Player Watch #10: Colby McKercher - R9 AFL RS nom - goes bang w/ 37d on his return vs GCS

[Colby Cheer Squad]

McKercher wasn't involved, we took Sheezel and Wardlaw in that draft. The only piece of the trade that we carried into 2023 was Port's first rounder, which we used to take Taylor Goad.

Sorry, brain fart. Yes I meant Wardlaw.

 

[Colby Cheer Squad]

It's a little chicken before the egg theory though.

This is one of the single largest infrastructure and tourism investments the Tas State Government have ever made.

I agree that the first few years will be brutal, they will heavily rely on Tassie footballers around the comp and still likely have to pay through the nose to bring them back.

The rest will be 30-35 year olds that will move the family there for a few years for a big final payday, I think it will be like this for most of their existence.

However, Hobart has been a pretty strong growth area for the last decade. It's certainly a lot more popular than what it was 20-30 years ago for mainlanders (Im not Tasmanian, far from it)

With an AFL club, I could see Hobart becoming even more popular, you are going to get piggy back investment in bars, hotels etc with something like an AFL side drawing interstate travel every weekend etc. Hobart will gentrify even more with an AFL team.

I think it will blow right by somewhere like Geelong. People won't/don't regularly travel from interstate to go to a game at GMHBA, but they will in Hobart. Particularly Victorian fans imo. That means more bars, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs etc.

It's never going to be Chapel St, but I don't see any reason Hobart can't rival somewhere like a smaller version of Adelaide.

The interesting dynamic really is going to be Launceston vs Hobart in the next 30 years.

And this is why the political-economic argument against the stadium as opposed to using taxpayer funds on hospitals and schools is short-sighted. There's no point building hospitals and schools when you can't retain doctors, nurses, medical technicians, and teachers to staff them as they have all left for the mainland. By making Hobart something of a destination city with entertainment options for skilled young people, only then do your hospitals and schools become viable infrastructure spend. The stadium is the egg.

 

[Jazny]

For cashed up 21 year olds who have grown up in major cities on the mainland? Explain...

If they are the kind of person that thinks doing lines in the toilets of the Crown Casino is the height of culture, they probably won't want to come to Hobart. You can keep them in Melbourne, more than happy for you to do that.

Hobart gets consistently rated as one of, if not the, most livable cities in the the southern hemisphere. New York Times had it in the top 30 places to visit in the entire world last year, Melbourne didn't make the list.. don't see why it would though, it's just a budget New York.

But none of this even needs to be hypothetical anymore, we have a professional sports team full time in Hobart called the JackJumpers. How have they been going recently again? Oh wait, I remember

They seem to have no issues with player retention of young cashed up men. And all this while they are training it what has been described as a cold and substandard facility while they are trying to get a real HPC built. They just signed the best young basketball prospect in Australia on a 2 year deal in the offseason too.

Top Aussie hooper Siulepa picks NBL over college

Roman Siulepa, a top Australian basketball prospect, tells ESPN that he will sign with the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian NBL Next Stars program.

www.espn.com.au

There are also these weird inventions which I think they call 'aeroplanes' which you can get on at the end of the season, and these aeroplanes can take you to wherever in the world you like. So even if you just really want drugged out people sweating all over you while you embarrassingly gyrate to Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss, you can fly to a place where you can get all the fake plastic hedonistic fun you want in the off season.

 

[Billy Not Really]

Brady Rawlings deserves immense credit for how he handled this. Only the most churlish buffoon thinks otherwise.

He can **** up every single list management decision from when he started til when he finishes but he'll be saved by the fact that he used the trade round 1 rules against other clubs to leverage in getting inarguably the two most vital players in our rebuild that have allowed the team to actually have an identity again.

 

[The Warlord]

He can **** up every single list management decision from when he started til when he finishes but he'll be saved by the fact that he used the trade round 1 rules against other clubs to leverage in getting inarguably the two most vital players in our rebuild that have allowed the team to actually have an identity again.

