Senior 9. Max Holmes (2021-)

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Turbocat said:
It is a while ago now so I cant remember the exact details of Bissel going... but 2001 was his last year at Geelong. So the coincides with the Thompson era cleanout. Sometime you take a step back to load up to go forward I beleive we got 17 and 41..which meant he allowed us to pick Kelly and Playfair.

You do not get reasonable picks without a player being attractive... a bit like another Kelly recently
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I thought that the Bizzell trade may have landed us James Kelly .. it was a pretty brave move at the time IMO as Bizzell was a bit of a shining light in a fairly workman-like team ... as far as list management strategies go, loading up for ‘01 stands as one of Wells (and the clubs) finest moments ..
 
I know its the off season and we let some stuff wander a bit more... but lets get this back to Holmes and leave the Bizzell chat for the nostalgia threads..

GO Catters
 
dazbroncos said:
I got done by this kind of statement once... Simon Beasley said Billie Smedts was the best under 18 player he'd seen.

I guess the comment from both are accurate as its their opinion based on their vision and experience - ive just taken less weight on those statements since...
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Yeah apparently you’re meant to backtrack now and pretend Smedts was always garbage. He wasn’t. He did look promising in his first two years. Once the shoulder problems started he never recovered. Mind you, insisting on putting him at half back didn’t help.
 

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Partridge said:
Yeah apparently you’re meant to backtrack now and pretend Smedts was always garbage. He wasn’t. He did look promising in his first two years. Once the shoulder problems started he never recovered. Mind you, insisting on putting him at half back didn’t help.
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Agree. He had talent but like a number of others in those years injury was not kind.

from https://www.canberratimes.com.au/st...ie-smedts-suffers-yet-another-serious-injury/

"The Cats released a statement on Wednesday saying the 23-year-old had dislocated his left shoulder at training on Monday and scans later showed the damage was bad enough to require surgery. [preseason]

"The setback is the latest in a string of injuries for pick 15 (Smedts) in the 2010 national draft who has played 37 games for Geelong.
He broke his collarbone last year, fractured his leg in 2014 and had hip surgery early in his career."

I was at a VFL game in his return v Bulldogs at Western Oval and he reinjured the shoulder.
 
feelinfeline said:
Terrible kick, though. Far worse than Fogarty, who has been described by one on on this board as 'the worst kick I've seen'.
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Anyone who says that Smedts, or Fogarty are the worst kicks that they have ever seen, has clearly not seen a whole lot of football.
 
Partridge said:
Yeah apparently you’re meant to backtrack now and pretend Smedts was always garbage. He wasn’t. He did look promising in his first two years. Once the shoulder problems started he never recovered. Mind you, insisting on putting him at half back didn’t help.
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You're right on that.

Here's a nice article from when he crossed to Carlton. A sad story. Makes you think about all the other guys who don't get pre-seasons and then we bag the hell out of them.

Carlton recruit Billie Smedts hopes injuries are behind him as he seeks fresh start
CARLTON recruit Billie Smedts never lived up to his potential at Geelong after battling a series of injuries but he's hoping a change of club will bring a change in luck.

JON ANDERSON

IT was in the of 2012 that a former Geelong player rang this office with a money-making suggestion that ran along the lines of backing Billie Smedts to win that year’s Rising Star award.
The player in question had seen enough of Smedts at training to identify him as one of those rare players who possessed lateral movement that made him extremely hard to tackle, plus an ability to see the game unfold before him.
The bet was made, $100 each way at 66/1, and the confidence grew when Smedts’ coach Chris Scott was asked about his Geelong Grammar recruit by Mark Robinson.
Scott likened Smedts to Scott Pendlebury, a prediction that has prompted him to never go down that path since but one that whetted the appetites of all Geelong fans at the time.
So what went wrong for the boy who was taken at pick No.15 in the 2010 national draft with a compensatory selection from the Gold Coast for Gary Ablett (the other first round pick from the Ablett deal was used two years later on Josh Caddy)? Someone who now finds himself in a make or break situation with new club Carlton.

Billie Smedts was traded to Carlton from Geelong at the end of last season. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
Smedts, 24, played some reasonable football in 2012 in his 14 games without ever getting near the lofty heights of Rising Star contender. But there was promise and more of the same in 13 matches the next year.
Paul Chapman, his legendary teammate of the time, gives out genuine praise only when it’s truly deserved, but in Smedts he saw something special.
“When he first came to the footy club he stood out. He was a confident kid, very easy to get along with. He took blokes on off halfback and I think most of us thought, ‘This kid is going to be a very good player’,” said Chapman.
“He would get some to commit and then step them, and no one could really stop him. He was also good at getting the one-twos. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, we’ve really got a player here’.
“He wasn’t scared to take the game on but over the journey and through the injuries he may have lost that confidence.”
But “Chappy” hasn’t lost the faith in the boy from Warrnambool whose father Alby played 61 games with Footscray and St Kilda between 1976-81.

Billie Smedts had an injury-interrupted career at Geelong.
“He is the type of player who could hurt you that much off halfback that you would need to play a defensive forward on him. But he does need to work on his kicking a bit,” he said.
“And he needed to work on his body size and maybe injuries have prevented him from doing that. I’m sure those injuries have prevented him from becoming the player we thought he would become.
“If he can get his body right and some real continuity into his training and game time then he can still be that player we saw early. There’s no doubt he has some genuine talent. Now is obviously the time he has to show that.”
Those injuries Chapman speaks of make sad reading given every young sportsperson just wants an even playing field to at least find out where they belong.
To date Smedts has been denied that chance.
He was a polite but reluctant interview subject this week, being conscious of the fact he’s now in a new environment and to date hasn’t achieved anything of note given the real stuff doesn’t start for a couple of months.

