Player Watch #44: Cameron Zurhaar - has re-signed until the end of 2029 - finishes 6th in the 24' SBM

[King Corey]

Oh stop it youse lot, negative nellies, he has every right to want to see improvement.

How many wins has he played in, since when was he ever a CHF.

Now yes my fav player and yes I'm attempting to get an invite to a dinner he would attend, and no I aint paying it would be a privilege for Cam to be in my company But that's for another day.
I don't think we can lose in this situation, so just relax.
And I highly doubt he goes, unless we want him to as the compo is to good to refuse.

Nah **** him TAO.

The club was built from players who stuck fat through tough times with no assurance of success.

If he/his management really did give off the vibe that we need to prove something to him, then FRO.

And I say that as one of his biggest fans on here.

 

[ferball]

Nah **** him TAO.

The club was built from players who stuck fat through tough times with no assurance of success.

If he/his management really did give off the vibe that we need to prove something to him, then FRO.

And I say that as one of his biggest fans on here.

Isn't this all based on one comment he allegedly made at the start of the year, a time when he was saying he thought we could play finals (something that seems reasonable now given our recent performances,) and in the context that perhaps all he wanted to see was something that gave him the hope that spending his entire career at North wouldn't be a waste?

 

[Sphynx]

Nah **** him TAO.

The club was built from players who stuck fat through tough times with no assurance of success.

If he/his management really did give off the vibe that we need to prove something to him, then FRO.

And I say that as one of his biggest fans on here.

Yep.

Fair enough if that is his thought process, it's a reasonable one not to want to play in a wooden spoon side for the bulk of your career. You only have one.

I actually have no problems with him wanting to seek success, I will have no ill will really if he leaves on the right terms. He's paid his dues to a degree, that's what the Free Agency criteria is designed for in terms of club service.


He's going to get roasted by the footy media (particularly the SA media) because of the JHF saga if that is the way he goes. But that will be pure gaslighting, as CZ had an issue with JHF's attitude whilst at the club, not leaving. In fact he probably packed his bags for him.


However if Cam strings us along for 9 months with a very vague decision criteria and hamstrings the club in the process, in being able to make plays in replacing him. That would not be leaving on the right terms.

He's had his entire contract, he's had the last 4 months and he trains and see's the coaches every day to make a decision. He's purely taking the McKay/pissweak option of delaying this "I'll make the decision at the end of the season", so he makes the call whilst on the end of season break and doesn't have to front up to the playing group and supporters post this decision.

I might be wrong, but it's following all the same hallmarks of McKay and lots of other players doing the same.

You can't preface your decision on "I want to see improvement", but then say "I will wait until the end of the season to make the decision", if the improvement is visible before the end of the season, whats stopping you?


Tyson Stengles honesty at the moment is actually really refreshing. It's mature.

He's made it clear via his management that he wants to maximize his final contact earning potential. The highest bidder wins. Nothing wrong with that, at least Geelong and it's supporters are completely aware of the position and are able to plan accordingly. Hence their chase for Bailey Smith.....



To be perfectly fair to CZ. I will take exactly the same position with LDU. In fact LDU may be in an even more precarious situation than both CZ and McKay, simply because if either of those left, we were likely going to get more than what they are worth.

If St Kilda are armed with two top 6 picks because of Band 1 from Battle and come for a godfather offer for LDU at the end of the year, which involves those and a future pick. Then he needs to make a decision, im sorry.

He either re-signs or he goes. The club has to be very sensible and realistic on this.

We will not get fair compo for LDU at the end of next season, unless they bring in future picks 2-3 years in advance. Can you imagine if he nominates Collingwood at the end of next year and all they have are 2 future picks to trade?

He will be the biggest villain of them all if we rebuff those sorts deals in support of him and he leaves for FA at the end of next year.

 

[kangatragic]

As good as his good can be unfortunately he doesn't produce it enough and if we did get band 1 then I'm happy for him to go.

