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

[justroyal]

Undersize forward so you would try him in the ruck.

Awesome.

Well, Bard tried it.

 

[AnEmptyChair]

The elephant in the room here is that if a player puts contract talks on hold for a big chunk of the season, 9 times out of 10 they have left.

Like I said with McKay 12 months ago, it will come down to the team performance. Zurhaar has been here 7 years now in a side that has done absolutely * all.

You can’t expect every player to waste their career away in bottom 4 sides.

Regarding him in isolation, we have ALOT of medium forward talent. For Band 1 (I think that highly unlikely given the cap increase), I’d be inclined to let him go.

Our supporters will appreciate it in time, but Sausage does pretty everything Cam does to a much higher level.

Then there’s Duursma, PC, Stevo, Cooper etc

If we could snare the best key forward or back in the draft for CZ, a ruthless GM would do it.

**** you post so much hyperbolic garbage. A zero gamer coming off an ACL absolutely does not do everything one of the better medium forwards around does to a "much higher level'.

We can't just keep losing experienced quality, replacing them with kids and keep getting stuck in the same cycle of hope, where success is always just over the horizon

 

[King Corey]

Need to keep Zurhaar we don't need to turn into a development team for other sides.

That said I do find his hesitation slightly concerning in light of a few players happily signing up ahead of FA/expiry schedule. Would guess he has a particular suitor that has gone past the initial phone call.

 

[Shegga]

Undersize forward so you would try him in the ruck.

Awesome.

Our 2nd ruck options are limited. Greenwood was different and ok. Zurhaar could surprise teams and not upset our fwd mix.

Undersize forward so you would try him in the ruck.

Awesome.

 

[justroyal]

Need to keep Zurhaar we don't need to turn into a development team for other sides.

That said I do find his hesitation slightly concerning in light of a few players happily signing up ahead of FA/expiry schedule. Would guess he has a particular suitor that has gone past the initial phone call.

Wasn’t he a bottom pick like Larkey that he can only thank north for taking a shot on him?

Sensibility says he returns the faith like his teammates have done, and doesn’t make this a media frenzy for us.

But if he wants to take us for a ride without having a season or two likes Larkey then he can kinda gagf.

 

[shinboner magic]

The elephant in the room here is that if a player puts contract talks on hold for a big chunk of the season, 9 times out of 10 they have left.

Like I said with McKay 12 months ago, it will come down to the team performance. Zurhaar has been here 7 years now in a side that has done absolutely * all.

You can’t expect every player to waste their career away in bottom 4 sides.

Regarding him in isolation, we have ALOT of medium forward talent. For Band 1 (I think that highly unlikely given the cap increase), I’d be inclined to let him go.

Our supporters will appreciate it in time, but Sausage does pretty everything Cam does to a much higher level.

Then there’s Duursma, PC, Stevo, Cooper etc

If we could snare the best key forward or back in the draft for CZ, a ruthless GM would do it.

I love your work mate but losing camz for a pick in the 20s would be incredibly stupid.
All other forwards except larkey have lesser influence on games than cam does

 

[Sphynx]

I love your work mate but losing camz for a pick in the 20s would be incredibly stupid.
All other forwards except larkey have lesser influence on games than cam does

Where did I say that?!

 

[Sphynx]

* you post so much hyperbolic garbage. A zero gamer coming off an ACL absolutely does not do everything one of the better medium forwards around does to a "much higher level'.

We can't just keep losing experienced quality, replacing them with kids and keep getting stuck in the same cycle of hope, where success is always just over the horizon

And Zurhaar is going to be the difference between that is he?

 

[Heaps of fun]

Everyone here is arguing a moot point. Getting pick three or four for Cam Z would likely be just a good as keeping Cam for our best chances of success but he won't go band one.

 

[Heaps of fun]

I love Cam, I think his best is close to unstoppable, and would keep him if it was up to me but this year he needs to prove he can be part of a forwardline that functions as a whole. Too many times he tries for goal when he's just not on and burns rare forward opportunities.

He's a bit like Luke McDonald at the other end in that he needs to appreciate his limitations and try to bring the young guys around him into the game more.

