Polak

[santa claws]

when talking about players most people just bag or praise without looking at a players strengths and weaknesses and past performances.
being in perth and a east freo supporter i can say ive seen a fair bit of polak.
theres no way in the world anyone would take polak on based on his performances alone. hes failed miserably.

weaknesses that stood out for me until last yr was his size and strength. he was scrawny he put on 7kg last yr. he got pushed around far to easily and imo because of a lack of size and strength he was very reactive almost timid.
when it came to contests he was always 2nd or 3rd man in or up and lacked second efforts.and i thought he was poor below his knees.although not quick i wouldnt call him a slow coach.finally i thought his kicking was ordinary especially when kicking for goal. its these reasons why i dont think polak will make a decent chb.goal kicking aside.

with the extra size and strength and subsequent confidence i thought toward the end of last yr he began to string some decent games together at east freo.
this bloke has fantastic hands if he gets his mitts on the pill he usually marks it.he is now big enough to hold his ground and at worst bring the ball to ground. he is also getting smart he gets to the right spots more and moves around a lot more.hes stopped being lazy.

imo his weaknesses preclude him from being a chb but i think he could make a half decent chf. one thing is for sure after 5yrs of senior footy its time he shed the potential tag and started performing. personally i have my doubts.

 

[lids2004roar]

Good post santa claus, it's good to have someone who saw him at east freo. I remember his stats were very impressive (averaged like 9 marks a game, 20 possies or something).

About 2nd efforts I can't comment on all his games but against west coast last year when the match really meant something he stepped up and had a lot of tackles (6?) usually running down smaller opponents, even caught Chris Judd holding the ball... plus the smothers and shepherds he made show me that when he wants to he will be able to do these 1%ers well.

Have you noticed his speed of the mark much in matches? People have said he is slow but he recorded a sub-3 second time in the 20m sprints.

 

[Paddles]

Well its a couple of weeks to the first game and I am going to wait until the season is underway proper until I start passing judgement.

Good luck to Polak and the other new Tigers!

 

[hulld]

point made. and yes lucas is better than mooney but still would not put him anywhere near the company of brown, hall, pavlich, riewoldt, tredrea.

lucas kicked the same amount of goals as hall
kicked four more than pavlich
and kicked 9 more than riewoldt.

not bad playing in the team that finish 15th.

i'm not saying he is as good as these guys, but surely we can compare him to them????

now you guys play carlton round 1 don't you??? if so who do you think polak will man up on? whitnall, kennedy or the resting ruckman???

 

[Goldust]

lucas kicked the same amount of goals as hall
kicked four more than pavlich
and kicked 9 more than riewoldt.

not bad playing in the team that finish 15th.

i'm not saying he is as good as these guys, but surely we can compare him to them????

now you guys play carlton round 1 don't you??? if so who do you think polak will man up on? whitnall, kennedy or the resting ruckman???

MORE to the point, who will your champion so called full back Dust Bin Fletcher play on in your round 1 clash against Adelaide.

Won't be Ricciuto, or Burton, or Welsh. Too much chance of his conceding goals.

We all know Dust Bin avoids playing on the good forwards!

 

[hulld]

well ricciuto isn't playing.
burton plays on the wing.
and big mal will take welsh.
i guess that leaves him to play on bock.

 

[Goldust]

well ricciuto isn't playing.
burton plays on the wing.
and big mal will take welsh.
i guess that leaves him to play on bock.

ANOTHER big name!!!!!!

When will he take on the big jobs his reputation demands.

How much longer can Sheedy have others play on the big forwards to protect Dust Bin?

 

[hulld]

welsh isn't much better than bock.

 

[Goldust]

BUT Welsh has kicked some bags in his time, so Fletcher won't be going anywhere near him!

Fletcher = Overrated!

 

[theGav56]

By the end of the year this statement will be true.

Polak will be what everyone thought he would be when he was at the nationals.

A goal kicking forward?

 

[Gman]

BUT Welsh has kicked some bags in his time, so Fletcher won't be going anywhere near him!

Fletcher = Overrated!

