Our Youth

[hbk_aus]

Christensen. Duncan. Menzel. Vardy. Smedts. Guthrie. Motlop. Horlin-Smith. Schroder. Brown. Cowan. Kersten. Murdoch. Hamling.



Just sayin'. In a non-paedophilic way of course.

 

[max powers.]

To say i'm looking forward to their development over the next couple of years is an understatement

 

[Son_Of_God29]

That List of guys will be the next bunch of Geelong Champions - Stephen Wells is a recruiting genius

 

[max powers.]

Bit early for the champion tag. I just hope they keep improving.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Christensen. Duncan. Menzel. Vardy. Smedts. Guthrie. Motlop. Horlin-Smith. Schroder. Brown. Cowan. Kersten. Murdoch. Hamling.



Just sayin'. In a non-paedophilic way of course.

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[hbk_aus]

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Well played sir.

 

[catswhiskers]

A lot of water to go under the bridge before we can see this group as champions. Picking quality youngsters is just the start!

 

[God Mode]

How about we get some games into Smedts, Hamling, Kersten and Murdoch before we start calling them future champions.

 

[pinion]

hmm, only two of that list have convinced me so far, and one of them will miss most of this year. But that's not to say there isn't potential, and that we haven't made the best of what was available.

It'll be very very hard for this list to win a premiership in the future given the concessions that gold coast and GWS have had

 

[nohairandfair]

Christensen. Duncan. Menzel. Vardy. Smedts. Guthrie. Motlop. Horlin-Smith. Schroder. Brown. Cowan. Kersten. Murdoch. Hamling.



Just sayin'. In a non-paedophilic way of course.

Insightful OP.

 

[ekel92]

hmm, only two of that list have convinced me so far, and one of them will miss most of this year. But that's not to say there isn't potential, and that we haven't made the best of what was available.

I would say that the whole 09 draft has convinced me

 

[Vdubs]

Christensen. Duncan. Menzel. Vardy. Smedts. Guthrie. Motlop. Horlin-Smith. Schroder. Brown. Cowan. Kersten. Murdoch. Hamling.



Just sayin'. In a non-paedophilic way of course.

Not forgetting or dismissing Taylor Hunt are we? A lot are.

 

[hbk_aus]

Insightful OP.

Thanks mate. And such an insightful, mature response from you. The post implied simply that our list of 18-21 yr olds seems to be very exciting with decent potential. Somebody else called them future champions which is jumping the gun a touch. But exciting nonetheless.
But if that gem of a response is all u have to offer then probably best to just not comment at all hey?

 

[hbk_aus]

Not forgetting or dismissing Taylor Hunt are we? A lot are.

I was assuming that he was a bit older than the rest of them, barring maybe Brown. I may be wrong.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I was assuming that he was a bit older than the rest of them, barring maybe Brown. I may be wrong.

Same draft as Brown (08 Brown Gillies Motlop Hunt)

 

[hbk_aus]

Same draft as Brown (08 Brown Gillies Motlop Hunt)

There you go. Well we can add him to the list then.

 

[Sttew]

The longer these kids are exposed to premiership players the better they will be. You only have to look at the Australian cricket squad and how confidence and form in the team plummeted following the retirements of Gilchrist, Warne, Hayden, McGrath et al.

Staggering the retirements of our champions is good - that's why I would have liked one more season out of Ottens.

 

[Vdubs]

The longer these kids are exposed to premiership players the better they will be. You only have to look at the Australian cricket squad and how confidence and form in the team plummeted following the retirements of Gilchrist, Warne, Hayden, McGrath et al.

Staggering the retirements of our champions is good - that's why I would have liked one more season out of Ottens.

That's why we have Ottens' namesake in Orren, and we'll have Ottens coaching as well. Agree about staggering though, but we're not losing much in the short term ruck-wise, in theory.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

That's why we have Ottens' namesake in Orren, and we'll have Ottens coaching as well. Agree about staggering though, but we're not losing much in the short term ruck-wise, in theory.

Has he actually joined the coaching staff? Hope he does/has!

 

[bulletproof]

You can hardly count players who have never played a VFL game as promising youth. They are just youth, that Every club has drafted. The reaction to our draftees bemuses me.

With the late picks in a weak draft, If one of these players becomes a regular good senior player we will have done well.

