Player Watch Josh Rachele - Sent To The Gulag!

[WaynesWorld19]

You're trying to conflate the form of senior players with the development of younger players.

Clarry is an elite player when he's at his best, there's questions at the moment over his form and in his case we already know that much of it is driven by his personal issues.

Rachele and Pedlar are developing players and Nicks' role, like every other coach, is to develop talent and get the best out of them.

This clearly isn't happening and trying to use Oliver's personal issues off the field as way to try and shift blame away from Nicks for their development being stifled seems like another attempt at a hail mary.

No, what you are saying is players who are young ...it acceptable for them to be lazy in a role ....whereas experienced players, the bar is higher on expectations

Then you turn around and are critical of the Club / Coach for losing games .....so which is it, lose games by playing players in roles, who don't deserve the role .....or try and win games of footy

The two thoughts are not compatible .....the Club is playing Rachele when he's out of form, trying to get games into him .....but you think he's magically going to turn his form around, if we put him in the midfield .....that is so naive

Outsiders, like draft watchers, media watchers are saying truths ....you simply don't want to hear or believe

 

[George Kramer]

Surely there has to be a change where you can put Mods not from your board on ignore

 

[Southerntakeover]

**** the ignore. You should have to make one valid point every 100 posts or so as a minimum or get a ban.

 

[suburpy]

Tell me Kirky, is this an accurate assessment by Rookiemecentral in Rachele's Draft Year .....all this outrage as to why he isn't playing midfield ....my comments on his lack of effort & two-way running, as factors to why he isn't getting midfield minutes:

Do I want to tear a player down, NO ....however there are holes in Rachele's game that were pre-existing his drafting....which are still work-ons

So why are Coaches the villains for not playing him in the midfield ....seems pretty obvious to me
____________________________________________________________________________________________

A factor which may be holding Rachele back from more midfield time is his consistency, and consistency of effort. He has developed into a player who impacts in spurts, dominating periods of a game rather than the full four quarters. You get the sense he knows just how good he is, and might not seek to prove it with each act. There are games where he simply looks on, but others where he is less energised and raring to break the game open.

Should Rachele build his tank and enhance his two-way effort, he can become an unstoppable small forward/midfielder in the modern game. Aware of some of his defensive deficiencies, he stated in preseason that he wanted to take his tackling inside 50 to the next level. He averaged 3.8 per game in the NAB League this year and is ominous when making a menace of himself, but can work on bringing that intensity for longer periods.

DRAFT PROJECTION: 6-12

SUMMARY:

Rachele is a player who, at his best, has top five potential. As the leading small forward in this year's cohort, his stocks will be boosted even further and he will likely tempt clubs inside the top 10. Work rate and consistency are essential in the modern game, but can easily be developed in an elite environment. Rachele will be drafted based on what he does so well, and there are plenty of traits which fans will quickly come to enjoy. He's a bums-on-seat type of talent, and one capable of pulling off what others simply cannot.

Josh Rachele Draft Profile

central.rookieme.com

The same Rookiemecentral that had this to say about McHenry:

On-field, his evasion, decision making and clearance work helps him have a few tricks he can display, and he has the ability to win the ball at the coal face, then dart out of a stoppage, not through acceleration, but through evasion. With ball-in-hand, McHenry makes good decisions, especially going inside 50, often pulling kicks or putting them in front of his teammates to their advantage. In terms of improvements, there is not a great deal that McHenry does not at least do to an adequate level.

Bahaha - yeah they get everything right it seems, maybe just maybe there evaluation of Rachelle is not 100% on the money either

 

[Rory Walkerfield]

On Rachele, I can’t recall prior to this year myself having any concerns over his hardness at the contest.

This year there have been multiple times where I’ve raised my eyebrows.

Did I miss something previously? Or is it a confidence thing?

Players seem to go backward at the crows, not forward in development.

