Clarke

[Freo Dr]

No, Clarke is a good prospect just early days for a tall bloke. Good tapwork, good leap and is learning the art of being a forward.

I remember thinking how much of a liability Sandi was, Clarke will be good as a 2nd ruckman/forward from the 2nd half of next year barring injury.

Go the Fro!

If the brains trust really think our KPP stocks are so bad with the loss of Tarrant and others exiting stage left anyway (Solomon, Hase, Hinkley, Dodd, Headland, Schammer maybe traded) plus from what I hear a shallow draft for KPP's then you will find Murphy with another 1 or 2 year extension (remember he was not the worst against Hawthorn in Tassie). Not saying he should get an extension but it will be an indication of our list position if he does.

Roberton also tends to get overlooked as a key position prospect - he is taller than most realise - similar to Tarrant? (Edit Robo 191 cm, Taz 193, Dodd 191, McPhee 190, Silvagni 191,Pav 192).

 

[Selggad]

There was another thread earlier discussing Robbo and most people have him earmarked as a third tall and flanker type but I think that is largely because of his lack of weight. He only needs another cm or 2 and he is right in the mix for tall defender. Even at 191 he is still bigger or as big as many a very good FB/ CHB. He reads the pay well, has a great competitive spirit and is damn quick off the mark. It will be 2 or 3 seasons but I can definitely see him playing KP in the future.

Good to see the support on the thread for my buddy Zac. Some of his marking in the second half of the year was superb, but he is still principally a ruck men in development. Be great once he gets more weight through his hips and torso. His shoulders are already a pretty good size, I would guess from hi basket ball days.

 

[Clay Davis]

To be fair Brown must be a handy player he's in his 11th season as an AFL player and is a pretty good chance to play in a Grand Final this year.


The other 3 were drafted during the Schwabbolly era where spiel and rhetoric were much more important than actual list management.

Agree with Brown. Not a stunning player, but not all top 10 players make 200 games either.

 

[bruzaar62]

Agree with all the posative stuff on Clark,he has all the tools and just needs a few extra kilos to become a very important cog in the Freo team(also needs to hang onto his marks...but that will come with experience).
I still think the club will attempt to get a back up ruckman as insurance for Sandy tiring or Zack not coming on as quickly as expected.
Morabito could also be considered for CHF somewhere down the track ??

 

[E Shed]

I too think the Club will trade or draft a mature ruckman for backup. Sandi carried the team for most of the season and couldn't quite make it to the line. If we'd had the luxury of resting him more things could have been different.
On Houghton I watched him as closely as I could this year being his nominated buddy. I tried to post my thoughts as often as possible in his player thread. He is extremely mobile and agile and had clean skills and a good set shot. I have hopes for him at AFL level.

 

[Sman-21]

the thing is say we did go out an get another mature age ruckman, it wouldnt change sandis workload at all.

He is just so dominant and has good endurance for a guy that size that they will always prefer to use him than any other player.
When you got someone so dominant its hard to say ok rest him this week an play this guy.

The days of 2 pure ruckman are gone.
So it will always be Sandi main ruck Keplar mobile tall 2nd ruck option that can be used forward or back.
If its not keplar it will be MJ in that role.

I cant see them using a highish draft pick to grab a ruckmen that only plays when sandi is injured and any cheap ruckman wont do much better than Clarke/keplar in ruck anyway.

They will show faith in Clarke an develop him the same way as the sook warnock.
Hopefully Clark wont cry an leave just as hes starting to prove his talent.
As when Clark should be reaching his prime sandi will be nearing the end.


An the reason noone calls Roberton a KPP prospect is coz he provides to much run an carry, very good skills etc so u dont want him locked down back just trying to shut down the key forwards.
You want him playing on 3rd tall or any other unimportant forward line player so that he can run off them.
Bulking Roberton up to become a key defender in a shut down role would be like bulking duffman up to play that role.
A waste of their abilities.

Roberton is a halfback flanker an thats how it will stay.

If i was in charge I would be looking more towards Silvagni to bulk up to play fullback/chb
The times he has played that role to fill in for injuries during games he has done pretty well.

At the moment though i would have Mcpharlin playing on opp teams best forward so he plays chb/fb depending on whos most dangerous.
Then i would be bulking MJ up abit to play as key defender(look at his defensive work in last game to see why). If he continues to not gain an inch of muscle you gotta question what hes getting upto outside of footy.

Another option is Mcphee chb i know he played down back early in year an was terrible, but that was when he was terrible absolutely everywhere he played.
He could be another handy option down back.

To be honest we actually have quite a few options for key position back roles at the moment but they are all nearing the end.
And our developing ones underneath them are still very raw an no idea how they will turn out.

 

[Lach72]

Roberton could be a backman the way Scarlett is

 

[Ysaye]

I'm not disagreeing with you because neither of us know, but the on the back of some great recruiting/drafting by the club and the fact that they "reached" to secure him gives me some confidence that he'll be better than you predict. His colts form was good too, showed much more agility than Ashley Hansen ever has.

You are right that he has way more agility than Hansen ever has had.

I just reckon they reached because on paper he is one super athletic prospect with good skills, and that makes the payoff it it works large and therefore made it worth the gamble. But as Chingis says, at the moment he doesn't go hard enough at the ball and that is the difference between him being a good player that can do an adequate job at AFL level and being a recognizable star forward.

 

[Docker Dolph]

Roberton could be a backman the way Scarlett is

Or Enright, Gilbert, Fisher for that matter. All capable of playing on KPF types, as I think Roberton certainly will be.

On Zac, I think patience is the key and we're lucky to have Sandi and some pinch hitters to allow us to be just that. I'm not expecting Zac to be full time in our best 22 for another 3 years yet. By that time he'll be fine.

His marking is WAY ahead of where Sandi was at the same stage.

Griffen makes sense for us. Not to be in our 22 each week but to be on our list for the times when Sandi can't go. Park him at East Freo until required.

 

[theGav56]

I cant see them using a highish draft pick to grab a ruckmen that only plays when sandi is injured and any cheap ruckman wont do much better than Clarke/keplar in ruck anyway.

Clarke as our only developing ruckman is very thin. Forget about MJ an Bradley, who do enough when Sandilands is firing, but not enough in their own right. Clarke may not succeed, or may not be happy to stay here. At the very least we need one more developing ruckman.

 

[Purple_Sleeves]

You are right that he has way more agility than Hansen ever has had.

I just reckon they reached because on paper he is one super athletic prospect with good skills, and that makes the payoff it it works large and therefore made it worth the gamble. But as Chingis says, at the moment he doesn't go hard enough at the ball and that is the difference between him being a good player that can do an adequate job at AFL level and being a recognizable star forward.

So when do you think we're likely to see him in purple? Any chance for next season?

 

[Scham]

So when do you think we're likely to see him in purple? Any chance for next season?

I think so.

It'll depend on the form and fitness of Mayne, Kepler and Pav and the development of Bucovaz but I can see him getting an opportunity in the NAB Cup and perhaps 1 or 2 chances in the season proper as a half forward flank ala Jack Watts this year.