Training Pre-Season 2023 (First game 18/3 v North)

[Bleedblueandgold]

Not expecting anything from XON, but if he goes well than it'll be a bonus.
Expecting more from Luke Edwards as long as he's over his OP.

 

[Shueygod]

And the man’s won us how many flags again?

Id take the 90% as we could then play another midfielder instead of another ruckman on the bench.

You don’t think he contributed majorly to 2018?

You’re an idiot if you’d take the 90%, ideally this preseason Williams has worked heavily on his set shots and can play KPF/Ruck allowing us to have that extra mid.

 

[Shueygod]

Not expecting anything from XON, but if he goes well than it'll be a bonus.
Expecting more from Luke Edwards as long as he's over his OP.

XON showed a lot last year? Clean hands, defensive ability, can win a hard ball, fast.

All the tools required to be the inside ball winner.

 

[Cuzz09]

McDougall was the next Coleman

Notte was the next Carey

Settle.



On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Keys]

From 2010 until he did his knee late 2016, Naitanui played 136 of a possible 162 games. The bulk of those missed games (11) were due to a persistent groin issue in 2013 and an Achilles (7) in 2016 prior to his knee injury

Missed all 2017 as a result

Came back in 2018 and helped establish the side as a genuine force before blowing out his other knee. Cost him a premiership medal

Missed most of 2019, returned round 15 but injured his ankle after just 3 games before returning for finals

In 2020/21 he missed one game. Was AA and John Worsfold medallist both years

He’s been the most prominent public face of the club virtually since the day he was drafted. Can’t go anywhere without being recognised and approached by people

Not once has he done anything to draw bad publicity to himself or the club. Shows genuine humility at all times

Fought his way back from reconstructions to both knees winning back to back B&F and AA honours
Yes, he’s overweight but have a look at a lot of Fijian Islanders - it’s a battle against genetics that is made harder by two knee reconstructions that limit his ability to train, particularly any high intensity running.

Despite all that and what he’s given to the club, there’s still people wanting to hang shit on him

It’s unbelievable

 

[kane249]

Shuey is basically an NPC at this point, he should be starting the year on a flank until he proves his fitness. Same with Yeo on a back flank. Sheed coming off not much footy also.

There ought to be opportunities on ball early for the youngsters.

There will be opportunities, but you still need some older heads in there for balance.

Sending Culley and Ginbey in there opening bounce of round 1 is unrealistic

 

[Keys]

Average age has come down a bit - think we were about third or fourth oldest last season

Change of list profile is well on the way

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

Average age will reduce even more once Hurn and maybe Shuey retires lol.

 

[The wily weagle]

Naitanui is elite at his best, no doubt

That said, dies anyone actually think that the man couldn't stand to lose some weight, improve his aerobic capacity and increase his total game time?

The baffling thing is, the man is coming off 2 knees reconstructions, in a profession where he has to jump for a living, at the back end of career, and yet his playing weight and skinfolds would undoubtedly be higher then they have ever been. From a fitness, medical and structural perspective of the knee, thats madness

He's carrying more weight then ever, yet the fitness staff seem confused as to why he can't run out games and has to come to the bench every 5 minutes

Personally, I love Nic. But I really wish someone would take him to task about his weight and fitness. But I doubt it. If it hasn't happened in the past 2 seasons I doubt it will happen now. Look for a lot of "management" and 50% of game time again this season

 

[Carbine Chaos]

There will be opportunities, but you still need some older heads in there for balance.

Sending Culley and Ginbey in there opening bounce of round 1 is unrealistic

Culley is a lock for the midfield R1 for me, if Ginbey or Hewett plays happy for them to rotate off a flank.

 

[kane249]

Culley is a lock for the midfield R1 for me, if Ginbey or Hewett plays happy for them to rotate off a flank.

Indeed, Culley is ticking all the right boxes to get Redden's spot

 

[Shueygod]

Naitanui is elite at his best, no doubt

That said, dies anyone actually think that the man couldn't stand to lose some weight, improve his aerobic capacity and increase his total game time?

The baffling thing is, the man is coming off 2 knees reconstructions, in a profession where he has to jump for a living, at the back end of career, and yet his playing weight and skinfolds would undoubtedly be higher then they have ever been. From a fitness, medical and structural perspective of the knee, thats madness

He's carrying more weight then ever, yet the fitness staff seem confused as to why he can't run out games and has to come to the bench every 5 minutes

Personally, I love Nic. But I really wish someone would take him to task about his weight and fitness. But I doubt it. If it hasn't happened in the past 2 seasons I doubt it will happen now. Look for a lot of "management" and 50% of game time again this season

Why have we never seen this combination of explosiveness, elite strength, elite power and high aerobic fitness in a ruckman?

Almost like it’s near on an impossible task, guys >190cm with those traits struggle to build the running capacity Petracca, Rayner most obvious examples.

 

[Goroyals22]

You don’t think he contributed majorly to 2018?

You’re an idiot if you’d take the 90%, ideally this preseason Williams has worked heavily on his set shots and can play KPF/Ruck allowing us to have that extra mid.

Cant see him listed in the stats at all for the 28 gf ….bit like his game in the 15 gf….

