Player Watch Tom Langdon (Retired 2020)

[Billys Back]

Probably recovering from a knee injury before playing the last 5 games of the H&A season and then getting KO'ed by Howe.

Should have been selected to play finals, especially the Prelim.

Obviously the club didn’t think so.

 

[neilk]

He is right though. Langdon is so far ahead of Shaz. Langdon’s importance is very underrated. When he plays, the Pies are a much better team. 2018 he was injury free and we played in a GF with him being close to our best finals player. From memory he even scored votes in the Norm Smith.
In 2019 when he went down mid season, the Pies struggled a bit in the second half after looking like one of the most dominant teams in the first half of the year. Where was Shaz?

Is there anyone who still underrates Langdon? You’re probably right but I find it very hard to believe.

 

[grayza2018]

I'm as big a Shaz fan as anyone here, but Langdon is ahead of him when ranking the list

Hopefully Shaz can get a decent run at it injury-wise, or Murphy takes those steps to fill the breach, and Langdon can just focus on his recovery and himself for a bit

 

[Apex36]

Id put him in our top 10.
Grundy, Pendles, Steele, JDG, Treloar, Adams, Crisp, Howe. I'd have that 8 ahead of him. Maynard getting close. A few others are more talented, but haven’t strung enough games together yet. .

Would have Elliott and Stephenson both ahead of him as well as the ones you listed with a few more on the verge of passing him by.

 

[Apex36]

He is right though. Langdon is so far ahead of Shaz. Langdon’s importance is very underrated. When he plays, the Pies are a much better team. 2018 he was injury free and we played in a GF with him being close to our best finals player. From memory he even scored votes in the Norm Smith.
In 2019 when he went down mid season, the Pies struggled a bit in the second half after looking like one of the most dominant teams in the first half of the year. Where was Shaz?

Probably more to do with Stephenson given our attack became stagnant and predictable after he was suspended. Our defence was still very solid even after Langdon went down. Would we have been better with him in? Definitely, but he wasn’t the main reason for our drop off in form in the latter half of 2019.

 

[FIGJAM]

Obviously the club didn’t think so.

I appreciate that they perceived a lack of continuity as an issue, but still disagreed with them at the time.

 

[Horaceg]

Maybe a wait and see. But what we have seem so far is that Langdon is so far ahead of Shaz. One of our most important defenders who is always picked when fit. Very versatile in that he can play a number of roles in defence. On the other hand, Shaz can’t get a game even when Langdon is out. Shaz is severely restricted in the role/position he can play. If they can’t ‘reinvent’ him this year, I’d be very surprised if he is at the Pies in 2021. It’s a pity his injuries have played a large part in this.

I agree with what you say, I’m just a little more bullish on Shaz Maybe than you are. He’s come from a long way back injury wise, the talent is there and i do hold some real hope for him. I know we will miss Langdon bit Shaz can play, imho.

happy to put my hand up if I’m wrong

 

[SouthernPie]

Probably recovering from a knee injury before playing the last 5 games of the H&A season and then getting KO'ed by Howe.

Should have been selected to play finals, especially the Prelim.

Actually Shazz was playing brilliantly at the start of that first quarter (against Melbourne I think??) and was then knocked out by Greenwood, not Howie. Oddly, Levi then did his knee in the next game

It was typical bad luck for Shazz and yes, I agree with you Figjam that he should have been selected for the Prelim. He may not be the quickest over the turf, but his amazing reading of the play and his ability to kick accurately and handball efficiently are much needed qualities. I so hope he gets an injury free run to cement a place in the side.

As for Tom Langdon, the prognosis seems to be very guarded, it seems to me. https://www.afl.com.au/news/375592/-we-re-not-giving-up-bucks-backs-vital-pie-s-call-to-play-on

 

[AndrewShawble]

It would seem that he's baked - which is a shame no doubt, handy player

wonder if that happens this season and they sort a payout further adding to cap space...

