Player Review 2001 - part 4 and final

[Hit The Boundary Saints]

#29 It is great to have a tagger capable of shutting down the oppositions best onballers. He will never win a Brownlow, never probably even poll a vote, but if he applies himself to the task of becoming a primarily negative tagger, who can contribute in some way to the positive aspects as well, we will be well served.

#30 Didn’t see much of him, but what I did I liked. Again took a long time to get a game and impressed when he did. Hopefully he will kick on.

#31 Well what can be said about Elliott. The funniest thing I have seen on the football field this year was Elliott running down the field bouncing the ball against Essendon, as the Bombers had flooded back. He got to CHF, didn’t know what to do, stopped dead. fired off a rocket handball to somebody 2 inches away who couldn’t handle it, the Bombers ran downfield unopposed and scored a goal. In a way it is a pity he didn’t reach 50 games, it would be a challenge to find a more derided 50 gamer.

#32 Trianidis always promised much, especially early in the year, but never quite made it. I always hoped he’d be some sort of game breaker, with his raking left foot kick. Various coaches tried to make him a back man, but to me he was always a natural forward.

#33 Walton never struck me as being up to the standard required. He is a reasonable mark, but at ground level very average, and put very little physical pressure on the opposition. I’m not surprised he was delisted, lets face it if you couldn’t get a game this year you never will.


#35 Still a champion, but now on the downhill slope. He got caught holding the ball more times in 9 games this year than in the previous 9 years . This was hopefully due to the limited pre season he had in 2000, but unfortunately the same lack of preseason will occur in 2001. We can no longer rely on Harves to be the best onballer in the competition and get 30-40 possesions a game, and must find back up. Having said that he was still sensational at times in 2001, there was one quarter in particular (I think against Melbourne) where he got the ball five times in about 8 minutes, and each directly set up a goal. Hopefully the umpires will crack down on scragging and manhandling him after he’s got rid of the ball, the manner in which he did his knee highlighted this tactic. (Malcolm Blight has got a lot to answer for, he started this in the 97 grand final)

#36 Spent more time with Springvale than he should have, when he got a regular game later in the year he got a lot of the ball. It’s hard to find the correct position for him. I don’t believe he is an on baller.

#37 Don’t know why we bothered really. Gale was never going to be the answer.

#39 I haven’t seen much of Oliver , so I can’t comment. He made the VFL team as a young ruckman, which must be a good sign, as ruckmen usually take a long time to develop

#40 He is still very young, but doesn’t appear to have a footy brain. He has the build and the athleticism, and should be given more time to develop.

#43 I am extremely impressed with Moyle, he just has the inate ability to keep getting the ball, and usually disposes of it well. I suspect now that opposition teams will now be aware of him, and pay him closer attention. It will be interesting to see if he can continue with his form into the next few years, hopefully he will rise to the challenge.

#44 I didn’t expect much of Milne, thinking he was too small for the AFL. He proved me wrong, and provided the forward line with the type of variety that has been very successful against us (R. Burns, Phil Matera, Moorcroft, Farmer). We have for years tried to find a goalsneak capable of 30-40 goals a year. Maybe Milne can be this player for us.

 

[Hit The Boundary Saints]

Originally posted by Hit The Boundary Saints
[B#36 Spent more time with Springvale than he should have, when he got a regular game later in the year he got a lot of the ball. It’s hard to find the correct position for him. I don’t believe he is an on baller.[/B]

Knowles has been delisted since I wrote this. It is a bit of a surprise to me, and inidcates that the club are really serious about cleaning out any dead wood.

 

[StrengthThroughLoyalty]

well assessed again htbs. another bunch of young blokes who should improve on this year. moyle, baker and milne all showed enough this year to play a significant role next year with our team of baby saints. oliver, wulf and shcwarze are also capable of improvement and establishing themselves as senior players.

moyle is a ball magnet and is on the verge of being a gun if he's not already.

baker is that pesky little in and under player that every team needs to do a job on someone. he improved a lot this year and seems to have the appropriate amount of desire and drive to make it at the highest level.

milne is an excitement machine who is more than handy in front of goals. would like to see a 2nd effort every now and then but if he can kick 40+ goals a year he would be worth watching. he played a significant role in our wins against fremantle and hawthorn as well as beating wanganeen at colonial. plays his footy the complete opposite to the way baker does but there is room in the team for both types.

i saw chris oliver in a couple of springvale games and he really caught my eye with his mobility and leap when contesting the ruck. he looked out of his depth when he got to the seniors but he is still young and has height on his side. if he develops at the same rate as he did this year he will be a permanent member of the seniors and perhaps fill in as a key position player up forward.

wulf man showed some ability on the wing when he got a senior game and is worth persevering with too see how he goes this year.

schwarze killed them in them in the 2's but i have reservations as to whether he's good enough at senior level. he has been on the list a few years now but is still very young. he has size on his side and might be a late bloomer, if he's not next year will be his last.

banger will come back better than ever next year. he has been dogged by injury the last couple of years but when he was injury free still showed us that he can rip an opposition apart. his experience and leadership will be required more than ever next year due to our young side.

 

[sainter]

#29 It is great to have a tagger capable of shutting down the oppositions best onballers. He will never win a Brownlow, never probably even poll a vote, but if he applies himself to the task of becoming a primarily negative tagger, who can contribute in some way to the positive aspects as well, we will be well served.

I agree. I love his determination and ability to stick to the task at hand. Like you said, it's important that he works hard on winning the ball as well. I feel he did that on occasions, winning some important centre clearances for us. I reckon with his attitude he'll go far.

