AFL Player #31: Zach Reid

[Lore]

Contract Status: Out of contract 2025
My Boy Draft 2024: Pick 5, Happyskeret

 

[Yoda_]

I got half way through doing this and then got bored and gave up.. been sitting in my drafts.

I think there’s a pattern emerging though

All players listed at 200cm+ in the league atm (sorted by tallest)

Player Name	Age at debut	AFL games played before age 22
Mate Colina	-	-
Mason Cox	25y	0
Alex Mirkov	-	-
Lachlan McAndrew	-	-
Max Gawn	19y	26
Ned Reeves	22y	0
Jarrod Witts	20y	27
Rory Lobb	21y	2
Timothy English	19y	27
Samson Ryan	20y	1
Braydon Preuss	21y	4
Max Knobel	-	-
Henry Smith	-	-
Sam Darcy	19y	6 (so far)
Jordon Sweet	23y	0
Sam Hayes	22y	0
Ned Moyle	21y	2 (so far)
Toby Conway	-	-
Sam Draper	21y	8
Kalin Lane	-	-
Max Heath	-	-
Ivan Soldo	21y	7
Brynn Teakle	22y	0
Lachlan Keeffe	21y	8
Nick Madden	-	-
Jonathon Ceglar	22y	0
Sam De Koning	20y	24
Liam Reidy	-	-
Darcy Cameron	23y	0
Harry McKay	19y	35
Darcy Fort	25y	0
Oscar McInerney	23y	0
Kieran Strachan	24y	0
Cameron Owen	-	-
Scott Lycett	18y	21
Thomas Scully	-	-
Brodie Grundy	19y	43
Lloyd Meek	22y	0
Max Ramsden	20y	1 (so far)
Shannon Neale	19y	2 (so far)
Sean Darcy	19y	17
Peter Wright	18y	49
Nick Bryan	19y	6 (so far)
Darcy Moore	19y	47
Tom De Koning	19y	16
Eric Hipwood	18y	74
Reilly O'Brien	20y	2
Nicholas Naitanui	19y	60
Harry Barnett	-	-
Peter Ladhams	21y	5
Tom Hickey	20y	12
Max King	19y	53
Dante Visentini	-	-
Jacob Edwards	20y	5 (so far)
Hamish Free	-	-
Ben King	18y	53
Zach Reid	19y	8 (so far)
Marc Pittonet	19y
Hudson O'Keeffe
Harris Andrews
Riley Thilthorpe
Bailey Williams
Rowan Marshall
Tom Campbell
Kyle Marshall
Todd Goldstein
Ben McKay
Tristan Xerri
Josh Schache
Matthew Flynn
Kieren Briggs
Mac Andrew
Alex Pearce
Andrew Phillips
Billy Frampton
Oscar Steene
Lewis Young
Joe Daniher
Callum Jamieson
Harry Edwards
Charlie Dixon
Callum Coleman-Jones
Ben Brown
Max Lynch
Mabior Chol
Rhys Stanley
Nikolas Cox
Harry Lemmey
Tom Fullarton
Elliott Himmelberg

that tells me that the good early picks play... unless they are drafted to Essington

 

[Lore]

that tells me that the good early picks play... unless they are drafted to Essington

Okay…

Here is a list of 2020 draftees:

2020 AFL National Draft - Draftguru

www.draftguru.com.au

Who has played the most games?

How many games have the talls from early picks played?

Which ones were drafted by Essendon?

 

[yodellinhank]

I got half way through doing this and then got bored and gave up.. been sitting in my drafts.

I think there’s a pattern emerging though

All players listed at 200cm+ in the league atm (sorted by tallest)

