his bad kicks are when he's going for too much.

Pendles - Is the prototype of our recruiting strategy (and West Coast's). Extraordinary athlete, who also has some unbelievably weird attributes, notably his ball gathering (albeit outside) and his evasiveness. He has beautiful skills, but needs to shake the "around the three point line" passing. It's a good flood beater, but is not always needed.

Stanley - He has the potential to be an Archer, or a McGough. His kicking is terrible, but it's not a technique thing. He can kick the ball well on occassions, but then I've seen him do kicks which are so sub-AFL standard it's not funny. Has had OP and is still very young. i wanna see him bust heads Millane style. Even if he can't get skills up to Pants' level, if he shows that, he will fear opponents into submission. I am least optimistic about Stanners.

Cooky - Didak without the silk. May take time to establish consistency, but that's what he lacks most at this stage. He has talent, that is evident, but he lacks standout features to not give four quarter performances. If he works hard, and if Richo and Scott work him hard, he may find this consistency. Like Stanners, he's a pup and there's some unteachable traits to work with.

JA - Absolute jet. Second only to Daisy in my rankings of last year. JAJH reckons he can play forward, and Wiz said he thought he'd be analysing him as a forward at the start of 05. I hope he can play forward, but even if he sets up camp in the negative 50, I doubt we'll be disappointed with his return.

Tooves - Very solid, blinkers on, third tall defender with excellent pace. Puts the blue in blue collar, but there's a lot to like. Question marks saw him go from top 20 in many phantoms for both 2004-5, to the rookie draft of 05. He still has the question marks, but there's only one way to find out whether he's AFL material or not; play him in the AFL!

Nicholls - Ticks all the boxes except for height. Althletic, a fantastic kick, good pace. If you want to get critical, he is probably a bit outside and can be a bit unaccountable. If he's keen and gets his fitness up to a Crawford level, then he's got a chance at being that sort of player. The ball's in his court, but I am a fan at this stage.

Cox - The weirdest cat on any list in the AFL. I find it hard to work out just what sort of player he is! If I were to try and pin his ability (or at least potential thereof) I would say that he is a shorter Goodes-type. Good evasiveness, balance, skills. Nothing outstanding though, but then he rarely does anything outstandingly bad. And despite the distain for the dreaded potential tag, he has that in spades and looks like he is set to do something big. Here's hoping he does!

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Thomas - gun. I attribute his relatively erratic kicking in 2006 to his stamina, weight and strength not being up to AFL standard as yet. Once he has the fitness and strength to play an AFL game his kicking will improve.

Pendlebury - all class. You can see his mind clicking over when he has the ball. As Figgy says, maybe he thinks a tad too much with a basketball brain and needs to just throw it on the boot sometimes and bomb it to Rocca

Stanley - fatassed wombat in the style of many we've drafted unsuccessfully in the past. Have not seen enough of him to write him off, but in the games I've seen he always seems to be out of position.

Cook - seems strong enough overhead and has done well enough at times to show he may be a Russel Robertson type. Now has Medhurst in front of him in the queue so he'll need a good year in the VFL to avoid beling delisted.

JA - like the look of him. Seems to have an angry streak which I also like. Will succeed.

Toovey - unsure - looks ok but has nothing "special" about his game. On the short list to probably not have a long career.

Nicholls - in my opinion he's the reason Yakka was delisted. If you're going to have a midget on your list, it may as well be a midget with lighting pace. I predict he'll have a big year and will be promoted in 2008.

Cox - has done nothing to deserve promotion to an AFL list - he's very lucky. Having said that I like his height and built which is the perfect prototype for the modern running tall. Could be a Buddy Franklin type, but thats blue sky. To date he's shown very little. He's definitely the "project player" on our senior list.

Iles - workmanlike but ideal candidate to move into defence, from where Johnson and Swan have developed, and from where H Shaw should also vacate as he moves into midfield. No strings to his bow but a disciplined team type who could give good service for some years.

 

[bucksisbest]

Thomas-The best player drafted last year , outstanding talent with many strings to his bow , has a tremendous energy out on the football field which lifts others around him. Only needs 15 touches to cut you up.
Pendlebury-Interesting footballer who had a picnic at VFL level where he was good enough to win alot of ball inside as well as link up terrificly well. Is completely unique as a footballer as he seems at times to be playing in his own different dimension.Training and modelling himself on Licuria should be beneficial to get rid of a bit of the laconicness that creeps into his game at times.Should be better off with a full pre-season this year .
Stanley-Impressive at times and totally unimpressive at others. Looked very good in the NAB cup game against Freo and a very strong second half as a winger/hff helped set up Willi's surprise victory over the Bullants in the QF.
Is hard but needs to become silly hard if he wants to thrive at a higher level , otherwise other weaknesses will be pounced upon.
R.Cook-Quite simply needs to win more contested ball , relies far too heavily on a lead and mark game for a 186er and is easily shut out at the moment when it's not working. Also lacks self confidence at times.
Kicked 5 goals 4 against Sandy so has some talent , but he needs to play a little more like a midfielder at times than a CHF.
Illes-Hard runner , dogged , who shines at VFL level . AFL positioning is atrocious , watched some of his positioning against Carlton as a half back and it was terrible , was nowhere near defensive enough. One of the major reasons why he got goals kicked on him in patches and had me screaming "Get ********ing Illes off".Has to become more savvy at AFL level rather than looking like he has played the game as much as Marty Clarke. Has great stamina and determination that will come in handy as a small back if he smartens up and stops getting sucked up into the middle of nowhere.
John Anthony-Played as a back for Willi , and did well mostly. I think he could alomost play as a tall winger early on , such is his ability at ground level and he has a bit of toe , to go with good decision maing and footskills.Eventually may slot in to CHB at senior level , but has a lot of flexibility to his game for a 192 cm player.
Nicholls-AFL level footskills , great goal sense , determined , good decision maker. Will probably be on the list at the expense of Dawes but unlucky not to be on , on his own merit at the end of the year.Looks quick enough for AFL but unsure if I would say he would have anything special in terms of pace at that level.
Toovey-Undersized key back who has taken a liking for using run of the last line of defence even if he looks like a baby giraffe while doing so. I think the coaching staff were impressed with his level of defensive desperation and his willingness to take on the game from the last line.
Cox-Another Collingwood 6 foot 3 jack of all trades footballer , hasn't shown the definite AFL potential of his similar type in the squad (O'Brien,Anthony) , but does show at times glimpses of being able to grow so much more as a player. Great athleticism and reads the play very well , just needs a position on the ground. While beaten by Ablett on PF day his run and terrific use by hand stood out to me as extremely promising and may have contributed to his suprise elevation.He looks to have a terrific build for AFL footballer and I feel if he starts to really believe in himself we might see a pretty handy footballer , or he could just be a tease who it never clicked for. Hard to define footballer , who I feel is worth the gamble.