Opinion Rate our young players' potential

[Turbocat]

As good as our kids upside looks , I don't think we have any that had the immediate "play now" at the time of drafting as some from other clubs , like O'Mera , Swallow , perhaps Hogan or probably a few at the GWS. Its the price that we pay for our finishing where we have the about last decade.

That doesn't mean "ours" cant be as good or better , but we rely far more on development of our kids than just raw potential. So we pump this area of our club we get players that grow , bloom and a list that just gets thicker and thicker. Also as a consequence of this we do get occasional "Wells Specials" that appear to have come from nowhere. For instance , on athletic talent do we have anyone with potential than Blitz? I previously declared that if he plays any senior football it would be a success , but imagine if we get a player. Thats potential. But the flip side of this is , judging who will develop in our system the most is difficult.

Duncan appears to been brought into the club with a slightly outside rep perhaps a tad soft. P28 (Thank you sausage), a player who has enough all round athleticism and football smarts/skills who in the right system may become a high level player. I think we saw that in the last part of 2012. He was close to our best mid in best 2-4 no doubt.

Christensen is high in football talent. If he can stay fit and continue push himself to contests , we may see an increase in his output in the way GA expanded.

In Caddy I feel we picked up a Bartel type. Early days but there is something there , imo that he looks to be a "moment" player. This is just a gut guess and only time will tell.

 

[Senatorguesty]

As good as our kids upside looks , I don't think we have any that had the immediate "play now" at the time of drafting as some from other clubs , like O'Mera , Swallow , perhaps Hogan or probably a few at the GWS. Its the price that we pay for our finishing where we have the about last decade.

That doesn't mean "ours" cant be as good or better , but we rely far more on development of our kids than just raw potential. So we pump this area of our club we get players that grow , bloom and a list that just gets thicker and thicker. Also as a consequence of this we do get occasional "Wells Specials" that appear to have come from nowhere. For instance , on athletic talent do we have anyone with potential than Blitz? I previously declared that if he plays any senior football it would be a success , but imagine if we get a player. Thats potential. But the flip side of this is , judging who will develop in our system the most is difficult.

Duncan appears to been brought into the club with a slightly outside rep perhaps a tad soft. P28 (Thank you sausage), a player who has enough all round athleticism and football smarts/skills who in the right system may become a high level player. I think we saw that in the last part of 2012. He was close to our best mid in best 2-4 no doubt.

Christensen is high in football talent. If he can stay fit and continue push himself to contests , we may see an increase in his output in the way GA expanded.

In Caddy I feel we picked up a Bartel type. Early days but there is something there , imo that he looks to be a "moment" player. This is just a gut guess and only time will tell.

They were top 3-5 picks to an expansion club full of teenagers.
Would Swallow have gotten a game straight away at the Pies/hawks/Cats?
But also thats why they are top picks, its not necessarily because they are more talented but more likely to fit in right away and make an impact, they have the honed skills, the mature hardened body and have proved themselves in a senior competition/TAC carnival.
Guys later in the draft tend to come from lesser leagues, with work needed on some skills and are usually under weight or lack in some other physical way, thats where Geelongs beyond elite development turn a pick 45 into a super star great of our club and triple premiership player/premiership captain.

 

[Senatorguesty]

not going to argue that he hasnt performed better than the rest thus far, just dont believe he will turn out to be the best of the crop, i think smedts menzel christensen will turn out the better prospects in the long run

Cant argue with that, I reckon Duncan will be top 3 or 4 from that group, some disagree but really that group of youngsters all could be 200+ game champions.
Although I have Smedts a rung below Duncan, Bundy, Menzel and Vardy, I think its because I'm not sure where he should play, last year I really liked him as a defensive half forward but I'm not 100% sure that role is there....

 

[year of the cat]

Every now and again you see a moment from a new kid that makes you sit up and take notice. I remember distinctly the game that Christensen debuted in against the pies a couple of years back I watched one of those moments. The kid had just been subbed on in a high pressure game where the conditions were appalling - the wind was ferocious resulting in many turnovers and poor play. Christensen marked the ball on the wing, paused until he was confident he had the right option and promptly drilled a flat, low pass to the chest of a teammate. In that one play the kid showed poise, skill and smarts of a player far more advanced in experience. In fact many will never get there.

He went on to repeat a couple of the clutch moments in our 2011 premiership win. This kid has serious class. If he can apply himself and stay on the park we have a beauty here. I'm not necessarily saying he can be as good as G.Ablett (jnr) but he shows more at the same age I reckon than him.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Daniel menzel- the best way i can describe menzel is a smaller medium sized version of lance franklin with a better contested mark, he has extremely good awareness and agility, he is very awkward to match up on for opposition and causes anxiety when the ball is kicked in his direction, has x factor written all over him, get back out on the bloody park and you will be a superstar!!

