Griffths signs one year deal [unconfirmed]

[Grockadoc]

Yeh...5th year in he will suddenly take off

So, we can't afford to give an injury prone 22 year old Key Position Player another year to develop, but we could do it for players such as Shane Edwards, Jayden Post, Luke McGuane etc. Makes no sense.

 

[the push up king]

Yeh...5th year in he will suddenly take off

Kpp are notorious late bloomers. See Carlton's Henderson. 23 and had a great year. In 2012-11 he could only mange 11 and 15 games, played every game this year.

Peoples inpatients for young, injury prone kpp is getting very old

 

[UpTheGuts]

Given Ralph's record, he has probably won a free ear deal

 

[GetOverIt]

The issue is he doesn't compete hard enough and never has...that simply doesn't get any better

 

[RichoLedio]

I'm happy with this, one year for him to pull his finger out, hopefully without distractions or injuries, nothing to lose imo

 

[PUNTROADHAMMER]

Really?

Like Derrickx?

So you don't see any merit at all in giving a bloke who's 6' 7" and only just turned 22, a chance to get a strong pre-season and get a decent run into 2014 to turn his career around like Jacko or Whitey? He's got a golden right leg, obvious talent, but granted, he may never take the next step but I think its worth a punt, and more significantly so too do the Club.

 

[GetOverIt]

No I don't see any merit

 

[PUNTROADHAMMER]

No I don't see any merit

Never mind

 

[Calcium Man]

So, we can't afford to give an injury prone 22 year old Key Position Player another year to develop, but we could do it for players such as Shane Edwards, Jayden Post, Luke McGuane etc. Makes no sense.

Are you serious. Guy is tall, injury riddled and most 200 cm guys usually take 6-7 years to really start making mark at AFL level! Let's not forget he had been awful this year. The 3 previous years where he was showing improvement should be completely ignored!

 

[Grockadoc]

Are you serious. Guy is tall, injury riddled and most 200 cm guys usually take 6-7 years to really start making mark at AFL level! Let's not forget he had been awful this year. The 3 previous years where he was showing improvement should be completely ignored!

That's what I am saying. Shane Edwards didn't set the world alight in his first 3-4 seasons. Neither did Luke McGuane, and neither had the injuries Griff has. It is well known that Key Position Players, and Ruckman, take longer to develop. Given Griff has been on the list 4 years, 2 of those having been injury riddled, he is still yet to have a full preseason, and yet some still write him off. He is further behind the pack in terms of key position players because he has spent more time in rehab than he has developing so far.

 

[T4P]

No I don't see any merit

Is this a troll account? Not sure if serious.

 

[Harmichael]

Meh - slightly disappointed, not overly- there's good arguments for keeping him but better arguments for getting rid of him IMO. Whatever. Not the most crucial list decision either way at this stage. One year's about right and hopefully will be required to improve considerably to be deemed worthy of another .


EDIT: Though if he get's injured again - tough s**t, delist- no excuses, no extra bloody sympathy years of list clogging.

 

[Theo23]

Ease up blokes. Now that we've got our own VFL team we can rotate him through FF/CHF with our own coaches rather than shove him down back and give him no continuity.

Aggression at the contest is something you lose at times. He's suffered a couple concussions iirc but it's fairly easy to snap out of. I went through the exact same thing, albeit at a local level. Was scared of going in for the footy, didn't want to cop a knock after I came back from an injury and was a spud. One day I just snapped out of it and played more aggressive then I ever had and improved immensly. I reckon all Griff needs is some confidence. Would be the 4th attacking tall we've lacked (including rucks) and allow Vickery to roam the ground more.

I'll almost surely get shot down for this but he's done alot more then blokes like O'Hanlo, Verrier and Darrou to deserve a spot on the list.

 

[Theo23]

Yeh...5th year in he will suddenly take off

Because all talls usually start to dominate in their first couple years...

Tom Hawkins was a spud until the 2011 Grand Final and look what he's become.

