Varcoe

[G.F.C]

From the limited amount of times i've seen him, he's been unimpressive.

He doesn't look quick
He doesn't tackle
He looks selfish

If he wants to be a big part of our future, he has a hell of a lot of work to do.

 

[CF]

The guy has played half a season without any preseason training due to injury and is only 18. How about we just give him a chance to get a proper preseason training under his belt and then see how he goes. He did have a bad game on Sunday but had played OK in the other finals games. So let's not over-react to one game. Every player has a bad one now and then. He is only human afterall.

May still need another year in the magoos next year to mature and build up his fitness and small body

 

[winty]

From the limited amount of times i've seen him, he's been unimpressive.

He doesn't look quick
He doesn't tackle
He looks selfish

If he wants to be a big part of our future, he has a hell of a lot of work to do.

Give the kid a break. Like Catman said he's been battling injuries most the season, and apart from yesterday's game, his final series has been pretty good. And as for him not tackling, if you were watching the game on the ABC, you'd have seen at halftime the brilliant run down tackle he did against Willy last week, not to mention the brilliant tackle he laid in yesterday's game. Get him fully fit and the kid will be a star.

 

[malvern]

Gee - a bit harsh.

I thought for an 18 yr old with limited game time and injury there were some good signs - I think your expectation is way too high. I think we will know more this time next year - but I think the signs are all good.

 

[GeeCat]

Varcoe is too precious around here.

A couple of tackles and we're allowed to pump up his star tyres, but anything else and he's adverse to the critique on the basis of his injury. His lack of general fitness and overall experience is certainly telling, and I'm more than happy to pass total judgement until '07 onward, but that doesn't mean it can't be pointed out that he has been, to date, disappointing.

Travis showed plenty last week with his deft touches, but yesterday was very much a repeat of much of the rest of the year. My main qualms have been his very selective use of pace, his lack of urgency at times, his hot-and-cold kicking, and his moments of getting lost in the play.

I'd like to think most of this can be (hopefully) branded as nothing but due to inexperience/fitness issues, but the kid does have alot to work on.

 

[DanA]

Varcoe is too precious around here.

A couple of tackles and we're allowed to pump up his star tyres, but anything else and he's adverse to the critique on the basis of his injury. His lack of general fitness and overall experience is certainly telling, and I'm more than happy to pass total judgement until '07 onward, but that doesn't mean it can't be pointed out that he has been, to date, disappointing.

Travis showed plenty last week with his deft touches, but yesterday was very much a repeat of much of the rest of the year. My main qualms have been his very selective use of pace, his lack of urgency at times, his hot-and-cold kicking, and his moments of getting lost in the play.

I'd like to think most of this can be (hopefully) branded as nothing but due to inexperience/fitness issues, but the kid does have alot to work on.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean regarding selective pace, lack of urgency etc. He must be so unfit because I haven't seen him do any hard running and often you see him start walking when he is just outside of the play. His last quarter was pretty good on the weekend but hard to say what he is capable of at this stage. Definately a lot of work to do. My biggest worry is that he is a lazy footballer. Obviously still too early to tell.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Nathan Ablett struggled to get a kick in the VFL last year....now he is taking games by the scruff of the neck. Give him time, and he will deliver.

 

[G.F.C]

Varcoe is too precious around here.

A couple of tackles and we're allowed to pump up his star tyres, but anything else and he's adverse to the critique on the basis of his injury. His lack of general fitness and overall experience is certainly telling, and I'm more than happy to pass total judgement until '07 onward, but that doesn't mean it can't be pointed out that he has been, to date, disappointing.

Travis showed plenty last week with his deft touches, but yesterday was very much a repeat of much of the rest of the year. My main qualms have been his very selective use of pace, his lack of urgency at times, his hot-and-cold kicking, and his moments of getting lost in the play.

I'd like to think most of this can be (hopefully) branded as nothing but due to inexperience/fitness issues, but the kid does have alot to work on.

Thankyou, exactly what i was saying.....

 

[Asty]

I agree he hasn't started to show consistency yet but he has given us glimpses that indicate he should be a v.good player for us. Remember he was already playing in thesanfl before he got injured so obviously he has the talent to do that at a young age.

I think he basically missed a year of footy as he missed 1/2 of the year he got drafted as well with that foot injury and that was probably the only reason he dropped through to us in the 1st place. Some players take longer to develop so I am going to give him a fair bit of latitude. (davey didn't bloom until 21/22 and danyle peirce came up off the rookie aswell and wasn't dominating in the sanfl). If varcoe has a good preseason hopefully he will give us some more solid glimpses of his future in the NAB cup next year.

 

[blumfieldisback]

he would be very similar to aaron davey wouldn't he and it took davey about 3-4 yeas to find his feet, give them time to build core strength before making an assumption there only 18.

