pick No 6: Reece Conca

[folester41]

Of the 5 the one I'm least keen on is MacDonald - I just don't see where he fits, and when he played for Gippy the times I saw him he just didn't stand out. I don't know where the outstanding AFL qualities are.

agree with this, while i think we need a player of his type, im just not sure he is hard working enough and defensive enough to be effective in modern football.

This is a tremendous post - and I completely agree with your reasoning.

I'm not disappointed with Conca purely for those reasons - we've got a footballer and a guy with outstanding character - he's much more of a sure bet than most. I wasn't sold on the ceiling - I just don't know how high it is - but the club obviously sees the ceiling being significantly high enough to warrant him being taken at 6.

i can see what your saying, and i agree, i cant see him really ever reaching cotchims, martins or deledio's level, or potential level. however i can see him being as good as foley. at this stage of our development im happy to take a safe bet mid who can still be A grade without being a top 20 player in the comp.

its good to have players who can be stars of the competition, but with the players available that could reach that superstar level, they were just too risky and although i would have been happy with heppel, i dont think were missing too much by taking say batchelor at 30 over heppell. heppell is your creative type and certainly more attacking and exciting, but batchelor can be a good solid back flanker, im not sure heppell will ever be a pure mid.

like you said that type of player who can rebound but also stay tight on his opponent is absolutely vital, and something connors doesnt do naturally.

 

[THE_GUN]

Conca on potential could well be a pendlebury type player for us & im sure that hardwick and co will develop him well.

I'm very excited by batchelor & helbig both look to be hard working talented players that will be putting alot of pressure onto our mids in 12 months time.

No player can take their place in the team for granted & will constantly need to work hard and improve.

 

[Spanish_Fly]

Are people saying his kicking isn't elite because he is not spearing them in at 100mph?? Sometimes guys who are only good kicks can be elite kicks in real terms because they always take the correct option. For an example of this take James Hird. I will give 2 different scenarios.

Player 1 - Drills passes in at pace, hits em low and hard but tries to pinpoint passes and hit chests with quick delivery. Only needs to be 2m out with either length or direction and the pass is no longer effective. See Tivendale as the prime example

Player 2 - Doesn't spear balls in but places kicks well to the advantage of a teammate, rarely tries to pinpoint a pass directly to a chest but just manages to find the space in front of the player recieving the ball. Conca to me appears to be this type of player, This player also gives himself far more margin for error so if only a metre or two out he still finds his target. So even though his kicks don't look elite in real terms his kicking is elite.

Hope that makes sense, what do you guys think?

 

[The Goon]

Are people saying his kicking isn't elite because he is not spearing them in at 100mph?? Sometimes guys who are only good kicks can be elite kicks in real terms because they always take the correct option. For an example of this take James Hird. I will give 2 different scenarios.

Player 1 - Drills passes in at pace, hits em low and hard but tries to pinpoint passes and hit chests with quick delivery. Only needs to be 2m out with either length or direction and the pass is no longer effective. See Tivendale as the prime example

Player 2 - Doesn't spear balls in but places kicks well to the advantage of a teammate, rarely tries to pinpoint a pass directly to a chest but just manages to find the space in front of the player recieving the ball. Conca to me appears to be this type of player, This player also gives himself far more margin for error so if only a metre or two out he still finds his target. So even though his kicks don't look elite in real terms his kicking is elite.

Hope that makes sense, what do you guys think?

I agree Spanish. From what I saw on the highlights package the kicks themselves didn't look exciting, but the results were great. He seems to have the ability to read the play exceptionally well and dispose accordingly, including nice kicks around the corner. So while his kicking may not be 'elite' there's a possibility his effectiveness will be. Can you imagine in a couple of years him delivering 4-5 inside 50's a match to Reiwaldt's advantage? Exciting prospect.

 

[richoatthedisco]

Spot on Spanish. As an old key forward I'd far rather be leading at Conca than Tiv. Made me laugh when I read Paul Daffey say of Dion Prestia that forwards misjudge how far he's going to kick it and lead under the ball. It is the kicker's responsibility to kick to where the leading man will be when the ball gets there. Any kick that sails over a leading forward's head is the fault of the kicker, bar a complete misjudgment and inability to pull up a hard lead on behalf of the forward. The really smart players will kick it to where the forward should be and force him to run there.

 

[beaver fever]

Conca doesn't look out of place amongst the Deledio, Cotchin and Martin class to me. What particularly impressed me was his ability to run and spread to make space and then execute cleanly while under pressure or with the after burners in gear. His follow up efforts and ability to think his way out of tight spots is excellent.

Conca is like Winston Wolf, he is a problem solver.

 

[CallMeAl]

Are people saying his kicking isn't elite because he is not spearing them in at 100mph?? Sometimes guys who are only good kicks can be elite kicks in real terms because they always take the correct option. For an example of this take James Hird. I will give 2 different scenarios.

Player 1 - Drills passes in at pace, hits em low and hard but tries to pinpoint passes and hit chests with quick delivery. Only needs to be 2m out with either length or direction and the pass is no longer effective. See Tivendale as the prime example

Player 2 - Doesn't spear balls in but places kicks well to the advantage of a teammate, rarely tries to pinpoint a pass directly to a chest but just manages to find the space in front of the player recieving the ball. Conca to me appears to be this type of player, This player also gives himself far more margin for error so if only a metre or two out he still finds his target. So even though his kicks don't look elite in real terms his kicking is elite.

