Hendos Secret!!!

[The Smith Revolution]

Something I pondered Friday night at the game; when said Crows scout sussed out Hendo at some random basketball screening two years ago I am guessing they saw a young man with good hand eye, athleticism and knew he was a Victorian with a half decent footy background. I have serious doubts whether they new the kid was a speed machine!!!!

Nice secret Hendo.

 

[Sekaj]

Why not? Speed is actually handy (and noticeable) in basketball too.

[YOUTUBE]k3jxiq3wQy4[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Stephen2]

I've been thinking about Hendo's secret and it's something I noticed back in (I think) Rnd 5 vs. Bulldogs that made me sit up & take notice.

He reads the bounce of the ball amazingly well.

In this case (from memory) it was Hendo and two bulldog players chasing a loose ball that was running away from them. Naturally in this situation you run straight at the ball, but as he got close I noticed Hendo purposefully take a big angle deviation, so much so that he crossed over the path the bulldog player was going.

In that split second, I thought where the hell is he going?? But then the ball bounced and it went straight into his arms going at full speed and he won the contest! Very impressive stuff...

Along with that, there was the time he read the bounce of the ball better against the 2 Eagles players for that great goal.

I'm sure there's more examples I'm forgetting because it's a very special talent and coupled with his great speed and body positioning (from basketball) and nice kick, he's got a good future.

 

[cmndstab]

I'm pretty sure Hendo's speed has always been well known by the club, that's easy to test (and they did do a number of athletics tests on him). What I think has been a really pleasant and unexpected surprise is just how quickly he reads the play. They recruited him off the back of one brilliant half in a country league match, there could have been no way to know from that match that in two years time he'd be reading the player quicker than most seasoned AFL players

 

[afc9798]

I'm pretty sure Hendo's speed has always been well known by the club, that's easy to test (and they did do a number of athletics tests on him). What I think has been a really pleasant and unexpected surprise is just how quickly he reads the play. They recruited him off the back of one brilliant half in a country league match, there could have been no way to know from that match that in two years time he'd be reading the player quicker than most seasoned AFL players

BTW in regards to your signature.... here's some for you:

Story
Glory
Gory
Hoarey

Just lending a hand, although 'GLORY' is the obvious one

 

[hippyhippy]

How quick is he really? i havent seen much of Hendo, but to me he doesnt really seem to be fast, well not as fast as everyone is saying. I think dangerfield is FAST, but hendo? im not so sure, to me it looks like he reads the play so well that he makes space for himself and it makes him look really fast. however when hes running along he doesnt look that quick to me.

 

[Stephen2]

He is definitely quick, very speedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDeERtpujAc&feature=related

0:53 or so...

It's not the best example of his pace but even so you can see he is running fast, much faster than the 2 Eagles.

 

[spexau]

I think his acceleration is more noticable than his top speed. Don't take anything away from his top speed though because he is very, very fast. Against Geelong Wojinski was at full tilt and ran past Hendo who as at a jog he then accelerated and tackled him in a very short space of time.

If you look out for his speed you will really realise how quick he is. It wouldn't surprise me if he were quicker than Patty either. Maybe we'll see him in the Grand Final sprint? That's if we don't make it of course

 

[hippyhippy]

after watching those highlights.. you can really notice his acceleration !! he is deceptively slow!! which is awesome... i hope he gets all the slower talls, he will run rings around them!

 

[spexau]

There was a bit of play in the 3rd quarter against Geelong where he was just running around full tilt closing players down. Was really fun to watch I think you mean he's deceptively quick also. If he were deceptively slow then his legs would be going a million miles an hour but going no where

 

[Chillidog]

How quick is he really? i havent seen much of Hendo, but to me he doesnt really seem to be fast, well not as fast as everyone is saying. I think dangerfield is FAST, but hendo? im not so sure, to me it looks like he reads the play so well that he makes space for himself and it makes him look really fast. however when hes running along he doesnt look that quick to me.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/psd-rookie-draft-bios/story-0-1111118335229

10. Adelaide - Ricky Henderson
Basketball background playing for Ballarat Miners in the SEABL. Has elite vertical leap and has run a sub 2.90 sec for 20m sprint. Versatile utility.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/psd-rookie-draft-bios/story-0-1111118335229

Speed was always known.

 

[cmndstab]

BTW in regards to your signature.... here's some for you:

Story
Glory
Gory
Hoarey

Just lending a hand, although 'GLORY' is the obvious one

"Category" works well too

The comments on Hendo's acceleration are spot on - particularly for a big guy, he's elite in that category.