Delisted #11: Will "Meatball" Snelling - Delisted 25/10

[Lore]

Contract Status: Unrestricted Free Agent 2023 (previously delisted)
My Boy Draft 2023: Claim here

 

[fairbump_playon]

Id like us to try and limit it to just 1 of Snelling/Guelfi fighting for the same spot

Then if were battling id like to prioritse games into a Davey/Menzie whether thats for one of them or Tippa in the back half

Hobbs im playing for 20 games this year if fit but mainly as an onballer. Hes a better midfielder right now then say a Perkins is, but Perkins maybe with the greater ceiling

I don’t have a read on Perkins yet. Really can’t tell where he will be in 3 years. I’m not seeing a very natural midfielder but he does have some outstanding physical attributes so maybe he will get there. To be honest I just see him gradually being more effective as the high half forward he already is, rather than turning into a Petracca. Maybe more a Zaharakis with extra grunt and marking power and less ability to accumulate. Happy to be wrong.

Hobbs however has bona fide star quality and will be one of the comps best players in 2 years time. I see Caldwell as being on nearly that same track.

Also re Snelling / Guelfi / Menzie / Davey.. out of those 4 Menzie is the only genuine small forward. Davey is more in the camp with Snelling and Guelfi as a mid / forward. He’s not a massive goal kicker.

Even tho he’s the most versatile utility type, I would have Guelfi as the second most effective small forward in that list. He can mark it, he kicks crumber’s goals, his pressure is pretty good. Took some big steps this year.

 

[The Devils Advocate]

I don’t have a read on Perkins yet. Really can’t tell where he will be in 3 years. I’m not seeing a very natural midfielder but he does have some outstanding physical attributes so maybe he will get there. To be honest I just see him gradually being more effective as the high half forward he already is, rather than turning into a Petracca.

The thing that REALLY stands out for me, is his ability to get himself free to release a well timed handball or kick when being put under physical pressure.
That in itself is a rare trait. Jobe, Gaz Jr, Simon Black and Selwood all had this ability. I can never tell if it's core strength combined with some calmness, or just being slippery.
I used to think "he's gone here" when he was about to be tackled, but quite often he offloads it to somebody in space because of the pressure he has taken off them.

 

[andleanback]

Guelfi wasn’t playing the Snelling role this year

Id like us to try and limit it to just 1 of Snelling/Guelfi fighting for the same spot

Then if were battling id like to prioritse games into a Davey/Menzie whether thats for one of them or Tippa in the back half

Hobbs im playing for 20 games this year if fit but mainly as an onballer. Hes a better midfielder right now then say a Perkins is, but Perkins maybe with the greater ceiling

they don’t play the same role though. Guelfi plays a pressure forward, Snelling plays as a cover mid.

 

[Keystone agony]

I don’t have a read on Perkins yet. Really can’t tell where he will be in 3 years. I’m not seeing a very natural midfielder but he does have some outstanding physical attributes so maybe he will get there. To be honest I just see him gradually being more effective as the high half forward he already is, rather than turning into a Petracca. Maybe more a Zaharakis with extra grunt and marking power and less ability to accumulate. Happy to be wrong.

Hobbs however has bona fide star quality and will be one of the comps best players in 2 years time. I see Caldwell as being on nearly that same track.

Also re Snelling / Guelfi / Menzie / Davey.. out of those 4 Menzie is the only genuine small forward. Davey is more in the camp with Snelling and Guelfi as a mid / forward. He’s not a massive goal kicker.

Even tho he’s the most versatile utility type, I would have Guelfi as the second most effective small forward in that list. He can mark it, he kicks crumber’s goals, his pressure is pretty good. Took some big steps this year.

Your spot on with everything there

I hope Hobbs and Caldwell are 2 of the best players in the comp in 2 years time. Not quite sure im fully there with that high mark and optimism although im a big Hobbs fan

Re; Davey he seemed to kick quite a few goals in school footy. This year i assume he spent played more time as a midfielder in the NAB

At AFL level i think he could play plenty of football as a small forward who no doubt gets up the ground. I cant see why he cant become a 20 goal kicker who sets up plenty more, who also applies good pressure inside 50

I havnt seen it much with Perkins yet either. Thought he looked his absolute best during PS this year and i thought we might have a star on our hands. His aim maybe needs to be a 20 disp/1 goal avg player which is nothing to sneeze out. He did kick 16 goals. Dont think hes ever going to be a 70% CBA guy. More a max 50%

 

[Keystone agony]

Guelfi wasn’t playing the Snelling role this year

they don’t play the same role though. Guelfi plays a pressure forward, Snelling plays as a cover mid.

