Player Watch #35: Matt "The Swingman" Whitlock!!!!! - selected with Pick 27 in the 2024 ND - Welcome to North Melbourne Matty

[justroyal]

Alright. I’ll get blasted for saying it.
But the ****ing clapping, make it stop

 

[DuckYeah]

woah there, second year? How could anyone wait such a long time for a key forward to develop?

Whitlock is yearS away. You’re all delusional. Shiny new toys.

 

[Sillygit]

Whitlock is yearS away. You’re all delusional. Shiny new toys.

lol of ****ing course he's years away! He's a teenager, he's not even done growing yet.

Shiny new toys? You're bitching about not having instant gratification! A whole ass year before that could happen.

Based on something that hasn't even happened, that rarely does happen because every year the first round is 95% midfielders, and even of those forwards that go high 99% of them take at LEAST a couple years to get going.

Dellusion, thy name is you.

 

[DuckYeah]

lol of ****ing course he's years away! He's a teenager, he's not even done growing yet.

Shiny new toys? You're bitching about not having instant gratification! A whole ass year before that could happen.

Based on something that hasn't even happened, that rarely does happen because every year the first round is 95% midfielders, and even of those forwards that go high 99% of them take at LEAST a couple years to get going.

Dellusion, thy name is you.

Worst trade in modern history. No questions or doubts about it.

 

[Sillygit]

Worst trade in modern history. No questions or doubts about it.

Yea yea, can't refute what ive said so revert back to that, whatever.

 

[DuckYeah]

Yea yea, can't refute what ive said so revert back to that, whatever.

You brushed off Cadmans 30 goal 2nd year. Whitlock going to kick a goal a game by the end of his second year?

The answer is probably not, therefore, shit trade. Anyway.

He’s a kangaroo and all we have is hope

 

[Sillygit]

all we have is hope

no, you clearly don't

 

[koshari]

woah there, second year? How could anyone wait such a long time for a key forward to develop?

Ccj says hi

 

[DuckYeah]

no, you clearly don't

After the last 5 years, I have no idea how I keep putting up money for this club.

 

[King Corey]

After the last 5 years, I have no idea how I keep putting up money for this club.

That's how direct debit works.

 

[BlueandWhiteinmyBlood]

Disappointed to hear he was playing on Larkey. Hopefully just a personnel issue and or some education. I was personally hoping we drafted him as a key forward.

 

[Jasemon]

After the last 5 years, I have no idea how I keep putting up money for this club.

It’s called unrequited love…… or insanity

 

[DuckYeah]

It’s called unrequited love…… or insanity

Its an abusive relationship. The psychological abuse is addictive

 

[Jasemon]

Disappointed to hear he was playing on Larkey. Hopefully just a personnel issue and or some education. I was personally hoping we drafted him as a key forward.

Refers to thread title “Swingman”

Also the best education for a skinny 18 year old KPF would be going up against an experienced player like Larks. Let’s give young Matty a year or so to develop before we begin questioning where he fits into the scheme of things. From what I’ve seen in his highlights his contested marking is something he needs to work on so I reckon best suited to defence for now. Personally (based on nothing) I reckon he’s going to be a ripper.

 

[GS WARRIORS]

Refers to thread title “Swingman”

Also the best education for a skinny 18 year old KPF would be going up against an experienced player like Larks. Let’s give young Matty a year or so to develop before we begin questioning where he fits into the scheme of things. From what I’ve seen in his highlights his contested marking is something he needs to work on so I reckon best suited to defence for now. Personally (based on nothing) I reckon he’s going to be a ripper.

Horse sent his 2nd year at full back. And we know he won the Coleman while still being a teenage the following year. It was good for his development.

 

[The Talent Scout]

If whitlock plays more than 5 games i’ll be surprised.

Cadman kicked 30 in his second year.

Cadman is also a number #1 draft pick and while they are different in styles, remember Nick spent a fair bit of time in the reserves and he was kicking goals like eating chocolate, the point is, there's no pressure on him, he can develop in the two's, build his body up to where it can stand up to men and give him the best chance to succeed, whether he debuts next year or in 2026, it matters not, the three most important things are;

1/ We finally have our key forward after people wanting one in the last three years, its quite hard for some people to grasp but patience and confidence + development are the keys here, remember, whether or not if some of our supporters like him or are concerned about what pick he was and what we spent on him Will & Brady have very big wraps on him and thought enough of him that he may go around pick 12 mark.

Now what some people also forget is if he had of gone between say pick 10 and a little bit later, we would not have got him because no one wanted to trade and you have to remember the ones that may have were not giving back a early second rounder to us, the way the cards were dealt is absolutely fantastic for us and not only a positive for us because we got him at pick #27 but also got the deal we wanted, an early future second rounder back, its a huge win for us in more ways than one.

2/ We have all of our talent, now whether its in the seconds or seniors the youngsters are going to show things from time to time that make you think "holy sh*t", I'm mainly talking the first year players, we are at the stage of our team where players will get promoted on form like the old days, we haven't had the luxury of being able to do that for other reasons, now we are back on an even keel, the club knows what what was needed it has taken time, five years to be precise, now....

3/ Tristan Xerri and LDU, what do they have in common? In short, some supporters thought they weren't going to make it, lets take a look at Tristan shall we, SEVEN YEARS and bang, nearly All Australian this year, some people should go and have a look at his thread and see the amount of patience some people actually had, so not two years, not three years, seven.

