Pies Youth

[Lockyer24]

So what do you all think about the pies youngsters?? (25 & under)

Fraser- Time to throw his hat in the ring for All Australia ruckman, or give us 40 goals down forward
Didak- Wont be suprised if he can only manage a few cameos this year due to fitness and knee troubles
Thomas- We know what he can do, can he pick it up a notch and kick a few bags of 3-4 goals this year instead of 2's? Get 5 more touches a game?
H Shaw- Will have a very good year
Pendelbury- If he backs himself will be more than handy
Cloke- Is maturing nicely, few more bags of goals this year will help us enormously
Egan- Likely to remain inconsistent for a while yet, but throw in a few matchwinning cameos and we'll be excited
Reid- Will get a chance to show what he's got
Brown- May also get a chance but may take longer to find his feet than I thought, he is very young
Maxwell- Solid foot soldier who gives his all and is neat with the ball. You need these type of players to win Flags in your team
Iles- Like Johnno when he started, he is a very rough diamond but if we keep polishing we may have something worth keeping
Swan- Smartest player on our list besides Bucks/Clement. Needs to maintain a high level of fitness to remain effective, if he slackens he will start to slip
Johnson- I still dont reckon enough opposition teams realise how effective he is for us breaking the lines. Another big year coming up - Copeland?
Davis- Will never kick 50 goals out of a forward pocket so needs to provide valuable stints on the ball to stay in the seniors
Anthony- mystery man, I can't recall seeing much of him. Will get a shot in the second half of the year but has plenty of competition
O'Brien- Like Iles has flaws to his game but worth persisting with as he adds something different
Clarke - Haven't seen him, good that we are going softly with him
Cox- Like his athleticism and X Factor, chance for Round 1
Cook- Another year at Willy but needs to make inroads and be a chance for a game season end
Toovey- Yet another tallish half back in a long queue..what does he have to seperate himself from the others?
Davies- Will always battle to have his positives outweigh his negatives the way the game is played today
D*ck- Lovely user of the ball, no rush needs time in the gym and not to be played in starvation corner forward pocket
Dawes- Hopefully can get a game under hi sbelt for Willy by the end of the year to motivate him for 2008
Goldsack- looks a scrapper type, with some bulk may be alright
Stanley- Needs to model himself on a McLean type - get ultra fit but maintain aggressiveness
Richards- will find out once and for all if he is a capable ruck if he stays fit this year
Bryan- If he can give McKee like service and let Josh go forward Ill be happy
Lonie- can be soft as he likes if he continues to improve his possesion rate and get them forward of centre, its a soft game these days

 

[JAJH]

Sour grapes.

Whom are the 'others' you are referring to?

Am I the world's gretest football expert? No, not in a million years, but I know when I've spotted genuine talent, i.e. Ben Reid.

I don't want to sound cruel, but you come across like an over-protective father. I'm happy for you to post as long as you respect other people's opinions, including mine if possible.

Mate, I'm not going to waste my time digging out old posts where you have bagged others. And who gave you the 'talent scout' title that made you the expert in spotting it. I don't have a problem with anyone else's opinion, it's when that opinion is based on either misinformation or misuse of brainpower that gets up my nose - you can decide which category you fall into. In respect to Ben REID, I don't know the kid and have seen him play only once, but I'm not in a position to make comment on his abilities, so how is it you can 'spot' the talent. How many times have you seen him play at VFL/AFL level?

 

[Bonuspoints]

Heres my thoughts on our youngsters:

Fraser- Will continue to be the primary ruckman as we have no other realistic options. In years to come he will shift to become a forward.

Didak and Thomas - Match winners and club superstars. These guys makes footy fun to watch and brings people through the turnstiles. They come across as interesting characters too, which I think really adds to their appeal for us Collingwood fans, while drawing added animosity from opposition fans.

H Shaw- I'm not sure what to make of Heath. I think he'll be great for us, but I don't know how great and to be honest what position he will play for us down the track. We need his speed in the middle at the moment, but I wonder if thats where he'll be longterm or whether he will be a permanent HBF who pinch hits in the middle. I dunno on this one, but look forward to seeing where his career goes as its kind of exciting to think that he could be anything.

Pendelbury- I have to say that last year I was not overly impressed as I expect more out of the guys taken in the top 5 picks. But I watched the Pies v Roos at the Gold Coast and I believe I saw what made him such a high pick. He is a gun and I am converted to being one of the faith. I think this our answer to Simon Black. One of those guys that are key your club's success but aren't as flashy as others.

Cloke- Our future cornerstone of our forwardline. Rocca's going to the square and this guy is our CHF.

Egan- This guy will be a key player to the club's premiership runs in years to come. He will not be a superstar, but will be a solid contributor that will win games for us every now and then. Hopefully this is the year that he adds consistency to his game and cements a spot in the side.

Davis - I think this guy is one that will have us tearing our hair out for years to come. He is flashy and brilliant at times, but oh so painful at other times. If he lifts his bad games up so that the difference between his good days and bad days isn't such a great drop off then he may become a star player.

Reid and Brown - Being stuck in QLD makes it hard to say much about the new guys, but they strike as having the perfect builds for modern footy. Athletic, quick and yet still solid enough to take hits and dish them out. From what I read of our drafting efforts we pretty much locked up our key positions for the next five years with these two, Dawes and Cloke.