 

[thegerman]

Very harsh IMO. People on these blogs must remember that two things happen when players are injured. Firstly the injury, especially to his foot, means that running cannot be started until fully healed. Therefore he would not have any fitness at all in his legs, which lead to a partial hamstring tear in the second half of the season.

The kid is also only 18, which leads to the second problem of coming into a team that has already developed; his confidence would have been quite low coming off an injury.

I watched the Preliminary final on Saturday, (got to love ABC2 in Canberra putting the game on a week later), and he did some ok things, there were a few other things he did quite poorly. However keeping in mind he hasn't had a full AFL pre-season yet, therefore would miss out on vital fitness/skills based assessment.

I'd say give him a break, watch him next year and make a good assessment, as you cannot judge a players year on only half a season.

It seems as though we are making the same assumptions about a few players, Playfair is another example. Broke his jaw last year, and smashed an AC joint this year. He also had a partial hamstring tear which lead to him missing about 6-8 weeks all up. People still call for his head though.

 

[Frappe]

Nathan Ablett struggled to get a kick in the VFL last year....now he is taking games by the scruff of the neck. Give him time, and he will deliver.

Agreed. N Ablett was hot and cold in the magoos last year and when he stepped into the 1's, he raised the bar. Maybe that's Varco will do with a little more fitness under his belt in the next year or two....

 

[Nunga]

Agreed. N Ablett was hot and cold in the magoos last year and when he stepped into the 1's, he raised the bar. Maybe that's Varco will do with a little more fitness under his belt in the next year or two....

Varcoe missed 1 whole year of footy from April 05 till his first game in the vfl April 06 because of his broken foot. His pre season consisted of weights and swimming till the foot healed, he also battled related injuries this year like hamstring, hip and shin splints because of the amount of time off his feet and not running.
Of the 14 games he played this year 8 were only 30 to 40 % game time the rest were 70 to 80 %. So with no preperation you cant expect him to dominate, though we saw what he can do in the semi when he set up our first 3 goals and kicked 1 himself. don't know what that ******** is talking about saying he is selfish, I think he is too unselfish. Let him get a couple of big pre seasons under his belt and we just might have an Aaron Davey Danial Wells or Shaun Burgoyne on our hands. Geelong desperatly needs some black magic in our team

 

[Turbocat]

How tough it is to see if the uncut diamond will make it to the the top shelf in Duffs.

Sometimes its just a shimmy or a shake , a nod or the way one handles an awkward bounce. Varcoe to me is the type of player the Bullies would have been very happy to take a couple of years ago. I seem to remember looking at Farren Ray and seeing very little that appealed. He looks very weak in the legs, he struggles to hold his ground and certainly didn't look at home on the wet grass of Sunday.

Yet he has shown that odd glimpse that does encourage one. A run on the wing with ball that was finished with a nice touch pass.A set shot that was gun barrel straight, a willingness to attempt to tackle.The thing is , just like Nathan this kid has missed a lot of the competition that other U18 player have had ,the has hardly been fit this year as well, not to mention he is quite young and he is playing in the toughest level he has ever attempted.Mentally he has probably had enough let alone his body being able to rise to an occasion like a GF.

Just like Mackie this kid may take more time than we would like but he may be worth the wait.The deciding factor may be as, G has eluded to , how hard he wants to work.We must do all we can to make an enviroment that spurs him on to his best efforts , for a start Im sure it will only help if we continue to add more indigenious talent to our list.There is little doubt that the teams who seem to have had the maximum benift from indegenious recuitment have had more than just one or two on their list.

 

[CF]

Travis is the kind of player that if we lose patience with him too soon, he will get traded and someone else will inherit a superstar. Then you will all be criticising the club like crazy for trading him. The kid is only 18, cut him a break. Some players take a few years to mature, let alone ones that have played half a season of football in 2 years.

 

[Nunga]

How tough it is to see if the uncut diamond will make it to the the top shelf in Duffs.

Sometimes its just a shimmy or a shake , a nod or the way one handles an awkward bounce. Varcoe to me is the type of player the Bullies would have been very happy to take a couple of years ago. I seem to remember looking at Farren Ray and seeing very little that appealed. He looks very weak in the legs, he struggles to hold his ground and certainly didn't look at home on the wet grass of Sunday.

Yet he has shown that odd glimpse that does encourage one. A run on the wing with ball that was finished with a nice touch pass.A set shot that was gun barrel straight, a willingness to attempt to tackle.The thing is , just like Nathan this kid has missed a lot of the competition that other U18 player have had ,the has hardly been fit this year as well, not to mention he is quite young and he is playing in the toughest level he has ever attempted.Mentally he has probably had enough let alone his body being able to rise to an occasion like a GF.