I usually liken him to Steve Johnson without the bad bits....though I am harsh on Johnson at times. So he's like a better version of Johnson (which is saying something), with worse knees.

I love how most of the young guys have a bit of flair, that's what I like footy for, and Geelong thankfully have always had a fair sprinkling of flair.

The one thing I think Duncan has that the other new mids don't, from what I've seen so far, is that doesn't mind crunching blokes, he's really good at it. That's different from being courageous of course, but he can deliver a beautiful hip and shoulder, which I like also.

 

[strauchnyy]

1. Menzel

Notwithstanding his injury concerns, dan is our best kid full stop. Genuine match winner that you can rarely get these days outside a top 5 pick. This kid is stevieJ with a better mark and more pace. I can't explain how much his injury has hurt us, more than Egan IMO. Hope like hell he can get back.

2. Duncan

Was a bit 'wtf' at the op but it seems most agree with me. A 187 big strong mid that can take big marks and kick goals from outside 50. Duncan is the best shot at goal at our club IMO, and I see him turning into a full time inside big bodied mid. What separates Duncan from the average joe is his decision making, you can actually see Duncan assess situations and make the correct decision every time. What also goes unnoticed is his little taps or look away handballs in traffic. He has a bit of magic.

3. Caddy

Kid is a gun, pure and simple. Cats fans judge him too harshly, it seems because he wasn't a cat that we drafted but he has more potential than any of our young players (bar menzel). Was the 2nd best inside mid after swallow in his draft, forced to be the main mid at a club of 19 yr olds and still performed above his years. Strong inside ability, poise and overhead. A key skill josh has is evasiveness in close to gather the footy, weave out and spot a player by hand or 60m away. He is also a goal s game mid.

4. Vardy

More on potential than anything, I see Nathan becoming a kurt tippet or Petrie type player as a ruckman type forward. However I won't be convinced he will reach these heights until he can play a consistent season, which for done reason seems doubtful. Fingers crossed.

5. Christensen

Would be top 3 if he was 5cm taller. As someone else said, he has amazing ability but there is some sort of cap due to his size. Will be extremely important mid for us as hi provided a point of difference from other mids. Quick evasive, loves the dirty work as well as X factor. But he can't be relied upon to be the main mid (look Wat happened to murphy when Kidd was out, too small to carry a teams mid), albeit a gun.

6. Smedts

Was split between smedts and Guthrie here but chose smedts due to a higher ceiling. IMO if smedts puts all the hard work in and learns from the best, he could be a very dangerous half fwd or mid in the mould of dal santo/pendlebury. Smedts moves exactly like these 2 players. Evasive with sublime ball control. Would hope smedts becomes a mid (still needs to put on about 6 or 7kg).

7. Guthrie

Will always be underrated. Will get the footy 20 odd times a match, make 20 good decisions and beat his opponent but will largely go unnoticed to the media. Guthrie has the potential to be our next defensive large mid (ling) but due to enright s pending retirement, we might need a you g big bodied smart decision maker to remain in the backline.

8. Murdoch

Will be our Stephen hill/Isaac smith. Important player too any afl team is a fast outside tallish player with a penetrating left foot. Will become an ace in our cards in many games. Lots of potential for Jordan. Will probably own one of the wings for the next 10 yrs. it will be important to have attacking players and that's what Murdoch is.

9. Horlin-Smith

Hasn't shown as much as the above at this stage but from all reports, he has taken his game to a new level this preseason. I read that geelong see him as a josh Kennedy large imposing mid type, and I believe he can get there. If he plays most games this year and performs well, I would but him after selwood, caddy and Duncan as our 4th mid for the future, kind of what Corey has been throughout our last era.

10. Motlop

Yes he was inconsistent but he's still very young and sometimes it takes a couple years longer for the indigenous guns to show their true talent (look at varcoe). However, Steven showed me enough last year that he will be an important player for us. Arguably the best field disposal kick in our team, has pace, X factor and a good finisher. Motlop in our team will make us quicker, less predictable and more dangerous. I rate him highly.

Well that is my top 10 from what I have seen, I also rate Eardley, kersten, bews and think thurlow could be a gun.. I just haven't seen enough of them yet.

It's obvious we have a lot if young talent, but lack quality young key defenders. Hamling is the definition of unknown and I don't really rate walker.

Please feel free to advise your thoughts on my top 10.

 

[vinum coupe]

Potential?

There are too many of them really.

Grouped

Guthrie - Duncan - Menzel
Christensen - GHS - Hunt
Motlop - Smedts


It's too early to rate anyone else.

