Toast Pick 51 : Welcome to Carlton Nick Holman

[Blue Dawn]

He does take a rather dim view of the opposition having the ball doesn't he...

We really have been a bit 'light on' in this respect for some time.

 

[raymagoo]

Loved his highlights maybe the most impressive of the 3! I think Kane Lucas could learn how to tackle off him

 

[bluekidjoe]

Looks rough as guts! Has pace, tackles well and sure can fire out a handball. But it's the fact that he looks confident in his split second decisions. Think he'll be a ripper.

 

[mike ockerts]

Watched a couple of bushy games this year being I'm from the GV region, and this kid impressed me a lot, very happy with this selection

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

Now listed as 189 cms.

Decent height for a midfielder!

 

[gbatman]

Another hard nut who can tackle and puts his head over the loose ball and attacks it hard. Looks like he runs alright from the highlights package. Looks handball happy and a very good handballer at that which is a good thing.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Now listed as 189 cms.

Decent height for a midfielder!

I reckon he will be a similar player in style to Menzel in that he can play in the midfield and across half forward.

Took some decent marks when drifting forward for Kyabram in the GF and was crafty around goals.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Fantastic repeats efforts and tackler who appears to have a high footy IQ and is calm and composed in heavy traffick with ball in hand...

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Another hard nut who can tackle and puts his head over the loose ball and attacks it hard. Looks like he runs alright from the highlights package. Looks handball happy and a very good handballer at that which is a good thing.

He is handball happy in tight which is far better than throwing it on the boot in hope, and he has an attacking mindset with his handball, giving it off to a teammates advantage on the attacking side of the play more often than not. Very impressed with that vision and his single mindedness to get to the contest. Looks like a leader.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

For balance. Quigley has done a write up for Holman after the fact. Not surprisingly this post-draft write up is not too pretty as Quigley has felt the need to justify why Holman was not selected in his phantom draft.

Did a write up for Holman this morning for a Carlton friend of mine if anyone interested:

Nick Holman
DOB 29/5/95 Ht 188.5 Wt 78

Holman is a pretty plain vanilla player without any real elite qualities. He is an inside mid who will probably play there most of his career but he could start on a flank. He won the Vic Country MVP at the Champs I think because of his team play rather than anything he did to really stand out from the crowd. He averaged 17 disposals per game at the Champs to go along with his 21 disposals per game for the Murray Bushrangers as their captain. On the inside he bustles in and wins his fair share of the ball but I do not think he is a particularly good read of the taps. It is worth noting that he has very little actual experience as an onballer. He was mostly a KP as an under 16 and didn't play much last year. So you would think that there is scope for significant improvement as he settles into the position more.

In tight his hands are pretty quick. He is a left footer and his kicking is a weakness and one of the main reasons I did not pick him in my mock. He seems to make reasonable decisions with the ball but his execution lets him down. He regularly underkicks the ball and misses too many targets for me to be enthralled about him getting games early in his career. It is pretty common for inside mids to be drafted with below average skills and then to improve in an AFL environment. Carlton will have to hope that is the case with him as well.

Holman's endurance is probably his big selling feature. He is a good runner and covers a lot of ground. His spread is good which will please Mick and he works hard to use what pace he has. He tested pretty slow over 20m at the Combine with 3.17 over the 20m but he plays quicker than that. He ran a 14.23 in the beep at Combine which I would consider good and a 10.28 in the 3km which put him in the top 20%. In the jumps he had serious trouble getting off the ground finishing second last in the standing vertical and the left foot running jump.

Despite not being much of a jumper he is a decent mark of the ball for a midfielder probably as a result of his time up forward in his younger days. He reads the play well and is good at dropping back and cutting out opposition kicks. I noticed him tagging Sheed in the WA game (the medallist at the Champs this year) and despite being well beaten I think this could be the type of role he ends up playing. He is an aggressive kid who can follow mids inside and out and does not mind mixing things up physically. He is a very good tackler and hits pretty well for an AFLer. He has the endurance to follow for extended periods and would be able to win his own ball as well. I think following would also take him to the ball a bit more which is a bit of a weakness of his particularly on the inside.

Overall I think Holman is a solid player with a very good attitude who is not going to die wondering. There are certainly worse personality types to have in your locker room.

 

[Just Kreuzing]

For balance. Quigley has done a write up for Holman after the fact. Not surprisingly this post-draft write up is not too pretty as Quigley has felt the need to justify why Holman was not selected in his phantom draft.

Quigley failed to mention we took him at 51 in a draft that was not going to offer too much after pick 40 or thereabouts

Didn't teams start passing around this time of the draft also ??

I reckon he will be value for where he was selected at.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

For balance. Quigley has done a write up for Holman after the fact. Not surprisingly this post-draft write up is not too pretty as Quigley has felt the need to justify why Holman was not selected in his phantom draft.

Quigley has now ruined the Nick Holman experience for me.

Delist.

 

[T2B_]

That was a depressing read, Quigley made it sound like we drafted a poor man's Cachia

In seriousness though, it is but one perspective. Time will tell, like most draftees. Could be a hidden gem, who knows.

 

[Azul]

That was a depressing read, Quigley made it sound like we drafted a poor man's Cachia

I was thinking Jordy Russell. A good mark for his size and good endurance.

