AFL Player # 1: Andrew "Pidge" McGrath (VC)

[Beerfish]

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2030
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 13, Vindicater

 

[eth-dog]

Ralph's tweeted today that we'll need to be patient with him. He'll take time.

Who cares what Jon Ralph thinks. He's an idiot and a *******

 

[WEEVZ]

Who cares what Jon Ralph thinks. He's an idiot and a *******

This the reason McGrath may not be a "standout" is because they're basing it all on who we had available with all the returning stars its a bit daft of those in the media to expect a first year player to be leading the way, hell I'd be worried if he was.

 

[coastalpipeline]

my pick for the Norm Smith would have been Liam Picken. Pretty much grabbed the dogs and dragged them over the line.

Bont.

 

[JayJ20]

Why does McGrath need the kid gloves if Parish didn't?

Seems strange. I'd hope that we didn't just play Parish last year out of necessity.

Kinda different team to what we have this year.

If the bans were this year, we'd definitely give him the same treatment as we did with Parish.

See that is why last year was such an important year for us. It fast-tracked the development of our youth a lot.

 

[doug85]

Who cares what Jon Ralph thinks. He's an idiot and a *******

I agree with the description but he would be well connected. He might be right.

 

[BrunoV]

Ralph's tweeted today that we'll need to be patient with him. He'll take time.

Kinda different team to what we have this year.

If the bans were this year, we'd definitely give him the same treatment as we did with Parish.

See that is why last year was such an important year for us. It fast-tracked the development of our youth a lot.

What Ralph, who, mind you, should never be quoted as a source of anything, was saying was based on comments from Worsfold about the need to ensure that we built McGrath's body for the long term. Worsfold told SEN on Monday that he was concerned to make sure that McGrath was not another O'Meara (and apparently he has been talking about it with McKenna).

It seems odd to me that Parish who is a lot less physically developed could be thrown into the deep without the same concerns. The need to find players last year should not have been a basis to expose Parish to the same risk of breaking down.

 

[tesla1962]

Interesting that Worsfold went into a bit of depth with regard to both O'meara and swallow, and in many ways layed the blame at the feet of GCS. He probably won't be on Cochrane's christmas card list. I wonder how much the 'relationship' McKenna has/had with GCS comes into play.

IMO the McGrath comments are just managing fans' unrealistic expectations (and media hype) wrt our first ever #1 draft pick and nothing more.

 

[Rack Watts]

Yeah, sounds to me like Bluey wasn't a fan of how hard they went early.

 

[JayJ20]

What Ralph, who, mind you, should never be quoted as a source of anything, was saying was based on comments from Worsfold about the need to ensure that we built McGrath's body for the long term. Worsfold told SEN on Monday that he was concerned to make sure that McGrath was not another O'Meara (and apparently he has been talking about it with McKenna).

It seems odd to me that Parish who is a lot less physically developed could be thrown into the deep without the same concerns. The need to find players last year should not have been a basis to expose Parish to the same risk of breaking down.

No idea why tbh. McGrath probably does look more AFL ready in terms of body size. I guess McGrath's game relies on his speed, so any injury that affects this part of his game may have a big impact on his career. So they might want to make sure we don't have another O'Meara situation.

 

[WEEVZ]

No idea why tbh. McGrath probably does look more AFL ready in terms of body size. I guess McGrath's game relies on his speed, so any injury that affects this part of his game may have a big impact on his career. So they might want to make sure we don't have another O'Meara situation.

This, even though we've had successes with the likes of Heppell and Parish playing most of if not all of their respective first seasons you've still got to be wary of pushing them too hard too early. O'Meara as you say is the perfect example of a highly touted talent who seemed absolutely ready in his first two years but has since broken down to the point where its still speculative as to whether he'll play again (the Hawks made a big mistake in giving up as much as they did for him in my view).

I think McGrath will probably play at least 10 games, but given the depth we've now got in the midfield and at half-back there's no need to rush him. If he's performing well enough to be considered best 22 week in, week out then fair enough if not lets be patient. I'd say the club will probably want to unveil him as soon as possible, whether that means a round 1 berth we'll have to wait and see.

 

[IHurley]

It seems odd to me that Parish who is a lot less physically developed could be thrown into the deep without the same concerns. The need to find players last year should not have been a basis to expose Parish to the same risk of breaking down.