Just like Mackie this kid may take more time than we would like but he may be worth the wait.The deciding factor may be as, G has eluded to , how hard he wants to work.We must do all we can to make an enviroment that spurs him on to his best efforts , for a start Im sure it will only help if we continue to add more indigenious talent to our list.There is little doubt that the teams who seem to have had the maximum benift from indegenious recuitment have had more than just one or two on their list.

Too true, it's not just that the black fellas work so good together on the field, it's off field too, I know for a fact that Davey, Motlop, Picket and Wheelan all spend alot of time together and feel comfortable living in Melbourne because they feel like they have thier own family there.

 

[Rosella]

Need to give the kid a break

He's not even 19 until next April
They already knew he'd spend most of this year recovering from injuries
He said he'd been homesick but met some young aboriginal guys from Bell Park that he's made friends with. Having never met either I expect Matty Stokes is a little more gregarious
There's too much pressure on expecting 18 year olds to perform immediately.

 

[J.Gallagher #1]

From an outsiders point of view and not seeing him play this year i cant really comment on this year, But i played with him all through junior footy and saw him play 2 times for Centrals league side and a number of other times for our reserves.

Off of these performances i think it is quite obvious that he will be a quality player, but im truthfully not sure on how consistent he will be, when playing at a lower level to his ability he used to dominate from start to finish but when he went to the reserves he would dominate but only in patches he would often go missing, now this is more than likely contributed to his age i believe he was 16 when he started playing reserves.

In conclusion i think he will be a very good AFL player although he may possibly have a few quiet games but he is quality and people questioning his pace i dunno if they have been watching the right guy but Trav is extremely quick.

Well thats all cya all.

 

[cats2rise]

Thanks Bud! Always helps when someone talks through experience.

 

[jim boy]

Given his long-term injury and subsequent complete lack of fitness- never mind match fitness, 2006 was always going to be a write-off. Pointless in the extreme to measure his worth on the basis of this year.

 

[SirRooke]

One word..... Dud!

He is an outside player of the worst sort. Great if you want flashy players like Davey, though I doubt he's even half as good. Even then players like Davey wont get the job done on big days.

He's young, but gee he has just so much to learn.... he gets lost very easily in play, has a poor running style (is fast though) which has probably contributed to his injury problems, is a complete outside player almost to the point of looking gutless and just looks so raw that he's probably 3-4 yrs away at least. Given that he is homesick and clearly not comfortable in Geelong he probably wont be with us by the time he bears fruit, if any.

I just think we have a dud on our hands. I'm quite concerned. The only thing I saw during the VFL finals that impressed me was that he has a nice kick.

I think the best thing would be to package him up with Kingsley and hope we can fool another club into taking him., before the truth gets out.

Even a straight swap for Moloney would be good.

Or what about packaging him with pick 7 and trading for pick 3 or 4. Who knows we could even be lucky enough to get Gumbleton.

 

[ablettjnr]

We can't trade him, and we wouldn't.

This seems to stupid to type, but tell me why a club would draft a kid KNOWING he was going to have no pre-season, play minimal games during the year, and then when he does exactly what we expected....get rid of him?

Please, be more stupid.

 

[SirRooke]

I think they drafted him based on the hype surrounding him.

There would have to have been a pretty big punt to take him, given he had been injured for so long before the draft. He's an outside player, great for the 5 sec clip on the 6pm news but you don't win premierships with players like that.

Comes down to us never really have picks able to deliver known elite players and needing to be a bit more adventurous. ie. Mackie.

Speed alone doesn't make a champion or even a good player. If it did we'd be building our game plan around Wojinksi and Shannon Byrnes.
And as for the rumour that Wojinski could be traded,...what a joke. He's too good a talent to be rid of. Surely Tenace and Kelly should be booted before him.

 

[ablettjnr]

Yeah the reason Wojcinski hasn't signed up yet is because he hasn't been approached. GFC need to get their act together.

 

[Asty]

Give him time he is going to be an x-factor in the next few years and will win games and be a player the opposition will really have to restrict

http://www.footydraft.com/players.php?player=travis_varcoe

Strengths:
- Blistering pace, agility
- Very good defensively
- High skill level
- Was considered a good chance of playing senior SANFL for most of the season before injury
Weaknesses:
- Foot injury this season, and unlikely to start pre-season until Christmas
- Fairly skinny build
Footydraft.com comment:
A difficult one to judge, but having seen one of his under 16 matches he was a real eye catcher. If it wasn’t for his injury this season we’d probably be talking about him as a top six draft pick, but it is likely he will slip down the order a little. Would surprise if he wasn’t drafted first round. Only bad medical reports on his foot should cause that to happen.