 

[Harvey Manfrenjensenden]

I get the feeling (based on absolutely no inside information) that he is delaying to maximise his contract. He hasn't been at peak performance for a few years, and whilst he has shown glimpses over the last few years, he would back himself in to have a better year and increase the offer from the club. He's in career best shape and is betting on himself to get a better deal. Obviously improvement from the club on field would also be a motivation and will also help his performance.

 

[Makeshift Park]

Everyone here is arguing a moot point. Getting pick three or four for Cam Z would likely be just a good as keeping Cam for our best chances of success but he won't go band one.

To be in band 1 conversation he needs to either start getting 50% more touches than he did last year, or he needs to start scoring 50% more goals.

50% more touches puts him in JDG territory. 24 disposals instead of 16.

50% more goals gets him up to Heeney / Fritsch. That's 30+ goals instead of 20.

Either would take a fair effort.

 

[the big lebowski]

To be in band 1 conversation he needs to either start getting 50% more touches than he did last year, or he needs to start scoring 50% more goals.

50% more touches puts him in JDG territory. 24 disposals instead of 16.

50% more goals gets him up to Heeney / Fritsch. That's 30+ goals instead of 20.

Either would take a fair effort.

Kicked 31 and 34 goals the two years before last.

We should be expecting him to kick 30 plus goals this year.

 

[Makeshift Park]

Kicked 31 and 34 goals the two years before last.

We should be expecting him to kick 30 plus goals this year.

Yes but he was getting his hands on the ball less than 12 times a game back then.

If he was kicking 40 goals a season that would've been an alright case for band 1.

But now he's trimmed down, appears to be in career best fitness, and being given bursts in the midfield.

So I reckon accumulate more than he did in 2021-22 (ie above 16 disposals) and replicate the scoring from 2021-22.

Then maybe he's in the conversation for band one.

 

[the big lebowski]

Yes but he was getting his hands on the ball less than 12 times a game back then.

If he was kicking 40 goals a season that would've been an alright case for band 1.

But now he's trimmed down, appears to be in career best fitness, and being given bursts in the midfield.

So I reckon accumulate more than he did in 2021-22 (ie above 16 disposals) and replicate the scoring from 2021-22.

Then maybe he's in the conversation for band one.

I think he will be going back to the full time or near full time forward role. Maybe the occasional adventure up at the stoppage. But his role will be to kick goals.

I am expecting 30 plus.

I hope for a 2 goal a game average. So 40 plus.

 

[My Left Foote]

I think he will be going back to the full time or near full time forward role. Maybe the occasional adventure up at the stoppage. But his role will be to kick goals.

I am expecting 30 plus.

I hope for a 2 goal a game average. So 40 plus.

Yep, needs to get back to his 2021 / 22 form when he kicked 31 and 34 goals. If he can build on that and get to that 40 mark would be great.

 

[shinboner magic]

Where did I say that?!

You didn’t say that but letting him go will equal band 2 at best and that pick will end up in the 20s.

 

[Sphynx]

You didn’t say that but letting him go will equal band 2 at best and that pick will end up in the 20s.

I wouldn’t let him go for Band 2

 

[KiwiRoo]

hard one to gauge his worth
Think there is some difference between what Cam thinks he's worth and what he's produced so far in his career
would be interesting to see what other Clubs would offer

rather keep him but want the De Goey version not the Stringer one and he's been more Stringer like than De Goey over the years

 

[Shermanator]

I get the feeling (based on absolutely no inside information) that he is delaying to maximise his contract. He hasn't been at peak performance for a few years, and whilst he has shown glimpses over the last few years, he would back himself in to have a better year and increase the offer from the club. He's in career best shape and is betting on himself to get a better deal. Obviously improvement from the club on field would also be a motivation and will also help his performance.

Yep I agree Harvs.

He's best mates with Larkey and Logue so I doubt he would be looking anywhere, he's holding out for (probably) his last big contract of his career.

 

[zoomba23]

Well, not many of them formally put contract talks on hold.

And in my example I'd only want to lose him for maximum value. He's a good player but hardly an absolute game changer to a quality side. Collingwood just picked up a bloke just as good as him this offseason for what is basically Pick 25 & pick 45. He's not irreplaceable and we have numerous amounts of young talented medium forwards already on the list. He's a solid role player. How many would even have him in our best 5 players right now?

