Past Nicholas Graham

[P_Crippy]

From memory he had to hit the scoreboard more and it seems he is.

Going to play devils advocate here and suggest that maybe, just maybe, he was being developed rather than being shunned until now and it has clearly paid off.

I could be wrong, but I also may have heard/read that he had to work on his two-way running as well as he may not have been working hard enough to get back and defend at times. He does strike me as the type of footballer who takes all this feedback on and then goes back and works hard on his weaknesses. True reward for effort for NG.

 

[HARKER]

It's okay to say he had deficiencies. What made it laughable was the collective team performance at the time...very few of them didn't have deficiencies and yet weren't treated the way NG was.

Exactly. Buckley has more to work on than Graham has, from my point of view.

Nick is what he is. A thinking footballer that knows where to position himself on the ground, tackle with venom, find the ball and kick goals...............although he is a little slow.

Let him bleed into the system and he'll be getting 20-25 quality possessions a game.............just like he used to do every week in the VFL.

 

[Big Sim]

I could be wrong, but I also may have heard/read that he had to work on his two-way running as well as he may not have been working hard enough to get back and defend at times. He does strike me as the type of footballer who takes all this feedback on and then goes back and works hard on his weaknesses. True reward for effort for NG.

Yes, agree wholeheartedly.

Good to see development and players working hard paying off for the likes of Nicky, Crippa, Cas, Bell and Bucks, who have all improved notedly.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

It speaks volumes about Graham's character that he didn't have a strop about it, he just dug in and worked hard and now he's reaping the rewards

 

[Broadside]

I could be wrong, but I also may have heard/read that he had to work on his two-way running as well as he may not have been working hard enough to get back and defend at times. He does strike me as the type of footballer who takes all this feedback on and then goes back and works hard on his weaknesses. True reward for effort for NG.

Graham was breaking Mick's team rules, instead of 2 way running he was tackling. So he had to go back to the VFL and improve his defensive game.

 

[T2B_]

Agree, he's as deserving of his rewards as anyone and has worked his absolute butt off. We need more Grahams and less Griggs and I think we've done well in at least targeting these hard working, tough kids lately.

 

[rp84]

Very happy to appear wrong about this guy.

Is a genuine footballer. As opposed to all the athletes that get drafted. IF he had an extra yard or two, would have star potential. As it is, I think he could become a very handy long term player- something I didn't think possible a month ago.

 

[HARKER]

Very happy to appear wrong about this guy.

Is a genuine footballer. As opposed to all the athletes that get drafted. IF he had an extra yard or two, would have star potential. As it is, I think he could become a very handy long term player- something I didn't think possible a month ago.

Meat and potatoes can be good. You just can't have too many meat and potatoes.

Needs the likes of Yarran, Menzel, Buckley, Boekhorst etc to make good of the receives when they start coming their way.

 

[T2B_]

Did he slide so much in the draft because of factors like his speed?

IMO it's a bit worrying if recruiters are dismissing so many players purely because of something like how fast they can run, because as rp84 alluded to, there's probably a bunch of good genuine footballers out there who may lack express pace, but it's hardly the be-all and end-all...

 

[P_Crippy]

Did he slide so much in the draft because of factors like his speed?

IMO it's a bit worrying if recruiters are dismissing so many players purely because of something like how fast they can run, because as rp84 alluded to, there's probably a bunch of good genuine footballers out there who may lack express pace, but it's hardly the be-all and end-all...

Maybe a combination of speed and size, as the trend of the last few years has definitely been about the big-bodied midfielder. If you aren't one of those then you needed to be a speedster. I think with Hawthorn's success, recruiters are now not neglecting actually footy smarts and a quick football brain.

 

[F_therest]

Did he slide so much in the draft because of factors like his speed?

IMO it's a bit worrying if recruiters are dismissing so many players purely because of something like how fast they can run, because as rp84 alluded to, there's probably a bunch of good genuine footballers out there who may lack express pace, but it's hardly the be-all and end-all...

I don't even think he's slow? Why do people keep saying that he is.

You don't execute those Chase down tackles if you're slow ...he can't be any slower that Mitchell, Watson, priddis, mundy etc who are all stars

 

[F_therest]

Maybe a combination of speed and size, as the trend of the last few years has definitely been about the big-bodied midfielder. If you aren't one of those then you needed to be a speedster. I think with Hawthorn's success, recruiters are now not neglecting actually footy smarts and a quick football brain.

Agree. Recruiters seem to be going more for footballers these days, not the fad of recruiting athletes from a few years ago. Need a good footy brain and be able to kick.

Speaking of big bodied, cripps, bell, Graham and curnow gives us some serious grunt in the midfield .

 

[T2B_]

I don't even think he's slow? Why do people keep saying that he is.

You don't execute those Chase down tackles if you're slow ...he can't be any slower that Mitchell, Watson, priddis, mundy etc who are all stars

Well that's sort of my point. Most of the star genuine "midfielders" aren't exactly quick and are true footballers who have quick footy brains rather than legs.

Brock McLean was still able to have impact on games and he'd get out-run by most ruckmen (even the less athletic ones).

You still need/want your speedsters, but not every player has to be one. Hawthorn are a good example of team with some fairly one-paced midfielders who have some outside speedsters to complement them.

