- Oct 6, 2012
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Am loving what this guy brings to the team. So clean with his hands to pick up the loose ball. Even when bursting through the pack he comes out with the ball.
Player Watch Sam Berry
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Uber impressed with how clean & composed this kid is in traffic. Kicking his obvious weak spot but that will improve in time I'm sure. Great pick up & the fact he's playing every available game means coaches are as happy as most of us.
UcantCme
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- Mar 3, 2021
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Agree
His clean hands in traffic has improved significantly over the past month or so, I have no doubt his kicking will as well as he continues to work in his game
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Really good example of giving a young bloke time to get used to the pace of the next level.
Exponential improvement, look forward to seeing him start in the centre square
Exponential improvement, look forward to seeing him start in the centre square
What! That doesn't happen. If you bring in a kid he needs to star right away or he is forever a dud, that's the rule isn't it?
To be fair, Berry has been fairly good from his first match, including the pre-season trial match. The next step for him is finding a way to get his possession count from 10ish into the mid-high teens.
Gee he's a tough nut for a 19 year old, though! Several times a match he'll just run straight through someone, or bounce off a tackle. I reckon he's going to be a real fan favourite.
Gee he's a tough nut for a 19 year old, though! Several times a match he'll just run straight through someone, or bounce off a tackle. I reckon he's going to be a real fan favourite.
A quicker Sloane.
You can tell he's not just your normal old contested tackling midfielder - he has a few other strings to his bow, too. Now that he's getting a bit more run through the midfield in recent weeks, he's been able to show these strings off, such as his very quick hands and agility in traffic
As many have said, he just needs to elevate that production, as does Schoenberg. Once they do, they'll end up great players for us
As many have said, he just needs to elevate that production, as does Schoenberg. Once they do, they'll end up great players for us
I wonder how much of that is chicken and egg stuff. Would Berry and Schoenberg increase their disposal count if played in the engine room more often? I wonder what Laird, Keays and Sloane's disposal counts would look like if they only attended half the bounces and spent the rest of their time in makeshift roles?
Drugs Are Bad Mackay?
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Finally there's a decent Berry playing AFL!He's a keeper!
...only stirring haha
- Aug 7, 2015
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Wonder if he can get a Rising Star nom this year ... wont be eligible next year having played 11 games already.
Cleanest hands on the field Saturday night. Going to be our inside extractor for the next decade. Can go forward as well which is a plus.
- Oct 13, 2017
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So good we got berry with the BCrouch pick..
He’s gonna be a better player for us than Brad was or couldve been in the long run..
happy to let MCrouch go this year too if it helps bring in more talent like this lad..
He’s gonna be a better player for us than Brad was or couldve been in the long run..
happy to let MCrouch go this year too if it helps bring in more talent like this lad..
Rising Star or not, the kid is going to be a Jet. Getting better and better as he feels more comfortable at the level.
Was so impressed with his clean hands in the wet v Saints. Can't wait to see him and Schoey get more time in the midfield as these two are the future. Sloaney needs to be pushed to a half forward to allow these two to develop.
Golumless
A bigger deal out west.
I think it's inevitable at this point. Will likely come during a week where there isn't a standout, unnominated kid.
Golumless
A bigger deal out west.
Probably not at the level Brad could have been. Berry doesn't have that star power, though he looks like he'll end up somewhere in the elite echelon of midfielders at this point of time.
What Brad could have been was at a similar level to Dangerfield, or Martin. Unfortunately, injuries that culminated with a mismanaged groin took away that explosive power he had, and we were left with a very good, albeit diminished inside midifelder.
A damn shame. He could have been one of the greats.
- Oct 6, 2012
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No. We wished Brad could be a Dangerfield or Martin. Then slowly over time it became apparent that he just isn’t a damaging player. He has a few damaging possessions each game, but a lot of fluff too.
Golumless
A bigger deal out west.
Nah, Brad lost it through injuries. Not that we overrated him.
Brad at 19-22 had that explosive acceleration that would have turned him into that echelon of player. He never regained it post that 2016 groin injury, unfortunately.
Agree with the above, but was never damaging enough by foot. Also refuses to defend and be accountable, so not sure if the injuries affected him to give a s**t about his teammates or not.
Golumless
A bigger deal out west.
Nor was Dangerfield or Fyfe. Both best seasons with the ball have just eclipsed 60% kicking efficiency. Dangerfield also had multiple seasons where he'd eclipsed 100+ turnovers.
Being damaging by foot is one way that can make you a top 10 player. It isn't a requirement to get you into that club.
Brad was certainly a weird one defensively. His best year with us (2017) is very 2021 Keays like in terms of pressure acts and tackles. It just regressed (2017: 6.85 tackles/20.05 pressure acts. it would decrease to 5.04 tackles/17.13 pressure acts in 2019). All three of our main movers saw decreases in this area between this period* which indicates it all got very stale. It's also worth noting it does seem like the move to the Saints has reinvigorated him as he's going at his 2017 levels now defensively.
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* For funisies
Matt Crouch in 2017 produced: 4.76 tackles/18.47 pressure acts
in 2019: 3.41 tackles/17.95 pressure acts
Rory Sloane in 2017: 7.8 tackles/24.7 pressure acts
in 2019: 5.9 tackles/24.6 pressure acts.
As said, I have no reason outside of it all became very stale.
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Defensive actions extend further than just the tackling stat IMO. Saturday night's game was a perfect example where he had a few opportunities to provide defensive pressure, but is too selective as to when he wants to defend and when he doesn't. Last year he thought defending was not his job, hence why we were so happy to let him go for a bag of crisps (which have turned out to be a pretty valuable bag of crisps at that, in Sam Berry).
Agree though, that Brad could have been anything, but don't think he had the mental aptitude to apply himself like the best players in the game are prepared to do the work to take their game to the next level.
There was a heap of external pressure on him post-Dangerfield era which I don't think he handled too well.
Golumless
A bigger deal out west.
I did include pressure acts for that reason. It covers any moment Brad has put any sort of pressure on the opposition but didn't result in a stoppage (tackles are when it results in a stoppage). Gives a bit more context to it. Brad might come off as selective, however, he's rated as elite in tackles, and very good in pressure in 2021 by the AFL own metrics.
It's quite possible that mentality or Brad getting ahead of himself also negatively impacted him. It's wouldn't be difficult for a player to end up falling into that trap in an environment like Adelaide, see exhibit A: Chad Wingard.
Though, we definitely let him go because we thought he was going to get us band 1 compensation, not any flaws in his game.
Agree with this, however if we didn't see any flaws in his game (or his attitude) then I suspect we would have possibly signed him up!
Either way, if we replace Berry with Crouch, do we have more wins this year? I wouldn't have thought so, and in addition to Berry, we have more room in the cap, and a better long term prospect, so happy days.
Here is a question for you all. If we had have gotten band 1 compensation, who would we have taken at pick 3 you reckon? Hollands? Will Hollands be better than Sam Berry?? Will be an interesting comparison as the years progress and see where Sam is rated in the 2020 draft, as I suspect it will be at the pointy end.
He's already building very nicely, even from where he was at R1, so it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him get a late-season nom
Would be a superb feat as a first-year midfielder to do so, I think only Gulden and Campbell can claim they've done that from this season's noms
