Player Watch Aiden Begg (Delisted 2024)

[jc37]

Completely smashed in the ruck as predicted but could not have asked more with his follow up work and things he did once the ball hit the ground. Interesting prospect look fwd to see how he goes against the Tigers.

 

[Jen2310]

I imagine he would have been told just go and compete. Nobody would expect a raw 19 year old to win the ruck battle v witts, so doubt thats even a worry. He was just to support cameron which he did.. but his around the ground work was amazing. Couldn't have asked anything more for a debut.

He looks really at the level and comfortable. Didn't have an issue with the step up from VFL, so that'll hold him in good stead going forward. The more games into him right now with Grundy out will help his development.

 

[Kappa]

Looks great at ground level, needs to show he can start taking marks to be AFL relevant.

 

[Jen2310]

Looks great at ground level, needs to show he can start taking marks to be AFL relevant.

Took 4 marks. It's a start.

 

[Kappa]

Took 4 marks. It's a start.

I mean pack marks / contested marks.

He showed he has a great head on his shoulders, needs to be able to hit the scoreboard though.

 

[Jen2310]

I mean pack marks / contested marks.

He showed he has a great head on his shoulders, needs to be able to hit the scoreboard though.

Yeah, that will come. Baby steps. Though what he showed definitely was good signs for the future. Once he has another few pre-seasons and strength on him, we'll see much further development in this area.
Can't fault his work too much for his first game. It'll definitely help him moving forward.

 

[jonbe54]

Ball was also awesome. Was one of our best in 2011. Really showed why he was picked with the 2nd pick in 2001 (I think it could have been 2000 or 2002 as well 2001 most likely though)

No argument - awesome club man too, genuine heart and soul player.

 

[jonbe54]

Always.
While in Navy Blue he was a lepper.

But there is a cure these days and he has been vaccinated.

No it wasn't who he went to it was the manner of his going.

Telling the kids not to throw away his guernsey when he already knew he was leaving.

Scumbag.

 

[jonbe54]

Cameron took a couple of strong marks, we need that at the moment.

Watching Beggs last VFL game I couldn’t quite understand the decision to promote him to afl. Too soon, and it showed in the ruck.

Don't know why so many persist in believing he was promoted to win the hitouts.

He was selected to give ground mobility after the hitout - the whole coaching staff would have known he wasn't up to hitout duties at AFL level.

Fly was banking on an increased competitiveness at ground level which he got.

If anyone thinks we would have won the hitouts with Cox doing the duties I can only chuckle.

 

[loki04]

You keep tying yourself in knots.
If Ollie’s form against Coburg is relevant then so is Cox’s.
Just acknowledge you’re caught in a double standard that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, and move on.

I'd actually like to see both of them follow it up over a block of games.

 

[TradeDraft]

Some kids get shocked at the pace of the top level. But Beggy looked a natural. Didn't look out of place at all. That's an achievement in itself for a first gamer who hasn't played much footy in the last 3 years.

Then add his 15 disposals, 4 marks. Clearly he plays better at the top level than VFL. Strangely.

Better Players around him

 

[Jen2310]

 

[ClaytonM]

Don't know why so many persist in believing he was promoted to win the hitouts.

He was selected to give ground mobility after the hitout - the whole coaching staff would have known he wasn't up to hitout duties at AFL level.

Fly was banking on an increased competitiveness at ground level which he got.

If anyone thinks we would have won the hitouts with Cox doing the duties I can only chuckle.

If think it is reasonable to assume Cox would have won more than 2 hit outs for the entire game if selected. Whether he would have been more effective overall is a different issue.

While we weren’t punished today, Begg’s very limited ruck craft at the moment will probably come back to bite us at some point. We are in a development year so I am not concerned, but he will likely get seriously exposed by better teams.

 

[jonbe54]

If think it is reasonable to assume Cox would have won more than 2 hit outs for the entire game if selected. Whether he would have been more effective overall is a different issue.