Maybe not identical role

But my point still stands. We have guys that are better than both in there roles

Guelfi picked ahead of Snelling based on last year

Dont want too many guys who are limited

I dont have Snelling best 22

Plus we havnt seen roles when all Caldwell, Tippa are fit and Guelfi is playing the footy he did in 2022

Caldwell and Perk the better high fwds

 

[andleanback]

Maybe not identical role

But my point still stands. We have guys that are better than both in there roles

Guelfi picked ahead of Snelling based on last year

Dont want too many guys who are limited

I dont have Snelling best 22

Plus we havnt seen roles when all Caldwell, Tippa are fit and Guelfi is playing the footy he did in 2022

Caldwell and Perk the better high fwds

Who is better than Snelling (when fit) in his role. It’s literally a sacrificial role aswell. Caldwell is a ball chaser or shut down player, totally different role. Perkins is a forward half difference maker, again different role. It’s easier to say oh player x can go into that role, but they might not necessarily be suited to it. Not many want to run 15km and play defensive at stoppage and not hunt the ball.

 

[Keystone agony]

Who is better than Snelling (when fit) in his role. It’s literally a sacrificial role aswell. Caldwell is a ball chaser or shut down player, totally different role. Perkins is a forward half difference maker, again different role. It’s easier to say oh player x can go into that role, but they might not necessarily be suited to it. Not many want to run 15km and play defensive at stoppage and not hunt the ball.

If players dont want to do what theyre told to do then id hazard a guess that is the major issue here

They can sit out if the case

Where does it say Snelling runs 15km a game and what other players do?

For me Snellings best part and main part of his game is his elite pressure, i think Guelfi is on the way to getting to that sortve best level Snellings shown

Take both of that out then you might start to struggle to keep ball i50. Tippas return helps in this area

1 of Hobbs, Caldwell, Perkins should be swapping with Stringer as he comes forward out of the CBA then another should be attending stoppages over Snelling imo

 

[ant555]

If players dont want to do what theyre told to do then id hazard a guess that is the major issue here

They can sit out if the case

Where does it say Snelling runs 15km a game and what other players do?

For me Snellings best part and main part of his game is his elite pressure, i think Guelfi is on the way to getting to that sortve best level Snellings shown

Take both of that out then you might start to struggle to keep ball i50. Tippas return helps in this area

1 of Hobbs, Caldwell, Perkins should be swapping with Stringer as he comes forward out of the CBA then another should be attending stoppages over Snelling imo

Have not looked up the full stats but this was on the AFL website for 2021.

Top-five most distance covered per game in 2021

Dyson Heppell, 14.80km
Will Snelling, 14.45km
Nick Hind, 13.59km
Zach Merrett, 13.49km
Harrison Jones, 13.47km

Top-five most distance covered in a game in 2021

Dyson Heppell, R8 v GWS, 15.88km
Harrison Jones, R14 v Haw, 15.85km
Dyson Heppell, R11 v WC, 15.84km
Will Snelling, R7 v Carl, 15.81km
Dyson Heppell, R19 v GWS, 15.76km

Marathon men: Telstra Tracker reveals your club's running machines

Who's racking up the most miles for your team? We delve into the Telstra Tracker data to find out

www.afl.com.au

Side note. Harry Jones impressive that year.

 

[andleanback]

If players dont want to do what theyre told to do then id hazard a guess that is the major issue here

They can sit out if the case

Where does it say Snelling runs 15km a game and what other players do?

For me Snellings best part and main part of his game is his elite pressure, i think Guelfi is on the way to getting to that sortve best level Snellings shown

Take both of that out then you might start to struggle to keep ball i50. Tippas return helps in this area

1 of Hobbs, Caldwell, Perkins should be swapping with Stringer as he comes forward out of the CBA then another should be attending stoppages over Snelling imo

Snelling is regularly covers the most ground for essendon, some games by at least a km. It’s not doing wha their told but do you really want a player of caldwells or Perkins ability playing that role, no. Caldwell has the ability to be our best inside mid and Perkins is almost the most talented guy on our list, you don’t want them playing the role imo.

 

[Bjchan13]

Snelling is regularly covers the most ground for essendon, some games by at least a km. It’s not doing wha their told but do you really want a player of caldwells or Perkins ability playing that role, no. Caldwell has the ability to be our best inside mid and Perkins is almost the most talented guy on our list, you don’t want them playing the role imo.

Could the cover role that Snelling plays be made obsolete if everyone in our midfield pulls their weight defensively? He was playing the Lambert role except he was covering for lazy mids rather than covering for a superstar like Dusty.

 

[Keystone agony]

Snelling is regularly covers the most ground for essendon, some games by at least a km. It’s not doing wha their told but do you really want a player of caldwells or Perkins ability playing that role, no. Caldwell has the ability to be our best inside mid and Perkins is almost the most talented guy on our list, you don’t want them playing the role imo.