Yep, this x 69 billion

 

[Colby Cheer Squad]

He can **** up every single list management decision from when he started til when he finishes but he'll be saved by the fact that he used the trade round 1 rules against other clubs to leverage in getting inarguably the two most vital players in our rebuild that have allowed the team to actually have an identity again.

#BuildBradyAStatue

 

[shinboner magic]

Tassie should draft country lads - might help in retaining players

 

[the big lebowski]

#BuildBradyAStatue

His nose would make it too costly

 

[Sphynx]

If they are the kind of person that thinks doing lines in the toilets of the Crown Casino is the height of culture, they probably won't want to come to Hobart. You can keep them in Melbourne, more than happy for you to do that.

Hobart gets consistently rated as one of, if not the, most livable cities in the the southern hemisphere. New York Times had it in the top 30 places to visit in the entire world last year, Melbourne didn't make the list.. don't see why it would though, it's just a budget New York.

But none of this even needs to be hypothetical anymore, we have a professional sports team full time in Hobart called the JackJumpers. How have they been going recently again? Oh wait, I remember

They seem to have no issues with player retention of young cashed up men. And all this while they are training it what has been described as a cold and substandard facility while they are trying to get a real HPC built. They just signed the best young basketball prospect in Australia on a 2 year deal in the offseason too.

Top Aussie hooper Siulepa picks NBL over college

Roman Siulepa, a top Australian basketball prospect, tells ESPN that he will sign with the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian NBL Next Stars program.

www.espn.com.au

There are also these weird inventions which I think they call 'aeroplanes' which you can get on at the end of the season, and these aeroplanes can take you to wherever in the world you like. So even if you just really want drugged out people sweating all over you while you embarrassingly gyrate to Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss, you can fly to a place where you can get all the fake plastic hedonistic fun you want in the off season.

The Jackjumpers have been around for 4 years.

There's a massive difference between a cashed up 18 year old kid out of the Sandringham Dragons that thinks he's king dick in the junior football scene vs Australian basketballers in the NBL.

Most of the Jackjumpers side is in their late 20's or over 30's for starters.

A better anology would be with basketball would Lamelo Ball come live in Hobart AFTER he was drafted.

 

[Jazny]

The Jackjumpers have been around for 4 years.

There's a massive difference between a cashed up 18 year old kid out of the Sandringham Dragons that thinks he's king dick in the junior football scene vs Australian basketballers in the NBL.

Most of the Jackjumpers side is in their late 20's or over 30's for starters.

A better anology would be with basketball would Lamelo Ball come live in Hobart AFTER he was drafted.

Your analogy is just weird. Would Lamelo Ball be moving to Melbourne after he got drafted either Do you think an 18 year old kid out of Sandringham Dragons is going to be close to as cashed up as Lemelo Ball? Or Roman Siulepa, the U20 national champs MVP who chose to move to Tasmania to play with the JackJumpers?

The last cashed up 18 year old kid to come out of Sandringham and be a top pick was Tasmanian Ryley Sanders, pretty sure he would be more than happy to move back down here.

Everyone is different, some people would love it here, and some people won't. Mostly it will be about the culture the club creates more than the location anyway. If we ranked clubs by best party culture, then looked at their list retention problems, it wouldn't correlate very well. Brisbane, GWS and Gold Coast struggled for years, and they would probably be close to the top party boy places to live.

I dont think retention will be close to as big a problem as some might think.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

None of this belongs in the Colby thread, though.

 

[Passmore]

None of this belongs in the Colby thread, though.

Depends. If rumours are true he’s standing out of footy in ‘27 to join the Hobart team in ‘28. A year with the Jack Jumpers beckons.

 

[marklovesbeer]

Anyone know is this is available to view somehow? Got a paywall.
More interested because it’s from a Tassie paper.

 

[Sphynx]

Your analogy is just weird. Would Lamelo Ball be moving to Melbourne after he got drafted either Do you think an 18 year old kid out of Sandringham Dragons is going to be close to as cashed up as Lemelo Ball? Or Roman Siulepa, the U20 national champs MVP who chose to move to Tasmania to play with the JackJumpers?

