Certified Legendary Thread Welcome Tim Taranto & Jacob Hopper

[ForeverHardcore]

Agree but geez Graham would have been handy against Brisbane last week to put the shackles on one L. Neale. Could have been the game right there. Valuable player who does the unfancy stuff. Starting to wonder where he fits in tho if both Taranto and Hopper come across. Would GWS want him? That's the question.

When’s the last time Graham genuinely tagged someone?

I think we overestimate that he could’ve “shut down” Neale last week. We don’t rate tagging and unfortunately it blew up in our face last week. The one way that Brisbane were going to beat us was if Neale had a 3 vote stand out brownlow type of game which he did. I don’t think Graham would’ve made a heap of difference. We had Ross who’s probably the most recent guy we’ve had do jobs playing, we tried Short who was too small and by the time Pickett got his chance it was too late.

Hopefully Taranto and Hopper make the difference to chop out Dion going forward cause we really need them. Now they definitely would’ve been the difference in that final!

 

[tiger_tough]

I think the difference is Dunkley is rarely, if ever going to go forward when the game is on the line and win it for you off his own boot by kicking multiple big goals. Taranto has and will. That ability, for me puts him ahead of Dunkley.

That is just not true. Taranto has kicked over 2 goals once in his career and that was 4 against us last year when we sucked and they won by 7 goals. Dunkley averages more goals per game.

 

[Royce Hafey]

Grahams best is very good but I reckon I could count on one hand how many times hes genuinely influenced a game. Hes a defensive mid in a midfield that still gets cut to pieces. Outside of his GF heroics who else has he done a defensive number on? Hes still young enough to have currency. If we land Hop and Tim well win so much of the ball there'll be no need for a specialist defensive mid.

Don't agree. Graham's pressure stats have always been elite. They aren't noticeable because they are applied generally to the opposition midfield rather than playing as a tagger. When he's fit and firing (which he hasn't been so much recently) he plays a key role, not in winning clearances so much as making sure any clearance won by the opposition is a useless hack kick or pressure handpass which it's easy for us to turn over.

 

[YeOldTiger]

That is just not true. Taranto has kicked over 2 goals once in his career and that was 4 against us last year when we sucked and they won by 7 goals. Dunkley averages more goals per game.

Fair enough if that's what the stats say but I stick to what I said, Taranto is a more damaging player. I'm not looking to debate it. Dunkley is a fine player but I will be very pleased if we sign Taranto. He has XFactor as well as matching Dunkley defensively imo

It would be interesting to know how many times he has kicked two in a game.

 

[Rioli2Rioli]

He is contracted, its not like Taranto. GWS wont be giving up Hopper for unders. Hopper will cost us more than Taranto.

They will if their cap squeeze is as bad as whats being made out $1.5mil - $2.0 mil
Bruhn - Saves nothing he is on min salary and will be replaced with a kid on same $$$
Hill - $350k-$400k (2nd contract so would have had a good uplift)

They have kids that will require more cash, They need to get rid of Tarantino & Hopper

 

[Coach_Required]

Fair enough if that's what the stats say but I stick to what I said, Taranto is a more damaging player. I'm not looking to debate it. Dunkley is a fine player but I will be very pleased if we sign Taranto. He has XFactor as well as matching Dunkley defensively imo

It would be interesting to know how many times he has kicked two in a game.

Taranto has kicked more than 2 once in his career (Richmond 4)
Dunkley has kicked more than 2, twice in his career (Collingwood 3, Brisbane 3)
Taranto has kicked 2 or more 7 times
Dunkley has done it 16 times.
Taranto kicks the ball more, Dunkley handpasses it more
Both players are equal for inside 50's
Dunkley has twice as many tackles.

IMO Dunkley is the better player but not even sure why he is in the conversation as it looks like he wants to move out of Victoria.

 

[richard parker]

Taranto is an elite running machine and endurance beast isn’t he? Right up our alley. Hopper an extractor, which we need badly.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Might be better to deal with if Peter Bell does leave for Norf.

Was hoping with Daicos we'd get horn Francis as well.
Bugga.

 

[Danw0w]

What is with the Dunkley obsession from some people on here. He is ****ing useless. All he does is handball in circles with about 4 other dogs midfielders. Not even in the same league as Taranto.

 

[Madtiger2006]

I originally would have said no, as his goal kicking is/was dogsh!t when they moved him forward...

However over time he has improved, and if he keeps that trend, it would be a replacement for Jack (no, not anywhere near as good, but structurally important).

Could be a Mcstay type. Would prefer Ben King though

 

[Juke]

Both going to Pies

 

[Lord of the Wings]

What is with the Dunkley obsession from some people on here. He is ******* useless. All he does is handball in circles with about 4 other dogs midfielders. Not even in the same league as Taranto.

Agree - along with Coniglio & Nic Nat the most overrated player in the game.

 

[sante]

What is with the Dunkley obsession from some people on here. He is ******* useless. All he does is handball in circles with about 4 other dogs midfielders. Not even in the same league as Taranto.

He scores well in Supercoach

 

[Lord of the Wings]

He scores well in Supercoach

The top Supercoach scorer at Richmond was Short and Geesook Guthrie. Not sure its a reliable guide

 

[Groupie_]

Huge get by you guys if it eventuates. Scary looking 22 next season.

B Grimes Balta Vlaustin
HB Short Tarrant D.Rioli
C Mclntosh Hopper Pickett
HF Martin Lynch Bolton
F M.Rioli Riewoldt Cumberland
FOLL Nankervis Taranto Prestia
I/C- Baker, Cotchin, Graham, Miller

 

[Calcium Man]

Taranto is an elite running machine and endurance beast isn’t he? Right up our alley. Hopper an extractor, which we need badly.

