Delisted Aaron Cornelius (2008-2013)

[irel]

come on aaron !!! mate ive taken heaps pushing your barrow now its your turn to give me some cred !!! so boy grab the opportunity and kick the living crap out of it !!!!!!

pending you get the gig this week or next show the faithfull and the coach what you can do , give em heaps lad !!

irish, you have had Acorn’s bandwagon well oiled and ready to roll for some time, but it will be a very disappointing time when the realisation strikes that no matter how well you take care of that wagon, rust and lack of modern parts will keep it stationary and it may never leave the stable. In fact you may have to trade it for a greener Tassie product made of harder wood.

 

[irish]

i have faith in the boy irel !!!i know him and i know what he could be !! but now the cards are in his hands . we need him

 

[GabbaMan]

Overdue selection, best overhead mark in team, must play up forward.

 

[whatboutbob]

Here's hoping he grabs this opportunity to prove his doubters (admittedly myself included) wrong.

 

[chopperduck]

Wet game, his strong hands could be very usefull up forward. I have had the plessure of meeting Acorn and he seems like a great bloke. Hopefully he can make the most of his opportunities, because the natural talent is there.

 

[Voss the boss]

Acorn - time to shine mate, we have faith - time for you to! Just keep competing and the rest will take care of it self.

 

[POBT]

Is a real list shaper for us, IMO. It is a bit harsh on a bloke who was a late draft pick but if you can possibly jag a senior standard key forward with a mid-low draft pick, it can make your list rebuild so much easier. He's shown enough glimpses to suggest that he could make it as a secondary forward target. If that happens, then we're in better shape with our long term forward structure. If he doesn't come on, we'll need to start scouring the junior ranks for key forwards.

I think this comparison is easy to make but he really does have a little of Jack Riewoldt in the way he plays. I don't mean that he is the equal of Jumping Jack as a footballer but he's a similar style in the way that he'll happily launch himself at a contest in an old style way of playing key forward. I think the biggest difference is that Riewoldt will contest all day whereas Cornelius really does go missing for long stretches....which is likely fitness related.

I hope that this isn't make or break for Cornelius. If he struggles, I hope it is a wake up call. If he plays well, I hope it is not just because of natural talent but also because he has done the hard yards and played a team, as well as individual, game.

 

[Tetris]

To anyone who watches the reserves games, have you noticed any improvement in his fitness levels and his ability to push himself for longer periods?
I agree with POBT, having him step it up this year would make a rebuild much easier.

 

[Snuka]

Was just going to mention Jack as a good comparison POBT. Especially the Jack before he exploded last year. He would chuck himself into the marking contest but probably didn't get himself into good enough position often enough.

Whether Acorn follows this path is yet to be seen but he is a year or two younger than Jack (who took until his 4th year to come good) playing in a team which has had some of the best forwards of the last 10 years (unlike Reiwoldt). Excited as hell for him though...hope he can grab this opportunity as well as he grabs the ball.

 

[Grimreepah]

Michael Voss

But arguably more eyes will be on Cornelius (than Polec) in the absence of injured forwards Jonathan Brown and Brent Staker. "There's been a couple of years where he has been waiting for that moment - now he has a chance and on a good stage to do that," Voss said.
"I think he would admit there have been players in better form (in previous weeks).
"But it comes to a point where we have some needs, and he fits in that category (due to injury).
"We are not going to sugar coat it for him - he has some work to do on his game, he just has to do it on a big stage."

 

[Grimreepah]

Didn't do much but his presence coincides with Clark transforming from Pask-like to Brown-like.

Dilemma...

 

[Mooch]

What he did mostly was create space for others to move in I guess. He did come down the ground a bit and chase and tackle but I think he is worth a run of games. Let's face it, we're not spoilt for choice of options there are we?

 

[Gibbo_88]

I think he will be lucky to get a game against the Saints in 2 weeks time. The only way he added to the side was the fact that he was stopping Clark form being double teamed. That's not good enough for a KPP in his third year.

 

[chopperduck]

If he fits our structure and allows the team to function better, then he gets games. Simple as that for me.

 

[irel]

I fear we may have seen the last of Acorn at AFL level.
Unfortunate, however he may be Hadley's first real failure.