And in fairness to your post, I also read 500+ posts this time last year all along the same lines regarding McKay. "We can't lose McKay", "We need to win now, losing buckets will set back our rebuild by 5 years" etc etc

It's also easy to brush off alternative options as faceless draft picks. It's not so easy when they have a name to them.

How many of you would trade 18 year old Zane Duursma for Ben McKay or Cam Zurhaar now. Approximately 0 would be my guess.

How many of you would trade 19 year old George Wardlaw for Ben McKay or Cam Zurhaar now. Approximately 0 would be my guess.


Both of whom are as much if not more likely to contribute to "winning now" as both Cam and Ben would have or will do in the next 18 months and onwards anyway imo.


This isn't an obsession with draft picks, it's being realistic about how good some of our senior core actually are. Cam has done the hard yards, but I'm not advocating trading him, he would be leaving us in every scenario I am talking about.


If Cam was truly committed to the path of the football club, he would have re-signed by now. His management have issued a press release, he's at the very least considering his options. Most recent history would indicate seriously considering other offers if he has put contract talks on hold via the media.

Fair points regarding the free agency/trade transactions in isolation, but I still hate the idea of falling down the seniority ladder in favour of kids. And I still think it's a dangerous mentality. The clock is ticking. You can't rebuild forever. We have players in their mid 20s whose entire careers have been a rebuild.

I was one of the people decrying McKay's loss last year. Hysterically. I'll wear that. However I'm still not confident in our aerial prowess, and the Saints game did nothing to alleviate that. We're going to be up against it this year. I hope Pink, Dawson, Corr, Logue, Comben and whoever else are able to work as part of a unit, and that SOMEONE steps up to take the best small forward, cos that's the only way that we aren't bottom two for points conceded.

If he leaves us, sure, but there have been no indicators that he wants out right now. One of his best mates moved to the club last year, for Christ's sake. He's hedging his bets. No more, no less. Miles Bergman put talks on hold before re-signing for however many bloody years last year. It means nothing.

 

[ferball]

Our 2nd ruck options are limited. Greenwood was different and ok. Zurhaar could surprise teams and not upset our fwd mix.

He broke his foot last time he played ruck.

 

[ferball]

I love Cam, I think his best is close to unstoppable, and would keep him if it was up to me but this year he needs to prove he can be part of a forwardline that functions as a whole. Too many times he tries for goal when he's just not on and burns rare forward opportunities.

He's a bit like Luke McDonald at the other end in that he needs to appreciate his limitations and try to bring the young guys around him into the game more.

Last year he had 15 GAs from 16 games which was his equal best return (along with 2019,) but last year he played three less games than 2019. He was ranked around 22 in the comp for GAs so that's a huge improvement over where he was previously.

If he can show consistency and a slight improvement on that then its a good sign he's learning how to play a team first forward role.

 

[Zondor]

The elephant in the room here is that if a player puts contract talks on hold for a big chunk of the season, 9 times out of 10 they have left.

Like I said with McKay 12 months ago, it will come down to the team performance. Zurhaar has been here 7 years now in a side that has done absolutely * all.

You can’t expect every player to waste their career away in bottom 4 sides.

Regarding him in isolation, we have ALOT of medium forward talent. For Band 1 (I think that highly unlikely given the cap increase), I’d be inclined to let him go.

Our supporters will appreciate it in time, but Sausage does pretty everything Cam does to a much higher level.

Then there’s Duursma, PC, Stevo, Cooper etc

If we could snare the best key forward or back in the draft for CZ, a ruthless GM would do it.

* you post so much hyperbolic garbage. A zero gamer coming off an ACL absolutely does not do everything one of the better medium forwards around does to a "much higher level'.

We can't just keep losing experienced quality, replacing them with kids and keep getting stuck in the same cycle of hope, where success is always just over the horizon

Bingo AnEmptyChair. George may be a player but he hasn't played at the highest level like Zurhaar has. And yes Sphynx posting absolute nonsense. How can any of you take this poster seriously is beyond me. :stern look

 

[AnEmptyChair]

Sphynxs

Efa