Player Watch #7: Zane Duursma - out for 2024, undergoing shoulder surgery

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apollo_creed said:
Wow. Some extraordinarily biased analysis going on here based on zero evidence. Imagine if/when he actually does something.
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His U18 highlights are amazing, running around doing Mitch Morton style party tricks. Great mark, great finisher.

His AFL glimpses at the moment are very similar to Curtis Taylor's early glimpses.

You'd imagine he'll surpass Taylor easily (based on junior career rating) but to talk about him like he already shades Tarryn for ability is a long bow for mine.
 
apollo_creed said:
Wow. Some extraordinarily biased analysis going on here based on zero evidence. Imagine if/when he actually does something.
Click to expand...

You mean like his game against Adelaide?

Would have been Thomas’ 5th best game of his entire career based on the AFL ratings system.

Is that a reflection of Zane or Thomas?
 

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FootySmartSimpson said:
Apart from marking, Thomas had him covered for almost every aspect of the game.

Duursma just doesn’t have explosiveness of Thomas’ play at all. It’s kind of unfair even comparing the two.
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Thomas had played against men for years before he was drafted, in a fairly tough comp if not a high level one. Because of that he was incredible at positioning his body to use momentum for him and against others. And he was very physically tough as well. He had amazing acceleration over his first few steps and good high end speed.
 
King Corey said:
Each to their own.

I said several times I felt Tarryn was the most gifted player on our list in terms of physical abilities. That was over and above LDU et al.

I'm aware you had him pegged as lazy a long way out and can understand why you rate Zane higher albeit I feel you're prone to draftee overvaluation at times which is your prerogative.

Edit: lazy not last bloody autocorrect
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Autocorrect in woke mode, ie trying to spare us from racists calling indigenous footballers lazy.



(And yes, I appreciate that this wasn't you, KC, referring to TT as lazy).
 
Thomas playing forward for North Launceston out of necessity has given him an undeserved reputation when it comes to his ability to play in the forward 50.

At his best, Thomas is one of the most damaging inside midfielders in the AFL. His ability to find space from a stoppage is elite, and his long penetrating kick makes him an incredibly dangerous threat going inside 50. As far as leading to the ball from a forward pocket, reading the ball in flight and crumbing, or finding space in the forward line, he isn't in the same stratosphere as what Duursma displayed as a junior. Even at AFL level, Thomas and Duursma have the same career average for scoring shots per game. Over time you'd expect Duursma to pull far ahead in that stat.

I've always thought Thomas was miscast as a player who was infinitely more like Bontempelli than he was somebody like Lindsay Thomas. If considered an inside midfielder, he is probably above average with the damage he can do resting forward, but not to the extent that he should be compared to players with genuine forward craft. For that reason, you may as well be comparing Duursma to Ben Cunnington.

For Duursma, it's incredibly hard playing as a permanent forward in your first year without any opportunity to rotate in the middle. Sheezel probably played about 10 quarters up forward last year and barely had a touch. Had Clarkson not had the idea to play Sheezel down back, there'd likely have been similar negativity surrounding his future last year.

But to exclude the Sheezel hypothetical for a moment, the recent history for first-year genuine forwards is pretty grim. Jaidyn Stephenson is by far the standard, but was able to walk into one of the best teams in the AFL and with elite endurance. Every other elite forward was either given the freedom to win some ball in the middle, or completely struggled. For North Melbourne comparisons that make more sense, Duursma compares quite well.

Curtis Taylor: 6.0 disposals and 1.5 goals over three games.
Cam Zurhaar: 9.0 disposals and 0.5 goals over four games.
Taylor Garner: 8.5 disposals and 0 goals over two games.
Mason Wood: 7.0 disposals and 3 goals over one game.
Kieran Harper: 9.9 disposals and 0.9 goals over 14 games.
Lindsay Thomas: 8.6 disposals and 0.8 goals over 12 games.

You can do the same exercise for other clubs, and the numbers stay the same. It's bloody hard to play forward in your first year.

You can say I've conveniently left out Thomas, but Thomas had 2+ clearances in 8 games that year, illustrating a completely different role. The question mark on Thomas has always been his ability to have high-possession games, so I wouldn't be pointing to the 3.4 additional touches per match that he had over Duursma as any indication of a talent gap between the two.
 