 

[Theo23]

Cleve Hughes

Jay Schulz

 

[Spluff]

So, we can't afford to give an injury prone 22 year old Key Position Player another year to develop, but we could do it for players such as Shane Edwards, Jayden Post, Luke McGuane etc. Makes no sense.

Those players all showed a lot more in their first few seasons. That said, I think giving Griffiths another year is the best choice. He should know it's his absolute last chance and should be given an extended run in the forward line. If, several months into the season he's still not showing anything in the forward line, put him into the ruck as a last ditch effort. If that doesn't work, then by all means get rid of him.

 

[THE_GUN]

Good move

Im a fan of keeping him but open to trading him as well depending on the right deal but can see him doing a Jay Shultz and becoming a player when 24/25

 

[Top_4_Tiger]

I like Griff.

But I generally don't rate uncompetitive players.

People who are comparing him to Jackson, White, Schultz etc are ignoring the key difference between all those guys and Griffiths. All of them showed hunger, appetite for physical contact, aggression, bursts of good play (followed by bad or going missing) etc.

Griff has shown absolute softness, has taken a couple of good marks up forward 3 years ago across 2 games, never kicked a bag, never shown a burst of good play, and most of all, plays like a skinny netballer. He's achieved less than Cleve Hughes, by quite a bit.

Now compare those soft traits to Tyrone Vickery, someone you do expect to become a good player. Ty has always had aggression, an appetite for physicality, shown bursts if good play eg brilliant vision in traffic and handballing it with a bit of class, or actually using his athleticism to side step a midfielder and run in to kick a 50m goal.

His only true upside is via mental maturity. He needs to enjoy his football more to get the best out of himself, and change his way of thinking about contests. These are hard to do.

 

[wart101]

Play him in the forward line please.....

 

[Tomnat Tigers]

Griffiths case is simple. Leave him one out at Full Forward in our OWN VFL side and see what he can do. His strengths lie with his speed of the mark and big body making it hard to get a fist in if your a defender, followed by going back and sending it between the big sticks. Trying to make him crash packs is not his forte and he doesn't have a chance at making it if thats what we ask him to do.

Elton is our forward who can crash packs and work up the ground. Hopefully next season he is given as much opportunity as possible to showcase his ability.

 

[theflea]

Just read it on the H/S website......speechless.

Since when do accept anything you read in the media as gospel?

 

[Dr Awkward]

He is definitely worth another year. Key position player who has shown some ability and was a reasonably high draft pick. If he has another poor year then delist but it would be too early at this stage.

Would like to see him crash a few packs a bit more.

 

[Danog]

Griff has shown absolute softness, has taken a couple of good marks up forward 3 years ago across 2 games, never kicked a bag, never shown a burst of good play, and most of all, plays like a skinny netballer. He's achieved less than Cleve Hughes, by quite a bit.

I'd say "soft" is the wrong word to use with Griff. He goes when it's his turn. His problem is that he lacks intensity.

 

[Mr Magic]

Ease up blokes. Now that we've got our own VFL team we can rotate him through FF/CHF with our own coaches rather than shove him down back and give him no continuity.

Aggression at the contest is something you lose at times. He's suffered a couple concussions iirc but it's fairly easy to snap out of. I went through the exact same thing, albeit at a local level. Was scared of going in for the footy, didn't want to cop a knock after I came back from an injury and was a spud. One day I just snapped out of it and played more aggressive then I ever had and improved immensly. I reckon all Griff needs is some confidence. Would be the 4th attacking tall we've lacked (including rucks) and allow Vickery to roam the ground more.

I'll almost surely get shot down for this but he's done alot more then blokes like O'Hanlo, Verrier and Darrou to deserve a spot on the list.

The other thing is if McBean comes into the firsts it allows more scope for Griff and Elton to develop in the 2's as well as other prospects!

 

[TigermanM2]

Are you serious. Guy is tall, injury riddled and most 200 cm guys usually take 6-7 years to really start making mark at AFL level! Let's not forget he had been awful this year. The 3 previous years where he was showing improvement should be completely ignored!

Watch as McBean smashes that theory right out of the ball park in 2014