 

[King Corey]

Isn't this all based on one comment he allegedly made at the start of the year, a time when he was saying he thought we could play finals (something that seems reasonable now given our recent performances,) and in the context that perhaps all he wanted to see was something that gave him the hope that spending his entire career at North wouldn't be a waste?

I'm not sure mate, that's why I'm adding the "If they said it" disclaimer re the 'prove it' vibe that seems to find its way into Cam articles.

 

[apollo_creed]

I still think he’s gone

The odds are definitely heavily weighted that way, as much as people might want to try and convince themselves otherwise.
Most players (who are wanted by their current club) who haven't signed by this point end up somewhere else. Of course there are exceptions and Zurhaar could be one of them but if we're being objective and playing the percentages, he'll be elsewhere next season.

 

[Clarke is King]

I'd rather he stays cause there's not many players I love watching when they are on more than Bull, but I won't lose sleep if he does leave.

 

[The acurate one]

Nah **** him TAO.

The club was built from players who stuck fat through tough times with no assurance of success.

If he/his management really did give off the vibe that we need to prove something to him, then FRO.

And I say that as one of his biggest fans on here.

As you know, it was reported we wanted to keep Magoo, I call that bull dust, due to what I was told . Which was we wanted Band 1 compo and once that was confirmed it was high fives in the office. ANd we did our very best to manipulate the outcome.
Who's to say we're not doing the same, Cam for all we know could well have informed the club I will decide at the end of the season. We go ok, but here's a juicy contract for you to consider.
I have no doubt we would trade him for say pick 2,3, or 4, dependent on our finishing position.

If you can turn a HFF rookie selection into a top 5 pick, you're winning. And again dealing with Collingwood isn't the same as dealing with * or Poort, both are notorious for being difficult.

We can match his offer, the Pie won't give a shit if we get band 1 compo, they probably will ensure we do to make the transaction as seamless as possible.

Again we can't lose. Imagine another round of multiple top 5 picks lol.

 

[ferball]

I'm not sure mate, that's why I'm adding the "If they said it" disclaimer re the 'prove it' vibe that seems to find its way into Cam articles.

Fair enough. Given that I'd probably agree.

 

[Tas]

Isn't this all based on one comment he allegedly made at the start of the year, a time when he was saying he thought we could play finals (something that seems reasonable now given our recent performances,) and in the context that perhaps all he wanted to see was something that gave him the hope that spending his entire career at North wouldn't be a waste?

Everyone else has put pen to paper and he hasn't, it sounds plausible that he either made that comment or is stalling until the end of the year when he can opt for free agency.

We should give them the benefit of doubt, but we have had a lot of issues with the pre-Clarkson senior group.

 

[MinistryOfMajak]

I look at it a little differently than most. I like that the results and performances matter to him. I want our players to want on-field success.

If he was pulling the same shit as Stengle is, I'd be more than happy for him to leave.

Sent from my SM-S906E using Tapatalk

 

[R00StaR]

I hope so, it will benefit the Zurhaar compo, as the talk is he has 6 years on the table from the Pies.

I don't think he's going to get that sort of money though. 6 x $750k maybe. But if tenure comes into it, it might be enough to get Band 1.

I feel this is a loophole that will get closed fairly quickly though, maybe as soon as it's introduced.

It's likey Zurhaar, Battle and Stengle will all recieve Band 1 and there will be melts and outrage galore around trade week because of it.


The hypocrisy is that FA compo is designed to assist the bottom teams in rebuilding when finals teams gut their best players via FA, which is exactly what is happening.

I think you said it yourself, if a club is willing to offer him 6 X $750 then an extra 100k to bump it to band 1 where North wont match and force a trade is well worth it. I cant see us not forcing a trade for anything less.

Like McKay we might be able to cover him, but he is a bit different with far more X factor. We'd need the likes of Curtis and Ford to really step up.

 

[Sphynx]

I think you said it yourself, if a club is willing to offer him 6 X $750 then an extra 100k to bump it to band 1 where North wont match and force a trade is well worth it. I cant see not forcing a trade for anything less.

