That right, but he'll always be a list clogger.
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AFLW 2024 - Round 10 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Player Watch #27 Thomson Dow Re-Signed until 2025
- Thread starter NaturalDisaster
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Hope the club gives him a 3 year contract to watch everyone melt.
All Aust
Avatar for ol' mate
- Oct 29, 2020
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Hope he gets specialised kick coaching. Hope that he kicks more in games and get really good at it. What's to loss really in 2024 while he learns? We get beaten by 90 instead of 65?
The upside is he learns to kick, laces out half a dozen from the guts and ball ups and puts smiles on the mugs of team mates.
The upside is he learns to kick, laces out half a dozen from the guts and ball ups and puts smiles on the mugs of team mates.
Noidnadroj
Norm Smith Medallist
- Dec 8, 2020
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In the last month he was in our best 3-4 players against Demons (22 touches and 8 tackles), and our best 3-4 against Lions in a shellacking.
He hasn’t yet played 30-games of footy, so his best football is definitely in front of him.
He will never be a star, but I believe he will be part of our midfield mix in future years. At the 27-game mark he’s certainly not tracking much worse than majority of midfielders.
Ben Hobbs is 183cm v Dow 184cm. Hobbs came into 2024 with 35 games under his belt, Dow 18. Hobbs was pick #13.
Dow v Hobbs 2024:
Disposals: 15.2 v 13.7
Goals: 0 v 1
Tackles: 2.3 v 3.3
I50’s : 1.6 v 2.6
GA: 0.5 v 0.6
CP: 7.5 v 5.0
Clangers: 1.6 v 2.3
SI: 3.9 v 2.8
Turnovers: 1.8 v 3.8
Clearances : 3.2 v 1.1
Metres: 133m v 209m
So is Hobbs under pressure to retain his list spot? If not, then why not, as he’s performing to an inferior level to Dow even though he has more experience. And he was pick #13…. Most in this forum scolded the club for bypassing Hobbs … most on here smashing Dow were probably in that boat of wanting Hobbs.
IMO given the current sh*t show at Tigerland, Dow is one of the few positives thus far in 2024, as if he continues on his current trajectory he might end up a very good player. If he stop any improvement he will not last beyond 2025. Not many players don’t improve significantly beyond game number 40, so Dow is tracking nicely.
His 5-years in the system is nowhere near as relevant as only having played 27 senior games.
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He hasn’t yet played 30-games of footy, so his best football is definitely in front of him.
He will never be a star, but I believe he will be part of our midfield mix in future years. At the 27-game mark he’s certainly not tracking much worse than majority of midfielders.
Ben Hobbs is 183cm v Dow 184cm. Hobbs came into 2024 with 35 games under his belt, Dow 18. Hobbs was pick #13.
Dow v Hobbs 2024:
Disposals: 15.2 v 13.7
Goals: 0 v 1
Tackles: 2.3 v 3.3
I50’s : 1.6 v 2.6
GA: 0.5 v 0.6
CP: 7.5 v 5.0
Clangers: 1.6 v 2.3
SI: 3.9 v 2.8
Turnovers: 1.8 v 3.8
Clearances : 3.2 v 1.1
Metres: 133m v 209m
So is Hobbs under pressure to retain his list spot? If not, then why not, as he’s performing to an inferior level to Dow even though he has more experience. And he was pick #13…. Most in this forum scolded the club for bypassing Hobbs … most on here smashing Dow were probably in that boat of wanting Hobbs.
IMO given the current sh*t show at Tigerland, Dow is one of the few positives thus far in 2024, as if he continues on his current trajectory he might end up a very good player. If he stop any improvement he will not last beyond 2025. Not many players don’t improve significantly beyond game number 40, so Dow is tracking nicely.
His 5-years in the system is nowhere near as relevant as only having played 27 senior games.
Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
I’m backing the kid. This experience will be the making of him. Can find the footy, good evasion and get ball to an outside runner. Bells and whistles will appear when the team performs a bit better.
- Apr 30, 2016
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Our team has been pathetic. Our forwards have hypothermia as it never gets in their and our defenders are getting crucified by how easily the ball has been coming in (due to no pressure from blokes like Dow) Mids are always in the best regardless as they spend the entire game following the ball.
This is a pointless comparison. Ben Hobbs is in only his 3rd year, Dow his 5th. Hobbs is in a team that's fully fit so Parish, Merritt etc are doing the Lions share of the work. Dow has had the entire season to show where he's at. He's done next to nothing when we had majority of our mids around him and he's done sfa when we've needed him to step up. Inside mids are supposed to be strong, he's Puny which highlights laziness to bulk up.
Ffs's 1st year, 3rd rounder Mcaulliffe is putting him to shame. Dow is neither strong, nor fast and his kicking is terrible. And his handballing average. He can play no other position and has kicked 1 pathetic goal in his career, never once playing in the backline. He wouldn't get a game in another team and should be 1st out when Hopper, Taranto and Ross are fit
Noidnadroj
Norm Smith Medallist
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Caleb Serong is third favourite for the Brownlow and he hasn’t kicked a goal in 2024. I think we should focus on the lack of goals from Martin, Bolton, Sonsie … basically the entire team given we haven’t hit 50 points in 4 weeks … but u focus on Dow .?!?!?
On the weekend he had 14 contested possessions. Next best on the ground was 11, Cam Rayner. Prestia had 6. McCauliffe had 5. Sonsie had 2. Martin had 1. Bolton had 9.
But I guess winning the ball in a contest isn’t relevant either?