The last cashed up 18 year old kid to come out of Sandringham and be a top pick was Tasmanian Ryley Sanders, pretty sure he would be more than happy to move back down here.

Everyone is different, some people would love it here, and some people won't. Mostly it will be about the culture the club creates more than the location anyway. If we ranked clubs by best party culture, then looked at their list retention problems, it wouldn't correlate very well. Brisbane, GWS and Gold Coast struggled for years, and they would probably be close to the top party boy places to live.

I dont think retention will be close to as big a problem as some might think.

In competitive landscapes vs other Australian sports they are.

Sanders is a poor example.

Harley Reid, JHF, Aaron Cadman or JUH might be better ones.

With respect to Siulepa, yeah someone like Harley Reid is a much bigger proposition with his media profile here.

The other point being Siulepa is going to be one and done. He’s going to be gone next year. He’s not signing up to Tasmania long term, it’s a one year deal under the Next Stars where he’s basically contracted to the NBL to progress to the NBA draft in 2025.

You are basically proving my point. Would he come for a 7-8 or 10+ year stint like you would need from an interstate top draft pick in the AFL? No.

 

[Boozeroo]

Isaac Heeney

5

Isaac Heeney

Age

28

Ht

185cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.2

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

7.7

5star

M

4.9

5star

T

4.1

5star

CL

2.2

4star

D

14.3

3star

K

8.8

4star

HB

5.5

3star

M

4.8

4star

T

2.5

3star

CL

0.8

3star

D

10.4

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.4

4star

CL

0.8

3star

owns a shack in the highlands, he goes fishing in every summer. Locals are aware, but keep it OTDL. Much like Geelong, there is plenty for young men to do in Tassie. You just have to find the Right ones.

 

[RHLK]

In 30 years time with 60m people & 36 AFL teams Tassy will be hella-buzzing.

The mainland will be a burning wasteland.

 

[DuckYeah]

**** you Tassie minnows.. Colby is a smart sub ball user and i’ll bet my bag that Colby and Tasmania are/will never have a player of Mckerchers calibre..: good luck Tasmania,

 

[The Dougster]

He can **** up every single list management decision from when he started til when he finishes but he'll be saved by the fact that he used the trade round 1 rules against other clubs to leverage in getting inarguably the two most vital players in our rebuild that have allowed the team to actually have an identity again.

Yep. The Snorkel struck gold there.

 

[giantroo]

View attachment 448763090_7952816331415776_4564077669642678333_n.mp4

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

View attachment 2028798

Like a Hawkeye out there.

 

[DrZaius]

Isaac Heeney owns a shack in the highlands, he goes fishing in every summer. Locals are aware, but keep it OTDL. Much like Geelong, there is plenty for young men to do in Tassie. You just have to find the Right ones.

Heeney is 28 though and has been on good coin for a decade at this point. Different prospect to a fresh 18 or 19 year old suddenly earning 6 figures right out of high school.

Not saying you won't find players that fit the bill but people are kidding themselves if they don't think there will be problems retaining the under 25's.

Anyway Colby straight back into the 1's this week and stays there for all eternity.

 

[Sphynx]

Still of the opinion he might be the best of the lot and everyone knows how much I rate GW and HS.

His pure ability to get the ball and then that game changing acceleration and pace is just a combo you almost never see.

He has pretty much everything other than body size and probably an overhead threat, I don't even think body size is a disadvantage as it adds to his agility in tight.

 

[bengrina]

Does he have the ability to kick on his right foot as well?

 

[the big lebowski]

Still of the opinion he might be the best of the lot and everyone knows how much I rate GW and HS.

His pure ability to get the ball and then that game changing acceleration and pace is just a combo you never see.

I don’t think he’s will be at the level of either of those two but I don’t dismiss the possibility. I do think he’s a little underrated though in the football world.

 

[My Left Foote]

Like a Hawkeye out there.