While we weren’t punished today, Begg’s very limited ruck craft at the moment will probably come back to bite us at some point. We are in a development year so I am not concerned, but he will likely get seriously exposed by better teams.

You can't cherry pick really Clayton - Cox would certainly have won more hit outs but I thought it would have been glaringly obvious that this would have been much more than negated by his liability at ground balls in the most important region of the ground.

Of course we are going to get thumped at times in this season, it's not about winning the flag but winning what we can WHILST winning the development game of getting kids senior experience without totally throwing away games.

Too many of you have got carried away with some early wins and the refreshing change of tactics.

IF we make the final eight it will be with great good fortune and we will be out in straight sets, but if we can keep bringing in promising youngsters and giving them invaluable AFL experience whilst not throwing away games we win the development game and get a head start on next year.

If you think Fly didn't know that Begg was going to be smashed at the hitout game you are selling our senior coach very short - FMD my mother knows it and she's been dead since 1990.

Winning a few more hitouts and getting smashed once the ball hit the ground in the centre is NOT clever.

Begg was very competitive once the ball was on the ground and provided great support for the mids.

We have to look past the mundane and understand that this is a process.

 

[VinnieB]

I really enjoyed his follow up work at ground level. It cancelled out his lack of competitiveness in the hit outs a lot more than I was expecting. Full credit to Aiden and the people who selected him.

For his stats keep in mind his time on ground was only about 55%. I think that is the right balance at the moment given I don't think he'd offer a lot yet as a second forward.

Nice debut!

Yeah he looks promising and being so young and raw has a lot of potential. What concerns me though is being slaughtered in the hitouts. He is undersized and with inexperience, we run the risk of being craved up out of the middle.

 

[ClaytonM]

You can't cherry pick really Clayton - Cox would certainly have won more hit outs but I thought it would have been glaringly obvious that this would have been much more than negated by his liability at ground balls in the most important region of the ground.

Of course we are going to get thumped at times in this season, it's not about winning the flag but winning what we can WHILST winning the development game of getting kids senior experience without totally throwing away games.

Too many of you have got carried away with some early wins and the refreshing change of tactics.

IF we make the final eight it will be with great good fortune and we will be out in straight sets, but if we can keep bringing in promising youngsters and giving them invaluable AFL experience whilst not throwing away games we win the development game and get a head start on next year.

If you think Fly didn't know that Begg was going to be smashed at the hitout game you are selling our senior coach very short - FMD my mother knows it and she's been dead since 1990.

Winning a few more hitouts and getting smashed once the ball hit the ground in the centre is NOT clever.

Begg was very competitive once the ball was on the ground and provided great support for the mids.

We have to look past the mundane and understand that this is a process.

I was not cherry picking anything. Your statement was ‘If anyone thinks we would have won the hitouts with Cox doing the duties I can only chuckle’

If you said clearances I might agree, but you said hitouts. I think it is highly likely a 210cm Cox would have got more than 2 hit outs if he played.

 

[Jelly Bean]

You can't cherry pick really Clayton - Cox would certainly have won more hit outs but I thought it would have been glaringly obvious that this would have been much more than negated by his liability at ground balls in the most important region of the ground.

Of course we are going to get thumped at times in this season, it's not about winning the flag but winning what we can WHILST winning the development game of getting kids senior experience without totally throwing away games.

Too many of you have got carried away with some early wins and the refreshing change of tactics.

IF we make the final eight it will be with great good fortune and we will be out in straight sets, but if we can keep bringing in promising youngsters and giving them invaluable AFL experience whilst not throwing away games we win the development game and get a head start on next year.

If you think Fly didn't know that Begg was going to be smashed at the hitout game you are selling our senior coach very short - FMD my mother knows it and she's been dead since 1990.

Winning a few more hitouts and getting smashed once the ball hit the ground in the centre is NOT clever.

Begg was very competitive once the ball was on the ground and provided great support for the mids.

We have to look past the mundane and understand that this is a process.