Player Name	Age at debut	AFL games played before age 22
Mate Colina	-	-
Mason Cox	25y	0
Alex Mirkov	-	-
Lachlan McAndrew	-	-
Max Gawn	19y	26
Ned Reeves	22y	0
Jarrod Witts	20y	27
Rory Lobb	21y	2
Timothy English	19y	27
Samson Ryan	20y	1
Braydon Preuss	21y	4
Max Knobel	-	-
Henry Smith	-	-
Sam Darcy	19y	6 (so far)
Jordon Sweet	23y	0
Sam Hayes	22y	0
Ned Moyle	21y	2 (so far)
Toby Conway	-	-
Sam Draper	21y	8
Kalin Lane	-	-
Max Heath	-	-
Ivan Soldo	21y	7
Brynn Teakle	22y	0
Lachlan Keeffe	21y	8
Nick Madden	-	-
Jonathon Ceglar	22y	0
Sam De Koning	20y	24
Liam Reidy	-	-
Darcy Cameron	23y	0
Harry McKay	19y	35
Darcy Fort	25y	0
Oscar McInerney	23y	0
Kieran Strachan	24y	0
Cameron Owen	-	-
Scott Lycett	18y	21
Thomas Scully	-	-
Brodie Grundy	19y	43
Lloyd Meek	22y	0
Max Ramsden	20y	1 (so far)
Shannon Neale	19y	2 (so far)
Sean Darcy	19y	17
Peter Wright	18y	49
Nick Bryan	19y	6 (so far)
Darcy Moore	19y	47
Tom De Koning	19y	16
Eric Hipwood	18y	74
Reilly O'Brien	20y	2
Nicholas Naitanui	19y	60
Harry Barnett	-	-
Peter Ladhams	21y	5
Tom Hickey	20y	12
Max King	19y	53
Dante Visentini	-	-
Jacob Edwards	20y	5 (so far)
Hamish Free	-	-
Ben King	18y	53
Zach Reid	19y	8 (so far)
Marc Pittonet	19y
Hudson O'Keeffe
Harris Andrews
Riley Thilthorpe
Bailey Williams
Rowan Marshall
Tom Campbell
Kyle Marshall
Todd Goldstein
Ben McKay
Tristan Xerri
Josh Schache
Matthew Flynn
Kieren Briggs
Mac Andrew
Alex Pearce
Andrew Phillips
Billy Frampton
Oscar Steene
Lewis Young
Joe Daniher
Callum Jamieson
Harry Edwards
Charlie Dixon
Callum Coleman-Jones
Ben Brown
Max Lynch
Mabior Chol
Rhys Stanley
Nikolas Cox
Harry Lemmey
Tom Fullarton
Elliott Himmelberg

Once it's finished, can you put the VFL games played in too?

 

[dank420_]

Was referencing the Essendon curse has been around for 15 years.

What the **** is our sage burning specialist doing?

 

[ant555]

What the * is our sage burning specialist doing?

Sheedy let her go and she has not been replaced
I think we need this bloke.

 

[ant555]

Serious comment. Did we push him too early because he was a top 10 pick ? seems that we where over keen to play him in the last 2 seasons when we really should have been on a slow burn.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Serious comment. Did we push him too early because he was a top 10 pick ? seems that we where over keen to play him in the last 2 seasons when we really should have been on a slow burn.

Also serious comment - is playing AFL games more harmful to physical development than playing VFL games is?

 

[ant555]

Also serious comment - is playing AFL games more harmful to physical development than playing VFL games is?

Should have expanded it further. Not just AFL games. We are talking about a young bloke who needed physical development coming out of a year where he had limited games and training. My view is in his first year he should have played around 12 VFL games (maybe a couple late AFL games). In Reid's case it seems we where in a hurry to play him and show off our new toy. Would it have been better to just take the slower approach ?
AFL games can be worse for physcial development for a skinny bloke as you are generally playing against more stronger bodies than the VFL so you can get knocked around more but in Reid's case I was thinking more along the lines that we where overloading his preparation before he was ready.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Should have expanded it further. Not just AFL games. We are talking about a young bloke who needed physical development coming out of a year where he had limited games and training. My view is in his first year he should have played around 12 VFL games (maybe a couple late AFL games). In Reid's case it seems we where in a hurry to play him and show off our new toy. Would it have been better to just take the slower approach ?
AFL games can be worse for physcial development for a skinny bloke as you are generally playing against more stronger bodies than the VFL so you can get knocked around more but in Reid's case I was thinking more along the lines that we where overloading his preparation before he was ready.

What you’re saying makes sense but it’s so hard to know whether more games & rigorous prep in year one has impacted his injury reality since.

I don’t have evidence but my gut feel is no.. we could have kept him in cotton wool and then year two all the same injuries occur.

As footballers they want to play and learn so the club preps them to get on the park. Until injury derails it. In future we may say to talls in year one “your season starts in May and ends in August”, but it’s hard to imagine.

 

[ant555]

What you’re saying makes sense but it’s so hard to know whether more games & rigorous prep in year one has impacted his injury reality since.

I don’t have evidence but my gut feel is no.. we could have kept him in cotton wool and then year two all the same injuries occur.

As footballers they want to play and learn so the club preps them to get on the park. Until injury derails it. In future we may say to talls in year one “your season starts in May and ends in August”, but it’s hard to imagine.

Personally I think they break a lot of the bean pole KP players across the comp by working them too far too early. They are still growing and we are pushing them pretty hard. It is not about cotton wool but more about building their bodies at a rate they can cope with. It is not just us. Some can handle it but a lot do not.

 

[yodellinhank]

Not another power athlete on our hands?