 

[Faaarrk]

No, what you are saying is players who are young ...it acceptable for them to be lazy in a role ....whereas experienced players, the bar is higher on expectations

Then you turn around and are critical of the Club / Coach for losing games .....so which is it, lose games by playing players in roles, who don't deserve the role .....or try and win games of footy

The two thoughts are not compatible .....the Club is playing Rachele when he's out of form, trying to get games into him .....but you think he's magically going to turn his form around, if we put him in the midfield .....that is so naive

Outsiders, like draft watchers, media watchers are saying truths ....you simply don't want to hear or believe

Of course the bar is set higher for experienced players because they have…experience and also have a duty to set the standard for the younger ones. Why is it acceptable for Laird to jog around yet Rachele gets crucified?
Out of those two I know who I would prefer to have in the middle.

I’m not saying Rachele should get away with not running hard both ways just that double standards and favouritism are evident.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Of course the bar is set higher for experienced players because they have…experience and also have a duty to set the standard for the younger ones. Why is it acceptable for Laird to jog around yet Rachele gets crucified?
Out of those two I know who I would prefer to have in the middle.

I’m not saying Rachele should get away with not running hard both ways just that double standards and favouritism are evident.

I agree ...this has been my criticism of Crouch, similar to Rachele ....not running hard enough both ways

At least Rachele is far more dangerous with his possessions than Crouch ...who has slowed our ball movement

Rumour is, Brad Crouch, who is similar to his brother ....is on limited speaking terms with Ross Lyon & has refused to change to Ross's way .....lingers in the VFL & story is, he'll struggle to get another game & won't be at the SAINT
s in 2025

But I digress .....I'm of the thinking, get bad habits out of player's early career .....too many Draftees are ushered into the bottom sides too quickly & carry the bad habits for what is generally a short career.

IMO make Rachele earn the midfield minutes .....it's up to no-one else but him

 

[Rabish Binney]

On Rachele, I can’t recall prior to this year myself having any concerns over his hardness at the contest.

This year there have been multiple times where I’ve raised my eyebrows.

Did I miss something previously? Or is it a confidence thing?

Players seem to go backward at the crows, not forward in development.

One does not really want to say it.....but he is scared of a hard contest.

 

[Rory Walkerfield]

One does not really want to say it.....but he is scared of a hard contest.

But was this evident prior to this year?

 

[Rabish Binney]

But was this evident prior to this year?

Good point...I don't recall seeing anything from last year ...

 

[Jarman3]

On Rachele, I can’t recall prior to this year myself having any concerns over his hardness at the contest.

This year there have been multiple times where I’ve raised my eyebrows.

Did I miss something previously? Or is it a confidence thing?

Players seem to go backward at the crows, not forward in development.

This is the issue. It's hard to think of too many players we've drafted during this rebuild who are significantly better now than they were in their first game. Soligo... Nankervis... Murray... struggling to think of too many others. A lot of others showed good signs early but have failed to go on with it and have either stagnated or gone backwards. Thinking the likes of Berry, Schoenberg, Pedlar, Rachele, Thilthorpe etc. And that's without getting into the genuine duds like McAsey.

 

[Carn The Texan]

Does anyone think that Rachele's lack of progress this year is out of step with most of the squad?

I actually think that while he's been up and down this year, his best stuff has been more "well rounded" and has shown some glimpses of exactly what we've all wanted from him - a crafty and highly skilled forward who can work up the ground a bit more too. Reckon as he finds his consistency he will be a great player for the club, as long as we back him in. People forget he's still so young.

So while he has been inconsistent this year (which I think is in step with the rest of the team) it's been easier to see how his improvement will progress over the next two years (which is more than I can say for the overall team structure).

 

[Billy_01]

Feel like Rachele just doesn’t focus and doesn’t use his power at all. His head isn’t in the game when he gets the ball sometimes, fartasses around and gets tackled too easily. It’s all mental he needs to be sharper and more alert. You can see the difference when he fully commits to a contest or play, I don’t think it’s a lack of bravery more just concentration issues.

 

[kirky]

So the WW makes a comment about Crouch whereas Faarrrk was actual talking about Laird not chasing.

WW seems to not be willing to criticise Laird for some reason as it reflects on Nicks I suspect.

