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

[Beerfish]

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

 

[Darealrath]

I also recall people criticising McKenna for doing it but he gets a bit of a pass for the Gaelic background where I think you actually have to bounce the ball before you run off iirc?

Have to bounce or solo every 4 steps.

 

[citizen-erased]

I think for a while Hind replaced those 2 very well.

Hind may have dropped back a bit this past year, but that last game against WC he did a few great runs and dead shot kicks to our players.
Accuracy that's of a contrast with what we are seeing McGrath do.

He brings the pace, but saad and mckenna were elite kicks.
Andy and nick aren't.

 

[FlyingV]

Imagine if we still had McKenna and Saad. We’re actually pretty good at finding small rebounding defenders - Saad, McKenna, Hind, McGrath (fml) and Redman.

 

[The Donners]

Saad and McKenna both do this

Saad and McKenna are both fleet of foot, McGrath is not.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Saad and McKenna are both fleet of foot, McGrath is not.

Hey that’s former state champion hurdler Andrew McGrath you’re talking about.

He didn’t have any hurdles to jump in his family life so he found them on the track.

I will admit Marvel is perhaps a bit too flat to bring out his best.

Fun fact tho - at his best he was apparently taking three bounces between each hurdle!

 

[Mikevk123]

I think he lost that touch of dash he had after that serious injury a few years ago. The major problem is his kicking. He was shaping up fine as a mid but the dumb kicks became all too obvious.

I still reckon he has potential to be an inside mid, if Shiel and Parish move on soon enough.

 

[Bjchan13]

I think he lost that touch of dash he had after that serious injury a few years ago. The major problem is his kicking. He was shaping up fine as a mid but the dumb kicks became all too obvious.

I still reckon he has potential to be an inside mid, if Shiel and Parish move on soon enough.

No thanks for inside mid. Needs to lose weight and get some zip back as a small defender. He's lost form but has shown before he can provide elite shutdown ability combined with handy run and rebound.

 

[CBombers17]

Got him ranked 3rd best Canadian AFL player of all time behind Pyke and Edmond.

 

[Yoda_]

He has had the most bounces in the AFL and is considerably ahead which suggests he is either exceptional (which we know he is not) or bouncing to much (more likely)

McGrath - 63
Blakey - 44
D.Rioli/Saad - 42

 

[Lore]

Haven’t listened yet, when I do I’ll put cliffs or a transcript or something depending on how interesting it is

 

[Beerfish]

I wonder if cleaner disposal features?

 

[astrowizzle]

He brings the pace, but saad and mckenna were elite kicks.
Andy and nick aren't.

Saad is definately not an elite kick.

 

[Don Won]

Saad is definately not an elite kick.

Probably a semantic discussion about stats vs ‘the eye’ - 81% disposal efficiency looks pretty good, and will categorise him as elite… but he ain’t kicking bullets through opposition players and hitting up forwards with precision kicks.

 

[Milanista28]

Saad is an elite short/creative kick, sometimes his decision making is poor and bombs long more than he should.

 

[Bombermania]

Unfortunately it's just impossible not to watch this guy play and think 'we took him with pick 1'. If he was a second round pick some of his kicking would irk me but I'd forgive it and be able to focus on his strengths, which is 1on1 defending and line breaking. It's not his fault he was taken #1 and will be forever coloured by it, but **** me it cuts deep. With the way he uses the ball he is just never going to be a great player, even as a back pocket (which you could argue would never be worth pick #1 no matter how good he was).

I really don't care how great a guy he is or what a good family he comes from (read: how privileged his upbringing was) he is undoubtedly a bust at pick 1. I guess it's on me to try to forget his draft pick when I watch him play for my own sanity.

This is what annoys me about Adrian for saying he liked McGrath because he came from a good school, and while I don't hold that against Andy but Adrian should be more concerned about finding good football skills, not good school background.

 

[Beerfish]

This is what annoys me about Adrian for saying he liked McGrath because he came from a good school, and while I don't hold that against Andy but Adrian should be more concerned about finding good football skills, not good school background.

Do people seriously think this is the reason we took him?

 

[Bombermania]

Do people seriously think this is the reason we took him?

Adrian listed his school and family as one of the reasons why he liked him.

 

[Beerfish]

Adrian listed his school and family as one of the reasons why he liked him.

Ah. So not THE reason. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Bombermania]

Ah. So not THE reason. Thanks for clarifying.

Did you go to a private school?

I ask that because you might have misunderstood the comment, which was more about Adrian than Andy.

 

[jmoo wan]

Haven’t listened yet, when I do I’ll put cliffs or a transcript or something depending on how interesting it is

excellent - can you please tag me when you do?

 

[Lore]

excellent - can you please tag me when you do?

won't be adding to it since I listened to it twice and can't remember a thing I heard, so can't be that interesting.

 

[brain taylor]

Did you go to a private school?

I ask that because you might have misunderstood the comment, which was more about Adrian than Andy.

i went to both private schools and public schools, and played footy with guys from both, and i think people around here read waaaaaay too much into where a player went to school

 

[Lore]

Do people seriously think this is the reason we took him?

Obviously regarded as a good player, but I think having leadership skills and being school captain, footy captain, VM captain? was probably the tie breaker. The goodness or not of the school is probably less relevant.

 

[Lore]

i went to both private schools and public schools, and played footy with guys from both, and i think people around here read waaaaaay too much into where a player went to school

It would probably help if he didn't spend most of his podcasts talking about his school experience or talking about how he went to Brighton and his guest went somewhere else that had a huge rivalry.


The most relevant thing you can say for private schools is that they specifically recruit kids with football attributes via their scholarship programs, which means the APS/AGS inter-school leagues are a breeding ground for future footballers and therefore plenty of scouts in attendance. You're more likely to get recruited if you go to one of those schools due primarily to over-exposure.

But then because of that you also get more investment in the football programs in those schools, they have their own academy programs and ex AFL players/coaches as their school footy coaches, so you have an equity and access issue for kids in rural, regional and remote areas.

And then there are dickheads, the kind that get expelled from every school they go to until they end up in their 4th public high school and finally pull their head in (or quit). Private schools have their own variety of dickheads, but I suspect you're less likely to end up in juvenile detention if you attend one.

 

[FlyingV]

Big game for our VC this week. Must win game for the club. Need him to stand up and lead with his actions on the field. Been a bit off recently will back him in to have a good one.