Team Mgmt. Laverde, Langford or Fantasia

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Langford will be fine, just needs to build a bit more of a rig so he can play the way he wants to play, that or avoid being hit (some more time and he'll get his confidence playing on the big stage). I like all 3, Laverde showing the most early (is a ready built player). Fantasia exciting, needs to be a player that doesn't go missing, if he can be a reasonably consistent player and then really breaks some games open for us he can be a match winner.
 

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Langford has had limited opportunities to show his stuff. In his first couple of games he could've had a couple of goals which he shanked (I'll put it down to nerves, been told he's a reliable shot), and he got absolutely creamed by showing more courage than what his body could handle. I think he'll be a fine player long term but may take a couple of seasons.

Fantasia will be good and if he can build his tank I'd like him to be forward flank or wingman, he has the ability to be a real line breaker and he does have natural instincts as a forward. Given his size when he came over he's needed to serve a decent apprenticeship that some people don't have the patience for when in our position.

Laverde - the kids has it. It's just a matter of unlocking the true potential and he'll be one of our best. He's certainly shown glimpses of what he'll become.
 
This one is tough, but I'll go:

Laverde
Langford
Fantasia

Like many, I believe that all 3 will make it.

Hard to believe that we picked all 3 plus Merrett in a period where we've had sanctions.

Dodoro is on fire
 
Fantasia and Laverde can get to the same level imo.
Langford needs time on the field and the gym but will be a very good player too. He's courageous and has footy smarts. He's shown that with some of his goals so far. Good leading patterns too.
 
BrunoV said:
Laverde will be our best player with only Daniher being good enough to get in his way.

I think Laverde can be top 10 in the comp type good.
Click to expand...


Obviously I've got Laverde at 1. As has already been said a few times, he is the complete package of athleticism, game sense and skill. It just goes to show that miracles do happen on draft day. How were 19 players taken before him?

While Merrett took off as a player this year I'd still keep him in this discussion. By the end of 2016, maybe it will be half way through 2017, it will be beyond any doubt that the footy gods finally did actually cut us a few breaks between 2013 and 2015. It will be a commonly held view that we could not have hoped to pick up 4 better players with the four live picks we had in 2013 and 2014 (there should be a 5th player drafted during this period who should have been a real player but the gods can also be campaigners).

I am not concerned at all by Langford. I think he could genuinely challenge Merrett as the second best player of this little but important crop. The doubt is where he will end up playing his best footy and how that will impact on him fulfilling his potential. He's is a superb athlete with genuine speed, agility and a Ryder like bounce to his movements. There is something about the way he moves and finds the ball that oozes "forward" (it could be that he played a lot of basketball as a kid, but I am speculating). He then spent a lot more time in the middle in the second half of the year and racked up possessions in the middle at will while showing real ability in traffic (that was surprising).

As a forward I'd want to see him used as a flanker because I have doubts that he is big enough to handle the modern key defenders to be dangerous enough to kick 40-50 goals. I think he will likely end up as a Gunston/Breust type mid sized forward who will be seriously important to the team and a vital cog in the forward line. It would ultimately mean that he does not scale the heights he could, I can seem him being Pendlebury like in the middle. While he would be a big midfielder, he is not the brute that Laverde is, he tends to slide through traffic and rely on really good vision.

Merrett is basically already our best midfielder. The thing that sets him apart from everyone else is that he really has no deficiencies in his game. He finds the ball inside and out and has the strength through the hips and a burst of speed and power to be a weapon in the roles. Add a ridiculously good kick and a defensive side to his game that is only rivaled by Hocking and Myers and he is a special player.

I really rate Fantasia as a player too. There is no real deficiency in his game either. His problem was clearly that he was the runt of the pack on draft day. If he was 180cm and normal weight he'd probably have been taken inside the top 20 because there is nothing that he doesn't do very well (even his attack on the footy and tackling is that of a much bigger guy).