Fletcher is by no means overated. He may not be the best full back atm but he is better than any full back Tigers have had for a long while now

 

[theGav56]

i'd prefer the name courtney than cleve and kelvin. and you've got a guy on your rookie list with the name Tasman.

oh and by the way....
if polak is having problems containing mooney and ottens, how is he going to go against brown, hall, pavlich, riewoldt, tredrea and lucas??????

maybe gaspar can take them????

oh hang on......no he can't

I am not a Polak fan. But realistically, most backmen struggle against that list. So long as there are realistic expectation on Polak, he won't be useless against them, but he will be beaten. In my opinion Richmond still need to recruit/develop players for CHB and FB. polak can pinch-hit there, but is not a long term solution. On a back flank against a resting ruckman type, great. 2nd or 3rd man up; terrific. 1 on 1 in a stationary marking contest; sensational.

 

[Polo_14]

I am not a Polak fan. But realistically, most backmen struggle against that list. So long as there are realistic expectation on Polak, he won't be useless against them, but he will be beaten. In my opinion Richmond still need to recruit/develop players for CHB and FB. polak can pinch-hit there, but is not a long term solution. On a back flank against a resting ruckman type, great. 2nd or 3rd man up; terrific. 1 on 1 in a stationary marking contest; sensational.

So what is stoping him from playing CHB then. Is it lack of pace??

 

[Bentleigh]

I am not a Polak fan. But realistically, most backmen struggle against that list. So long as there are realistic expectation on Polak, he won't be useless against them, but he will be beaten. In my opinion Richmond still need to recruit/develop players for CHB and FB. polak can pinch-hit there, but is not a long term solution. On a back flank against a resting ruckman type, great. 2nd or 3rd man up; terrific. 1 on 1 in a stationary marking contest; sensational.

 

[tigerT]

I am not a Polak fan. But realistically, most backmen struggle against that list. So long as there are realistic expectation on Polak, he won't be useless against them, but he will be beaten. In my opinion Richmond still need to recruit/develop players for CHB and FB. polak can pinch-hit there, but is not a long term solution. On a back flank against a resting ruckman type, great. 2nd or 3rd man up; terrific. 1 on 1 in a stationary marking contest; sensational.

not bad, youve had him for a while so would have a pretty good idea of what you think hes capable of. From what Ive seen of him, this preseason but more so in the past with you guys, hes a player that could legitimately "dominate" an area of the ground. Whether he gets fit/strong enough to do so, time will tell, but ive always felt hes had that imposing quality as a player.

 

[samd]

i dont know why you guys bothered with a wasted star

 

[Darth_Tiger]

welcome to the n00b. what did you just sign up and thought it might be hilarious to go to another clubs board and make us all go feral with an inflamatory but innane comment? what an original idea

 

[Crumden]

i dont know why you guys bothered with a wasted star

I'm glad you agree he's a star.

 

[theGav56]

So what is stoping him from playing CHB then. Is it lack of pace??

The reality is that there is not a lot stopping him from playing CHB. I'm not saying he can't. But he won't have the pace for players like Pavlich and Reiwoldt, nor the all round skills. Mooney is not in the same league as those two, and Polak was beaten by him. Your backline is ordinary, and that means Polak is required to step right up and take the number 1 or number 2 tall forward out of the game, and while he may be able to do it, so far he rarely has actually done it. Resting ruckmen are not that dangerous, and Polak's marking strength suits playing on them.

I have read a fair bit on here about opinions that he has good pace and has kept up with Richo. I reckon Richo in his prime would have licked his lips at having someone like Polak play on him. Polak would be competative in a marking contest, but wouldn't get to them, and once the ball hit the deck he would be beaten as he is average below knees and has a poor second effort (something that Wallace may be able to remedy).

 

[Hello Newman!]

Polak finds his passion
Michael Gleeson
March 18, 2007


GRAHAM Polak admits he has been slow to grow up. His large frame still retains the rakishness of youth while socially he has been reluctant to forgo his teenage habits and desires.

A young man would not be condemned for either were he not attempting to be an elite athlete. Time in modern football, like timing, is precious. Those slow to mature physically and emotionally may find their time passes too quickly. Unless of course you are 194 centimetres tall and at one point the pre-eminent tall footballer in the country for your year.

"The first few years of AFL I probably didn't put on as much weight as I should have but the last few years I have really worked on it and been in the gym a lot more and eating the right foods and getting the right stuff in me to make me bigger, I would still like to be bigger and get to like 95 kilograms, which I am not far off," he said.

