Toast Welcome to Freo Jeremy Sharp - SSP Selection 2023

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Agreed, Langdon's kick was disgusting and the cause of consistent turnovers as all our players were running forward and offside. I was happy to see him go.

BUT

Melbourne have coached him perfectly. It's clear they've asked him to shorten his kicks to reduce risk and keep his skills within his comfort zone. Langdon's got a lot of good tools, but for whatever reason at Freo he was generally trying to kick too long, biting off too much. His pace ability to find sapce and break lines is exactly what you want from a winger which he gives to Melbourne, and now without the turnovers.

i'm not yet convinced NOD has the ability to find space consistently and also hit targets regularly with his average kick.
The point being the Dees (and even us to a slightly lower extent) found a role that got a lot out of him despite the flaw. No reason we couldn't do same with NoD.
 
The point being the Dees (and even us to a slightly lower extent) found a role that got a lot out of him despite the flaw. No reason we couldn't do same with NoD.
But it's not just O'Driscoll's kicking which limits him. He's not as talented at finding space and running the repeat efforts required. I think he's generally a fair way behind where Langdon was. Dris needs to improve a fair few things not just his kicking before he's deserving of a spot.
 
But it's not just O'Driscoll's kicking which limits him. He's not as talented at finding space and running the repeat efforts required. I think he's generally a fair way behind where Langdon was. Dris needs to improve a fair few things not just his kicking before he's deserving of a spot.
Possibly, but all I said was the kicking won't stop him alone.
 
Nathan O'Driscoll has to move substantially more human around the park than Ed Langdon, it's going to take longer for his body to be able to maintain that effort - it's why you rarely see a 2m tall player who can run midfield distances at reasonable pace - let alone at speed.
 
Possibly, but all I said was the kicking won't stop him alone.
I think it would. Unfortunately for him his kicking is that bad you cant just paper over it. He's not forcing out any players from other positions - he's not a forward or back, we dont need inside mids, we need skilled outside runners so that's where things get tough for him. I think he's great and want him to succeed but he's coming from a long way back with better choices in front of him at present. he'll need a fair bit to go right for him, and to improve his delivery for the coaches to select him i'd hope.
 
Nathan O'Driscoll has to move substantially more human around the park than Ed Langdon, it's going to take longer for his body to be able to maintain that effort - it's why you rarely see a 2m tall player who can run midfield distances at reasonable pace - let alone at speed.
Noddy, I have beentold has worked really hard onwhat he has to do. He looks in very good nick. His season last year was unfortunate,, but he has learnt .
I am sure he will become a very much improved player and make the wing his own. A goal a game winger... good value.
 
I think it would. Unfortunately for him his kicking is that bad you cant just paper over it. He's not forcing out any players from other positions - he's not a forward or back, we dont need inside mids, we need skilled outside runners so that's where things get tough for him. I think he's great and want him to succeed but he's coming from a long way back with better choices in front of him at present. he'll need a fair bit to go right for him, and to improve his delivery for the coaches to select him i'd hope.
I have no idea how he good he ends up because he's looked everywhere from WAFL reserves player to B22 goal kicking AFL winger in his short time.

I do think you're taking the **** writing him off at this stage. Has many desirable attributes. I don't even think his kicking is that bad either. It's not good, but it's not career ending bad. At the very least he has penetration.
 
I have no idea how he good he ends up because he's looked everywhere from WAFL reserves player to B22 goal kicking AFL winger in his short time.

I do think you're taking the **** writing him off at this stage. Has many desirable attributes. I don't even think his kicking is that bad either. It's not good, but it's not career ending bad. At the very least he has penetration.
I'm not "writing him off". I'm just not convinced by him and think he's down the pecking order. I'd love him to succeed though.

You summed him up yourself - he's everywhere from a WAFL reserves player to an AFL player, which doesn't bode well for anyone. Also, you're only as good as your last game and his last game(s) was very poor.

I'd love to be proven wrong but people keep talking about him with so much hope, whereas the evidence to date doesn't weigh in his favour, especially when we've just picked up Sharp who at surface value is ahead of Dris, and Chapman may take a spot as well if he can get fit.