 

[Broadside]

Did he slide so much in the draft because of factors like his speed?

IMO it's a bit worrying if recruiters are dismissing so many players purely because of something like how fast they can run, because as rp84 alluded to, there's probably a bunch of good genuine footballers out there who may lack express pace, but it's hardly the be-all and end-all...

Agreed. Greg Williams, Sam Mitchell, Cripps and the like aren't fast but they create space for others, they have fast minds and make good choices. Playmakers.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Agreed. Greg Williams, Sam Mitchell, Cripps and the like aren't fast but they create space for others, they have fast minds and make good choices. Playmakers.

Exactly. Big difference between slow to run and slow ball movement.

 

[DaVillaBlues]

People need to build a bridge over Mick, he's been gone more than a month now and its fantastic to see NG make the most of his opportunity, but everytime he playa a good game, I hope we don't see more posts potting MM for not playing him.

Al Clarkson never rated or played Josh Kennedy (for example) at Hawthorn and now he has become a legit A Grader at Sydney, all the best/most successful coaches have gotten it wrong about good players (Yabby Jeans gave Gary Ablett the flick at Hawthorn)

 

[Sector 7G]

From memory he had to hit the scoreboard more and it seems he is.

Going to play devils advocate here and suggest that maybe, just maybe, he was being developed rather than being shunned until now and it has clearly paid off.

Being selected as the sub one week back to the twos the next isn't being developed. The revolving door selection policy at the start of this year was really disappointing.

 

[Big Sim]

Being selected as the sub one week back to the twos the next isn't being developed. The revolving door selection policy at the start of this year was really disappointing.

Maybe they thought a quarter on the ground in the firsts and then back to the twos to process and work on what was learned was development.

 

[ferrisb]

Ignoring for a moment the argument over development, I'm just thankful that for despite whatever reason he was playing in the 2nds, he clearly just gave it his all.

There are several ways to respond to being dropped/not promoted, and the only one I want to see is 'busting a gut to prove I belong in the seniors'. Nicky G seems to have delivered brilliantly on that.

 

[DaVillaBlues]

Being selected as the sub one week back to the twos the next isn't being developed. The revolving door selection policy at the start of this year was really disappointing.

To be fair to Mick, getting mixed messages from the club's board and Trigg didn't help, was he coaching for wins/own survival or told to develop and play the kids ?

The fault seems to be shared equally and that was always going to be a problem going into this season with MM out of contract for next season.

Not defending the mistakes MM made this year, but if you look at the situation from his point of view, he really was in an no win situation (damned either way by playing kids like NG or not)

 

[El Topo]

From memory he had to hit the scoreboard more and it seems he is.

Going to play devils advocate here and suggest that maybe, just maybe, he was being developed rather than being shunned until now and it has clearly paid off.

Not devil's advocate at all, I was being a bit facetious. Graham has definitely benefited from being forced to bash the door down. It was only this year being dropped after a quarter as sub in the league's worst performing side that things became farcical.

 

[Sublime]

Who cares about the process of how he has arrived at this point, isn't the main part being that he has strung a few very good quality games together? It's all about the end product. Keep ramping from here and we'll have a very dependable player on our hands.

 

[ODNBlue]

Can only think his driving skills, i.e he must have ran over Mick's dog cos I can't think what the problem could have been.

"I sense Mick Malthouse once overheard Nick Graham suggesting that notwithstanding Zig the Clown’s abdication from the throne over sex abuse allegations in 1999, Malthouse was the worst Moomba monarch in its 60 year history."

The People's Elbow
June 23rd, 2015

 

[Broadside]

To be fair to Mick, getting mixed messages from the club's board and Trigg didn't help, was he coaching for wins/own survival or told to develop and play the kids ?

The fault seems to be shared equally and that was always going to be a problem going into this season with MM out of contract for next season.

Not defending the mistakes MM made this year, but if you look at the situation from his point of view, he really was in an no win situation (damned either way by playing kids like NG or not)

it didn't make sense on any level, whether from a perspective of "developing kids" or "saving Mick's job" because NG was both a kid, and best 22. Both goals were aligned. It was nonsense to play him one quarter as sub, a quarter in which he performed really well and laid many tackles, and then drop him when he clearly outperformed many older teammates.

The main thing is that Mick is gone and Nick Graham isn't. All good.

 

[Sector 7G]

To be fair to Mick, getting mixed messages from the club's board and Trigg didn't help, was he coaching for wins/own survival or told to develop and play the kids ?

The fault seems to be shared equally and that was always going to be a problem going into this season with MM out of contract for next season.

Not defending the mistakes MM made this year, but if you look at the situation from his point of view, he really was in an no win situation (damned either way by playing kids like NG or not)

Coaches are always coaching for their survival if the side plays like they did against GWS. Coach for wins/play kids - MM ended up doing neither. Barker has played kids, has given them a decent run and has got a better results.

MM brought forward much of the pressure by saying crap like his contract negotiations were affecting the players. Only to have 2E come out and say it wasn't.

Now he is gone we don't have to feel the need to support him and we can go back to disliking Mick like we did for the 30yr prior to him joining Carlton and can criticize his outdated and flawed game plan that got lucky at Collingwood in a weak year when Geelong were tearing themselves apart over Ablett and St Kilda's captain and best player missed most of the season.