VFL VFL v Essendon - Sunday April 23rd @ Vic Park. 12pm.

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I agree. I think Ollie was going to keep him out & then he had a shoulder reco last year just as he was starting to make his mark. I look forward to watching him develop and be in our best 22. He's still a kid.
You're talking about Reef.
We're talking about the VFL Kid, Jonathon Tomasiello, who debuted yesterday,
 

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Question for those who saw the game.

Was Carmichael playing the JDG offensive mid game?
Looks from the highlights that a lot of his ball on transition was similar to how JDG is used?
Yes I think he played a very similar game, particularly in the second half.

He won quite a bit of footy in tight too (like JDG) but I think it's fait to say that he was largely positioned in an offensive manner and 80% of his possessions would have been in our forward 2/3s of the ground.
 
I'm more confident than you. Players are lasting longer. Allan and Ryan look good and Harrison and Reef are really good athletes who flash in and out, but when they flash in they do AFL things. Murley too, but he's so small.

3 likely AFL players and 2 maybes.

To replace Pendles, Steele, Howe, Elliott, Adams, Mitchell, WHE over coming seasons.

Most teams would have a lot more then that to list as developing ins.
 
Reef doesn't play tall, he'll be better once we get a bit of run through the centre and start winning some centre clearances. TradeDraft - do you know anything about Tomasiello? Thought I heard the commentator's say that he had his first game in the seniors in the Yarra Valley league last week, kicked 4 goals in a close game and the next week he's in our VFL side - thought he looked great and showed a lot of class.
I thought myself he looks a likely lad,there was a piece of play where he showed great strength to hold off a tackler,what is he 18 I think a few people will be watching him with interest.
 
3 likely AFL players and 2 maybes.

To replace Pendles, Steele, Howe, Elliott, Adams, Mitchell, WHE over coming seasons.

Most teams would have a lot more then that to list as developing ins.
That's 7 players whose departures will probably be spread out over 4 years with a lot more draftees and more mature recruits to come in during that time. We've just added 4 ready mades in an off season and a couple of talented kids without spending a bomb. Getting the quality is the issue rather than the quantity and as always, development is going to be key for those currently inside and outside the team and those who land on the list over the coming years.
 
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That's 7 players whose departures will probably be spread out over 4 years with a lot more draftees and more mature recruits to come in during that time. We've just added 4 ready mades in an off season and a couple of talented kids without spending a bomb. Getting the quality is the issue rather than the quantity and as always, development is going to be key for those currently inside and outside the team and those who land on the list over the coming years.

Yeah I was meaning quality AFL types and more so top end talents. Not just numbers which was more my point about cupboard being bare.
 
Which players specifically do you believe are not up to it?

Kelly
Bianco
Markov (depth don't rate his disposal for position currently in favour but scepticalon long term).
Wilson
Ruscoe is 50/50 seemingly not rated by coaches.
Richards

Big questions on Draper, Murley, Harrison, Begg, Dean for various reasons, although some have showing glimpses at stages.
 
Kelly
Bianco
Markov (depth don't rate his disposal for position currently in favour but scepticalon long term).
Wilson
Ruscoe is 50/50 seemingly not rated by coaches.
Richards

Big questions on Draper, Murley, Harrison, Begg, Dean for various reasons, although some have showing glimpses at stages.
Pendles and sidey aside. We traded in adams, treloar, Mitchell and lipinski. If we need high quality mids we can just trade them in. Ryan and Allan look good, I’m still bullish on macrae and Carmy. Add to that 1st and 2nd rounders this year. It’s talls we need IMO, unless kreuger and dean miraculously become best 22
 
Yeah I was meaning quality AFL types and more so top end talents. Not just numbers which was more my point about cupboard being bare.
If you're looking for top end AFL talent, the VFL ain't a great place to look. You get a bit at this stage of the year with first year players, but 2nd or 3rd year top level talent is usually already playing AFL.
 
No doubt. Still fluff from the club media department, which ought to be taken with a grain of salt.

I just think you’re being a bit harsh. Had 14 disposals and a couple of goals. Against the Saints, his senior contemporaries had 12 & 3 (Hill), 12 & 1 (McCreery), 13 & 1 (Ginnivan), and 11 & 1 (Elliott). His numbers stack up and general forward pressure is okay and are ballpark what you’d expect from a small forward.
 
When watching the vfl this year imo the cupboard is a tad bare barring a couple.

Half the guys that are still standing and playing VFL have had interrupted preseasons. I think we need to give them a bit of time to build into the season before we start drawing these sorts of conclusions. A lot of footy still to be played this season.
 
Kelly
Bianco
Markov (depth don't rate his disposal for position currently in favour but scepticalon long term).
Wilson
Ruscoe is 50/50 seemingly not rated by coaches.
Richards

Big questions on Draper, Murley, Harrison, Begg, Dean for various reasons, although some have showing glimpses at stages.
Ok - so I don’t see how your comment “that the cupboard is bare” is justified given the only clear prospects at risk of delisting are Kelly, Wilson and probably Richards.
“Big questions” on the others is a premature call - much like those calling for Murphy to be delisted in 2021.

So I can’t support your “cupboard is bare”, comment.
 
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Kelly
Bianco
Markov (depth don't rate his disposal for position currently in favour but scepticalon long term).
Wilson
Ruscoe is 50/50 seemingly not rated by coaches.
Richards

Big questions on Draper, Murley, Harrison, Begg, Dean for various reasons, although some have showing glimpses at stages.
Ok - so I don’t see how your comment “that the cup is bare” is justified given the only clear prospects at risk of delisting are Kelly, Wilson and probably Richards.
“Big questions” on the others is a premature call - much like those calling for Murphy to be delisted in 2021.