#30 Didn’t see much of him, but what I did I liked. Again took a long time to get a game and impressed when he did. Hopefully he will kick on.

A few of us watched a lot of VFL footy in 2000 and were rapt when he was drafted. I wasn't pleased with the way Springvale messed him around for most of the season but once he got his chance in the AFL, he made good use of it. He is extremely versatile and has a good leap for his size.

#31 Well what can be said about Elliott. The funniest thing I have seen on the football field this year was Elliott running down the field bouncing the ball against Essendon, as the Bombers had flooded back. He got to CHF, didn’t know what to do, stopped dead. fired off a rocket handball to somebody 2 inches away who couldn’t handle it, the Bombers ran downfield unopposed and scored a goal. In a way it is a pity he didn’t reach 50 games, it would be a challenge to find a more derided 50 gamer.

What can I say? Probably best I say nothing.

#32 Trianidis always promised much, especially early in the year, but never quite made it. I always hoped he’d be some sort of game breaker, with his raking left foot kick. Various coaches tried to make him a back man, but to me he was always a natural forward.

He was one of those talented players that just couldn't find the level of consistency needed at the top level. I was a fan of his and always hoped he would kick on but unfortunately it wasn't to be. I agree with you that he definitely wasn't a backline player. He looked completely out of place.

#33 Walton never struck me as being up to the standard required. He is a reasonable mark, but at ground level very average, and put very little physical pressure on the opposition. I’m not surprised he was delisted, lets face it if you couldn’t get a game this year you never will.

He was a talented footballer and had the ability to kick a freakish goal. His major problem was a lack of pace. He was just too slow and that cost him dearly in my opinion.

#35 Still a champion, but now on the downhill slope. He got caught holding the ball more times in 9 games this year than in the previous 9 years . This was hopefully due to the limited pre season he had in 2000, but unfortunately the same lack of preseason will occur in 2001. We can no longer rely on Harves to be the best onballer in the competition and get 30-40 possesions a game, and must find back up. Having said that he was still sensational at times in 2001, there was one quarter in particular (I think against Melbourne) where he got the ball five times in about 8 minutes, and each directly set up a goal. Hopefully the umpires will crack down on scragging and manhandling him after he’s got rid of the ball, the manner in which he did his knee highlighted this tactic. (Malcolm Blight has got a lot to answer for, he started this in the 97 grand final)

A true champion. Everything you have said is true. Let's hope he doesn't try and return to early if he isn't ready. I'm actually hoping that the knee injury may in some way turn out to be a blessing in disguise as it will give him time to overcome his many soft injury type injuries that had begun to plague his career. He's an inspirational player that makes a huge difference to our midfield. He does thngs on the footy field that most can't even hope to attempt. I can't wait to see him in full flight once more

#36 Spent more time with Springvale than he should have, when he got a regular game later in the year he got a lot of the ball. It’s hard to find the correct position for him. I don’t believe he is an on baller.

I had a bit of time for him. He seemed to be one of the first players dropped after a loss. His disposal was often questioned but I thought he was a good long kick and could win the ball in the centre of the ground. Like you said in your other post, delisting him does show the committment towards a fresh start.

#37 Don’t know why we bothered really. Gale was never going to be the answer.

Yep. Too slow for league football.

#39 I haven’t seen much of Oliver , so I can’t comment. He made the VFL team as a young ruckman, which must be a good sign, as ruckmen usually take a long time to develop

From what I saw in the VFL I couldn't help but compare him to a Jeff White. He not only has an incredible leap to win the tap out but also the ability to palm it down to a teammate. His athleticism and agility will allow him to play as a key position player and that seems to to be Grant Thomas' intention. Despite the fact he may be played either forward or back, I see him as a long term replacement for Spider.

#40 He is still very young, but doesn’t appear to have a footy brain. He has the build and the athleticism, and should be given more time to develop.

He has had a fair bit of time to prove himself but he was drafted at a very young age. He's only going to turn 20 in December so he was definitely recruited as a kind of project player. He's had a few injuries as well. The thing that struck me about him was his pace and athleticim. At a game against Melbourne at the MCG, he gave Shane Woewodin a 10 metre start and caught him easily. Now does he have the ability to make it at AFL level? He's got one last chance next year.

#43 I am extremely impressed with Moyle, he just has the inate ability to keep getting the ball, and usually disposes of it well. I suspect now that opposition teams will now be aware of him, and pay him closer attention. It will be interesting to see if he can continue with his form into the next few years, hopefully he will rise to the challenge.

Definitely the wildcard of all our youngsters. It's amazing to think this kid was overlooked in the draft, then selected on our supplementary list in 1999, our rookie list at the start of 2000 and finally got his chance after being promoted. Like STL said he is a ball magnet and has class written all over him. Possibly doesn't have the skill or natural ability of a Hayes or Beetham but makes up for that in consistency.

#44 I didn’t expect much of Milne, thinking he was too small for the AFL. He proved me wrong, and provided the forward line with the type of variety that has been very successful against us (R. Burns, Phil Matera, Moorcroft, Farmer). We have for years tried to find a goalsneak capable of 30-40 goals a year. Maybe Milne can be this player for us.

Yep, there's no doubt we've been crying for a small forward pocket player. He's one of my favourite players because he not only has the inane ability to create a goal from nothing but he has that bit of aggression and mongrel about him. That goal he kicked against Hawthorn (as shown on my avatar ) was fantastic. If he can park himself underneath Stewie, Hamill and co then 40+ goals is definitely achieveable and would go a long way towards us having a successful season.


Great job on the analysis HTBS and STL. Hopefully some happier times are ahead.