Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn - Conor Nash. Extends to 2029!

[Judd2Sewell]

Collins and Mitchell have been a godsend so far

 

[Clubber79]

Just a quick Irish perspective on this as I'm from the same part of the country as Conor.
He was always a midfielder in gaelic football.
Now traditionally the role was quite different in gaelic football, i.e. you basically picked your two biggest guys and put them in the middle of the field to contest kick-outs and restarts.
However, as gaelic football has evolved, the midfielders are now much more involved in general play.
There are a lot of transferable skills, such as securing possession, 'breaking' ball to your team's advantage, linking play and generally getting up and down the field to support attacks or assist in defence.
As we don't have as many stoppages as you would in aussie rules (we have a mark but only in very specific circumstances), the role requires a pretty big guy (>190cm), with a very good engine and a decent set of wheels.

The Irish lads that have had the most success in aussie rules have typically played as 'wing backs' or 'wing forwards' in gaelic football before switching over.
It seems that gaelic football players that move to the AFL are considered for HBF roles (if they're <190cm) or key position roles (if they're >190cm).
Rarely, if ever, are they considered for midfield roles (as far as I can see anyway).
However, I've always wondered why guys who have played all of their gaelic football in the middle of the field are not really considered for that position in aussie rules.
Yes, they are generally taller than the average aussie rules midfielder but they would have excellent endurance, size and ball handling skills.
Now I'm sure it probably takes a lot longer to teach someone how to play in that role if they haven't grown up with the game, but with a bit of patience you could have a serious prospect after serving a 2 year apprenticeship.

This seems a bit like it was the last throw of the dice for Nash before potentially being delisted.
Maybe it should be the first throw of the dice for Irish players that have previously played all of their football in the middle of the field?
There are a lot of big guys that can run all day in the GAA, however, it seems to me that AFL recruiters think that there isn't much success recruiting key position players from Ireland, so stick to the smaller wing back/forward types.
Could be wrong, but that's how it appears to me from the outside, looking in.

Anyway, delighted to see that all of Conor's hard work and perseverance finally seems to be paying off for him.
Long may it continue.

 

[Pessimistic]

Quick summary:

• Thinks Connor McKenna may return in the mid season says he doesn’t really like pre seasons haha.
• Loves the current dynamic for pre season, Sam and the freedom he got to go home.
• Trained with the new Irish lad 3/4 times a week in the lead up to Christmas.
• Commented on clarko and Sam and the changeover basically saying it was strange times.
• Commented about the new push to flatten the leadership at the club.

If you can be bothered to download Firefox might work better their it’s a really good article, which you don’t normally see.

And a good little snippet from Nash on his new found performance last year;

“Mitch said, ‘How do you want to get into the team? He said, ‘Let’s just try something new,’ between himself and Andy Collins, ‘Let‘s put you in the middle. We can use your run, we can use your size’. It’s a real contested situation, which is what I really like. Going back to my rugby days.

“I was getting stagnant. The change of position has really rejuvenated me.”

Now the job is to go on with it. To delay that tap on the shoulder for at least a few years yet.

But one day, Nash swears he will play again for Meath.

“Australia’s a great country. It isn’t home. As much as I do love it, it isn’t home.”

Collins got the advocate role?

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

Long may it continue.
He did some nice things with his hands today, kicking a bit off, but the wind was tough.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Collins got the advocate role?

What do you mean?

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

Sign him up.
Another two years please.

 

[CHUBBSS]

Was much better for the run, will keep improving in the mid the more games he gets, going to be some tough balancing with developing mids and senior players.

Long term in mind I reckon he has to play in the 1s, not much to gain anymore from the vfl, same for ward/newk/MacDonald. If that’s four players we need to have in the team for the future.

I know it’s crazy but would like to see him
Tried in the second ruck role in the vfl if he isn’t in the 1s mids

 

[Slainte]

Seems to have picked up where he left off last year - which is excellent news, given he missed half the pre-season.

If I was Nash, I wouldn't be rushing into a new contract. I would back myself in for a big year and a much improved deal towards the end of the season.

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

I'd hope we aren't offering peanuts.

 

[The Devils Advocate]

You've found an absolute ripper here lads.

 

[Brishawk]

You've found an absolute ripper here lads.