We can agree to disagree on his kicking but it's a horrible action, very Brett Peake like.
 
I'm not "writing him off". I'm just not convinced by him and think he's down the pecking order. I'd love him to succeed though.

You summed him up yourself - he's everywhere from a WAFL reserves player to an AFL player, which doesn't bode well for anyone. Also, you're only as good as your last game and his last game(s) was very poor.

I'd love to be proven wrong but people keep talking about him with so much hope, whereas the evidence to date doesn't weigh in his favour, especially when we've just picked up Sharp who at surface value is ahead of Dris, and Chapman may take a spot as well if he can get fit.

We can agree to disagree on his kicking but it's a horrible action, very Brett Peake like.
I'm not sure I agree with a lot of that, so let's just agree to disagree in general.
 
But it's not just O'Driscoll's kicking which limits him. He's not as talented at finding space and running the repeat efforts required. I think he's generally a fair way behind where Langdon was. Dris needs to improve a fair few things not just his kicking before he's deserving of a spot.

I don't know about the repeat efforts statement. It was a strength of his as a junior, with his profile stating he is elite with what he does without the ball and highlighting his work rate. And he does pretty well in the time trials.

One example was at Marvel against the Bulldogs where he completely botched an effort near the defensive goal line and it led to a goal. But the point is he was there, a bit like how Acres made a few goal line stops during the finals. Not long after he was storming away through the centre and kicked an excellent long goal.

He also has that infectious enthusiasm and gets the crowd and teammates up and about with his behaviour. I wouldn't underestimate having these sorts of players in an introverted team.

I would also disagree he is behind where Langdon was. Langdon's first 3 years went at around 16-18 disposals average. O'Driscoll missed his 1st year, and over the next 2 he is averaging around the 16 disposal mark if you take out the games he was sub.

He obviously has deficiencies with his kicking consistency, but the rest of his game seems pretty solid to me for someone who has only played 22 games.
 

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I don't know about the repeat efforts statement. It was a strength of his as a junior, with his profile stating he is elite with what he does without the ball and highlighting his work rate. And he does pretty well in the time trials.

One example was at Marvel against the Bulldogs where he completely botched an effort near the defensive goal line and it led to a goal. But the point is he was there, a bit like how Acres made a few goal line stops during the finals. Not long after he was storming away through the centre and kicked an excellent long goal.

He also has that infectious enthusiasm and gets the crowd and teammates up and about with his behaviour. I wouldn't underestimate having these sorts of players in an introverted team.

I would also disagree he is behind where Langdon was. Langdon's first 3 years went at around 16-18 disposals average. O'Driscoll missed his 1st year, and over the next 2 he is averaging around the 16 disposal mark if you take out the games he was sub.

He obviously has deficiencies with his kicking consistency, but the rest of his game seems pretty solid to me for someone who has only played 22 games.
That's great that he was good in this area as a junior, but within the first quarter of the WAFL grand final he struggled and was run down and caught with the ball. Maybe he just had a bad day but before the game he was talking very confident in his ability and fitness.

I've followed this team since day dot and have been super excited by dozens of players like Dris. I'd love him to succeed and he may well do that which is awesome, but on current performance and with who we've brought in and who's returning from injury the reality is he's up against it. Taking the emotion away from the ifs and buts, he has a way to go.
 
Noddy, I have beentold has worked really hard onwhat he has to do. He looks in very good nick. His season last year was unfortunate,, but he has learnt .
I am sure he will become a very much improved player and make the wing his own. A goal a game winger... good value.

The 2023 season for NOD was a “write off” season for him. Started off behind the 8 ball with injury and never caught up.

I’m bullish that a good pre season will relate into a far better 2024.
 
Noddy is only 21 and still getting experience. He has flaws, but many do at his age.

I liked Alfonz's description of his 'infectious enthusiasm'. Even in Noddy's first game, he got a goal from nowhere, and tried to inspire a comeback (in a very dire match against the Saints). There are some althetes in sports that seem to 'lift' in the big games and moments. You can't teach that.