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Our forwards are starved of opportunities as the delivery is beyond putrid. Besides Dusty and Bolton have a history of scoring and will score again. Old mate Dow who can't kick over a jam tin has kicked 1 solitary goal in 5 years. Stop watching the game through the App as stats are garbage and misleading, watch it with your eyes. Against the Dogs I was so bored and was quoting some stats to my Dad. Dow handballed it under no pressure to a team mates toes, got him crunched and got an effective stat.
Ask yourself this. If AFL was like supercoach or playstation: would you swap him out for other average limited comparable mids? Cos for mine he's barely depth. I would prefer keep prestia for another year or 2 and see Sonsie, Mcauliffe and Ross get Dows midfield opportunities.
Midfields are going to need to get deeper and deeper, virtually every top mid in the league is struggling to maintain consistent elite form across multiple successive seasons.
Almost none are able to maintain anything resembling truly elite disposal skills over similar time spans.
There's just too much power running in the game now for those things to be possible other than isolated examples, from flankers turned mids for brief blocks of games, or from young up and comers like Serong or Reid who aren't carrying all that shrapnel in the body yet.
On his current progress, Dow fits pretty comfortably into a deep future midfield. There's a lot he does and is doing right.
And when all is said and done, his flaws are very common among the players we'll be comparing him to both present and future.
Almost none are able to maintain anything resembling truly elite disposal skills over similar time spans.
There's just too much power running in the game now for those things to be possible other than isolated examples, from flankers turned mids for brief blocks of games, or from young up and comers like Serong or Reid who aren't carrying all that shrapnel in the body yet.
On his current progress, Dow fits pretty comfortably into a deep future midfield. There's a lot he does and is doing right.
And when all is said and done, his flaws are very common among the players we'll be comparing him to both present and future.
He was delistable 2 weeks ago too. some just don't fall in love with the slightest sign on hope in him
Kane MacAuliffe ... but don't take my word for it ...
Latitude Player of the Match: Round 10
Kane McAuliffe has been award the Latitude Player of the Match for Round 10.
My main lingering doubts with Dow are that:
- he doesn't move the ball forward often enough. Of AFL midfielders in season 2024 he ranks 163rd of 182 for average metres gained but every player ranked below him averages less disposals. Only a small handful average less metres gained per disposal. I am not sure you can win flags with guys doing that.
- his defence on transition I am yet to be convinced by.
I haven't written him off but I remain more bearish than bullish on Dow for now.
Go to school on Vossy or
- Aug 24, 2000
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He's fine at this stage.
Type of player who will improve with size and age.
Not every midfielder needs to be a great kick, but you do need to be elite at handball if you aren't.
Type of player who will improve with size and age.
Not every midfielder needs to be a great kick, but you do need to be elite at handball if you aren't.
Muddiemoose
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- Aug 24, 2017
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Think Prestia playing into some form has really helped as a few suspected having some experience around him has really been a great benefit
- Dec 18, 2005
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Another strong performance. But he’s not Gary Ablett. So he’s a Dud Dud Dud 
Masotiger
All Australian
3 aspects of the game:
1) We've got the ball - Dow 3/10 disposal very ordinary to say the least
2) They've got the ball - Dow 2/10 looks totally lost
3) The ball's in dispute - Dow 0/10 Weak as p!ss
Useless.
1) We've got the ball - Dow 3/10 disposal very ordinary to say the least
2) They've got the ball - Dow 2/10 looks totally lost
3) The ball's in dispute - Dow 0/10 Weak as p!ss
Useless.
HumanMeatball
Brownlow Medallist
still very early. Deserves a 2 year extension
- Apr 13, 2011
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That's not true at all, he puts his head over the ball and tackles OK for someone his age. He had one glaring missed tackle last night which turned into a goal for them as a result of a short turnover. To call him weak as piss is well off the mark
He is an average midfielder in an average midfield.
If you want to be an elite midfield, you need elite midfielders.
So as long as you have guys like Dow eating into your midfield rotation, you are going to be an average midfield/team.
His usefulness is basically he is the best we have atm. Fairly cold synopsis of his situation but its truthful
Club house leader for worst post of the year!
It was good he seemed to spend a lot of time on Merrett. Hopefully they show a him plenty of vision next week- focussing specifically on workrate / positioning.
I watched him carefully when he played VFL vs Southport earlier in the year and he was woeful - continually ball watching, unable to push defensively with the opposition mids surging forward and well outside at ball-ups and having zero impact. He has improved his attack on the pill and getting his hands on it. But it might simply be a fitness thing where he can't push contest to contest.
I can see enough for him to be re-signed. But that's a bit of the fact our list is dire atm.
I watched him carefully when he played VFL vs Southport earlier in the year and he was woeful - continually ball watching, unable to push defensively with the opposition mids surging forward and well outside at ball-ups and having zero impact. He has improved his attack on the pill and getting his hands on it. But it might simply be a fitness thing where he can't push contest to contest.
I can see enough for him to be re-signed. But that's a bit of the fact our list is dire atm.
There is no one on the list atm to replace him. So we play him until that moment.
When i say these comments, its not to say they shouldn't play etc - its just keeping the situation real which is - this is where we are at. Until we raise the bar higher we wont get better. Only way we will likely get the better players is by losing and getting more draft picks etc.
I would play Dow & Cumberland for example every week for the remainder of the year and just hope that some pennies drop and he figures out how to raise his ceiling. But as it stands, his ceiling is clearly well below the level you need to be a serious club
