Welcome Welcome to Hawthorn, Darren Minchington

[Skeptic]

Will be a really good player for you.

Lots of Saints fans really frustrated with how he was used and subsequently cut.

Played largely in the midfield at Sandy and was a gun. Is fast, wins a lot of contested ball, excellent decision making and a knack for kicking goals. When called up to the Saints seniors, frequently played in the highly rated ‘defensive forward role’ with strict instruction (it appeared) to not go into the centre.

As a result, really struggled to get into many games... ends up getting 10 or so ineffective positions or 14 touches with 3 goals having made the most of every touch.

Tended to work better when paired with other strong crumbing players in addition to talls that bring the ball to ground. I noted that the majority of his better games came when paired with Wright who was a less talented but similar player.

As many have pointed out... injury was the other big concern, barely got on the park the last 2 years.

Bargain for a free player

 

[wizzard400]

No Andrew Russell to help him get his body right will be interesting.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

No Andrew Russell to help him get his body right will be interesting.

Thankfully his replacement is absolutely top shelf and has been learning under Jack. We’ll be fine.

 

[lethalselbow]

Don't understand the glass half full attitude about this guy. Sure Clarko & GW know what they are on about.

If the guy can get a game in the seniors, he can play forward or midfield. Maybe there is a need for a little more midfield or forward pressure, in our side. The ball comes out of the forward line far too easily in 2018, with Puopolo and co not being able to keep the ball in there so well. I do understand the questions about why no KP player as we still lack marking options up forward. However, the trading period isn't done and I'm sure there is method to the selections.

The guy looks exciting and i hope he gets fit enough to play a stack of games.

 

[Davo-27]

heres some highlights of him at St Kilda, be warned St Kilda are rubbish and Riewoldt looks like a tool at times, but his plays are quite clean

welcome Darren, i hope you make the best of your opportunities at HFC

nvm video was on OP

 

[Bugs1977]

Thankfully his replacement is absolutely top shelf and has been learning under Jack. We’ll be fine.

Cmon Ned put a name to JRs understudy... it’s Luke Boyd who has worked beside him for 8 years. I guess like anything everyone is afraid of the unknown but I’m sure after all that time working with JR he’ll do just fine.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Cmon Ned put a name to JRs understudy... it’s Luke Boyd who has worked beside him for 8 years. I guess like anything everyone is afraid of the unknown but I’m sure after all that time working with JR he’ll do just fine.

Learning under Jack is just the cherry on top - Boyd’s credentials and education have me more than convinced that we’ll have a seamless transition in this position. I think the club is equally as fearless - hence recruiting players like Scully and Minchington.

 

[Alite]

Darren Minchington: SEN comments
2017:
Round: Opposn team: comment
4: VFL:The gamebreaker with four goals to go with 32 quality possessions. At his best, he looks a class above the VFL.
5: Geel: Loves playing the Cats and kicked three goals from 16 disposals in what was his first game of the year.
6: Haw: In and out without having an impact. 13 possessions, but no goals.
7: GWS: Jagged early sausage roll but that was only scoreboard contribution for the night. Handy with what he from 17 disposals.
8: Carl: Down on form after recent performances. Didn’t pose a threat in the front half.
9: Senior emergency.
10: WB: Didn’t fire a shot. Yo-yo-ing back to VFL?
11: VFL: One of the few consistent winners on the day. 22 possessions, seven inside 50s and four score assists.
12: VFL: One of the Zebras best. 27 touches, six clearances, seven inside 50s and three goals.
13: Bye.
14: VFL: Had 20 touches and seven inside 50s, but Lions kept him off the scoreboard.
15: Ankle Injury for the rest of the season

 

[Davo-27]

Learning under Jack is just the cherry on top - Boyd’s credentials and education have me more than convinced that we’ll have a seamless transition in this position. I think the club is equally as fearless - hence recruiting players like Scully and Minchington.

when i initially heard the news it was hard to take, because Clarko and Russell were an unbeatable machine, but like you say, we do have a great replacement who has learnt under Russell's systems, it's just that Russell was so many things in 1 person, great fitness trainer, great person to bounce life problems off of, friends with everyone, respected by everyone, teacher, im hoping his understudy can fill all those roles as well and im sure he'll give his all...

 

[Topiary]

No Andrew Russell to help him get his body right will be interesting.

So the HFC does not have anyone in the Andrew Russell role any more. FFS !!

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

Will be a really good player for you.

Lots of Saints fans really frustrated with how he was used and subsequently cut.

Played largely in the midfield at Sandy and was a gun. Is fast, wins a lot of contested ball, excellent decision making and a knack for kicking goals. When called up to the Saints seniors, frequently played in the highly rated ‘defensive forward role’ with strict instruction (it appeared) to not go into the centre.

As a result, really struggled to get into many games... ends up getting 10 or so ineffective positions or 14 touches with 3 goals having made the most of every touch.

Tended to work better when paired with other strong crumbing players in addition to talls that bring the ball to ground. I noted that the majority of his better games came when paired with Wright who was a less talented but similar player.

As many have pointed out... injury was the other big concern, barely got on the park the last 2 years.