When Noddy was lining up on the boundary line against the Bulldogs in the Elimination Final, you just knew he would kick it.

There's plenty to work with. He doesn't look like an athelete and is not flashy, which is why some people seem to like writing him off after a bad game/patch. There were posters who were writing him off in his FIRST season in the WAFL. Ridiculous. 2024 will be insightful but I'm bullish he can make a good career at Freo.
 
I have no idea how he good he ends up because he's looked everywhere from WAFL reserves player to B22 goal kicking AFL winger in his short time.

I do think you're taking the **** writing him off at this stage. Has many desirable attributes. I don't even think his kicking is that bad either. It's not good, but it's not career ending bad. At the very least he has penetration.
I agree.

Imagine if Gaff, Langdon, Cripps, Saad and Oliver were judged solely on their kicking. They're all terrible field kicks.

Toranto, Hewett, Stringer, Rowbottom, Viney, Worpel, Fyfe, Ross, Gresham, Dusty and Gawn are all players that went at less that 51%KE last year. Delist them as well?

Edit - just had a look at the stats and NOD has a KE of 67% I was trying to find a wing with similar to see if that's good, and the closest was Isaac Smith, who is considered an elite field kick. Langdon 63% and Acres 61%.

Turns out our impression of NOD's field kicking being poor is a furphy!

Oh, and to tie this all in to Sharpie - his KE is 59%.
 
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I agree.

Imagine if Gaff, Langdon, Cripps, Saad and Oliver were judged solely on their kicking. They're all terrible field kicks.

Toranto, Hewett, Stringer, Rowbottom, Viney, Worpel, Fyfe, Ross, Gresham, Dusty and Gawn are all players that went at less that 51%KE last year. Delist them as well?
You’re reading through your own view point without actually interpreting what I’m saying. You need to temper your emotional attachment to NOD.

All those players you’ve listed have average kicks, I agree, but most are elite in other areas, and not just one area but multiple. If you’re a gun inside mid who has an elite mark, can break tackles, has elite running etc etc ala Fyfe you can gloss over a poor kick because he dominates in other areas.

O’Driscolls problem comes because he’s a poor kick and has no other feature in which he dominates and other players are now ahead of him in other features eg Sharp is also a better runner. And I never said delist him, I want him to succeed. I’m just saying he’s coming from a long way back before he’s B22. It’s highly unlikely he’s going to start on the wing round 1 and dominate like some are saying.
 
You’re reading through your own view point without actually interpreting what I’m saying. You need to temper your emotional attachment to NOD.

All those players you’ve listed have average kicks, I agree, but most are elite in other areas, and not just one area but multiple. If you’re a gun inside mid who has an elite mark, can break tackles, has elite running etc etc ala Fyfe you can gloss over a poor kick because he dominates in other areas.

O’Driscolls problem comes because he’s a poor kick and has no other feature in which he dominates and other players are now ahead of him in other features eg Sharp is also a better runner. And I never said delist him, I want him to succeed. I’m just saying he’s coming from a long way back before he’s B22. It’s highly unlikely he’s going to start on the wing round 1 and dominate like some are saying.
I understand your point and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's Chris Judd or Gary Dhurrkay (one of the best field kicks i've seen).

I'm just trying to give a bit of perspective to see if the opinion I had, like others, that he is a woeful kick is true. Turns out - it's not.

You've posted again (I assume you read the stats?) that "he’s a poor kick and has no other feature".

I've posted his KE% that confirm his kicking is statistically better than others in his position. In fact, it's just 2% less than Nick Daicos, who is widely considered one of the best in the league. It's up to you if you want to take that on board or ignore it.

I don't agree he has no other features. I think he has an excellent work-rate, good defensively (terrific tackling technique), holds his width really well, good at the contest, strong (big body), decent above his head and has an awesome attitude, loves the club and you can see he lifts the team when he pops a goal.

If he gets consistent games, he'll improve. Time at the crease if the greatest teacher.
 
