Player Watch Sam Berry - Contract Extension to End of 2026

[Eagleboy2011]

The question is whether this is a mental or ability issue.

If Berry slips in the midfield queue next season, may be best for both parties he looks to another club for opportunities... particularly if Crouch has a strong season.

I still see a place for him. You recall the flack that Keays gets on here from some for his disposal and yet wins our B/F.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I still see a place for him. You recall the flack that Keays gets on here from some for his disposal and yet wins our B/F.

Keays has got better every year at AFC. This preseason he has been working on his right foot kicking. He is unbelievably fit & leaves no stone unturned with his 2nd opportunity.

I'm not writing off Berry, but he needs to go to a level or will fall behind in our midfield queue.

 

[BRL121]

The question is whether this is a mental or ability issue.

If Berry slips in the midfield queue next season, may be best for both parties he looks to another club for opportunities... particularly if Crouch has a strong season.

Agreed that he doesn't want to slip, but it is his form, not that of Crouch, which determines if he stays. After all, he is the logical replacement for Crouch, should we continue with the inside grunt role.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Agreed that he doesn't want to slip, but it is his form, not that of Crouch, which determines if he stays. After all, he is the logical replacement for Crouch, should we continue with the inside grunt role.

I can't see us playing both Crouch & Berry on a regular basis. Crouch is only 29 & if he continues his current form, doubt there will be many opportunities for Berry... as we will prefer more dynamic players around him.

 

[Stephen2]

:sigh: y'all still living in hope with Berry to somehow become a good player? I told you ages ago you're just being biased with this....

Someone above said he can be 4-5th best midfielder in a shit team, and that's so accurate.

Put it this way... if Berry is in our team, we're not doing well with injuries, some of our younger more exciting prospects aren't getting a go, or our coach is an idiot. Probably all of those.

 

[adelaidecrows]

:sigh: y'all still living in hope with Berry to somehow become a good player? I told you ages ago you're just being biased with this....

Someone above said he can be 4-5th best midfielder in a shit team, and that's so accurate.

Put it this way... if Berry is in our team, we're not doing well with injuries, some of our younger more exciting prospects aren't getting a go, or our coach is an idiot. Probably all of those.

Berry is around the 22nd-25th range player in our squad. He has had a couple of down years since his amazing debut year but he could be a surprise packet. Its common for some players to drop off in their early years because they are working on things to improve on. This is why some players dont peak until mid 20s and why mature age recruits are a thing. But he can football and I think its a mistake to jump off him. He isnt an x factor player but he knows how to be a dangerous mid. Just give him some time to build his game. Im more worried about guys like Murphy and Schoenberg in the side.

 

[AFC979810]

Berry has good burst speed when he uses it, we just haven't seen him use it enough. He's also very capable of taking hangers which I've seen close up in the NAB League when he was playing for Gippy Power, backed up by his exceptional "hops" testing numbers at the Draft Combine, he actually tested quite well in the 20m speed test and was in the top 10% of the draft for endurance. Athletically he stacks up exceptionally well we just need him to use it more.

Victorian Draft Combine:

2km time trial: 6:10 minutes
Running vertical leap (R/L): 81/94
20m sprint: 3.02 seconds

You put far too much stock into combine results from 4 and a half years ago.

 

[AFC979810]

He's not really an accumulator though. Zero games with more than 25 disposals (out of 57 games), and his highest in 2024 was 22 touches in the final round. Just three games over 20 touches last year

Agree 100%.

Looking at his career - its hard to see any real elite traits apart from tackling.

 

[hugecannon]

Keays has got better every year at AFC. This preseason he has been working on his right foot kicking. He is unbelievably fit & leaves no stone unturned with his 2nd opportunity.

I'm not writing off Berry, but he needs to go to a level or will fall behind in our midfield queue.

And Keays developed into a dangerous forward who can push into the midfield, whereas Berry hasn’t really shown much flexibility in his role.

 

[feenix67]

People overlook the fact that as a grunt midfielder, he has had TOG minutes reflective of a third choice - behind Laird and Crouch - for much of his career. Additionally, some of that TOG has been spent at HF as a result. He has not benefitted at all from the development we have/haven't put into him.

He's got some work to do, but he has many good traits and I feel he's generally underrated by most on this board.

 

[AFC979810]

The real question is how did Berry get 3 Brownlow votes in Rd 22

14 touches, 10 kicks, 71% DE, 8 tackles, 4 I50's, 4 clearances, 0 goals, 0 behinds, 1 mark, 272 meters gained.