I guess it depends on how Scott wants to play

No doubt we tried to play like Richmond a bit with Stringer as Dusty and Snelling in the Lambert/Graham role

Not every club plays like that and Scott will have his own way

We havnt seen alot of Guelfi, Tippa, Snelling, Caldwell fit and available all at the same time. Caldwell im not sure whether he can or cant cover the 14kms a game, its hard to tell where hes at endurance wise these days. He was very good testing wise in his draft year though.

For me Tippa replaces Guelfi and Guelfi is picked over Snelling based on year gone

Caldwell and Hobbs for me are better at the stoppage than a Snelling is. Snelling is a determined guy works hard, i think Guelfi can do that to enough of a level where he also provides more in other areas

Someone has to miss out. Snelling it is for me

Langford - Shiel - N.Martin (Durham)
Draper - Zerrett - Parish (Hobbs)

Perkins - HJ - Caldwell
Tippa - 2MP - Stringer (Weideman)

Weideman, Perkins, Durham the guys who can be replaced by Snelling/Guelfi/Setterfield in this scenario

For me its more about being different players. Rather than different roles with this. Perkins for example certainly has the ability to cover ~14kms in a game

 

[andleanback]

Could the cover role that Snelling plays be made obsolete if everyone in our midfield pulls their weight defensively? He was playing the Lambert role except he was covering for lazy mids rather than covering for a superstar like Dusty.

Yeah that’s definitely a chance of happening. Considering Scott will want to bring in his own method. His role was a lot of the time to cover for stringer in 2021, who was playing the dusty role, and if he wasn’t on the field he’d just roll up as another defensive player at stoppage.

 

[Nugget 83]

 

[eth-dog]

Feel like he's on the chopping block at this stage. Guelfi has overtaken him in a similar role.

 

[citizen-erased]

Feel like he's on the chopping block at this stage. Guelfi has overtaken him in a similar role.

Menzie and davey also ahead in the small fwd role.

 

[Yoda_]

Could have used his link up play from HF last night. The smalls were horrid and showed with Wilkie taking a dozen intercept marks alone

 

[Lore]

Will Snelling​

19 disposals, 10 tackles, two marks

"Will worked hard all game as a forward with a couple of stints in the midfield after half time, pressure and tackling stood out."

VFL player review: Rd 2 v Sandringham

Nine AFL-listed players played in Sunday's matchup with Sandringham.

www.essendonfc.com.au

 

[MattyB3150]

Could have used his link up play from HF last night. The smalls were horrid and showed with Wilkie taking a dozen intercept marks alone

I agree. After watching stkilda apply pressure first hand it shows how desperately we need players like Snelling in our team.

 

[FlyingV]

Bring him in. 2021 when we were playing out best footy we had snell and Tippa causing havoc in the front half when the ball hit the deck

 

[frodos gardener]

Bring him in. 2021 when we were playing out best footy we had snell and Tippa causing havoc in the front half when the ball hit the deck

He really struggled to impact after returning from injury last year. I was kind of surprised he didn’t build back into form. Hopefully he can get back to that.

 

[FlyingV]

He really struggled to impact after returning from injury last year. I was kind of surprised he didn’t build back into form. Hopefully he can get back to that.

I think he’s really reliant on his athleticism. He’s actually a phenomenal athlete, and last year the injuries cooked him. Without that athleticism he can’t differentiate himself.

 

[Lore]

Will Snelling​

28 disposals, nine tackles, two goals

'Snell' had an excellent game. As a forward, he had a quarter on ball to free him up from a tag, but he had a great mix between contested and uncontested. He used the ball really well and played an AFL-like game in the VFL, so we’re really happy with his performance.

VFL player review: Rd 3 v Northern Bullants

12 AFL-listed players featured in Sunday's matchup with the Bullants.

www.essendonfc.com.au

 

[jmoo wan]

VFL player review: Rd 3 v Northern Bullants

12 AFL-listed players featured in Sunday's matchup with the Bullants.

www.essendonfc.com.au

this doesn’t make sense to me:
“as a forward, he had a quarter on the ball to free him from a tag”

so he was tagged as a forward?

isn’t that just his defender playing defence?

 

[faible]

this doesn’t make sense to me:
“as a forward, he had a quarter on the ball to free him from a tag”

so he was tagged as a forward?

isn’t that just his defender playing defence?

Seems backwards to me, as a midfielder he had a quarter playing forward would make more sense. The parts I saw of the game he was in the midfield.

 

[jmoo wan]

Seems backwards to me, as a midfielder he had a quarter playing forward would make more sense. The parts I saw of the game he was in the midfield.

ah yes - that would make a lot more sense!

Lore - can you please correct your post