Welcome Welcome to Hawthorn: Cody Anderson
- Thread starter Strapping Young Lad
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It doesn't matter where you get drafted.
He's on the list. He played a promising game at Box Hill against men and did very well.
Also, are you being honest saying he was 64th out of 71? He was an NGA pick. Clubs didn't rate him highly enough to pick him early, and they knew we'd match if they tried to pick him up once he was going to be ours.
A little bit misleading for you and others to keep pointing out pick 64, while ignoring his NGA status and that game at Box Bill.
He'll get a turn when injury comes knocking, if he's playing well enough.
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HedgeFund
Norm Smith Medallist
I completely agree, it's not where you pick them, it's what you do with them once you get them. We clearly have plenty of players in our squad who were late picks.
However, I suspect aside from Breust & Sicily, they pretty much came into their own and played regular senior footy once we began sliding down the ladder as the quality of our list thinned out.
Now our list is much better, and specifically the quality of our midfield is the best it's been for nearly 10 years.
The OP was stating based on what they'd seen prior to him getting drafted, they felt Anderson could get a game in our "regular midfield" - i.e. when we are at full strength - to allow Nash or someone else to play forward.
That's very different to you saying he will:
1. get a turn;
2. when injuries permit
3. if he's playing well enough.
I'm being honest when I said he was picked 64th out of 71. That's not false.
Frankly, I don't see Anderson in our full strength 2025 midfield based on what little I've seen (FWIW - I watched Eastern Ranges live 3 times this year). He played half a game at Box Hill. No one gets drafted on the basis of 60 minutes of VFL footy. If his was so special, another club would've thrown a bid in surely.
Of course he could play bulk afl in 2025 - he’s on the list. But is it highly likely? Probably not - our midfield and forward line are in good shape - but that’s fine as a first year draftee and keen to see how he goes at box hill. Unclear if he’s a mid or really a pressure forward at afl level.
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I would be stunned if Anderson got a game in our midfield next season.
He just doesn't have AFL level competence in that area yet.
He'll win some CB clearances, but he's got a long way to go on everything else.
Tackles pressure in F50 is of enormous value.
Even Clarko found room for Puopolo in 2011 when we had an excellent list.
It was a very narrow, yet essential role that Puopolo performed to an elite standard.
That is Anderson's best bet for a game IMO.
He just doesn't have AFL level competence in that area yet.
He'll win some CB clearances, but he's got a long way to go on everything else.
Tackles pressure in F50 is of enormous value.
Even Clarko found room for Puopolo in 2011 when we had an excellent list.
It was a very narrow, yet essential role that Puopolo performed to an elite standard.
That is Anderson's best bet for a game IMO.
Hawkers Hero
Club Legend
I will be the first person to admit if I'm wrong (and will be thrilled) but I can't see him getting a game next year in the best 23.
From our Semi Final team we have to somehow squeeze in Day, Barrass, Battle, Frenchie, CJ and Lewis. You could make an argument for Breust and Gunston playing less but that's about it with Ward, Finn and Harry M being (somewhat unfairly) in the gun
Reality for Cody is that competition for spots is intense next year and he will be biding his time at Box Hill unless (like Dear this year) injury and suspension leaves us very very short and that isn't a bad thing.
unitedhawk
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Around this time last year, we had some folk who were adamant that Meek wouldn't play ahead of Reeves. Moreover, who amongst us thought Calsher would've had the year he did, even if we had injuries in our F50?
I'm not ruling anything in or out at this point, when we're only one week into pre-season. If Cody proves himself to be good enough to get a game or more at AFL level, he will.
There are a couple of predictions I'm willing to make:
1) Players won't be getting games unless they prove themselves to be worthy of that. Our rebuild is well past the stage of granting games for developmental purposes.
2) By the same token, Sam won't be granting games based purely on what players did in 2024. If you're not up to the mark in 2025, you won't play - no matter who you are.
I'm not ruling anything in or out at this point, when we're only one week into pre-season. If Cody proves himself to be good enough to get a game or more at AFL level, he will.
There are a couple of predictions I'm willing to make:
1) Players won't be getting games unless they prove themselves to be worthy of that. Our rebuild is well past the stage of granting games for developmental purposes.
2) By the same token, Sam won't be granting games based purely on what players did in 2024. If you're not up to the mark in 2025, you won't play - no matter who you are.
I don't think we have too many that are a manic type pressure forward in the first instance in our team. Collectively we manage to put on good pressure but have had to put a load of work into it, as we don't have a Freo version of Shultz or a Puopolo. That is why Anderson is a pretty intriguing addition to our squad. Gunston and Breust will be very important this year for depth, and play a decent chunk of footy, but it also stood out some games we lost last was when they both played and we weren't able to cover sides like GWS on the rebound. Anderson 'could' be someone who comes in at some point to play a very specific defensive pressure role on those outlet players, while guys like CMac, Ginnivan, Watson etc hunt the football. It isn't so much about who is the mythical best 23, but how Anderson has potentially strengthened our depth and options as a squad going forward. For that reason was pretty happy we drafted him.
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Yep. Whitfield destroyed us late.