"I do like my social life and it is getting that balance right I think. I have a good bunch of mates so I am not going to blame anything on them but I do think the balance of getting the social life and the footy life right is something I have needed to work on as well and I think I have done that.

"I think that was one change I had to make coming over here as well which has been good so far. I don't know anyone in Melbourne so it hasn't been hard not to be distracted."

When the 22-year-old was dropped by Fremantle last year and the side went on undaunted into a lengthy winning streak that carried them to a preliminary final, it was unsurprising that the No. 4 draft pick of 2001 would be traded at year's end. Both player and club could see the logic.

"I am not sure why (the opportunities dried up last year)," he said. "I was a bit inconsistent in my playing, then my confidence went a bit. I was a keen trainer, I have always been a keen trainer, so I was doing the work, it was just my confidence I suppose was lacking. The other guys were playing really well and it was making it hard for me because they were on a winning streak, a 10-game winning streak, and it was hard to get back in the team. I thought I was in good form in the WAFL and it was just hard to get another crack.

"It would have been good to be part of it, I played the first half of the season but it didn't go my way. I thought it was time for a change."

Polak is a player of undoubted potential but football is littered with those with unfulfilled potential. Physically the query was not on knees, ankles or groin but more of bulk and strength. The true question mark was also about desire. He had a comfort level in Perth that would be best challenged moving interstate.

Several clubs expressed interest, but none as earnestly as Richmond. Aware that any new club would be across the Nullarbor, Polak flew to Melbourne in grand final week and met Terry Wallace at Punt Road. He left Wallace underwhelmed.

"Terry was not convinced that Graham wanted to come and there were a few questions unanswered I guess," said Richmond's director of coaching Brian Royal.

"There were questions over Graham I suppose — why he was out of the side and did he still have the passion to play? And Terry was not convinced he wanted to move."

So Royal flew to Perth to see Polak in his home environment and get a better handle on whether he was legitimately interested in a shift and to do what was needed to make it as a footballer. Or was he simply saying what he knew the Tigers wanted to hear?

"The reason I ended up flying over there was to sit down face to face and make sure he was leaving for the right reasons, and that was because he wanted to fulfil his ambitions in football and the potential that he had shown as a young fellow. So I probably spent four hours with him just sitting in his lounge room watching a bit of TV — the cricket was on — we just generally spoke about life," Royal said.

"I said to him 'I am here because Terry is not convinced you want to come to Melbourne', and he said to me honestly, 'Brian at the time I was not sure I wanted to move. I have a girlfriend and she has a good job. My last 12 months in footy I have started to turn things around. I have put on weight, I have started to enjoy footy again, so I was not too sure I wanted to move, but now I have had another two weeks to think about it and I want to move. I want to start a new life in Melbourne and I want to be at the Richmond footy club."

Royal was convinced and immediately rang Greg Miller to tell him. Polak became the club's prime focus of trade week, ultimately leading the club to switch their pick eight for the Dockers' pick 13 and give up a third-round draft pick. The club insists that at pick 13 they still selected the player (Jack Riewoldt) that they had wanted all along at pick eight, so the trade effectively cost them a lowly third-round pick for potentially a 10-year key position player.

"Graham was the No. 1 key position player of his year and that's why we went out and got him. I don't care what he had done in the two or three years previous, I always believed that if you were the best in your age group at 18 that with the right development and the right opportunity you should be able to be the best at 24," Wallace said.

"I thought he was incredibly down in fitness and body structure when he arrived but he has really worked hard to complete every session and show us. He has the capacity to be a hard-running player but he hasn't been that in the past.

"It is fair to say he has probably let himself down in the past. When he got to us he looked like an under-18 player straight out of the draft, where he had been in the system four or five years. I said whatever he does in the first 12 months I reckon he will be far better after that, once he starts to build up a base fitness because he hasn't had a base fitness and it has restricted him up until this stage of his career. But he has all the wares there to be able to have a reasonable engine because he is quick enough and skilled enough."

Richmond wants Polak, who is able to play forward or back, to establish himself at centre half-back, where at Fremantle in 2003 he had his best season in AFL. The move would also allow the under-sized Joel Bowden to be released to be more attacking — if that is possible — to sweep across half back and run through the middle.