I understand your point and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's Chris Judd or Gary Dhurrkay (one of the best field kicks i've seen).

I'm just trying to give a bit of perspective to see if the opinion I had, like others, that he is a woeful kick is true. Turns out - it's not.

You've posted again (I assume you read the stats?) that "he’s a poor kick and has no other feature".

I've posted his KE% that confirm his kicking is statistically better than others in his position. In fact, it's just 2% less than Nick Daicos, who is widely considered one of the best in the league. It's up to you if you want to take that on board or ignore it.

I don't agree he has no other features. I think he has an excellent work-rate, good defensively (terrific tackling technique), holds his width really well, good at the contest, strong (big body), decent above his head and has an awesome attitude, loves the club and you can see he lifts the team when he pops a goal.

If he gets consistent games, he'll improve. Time at the crease if the greatest teacher.
When i say he has no other feature, i'm talking about no other feature that separates him from his competition. He has features - but at this stage others in the team have the same if not better features, Sharp also has a big body but can run better. Johson has a big body and can also play inside. Aish has flexibility to play other positions. Ask yourself the question - who is he forcing out of the team for that wing position given his last run of form. Sharp is untried with us but will no doubt get first crack. Chapman, Johnson, Aish, Stanley and Sharp are all potential wingers along with others as well. it's competitive in there.

My issue is that he's getting spoken about so much as our future, or potential future wingman, and I hope that's true, but in the last 12 months he's hardly set the world on fire. Every list has these guys, loveable characters, plenty of potential, but in reality they dont make it. Lets just temper our expectations here. In my opinion he needs to display improved form at WAFL, with a solid run of form before being considered. He played very poorly for Peel late last year, it was really disappointing. No matter how well he trains over pre-season, he's going to need to show impressive form on-field.

Also, Kicking Efficiency as a number is dangerous territory to get into, to simply use it on its own. I'm sure Brennan Cox has a fantastic KE when he chips sideways 15 times a game in uncontested situations. Also, when you have 5 kicks a game compared to 20, it's a lot easier to increase your KE%. Also if you play 5 games in a year compared to 20, its very easy to have a strong KE. I don't ignore the stat, but looking at the number by itself is misleading. if you're comparing the kicks of Daicos and Dris, just by looking at the KE% you're on the wrong track.

And I agree, kids need a go (time at the crease) which he was given last year, but he didn't perform well so lost his spot. He then went back to Peel and performed poorly to round out the year. There's only so much time you can give someone. He needs to be banging the door down and right now he'd be down the pecking order.
 
I believe that we are stuck on last year, when at times NoD had trouble hitting his boot AT ALL.
Last year was the outlier, no preseason, chest infection, other niggles. Heightened expectation, pressure and panic.

From what I saw (albeit in a REALLY relaxed training session), he seems back to the 22 version of kicking ability, and maybe a tad ahead.

Also, can all of this be moved into the O'Driscoll thread and out of the Cheese Grater Sharp thread?
 
I understand your point and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's Chris Judd or Gary Dhurrkay (one of the best field kicks i've seen).

I'm just trying to give a bit of perspective to see if the opinion I had, like others, that he is a woeful kick is true. Turns out - it's not.

You've posted again (I assume you read the stats?) that "he’s a poor kick and has no other feature".

I've posted his KE% that confirm his kicking is statistically better than others in his position. In fact, it's just 2% less than Nick Daicos, who is widely considered one of the best in the league. It's up to you if you want to take that on board or ignore it.

I don't agree he has no other features. I think he has an excellent work-rate, good defensively (terrific tackling technique), holds his width really well, good at the contest, strong (big body), decent above his head and has an awesome attitude, loves the club and you can see he lifts the team when he pops a goal.

If he gets consistent games, he'll improve. Time at the crease if the greatest teacher.

I don't think NOD is that bad, and he has features to work with, hoping he gets back to an improvement trajectory.
He wouldn't be the first to have a down year, but not would be be the first to have one promising year and then disappear into oblivion.

To be frank I'm not entirely sure what kicking efficiency is intended to prove though, it's a poor measure in my view.
 

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