Player Watch #29: Will Phillips - tags N.Daicos vs Collingwood - subbed off at 3/4 time??

[Passmore]

No ones thinking that. Its the selections standards that are a joke

I’m not prepared to question the integrity of Ratten/Clarkson just yet.

 

[ferball]

Yep and Cunners was in/out of the side quite a bit early on as I recall until he came on with a rush.

I really think Will will follow a similar trajectory.

Yeah i reckon you're right. Will has played less than 30 games. definitely needs to work on his delivery especially inside 50 and that was something he was doing well earlier. Won't hurt him to work on it in the VFL.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Doesn’t have great acceleration

Isn’t overly clean.

Isn’t dynamic.

Isn’t strong.

Doesn’t kick the ball over 40m.

Handballing over short distance is very hit and miss.

Struggles to cover the ground.

Huge amount of work to do.

 

[Passmore]

Doesn’t have great acceleration

Isn’t overly clean.

Isn’t dynamic.

Isn’t strong.

Doesn’t kick the ball over 40m.

Handballing over short distance is very hit and miss.

Struggles to cover the ground.

Huge amount of work to do.

But apart from that, looking good?

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

But apart from that, looking good?

Yep. On track.

 

[The Nostradamus]

Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

31

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

is the type of player he needs to be aiming to be

Bottom line as mentioned earlier we need to be pumping games into him in the seniors. His form was good and last week was a little down but still enough to warrant playing

 

[Engimal v3]

Looks awfully short and stout for a bloke who is 5'10" lol

 

[hurricane]

No ones thinking that. Its the selections standards that are a joke

Or maybe, just maybe, selection policies during a rebuild are a little more nuanced than the nice, black & white standards argument that we all get so worked up over on BigFooty.

 

[joegreen]

Nothing new here, been stated numerous times by others but anyway... Improvement is not linear, everyone develops at different rates. He has had interrupted seasons and pre-seasons. For most people it literally takes years to develop the fitness to perform at an elite level. And that's with no interruptions, given the issues he has face he will not reach anywhere near his best for another 2 to 3 years. And that's with no more major setbacks.

Then there is the mental side, such a confidence game. You must truly believe you belong - this I think many people don't understand. So many players project strength but they are full of self-doubt... (I mean even Archer threw up before every game he got so nervous and thought he was an average player!) Will has already said he sees a psychologist and recognises the importance of being in the right space mentally and emotionally. If anything he tries too hard.

FWIW I think he will go on to be a very good player. I believe in him.

 

[year of the roo]

Greenwood over Philips, McDonald over Young, Corr over Bonar/Archer. It's almost like we are choosing the better player and trying to win. The horror!

 

[year of the roo]

Noone to replace McDonald and Corr?
What did we do when Corr was suspended?
What did we do when McKay was unavailable R1-4?

They were replaced with inferior players and we went worse. Might be easier if you said you are happy for us to tank and have no interest in us winning this week.

 

[Twangler]

Greenwood over Philips, McDonald over Young, Corr over Bonar/Archer. It's almost like we are choosing the better player and trying to win. The horror!

Greenwood/Phillips is a bit of a line ball call over who is currently the better player. Given where we are at, it makes sense to me to give the nod to the younger player unless it is somehow better for Will’s development to be in the vfl.

I don’t agree that on current form McDonald is better than Young or even Perez. Bonar is injured and Archer isn’t a KPP he is unlikely to be vying for the same spot as Corr.

 

[year of the roo]

Greenwood/Phillips is a bit of a line ball call over who is currently the better player. Given where we are at, it makes sense to me to give the nod to the younger player unless it is somehow better for Will’s development to be in the vfl.

I don’t agree that on current form McDonald is better than Young or even Perez. Bonar is injured and Archer isn’t a KPP he is unlikely to be vying for the same spot as Corr.

You can disagree all you like. Corr isn't a KPP.

 

[hellas_johnny]

3 weeks ago he was the 2nd coming and people were obsessing. He's young in only his 3rd season with which is really only his 2nd. Look at cunningtons development. He'll be fine

 

[pupstar]

I’m not prepared to question the integrity of Ratten/Clarkson just yet.

I totally disagree with droping Phillips but you are dead right i am also not prepared to question thier integrity just yet either. They are both great football brains and would know exactly what they are doing.

 

[Themanbun]

I’m not prepared to question the integrity of Ratten/Clarkson just yet.

I love em both and will back them in. But they're not infallible. JPK is an example of that.

 

[My Left Foote]

21 years old and has played the grand total of 27 games and people want to write him off and / or call him a sh*tman. Far too soon to be making those calls. He's improved in all areas this season except for marks, cut the kid some slack.

 

[Souup]

Doesn’t have great acceleration - wrong

Isn’t overly clean - wrong

Isn’t dynamic - depends what you mean by dynamic

Isn’t strong - he's only just turned 21 and has never had a full preseason to be given an uninterrupted at building strength or running capacity, shock horror

Doesn’t kick the ball over 40m. - this is an exaggeration, but i'm always baffled at kicking distance being a significant issue some fans seem to have with players

Handballing over short distance is very hit and miss - wrong

Struggles to cover the ground - wrong

Huge amount of work to do.

