I was wondering what you all think about how our young players should develop.
If you could assign all our young players one top line player to watch videos of in the pre-season and then try to emulate some of that player’s traits in their own game, who would that player be? It doesn’t need to be someone who plays the same position, but rather someone who is strong in specific areas that our players need to tidy up. For instance, Robertson could watch videos of Shaun Burgoyne, to see how Burgoyne has so much composure under pressure.
Hopefully this prompts a good discussion and some diverging opinions. Some of mine are a little left field.
I’ve got a few to get started:
Liam Dawson- Easton Wood
Dawson showed in a few games in 2015 that he is quite gifted at reading the play and intercepting. I think his potential as a defender is greater than as a forward. His athleticism is very good, foot skills passable and that athletic, 190cm odd versatile defender is really useful. The thing about Easton Wood is that he has this extreme confidence to go for his marks and back himself. If Dawson can muster something close to that sort of confidence and ability to read the play then we’ve got a player on our hands.
Rhys Mathieson- Rory Sloane
Both these guys have the same ferocious attitude inside the contest, but it’s Sloane’s unbelievable work rate and ability to spread and run all day that make him such a complete midfielder. Currently Mathieson is very promising in the contest but mediocre on the spread. Seeing what the elite runners do could show him the standard.
Jared Jansen- Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
Similar reasons for the Mathieson/Sloane comparison. Jansen just gets caught out defensively and doesn’t follow up his good inside work with defensive running. Big statement, over the time Kennedy junior has been at Sydney I think he has been the best player in the competition. No one has a better body of work over that time and he’s just the prototype big inside midfielder that should be a model for Jansen.
Archie Smith- Rory Lobb, Ben McEvoy and Nic Naitanui
Rory Lobb has a similar build and leap to Archie, so hopefully Smith can use some of what another young beanstalk tall is doing to take all the contested marks Lobb gets around the ground.
McEvoy seems like a pretty bad tap ruckman, but he works very hard around the ground and takes marks as a ruckman, which are the main things a ruckman needs to do nowadays.
Nic Nat because he manages to time his huge jumps, which Archie can’t do consistently at the moment.
Some others:
McStay- Josh Gibson or Jack Gunston
Mayes- Corey Enright
Freeman- Josh Kennedy (WCE)
What do you guys think about these comparisons, as well as the dozens of other young guys on our list? Would be keen to know who you think our young players are similar to, how they should be developed and what they need to work on.
If you could assign all our young players one top line player to watch videos of in the pre-season and then try to emulate some of that player’s traits in their own game, who would that player be? It doesn’t need to be someone who plays the same position, but rather someone who is strong in specific areas that our players need to tidy up. For instance, Robertson could watch videos of Shaun Burgoyne, to see how Burgoyne has so much composure under pressure.
Hopefully this prompts a good discussion and some diverging opinions. Some of mine are a little left field.
I’ve got a few to get started:
Liam Dawson- Easton Wood
Dawson showed in a few games in 2015 that he is quite gifted at reading the play and intercepting. I think his potential as a defender is greater than as a forward. His athleticism is very good, foot skills passable and that athletic, 190cm odd versatile defender is really useful. The thing about Easton Wood is that he has this extreme confidence to go for his marks and back himself. If Dawson can muster something close to that sort of confidence and ability to read the play then we’ve got a player on our hands.
Rhys Mathieson- Rory Sloane
Both these guys have the same ferocious attitude inside the contest, but it’s Sloane’s unbelievable work rate and ability to spread and run all day that make him such a complete midfielder. Currently Mathieson is very promising in the contest but mediocre on the spread. Seeing what the elite runners do could show him the standard.
Jared Jansen- Josh Kennedy (Sydney)
Similar reasons for the Mathieson/Sloane comparison. Jansen just gets caught out defensively and doesn’t follow up his good inside work with defensive running. Big statement, over the time Kennedy junior has been at Sydney I think he has been the best player in the competition. No one has a better body of work over that time and he’s just the prototype big inside midfielder that should be a model for Jansen.
Archie Smith- Rory Lobb, Ben McEvoy and Nic Naitanui
Rory Lobb has a similar build and leap to Archie, so hopefully Smith can use some of what another young beanstalk tall is doing to take all the contested marks Lobb gets around the ground.
McEvoy seems like a pretty bad tap ruckman, but he works very hard around the ground and takes marks as a ruckman, which are the main things a ruckman needs to do nowadays.
Nic Nat because he manages to time his huge jumps, which Archie can’t do consistently at the moment.
Some others:
McStay- Josh Gibson or Jack Gunston
Mayes- Corey Enright
Freeman- Josh Kennedy (WCE)
What do you guys think about these comparisons, as well as the dozens of other young guys on our list? Would be keen to know who you think our young players are similar to, how they should be developed and what they need to work on.