Billie Smedts battles with new teammate Bryce Gibbs at Blues training. Picture: Getty
But just as he did at Geelong, Smedts has shown plenty on the track and in match simulation as he strives to fulfil an obvious talent.
“Doing an article at this stage isn’t my preference although I understand the interest from Carlton supporters in new players to the club. I just want to play consistent football, to get a crack at it so I can put some games together,” said Smedts, who played 38 games in five years with Geelong.
His first year in 2011 was a write-off due to two hip operations but 2012-2013 were largely injury-free when he played 27 games. Then it began.
There was a broken leg in 2014, broken collarbone in 2015, shoulder reconstruction in the pre-season of 2016 and another broken leg last year.
“Naturally that has been super-frustrating. I think those injuries, and some form issues, had made me a bit stale at Geelong. It was pretty much a mutual thing to move and when Zach Tuohy moved to Geelong the deal came together.
“I wanted to seek some fresh opportunities and Carlton just felt like a good fit.

Billie Smedts is hoping a change of club will bring a change in luck. Picture: Wayne Ludbey
“What I have found at Carlton is this whole vibe of something completely new and fresh. For me it’s a clean slate and fresh start which has given me the opportunity to build a whole new reputation.
“I have spent a lot of time training with the midfield at Carlton. Bit of an outside-mid role, high half forward, halfback.
“If my body holds up I’m confident I can play some good football. I’ve just missed to many preseasons, coming up against blokes who are fit and flying. I’ve struggled with that and found it hard.”
Like so many others, Smedts has found his new coach in Brendon Bolton a very personable mentor: “He is unbelievable, very personable. He has spent a lot of time with me, talking about things mainly aside from football. He’s a great believer that if things are going well off the field then you will perform well on-field. He will give me every opportunity and I’m really looking forward to playing for him.”
Off the field he hopes to pursue a career as an aviation firefighter, something that stems from a fascination in planes and how they actually fly.
But in the meantime he hopes his flying is restricted to making opponents look silly with his deft dancing moves for the Blues.
 

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dazbroncos said:
I know its the off season and we let some stuff wander a bit more... but lets get this back to Holmes and leave the Bizzell chat for the nostalgia threads..

GO Catters
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Further to this point, let's leave the Smedts chat for the nostalgia threads also

I know it's the off season and that news a little slow, but can we give the kid some respect and not flood his debut thread with chat of past players

Time to move on from the past players and look forward to what Holmes will bring to the hoops
 
CatToTheFuture said:
That's exactly what I was hoping to hear
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he already strikes me as a high potential/high bust style pick up.

the more you think about him as a selection and what he can possibly be, the more sense it starts to make as a good pick.

I’m sure there was safer options, but wells is not about taking the easy way and makes bold calls. I can imagine a recruiter Under the Pump who has to strike it right or his job is at risk, wouldn’t have gone for a max Holmes.

The beauty of a recruiter like wells at the head of things is it’s like Ricky painting or sachin tendulkar in their mid 30’s after 30 odd centuries and and an average of 55.

Wells can feel confident in his place and position as being secure, allowing him to fully back his judgment entirely as opposed to taking a less risk adverse selection with the worry of his job in mind if it doesn’t pay off. I think it’s a big edge we have in terms of recruitment having someone like him run the show
 
CatRiot said:
Saw some footage of him... This kid will be a serious player. I'm putting the balls on the line. And his body will fill out, don't worry about that.
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His cleanness by hands and his vision look seriously impressive from the highlights I've seen. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't get some games this year.
 
dangerwood said:
Do you have a link for the footage? Was it the training footage or previous game footage?
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CatToTheFuture said:
Any links to footage? All we can go on is the few minutes put out in the socials
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Just the stuff on the cats training session and the limited earlier footage. I looked at it a few times, it was enough for me.
 
CatRiot said:
Saw some footage of him... This kid will be a serious player. I'm putting the balls on the line. And his body will fill out, don't worry about that.
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He has a great background. The discipline of being a serious athlete, fitness, a high achieving family so he already has an idea of what is required, and a good size. It is now a question of whether he has sufficient football skills and a football brain to achieve at AFL level. Exciting prospect.
 
Turbocat said:
Anything in particular that in impressed you Riot?
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Leg size looks great, so he should be strong through the core. Pace looks very good too, I think repeat sprints would be great from him given his background. Bounces the ball with both hands, so I expect his skills to develop nicely. I dont think he will be skinny after a few preseasons, probably Isaac Smith shape most likely.
 
CatRiot said:
Leg size looks great, so he should be strong through the core. Pace looks very good too, I think repeat sprints would be great from him given his background. Bounces the ball with both hands, so I expect his skills to develop nicely. I dont think he will be skinny after a few preseasons, probably Isaac Smith shape most likely.
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I coached some very , very fast athletes at Year 12 level but few were fast on the field with the footy. They seldom took possession and took advantage of their speed.
On the other hand I had a kid who was slightly slower athletically but he was incredibly fast with the footy - because he had footy nous and would take possession with momentum and speed at exactly the right time. That's very hard to coach into a player as you can do all the drills you want but the ones that get it do so more innately.
I hope Max can match his athleticism with natural footy nous , that could really be something :thumbsu:
 
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