The people who follow the draft closely seem to forget this every year.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Same draft as Brown (08 Brown Gillies Motlop Hunt)

2008 could end up being an extremely underrated crop for us. All four of them have the potential to be 150-200 game players. Of course, it could also go the other way, as Hunt is probably the only one that I'd put the house on still being around in five years' time.

 

[bulletproof]

2008 could end up being an extremely underrated crop for us. All four of them have the potential to be 150-200 game players.

They would want to get moving since between they have managed less than 30 games in 3 years.

If these guys were at another (underperforming) club they would be under huge pressure at this stage in their careers. We have the luxury of incubating for longer but to say they have been anything other than disappointing would be stretching it.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

2008 could end up being an extremely underrated crop for us. All four of them have the potential to be 150-200 game players. Of course, it could also go the other way, as Hunt is probably the only one that I'd put the house on still being around in five years' time.

It's hard to say, really Brown and Motlop have been cruelled by injuries to this point and that makes it hard to judge it.

Gillies has talent, wonderful speed and kicking for a bloke that size, but if he spends this year consistently sitting 10 m off his opponent and getting outpointed 1-1 like he did in the VFL, he might not make it, at least not with us anyway.

I still suspect Brown will be the best of the crop, if his shoulders can hold together, but that's a big if-realistically how many young key position players (which is much more physically demanding than coming in as a young runner) have had three shoulder recos in their first few years-not ongoing cleanup stuff, but major surgeries, and still had a long and successful career at the top level? Off the top of my head I can't think of many. Brown's already had two and I don't think he can afford a third. I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but in a lot of ways I do think Brown is but one or two more serious injuries away from career ending stuff. That said, there's sunshine, the kid reads the ball in flight so well which is why he takes so many marks despite his slender frame. He's great below his knees for a player of that size, and his kicking is fantastic. He could go either way, he could either be a very successful 200 game player for us, or gone due to injuries, and I suspect we'll see one or the other, I hope the former.

Motlop's an interesting case, next year's a big year and he might not survive if he doesn't play well, although really he's still a baby given that he was drafted as a bottom ager and missed basically all of his first two years through injury, and in the meantime broke into the senior team of a premiership side no less. That, and the fact he was an emergency in the finals this year indicates to me the coaches rate him, and he does some great things at VFL level, the problem is consistency, and I think he has a lack of confidence that contributes to that. Has real speed and skill but he must find that consistency and stop giving us 3 great touches and then disappearing for half an hour. I fear that Motlop needs to get confidence in his shoulders, and build them up, the game style we play and what matters in finals indicates he won't be able to cut it purely as an outside player or a small forward, he has to develop the capacity to bat as a midfield rotation as well, and to win his own ball and offer consistent attack into the contest. He's great when he has the ball, but he needs to round out his game. Could go either way for mine.

Hunt's funny, if you look back at the draft thread, and probably still now, he's the one that most of us get least excited about or talk about the least but he's the most likely to make it IMO. He's tough and hard which we love, great defensive application, is developing a body that will be durable, is an extremely hard worker and really coachable and has pace and his skills are good, even if he needs to develop a bit more composure with using them at times. He's the one I'm actually most confident of having a long career with us.

 

[vinum coupe]

2008 could end up being an extremely underrated crop for us. All four of them have the potential to be 150-200 game players. Of course, it could also go the other way, as Hunt is probably the only one that I'd put the house on still being around in five years' time.

Could have been better. There's a certain Port Adelaide player who we could have / thought we were going to take instead of Brown that just won the club B&F in his 2nd real year of footy. Trengove.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

They would want to get moving since between they have managed less than 30 games in 3 years.

If these guys were at another (underperforming) club they would be under huge pressure at this stage in their careers. We have the luxury of incubating for longer but to say they have been anything other than disappointing would be stretching it.

haha yeh let's just tell Hawkins, Stokes, Mackie and Wojak to step aside so those 4 boys can get regular game time shall we

What do you expect?
You want them to crack into one of the greatest sides of all-time within their 1st couple of years and have an impact?

Those who undervalue Mitch Brown are making a huge mistake because he's going to put it all together in 2012 and I think he looks the most talented of all the newer players apart from Bundy and Menzel. His injuries have set him back that's for sure, but Geelong are sticking by him and it's that's loyalty which will reward them in the years to come because Mitch is a very gifted forward who leads to the right places and marks kicks as good as most.
Three goals on debut is a great sign