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Time To Give Apeness A Go?

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caterina said:
Ross on Apeness today:

"He's really exciting for us, first-round pick, 200cm, a real competitive beast, huge aerobic tank. We know we've got one coming"

Hard not to salivate over that.
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Very happy about the tank. That's the one thing I wasn't really sure of. That and forward smarts... Though being a great contested grab means he can still be effective even if he's developing them.
 
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kp junior said:
I wonder if watching Hawkins destroy the Hawks is partly what is giving Ross his APE Chubby? Hopefully he's a similar type
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Would be nice if he could develop a little quicker than Hawkins did, but its good to know there's another key forward prospect, and potentially that key forward backup ruck we've been looking for, in the pipeline.
 
Freoforever86 said:
Apeness 1-2 week injury sucks. Guys seem to keep getting small injuries when they're right on the cusp. Lots to like about him but.
Hannah at FF doesn't sit well. Better off with Tabs or Kep (doubt Kep is ready yet). Hannah has looked decent rucking in AFL games, but when forward he's next to useless. So far anyways..
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Oh no, Keps will be some weeks away at best. I suspect he'll line up for a half or so with Peel this week. It will be the first game he's played in a year. He wont be pushing for selection for a good month or more.

Depending on how Tabs goes and other things out of our control, I suspect Apeness might get a chance yet.
 

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Seppo said:
I thought we were too tall with Clarke, Pav, Tabs, Mayne etc.

With Ballas now missing we can't just add Apeness to the side without 2 other changes to get our forward structure right.

Give him a few more weeks and if he hits all the KPI's and there is oppurtunity, unleash the APE!
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your right, i cant see apeness coming in. Unless he makes way for Tabs or something.
 
Also, I don't want us to give Apeness a go.. I want him to bash the door down with form that we have no choice but to play him. Obviously.. Haha.
As RTB said the other day, he's doing that so far. Which makes the injury news quite sour.
 
I have been informed that this is last weeks - It came in my RSS feed today though *puzzled*
 

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manpurple said:
Said it elsewhere but.

What do you know. Spend a first round draft pick on a KPP and you get something. Who would have thought. :rolleyes:
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Apart from Darling, which forward did you want us to take in prior drafts with our first round picks?

Shaw (too timid), Kersten (not a key forward), Black (more a third tall) over Fyfe?

I think this just vindicates Bondy/Lloyd. Prior drafts had no good forwards left by our picks. They rightly identified guys like Shaw/Kersten as deficient to become AFL power forwards. The trend, which I am sure they realised, was towards large ruckman type forwards (e.g. Tippet, Carlisle, Daniher, Patton, Boyd - all 200cm or thereabouts). They finally got a beauty in Apeness who was tall (200cm), big (100kg+) and a competitive animal plus had a huge tank (big pre-requisite in the modern day) and great kick (won the goal-kicking test at draft camp).

Its funny that in prior drafts many were smashing their heads at us not taking a tall first round, then Apeness comes along and many (mostly other clubs bigfooty armchair experts but also journo´s) thought we were desperate and reaching. I loved the pick last year.

Apeness reminds me a lot of Tippet in some ways in that he never dominated as a key forward in junior footy, but came late to the sport/played little footy as a junior, but showed all the tools necessary to become a dominant forward (see above).

Hard not to get excited about this, particularly given his attributes which, in my opinion, make it much more likely that he will translate this to AFL level and thrive as opposed to guys like Shaw who had the knock that they didn´t have the competitive instincts/aggro, failed to chase etc:

 
Holy crap I didn't realise he was in the Rebels juniors team. They breed union players strong. I reckon he would stand up if he played now. Even though he is green. End of the day he keeps his feet and those long arms take strong contested grabs. Gotta be a better option than Tabs at this stage.

Can also play ruck or down back to cover. Perfect time to get games into this bloke. Could be a Gumby replacement
 
PurpleReign said:
I agree with Nickos66. Apeness doesn't need the same introduction to AFL that Tanner Smith got against Hawthorn last year. I don't recall seeing Apeness play in any of the pre season games for Peel so he's basically played 4 games of senior footy and only 2 of those games could be considered good performances. I think I would see Apeness being groomed in the same way that Tom Hawkins was. Hawkins was drafted in 2006 but didn't play until 2008. The first game I saw Hawkins play was against us at subi. He looked a bit lost and I didn't see many signs of him becoming the footballer he is today in that game. He played in a strong side though and was well supported. If we were to play him this week he'd probably get Scott Thompson and frankly I think he would get monstered. I do think Apeness will be a good player for us over a long period of time, I certainly see more upside to Apeness than I do Tabs at this stage of their careers.
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Disagree.
Apeness has a really mature body and mind, rugby background too, and at Eastern Ranges last year, got better as the season progressed. Loves a tussle, a goal, and can ruck.
And Tom Hawkins played well before 2008, 2006 iirc, but had to contend with both Mooney and Nathan Ablett as KF's. Your team sadly lacks a true imposing KF, was glaringly obvious last year, and yet you are/were that close to a flag. Apeness is a true KF who can ruck.
PAVLICH is s a genius of a player, but needs help.
 

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Vdubs said:
Disagree.
Apeness has a really mature body and mind, rugby background too, and at Eastern Ranges last year, got better as the season progressed. Loves a tussle, a goal, and can ruck.
And Tom Hawkins played well before 2008, 2006 iirc, but had to contend with both Mooney and Nathan Ablett as KF's. Your team sadly lacks a true imposing KF, was glaringly obvious last year, and yet you are/were that close to a flag. Apeness is a true KF who can ruck.
PAVLICH is s a genius of a player, but needs help.
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It's funny how that's obvious to everyone except our coach.
 
Ape is not ready yet, maybe after the bye, and will he get a genuine go in our forward line, or like Tabs be a scapegoat? Our forward
line is all over the place, we don't seem to have any idea at the moment, WE Need Structure. Two tall forwards, two small forwards,
two medium forwards is a start. I don't see the point in having a ruckmen resting down there unless they can take contested marks.
Before this game I suggested resting Mayne, and bringing in SOS, to play forward or back, with Johnson, and to retain Tabs. One of
the reasons we lost the GF last year was because we had Pav alone, Mayne injured, and we still haven't learnt anything.
 

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Time To Give Apeness A Go?

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