Interesting.

 

[1970crow]

So the WW makes a comment about Crouch whereas Faarrrk was actual talking about Laird not chasing.

WW seems to not be willing to criticise Laird for some reason as it reflects on Nicks I suspect.

Interesting.

Didn’t he claim Laird in the top 5 mids in the comp earlier this year? Might have something to do with it. Although, he’s normally happy to quintuple down on stupid assessments.

 

[AFC979810]

IMO make Rachele earn the midfield minutes .....it's up to no-one else but him

So Nicks made a mistake by gifting him all those midfield minutes in 2023.

You are literally the worst.

 

[kirky]

Didn’t he claim Laird in the top 5 mids in the comp earlier this year? Might have something to do with it. Although, he’s normally happy to quintuple down on stupid assessments.

Was that Nicks or WW who claimed Laird in the top 5?

 

[1970crow]

Was that Nicks or WW who claimed Laird in the top 5?

WW. Pretty sure it was quoted in another thread.

 

[1970crow]

Was that Nicks or WW who claimed Laird in the top 5?

Yes I do ....because of his tackling numbers & long kicking versus handballing


At first glance, seems strange .....it's based on averages, so no penalty for injury games .....but just checked & Dixon out performed Jeremy Cameron, even though Dixon only played 13 games


An anomaly .....Flanders went into the midfield late season ....he was never re-classified as a Mid, as the role change came after the final re-classifications


Yes, had a magnificent year .....severely underrated player is Ryan


Of course he was, based on his stats .....Greene / Rankine are lower possession / high impact players .....but the CD rating is based on quantification......ratings are loaded for game winning goals, however they occur infrequently

 

[kirky]

View attachment 2029034

Well just based on that alone, he has lost all credibility.

Doesn’t seem to worry about metres gained.

 

[ABAB]

Sometimes the intention of Coaches is not met with effort by the players !

You can't lump every player failure on Coaches .....the old adage, no-one sacks (delists) a player ....it's the player that got himself delisted

The Club trained Rachele and Pedlar in the midfield over the PS (I accept your premise on that) .....but if the players do not play the roles as required, the Coaches can't continue to play them in that role

We believe Pedlar hasn't been totally committed over the PS ..his form a reflection of that

Pedlar, is judged on what he does with the ball ....however, a huge part of a players role these days is what a player does without the ball ....two way running & pressure ...most Clubs are trying to have a successful turnover game, on the back of pressure

Just as an example .....is the current form of Oliver, the Coaches fault, or the players fault ??? ....except MELB keeps on playing Oliver midfield, and it's costing games

Nicks has simply relied on experience midfield of Laird and Crouch for the first 4 weeks because he was trying to make Finals, he isn't the first senior coach and won't be the last one to rely on experience players despite their lack of form just like Goodwin is persisting with Oliver in the midfield.

In the first 8 weeks of last year, he wasn't trying to make Finals and Crouch was out of the side so he was able to experiment with both Soligo and Rachele in there. He has continued with Soligo and moved Rankine there after round 5 this year so this has nothing to do with Rachele's lack of midfield form or not doing what he is supposed to do. Rachele has said Nicks wanted him to play a different role which was neither in the midfield or forward but further up the ground as a link player.

 

[ABAB]

On Rachele, I can’t recall prior to this year myself having any concerns over his hardness at the contest.

This year there have been multiple times where I’ve raised my eyebrows.

Did I miss something previously? Or is it a confidence thing?

Players seem to go backward at the crows, not forward in development.

I recall lazy pressure efforts in the forward line but he didn't do this in the first 8 weeks when he played full midfield and laid strong run down HTB.

