Most Improved So Far

[loopy_cam]

Well we're a third of the way through the home and away season and the mood is good at Bomberland. I think most would agree that we are on the right track and are looking good for number 17 in a few years time (or less ). The team has improved greatly since last year and this is because of some individuals who have improved out of sight. I created this poll in order to see who we think has improved the most. So, I give you the nominees in alphabetical order:

Darcy Daniher - Darcy has been injured for a few weeks now but his form prior to that was nothing short of outstanding. His game against Fremantle was brilliant, racking up 22 disposals and 11 marks while also keeping his opponent quiet. And all this in just his fourth game of footy. He has gone from being nowhere near our best 22 at the beginning of the year to a lock in a lot of people's starting 18.

Courtenay Dempsey - I, like a lot of people, have had very high hopes for Courtenay for a while. He has finally been able to stay on the park this year and he has not disappointed. It's not only what he does when he has the ball but what he does defensively which has been very impressive with Demps. He is constantly backing into packs to help out his fellow defenders.

Ricky Dyson - I was amazed to see a thread on BB the other day, which was focusing on players playing for their career, and not see Dysons name mentioned once on the first two pages. I think this shows how much he has improved his game this year. From certain delisting to not mentioned in a delisting thread in seven rounds is quite a turnaround. And who can forget his ANZAC day game?

Heath Hocking - From the quality of Heath's games this year it is hard to remember that he has only played 11 senior games. After one game in 2007 and three in '08, Hocking has played every game this year bar one, due to injury. He is averaging 20 disposals, 5 marks and 5 tackles a game and has filled the tagging role superbly in Woosha's absence.

Cale Hooker - After breaking in for a couple of games last year due to our extravagant injury list, Cale has become a key in our defence since coming in this year. He has performed very honourably against Riewoldt and Franklin in the last two weeks and although I did not see the Brisbane game I believe he did well on Brown(?) in the second half. As well as shutting down his opponent he has provided great rebound from defence averaging just under 18 disposals.

Andrew Lovett - After nearly being traded at the end of last year, Lovett has been absolutely superb this year. He gets tagged nearly every week now and I think that shows how valuable he is to us. Opposition teams believe he is our most damaging player and I think they're on the money. On 'On the Couch' on Monday they showed a stat which showed players which were involved in the most 'scoring pieces of play' for their team. Lovett was about third(?) on the list out of the entire competition which shows just how valuable he is. When Lovett gets the ball, more times than not we end up with a goal.

Tayte Pears - Justin Kositchke, Jarryd Roughead, Daniel Bradshaw, Mathew Pavlich. All that needs to be said really.

Patrick Ryder - Has Paddy Ryder improved at all over the last eight weeks? Who would've thought that Paddy would be our number one ruckman and not only filling the role, but excelling in it.

Brent Stanton - Stants was often maligned on these boards but he has improved greatly this year. Averaging a handy 26 disposals and 7 marks a game (up from 22 and 6 last year), Stants has continued to run hard and deliver to our forwards with precision.

Jobe Watson - Jobe has been absolutely superb this year yet is still underrated by most of the competition. Yes, he does stuff up the odd kick but on the whole he has improved his kicking greatly. Averaging a whopping 29 disposals this year, Jobe's calmness under pressure, ability to win the hard ball countless times and supreme handballing ability are bringing him closer to becoming one of the elite mids of the competition.

Jason Winderlich - Winders would be close to our B&F at this stage and this is after practically no pre-season with his bad back. Imagine what he could have done if he had been training for four months.

 

[HighettBomber]

Hooker, he was no where near it last year and has just come off good performances against Franklin and Reiwoldt. He would have been absolutely smashed by either last season.

 

[bomber69]

I went with Dempsey. Has been absolutley fantastic this year.

 

[james_omahoney]

Lovett for mine because it's improvement in his mid twenties, and quite a sensational difference.

 

[Rack Watts]

Ryder, we would be F'd without his ANZAC day efforts, it now looks like bigger ruckmen are afraid of him.
Dempsey and Lovett at a close equal second.

 

[dirtywhitepacker]

Following the criteria 'most improved', I have to say Cale Hooker. It seems a solid year at Bendigo followed by a full preseason has built this bloke up to AFL level and he is playing some extraordinary football compared to what we saw less than a year ago.