 

[T Rick]

He looks clean with the ball in his hands and can be quite clever with the ball but just can't get the pill enough and unfortunately provides zero body pressure and tackling pressure in a contest. He is probably worth persisting with on the basis that we had a better structure with him up forward and we have few if any other options at the moment. I would give him game time until Browny returns and one way or another we will get a good assessment of him by them. I suspect we are going to lose more than we win with or without him so I would persist if it were my call.

 

[irish]

sorry i disagree guys ! i thought he contested well and did the best he could to free up clark , yep no goals but assisted well. enough to help a totaly non functioning forward line improve heaps. deserves another chance i reckon.

get off him, christ is he the bigfooty whipping boy or what !! have a crack at merrit he was rubbish today

 

[_hyphy]

It may be a tad premature bringing a young kpp into play FF for 1 game and then demoting him. Sure he didn't rack up the numbers, but surely we need to give the kid at least a decent stint to see what his worth is.

 

[Hollow Knight]

get off him, christ is he the bigfooty whipping boy or what !! have a crack at merrit he was rubbish today

Moral grandstanding and stooping to the same level in the one post. Fair effort.

For what its worth, I'd give Acorn another game for structural reasons alone. He didn't have much impact but looked like a bit more effort was on display than usual.

 

[Last of the Roys]

I am really surprised that there are a fair few positive comments for Acorn out of today's game.

Being at the game and watching him closely, there wasn't a whole heap to be positive about.

On the plus side:
- he did help give the team the hint of a forward structure at times
- he stays on his feet in marking contests
- he usually is a good contested mark, although he didn't really show it today

On the negatives:
- he got himself out of position far too often (his fault or the coaches?), leaving Banfield as an outnumbered full forward a heap of times;
- could barely get any separation from his opponent, and only gave about half a dozen decent leads all game;
- the stats, 4 possessions, 2 or 3 marks, virtually no impact;
- was weak at the contest a few times;
- struggled to give second efforts or chase;

Watching the game at the ground, it was so obvious that Bewick the sub had to come on for Cornelius. We even left that about 20 minutes too late.

I really fear for Cornelius's future. He has potential, but it could easily end very soon if he doesn't do the hard yards. I want him to succeed, but I now very much doubt he will.

On the back of that performance, my first change to the team would be Cornelius out and Retzlaff in.

 

[LIONHART]

He looks clean with the ball in his hands and can be quite clever with the ball but just can't get the pill enough and unfortunately provides zero body pressure and tackling pressure in a contest. He is probably worth persisting with on the basis that we had a better structure with him up forward and we have few if any other options at the moment. I would give him game time until Browny returns and one way or another we will get a good assessment of him by them. I suspect we are going to lose more than we win with or without him so I would persist if it were my call.

i agree with this.

was super disappointed in him though yesterday, thought he could have presented far more often. surely he sees this as his one last chance to consolidate a spot in the side.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Retzlaff kicked 4 in the ressies on the weekend. I'd like to see us persist with Cornelius, but include Retzlaff in the side as well.

 

[Grimreepah]

Mitch Clark

“I was a lot happier with the way I played last week,” Clark said.

“Working my way up the ground a bit more as centre-half forward and having big Aaron Cornelius behind made me feel more confident in the role.”

“I’m not too sure how the coaches saw it, but I think it worked pretty well.”

 

[LIONHART]

don't know about anyone else, but I am so disappointed that corny could not take this latest opportunity he had to make a name for himself in the side.

getting dropped again, I have grave doubts that he is going to make it, such a shame. I have been waiting (expecting/hoping) for a break-out game that would set him on his way. I thought he had a perfect opportunity (with brown & staker out for long periods) to really make that third tall position his own on the forward line.

someone needs to get in his ear.

 

[chopperduck]

Just needs to show some improvement over his last season. I think he looked ok in his 2 games. For the most part he lead well and he chased pretty good too, so i think he did put in the effort. I think the thing that hurts him is his overall fitness. Even from FF, you need lead and lead and lead and lead and make a contest and lead, try tackle and pressure then lead and lead again. I just don't think he has the tank for this kind of work rate.

I don't think Acorn was so much dropped, as he was just pushed out really. Goose can play that 3rd tall role probably just as well, but gives us flexibility with being able to go back. Collier was pretty good last week down back as well, so we have just ran out of spots.

Not sure what his contract status is like, but hopefully he can really put in, finish the year well and build from it. He has the tools to be a pretty good forward.