Now that's not going to be for all players but it just goes to show that for some players it might take a little longer and some others it might be a lot quicker. LDU, well after the first several games unless you were blind freddy you knew he had it, but whether it was a stern talking to from a former Brownlow medalist or not driving his standards to a point where he can get the most out of himself and be the player that a lot of people know he can be. Luke and Christian Petracca are very much brothers in that they both have an insane amount of ability and that their clubs supporters had either written them off or that they weren't going to be THAT player, guess who was wrong?

 

[BrownPaperBag]

Yeh, Its etched in fate. This draft year was a fail of epic proportions.

Oh bullshit.

 

[DuckYeah]

Oh bullshit.

100% we wont know until the end of the 2025 season. But complete balls up. Its my opinion. You can have yours.

People will think I am having a crack at the kids. Im not. There was heaps of people sooking about my posts.

For every campaigner, THIS IS NOT ABOUT WHO WE DRAFTED. Its what we drafted and at what cost. Balls up.

 

[BrownPaperBag]

100% we wont know until the end of the 2025 season. But complete balls up. Its my opinion. You can have yours.

So it he turns into a gun in 2026 or later it’s a fail?

 

[DuckYeah]

Cadman is also a number #1 draft pick and while they are different in styles, remember Nick spent a fair bit of time in the reserves and he was kicking goals like eating chocolate, the point is, there's no pressure on him, he can develop in the two's, build his body up to where it can stand up to men and give him the best chance to succeed, whether he debuts next year or in 2026, it matters not, the three most important things are;

1/ We finally have our key forward after people wanting one in the last three years, its quite hard for some people to grasp but patience and confidence + development are the keys here, remember, whether or not if some of our supporters like him or are concerned about what pick he was and what we spent on him Will & Brady have very big wraps on him and thought enough of him that he may go around pick 12 mark.

Now what some people also forget is if he had of gone between say pick 10 and a little bit later, we would not have got him because no one wanted to trade and you have to remember the ones that may have were not giving back a early second rounder to us, the way the cards were dealt is absolutely fantastic for us and not only a positive for us because we got him at pick #27 but also got the deal we wanted, an early future second rounder back, its a huge win for us in more ways than one.

2/ We have all of our talent, now whether its in the seconds or seniors the youngsters are going to show things from time to time that make you think "holy sh*t", I'm mainly talking the first year players, we are at the stage of our team where players will get promoted on form like the old days, we haven't had the luxury of being able to do that for other reasons, now we are back on an even keel, the club knows what what was needed it has taken time, five years to be precise, now....

3/ Tristan Xerri and LDU, what do they have in common? In short, some supporters thought they weren't going to make it, lets take a look at Tristan shall we, SEVEN YEARS and bang, nearly All Australian this year, some people should go and have a look at his thread and see the amount of patience some people actually had, so not two years, not three years, seven.

Now that's not going to be for all players but it just goes to show that for some players it might take a little longer and some others it might be a lot quicker. LDU, well after the first several games unless you werte blind freddy you knew he had itm but whether it was a stern talking to from a former Brownlow medalist or not driving his standards to a point where he can get the most out of himself and be the player that a lot of people know he can be. Luke and Christian Petracca are very much brothers in that they both have an insane amount of ability and that their clubs supporters had either written them off or that they weren't going to be THAT player, guess who was wrong?

Come on mate. I didn’t come down in the last shower

 

[DuckYeah]

So it he turns into a gun in 2026 or later it’s a fail?

No, we’ll have a definitive understanding of what our future first looks like and the possible talent we missed out on. He could be a gun, he might be a gun, I hope he is a gun, I hope he can be the missing or the key pillar swing man. He is competitive.. he has heart. What else do we know? All reports had his brother ahead? We dont have great history when it comes to gambling picks. Call me a skeptic. I’ll believe it when I see it

 

[TurnoverMerchant]

No, we’ll have a definitive understanding of what our future first looks like and the possible talent we missed out on. He could be a gun, he might be a gun, I hope he is a gun, I hope he can be the missing or the key pillar swing man. He is competitive.. he has heart. What else do we know? All reports had his brother ahead? We dont have great history when it comes to gambling picks. Call me a skeptic. I’ll believe it when I see it

What you aren’t factoring in is how we won’t have a “definitive understanding” of anything until about 5-6 years from now when these young guys aren’t so young anymore and are capable of firing a shot. Yeah, everyone can have an opinion, but when that opinion is backed by 10% of what is known and 90% of what might happen, that’s when you will get criticised for having an opinion.

 

[shinboner magic]

Argh the positivity in here

 

[The Talent Scout]

Come on mate. I didn’t come down in the last shower

Um, are you sure.

I've got this feeling DuckYeah that on days like this,

you go outside and something like this happens!

 

[chubbspeterson]

He looks years away. Future first huh? If theres a bolter Cadman type next year we may rue that decision

Right now it's Duursma or Ludo that are the only one's to get fomo over. They've shown glimpses so far.
I personally think Matt is a bit more competitive than those two from what I've seen, but there's 12 months difference.
I don't think we need ruck/fwd's Duff Man or Emmett with Goady there.
We don't need midfielders either and there's no gun small forward that I can see either next year.