 

[BringBackCransberg]

Man, that is a very difficult choice, which is brilliant.

I went with Lovett 'cos now his former good days are brilliant, his former OK days are quarters, his former bad days are dead and his former self is well and truly former. Now he's almost the footballer he can be, which is elite, and all the more sweet for where he was headed. That is, it's not just improvement on where he was, but improvement on where he was headed. It's double improvement for him.

Dempsey I think always showed what he could do, his body just never gave him the chance to do it consistently.

Dyson has jumping-jacked it out of a hole of delistation.

Hocking found 200 games during the preseason to keep in his drawer for later.

Ryder has become a man on the ground, no longer a boy.

Even Laycock has improved in that no one has been pissed with his attitude.

One tasty year-third of improvement. Two more and we'll not just play finals, we may even win a couple.

 

[bomberandy]

I went for Hooker. Overall the whole side has improved greatly, but I really didn't have Hooker playing to many games this season, let alone doing as good a job as he has done in the last 2 games.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

Jobe Watson. Can now be considered an elite AFL player in my books. Seems to have plenty of time with the ball in his hands, despite the fact he isn't one of the quickest in the competiton. Looks the general in the middle, and often makes the correct decisions nine times out of ten.

Last year; There was no way I'd consider him anywhere near elite. He was above average, but not a player that would often standout. When I have watched and gone to matches this year; He has stood out like dog's balls in a good way. Has shown leadership, courage, poise & great decision making skills this year on a consistant basis. All credit goes to him, has worked extremely hard for these outstanding results.

Unlucky: Winderlich, Dempsey, Ryder.

 

[MarkJohnson#1]

Jobe Watson. Can now be considered an elite AFL player in my books. Seems to have plenty of time with the ball in his hands, despite the fact he isn't one of the quickest in the competiton. Looks the general in the middle, and often makes the correct decisions nine times out of ten.

Last year; There was no way I'd consider him anywhere near elite. He was above average, but not a player that would often standout. When I have watched and gone to matches this year; He has stood out like dog's balls in a good way. Has shown leadership, courage, poise & great decision making skills this year on a consistant basis. All credit goes to him, has worked extremely hard for these outstanding results.

Unlucky: Winderlich, Dempsey, Ryder.

Agreed, has taken yet another positive step and the days of frustration with Jobe are seemingly behind us. Borderline elite status for mine but more than confident he will reach it.

Hocking, Pears and Hooker not far off.

 

[table tennis]

Tayte Pears.

The quiet achiever down back.

Has not played a bad game all year. after 8 rounds, that is a feather in the cap for a young key defender.

Honorable Mentions: Watson & Stanton have taken their games to another level, Cale Hooker has improved out of sight, Ryder has been super in the ruck since Hille went down.

Winders has come back strong. However, I think most of us forget how good he was getting before he went down. But to pick up where he left off is a credit to him and the medical staff down at Windy Hill.

Exciting times, however, we must win this weekend.

 

[daffo]

Tayte Pears - In his second year, he has cemented his spot in the side. IMO is already our second best defender behind Fletch. He is calm with the ball, shows great decision making skills, can spoil well and is only 19! I'm very happy with the boy.

 

[james_omahoney]

Tayte Pears - In his second year, he has cemented his spot in the side. IMO is already our second best defender behind Fletch. He is calm with the ball, shows great decision making skills, can spoil well and is only 19! I'm very happy with the boy.

I kind of think Hurley is a better defender than Tayte, and that's no criticism on Pears - he's going to be a star - but I don't think Kosi would have kicked 4 on Hurley. Anyway, purely speculation, especially considering Hurley's only played one game (albeit shutting down Tredrea and Westhoff). Maybe we'll find out later in the year .

But I understand what you mean - Hurley can't really be considered in a rating system yet, hence Tayte is no. 2.

 

[Sealz]

god its good to look at that poll and see how spread the votes are.... that fact that we have so many players improving at the same time is fantastic for the footy club...