Fantasia is another whose career will be impacted by whether the position that is the best fit for the team is the position that gets the most out of him as a player. Time will tell whether he can bulk up to another 5 to 7 kilos (or get to about 78-80kgs) and retain his speed and endurance because I don't think he is an outside player (and he'll need to be a nugget to be effective on the inside). He is actually a very similar player to Zac Merrett. I would like to see him spend the majority of his time forward with stints on the ball as I don't like really small players at half back (because they are necessarily average over head and intercept marks and spoils are an important part of that role).

Ultimately there are a few more uncertainties about Langford and Fantasia than the other two (who will be 2 of our best players for their careers) so I vote:

1. Laverde
2. Z. Merrett
3. Langford
4. Fantasia
 
DapperJong said:
LOL at everyone writing off Langford.

We are just lucky Laverde has started off with a bang.

Don't get confused people.
Click to expand...

Who's writing him off?

Bloke is silky as ****.

I see him as that high half forward/mid, similar to Caracella....
 
I reckon Langford will end up the better of this trio, has started slower than the others and his body isn't as developed as Laverde's but once he gets going he will be a star, so will Laverde I reckon. Fantasia has all the attributes to be a a really good player for a long time also, not sure if he will be in the same class as the other two though.
 
Jade said:
Who's writing him off?

Bloke is silky as ****.

I see him as that high half forward/mid, similar to Caracella....
Click to expand...

Maybe "writing off" is the wrong term. But unlike you and I, some people don't think he will be that good.
 

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DapperJong said:
Maybe "writing off" is the wrong term. But unlike you and I, some people don't think he will be that good.
Click to expand...

Bit harsh if that's the case, everything I've seen so far smacks of a classy player.
 
The chase Laverde did on Atley this year showed speed that I never knew existed. He came close to touching one of Atley's non-existent anal hairs but didn't quite catch him. Laverde reminds me of a champion NFL quarterback; a head that's almost punch-able and a rig you wish you had. A poor man's Fyfe? I don't think so.

Followed by Zach, Langford and Fantasia. They're all in good company and hopefully more comes in this years draft.
 
It seems more and more people these days expect kids to walk into a best 22 in their first year and if they don't there's automatic question marks over them. That mentality is thoroughly annoying. Some lads are physically ready for the rigors of AFL but not up to the pace of the game immediately, some are up to the pace of the game but not physically ready, some are neither ready physically or mentally. None of this means they won't be any good. Langford seems to be the case in point here especially.

Patience seems to have taken a back seat to immediate results (which seems a generational thing, apologies to any gen Yers out there who take offence). Reality says very few players waltz into a side like Judd or Selwood.

Hopefully in 5 years time we can have a similar thread to this looking back at the saga as a shithouse time, but one through which we set up our list with 3 jets called Laverde, Langford and Fantasia (as well as Merrett and hopefully picks 4 and 5).
 
BrunoV said:
Obviously I've got Laverde at 1. As has already been said a few times, he is the complete package of athleticism, game sense and skill. It just goes to show that miracles do happen on draft day. How were 19 players taken before him?

While Merrett took off as a player this year I'd still keep him in this discussion. By the end of 2016, maybe it will be half way through 2017, it will be beyond any doubt that the footy gods finally did actually cut us a few breaks between 2013 and 2015. It will be a commonly held view that we could not have hoped to pick up 4 better players with the four live picks we had in 2013 and 2014 (there should be a 5th player drafted during this period who should have been a real player but the gods can also be campaigners).

I am not concerned at all by Langford. I think he could genuinely challenge Merrett as the second best player of this little but important crop. The doubt is where he will end up playing his best footy and how that will impact on him fulfilling his potential. He's is a superb athlete with genuine speed, agility and a Ryder like bounce to his movements. There is something about the way he moves and finds the ball that oozes "forward" (it could be that he played a lot of basketball as a kid, but I am speculating). He then spent a lot more time in the middle in the second half of the year and racked up possessions in the middle at will while showing real ability in traffic (that was surprising).