Hope that makes sense, what do you guys think?

It makes a lot of sense. The ability to know where to kick the ball so that is to your teamates advantage, even if the kick is not spot on, is paramount.

Nathan Buckly was one who's kicks always looked good, but were not always as effective as you would expect, in no small part for the reasons you explain.

 

[wceblog]

I think Conca will develop into a similar sort of player to Travis Boak.

There were similar sort of ? by the BF posters when Port took him at pick 5 in 2006, but he has been one of the best performed from that draft 4 years on and finished top 10 in the Brownlow this year.

Conca has a very good all-round game without any standout faults (perhaps a bit more kicking penetration would be nice, but you have Martin and Deledio).

He's a very busy player that's always on his toes and moving at the contest with sharp acceleration and evasive ability to get out of trouble, works hard in both directions, very good decision maker that distributes very well and brings teammates into the game.

I am quite confident you won't be disappointed!

 

[THE_GUN]

i have faith in concas kicking ability,skills,marking & game awareness
but we have no information as to his speed,tank,leap tests etc.

is he the type of player that will play 90-95% game time
Who is his speed compareable to

If any body has any information or can source it would be fantastic !

 

[MightyTiger]

i have faith in concas kicking ability,skills,marking & game awareness
but we have no information as to his speed,tank,leap tests etc.

is he the type of player that will play 90-95% game time
Who is his speed compareable to

If any body has any information or can source it would be fantastic !

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/News/2010NationalDraftNews/ReeceConca/tabid/15501/Default.aspx

What the RFC recruiters say:
Reece is a wonderfully balanced midfielder who is equally adept at winning contested and uncontested ball. He has an excellent work rate with good speed and elite lateral movement. He competes well, has outstanding composure and vision with the ball in his hand and is a very good user by both hand and foot.

 

[THE_GUN]

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/News/2010NationalDraftNews/ReeceConca/tabid/15501/Default.aspx

Thanks MT i did read that but thats what we would expect all recruiters to say.

But would love to see some statts & speed test results.
its a shame he didnt participate in the combine and limited state screening.

 

[MightyTiger]

Thanks MT i did read that but thats what we would expect all recruiters to say.

But would love to see some statts & speed test results.
its a shame he didnt participate in the combine and limited state screening.

Np, alot of the articles I have read about Conca pretty much say the same thing that he is not slow but nor is he lightning fast.

I also read that he converted from Soccer to Footy at the age of 13.

This kid has alot of developing still left in him if that's the case.

 

[Roar Metre]

Boak would be a beautiful outcome, I see Conca being a potentially classier version of Adam Simpson and I guess that's what Boak is.

 

[Tomnat Tigers]

Np, alot of the articles I have read about Conca pretty much say the same thing that he is not slow but nor is he lightning fast.

I also read that he converted from Soccer to Footy at the age of 13.

This kid has alot of developing still left in him if that's the case.

Pretty sure thats when he started taking footy seriously and gave up soccer.

 

[purrrrrrrrrrfect]

agree with this, while i think we need a player of his type, im just not sure he is hard working enough and defensive enough to be effective in modern football.



i can see what your saying, and i agree, i cant see him really ever reaching cotchims, martins or deledio's level, or potential level. however i can see him being as good as foley. at this stage of our development im happy to take a safe bet mid who can still be A grade without being a top 20 player in the comp.

its good to have players who can be stars of the competition, but with the players available that could reach that superstar level, they were just too risky and although i would have been happy with heppel, i dont think were missing too much by taking say batchelor at 30 over heppell. heppell is your creative type and certainly more attacking and exciting, but batchelor can be a good solid back flanker, im not sure heppell will ever be a pure mid.

like you said that type of player who can rebound but also stay tight on his opponent is absolutely vital, and something connors doesnt do naturally.

I'll take that

 

[Hello Ace]

After watching his highlights on the website he moves very similarly to Mark Murphy

 

[Spluff]

His twists and turns are similar to Ablett Jr. but he lacks the strength that makes Ablett great. Great lateral movement.

He also seems to kick similar to Ablett, holding the ball completely vertical, which gives him great creativity enabling him to kick on big angles accurately.

 

[Rustof]

His twists and turns are similar to Ablett Jr. but he lacks the strength that makes Ablett great. Great lateral movement.

He also seems to kick similar to Ablett, holding the ball completely vertical, which gives him great creativity enabling him to kick on big angles accurately.

Cotch kicks like that too.

 

[talkingfooty]

beautiful below the knees very silky and clean... can clear a pack which is good starting to make a good hard strong midfield. great skills great pick i think.

 

[BILC]

Another ranga

 

[eays]

After watching his highlights on the website he moves very similarly to Mark Murphy

Conca always reminded me of Travis Boak in the way he moves

I'm sure he'll turn out to be a solid citizen player, but i was disappointed (althought not surprised) that we didnt draft Josh Caddy

(IMO i said all along that with Swallow and Toy unavailabel the 2 best mids were Caddy and Gaff, both so different that either could be best available depending on needs. On that basis i would have called Caddy at #6).

Anyway, its all happened now.

Go Reece, hope you turn into a star and form an awesome Ranga centreline with Browne and Jackson!