 

[Soggy2112]

Tell me Kirky, is this an accurate assessment by Rookiemecentral in Rachele's Draft Year .....all this outrage as to why he isn't playing midfield ....my comments on his lack of effort & two-way running, as factors to why he isn't getting midfield minutes:

Do I want to tear a player down, NO ....however there are holes in Rachele's game that were pre-existing his drafting....which are still work-ons

So why are Coaches the villains for not playing him in the midfield ....seems pretty obvious to me
____________________________________________________________________________________________

A factor which may be holding Rachele back from more midfield time is his consistency, and consistency of effort. He has developed into a player who impacts in spurts, dominating periods of a game rather than the full four quarters. You get the sense he knows just how good he is, and might not seek to prove it with each act. There are games where he simply looks on, but others where he is less energised and raring to break the game open.

Should Rachele build his tank and enhance his two-way effort, he can become an unstoppable small forward/midfielder in the modern game. Aware of some of his defensive deficiencies, he stated in preseason that he wanted to take his tackling inside 50 to the next level. He averaged 3.8 per game in the NAB League this year and is ominous when making a menace of himself, but can work on bringing that intensity for longer periods.

DRAFT PROJECTION: 6-12

SUMMARY:

Rachele is a player who, at his best, has top five potential. As the leading small forward in this year's cohort, his stocks will be boosted even further and he will likely tempt clubs inside the top 10. Work rate and consistency are essential in the modern game, but can easily be developed in an elite environment. Rachele will be drafted based on what he does so well, and there are plenty of traits which fans will quickly come to enjoy. He's a bums-on-seat type of talent, and one capable of pulling off what others simply cannot.

Josh Rachele Draft Profile

central.rookieme.com

Rather than refer to his pre draft projections, perhaps look at his AFL performances.

When he was given significant midfield time as a second year player he performed at a very high level.

He is currently performing at a high level for his current role.

What is the reason he has had the midfield/forward role he had in the first six rounds of last year taken away?

You ask why the coaches are the villains?

Because he was doing very well in a role and that role has been taken away and now his development has slowed because he’s playing in a role that is not conducive to him developing further.

Notice how I keep saying the role? Which is 100% up to the coaches.

 

[Crow till I die]

Who can blame him, the club itself has treated him like shit this year. He's been thrown under the bus a few times and absolutely nothing from the club, just let the young lad fend for himself.

He came to the club with so much confidence, his first game had us all in the edge of our seat and now he looks broken, it's actually bloody sad what the club has done to him, the same thing happened with Jones.... It's happening with Curtin, it happened with Thilthorpe.

Being the 1st player picked in the draft by Adelaide each year comes with a ridiculous amount of pressure because each time you have everyone hopping you'll be the saviour you'll be the next absolute superstar, "The One" to lead us to ultimate glory. We haven't had it since Dangerfield and he bloody left before we tasted the glory.

With the season shot, it would be much better for them to give him a block of games playing on ball with short stints up forward. Get him with ball in hand and his game will come back pretty quick. They should be trying lots of things now that they won't though

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Nicks has simply relied on experience midfield of Laird and Crouch for the first 4 weeks because he was trying to make Finals, he isn't the first senior coach and won't be the last one to rely on experience players despite their lack of form just like Goodwin is persisting with Oliver in the midfield.

In the first 8 weeks of last year, he wasn't trying to make Finals and Crouch was out of the side so he was able to experiment with both Soligo and Rachele in there. He has continued with Soligo and moved Rankine there after round 5 this year so this has nothing to do with Rachele's lack of midfield form or not doing what he is supposed to do. Rachele has said Nicks wanted him to play a different role which was neither in the midfield or forward but further up the ground as a link player.

That's too simplistic a POV ......yes, last year, we didn't have Crouch in the side ...this year, I agree we started off with experience in the Midfield ....I still disagree with starting Crouch

In fact, Soligo played predominantly WING last year (first 8 games) ....with some CBA's (under 30%)

Meanwhile AFC979810 has kept rattling on about how good Rachele was as a MID in the first 8 games .....well, he only played 3 of those 8 games as a FT MID ....in R5 he was getting CBA's then drifting fwd, ala Dusty Martin

However, except for R1 .....Rachele's venturing into the D50 was almost nonexistent

His 2023 TOG also belies the belief he's still to build fitness .....so we can only default to work rate
There are a lot of Mids who are running at 60-65% TOG ...Rachele was averaging 82%