 

[Kramer1]

Not sure if I can get away with quoting the whole thing or not...happy to edit if so. Just wanted to balance out the bad Quigley juju.

http://www.scpaige.com.au/draftees-in-focus-nick-holman/

NICK HOLMAN

​

Height: 186cm
Weight: 79kg
Team/Club: Vic Country/Murray Bushrangers/Kyabram
Position: Inside Midfielder
Player comparison: Clay Smith
Draft Range: 40-70
Player Profile

Very much you old-fashioned and honest footballer, Nick Holman’s development this year has come in leaps and bounds, after selection in Vic Country’s side, and if his final game, against the big guns Vic Metro was anything to go by – he’ll be bobbing up come November. Holman is tough, very physical and craves a contest, where his strong body and ability to extract the ball out come to the fore. Playing mostly as an inside footballer, Holman also displayed his credentials off half back, proving handy in a one-on-one contest against those similar in size, and was able to clear the ball when given the opportunity to do so. The hallmark of Holmans game however, is his tackling. He is ferocious, hard to side step around, and so strong through his hips and legs and upper body, that he makes his tackle stick. When Holman is playing on-ball, his clearance work was a talking point. He gets boot to ball with ease, or dishes out a strong handball to release an outside player. Holman also showed a knack for notching high disposal games, especially in games 1 and 5, where he had 18 and 19 touches against Northern Territory and Vic Metro respectively, showing a good display with the ball. Along with good tackling pressure, impact and the clerances and pressre acts, Holman is a hard runner, a gut runner, that commits to the cause, throws his body over the football, with no regard for his own safety; he is the type of player who will be adored by the coach, players and fans alike. Likely to go mid-to-late draft, the upside in Holman means that he can spend a season or two developing his game, before coming into a senior line up to replace an elder statesmen in the twilight of their careers. Holman would appeal heavily to the Sydney’s, Collingwood’s, and Hawthorn’s of the world.
Strengths

Inside body work makes Holman influential at the stoppages, very physical player, combative style of play, good awareness and vision in traffic, contested ball winner, clean hands, knows where to put the ball in a pressure situation, elite tackler and clearance specialist, loves body contact and offers leadership capabilities on field. Strong work ethic and good engine allows him to get across the ground relatively well. Holman is a real grinder, will bring with him passion and commitment, courage and will throw himself at anything to ensure his teammates get first use of the ball, even with no regard for his own safety.
Weaknesses

The main (and perhaps only) whack on Holman, is his kicking efficiency; however that is something that will be developed once he makes his way onto a club’s list. Plenty of players have come through the system as hard, inside, grunt-work players with poor kicking efficiency and have managed to carve out successful careers to date; there is no reason why Holman can’t do the same.
National Championships Stats

• Round 1 – 18 disposals, 6 marks, 4 tackles and 1 goal
• Round 5 – 19 disposals (11 contested), 5 tackles and 2 rebound 50′s.

Honours

• Murray Bushrangers Vice Captain 2013

 

[T2B_]

Mood lifted

 

[Jeremias]

Welcome to Carlton, Nick.

From what I can gather he sounds like the ideal type to select with a later pick. You can never have enough good characters at the club who bring intensity and who don't take a backward step in their approach. Nick is medium inside midfielder with some flexibility to his game enabling him to play on the flanks. Excels at the tough stuff - tackling and clearances - and is a hard worker.

Seems the type to always find himself involved in the play. Very similar in that regard to Nick Graham. Wouldn't at all surprise should he display that same infectious attitude from day 1 that endeared Graham to supporters from the first time they saw him - either on the track or the field.

 

[T2B_]

Man, watching those highlights and all I can say is... I love the way he plays footy! Such concentration and intensity.

 

[HBF]

Now listed as 189 cms.

Decent height for a midfielder!

Couple of very handy sized big bodied mids we got last night.
Holman looks almost another version of Nick Graham, albeit a left footed version.

 

[Cringle]

Guys... I think I trust professional Carlton recruiters to BF posters in whether or not this kid can make it.

Annnnnnyway... This guys looks insanely good in regards to tackling. Robinson, Graham and this guy will let nothing escape the congestion.

 

[Silvagnis]

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2013-08-20/lockyers-vfl-player-review-round-18

Nick Holman
Lockyer Says: Came in for his first game of footy and at half time he was our leading player defensively, so he made a great impression first up. He looked more than capable at this level and hopefully goes on to bigger and better things in the future.
Statistics: 3 kicks, 2 marks, 5 handballs, 8 possessions, 1 clearance, 2 inside 50s, 0 rebound 50s, 4 tackles

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2013-08-20/lockyers-vfl-player-review-round-18

FFS.

Our obsession with Collingwood has to stop.

 

[skadoosh]

His mindset and attitude of never giving up and continually chasing the ball is very impressive. He does not look like someone who would be happy to coast or jog along and do the minimal work. Love that he throws himself into the game!

 

[Red Bull]

Now listed as 189 cms.

Decent height for a midfielder!

Judd's 189cms and a pretty decent midfielder ... doesnt tackle like this kid though !!

Welcome aboard Nick

 

[fizzkakz]

Wow! Really like the look of this kid!

Brutal tackler, courage and hard runner. Looks to have a good footy brain too. Excited to watch him grow.

 

[GoBlues!]

For balance. Quigley has done a write up for Holman after the fact. Not surprisingly this post-draft write up is not too pretty as Quigley has felt the need to justify why Holman was not selected in his phantom draft.

Well Quigley did get Boyd at #1 and McDonald at #8 right, so I guess he must know what he's talking about.