Maxwell, O'Brien, Swan and Johnson - These strike me as the workmen heroes of the side. These are the players that don't get the respect that the others do, but are loved for their hardwork and honest play. Club fans will hold these guys in very high regard. These guys will be solid contributors and will occassionally star, but I don't think that these are the blokes that will win matches for us on their effort alone. I know some people must be wondering why I've got O'Brien up there with those three, but I see a lot of Maxwell in O'Brien.

Lonie - He should be up there with Maxwell, O'Brien, Swan and Johnson, but I can't make myself put him alongside those guys. However this guy is an important player to our side and I think we should acknowledge this. He is a key to our ability to get the ball out of defence and into the forwardline with his thumping left boot. Will never be a star, but will be a valued contributor and unless he toughens up will be a maligned player to boot.

Iles - hasn't won me over and I wonder if he'll be like Lokan. A MH favourite who shouldn't be in the side and eventually gets dumped.

Stanley, Cox and Anthony- A drawback to being up in QLD is that we don't get the willy matches except for the odd one on ABC 2 late at night. So I'll defer to everyone else on these guys. There seems to be a lot of hype about Anthony and I'm unsure of whether to buy into it or not given we've been through this before.

Martin Clake - way too much hype on this guy for where he's at. I think it will take three years before this guy starts to crack through into the team. This is fine, because its probably about then that we'll be looking to make a series run at the premiership as by then all our young players will be regulars at AFL level. His pace makes him a lively prospect.

Davies - A bit rough to say at the start of the season, but I'm expecting him to be delisted at the end of the year. Can't believe he kept his spot in the first place. But he's got all of 2007 to prove me wrong and I'd like to see him do it.

Cook - I liked the look of this guy in the Roos game. I think he will crack the side this year about middle of the year to rest some of the old heads in our team. I don't think he'll do that much, but the time he gets will be invaluable as its time he needs to find his feet at that level.

Dawes, Goldsack and D1ck - You can't expect anything from these guys in 2007 (particularly Dawes), but they do look good. Goldsack and D1ck look promising from what I've seen and read. I have to say I was very surprised by the chance the Pies took on Dawes by taking him so early given his injury. But I guess if it pays off then it will be the best move ever. Look forward to reading on how these guys develop in Willy this year.

Toovey - Being stuck in QLD I can only read about these guys which means I'm stuck with other peoples opinions. I saw Toovey play against the Roos and thought there was enough to warrant a spot on the list, but how far he can go I'm not sure. He reminds of O'Brien and Mal Michael when they were on the rookie list, guys that are pretty raw and could become something, but require a lot of work and time. I agree with the comment made in one of your posts about him being another tallish defender, but what does he have to distinguish himself from the others (an angry face...nope thats taken...).

Bryan and Richards - I have to say that I have never been that big a fan of Guy Richards. He's just so injury prone that you can't put that much faith in him. Plus from what I saw in the Roos v Pies game he doesn't really give us that much around the ground and his supposed excellent tap work wasn't that great either. Bryan however looked a good pick up. He gave us a target around the ground, was a good size and a potentially target to sit in the goalsquare. Richards needs a big 2007.

 

[nick_savo]

Cloke for AA CHF

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Pies under 25 list for All AA positions.

Lockyer to coach

 

[Rohan25]

I can't wait to see Chris Dawes next year. I'm sure it's already been seen, or even mentioned by a lot of people, but for those who haven't read it, heres what the AFL prospectus wrote about him:

"Dawes will miss 2007 after undergoing a knee reconstruction late last season, but he produced some amazing numbers in his six TAC cup games in 2006. At 194 cm and 96 kg Dawes dominated in the air with an average of more than four contested marks per game in the TAC cup - the best of any player. An elite player in the air, Dawes was just as good on the ground with an average of three groundball-gets inside 50 which ranked fifth of all TAC cup players, and second of all draftees. He won plenty of the ball overall with an average of 19 disposals and eight marks, and kicked a total of 14 goals. His average of seven inside 50s per game in the TAC cup ranked fourth of all players, yet he still won 39% of his possessions inside the forward 50."

Doesn't he sound awesome! God, I hope his knee holds up! With him and Nathan Brown, (All-Australian U18 fullback) we may just have shored up both ends of the ground for the next decade.

 

[rand corp]

Beegeezus you are quick to pull the trigger on some of the kids!

IIles- Solid, improved a heck of a lot in his first year, some claims
Anthony- early days but willy form very promising
Obrien- way to go but getting better all the time and is close
Martin Clake- exciting will need time and still very much an experiment
Cox- perhaps the most improved kid on the list coming through rookie list and willy reserves to senior list and willy firsts, track form very good and impressive against saints in praccy match, strong claims.
cook- showed a bit this pre-season and still young, way to go yet. will get another year.
toovey- kicking a big issue but early days yet
davies- probably has this year to stake his claim
****- early signs are very exciting, has to build strength to be able to stand up to AFL footy though.
dawes- wait til next year, but has good wraps
goldsack- jury is out, hasnt played yet, won't get the time to settle that other draftrees a year younger will get.
stanley- probably has to show considerable improvement this year but also young would get another year