Player Watch #13 Hugo Ralphsmith - Signed Until 2026

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Hugo is exhibit A of why you retain players who have shown talent until they reach that 40-50 game mark. We see it time and time again where players might look like ‘busts’ until something clicks. For some Uber elite players it’s immediate, but for most players they really only start hitting their straps 30, 40-50 games onwards.

We’ve seen it this year with Miller, MRJ, Hugo and Mansell. They are all infinitely better players in 2024 than prior seasons, and they’ll
all be better again in 2025.

We saw it last year with Ross. We’ve seen it in prior years with Bolton, Baker and Balta.

So hopefully we get similar uplift from Sonsie, Young, Banks, Ryan, Brown, Campbell etc… as they break through that similar games barrier in 2025 leading in to 2026. Almost without exception players are better at 50-games than they were at 20-games, so no point delisting anyone who has shown talent and is young before they reach this 40-50 games milestone.

Our overall list and our youth is nowhere near as bad as it’s made out to be. I agree we need a couple more elite youngsters in the next couple of drafts, but I’m not of the opinion we need half a dozen.

2026 team:

B: Brown. Balta. Baker
HB: D Rioli. Gibcus. Miller
C: Hugo. Hopper. Ross
HF: draftee. Lefau. MRJ
F: Mansell. Kosi. Campbell
R: Nank. TT. McAuliffe
I/C: banks. Clarke. Tresize. Ryan. Draftee

E: Sonsie. Green. Blight. K Smith

*I’ve left off a few oldies like Lynch, Vlastuin, Graham and Short even though they’ll likely be around. And I’ve left Baker in there.

So even just a couple of elite draftees making their mark and the list is not in terrible shape. If we get 3-4 excellent players in the next 2 x drafts then we are very well set long-term. Add a FA and a quality trade and there’s no reason to be overly pessimistic IMO.

We just need to keep pumping games into the youngsters to get them to 40+ games ASAP.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 
Hugo is exhibit A of why you retain players who have shown talent until they reach that 40-50 game mark. We see it time and time again where players might look like ‘busts’ until something clicks. For some Uber elite players it’s immediate, but for most players they really only start hitting their straps 30, 40-50 games onwards.

We’ve seen it this year with Miller, MRJ, Hugo and Mansell. They are all infinitely better players in 2024 than prior seasons, and they’ll
all be better again in 2025.

We saw it last year with Ross. We’ve seen it in prior years with Bolton, Baker and Balta.

So hopefully we get similar uplift from Sonsie, Young, Banks, Ryan, Brown, Campbell etc… as they break through that similar games barrier in 2025 leading in to 2026. Almost without exception players are better at 50-games than they were at 20-games, so no point delisting anyone who has shown talent and is young before they reach this 40-50 games milestone.

Our overall list and our youth is nowhere near as bad as it’s made out to be. I agree we need a couple more elite youngsters in the next couple of drafts, but I’m not of the opinion we need half a dozen.

2026 team:

B: Brown. Balta. Baker
HB: D Rioli. Gibcus. Miller
C: Hugo. Hopper. Ross
HF: draftee. Lefau. MRJ
F: Mansell. Kosi. Campbell
R: Nank. TT. McAuliffe
I/C: banks. Clarke. Tresize. Ryan. Draftee

E: Sonsie. Green. Blight. K Smith

*I’ve left off a few oldies like Lynch, Vlastuin, Graham and Short even though they’ll likely be around. And I’ve left Baker in there.

So even just a couple of elite draftees making their mark and the list is not in terrible shape. If we get 3-4 excellent players in the next 2 x drafts then we are very well set long-term. Add a FA and a quality trade and there’s no reason to be overly pessimistic IMO.

We just need to keep pumping games into the youngsters to get them to 40+ games ASAP.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
The key words there is they must show talent early, but it’s still not a guarantee as a lot have still failed over history.
I think a lot of kids were stunted in development bc Dimma played his old favourites for too long and the kids lacked the opportunities . With all our injuries it was the only way HRS, Miller and friends got a go and I hope Yze wakes up that this is the path to take as old bastards aren’t taking him anywhere except to the coaches graveyard.
 