As a forward I'd want to see him used as a flanker because I have doubts that he is big enough to handle the modern key defenders to be dangerous enough to kick 40-50 goals. I think he will likely end up as a Gunston/Breust type mid sized forward who will be seriously important to the team and a vital cog in the forward line. It would ultimately mean that he does not scale the heights he could, I can seem him being Pendlebury like in the middle. While he would be a big midfielder, he is not the brute that Laverde is, he tends to slide through traffic and rely on really good vision.

Merrett is basically already our best midfielder. The thing that sets him apart from everyone else is that he really has no deficiencies in his game. He finds the ball inside and out and has the strength through the hips and a burst of speed and power to be a weapon in the roles. Add a ridiculously good kick and a defensive side to his game that is only rivaled by Hocking and Myers and he is a special player.

I really rate Fantasia as a player too. There is no real deficiency in his game either. His problem was clearly that he was the runt of the pack on draft day. If he was 180cm and normal weight he'd probably have been taken inside the top 20 because there is nothing that he doesn't do very well (even his attack on the footy and tackling is that of a much bigger guy).

Fantasia is another whose career will be impacted by whether the position that is the best fit for the team is the position that gets the most out of him as a player. Time will tell whether he can bulk up to another 5 to 7 kilos (or get to about 78-80kgs) and retain his speed and endurance because I don't think he is an outside player (and he'll need to be a nugget to be effective on the inside). He is actually a very similar player to Zac Merrett. I would like to see him spend the majority of his time forward with stints on the ball as I don't like really small players at half back (because they are necessarily average over head and intercept marks and spoils are an important part of that role).

Ultimately there are a few more uncertainties about Langford and Fantasia than the other two (who will be 2 of our best players for their careers) so I vote:

1. Laverde
2. Z. Merrett
3. Langford
4. Fantasia
Click to expand...

I also still harbour very high hopes for Gleeson, and that he had an ordinary year as a result of all the non-football stuff that obviously impacte dthe rest of the team as well. Seems that many of our posters have cooled on Marty?
 
Vajayjay said:
I also still harbour very high hopes for Gleeson, and that he had an ordinary year as a result of all the non-football stuff that obviously impacte dthe rest of the team as well. Seems that many of our posters have cooled on Marty?
Click to expand...


I was drawing the line at 2013 purely because of the circumstances of the last two drafts and the three players referred to in the OP.

Like Gleeson a lot as a footballer.

If we go back to Gleeson we have to include Daniher too.

It's a seriously good 6 players to have taken over the three drafts.
 
BrunoV said:
I was drawing the line at 2013 purely because of the circumstances of the last two drafts and the three players referred to in the OP.

Like Gleeson a lot as a footballer.

If we go back to Gleeson we have to include Daniher too.

It's a seriously good 6 players to have taken over the three drafts.
Click to expand...

Preseason for Gleeson has to be spent in the gym.
If he's to play down back he has to impact contests in a much more forceful way.
Right now, he's just too thin but has all the required footballing smarts.
 
Laverde has every physical tool required to be at least very good - what's between his ears will determine his ceiling.

Langford is less physically gifted but maybe smarter - standard physical development and he'll be at least very good.

Fanta has one critical flaw - size. If he can bulk up whilst keeping speed/endurance he will be very good. Same challenge confronting many of our too-skinny mids.
 
I'm confident langford will make it, but its not on form. I think he's just so classy and when he gets better physical attributes he will be great. 1 thing he has is he seems really smart on the footy field, and he has a really good kick on him. I'm looking forward to seeing what the club has in store for him- I expect him to stay in the forward line but indications towards the end of the season were he could go at it in the middle too, so I'm not 100% sure what position on the ground he will eventually play.

Not 100% sold on fantasia. His size is against him but if he can utilize his speed he can be good. What we saw from him late in the season gives me high hopes but he will need to bring more of that next season

Laverde will be a player. Confident I've seen enough of him to say he will be a gun. I think he could be in real contention for the RS next year- not that this award is what make or breaks a player but I just think he will make a real impact for us. He has the physical attitudes already, and he's only going to get fitter and stronger. I think he will be a real contested bull for us. Great height too.
 

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Team Mgmt. Laverde, Langford or Fantasia

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