Stephen Hill first impressions

[shoe]

He is a very promising player who is more robust and physical than he looked on Sunday. Not powerful physical, but has an uncanny inside knack of finding the ball and getting it to a teammate. Good skills generally, sometimes silky. I'd have taken him roughly around Pick 10 based on who I saw last year.

Not really fair to compare him to Rich given body size, but I'd have taken Rich at 2 after Naitanui.

Agree.

Except you mean pick 3 after Naitanui, we didn't win the spoon last year. Jack Watts/Demons.

 

[DaVe86]

Geez, i would not be panicking just yet as a Freo supporter. Hill looked all class in the NAB, but has been shown up a bit in the season proper simply due to a lack of size and experience.

Doggies smacked the Dockers, and Dons were well on top all day as well. Hard for a kid as skinny as Hill to come in and make immediate impact when the side is getting smacked. Not everyone is Rhys Palmer.



He probably does need to be dropped. You can't go playing a guy who has had about 10 disposals in 2 matches and is there to be a ball winner.


But that said, i would be dropping guys like Head before i moved onto Hill. Atleast if Freo is going to lose, they may as well do it blooding kids. Carlton exposed Gibbs, Kruezer and Murphy straight away. Gibbs in particular took a while to really settle in. They were getting smacked week in week out. But now the benefit of playing them is obvious because they are all starting to look really good. Kreuzer has come a long way in a short time.


So yes, Hill probably does need to be dropped. The fact he is skinny is not as big an issue as the fact that he just doesn't seem to have the awareness and confidence to go win the ball just yet. A week in the ressies should help him out.

But if i see Hill and Suban getting dropped, whilst some of the senior guys who are doing equally as crap remain...then I have to say that Freo have made a big mistake.


On Rich, he was always going to come in and have a more immediate impact. I personally would've taken Rich if i were Freo...but they have looked at their midfield and they already have Hasleby and Palmer in and under. They probably lack a bit of polish and speed outside. That said, Rich's footskills are better than anyone on the Freo list at the moment so he would've been handy. But 5 other clubs also passed up on Rich.

From what i saw of Hill in the NAB, he is definitely a player. From what I've seen of him at AFL level, he has just been a bit overawed by the style of game and the bigger bodies. I think its a confidence thing.



summary...drop him, but also drop the older experience hacks. Otherwise, give him game time and let him build his confidence and still drop the older experienced hacks.

 

[Dave The Man]

Hill was always going to a high risk high reward type of draft selection.

He showed enough in the pre season to suggest that he will be a very good player in the future but is probably not AFL ready physically like D Rich.

Personaly i think he could be a Peter Matera type player

Agree he was a High Risk, High Reward Pick. If he can put on the Muscle adn Continuing Develop he could be a Very Good Pick but if he does not he could wind up a Quick Outside Winger

 

[WALL-e]

Just seems t be having a little trouble finding leather. Looks a likely type though.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Way too early to tell. I still recon along with Swift, he could become the best out of the 3008 bunch. He has a lot of X Factor about him.

 

[Selgae]

Agree.

Except you mean pick 3 after Naitanui, we didn't win the spoon last year. Jack Watts/Demons.

He might mean:
1: Naita
2: Rich

Way too early to tell. I still recon along with Swift, he could become the best out of the 3008 bunch. He has a lot of X Factor about him.

Swift > Hill but Hill weighs 69 kg

 

[__aria__]

am i right in assuming that most people think it is impossible for daniel rich to improve more than stephen hill from this point on?

 

[year of the cat]

Way too early to tell. I still recon along with Swift, he could become the best out of the 3008 bunch. He has a lot of X Factor about him.

Should pass Tucky's record if he goes that long.

 

[campbell]

I doubt he would be a superstar in his first 2 games
Give him time

Ditto. he looks skilful though.You want to give him a BigMac though, those skinny arms.

 

[SirJimi05]

cannot believe freo over looked rich for this kid. might be ok in a few years, meanwhile lions will get a solid 22 games from rich this year & a nab rising star to boot.

Yeah because clubs recruit for 2 years and not 15 years.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

am i right in assuming that most people think it is impossible for daniel rich to improve more than stephen hill from this point on?

D.Rich can improve in a big way. In his fitness, he is great around contests and finds the ball well. Later in his career he will be heavily tagged so he will require a strong team around him and for him to add other aspects to his game, his posession count should also increase to the mid 25 range within a few years.

 

[striped]

Yeah because clubs recruit for 2 years and not 15 years.

i dont get the point you are trying to make. are you suggesting rich only has 2 good years in him ? i agree freo may get 10 good years out of hill but on that same arguement so will the lions from rich plus the 2 they have'nt had too wait. you follow now ?

 

[Californication]

More or less anonymous during his first two games. A spell in the WAFL would probably do him no harm whatsoever.

 

[Lazyboy]

Freo has serious issues with there recruiting, its tragic, why didnt they just play safe for once and take Rich.

 

[sabre_ac]

People need to remember that the Joel Selwoods, Chris Judd's, Palmer and Rich's are not the norm.

Most 18 yo kids will not step up their first season and take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Reality check please.

 

[beatlesmith]

Needs time. The big risk is how bulking up will effect his pace, agility and endurance, which are his strengths. As others have mntioned, i think at worst he will be a handy back flanker.

But really, this thread smacks of hipocrasy. Many freo supporters are pulling the 'give him time' tagline, but when they had the ready made prospect (palmer) and we had the long term prospect (masten), they (well, alot of them) were on the front foot to say how superior palmer is to masten, and how 'shit' masten was after one season.
Lift your game.