What a crappy choice you have now given me.. more Williams? I’ll pass thanks

 

[kane249]

Cant see him listed in the stats at all for the 28 gf ….bit like his game in the 15 gf….

There's always hard luck stories of players who missed out on a flag side.

Over our history the likes of Gaff, Sheppard, Emac, Priddis, Phil Matera, Nicoski, Jaymie Graham missed a flag for one reason or another, all would have been deserving of it for their contributions as a player.

He had a bad 2015, he was far from the lone ranger there. Kennedy, Shuey, Hutchings etc had stinkers in 2015 and were given the chance to atone in 2018

 

[Keys]

Cant see him listed in the stats at all for the 28 gf ….bit like his game in the 15 gf….

What a crappy choice you have now given me.. more Williams? I’ll pass thanks

I’m from the future and Nic was ruck coach for our ‘28 flag

Baz Williams won the Norm Smith

 

[Shueygod]

Cant see him listed in the stats at all for the 28 gf ….bit like his game in the 15 gf….

What a crappy choice you have now given me.. more Williams? I’ll pass thanks

Not surprised a bloke that doesn’t rate Naitanui also lacks the nous to give a 22 year old ruck a chance.

 

[LittleFires]

I will interested to see how Exxon goes in the preseason games as I’d like for him to get an opportunity round 1 if he performs well in those games

Physically he looks ready to assume a bigger role

View attachment 1594044

To me he's shown steady improvement, albeit a little slow, since being drafted. Some fans can be impatient with him at times but from what I've seen, each year he's continually improving his game.

2018: Drafted at pick No.28
2019: Spent his first season in the WAFL, played 18 games and averaged 13.7 disposals and 3.9 tackles
2020: Made his AFL debut in round 13, played 5 games averaging 9.8 disposals, 1.8 tackles. No WAFL footy due to Covid
2021: Played 8 AFL games (1 as unused medi-sub) averaging 10.5 disposals, 1.9 tackles. Also played 13 WAFL games and averaged 23 disposals, 5.5 tackles
2022: Played 11 AFL games averaging 14.5 disposals, 4.6 tackles. 5 WAFL games averaging 23.2 disposals and 2.6 tackles. Arguably would've played more AFL games if not for that knee injury he had through the middle of the season.

2023 is the year where his focus should be locking his spot in the midfield and playing every week. Him and Culley seem to be the frontrunners of the young midfielders at this stage, both seem to be getting a lot of midfield time in match sim.
That said, he's got Ginbey, Hewett and Chesser (among others) hot on his heels who will also continue to improve. Arguably they have higher ceilings than he does too.

I'm still confident he'll continue his upwards trajectory though, especially with some of the performances we saw from him late last season.

 

[Farang83150]

BW didn't look to bad in the fwd line from memory?

 

[mattyc75]

I will interested to see how Exxon goes in the preseason games as I’d like for him to get an opportunity round 1 if he performs well in those games

Physically he looks ready to assume a bigger role

View attachment 1594044

Seems to be a bit of a meh player.
Not overly skilful, not overly fast or aggressive
He could nail down a regular spot but you'd kinda hope he gets overtaken but someone showing some sort of elite attributes at some stage in the near future

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[Matera92]

From 2010 until he did his knee late 2016, Naitanui played 136 of a possible 162 games. The bulk of those missed games (11) were due to a persistent groin issue in 2013 and an Achilles (7) in 2016 prior to his knee injury

Missed all 2017 as a result

Came back in 2018 and helped establish the side as a genuine force before blowing out his other knee. Cost him a premiership medal

Missed most of 2019, returned round 15 but injured his ankle after just 3 games before returning for finals

In 2020/21 he missed one game. Was AA and John Worsfold medallist both years

He’s been the most prominent public face of the club virtually since the day he was drafted. Can’t go anywhere without being recognised and approached by people

Not once has he done anything to draw bad publicity to himself or the club. Shows genuine humility at all times

Fought his way back from reconstructions to both knees winning back to back B&F and AA honours
Yes, he’s overweight but have a look at a lot of Fijian Islanders - it’s a battle against genetics that is made harder by two knee reconstructions that limit his ability to train, particularly any high intensity running.

Despite all that and what he’s given to the club, there’s still people wanting to hang s**t on him

It’s unbelievable

Agree with much of this but the weight thing is a copout.

Plenty of high intensity cardio you can do that doesn't involved running.

Not to mention, the majority of weight issues are not fitness based, but diet based.

The guys been amazing and a pleasure to watch but no other player would be given a pass if they rocked up in that condition, why should he?

No one is asking for him to be single digit body fat shredded, just at a size that would protect his knees and body a little more long term.

 

[Shueygod]

Seems to be a bit of a meh player.
Not overly skilful, not overly fast or aggressive
He could nail down a regular spot but you'd kinda hope he gets overtaken but someone showing some sort of elite attributes at some stage in the near future

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

No reason he couldn’t be a Redden type in a year or two. One thing he does have is heart, remember quite a few repeat efforts last season.

BW didn't look to bad in the fwd line from memory?

Am confident in time BW will make a very good KPF/Second ruck, had some massive games last year against quality opposition.