 

[AndrewShawble]

Actually Shazz was playing brilliantly at the start of that first quarter (against Melbourne I think??) and was then knocked out by Greenwood, not Howie. Oddly, Levi then did his knee in the next game

It was typical bad luck for Shazz and yes, I agree with you Figjam that he should have been selected for the Prelim. He may not be the quickest over the turf, but his amazing reading of the play and his ability to kick accurately and handball efficiently are much needed qualities. I so hope he gets an injury free run to cement a place in the side.

As for Tom Langdon, the prognosis seems to be very guarded, it seems to me. https://www.afl.com.au/news/375592/-we-re-not-giving-up-bucks-backs-vital-pie-s-call-to-play-on

Essendon knocked out.

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

After reading all the info about Langdon that's come out the past few days I can't help but wonder if it's just the best thing for Langdon to retire now. His health is paramount, it seems he'll never return to the player he was and it gives us an opportunity to promote someone temporarily like Keane or Wilson.

 

[Billys Back]

Is there anyone who still underrates Langdon? You’re probably right but I find it very hard to believe.

Have you been reading this thread? Some on here believe Shaz is the equal of Langdon. If that isn’t underrating him, well I don’t know what is.

 

[Billys Back]

I agree with what you say, I’m just a little more bullish on Shaz Maybe than you are. He’s come from a long way back injury wise, the talent is there and i do hold some real hope for him. I know we will miss Langdon bit Shaz can play, imho.

happy to put my hand up if I’m wrong

Maybe. I’m not saying that Shaz can’t be a better player. However, at this stage he is nowhere near Langdon. I hope we see him improve in 2020 and become a player who is an automatic selection each week. Right now he isn’t.
Unfortunately his knees have restricted him and limited his versatility as a player. Some extra pace and it would be a different conversation. After all, we are talking a top 10 draft pick v a pick in the 60s. Shaz is supposed to be better. I’m hoping he can show us why in 2021.

 

[soreplums]

Actually Shazz was playing brilliantly at the start of that first quarter (against Melbourne I think??) and was then knocked out by Greenwood, not Howie. Oddly, Levi then did his knee in the next game

It was typical bad luck for Shazz and yes, I agree with you Figjam that he should have been selected for the Prelim. He may not be the quickest over the turf, but his amazing reading of the play and his ability to kick accurately and handball efficiently are much needed qualities. I so hope he gets an injury free run to cement a place in the side.

As for Tom Langdon, the prognosis seems to be very guarded, it seems to me. https://www.afl.com.au/news/375592/-we-re-not-giving-up-bucks-backs-vital-pie-s-call-to-play-on

I wonder if by that headline we spoke to him about retirement before trade week. Langdon provides cap relief, Aish stays on for another 12 months

 

[Kappa]

I'm as big a Shaz fan as anyone here, but Langdon is ahead of him when ranking the list

Hopefully Shaz can get a decent run at it injury-wise, or Murphy takes those steps to fill the breach, and Langdon can just focus on his recovery and himself for a bit

What recovery can he do? His knee is ****ed, now he's just trying to see if he can play with the pain and discomfort

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

The saving grace is that we still have Sharenberg, I think he fits the role and maybe a better player.

You are entitled to your opinion. I don't think Scharenberg is as good a mark nor does he compete as well against tall forwards. Despite the criticism of Langdon getting caught holding the ball, I think he has more pace than Scharenberg. As to durability, sadly Langdon appears all but lost to the game, while Scharenberg is only another ACL injury from the end of his career. I wouldn't be relying on either of them to play a key role in our defence for the entirety of the 2020 season.

 

[HeathySure]

You are entitled to your opinion. I don't think Scharenberg is as good a mark nor does he compete as well against tall forwards. Despite the criticism of Langdon getting caught holding the ball, I think he has more pace than Scharenberg. As to durability, sadly Langdon appears all but lost to the game, while Scharenberg is only another ACL injury from the end of his career. I wouldn't be relying on either of them to play a key role in our defence for the entirety of the 2020 season.

Langdon has much more pace than Scharenberg. Shazz is probably the slowest player over a short distance i have ever seen and that even includes Cox

 

[FIGJAM]

Actually Shazz was playing brilliantly at the start of that first quarter (against Melbourne I think??) and was then knocked out by Greenwood, not Howie. Oddly, Levi then did his knee in the next game

It was typical bad luck for Shazz and yes, I agree with you Figjam that he should have been selected for the Prelim. He may not be the quickest over the turf, but his amazing reading of the play and his ability to kick accurately and handball efficiently are much needed qualities. I so hope he gets an injury free run to cement a place in the side.