Like McKay we might be able to cover him, but he is a bit different with far more X factor. We'd need the likes of Curtis and Ford to really step up.

I don't know if it's "really" step up. This is where people tend to ignore CZ bad games and only remember his good ones like the weekend.

He's only kicked 2 goals for the season more than Paul Curtis.

He averages 2.5 disposals more per game than PC.

Marks, Contested Marks, Tackles, Pressure Acts are all almost identical to PC.

PC is 5 years younger than him.


We also drafted Duursma last year who will be playing a similar position for the first half of his career.

Also remembering a lot of Eddie Fords numbers are skewed by sub appearances.

Eddie is far better at getting the ball per 100 minutes than either Zurhaar or Paul Curtis are capable of and is equally as good overhead etc.

Ford averages almost 17 disposals per game when not a sub since the middle of last year. He's far more consistent than CZ is imo.


All of Ford, Curtis and CZ need to improve their forward pressure though. They are all miles behind the best medium forwards in this regard.

The fact Duursma has been as good as them, whilst some of our supporters think he looks a bit disinterested at times, says alot.


It will be interesting to see how Payne also fits in long term, as someone with a +20 pressure rating will probably see them play alot of games in the coming years.

 

[ferball]

Everyone else has put pen to paper and he hasn't, it sounds plausible that he either made that comment or is stalling until the end of the year when he can opt for free agency.

We should give them the benefit of doubt, but we have had a lot of issues with the pre-Clarkson senior group.

There is a bunch of players who haven't.

 

[ferball]

I don't know if it's "really" step up. This is where people tend to ignore CZ bad games and only remember his good ones like the weekend.

He's only kicked 2 goals for the season more than Paul Curtis.

He averages 2.5 disposals more per game than PC.

Marks, Contested Marks, Tackles, Pressure Acts are all almost identical to PC.

PC is 5 years younger than him.


We also drafted Duursma last year who will be playing a similar position for the first half of his career.

Also remembering a lot of Eddie Fords numbers are skewed by sub appearances.

Eddie is far better at getting the ball per 100 minutes than either Zurhaar or Paul Curtis are capable of and is equally as good overhead etc.

Ford averages almost 17 disposals per game when not a sub since the middle of last year. He's far more consistent than CZ is imo.


All of Ford, Curtis and CZ need to improve their forward pressure though. They are all miles behind the best medium forwards in this regard.

The fact Duursma has been as good as them, whilst some of our supporters think he looks a bit disinterested at times, says alot.


It will be interesting to see how Payne also fits in long term, as someone with a +20 pressure rating will probably see them play alot of games.


View attachment 2031398

He's done okay but he's really only had one good year imo and that was last year. He kicked more goals at other times earlier in his career but last year he seemed to work hard for the team in a way he hadn't before.

 

[Better Loosen Up]

What I want to see is the Cam Zurhaar from the Richmond game after Scott was axed. That's the Cam Zurhaar our team needs!

 

[Sphynx]

What I want to see is the Cam Zurhaar from the Richmond game after Scott was axed. That's the Cam Zurhaar our team needs!

Game 17.

He's only ever had a pressure rating over 20 twice, it was that game, with 10 tackles to boot.

He repeated it again 8 games later against the Dogs with the same pressure rating and 9 tackles.

That was 5 years ago.

We also won both of these games.


For whatever reason, he's never been able to bring that same defensive application as 2019, or hasn't wanted too.

He's never registered more than a 6 tackle game other than these two occasions. With most of the 6 tackle games also coming around 2019/20.

I don't know if it's laziness, or selfishness or it could be instruction. But as a fan, I've felt he's always valued kicking goals etc over the team application.

He's achieved coaches votes in 12 of his 112 games, 2 of those 12 games were these games, with some of the other vote getting games also where he's had a spike in defensive application.

9 of his 12 vote getting games came in his first 60 games.