From the AFL Website - wasn't in the bests
BEST Adelaide: Dawson, Fogarty, Keays, Sholl, Crouch, Hinge

Didnt sniff the coaches votes:

Adelaide v Western Bulldogs​

8 Darcy Fogarty (ADEL)
8 Reilly O'Brien (ADEL)
5 Matt Crouch (ADEL)
3 Ben Keays (ADEL)
2 Josh Worrell (ADEL)
2 Mark Keane (ADEL)
1 Sam Darcy (WB)
1 Lachlan Sholl (ADEL)

 

[Pugsley]

The real question is how did Berry get 3 Brownlow votes in Rd 22

14 touches, 10 kicks, 71% DE, 8 tackles, 4 I50's, 4 clearances, 0 goals, 0 behinds, 1 mark, 272 meters gained.

From the AFL Website - wasn't in the bests
BEST Adelaide: Dawson, Fogarty, Keays, Sholl, Crouch, Hinge

Didnt sniff the coaches votes:

Adelaide v Western Bulldogs​

8 Darcy Fogarty (ADEL)
8 Reilly O'Brien (ADEL)
5 Matt Crouch (ADEL)
3 Ben Keays (ADEL)
2 Josh Worrell (ADEL)
2 Mark Keane (ADEL)
1 Sam Darcy (WB)
1 Lachlan Sholl (ADEL)

Well, the Cripps winning margin last year tells you everything you need to know.

 

[Gtowncrow]

The real question is how did Berry get 3 Brownlow votes in Rd 22

14 touches, 10 kicks, 71% DE, 8 tackles, 4 I50's, 4 clearances, 0 goals, 0 behinds, 1 mark, 272 meters gained.

From the AFL Website - wasn't in the bests
BEST Adelaide: Dawson, Fogarty, Keays, Sholl, Crouch, Hinge

Didnt sniff the coaches votes:

Adelaide v Western Bulldogs​

8 Darcy Fogarty (ADEL)
8 Reilly O'Brien (ADEL)
5 Matt Crouch (ADEL)
3 Ben Keays (ADEL)
2 Josh Worrell (ADEL)
2 Mark Keane (ADEL)
1 Sam Darcy (WB)
1 Lachlan Sholl (ADEL)

I can't recall but did he shut down the Bont or someone?

 

[Scorpus]

The real question is how did Berry get 3 Brownlow votes in Rd 22

14 touches, 10 kicks, 71% DE, 8 tackles, 4 I50's, 4 clearances, 0 goals, 0 behinds, 1 mark, 272 meters gained.

From the AFL Website - wasn't in the bests
BEST Adelaide: Dawson, Fogarty, Keays, Sholl, Crouch, Hinge

Didnt sniff the coaches votes:

Adelaide v Western Bulldogs​

8 Darcy Fogarty (ADEL)
8 Reilly O'Brien (ADEL)
5 Matt Crouch (ADEL)
3 Ben Keays (ADEL)
2 Josh Worrell (ADEL)
2 Mark Keane (ADEL)
1 Sam Darcy (WB)
1 Lachlan Sholl (ADEL)

Either a mistake or some sort of betting corruption

 

[Soggy2112]

The question is whether this is a mental or ability issue.

If Berry slips in the midfield queue next season, may be best for both parties he looks to another club for opportunities... particularly if Crouch has a strong season.

It’s why I was leaning towards trading him last year, not because I don’t think he has potential, I just think he’s a guy who would have some value but is probably surplus to our needs.

 

[spenze]

Either a mistake or some sort of betting corruption

You'd have to be subtle, could be no more than 50 bucks being bet before an AFL investigation would be initiated

 

[Coopers]

He's 22 years old though.

Still improvement to be had, and he's not far off it. BIG improvement and he's first choice. Small and he will remain on the fringes and we should trade him to... Richmond as part of their rebuild.

 

[Coopers]

Well, the Cripps winning margin last year tells you everything you need to know.

They thought Berry was Cripps?

 

[Pugsley]

They thought Berry was Cripps?

I think they thought Bont was Cripps.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

He's 22 years old though.

Still improvement to be had, and he's not far off it. BIG improvement and he's first choice. Small and he will remain on the fringes and we should trade him to... Richmond as part of their rebuild.

Definitely still young enough but a long shot to improve at Adelaide. Needs to be in a different system with different coaches.

 

[Scorpus]

He's 22 years old though.

Still improvement to be had, and he's not far off it. BIG improvement and he's first choice. Small and he will remain on the fringes and we should trade him to... Richmond as part of their rebuild.

Has he improved since he debuted to suggest there is more improvement to be made?