Didn't we play Parish forward a lot more to protect him from this? He wouldn't have played there at all in a full strength team but his loads were lighter.

 

[Keystone agony]

If hes best 22 and fit i want him picked then we can see how his body reacts to afl games and if he needs a rest then we give him a rest

 

[Lance Uppercut]

Why does McGrath need the kid gloves if Parish didn't?

Seems strange. I'd hope that we didn't just play Parish last year out of necessity.

It's just fluff, as I'm sure you well know. Utterly meaningless tripe being said to fill a quota of "member communication"

Not that there's anything wrong with that, as it only requires the most basic of basic parsing by those of us who have half a brain

 

[daffo]

I still think he plays r1.

 

[EnolaGay]

I still think he plays r1.

AFL or VFL?

 

[Corleone]

I personally believe they should be thrown into the deep end as soon as possible, I cannot remember who said it, but if young kids aren't exposed to the elite level early then they believed that there was a danger that they become acclimatised to VFL level.

 

[threeleggedgoat]

I think you're paraphrasing the great Dimma Hardwick there

 

[DraftMe]

I personally believe they should be thrown into the deep end as soon as possible, I cannot remember who said it, but if young kids aren't exposed to the elite level early then they believed that there was a danger that they become acclimatised to VFL level.

This might have been a factor in Jonathan O'Rourke not making it. Pick 2 in 2012. Played 11 NEAFL games and 1 AFL game in his 1st year. 10 NEAFL games and 8 AFL games in year 2. 19 VFL games and 2 AFL games in year 3. Then 8 VFL and 7 AFL games in year 4.

Totaling: 48 NEAFL/VFL games and 18 AFL games in his 1st 4 years. A pick 2 should never turn out that way.

 

[DERO]

This might have been a factor in Jonathan O'Rourke not making it. Pick 2 in 2012. Played 11 NEAFL games and 1 AFL game in his 1st year. 10 NEAFL games and 8 AFL games in year 2. 19 VFL games and 2 AFL games in year 3. Then 8 VFL and 7 AFL games in year 4.

Totaling: 48 NEAFL/VFL games and 18 AFL games in his 1st 4 years. A pick 2 should never turn out that way.

Scott Gumbleton agrees.

 

[blitzer]

Personally I'm a believer in individual programs. Not every kid who plays a lot early breaks down. I believe young Tim Watson went alright after playing at the grand old age of 15. There's no one size fits all.

Hopefully if McGrath does play VFL first then he goes on to prove he's too good for that level. Chris Judd played a game of WAFL once, then he dominated so hard that he never played there again (I think he had something like 34 touches and 4 goals).

I think Justin Crowe is pretty big on individual programs anyway so I'm sure he will be looking at McGrath and seeing what he's capable of and not what a '1st year player should generally be capable of'.

 

[Big Fresh]

This might have been a factor in Jonathan O'Rourke not making it. Pick 2 in 2012. Played 11 NEAFL games and 1 AFL game in his 1st year. 10 NEAFL games and 8 AFL games in year 2. 19 VFL games and 2 AFL games in year 3. Then 8 VFL and 7 AFL games in year 4.

Totaling: 48 NEAFL/VFL games and 18 AFL games in his 1st 4 years. A pick 2 should never turn out that way.

Wasn't he considered a pretty big reach by GWS at the time? Plenty of first rounders just aren't up to it. GWS would be an especially difficult place for a player drafted in 2012 to develop though.

 

[Bombers36]

I think Woosha is just managing peoples expectations saying the kid no certainty for round 1. He didn't say he won't play either - and I'm sure like most of us Wooshas starting 22 may change significantly between now and the 25th March. I personally think we really need McGrath or McKennas pace off the half back line and would hope to see one of these two guys (no preference really) line up round 1 against the Hawks


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[Rack Watts]

Okay, I need to say this, as I think it's very obvious.
If Woosha says that McGrath's spot is still not solidified, people will fight like hell for it, and that's what you want your players, especially backs to do.

 

[Runk]

Okay, I need to say this, as I think it's very obvious.
If Woosha says that McGrath's spot is still not solidified, people will fight like hell for it, and that's what you want your players, especially backs to do.

THANK YOU!

 

[Bomberbuzz1]

It might be a case of not giving him a big head. Friends and relatives would be tracking how he's going and if it's said he's a guarantee maybe he wouldn't keep putting the extra yards in and plateau. You want him fighting for it and always pushing to go to another level.