He's only achieved coaches votes twice in the last 2.5 years.

I compare it to Beau McCreary who has 15 x 7+ tackle games in 72 matches, puts on double the amount of pressure and has a 14 tackle game on his CV. McCreary's average pressure per game exceeds Cam Zurhaars game vs Richmond.


It will be a massive indictment on him if he moves to Collingwood under McRae and starts pumping out 20+ pressure games. Which is what McRae demands of his forwards.

 

[giantroo]

 

[jay317]

If we can get a top 5 pick for a rookie selection who has the odd good game at a position we've got depth at then the club would drive him to the front door of his desired club.

 

[tazaa]

What’s realistically going to change between now and round 24?
Performance wise or money wise?

 

[big_e]

However if Cam strings us along for 9 months with a very vague decision criteria and hamstrings the club in the process, in being able to make plays in replacing him. That would not be leaving on the right terms.

...

You can't preface your decision on "I want to see improvement", but then say "I will wait until the end of the season to make the decision", if the improvement is visible before the end of the season, whats stopping you?

He's not stringing us along, he's very clearly said they will wait until the end of the year. Stringing us along would be constantly putting it off for a few weeks, and then another few weeks, and another few weeks.

As for the second comment above, if he says he will wait until the end of the year, it's not fair to criticise him for sticking to that.

We've only had three decent weeks, it's too early to say whether this is just another false dawn. (We had three losses by less than ten points in the last 6 weeks of last season, and then looked horrible at the start of this season, for instance.)

 

[Hearts to hearts]

If we can get a top 5 pick for a rookie selection who has the odd good game at a position we've got depth at then the club would drive him to the front door of his desired club.

Not having a go at you but this is not the first post to say we’d be winning if Cam leaves for a high pick because he was only a rookie pick originally. It’s not at all relevant. All that matters is whether if he goes we get something that is at least as valuable to North as Cam is right now. Dean Cox was a rookie pick, Jack Watts was pick 1, Mihocek was MSD, Larkey was a late pick, the original draft picks stops being part of the calculations as soon as they are playing.

 

[The Nostradamus]

keep playing well and he stays

Seems simple enough

the ideal scenario are these close losses, keep pick 1, show improvement and keep zurhaar

Room for the occasional win also ideally against quality sides

And then next year we launch up the ladder

 

[Samsquanch]

I heard on the wireless that FA compo will now include tenure as part of the rating process.
I'd suggest Cam will get somewhere around the 850K pa for six years. So circa a 5.1 mil contract.
That reeks of band 1 everyday of the week. Clubs are basically buying first round picks, I have often thought if we could put put our current pick one up for sale how much it would be worth to say the West Coast with a net worth of 77 million.
And I'm sure we're happy to see this play out, as has been suggested by others, this is very much like the McKay situation now.
We won with Magoo and we will win with Zurhaar either way.

Good times, and again Duursma, Curtis, Ford, Larkey & unfortunately George who's injured. We're ok for HFF's

Get it done TAO

 

[North1411]

I hope so, it will benefit the Zurhaar compo, as the talk is he has 6 years on the table from the Pies.

I don't think he's going to get that sort of money though. 6 x $750k maybe. But if tenure comes into it, it might be enough to get Band 1.

I feel this is a loophole that will get closed fairly quickly though, maybe as soon as it's introduced.

It's likey Zurhaar, Battle and Stengle will all recieve Band 1 and there will be melts and outrage galore around trade week because of it.


The hypocrisy is that FA compo is designed to assist the bottom teams in rebuilding when finals teams gut their best players via FA, which is exactly what is happening.

It was introduced this year as * triggered band 1 for gresham last year by paying him the same money over 3 years that they were going to over 4. So they stopped that by introducing the length of contract to be part of the value, which makes sense.

I have come off the boil on CZ, I love his best but it doesn't happen enough and to be brutal his form and efforts are part of the reason our last few years have been so terrible. If he goes Ford, Duursma and PC are enough to replace him