 

[Selgae]

People need to remember that the Joel Selwoods, Chris Judd's, Palmer and Rich's are not the norm.

Most 18 yo kids will not step up their first season and take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Reality check please.

Why do Freo think they are in a position to choose a speculative pick... He may turn out great.. but why do it??? If it is one team that should not be taking any chances it is them...

Rich and Palmer for the next ten years... scary

 

[Memories]

Why do Freo think they are in a position to choose a speculative pick... He may turn out great.. but why do it??? If it is one team that should not be taking any chances it is them...

Rich and Palmer for the next ten years... scary

Good question, why did we do it....

The biggest question though is why we missed getting Robinson or any other decent midfielder in the draft. Our biggest issue is lack of supply to our forwards due to our mediocre midfield and what do we do? Get a halfback flanker/wingman type in Hill who will unlikely play a large role in the midfield. And then there is the risk of choosing someone who is so lean that adding muscle might just ruin everything good about them, another wells/headland in waiting. Then we choose a small forward, a defender, a ruckman, another small forward, yeah just great choices which address our deficiencies completely.

Lets just keep getting more KPPs and small forwards that are useless as **** on a bull if you don't have a decent midfield. We have one of the best forwards in the game that gets maybe 2 kicks to him a game that are decent.

Nevermind, I'm sure some WA player for an Eastern states club that is under 170cm will be drafted to address our midfield concerns and the process will repeat. You don't know the meaning of frustration until you walk in a freo supporters shoes.

 

[The Taylor Walker Show]

Stephen Hill is a hack.

By gee god I hate to think what damage Taylor Walker would do to him this weekend if they stick Hilly on him.

 

[sabre_ac]

Why do Freo think they are in a position to choose a speculative pick... He may turn out great.. but why do it??? If it is one team that should not be taking any chances it is them...

Rich and Palmer for the next ten years... scary

What right do the eagles have or any club for that matter?? Not sure why your singling out freo. Do I need to remind you that you took Natanui

Like I said, very few players are stars their first season...Recruiters look for players with significant improvement ahead of what is already a good game.. Hill has that....

Plus Rich and Palmer play a similar role, we need an outside type player...Hill fits that as well.

 

[Memories]

What right do the eagles have or any club for that matter?? Not sure why your singling our freo. Do I need to remind you that you took Natanui

Like I said, very few players are stars their first season...Recruiters look for players with significant improvement ahead of what is already a good game.. Hill has that....

Plus Rich and Palmer play a similar role, we need an outside type player...Hill fits that as well.

Wells had bigger wraps on him than Hill and look what happened to him after gaining a bit of weight, serviceable but nowhere near where his pick implies he should be. To think for a second that taking Hill isn't a big risk, bigger than it should be for what we need, is quite silly imo.

I would also think we have plenty of outside players already, Ibbotson, Headland, Mundy, Johnson, Crowley to name just a few. We only have two ball winners, Haselby and Palmer, we lost two last year in Bell and J Carr.To think we don't need another Palmer is ridiculous given the state of our midfield.

 

[yaco55]

Hill struggled to make an impact in the game on Sunday.

Fremantle may be better to play him in defence as he doesn't seem strong enough to play midfield.

 

[sabre_ac]

Wells had bigger wraps on him than Hill and look what happened to him after gaining a bit of weight, serviceable but nowhere near where his pick implies he should be. To think for a second that taking Hill isn't a big risk, bigger than it should be for what we need, is quite silly imo.

I would also think we have plenty of outside players already, Ibbotson, Headland, Mundy, Johnson, Crowley to name just a few. We only have two ball winners, Haselby and Palmer, we lost two last year in Bell and J Carr.To think we don't need another Palmer is ridiculous given the state of our midfield.

Have you jumped off the Hill bandwagon already?

Champion players get teams to grand finals (Even if they don't always win them).Rich reminds me allot of Haselby, will be a good player without ever being a game breaker...Hill has the potential to be a game breaker...I think with Palmer, Crowley, Mundy and Ibbotson you have a bunch of toilers without any being game breakers...Hill is the x-factor we needed.

Of course Hill was a bigger risk than Rich, no one would ever say otherwise..However one might argue that Natanui is a bigger risk than Rich as well...Rich was the surest thing in the draft, did all 6 clubs make a mistake?

While your comparing Wells to Hill, why not compare him to Sampi as well...Or JON...

Without realising it people compare aboriginal players to other aboriginal players...When it doesn't necessary mean they are similar type players.

Was Well's ever as desperate or hard at it as Hill? Other than pace around the ball, what else do they have in common?

Why not compare Hill to Mcloed?

 

[__aria__]

jesus christ why does every stephen hill thread turn into a "bag the shit out of daniel wells" thread

daniel wells is a very good player in a much better side than fremantle who is still improving and good luck to hill, he should be happy if he ever reaches that level (can't see it happening myself)

 

[Wizard]

Stephen Hill is a hack.

By gee god I hate to think what damage Taylor Walker would do to him this weekend if they stick Hilly on him.

Oh yeah Taylor the new Buddy Franklin, turn it up you idiot.
Why would Hill play on Walker? A midfielder on a full forward, that seems a logical match up.

Yeah that's fine except you had the chance to pick Rich

So did Melbourne, West Coast, Port, Essendon and Carlton. Hill has done something none of their picks have done and played both games thus far.
Yarran apparently in trouble off the field, big stuff up there blues.
Nic Nat, Hurley and Hartlett already having injury troubles, massive stuff ups there.
When people start drafting in the top 5 for the straight away and not for the future is when clubs will start falling into big holes.