 

[Lore]

Not another power athlete on our hands?

This one is an endurance athlete.. they break down a lot either way

 

[Pweter]

Extra curricular like additional shuttle runs and hill sprints …right?

And burpees, though they could've been a carry over from the boozing

 

[jannissary]

I got half way through doing this and then got bored and gave up.. been sitting in my drafts.

I think there’s a pattern emerging though

All players listed at 200cm+ in the league atm (sorted by tallest)

Player Name	Age at debut	AFL games played before age 22
Mate Colina	-	-
Mason Cox	25y	0
Alex Mirkov	-	-
Lachlan McAndrew	-	-
Max Gawn	19y	26
Ned Reeves	22y	0
Jarrod Witts	20y	27
Rory Lobb	21y	2
Timothy English	19y	27
Samson Ryan	20y	1
Braydon Preuss	21y	4
Max Knobel	-	-
Henry Smith	-	-
Sam Darcy	19y	6 (so far)
Jordon Sweet	23y	0
Sam Hayes	22y	0
Ned Moyle	21y	2 (so far)
Toby Conway	-	-
Sam Draper	21y	8
Kalin Lane	-	-
Max Heath	-	-
Ivan Soldo	21y	7
Brynn Teakle	22y	0
Lachlan Keeffe	21y	8
Nick Madden	-	-
Jonathon Ceglar	22y	0
Sam De Koning	20y	24
Liam Reidy	-	-
Darcy Cameron	23y	0
Harry McKay	19y	35
Darcy Fort	25y	0
Oscar McInerney	23y	0
Kieran Strachan	24y	0
Cameron Owen	-	-
Scott Lycett	18y	21
Thomas Scully	-	-
Brodie Grundy	19y	43
Lloyd Meek	22y	0
Max Ramsden	20y	1 (so far)
Shannon Neale	19y	2 (so far)
Sean Darcy	19y	17
Peter Wright	18y	49
Nick Bryan	19y	6 (so far)
Darcy Moore	19y	47
Tom De Koning	19y	16
Eric Hipwood	18y	74
Reilly O'Brien	20y	2
Nicholas Naitanui	19y	60
Harry Barnett	-	-
Peter Ladhams	21y	5
Tom Hickey	20y	12
Max King	19y	53
Dante Visentini	-	-
Jacob Edwards	20y	5 (so far)
Hamish Free	-	-
Ben King	18y	53
Zach Reid	19y	8 (so far)
Marc Pittonet	19y
Hudson O'Keeffe
Harris Andrews
Riley Thilthorpe
Bailey Williams
Rowan Marshall
Tom Campbell
Kyle Marshall
Todd Goldstein
Ben McKay
Tristan Xerri
Josh Schache
Matthew Flynn
Kieren Briggs
Mac Andrew
Alex Pearce
Andrew Phillips
Billy Frampton
Oscar Steene
Lewis Young
Joe Daniher
Callum Jamieson
Harry Edwards
Charlie Dixon
Callum Coleman-Jones
Ben Brown
Max Lynch
Mabior Chol
Rhys Stanley
Nikolas Cox
Harry Lemmey
Tom Fullarton
Elliott Himmelberg

generally speaking it takes a fair amount of time for taller players (doubly so if they're playing in the ruck) to get their body ready for AFL, harder conditions than TAC/U18. sam draper was on our list since like 2017 (i think) and he only debuted in the covid season. it's a shame that he's been injured a couple of times but his body should (hopefully) get better with a couple of preseasons under his belt.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

And once again Reid came through a pool that played no footy in ‘20 and faced restrictions in ‘21 VFL

 

[citizen-erased]

And once again Reid came through a pool that played no footy in ‘20 and faced restrictions in ‘21 VFL

Odriscoll would have been a nice bet hedge....also a quality pick.
Wasnt quite as impacted. In a little surprised we didnt look outside vic for at least one pick tbh.

 

[TheUnicorn]

wtf is a "Nicholas Naitanui"

 

[Lore]

wtf is a "Nicholas Naitanui"

It's what footywire calls him

 

[eth-dog]

Not listed. Must be dead.

 

[Lore]

Not listed. Must be dead.

10th of May + 6 weeks = ... Yesterday (technically). Wednesday 21st of June.

 

[eth-dog]

10th of May + 6 weeks = ... Yesterday (technically). Wednesday 21st of June.

Definitely dead.

 

[jannissary]

Definitely dead.

i’ll have a long neck in honour night of

 

[Hamez]

Off the injury list today and might be back on it tomorrow

 

[Zach Package]

He was only ever a test this week

 

[TheGrizz]

Off the injury list today and might be back on it tomorrow

Better this than him coming back and tearing it again.