So I can’t support your “cupboard is bare”, comment.
Yeah, Charlie Dean is contracted for 2024. The club must have been very impressed with what they saw of him from the start, and I don't think there's any chance they'll axe him when he's had such a bad run with injuries. That would be a "bad look"! I think the likes of Draper (especially) and possibly Harrison as well will be given more time. Same with Begg, especially given our recent issues with talls, though I agree with those that think he might have a better future as a key defender. Even Murley showed a bit the other day, and (while being re-rookied is not a good sign) if he can keep that up for the rest of the season he might somehow survive the cut.

Richards should be contracted for next year as well, and even though he's not shown a lot (being injured at the moment doesn't help), I'd expect him to be on our list in 2024, even if he ends up being demoted to the Rookie List. Finding enough players to delist may not be an easy task. Wilson might be let go, but as a Cat. B Rookie he doesn't really count, and removing him wouldn't really help the list numbers situation. The fact that we have Markov as an "extra player" (brought in due to Dean's injury - giving us a total of 43 Primary list and Cat. A Rookies, instead of the standard 42) should make it even harder to get the list in order at the end of the season. I'm pretty happy with the state of our list, think we have a couple of very exciting (untried) prospects in Allan and Ryan, others like Macrae and McInnes hopefully will get there, and Steene may well do down the track. Then we have the likes of N. Daicos, Ginnivan, Hill, McCreery, Murphy and Quaynor who are all 23 or under and playing regular senior football, so I think we're quite well placed.
 
I think that’s being a little bit overly optimistic. Essendons VFL side was v ordinary, as were a lot of their senior listed players. Zach Reid and Lewis Hayes are both head scratchers, and potential bullets dodged. Whilst we are obv lacking in a lot of key position depts, and have only a couple of young players with genuine A grade potential, to replace a lot of star power in the coming years. Hence why GW will have to go back to the trade and FA table again this year.

Ie we have NO young KPFs coming through, and our young KPB stocks are reliant on Deane, who isn’t athletic enough to replace Howe, and too small to backup Darcy or Frampton. Whilst struggling with injury. Begg is also v slow and lacking in agility, so will not make it imo. Kelly has had 4 years to prove himself, and is another bust. Steene is 18 months away from being ready to judge. So that’s no big man depth at the moment, none.

For mids, Allan has the X factor, but there almost endeth the star factor. Carmy seems the next most likely imo, with big boy skills, whilst Macrae has taken longer to develop than expected, and is quite vanilla tbh. Draper still has work to do to get some actual runs on the board, as does Harrison, whilst Murley looks a VFL level FP, and Richards has struggled to impact, despite being a mature ager.

Reef looks a v good third tall forward, but has no tank, so midfield hopes are v slim imo. & Ryan is the other one with senior level potential, but also needs to continue to improve.

So a couple of mids with work to do, a HBF, a third defender who needs to overcome injuries, a third tall forward, plus an undrafted developing young ruckman. The rest could honestly be delisted at years end.

Sadly, too many poor or traded away draft picks, plus fire sale trades have left our young stocks quite bare, with virtually no young talls coming good, our recent Irish experiments not working, plus the Stevenson and Poulter picks also hurting.
 
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I think that’s being a little bit overly optimistic. Essendons VFL side was v ordinary, as were a lot of their senior listed players. Zach Reid and Lewis Hayes are both head scratchers, and potential bullets dodged. Whilst we are obv lacking in a lot of key position depts, and have only a couple of young players with genuine A grade potential, to replace a lot of star power in the coming years. Hence why GW will have to go back to the trade and FA table again this year.

Ie we have NO young KPFs coming through, and our young KPB stocks are reliant on Deane, who isn’t athletic enough to replace Howe, and too small to backup Darcy or Frampton. Whilst struggling with injury. Begg is also v slow and lacking in agility, so will not make it imo. Kelly has had 4 years to prove himself, and is another bust. Steene is 18 months away being ready to judge. So that’s no big man depth at the moment, none.

For mids, Allan has the X factor, but there almost endeth the star factor. Carmy seems the next most likely imo, with big boy skills, whilst Macrae has taken longer to develop than expected, and is quite vanilla tbh. Draper still has work to do to get some actual runs on the board, as does Harrison, whilst Murley looks a VFL level FP, and Richards has struggled to impact, despite being a mature ager.

Reef looks a v good third tall forward, but had no tank, so midfield hopes are v slim imo. & Ryan is the other one with senior level potential, but also needs to continue to improve.

So a couple of mids with work to do, a HBF, a third defender who needs to overcome injuries, a third tall forward, plus an undrafted developing young ruckman. The rest could honestly be delisted at years end.

Sadly, too many poor or traded away draft picks, plus fire sale trades have left our young stocks quite bare, with virtually no young talls coming good, our recent Irish experiments not working, plus the Stevenson and Poulter picks also hurting.
Begg is neither very slow or lacking agility.
 
Seems a reach to say Harrison “stepped up” with 12 possessions. 3 possessions a quarter on average… I wish my employer was that effusive in praise of my efforts!
I wonder if they gave him a free cheeseburger voucher as a part of his encouragement award?
 

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VFL VFL v Essendon - Sunday April 23rd @ Vic Park. 12pm.

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