Norm Smith, rising star, mvp, brownlow, bnf
When an opinion so wildly unrealistic as that which dares suggest the possibility of a physically developed draftee playing some games in his first year... is met with such sincere, insightful and well honed criticism
Your rights it's unrealistic to suggest he won't win the coaches award tooWhen an opinion so wildly unrealistic as that which dares suggest the possibility of a physically developed draftee playing some games in his first year... is met with such sincere, insightful and well honed criticism
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Pretty different. Meek had ONE person ahead of him. With Frenchie, Finn and Ward sitting in the stands already Cody has a lot of work to do to get on the team.
This just sounds like preseason silliness. BTW if he does get in great but I think the odds that he won’t are better unless there is a shit load of injuries
So the Wizz and Ginni are no longer small pressure forwards bwhahahha
Well that’s one way to defuse a Worpedo
I don’t think anyone is suggesting this, or even that Anderson’s pace would put him ahead of Ginni.
More that he’s a chance to get games at some stage, for any number of reasons.
I’d bet this becomes even more likely if some magic is worked with his kicking.
MazHawk
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We can all write what we like, and personally I hope he earns some cameo gigs later in the year but as SYL said many pages ago, if he's playing regular footy our team is in strife with a few injuries.
Newk, Day, Worps, Nashy, Harry, Ward, Frenchy, Maginness even Hus means he's a loooong way back.
Newk, Day, Worps, Nashy, Harry, Ward, Frenchy, Maginness even Hus means he's a loooong way back.
unitedhawk
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Look, I fully agree that Cody starts the pre-season well behind the players you mentioned.
The point of disagreement I have is that if he plays games in 2025, it necessarily means we’re in strife with injuries.
We often hear the cliche that progress is not always linear. That, I’d suggest, holds true for each individual player as much as it does for the team as a whole.
Whilst I agree it’s a bit of a long shot, given the talent we already have on our list, I’m not going to discard the possibility that Cody, given he already appears to have an AFL-ready physique, earns a place in our best 23 based purely on form at some stage in 2025. Indeed, Newk himself is probably a good example of how quickly a newcomer can establish himself as a best 23 player. Cody has a lot of the traits that differentiated Newk from the pack when he made his debut - and, dare I suggest, Newk himself had a bit of a question mark on his kicking ability at the beginning of his AFL journey. There’s no reason why Cody can’t emulate Newk's improvement in the kicking aspect of the game.
All I’m saying is that we’re one week into pre-season and it’s far too early to make any definitive judgements on who will or won’t be part of our best 23 at the beginning of the 2025 season, let alone during the course of it.
Given Sam's 'no ceiling' mantra, I'm pretty sure he won't be placing any limits on what Cody - or, for that matter, any other player on our list - can achieve in 2025.
Go Hokball v2.0 in '25!
Strapping Young Lad
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Go do your own 22, then think about who has to either miss through injury or form for Cody to get into the side.
There’s a lot of players ahead of him, and we’re not in the mode of giving games to kids to fast track them regardless of form, like we were 18 months ago so he will need a bunch of players with more seasoned bodies to either be injured or in a form slump to go past them.
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unitedhawk
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The point I'm trying to make is that it's pointless doing a best 22 or 23 after one week of the pre-season.
Fully agree that we won't be giving out games to fast-track kids. What I'm not prepared to say at this stage, though, is that Cody isn't capable of earning a place sometime in 2025 based purely on form.
Yes, that is a big ask given the talent we now have compared to 18 months ago, which means he will have to go past a fair few players to achieve that. A big ask but not impossible. Look at what Calsher, with a far less AFL-ready body a year ago than what Cody has now, achieved in 2024.
No limits.
unitedhawk
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Couldn't agree more - much like 99% of conversations here, eh?
Kudos to the UN, though - they got something right, for once! Let's hope they don't muck it up later...
Hawks_2008
Team Captain
I agree with a lot of comments on here about the long road ahead and numerous players in front of him when it comes to selection.There’s plenty of kids in the Coates league with similar hunger and defensive intent.
They just don’t get a 4 minute highlights package (which I dare say is what most people have watched in making their assessment) made by someone at an AFL club.
Reason being - they don’t actually get drafted to an AFL club.
Cody was the 64th player picked out of 71 this year, which is a big difference to being one of the 50-100 who just missed out.
He played a single game for Vic Metro in the elite junior championships against a state side and amassed…..1 kick and 1 handball. Lots of players performed better than that yet didn’t get drafted at all.
Don’t think the highlights package included that game did it?
IMHO what we see on that tape re: tackle, run and chases is good to see, but it’s not particularly special.
Anderson may well become a long term Hawk, but for every Calsher Dear who comes from nearly nowhere, there’s 2-3 draftees who don’t end up staying more than 3 seasons.
I hope he goes well, but I’ll leave the predictions of how/when he ends up in what we expect to be the best AFL midfield in the competition to others.
However I would point out that in his single game for Vic Metro - he didn't last the first quarter and left the field with injury. IIRC
The best thing he can do is apply himself at Box Hill and wait for an opportunity, whenever that comes.
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