I wish we'd be focussing on the youth even more than what we have so far this season. I do worry that none of Henry, Macrae, McInness, or Poulter are getting extended runs in the seniors - that was supposed to be a fruitful crop of youngsters. We think about the likes of Cal Brown (although I honestly think he'll be dropped this week), WHE, even Madgen getting games ahead of them it just doesn't strike me of a development mentality

 

[jathanas]

I wish we'd be focussing on the youth even more than what we have so far this season. I do worry that none of Henry, Macrae, McInness, or Poulter are getting extended runs in the seniors - that was supposed to be a fruitful crop of youngsters. We think about the likes of Cal Brown (although I honestly think he'll be dropped this week), WHE, even Madgen getting games ahead of them it just doesn't strike me of a development mentality

The flip-side to that is that the coaches are selecting the best 22 and that the young ones need to earn their call-up. Not a bad way to eradicate any sense of entitlement.

I will lose it if Ollie doesn't get a recall against the Tigers.

 

[No SPIN]

I wish we'd be focussing on the youth even more than what we have so far this season. I do worry that none of Henry, Macrae, McInness, or Poulter are getting extended runs in the seniors - that was supposed to be a fruitful crop of youngsters. We think about the likes of Cal Brown (although I honestly think he'll be dropped this week), WHE, even Madgen getting games ahead of them it just doesn't strike me of a development mentality

Someone mentioned we had 10 players under 22 years old which is a sizable development focus IMO.

 

[Jen2310]

Around the ground stats.

15 disposals
4 marks
3 tackles
8 contested posessions
87% DE
5 score involvements
1 score assists (looking at you Ginni)
3 clearances
4 Inside 50's

Has played 7 1/2 games since 2018 (2 U16 nab league games in 2019, 2 U18 games in 2021) Shoulder injury. 3 1/2 games of VFL in 2022 (got concussed during game 3)

Mighty impressive.

 

[Jen2310]

Someone mentioned we had 10 players under 22 years old which is a sizable development focus IMO.

Quaynor
Ginnivan
N.Daicos
McCreery
Begg
Tyler B
Reef (sub)

7 players 22 or under

But if we're going by experience.

9 players under 50 games (including the likes of Madgen and Cameron)
14 players under 100 games

 

[35Daicos]

Someone mentioned we had 10 players under 22 years old which is a sizable development focus IMO.

There was a discussion in the VFL game day thread about the age of the players, and 10 (out of 11 - all except Cox) from our AFL list who played vs. Coburg were under 22 years old.

 

[jonbe54]

I was not cherry picking anything. Your statement was ‘If anyone thinks we would have won the hitouts with Cox doing the duties I can only chuckle’

If you said clearances I might agree, but you said hitouts. I think it is highly likely a 210cm Cox would have got more than 2 hit outs if he played.

You picked out ONE statement in a post and ran with it.

Very little I hate more than taking one statement out of context with the rest of the post.

So yes that's cherry picking in my book.

 

[jonbe54]

You picked out ONE statement in a post and ran with it.

Very little I hate more than taking one statement out of context with the rest of the post.

So yes that's cherry picking in my book.

EDIT

Derk you are obviously labouring under the impression that I GAF about your opinion.

SECOND EDIT.

LOL Derk If I wanted to deal with adolescent behaviour I would visit my grand nieces and nephews. Ignored.

 

[Scodog10]

Promising shiny new toy..

Has now killed will Kelly's career

As I've previously said I would train him as a full back

Perfect height and agility for it

It’s an absolute no brainer!

Hats off to the coaching group on how they used him Sunday though. Going into it I was struggling to wrap my head around using him exclusively in the ruck and not using him as the number 1 ruck. Somehow they pulled it off with him not only producing from very limited game time, but going big based on what we’ve previously seen from him (that’ll probably be a season high performance).

I doubt it’s sustainable for too long and soon enough a team will get hold of us out of the centre with this type of strategy, but I’m happy to ride it out for the next 10-12 weeks to get the game time into Begg. Grundy rolling forward more over 23-24 with Begg chopping out could be something we look at as he matures if he isn’t shifted back.