"I get along well with everyone here so that has been good. They have made me welcome but I have just been focused on footy here. I don't know anyone so it is a bit hard to be distracted," Polak said.

"It is obviously a big year for me, or I want it to be a big year for me. Terry has said to me he considers it a building year but I don't think so, I look at it as a big year for me and I want to make an impact immediately. I think I have a lot to offer football. I want to show the fans I can play and the people that have doubted me before that I can play.

"I had a good year in 2003 and was happy with my year then but I can be a better player than that. I think I still have a lot more to offer and I am expecting a lot more out of myself, and hopefully the next few years and the future I can show them what I can do."

 

[theGav56]

Interesting article. I would like to hear Polak say things along the lines of "I was not good enough to play in the Dockers best 22 last year, and I realise I have a hell of a lot of improvement to do." rather than "I am not sure why (the opportunities dried up last year)," Also, his opinion of himself as a "keen trainer" yet the assesment of his body as being "incredibly down in fitness and body structure when he arrived."

I have always felt that he is is his own worst enemy and has an expectation that someone else will do it for him. If it clicks for him that he has to extract the didgit, which from some of the Richmond fans it sounds like he has done, then he could turn it around.

 

[Bentleigh]

Interesting article. I would like to hear Polak say things along the lines of "I was not good enough to play in the Dockers best 22 last year, and I realise I have a hell of a lot of improvement to do." rather than "I am not sure why (the opportunities dried up last year)," Also, his opinion of himself as a "keen trainer" yet the assesment of his body as being "incredibly down in fitness and body structure when he arrived."

I have always felt that he is is his own worst enemy and has an expectation that someone else will do it for him. If it clicks for him that he has to extract the didgit, which from some of the Richmond fans it sounds like he has done, then he could turn it around.

 

[santa claws]

Good post santa claus, it's good to have someone who saw him at east freo. I remember his stats were very impressive (averaged like 9 marks a game, 20 possies or something).

About 2nd efforts I can't comment on all his games but against west coast last year when the match really meant something he stepped up and had a lot of tackles (6?) usually running down smaller opponents, even caught Chris Judd holding the ball... plus the smothers and shepherds he made show me that when he wants to he will be able to do these 1%ers well.

Have you noticed his speed of the mark much in matches? People have said he is slow but he recorded a sub-3 second time in the 20m sprints.

i wouldnt call him quick. this may be because he has always been second man in and it gives you the impression of being slow. it may not.as for second efforts i stand by what i said. maybe hes realised you have to do more than just compete for a mark. yet again maybe he hasnt one things for sure we will find out.

my criticism and angst is not so much at polak. we targeted a 22 yr old kpp who may give us many good yrs service and may be around when and if we ever become a power in 3 or 5 yrs time.

my angst is we down traded our 1st pick. in effect giving up any chance of getting a crack at thorpe sellar brown or riedwoldt.and we traded away our 3rd round pick which in any other draft would have been worth a second rounder.the question i ask is polak worth taking these risks on.a player who has done little or nothing in 5 yrs at his previous club.who has been passed by many kpp players at that club and has deficiencies to concern most people.

the fact that riedwoldt and sellar slipped in the pecking order came down to luck rather than good management.the club actually has stated if riedwoldt wasnt there at 13 they were going to take hislop. they were always going to take edwards with pick 26. so we werent going to target a tall until the fourth round.and with connors still being there i have my doubts even then.

 

[polakthetiger]

He will be as good, if not better, than the Simmonds transformation!

 

[lids2004roar]

the fact that riedwoldt and sellar slipped in the pecking order came down to luck rather than good management.the club actually has stated if riedwoldt wasnt there at 13 they were going to take hislop. they were always going to take edwards with pick 26. so we werent going to target a tall until the fourth round.and with connors still being there i have my doubts even then.

It's Riewoldt!!! Get it right!

I agree it came down to a degree of luck. Is this the rght thing to do in any decision? I believe on occasion it is necessary to move forward. We addressed our needs by securing the services of 2 KPPs and even if Riewoldt was taken we would have had a very good midfield replacement.

The club was very keen on taking Djerkurra (sp?) with the second round pick but we missed out by one selection. That was bad luck. Maybe in hindsight it will be good luck

What did you mean by having doubts on Connors, was it about him or taking a tall?