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

[Beerfish]

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

 

[citizen-erased]

Funny passage of play where he had a clown to the left of him and a joker to the right, he tried to draw the tackle and ended up with a dump kick forward whilst caught in a tackle.

That was a signature move

Telegraph the play you're trying to force
Get coraled
Be off balance, wrong sided and panic
Dump the kick
Jog back as the ball rebounds for a goal to your direct opponent

 

[citizen-erased]

I posted this a month or so ago, but we need to drop him from the leadership group.
It worked out for Zac, maybe that puts a foot up Andy's ass.

His best and worse is like night and day. And that's a concern.

From what I can tell, his leadership is he prepares well by comparison to the rest of the club
Which says a lot

I don't see on field standards
I don't see him talking to the backline, or coaching when we're under fire, or even leading by example

Whatever it is, it must be off field.
Poor choice for VC

 

[ant555]

What I can not work out is what he is thinking with his defending . I do not know how many times he was et up on his own in our back half or how many times he ran so far forward of the ball he could not set up going the other way and just ended up jogging behind the play. Something has to give. Not sure if we are trying to set him up as the outlet player or he is trying too hard to make something happen but it is killing us and killing his form. Back pockets defend. They do not go racing up the ground to dumb spots that effect their ability to get back and defend. Not only is he out of position but he is basically wasting his energy running to spots he will not / should not get used.
Has shown he can defend. Just stick to it. KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.

 

[andleanback]

That moment where he had 20m of clear space, two handball options either side, and still somehow managed to produce a dump kick turnover under pressure just sums him up.

That was almost as bad as his tackle attempts on Mitchell and crisp

 

[citizen-erased]

What I can not work out is what he is thinking with his defending . I do not know how many times he was et up on his own in our back half or how many times he ran so far forward of the ball he could not set up going the other way and just ended up jogging behind the play. Something has to give. Not sure if we are trying to set him up as the outlet player or he is trying too hard to make something happen but it is killing us and killing his form. Back pockets defend. They do not go racing up the ground to dumb spots that effect their ability to get back and defend. Not only is he out of position but he is basically wasting his energy running to spots he will not / should not get used.
Has shown he can defend. Just stick to it. KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.

Selfish footy is my guess.
I reckon he wants back in the middle. And may even be eyeing off the parish spot.

 

[doug85]

Yes. I think he's worth more here than at the trade table.

He won’t be going anywhere after listening to Scott’s presser. Rates him very highly as a leader and we lack leadership

 

[MattyB3150]

He has been on and off this season. Has had some very good games and some shockers. Being the number one pick will always make us very critical of him. If he played in a strong team he would just get his job done and wouldn’t be talked about.

 

[ant555]

Selfish footy is my guess.
I reckon he wants back in the middle. And may even be eyeing off the parish spot.

I am not convinced it is selfish . There is nothing in his story that says selfish at all. I think it is just playing dumb footy trying to make something happen.

 

[Beerfish]

He has been on and off this season. Has had some very good games and some shockers.

He definitely had some good games early on. Then Setterfield injury put the backline under more pressure and then Draper and Ridley went down and it all collapsed. No excuse for his shit efforts though. That one last night when he hung onto the ball until he worked himself into trouble was emblematic of his season as a whole.

 

[ant555]

He definitely had some good games early on. Then Setterfield injury put the backline under more pressure and then Draper and Ridley went down and it all collapsed. No excuse for his s**t efforts though. That one last night when he hung onto the ball until he worked himself into trouble was emblematic of his season as a whole.

I do wonder if it is a result of him not having the best footy vision as far as reading the options being multiplied by him thinking as VC he has to make something happen for the side and making dumb decisions because he is actually trying too hard and complicating his role. Our defenders have enough pressure as it is without creating more issues for themselves. Coach probably needs to work on him staying in his lane and not over complicating things. As you say he played some good footy in the first 12 weeks.

 

[Bjchan13]

I hope they make things really simple for him over the pre season. No VC, no LG, just concentrate on yourself. Strip weight, focus on the lockdown part of your role, and rebound and leadership will come naturally. Leave the heavy lifting to Redman and Ridley when it comes to play making.

 

[SydneyBomber]

Remember the school captain? Success was a matter of time...

He's not the 'wild boy breaking free' that's for sure....