Taranto is just an elite athlete, he recorded a 3sec flat 20m sprint at start of his top age TAC cup year and 15.9 in the beep test. I can only imagine if he tested at draft combine at end of season those results could have been higher.

As for Hopper, he didn’t do draft combine either but his endurance was considered elite prior to the draft, his speed only average.

Funny thing is if you go review all their pre draft prospects both considered incredible overhead and strong ability to get forward and kick goals.

They both love to tackle, will run all day, strong in the contest and good overhead. What I think will be interesting is how much development they have left, I don’t particularly rate GWS coaching group (given the development of so many of their picks) and we have a certain development and playing/structures strategy (like when Pickett came across he apparently struggled with) that could reap benefits.

Anyway, I’m bullish we will end up with bargains even if it wipes out our next 2 drafts. And I think these two are under appreciated for how good they actually are, because they play for GWS.

 

[Groupie_]

Taranto is just an elite athlete, he recorded a 3sec flat 20m sprint at start of his top age TAC cup year and 15.9 in the beep test. I can only imagine if he tested at draft combine at end of season those results could have been higher.

As for Hopper, he didn’t do draft combine either but his endurance was considered elite prior to the draft, his speed only average.

Funny thing is if you go review all their pre draft prospects both considered incredible overhead and strong ability to get forward and kick goals.

They both love to tackle, will run all day, strong in the contest and good overhead. What I think will be interesting is how much development they have left, I don’t particularly rate GWS coaching group (given the development of so many of their picks) and we have a certain development and playing/structures strategy (like when Pickett came across he apparently struggled with) that could reap benefits.

Anyway, I’m bullish we will end up with bargains even if it wipes out our next 2 drafts. And I think these two are under appreciated for how good they actually are, because they play for GWS.

 

[biaseddustyfan]

Taranto is just an elite athlete, he recorded a 3sec flat 20m sprint at start of his top age TAC cup year and 15.9 in the beep test. I can only imagine if he tested at draft combine at end of season those results could have been higher.

As for Hopper, he didn’t do draft combine either but his endurance was considered elite prior to the draft, his speed only average.

Funny thing is if you go review all their pre draft prospects both considered incredible overhead and strong ability to get forward and kick goals.

They both love to tackle, will run all day, strong in the contest and good overhead. What I think will be interesting is how much development they have left, I don’t particularly rate GWS coaching group (given the development of so many of their picks) and we have a certain development and playing/structures strategy (like when Pickett came across he apparently struggled with) that could reap benefits.

Anyway, I’m bullish we will end up with bargains even if it wipes out our next 2 drafts. And I think these two are under appreciated for how good they actually are, because they play for GWS.

they will dominate playing under a real coach and a good team

we won't loose a game for the next 50 games

 

[Calcium Man]

they will dominate playing under a real coach and a good team

we won't loose a game for the next 50 games

We will lose 1, when Norf sack Clarko the week they play us

 

[YeOldTiger]

We will lose 1, when Norf sack Clarko the week they play us

Two. The other one when Bummers sack Hird, for the third time, just before they play us

 

[gunnagunnagunna]

Be doing 12 for Taranto (out of contract) and 19 and 30 for Hopper! Maybe dangle a 3rd if GWS were being stubborn! Both would fill imediate holes in our list, but realistically are B+ players, that I couldn't justify throwing 12 19 30 and a future first for

On SM-S906E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Taranto has kicked more than 2 once in his career (Richmond 4)
Dunkley has kicked more than 2, twice in his career (Collingwood 3, Brisbane 3)
Taranto has kicked 2 or more 7 times
Dunkley has done it 16 times.
Taranto kicks the ball more, Dunkley handpasses it more
Both players are equal for inside 50's
Dunkley has twice as many tackles.

IMO Dunkley is the better player but not even sure why he is in the conversation as it looks like he wants to move out of Victoria.

This is the career v career comparison for Taranto and Dunkley, which if anything favours Dunkley as they have played roughly the same amount of matches and he is 1 year older. Overall there is very little to choose between them.

Taranto has clearly spent more time in the defensive half and Dunkley more time forward, the inside 50 and rebound 50 numbers tell you that. Which would explain Dunkley’s slightly higher goal and score involvement average. Dunkley has a slight lead in tackles but both are very high. Taranto leads in clearances, disposals, metres gained. Dunkley leads in disposal efficiency(probably due to handballing around in circles so much in the Dog’s midfield) tackles, scores and score involvements.

Statistically there wouldn’t be much to choose between them at all, especially once you consider Dunkley has relatively more of his games skewed to when he was older and Taranto has played in less winning teams and more losing teams than Dunkley. Not sure where you get Dunkley twice as many tackles from that is just not true Dunkley has less than 10% more tackles. Or that both are equal for inside 50’s, Taranto has over 30% more inside 50’s.

 

[Cotcho]

they will dominate playing under a real coach and a good team

we won't loose a game for the next 50 games

I don’t want to come across as arrogant here but I can’t see us losing a quarter of footy next year.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

Don't agree. Graham's pressure stats have always been elite. They aren't noticeable because they are applied generally to the opposition midfield rather than playing as a tagger. When he's fit and firing (which he hasn't been so much recently) he plays a key role, not in winning clearances so much as making sure any clearance won by the opposition is a useless hack kick or pressure handpass which it's easy for us to turn over.

I understand his role its just that it doesnt seem to actually do what it says on the jar. Oppo mids walk straight out of contest or get clean handballs out all game every game. So whats the point of it? The new sexy is just winning the ball and cutting the other team up.

 

[THE THIN MAN]

If you get the ball first, you don't need to tackle!