This is an objectively horrible post. You've somehow managed to list some of his greatest strengths as weaknesses.

He's been inconsistent this year and probably rightfully dropped after his performance over the weekend. However, his best games this year were bloody impressive and a snapshot of what he'll show consistently once he gets a chance at a pre-season or two.

I'm not concerned at all and find the overreactions comical.

 

[tazaa]

I’m not prepared to question the integrity of Ratten/Clarkson just yet.

Its a shit situation we find ourselves in. Clarko would no way let Ratten be the fall guy for dropping McDonald. Would have been a major call.

As Ive said numerous times, Clarko had no issues dropping Goldi and Cunnington when he was coach and he if he were still at the club I have no doubts McDonald would have been dropped weeks go.

 

[Del191229]

He's very dedicated and a quick learner, so if they send him to the 2s to work on something, he does it and is back.

Its not like we're playing finals this year, we can bounce him in between the 1s and 2s as he improves his game.

Its all about 2025 onwards. Expect next year to be similar to this year, albeit hopefully with more wins.

 

[DesertRoo]

Some players are worth more than 3hrs on the weekend, WiPi is that guy, he has character and leadership in spades.
He is going to go back to the reserves not sulk and give it his all.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

This is an objectively horrible post. You've somehow managed to list some of his greatest strengths as weaknesses.

He's been inconsistent this year and probably rightfully dropped after his performance over the weekend. However, his best games this year were bloody impressive and a snapshot of what he'll show once he gets a chance at a pre-season or two.

I'm not concerned at all and find the overreactions comical.

You see it differently, cool. His cleanliness is greatly overstated. He fumbles as much as Curtis Taylor. Gets knocked off the footy easily.

I think he’s been thoroughly unimpressive on what he’s shown so far as a supposed can’t miss prospect.

Compare him with Wardlaw who’s deadset flown past him so fast it’s given him windburn and it’s no contest.

Phillips does a lot of team oriented things which is great, but with the ball he’s completely inert.

 

[ferball]

You see it differently, cool. His cleanliness is greatly overstated. He fumbles as much as Curtis Taylor. Gets knocked off the footy easily.

I think he’s been thoroughly unimpressive on what he’s shown so far as a supposed can’t miss prospect.

Compare him with Wardlaw who’s deadset flown past him so fast it’s given him windburn and it’s no contest.

Phillips does a lot of team oriented things which is great, but with the ball he’s completely inert.

I think he sees it with his eyes instead of his preconceptions.

 

[Souup]

You see it differently, cool. His cleanliness is greatly overstated. He fumbles as much as Curtis Taylor. Gets knocked off the footy easily.

I think he’s been thoroughly unimpressive on what he’s shown so far as a supposed can’t miss prospect.

Compare him with Wardlaw who’s deadset flown past him so fast it’s given him windburn and it’s no contest.

Phillips does a lot of team oriented things which is great, but with the ball he’s completely inert.

Wardlaw has deadset flown past him because he's a better prospect and always was - the comparison is unfair and lacking in any form of nuance. Imagine Wardlaw and Cunnington were coming through the system at the same time - Wardlaw would have deadset flown past Cunners and you'd presumably be hinting at Cunners being a bust? Not every player that comes into the comp comes in at the same point, let alone what has happened to Will since we drafted him.

Phillips didn't have an 18th year due to Covid, needed his own version of what Wardlaw had of a body recomp when he came into the AFL, and then battled glandular fever which ruled out last year. He's shown his value in that 3-week block which should buoy North fans hopes about what he will become when he builds a fitness base and gets a pre-season in. Instead, the negativity is at an all-time high.

Out of interest - which player would you suggest we should have taken over him? Logan McDonald has been useless, DGB hasn't been able to get a game. Elijah Hollands can't get a game. We wouldn't have had the chance at grabbing Braeden Campbell but even he struggled to show much until this year. Most of the players from that draft have been underwhelming or not shown much until this year.

For those that went before Phillips you have similar stories - you have Thilthorpe who again, has only shown flashes similar to Phillips, and JUH who has only this year has started to step up and copped a lot of unfair criticism in his first couple of seasons.

 

[Twangler]

You see it differently, cool. His cleanliness is greatly overstated. He fumbles as much as Curtis Taylor. Gets knocked off the footy easily.

I think he’s been thoroughly unimpressive on what he’s shown so far as a supposed can’t miss prospect.

Compare him with Wardlaw who’s deadset flown past him so fast it’s given him windburn and it’s no contest.

Phillips does a lot of team oriented things which is great, but with the ball he’s completely inert.

Definitely an underwhelming few weeks. Biggest issue at the moment for me is consistency game to game - which was apparently a strength of his at junior level. In the games he’s played well, he has been clean at ground level and with the ball and great at getting from contest to contest. It’s typical of a young player to have up and down weeks right? I still think he’s a pretty sure bet overall.