This was tough... In the end... I went with Dempsey...just for the fact that he has been so damn impressive in his first uninterupted run at senior level... love the way this guy plays...
Could mount a strong argument for all mentioned.... but Lovett,Winders, Ryder and Watson have all stood up at a time when we really needed them...

 

[Boucks09]

I went with Hocking as nobody (bar Knights) would have considered him anywhere near our best 22 at the start of the season.

Hocking I feel is one of the most important players in our side at the moment. The game that he missed (against North) shows how important he is. If he plays, we win the game. Simple as that. There is no way in hell that Boomer Harvey would've done half the damage he did that day with Hocking playing on him. No other player is able to do that role in our team at the moment, whilst also winning plenty of the hard ball. He never makes a decision making error, and rarely makes a mistake with his disposal. I also think he is a great leader in the midfield and plays with plenty of passion. He will be in the leadership group in the next 2 years.

Pears, Winderlich & Dempsey were high draft picks that we knew could play but just need some luck with injury. They are justifying their selections now.

Jobe and Stants were already guns, they have now improved to almost elite (not quite). Stants needs to work on playing with taggers and Jobe just needs an extra 5% on his kicking (he is almost there!).

Ryder is playing a different position, so it is hard to judge how much he has improved.

Darcy and Cale have been terrific and would be 2nd and 3rd for mine. Neither looked close to it last year, but are now on the cusp of a regular senior spot (behind Fletch, Pears and Hurley). To think of 3rd and 4th round draft picks in their second season playing on the likes of Fevola, Brown and Franklin (with the highest against kicking 5) is wonderful.

Lovett is showing what a good attitude and mindset can do for a player. Again he is showing what he could do in quarters, throughout entire games now. We knew he had it in him.

Dyson has added a defensive element to his game which has made him more valuable to the side. He was always able to get plenty of the ball, but now he is making his stats more valubalbe by taking the game on and running through tackles. Still not cemented in our best 22 but is very very close.

 

[BringBackCransberg]

[...]

Hocking I feel is one of the most important players in our side at the moment. The game that he missed (against North) shows how important he is. If he plays, we win the game. Simple as that. There is no way in hell that Boomer Harvey would've done half the damage he did that day with Hocking playing on him. No other player is able to do that role in our team at the moment, whilst also winning plenty of the hard ball. He never makes a decision making error, and rarely makes a mistake with his disposal. I also think he is a great leader in the midfield and plays with plenty of passion. He will be in the leadership group in the next 2 years.
[...]

Good call Garth.

 

[stay true]

This was actually really tough to pick. There's been soo much improvement from a lot of those players, but I went for Tayter. For a bloke who's played 13 games, he's done exceptionally well for a key defender.

Could have easily picked Hocking, Windows, Hooker etc.

 

[daffo]

Pears has taken a huge lead in this. It's great to see. playing KP at such a young age is a lot harder then playing a midfield role.
I don't think Dempsey has improved this year, he was always playing this well, but was just injured quickly, same with Hocking.

 

[SirJimi05]

I would have seperated the poll into two categories.

Youngsters and more senior players.

It is common and almost expected for younger players to make solid improvement in their development years so it is not really fair to compare them to players such as Dyson who would have been expected to hit their peak by now.

For this reason i will nominate Andrew Lovett.

 

[warney7]

I had to go with Dyson on this one.

I really hated the football that he produced for us in the last couple of years, but he seems to have his confidence back and is playing like he never has before.

The way he played on ANZAC day, 30 touches against StKilda and most important of all, increased disposal efficiency.

He's gone from being list clogger to a guy who might just hold his spot even when McVeigh, Welsh, Reimers and Prismall come in.

 

[ghostdog]

I went for Lovett, though it was a choice between him and Dyson.

That said, I cannot believe how few votes Dyson has.

His improvement has been tremendous.
He now hits targets, and does it from 40 metres away efficiently; his tackling has improved, he gets in and under without hesitation, he consistently runs and supports and he has become one of our highest possession winners. A plus as well is that the competition still underrates him. No-one bar Essendon supporters has noticed his improvement.

Stuff yas. I'm voting again

edit: just tried. Can't vote again, so when the tally is done, don't forget.
*Ghostdog votes Dyson*

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Dyson - delisting material to borderline best 22.