His athletic attributes are brilliant, just needs some confidence to start clunking them and converting.

 

[bzparkes]

Williams showed what he's capable of in the last game vs Geelong last season.

The challenge to him is to replicate that form across multiple games.

Hopefully a performance like that vs the eventual premier has given him confidence.

 

[THE A5]

To me he's shown steady improvement, albeit a little slow, since being drafted. Some fans can be impatient with him at times but from what I've seen, each year he's continually improving his game.

2018: Drafted at pick No.28
2019: Spent his first season in the WAFL, played 18 games and averaged 13.7 disposals and 3.9 tackles
2020: Made his AFL debut in round 13, played 5 games averaging 9.8 disposals, 1.8 tackles. No WAFL footy due to Covid
2021: Played 8 AFL games (1 as unused medi-sub) averaging 10.5 disposals, 1.9 tackles. Also played 13 WAFL games and averaged 23 disposals, 5.5 tackles
2022: Played 11 AFL games averaging 14.5 disposals, 4.6 tackles. 5 WAFL games averaging 23.2 disposals and 2.6 tackles. Arguably would've played more AFL games if not for that knee injury he had through the middle of the season.

2023 is the year where his focus should be locking his spot in the midfield and playing every week. Him and Culley seem to be the frontrunners of the young midfielders at this stage, both seem to be getting a lot of midfield time in match sim.
That said, he's got Ginbey, Hewett and Chesser (among others) hot on his heels who will also continue to improve. Arguably they have higher ceilings than he does too.

I'm still confident he'll continue his upwards trajectory though, especially with some of the performances we saw from him late last season.

I like XOn but this is the year he has to grasp every opportunity he gets cause once he falls behind he might not get another chance due to the other young mids.

 

[WCE_phil]

No reason he couldn’t be a Redden type in a year or two. One thing he does have is heart, remember quite a few repeat efforts last season.

Am confident in time BW will make a very good KPF/Second ruck, had some massive games last year against quality opposition.

His athletic attributes are brilliant, just needs some confidence to start clunking them and converting.

Williams had an abortion of a season last year with a redeeming final game where he played far and away his best game. Still one of the worst shots on goal i've ever seen. Doesn't read the play well even at Wafl level in regards to his timing for tapwork, marking etc. etc. Low football IQ and can't kick for goal and is undersized for a modern ruck. He is up against it, has some attributes that may be impossible to overcome in regards to making it at AFL level. At best now looks likely to be a border line second ruck choice.

IMHO he's lucky he's got this year on the list to show something and if it wasn't such a shallow draft pool last year he was the most likely of the remaining talls to lose his list spot.

Also so far Exxon would be lucky to have shown a similar level of output to Williams at AFL level. Everyone has talked up his game against Collingwood however our midfield got absolutely monstered, he was nowhere near best on ground, didn't win his match up and if not for abominable finishing from collingwood and bad luck would have just been seen as an average performance in a 6-10 goal loss. He has the size and body now to be a starting mid. Does he have the ability, we'll see this year. Has no elite attribute but also doesn't seem to be lacking in any key area. This is the year to show he has what it takes in regards to footy iq and inside craft. Likely to be at best a stop gap until someone more talented takes his place and then depth. If he shows that much it will be a decent career all things considered.

Also someone earlier mentioned Luke Edwards as a comparison to Gaff and Tyson Edwards. He is so much more like a young Sam Butler than Tyson Edwards. I think people forget just how good an all round player Tyson was slightly undersized but a strong mid who regularly got forward and kicked a goal. Was really the crows second picked mid after Riccuito during the Crowbot era. Luke Edwards whilst he doesn't have any truly outstanding attributes does seem to have close to that level of of footy IQ, is the right height, size and has the marking, running and kicking ability to be a good hard wing player for us. A couple more injuries or some serious talent around him and he's borderline midfield depth or primarily a HBF or even a lock down back pocket.

Ginbey is going to need to show more. His work rate is elite and he will get everything out of himself but so far from what i've seen he has two limiting factors. His footy IQ and his kicking. He is reactionary which is why even with his absolute top tier athletic abilities he doesn't come across as quick on field and also hasn't been a heavy accumulator. His kicking is also average at best for an AFL player. He will however continue to work on his kicking and will get the best out of it he can but it is a genuine weakness. His athletic profile is truly elite (top 1% of AFL players) as is his workrate which is why he was drafted where he was.

Ginbey like a lot of others and I said this during most of last year that every one of the top picks has at least 1 major question mark to their game. There didn't seem to be a complete package in the draft and in comparison to other drafts whilst a lot of the top 10 picked don't necessarily have some of the potential weapons of players drafted last year they haven't also come with one or multiple major question marks on their game. I hope for Ginbey as well as so many of the others they can overcome their junior game deficiencies / inconsistencies and become great players.

 

[Goroyals22]

Not surprised a bloke that doesn’t rate Naitanui also lacks the nous to give a 22 year old ruck a chance.

Who said anything about not rating him??? At least put words in my mouth that are part of the conversation and not use the voices in your head…

And no. Williams is trash… Jamieson should be ahead of him.