thylacine60
Post-Human
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2006
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- AFL Club
- Carlton
- Other Teams
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- #1
Boys seem happy.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/round-of-the-rookie/2009/03/30/1238261514078.html?page=2
Round of the rookie
Michael Gleeson | March 31, 2009
IN THE average season of modern football, about 80 players make their debut in AFL ranks. Last weekend 20 players did that in the first round.
Seventeen of those debutants had been on a senior AFL list only since the national or rookie drafts of last year.
It is doubtful if so many have debuted in the first round before, suggesting the game itself better tolerates youth and that those same teenagers are more game-ready than those in the past.
According to Champion Data, there were 13 debutants in the opening round last season, while in the two previous years there were just nine.
Given how close several more novice players were to senior selection last weekend — being named as emergencies for their teams — the number could have easily crept higher.
Carlton football manager Steven Icke, whose club picked four players for their debut against Richmond in the sold-out opening game to impressive effect, said ultimately the decision was based on form but, being early in the year, clubs were keen to blood them before they tired.
"If you had said to us at the start of the pre-season that (Sam) Jacobs, (Jeff) Garlett, (Aaron) Joseph and (Mitch) Robinson would all play round one I would have said you are kidding yourself. Maybe only Robinson we would have thought would be a chance because he is such a competitor," Icke said.
"But Robinson, Garlett and Joseph were all picked because they had really good pre-seasons and were in good form but importantly they were all really strong at putting on good defensive pressure, which was a real priority for us. And Sam Jacobs, with (Matt) Kreuzer, was our best performing ruckman."
Robinson had a remarkable debut, booting three goals and performing with an appetite for the contest and an aggression at the ball that is seldom seen in first-year players.
The exquisite ball use of Brisbane's Daniel Rich, the class and speed of Fremantle midfielder Stephen Hill, and Bomber Michael Hurley's ability to trade weight with Warren Tredrea, marked a weekend of performances by players whose games provided influence, not just attendance.
While many teams select players to debut late in the year when seasons are gone and concern is for tomorrow, not today, no such concern is relevant in the opening round.
Conversely, it can be better to play youngsters early in the season before they tire. At Hawthorn, which played three debutants, the timing of selection was more about necessity. "The main concern really was form and some opportunities presented because of players out through injury, but each player we brought in had played well through the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge," football manager Mark Evans said.
"(Matt) Suckling had been a rookie so he was a third-year player and a mature body, (Brendan) Whitecross we took as a 17-year-old in the 2007 draft so he too had been around for a while."
AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said the game also increasingly tolerated lighter-bodied players than it had in the past.
"It's an unforgiving game if you fumble and turn it over but, yes you can if you are a lighter-bodied guy with good clean hands," Sheehan said.
"If you make good decisions and hit your targets you can play an outside role. You might struggle to play an inside role with the bigger, stronger bodies with the clearance stuff but you can be nurtured along as an outside player for quite a number of games before you get into the real physical stuff.
"Even the constant interchange means they can be introduced to the game with 50 per cent game time and play in short bursts.
"The normal number debuting in a year is around the 80 mark, so to have 25 per cent debuting in the first round is high.
"It is a reflection on the work that is happening at many levels under the AFL and I suppose boys like Jack Ziebell and Daniel Rich have been in the AIS Academy group so they have had a full year under Allan McConnell and a great program with people like (Nathan) Buckley and (Michael) Voss around them, so like never before we have been able to give them better football and personal development in their lead-in couple of years. Those boys have been on the radar for several years.
"Mitch Robinson is very different to the others because he really did come a little bit from left field 12 or 18 months ago. He came from quite a different background to the others. But the academy boys had every chance to know what they should expect should they get into the AFL because of that education program."
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/round-of-the-rookie/2009/03/30/1238261514078.html?page=2
Round of the rookie
Michael Gleeson | March 31, 2009
IN THE average season of modern football, about 80 players make their debut in AFL ranks. Last weekend 20 players did that in the first round.
Seventeen of those debutants had been on a senior AFL list only since the national or rookie drafts of last year.
It is doubtful if so many have debuted in the first round before, suggesting the game itself better tolerates youth and that those same teenagers are more game-ready than those in the past.
According to Champion Data, there were 13 debutants in the opening round last season, while in the two previous years there were just nine.
Given how close several more novice players were to senior selection last weekend — being named as emergencies for their teams — the number could have easily crept higher.
Carlton football manager Steven Icke, whose club picked four players for their debut against Richmond in the sold-out opening game to impressive effect, said ultimately the decision was based on form but, being early in the year, clubs were keen to blood them before they tired.
"If you had said to us at the start of the pre-season that (Sam) Jacobs, (Jeff) Garlett, (Aaron) Joseph and (Mitch) Robinson would all play round one I would have said you are kidding yourself. Maybe only Robinson we would have thought would be a chance because he is such a competitor," Icke said.
"But Robinson, Garlett and Joseph were all picked because they had really good pre-seasons and were in good form but importantly they were all really strong at putting on good defensive pressure, which was a real priority for us. And Sam Jacobs, with (Matt) Kreuzer, was our best performing ruckman."
Robinson had a remarkable debut, booting three goals and performing with an appetite for the contest and an aggression at the ball that is seldom seen in first-year players.
The exquisite ball use of Brisbane's Daniel Rich, the class and speed of Fremantle midfielder Stephen Hill, and Bomber Michael Hurley's ability to trade weight with Warren Tredrea, marked a weekend of performances by players whose games provided influence, not just attendance.
While many teams select players to debut late in the year when seasons are gone and concern is for tomorrow, not today, no such concern is relevant in the opening round.
Conversely, it can be better to play youngsters early in the season before they tire. At Hawthorn, which played three debutants, the timing of selection was more about necessity. "The main concern really was form and some opportunities presented because of players out through injury, but each player we brought in had played well through the NAB Cup and NAB Challenge," football manager Mark Evans said.
"(Matt) Suckling had been a rookie so he was a third-year player and a mature body, (Brendan) Whitecross we took as a 17-year-old in the 2007 draft so he too had been around for a while."
AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said the game also increasingly tolerated lighter-bodied players than it had in the past.
"It's an unforgiving game if you fumble and turn it over but, yes you can if you are a lighter-bodied guy with good clean hands," Sheehan said.
"If you make good decisions and hit your targets you can play an outside role. You might struggle to play an inside role with the bigger, stronger bodies with the clearance stuff but you can be nurtured along as an outside player for quite a number of games before you get into the real physical stuff.
"Even the constant interchange means they can be introduced to the game with 50 per cent game time and play in short bursts.
"The normal number debuting in a year is around the 80 mark, so to have 25 per cent debuting in the first round is high.
"It is a reflection on the work that is happening at many levels under the AFL and I suppose boys like Jack Ziebell and Daniel Rich have been in the AIS Academy group so they have had a full year under Allan McConnell and a great program with people like (Nathan) Buckley and (Michael) Voss around them, so like never before we have been able to give them better football and personal development in their lead-in couple of years. Those boys have been on the radar for several years.
"Mitch Robinson is very different to the others because he really did come a little bit from left field 12 or 18 months ago. He came from quite a different background to the others. But the academy boys had every chance to know what they should expect should they get into the AFL because of that education program."