 

[frodos gardener]

I hope they make things really simple for him over the pre season. No VC, no LG, just concentrate on yourself. Strip weight, focus on the lockdown part of your role, and rebound and leadership will come naturally. Leave the heavy lifting to Redman and Ridley when it comes to play making.

No podcasting

 

[Mercurial89]

I do wonder if it is a result of him not having the best footy vision as far as reading the options being multiplied by him thinking as VC he has to make something happen for the side and making dumb decisions because he is actually trying too hard and complicating his role. Our defenders have enough pressure as it is without creating more issues for themselves. Coach probably needs to work on him staying in his lane and not over complicating things. As you say he played some good footy in the first 12 weeks.

Probably the same thing that's been an issue for him since he got here.
He seemingly just does not see the game well, he is constantly panicking with the ball in his hand. That was certainly the issue when he played mid.

The thinking too much thing that Langford had originally looked a bit different, he wanted to make the right decision so badly that he looked slow.
With Andy it looks like he's seeing 8 options and just does not know what to do. Can visibly see him changing his mind when he has the ball.

Strong coaching and less pressure of being a leader will probably help, but it's a concern that after so long in the AFL it's still too quick for him.
Unless it's just the leadership filter where he's so scared of doing the wrong thing because of that title that it's impacting his game, because he has shown he can be decisive before in his career.

 

[mitch-wa]

He's not the 'wild boy breaking free' that's for sure....

Dodo missed the stop sign

 

[faible]

Probably the same thing that's been an issue for him since he got here.
He seemingly just does not see the game well, he is constantly panicking with the ball in his hand. That was certainly the issue when he played mid.

The thinking too much thing that Langford had originally looked a bit different, he wanted to make the right decision so badly that he looked slow.
With Andy it looks like he's seeing 8 options and just does not know what to do. Can visibly see him changing his mind when he has the ball.

Strong coaching and less pressure of being a leader will probably help, but it's a concern that after so long in the AFL it's still too quick for him.
Unless it's just the leadership filter where he's so scared of doing the wrong thing because of that title that it's impacting his game, because he has shown he can be decisive before in his career.

I remember early days when he would collect the ball, make a decision and fire off a handball so quickly other players couldn’t keep up.

It’s the opposite thing happening now.

 

[Mercurial89]

I remember early days when he would collect the ball, make a decision and fire off a handball so quickly other players couldn’t keep up.

It’s the opposite thing happening now.

I think he is still prone to the panic handball to a team mate in poor position, usually because he has run himself into trouble.
Like I said it feels like everything is just too quick for him at the moment.

 

[frodos gardener]

I think he just doesn’t understand structures. He understands one-on-one but it has to be a simple scenario and he’ll do fine. Any complexities arise (such as quick changes of ball direction or multiple players involved) and he gets confused.

At training recently he was pushing back on feedback in a few instances - firstly from Merrett and secondly from Parish. I don’t think he was being truly defensive but more so that he didn’t quite compute what was being said.

 

[faible]

I think he is still prone to the panic handball to a team mate in poor position, usually because he has run himself into trouble.
Like I said it feels like everything is just too quick for him at the moment.

I didn’t get the sense it was a panic handball back there, moreso that he was capable of assessing the options and making a decision at high speed, whereas now he just seems to be doing the opposite.

It could a case of exactly what ant is saying; he’s trying too hard to make something happen so instead of seeing the obvious options that are right there and executing them, he’s looking for the make or break play every time.

 

[FlyingV]

He was going very well first half of the season. Had a couple of shockers at the end. I still think he’s got the potential to nail a AA season as back pocket before his career is up.

 

[Runk]

Play him as a lock down back pocket only. Nothing else.

 

[Mikevk123]

He wasn’t too bad when he was used on the wing last season. I wouldn’t mind giving him stints playing defensive wing if it helps his confidence.

Don’t think he was to happy being regulated to back pocket.

 

[MightyDon]

He wasn’t too bad when he was used on the wing last season. I wouldn’t mind giving him stints playing defensive wing if it helps his confidence.

Don’t think he was to happy being regulated to back pocket.

Not to bad isn’t good enough, we have better players for the wing, maybe he needs to go back to the VFL to find some confidence. If he‘s a good leader he’ll play his role and do it well

 

[frodos gardener]

 

[MiguelM]

What was his natural position before being drafted?