Universal Love Welcome to Freo- Joel Western (Pick 54)

[freo1997]

He spoke very well in the presser.

 

[Ysaye]

How did he not go earlier. Was it just his size that recruiters did not like ?

As he himself has said he will probably play more forward initially because of his height and size; if he is playing as a forward he does not at this stage kick enough goals and his size will initially hurt him on the tackling front. His kicking on the run is probably best described as neat, although as some have pointed out, he used to try kicking at full speed and make a mess a bit too much but now he slows down a little to be more accurate which is a good thing. Also he does not massive penetration on his kicking.

As a midfield prospect, there were other players (eg. Isiah Winder, who also ended up playing a couple of games of League) that put up comparable or better possession numbers who are also blessed with speed that had better size.

 

[Parrots78]

How did he not go earlier. Was it just his size that recruiters did not like ?

Maybe clubs felt we copped the rough end of the stick with the Carlton bid on Henry last year and took a bit of pity on us.
Anyway,we are lucky both boys slid.
Westerns a big chance to debut early as a small forward.
He has more upside than Shultz and Switkowski.
Get him in the side early if he shows he’s up to it in the pre season.

 

[theGav56]

Maybe clubs felt we copped the rough end of the stick with the Carlton bid on Henry last year and took a bit of pity on us.
Anyway,we are lucky both boys slid.
Westerns a big chance to debut early as a small forward.
He has more upside than Shultz and Switkowski.
Get him in the side early if he shows he’s up to it in the pre season.

He's possibly competing with Henry. Longer term they could be our best 22 pairing but for now having a mature small forward in there would be pretty important.

 

[kp junior]

He's possibly competing with Henry. Longer term they could be our best 22 pairing but for now having a mature small forward in there would be pretty important.

Yep. Henry looked very raw this year, though it was a weird year with no wafl etc of course. I wonder who will be more league ready out of those 2 though.


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[Parrots78]

He's possibly competing with Henry. Longer term they could be our best 22 pairing but for now having a mature small forward in there would be pretty important.

Yep, it would be nice to see one of those two in most weeks. Shultz has runs on the board but Switkowski has to prove his body can hold up in the WAFL for him to be considered I think.