Playing mid: 2 goals and 8 disposals in the first at vfl level
 
Kangaroos4eva said:
Playing mid: 2 goals and 8 disposals in the first at vfl level
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Exactly what you want out of a talented player at VFL level - shows a step above and just needs size and conditioning at AFL level.
 
A lazy 25 disposals, 3.1, and 4 clearances in the vfl as a mid resting forward.
 
brooksnk said:
Anyone watch him? - would like to know how he went under the eye test
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He was good. Would need to add some size to his frame and build little bit more of a tank if he wants to play big mid minutes, but he did well. Did a few typical elite junior in first afl season things, by which I mean he was ‘lazy’ with some kicks early on. Those were the exception though. Same with the defensive stuff (more intent/tank on occasion).

His wide frame and height was noticeable and he absolutely glides.
 
Kangaroos4eva said:
He was good. Would need to add some size to his frame and build little bit more of a tank if he wants to play big mid minutes, but he did well. Did a few typical elite junior in first afl season things, by which I mean he was ‘lazy’ with some kicks early on. Those were the exception though. Same with the defensive stuff (more intent/tank on occasion).

His wide frame and height was noticeable and he absolutely glides.
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Yeh agree on the frame. The talent is absolutely there. as long as he can craft a strong body, tank and bring 100% every week, the upside is enormous.
 

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Sphynx said:
You mean like his game against Adelaide?

Would have been Thomas’ 5th best game of his entire career based on the AFL ratings system.

Is that a reflection of Zane or Thomas?
Click to expand...

Somehow Tarryn Thomas has become the greatest player in the history of the game, according to some.

“He could leap tall buildings, kick the ball 100 yards, and was so strong he could pull a train”.

He played 5 years with us, and I have know doubt he would have been average or below ave on every statistical metric.

“Oh but next year was gonna be his year…..”
 
Jeremy Jordan said:
Somehow Tarryn Thomas has become the greatest player in the history of the game, according to some.

“He could leap tall buildings, kick the ball 100 yards, and was so strong he could pull a train”.

He played 5 years with us, and I have know doubt he would have been average or below ave on every statistical metric.

“Oh but next year was gonna be his year…..”
Click to expand...

It's a little bit weird.

His 10 best game were absolutely unreal.

People seem to ignore he had about 30 games of less than 13 disposals of pretty ordinary football mixed in with about a dozen in which he was completely disinterested.
 
Jeremy Jordan said:
Somehow Tarryn Thomas has become the greatest player in the history of the game, according to some.

“He could leap tall buildings, kick the ball 100 yards, and was so strong he could pull a train”.

He played 5 years with us, and I have know doubt he would have been average or below ave on every statistical metric.

“Oh but next year was gonna be his year…..”
Click to expand...
In 2021 he averaged over 18 disposals and over a goal a game. In 2023 it was just under 20 and just under a goal a game. Heaps of tackles etc in those seasons too. 2022 was a shit year,not just for him either but either side of that he showed he was a very good player.

A massive waste.
 
koshari said:
Well hes a gangsta now.
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I googled his stats to check those numbers and it said "former AFL player".

They're great stats tho and his ability to just explode out the front of a pack was second to none. This time 2 years ago I'd have been devastated to lose someone as talented as him from our side. But this year was a bit meh about it.

Oh well.
 
ferball said:
I googled his stats to check those numbers and it said "former AFL player".

They're great stats tho and his ability to just explode out the front of a pack was second to none. This time 2 years ago I'd have been devastated to lose someone as talented as him from our side. But this year was a bit meh about it.

Oh well.
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Think we feel that way because the club did all it possibly could to help him, have an ongoing AFL career.
But in the end Tarryn couldn't help Tarryn
 
RightWingRoo said:
Think we feel that way because the club did all it possibly could to help him, have an ongoing AFL career.
But in the end Tarryn couldn't help Tarryn
Click to expand...
It looks like Tarryn has a talented younger brother. Be typical if his **** up means we miss access to his younger bro as well.
 

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Player Watch #7: Zane Duursma - out for 2024, undergoing shoulder surgery

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