As for Tom Langdon, the prognosis seems to be very guarded, it seems to me. https://www.afl.com.au/news/375592/-we-re-not-giving-up-bucks-backs-vital-pie-s-call-to-play-on

Yep, thanks for that! Got his concussion mixed up with Darcy’s a couple of years back.

Old age!

 

[Leviathan Pie]

I reckon he's completely cooked, unfortunately. Such a degenerative issue like that.

Sad.

 

[Apex36]

Have you been reading this thread? Some on here believe Shaz is the equal of Langdon. If that isn’t underrating him, well I don’t know what is.

Who’s actually said that? Because pretty much everything I’ve seen says Langdon is currently the better player but Scharenberg could become his equal with a proper run at it.

 

[swoop42]

Scharenberg doesn't have the same scope to play on the smalls as Langdon IMHO.

In an ideal world for him he'd be surrounded by Roughead at FB, Moore at CHB with no Howe available so he can fill his role.

Unless it suddenly all clicks for him and he starts getting more urgency in his game to provide better rebound and/or finds a yard of pace then he's probably going to be consigned to being seen as an undersized key position option that will be relying on injuries/illness to find a spot in our best 22.

 

[Johno9911]

Scharenberg doesn't have the same scope to play on the smalls as Langdon IMHO.

In an ideal world for him he'd be surrounded by Roughead at FB, Moore at CHB with no Howe available so he can fill his role.

Unless it suddenly all clicks for him and he starts getting more urgency in his game to provide better rebound and/or finds a yard of pace then he's probably going to be consigned to being seen as an undersized key position option that will be relying on injuries/illness to find a spot in our best 22.

I tend to think in any one side you could only have 2/3 of Howe Langdon and Shaz. Taking all three caused one of them to pick up a small forward who none are particularly suited for (Langdon being the best of the three at it) and having all three plus Moore and Roughy I think leaves us too tall and slow.

If say Langdon were to retire and Shaz was to somehow over come his own injury set backs and play consistent minutes, I think we could see him and Howe having a good partnership switching between being the spare or picking up the 3rd tall/ Medium sized forward (similar to what Langdon and Howe did). In that instance I would line our back's up as:

Maynard Roughead Noble/IQ
Howe Moore Crisp

Int: Shaz

Nice balance of heights and a good mixture of Pace, Aerial ability and pure defensive stopping ability.

 

[rand corp]

They do it in a quite a few countries now but if you want the full experience without any limits Columbia is where it's at, quite a few people have skipped the standard US treatment and gone straight to Columbia.

Its all the marching they do there, very good for it allegedly.

 

[adammania9]

Wind back to 2018 and Scharenberg's form stacked up much better than Langdon's did. Only after Shaz's ACL in round 19 of the year did Langdon step up and become the general that everybody recognises him as. I love Langers but let's not pretend he has years of this form behind him. Before Shaz went out, Langdon was still as inconsistent and error-riddled as he'd always been. Not a spud by any means, but was never too far from being omitted realistically. Scharenberg was perhaps our most important defender before he did his knee - he was more than holding his ground against bigger and heavier opponents, and he was taking intercept marks and making great decisions by foot. If Shaz gets a clean run in 2020, he's every chance of getting back to his best alongside Moore and Roughead.

 

[Scodog10]

Id put him in our top 10.
Grundy, Pendles, Steele, JDG, Treloar, Adams, Crisp, Howe, Moore, Elliott, Phillips, Roughead and Maynard. A few others are more talented, but haven’t strung enough games together yet. .

EFA

I probably wouldn’t mount the case Apex has to include Stephenson ahead of him, but I can justify it and JT at least has a top 10 B&F result to his name so is another.

Langdon missing 50% of his games over the past 4 seasons (and that will rise with it appearing unlikely he’s fit in the first half of 2020 at least) means you’re a long way off if you’re including him ahead of Elliott and Moore. As per my initial comments the mythology around him grows with each week he misses.