 

[Lager]

Obviously we can't really make a judgement call yet, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how Thurlow fits into these lists come the end of the season.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Cant argue with that, I reckon Duncan will be top 3 or 4 from that group, some disagree but really that group of youngsters all could be 200+ game champions.
Although I have Smedts a rung below Duncan, Bundy, Menzel and Vardy, I think its because I'm not sure where he should play, last year I really liked him as a defensive half forward but I'm not 100% sure that role is there....

Smedts will end up a pure rolls-royce midfielder. I agree it's a little difficult while he's developing his body to see exactly where he fits in but I think last year showed that the MC really rate him and they'll find a spot. I'd suggest it will be the forward role again. They'd be hoping he can go down the Ablett road of being a quality small/medium forward while developing his body and then flick the switch to midfield once he's got the body and confidence to play there. Of course I'm not saying he'll be as good but that's the type of role he should end up playing in 2-3 years.

 

[Gavin Excell]

I too have a lot of faith in Smedts.

Duncan for mine already proved himself with hsi stellar 2012 year.. There was a "moment" in the 2011 GF jsut prior to 3/4 time where he got the ball and drilled it 40m out for a critical goal. Sure he was 40m out directly in front but in the white heat of a GF players, espcially young ones can seize right up. Dan hannebruy had a similair moment in the GF 2012 v hawks and delivered.

Think they are signature moments for younger players that must give them enormous confidence.

 

[David the Cat]

I think the form shown by Murdoch to this point would see him a little higher on the list....this kid has AFL footballer written all over him.

 

[Skeppersap]

Menzel would be #1 if he could get on the ground.

But I rate Duncan as our best youngster, love him. He has flair, but is also a no-nonsense get the business done type of player. He doesnt celebrate too much after kicking important goals, just gets on with the game.

I love watching the 2011 GF, with the commentators stating that he is looking off the pace hwne he gets subbed in, despite only having just come on the ground. He then proceeds to run through the square, into the 50 and drill an important goal. All class!!!!

 

[Strangled Cat]

The future is exciting at Cat land. Billie Smedts, Al Christensen, Mitch Duncan, George Horlin-Smith, Jordan Murdoch and Josh Caddy all led by our fearless leader will prove to be a very formidable midfield in the future. If Dan Menzel can stay on the park with no adverse affects from his knee surgery, I think he may well end up being considered the most talented player in his era for us. He is ridiculously talented, and it would be such a shame if he doesn't reach that potential.

But I'm going out on a limb here and say that I'm so confident that Hyphen is going to have a break out year, that by its conclusion we will be discussing whether he will become one of if not the most decorated midfielder of this new era after Joel Selwood. Yes, I am that confident in the kids ability to become elite, just as I was 18 months ago.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I think the form shown by Murdoch to this point would see him a little higher on the list....this kid has AFL footballer written all over him.

Yep he's been exceptional. There was never any question about his athletic attributes. I was just worried whether he had the footy brain that some of our others do. The role as a lead up 3rd tall really suits him though since it allows him to utilise his great assets of speed, strong hands and kicking ability without often needing in close handball and defensive body positioning.

He also looks much more comfortable in the team now he's found a suitable position. He's booked his spot for round 1 you'd think and maybe well beyond then too.

 

[Vdubs]

I like all those nominated, hard to split them.
Saw Duncan's 1st game v NM preseason, and he showed us some tricks that day that announced he would be a star very soon.
Menzel is nearly my favourite player, but I fear rating him until he makes a comeback.
All factors considered, he would be our best young one.
Bundy is a gun, just needs maturity physically

Really enjoying Murdoch. Seriously good to watch. Missing Wojo, but we have some zippy players

Hyphen does remind me of Nick Dal Santo, and if he's anywhere near that level, we have a beauty.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Interesting how things change in 4 years. The lowest rated is by far the best of the lot
Injuries have ruined a couple and a couple simply haven't come on as well as hoped.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Really?
He's been our best performed youngster for the last 2 years IMO and with Vardy, Menzel and Bundy have the highest ceiling.
Duncan WILL be a star 200+ gamer at the Cats.
Not taking anything from the others in your list but Duncan is at the top of the tier IMO.

Called that ok way back when.

 

[JumpyHolden]

A+ billie smedts- i am the biggest fan of this kid, the way he moves, the way he penetrates the ball, has that special something about him which seems to be able to read and assess a situation much quicker than others, garry ablett junior is the last player i remember to have it. i dont think he will really burst on till 2015 onwards, this is when i predict he will turn into the player i believe he has the potential to be if not hopefully sooner, no pressure in 2013

geelong_crazy26 The only similarity that Billy shares with Gaz is what comes out of Gazzas arse. As with all your predictions they are no where near it.

 

[STPer18]

Duncan is definitely in the top tier.

Finally an old post that doesn't make me look like a plonker. Ignore the other 3000-odd.