Bargain for a free player

Thanks for that, this part made by nose twitch. Maybe we are going to be changing the way the forward line works?

Gunston can play small and with Bruest, Puop and Wingard that is a lethal small brigade. With Moore, Mozzie and now DM knocking the door down, the forward line is really taking an interesting shape.
Rough, Schoey, TOB and Lewis are the big talls, none of which we can be certain of building a fwd line around next year. But they can crash packs.... Maybe we start lowering kicks going inside 50?

 

[Get Gaffed]

I'm stoked to see this signing and really hope it pays off as i rate him and have followed his career with interest. Early days didn't have the tank required to play midfield so subsequently played up forward and Everytime he got close he suffered an injury setback. He showed a fair bit playing half forward, linked up well with the ability to be able to hit a leading target with nice crisp flat passes. After return from his ankle injury he played as a defensive forward as he didn't have full mobility yet, showed great pressure/tackling and clever tap ons. As has been mentioned the midfield is where he looks to have a future, can play as a clearance machine with great ball winning ability, I'v also seen him tag and shut down players so he's got some versatility about him. Can play both shutdown and offensive roles forward and through the guts, just hope he can get a clear run at it, in a well run club like the Hawks he could really thrive. He could possibly become what mcglynn/Schneider became for the swans and saints respectively, and as a pure mid goes he reminds me of Daniel Kerr, luckily for Minchy he's got his head screwed on. Hopefully 2019 is his year

 

[Leather Poisoning]

Looks like an upgrade on Lovell. A class above VFL and played out of position in AFL.

We do pretty well with DFAs. You could also count Gilham and Guerra as DFA's too, as they effectively were discards from other clubs.

We'll have a role cut out for this guy, so if we get him fit it could work out well. If not, not harm done.

 

[cuttlefish]

If only they would grubber them into the hotspot...

Who’s going to chaos/grubber it in now that Langford is gone ?

 

[marklar]

Seems like an upgrade on Langford and brings us some talent to develop quicker than a late draft pick.

 

[hk89]

Brilliant and decisive move from the club. Same day we find out from the fixture we are playing Geelong twice next season, we recruit a guy who has played Geelong several times, and never kicked less than 3 goals against them

Seriously though, this move seems to make sense. Poppy is still in our best 22, but perhaps only just. If Poppy's form drops or he gets injured again, this is a ready made replacement. He also provides some coverage for our midfield (and by the sounds of it, may be even more useful there), which is important now that we've just delisted a bunch of midfield depth. I know we have some young small forwards at Box Hill, but from what I've seen none of those are kind-for-kind replacements for Poppy in terms of being able to bring a strong pressure game.

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Glad to see Minch picked up. As others have said, a combination of injuries and poor coaching conspired against him at St Kilda. I'd love to see what body of work he could have put together if he was given the same amount of opportunities that Weller/Lonie had.

Minch is quick, strong, skillful and kicks goals. He needs to build his tank so he doesn't fade out of games so much and can play stints in the midfield.

If nothing else he's an ace up your sleeve in case you ever play Geelong in a final

 

[beta_condition]

Looks like an upgrade on Lovell. A class above VFL and played out of position in AFL.

We do pretty well with DFAs. You could also count Gilham and Guerra as DFA's too, as they effectively were discards from other clubs.

We'll have a role cut out for this guy, so if we get him fit it could work out well. If not, not harm done.

Ceglar as well granted we took him in the rookie drfat but he was cut by Collingwood.

 

[Brant]

Minch is quick, strong, skillful and kicks goals. He needs to build his tank so he doesn't fade out of games so much and can play stints in the midfield.

Reads a lot like Puopolo!

Give or take 10%, could we hope that he’d turn out that good?

 

[Ekomaira]

good get guys. hope you guys get the best out of him even though it'll hurt

 

[Bumps"N"Grins]

The club must see a lot of growth in this lad going forward, maybe the new fitness staff have the tools to turn him into our badly needed marking option. 20cm over his first preseason with us shouldn't be to big an ask.
Being serious for a minute go well young man.

 

[lethalselbow]

No Andrew Russell to help him get his body right will be interesting.

Russell worked his magic in a hidden underground bunker so no eyes could see his voodoo magic healing skills. His mystical ways are gone forever to his carlton hideaway.

OR

Was part of a team and others helped and gained knowledge. Happy team at Hawthorn kind of thing.


I'm leaning towards the later.

 

[hawkermitch]

Welcome to the mighty Hawks Darren.

Here's hoping he's over the injuries and looks good when snapping at goals.
I'm thinking there may be a plan of a smaller forward line or possible midfielder.
I'm looking forward to what he can surprise the hawks with in 2019.

 

[bluespooner]

A lot of positive things by saints supporters about Minchington and a great highlights reel; I've to to think he's going to be alright providing injury is not too much of a limiting factor.
You also know that Clarkson and Wright get most of these decisions correct so I'm more than happy to take their judgement.

 

[dermott]

Our recruiting team obviously likes him and if he is injury free will add some serious pace to our line up.

With Scully, Wingard and Minchington we will be a quicker team than we were.