Use to be...in a 12 Team comp...you would see the better players perform/show summit straight away..
Now because the talent pool is stretched further to accommodate another added 6 teams with a 7th in two years...
It takes longer for the less talented players to show anything...50 games...these were the players previously discarded in a 12 Team Comp.
The way The Old Boys Club have set up the AFL Comp... Equalization/Draft picks/Club Academies/F+S...the talent pool is stretched really thin!
It pays for the Clubs to heavily invest in player development...and recruit assistant coaches wisely!
Long gone are the days when a Club could pick up the first two picks in the Draft and expect Ladder movement upwards on the way to success simply on the strength of those two early draft picks!
Would like to see the Comp's playing lists further expanded and have those added players playing in other leagues awaiting callup..
 
The key words there is they must show talent early, but it’s still not a guarantee as a lot have still failed over history.
I think a lot of kids were stunted in development bc Dimma played his old favourites for too long and the kids lacked the opportunities . With all our injuries it was the only way HRS, Miller and friends got a go and I hope Yze wakes up that this is the path to take as old bastards aren’t taking him anywhere except to the coaches graveyard.
I think a key word missing to us "Coachable." I look at guys like Miller and Mansell who we would all have rated as just okay, same with Ralphsmith, but as are now seeing them contribute and I think part of that comes down to just listening to instructions from the coaching team and playing their role. Stack had more talent than all of them combined but I suspect wasn't coachable the same way the three mentioned are.
 

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I think a key word missing to us "Coachable." I look at guys like Miller and Mansell who we would all have rated as just okay, same with Ralphsmith, but as are now seeing them contribute and I think part of that comes down to just listening to instructions from the coaching team and playing their role. Stack had more talent than all of them combined but I suspect wasn't coachable the same way the three mentioned are.
Of course, but it still doesn't guarantee success. The Silky Butterfly was a lovely and COACHABLE lad, but still a useless footballer.
 
Use to be...in a 12 Team comp...you would see the better players perform/show summit straight away..
Now because the talent pool is stretched further to accommodate another added 6 teams with a 7th in two years...
It takes longer for the less talented players to show anything...50 games...these were the players previously discarded in a 12 Team Comp.
The way The Old Boys Club have set up the AFL Comp... Equalization/Draft picks/Club Academies/F+S...the talent pool is stretched really thin!
It pays for the Clubs to heavily invest in player development...and recruit assistant coaches wisely!
Long gone are the days when a Club could pick up the first two picks in the Draft and expect Ladder movement upwards on the way to success simply on the strength of those two early draft picks!
Would like to see the Comp's playing lists further expanded and have those added players playing in other leagues awaiting callup..
Great post. It’s easy to forget some of these kids get taken late in drafts and are just not ready for AFL football yet, but the club obviously sees something we don’t. Fans are impatient and want to see their team win every game. When we see a player play a shit game we write them off completely. Not everyone is going to make it but Hugo is a great example of persistence for both him and the club.
 
Great post. It’s easy to forget some of these kids get taken late in drafts and are just not ready for AFL football yet, but the club obviously sees something we don’t. Fans are impatient and want to see their team win every game. When we see a player play a shit game we write them off completely. Not everyone is going to make it but Hugo is a great example of persistence for both him and the club.
Maybe we could be a little more patient with a few other players that get hammered on these forums, our Premiership teams were full of players that didn't look like they would make it, Nek minnit :trophy::trophy::trophy:
 
The key words there is they must show talent early, but it’s still not a guarantee as a lot have still failed over history.
I think a lot of kids were stunted in development bc Dimma played his old favourites for too long and the kids lacked the opportunities . With all our injuries it was the only way HRS, Miller and friends got a go and I hope Yze wakes up that this is the path to take as old bastards aren’t taking him anywhere except to the coaches graveyard.
Lets not forget the young kids missed a lot of football and contact with the senior players over the covid years as well.
 
I avoid the covid logic bc it's equal for all clubs, but yeah maybe.
Well I only mention it as we were also picking at the lower end of the draft back then, so Id be giving some of the kids a little longer than usual to fully develop.

The WA kids didn't quite have the same issues really as although we were locked in the state over here, they could go out and train and be involved with the senior players unlike the ridiculous situation in Victoria where you couldn't leave home.
 
Well I only mention it as we were also picking at the lower end of the draft back then, so Id be giving some of the kids a little longer than usual to fully develop.

The WA kids didn't quite have the same issues really as although we were locked in the state over here, they could go out and train and be involved with the senior players unlike the ridiculous situation in Victoria where you couldn't leave home.
I would actually be interested in statistical evidence based on success / failure rates of drafted players during covid v non covid. ATM it's all anecdotal and it would be interesting if someone has done a study of it.
 

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Player Watch #13 Hugo Ralphsmith - Signed Until 2026

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