To be sure

 

[joeyhawker]

Not enough love for Nash on here for mind. His handballs to release a running player are first rate. His defensive work on Dusty at centre bounces looked very effective (would be good to see stat's on that one). His field kicking is much improved. He looks to be continually improving in his new mid role. Every game I see a little something more. I'd like to see a bit more aggression, that would be the making of him. Imagine in a few years we could be consistently seeing Duke, Long and Nash bulldozing their way through teams and making space for the smaller mids. And they all have a good defensive side too, oh and Maginness too....

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[hawkman]

Not enough love for Nash on here for mind. His handballs to release a running player are first rate. His defensive work on Dusty at centre bounces looked very effective (would be good to see stat's on that one). His field kicking is much improved. He looks to be continually improving in his new mid role. Every game I see a little something more. I'd like to see a bit more aggression, that would be the making of him. Imagine in a few years we could be consistently seeing Duke, Long and Nash bulldozing their way through teams and making space for the smaller mids. And they all have a good defensive side too, oh and Maginness too....

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Add in Lynch who looks decent on the ground after a ruck contest

 

[cryptor]

Not enough love for Nash on here for mind. His handballs to release a running player are first rate. His defensive work on Dusty at centre bounces looked very effective (would be good to see stat's on that one). His field kicking is much improved. He looks to be continually improving in his new mid role. Every game I see a little something more. I'd like to see a bit more aggression, that would be the making of him. Imagine in a few years we could be consistently seeing Duke, Long and Nash bulldozing their way through teams and making space for the smaller mids. And they all have a good defensive side too, oh and Maginness too....

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Definitely. He was showing some real footy nous against the Tigers. The type of stuff you’re not sure you’d see from someone who hasn’t grown up with the game. That mixed with his athletic abilities could equate to a breakout year.

 

[KermitJagger]

Not enough love for Nash on here for mind. His handballs to release a running player are first rate. His defensive work on Dusty at centre bounces looked very effective (would be good to see stat's on that one). His field kicking is much improved. He looks to be continually improving in his new mid role. Every game I see a little something more. I'd like to see a bit more aggression, that would be the making of him. Imagine in a few years we could be consistently seeing Duke, Long and Nash bulldozing their way through teams and making space for the smaller mids. And they all have a good defensive side too, oh and Maginness too....

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

I noticed that in the last against Prestia, he held his space against him really well and didn't allow him into the contest. His athletic abilities and shape at 197cm tall is just a difficult thing to combat inside the contest.

It was pretty obvious in the last game against Richmond last year too, as soon as he was taken out of the middle and put forward because someone went down Richmond started that massive comeback.

 

[Kanga Commando]

Not enough love for Nash on here for mind. His handballs to release a running player are first rate. His defensive work on Dusty at centre bounces looked very effective (would be good to see stat's on that one). His field kicking is much improved. He looks to be continually improving in his new mid role. Every game I see a little something more. I'd like to see a bit more aggression, that would be the making of him. Imagine in a few years we could be consistently seeing Duke, Long and Nash bulldozing their way through teams and making space for the smaller mids. And they all have a good defensive side too, oh and Maginness too....

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Happy to admit I was wrong about him ( when he primarily played forward )

He is in his element now and deserves to be in the team. I actually will look forward to him being there because I know he gives 100%.

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

Might be controversial, but he offers more than Worpel for me.

Both have question marks on their disposal under pressure but Nash's improvement rate is rapid and the potential if it clicks for him is huge, while Worpel almost seems to have hit his ceiling already.

If one or both of he and Long can make it, we have some real weapons and points of difference in the midfield.

 

[KermitJagger]

Might be controversial, but he offers more than Worpel for me.

Both have question marks on their disposal under pressure but Nash's improvement rate is rapid and the potential if it clicks for him is huge, while Worpel almost seems to have hit his ceiling already.

If one or both of he and Long can make it, we have some real weapons and points of difference in the midfield.

Don't disagree with this but disagree with one point - Nash's disposal isn't bad and his disposal under pressure is honestly one of his strengths from the games we've seen. He uses his hands more and less inclined to hold onto it too long which is a major issue for Worpel. Through the final 4 games of last year where Nash was playing as a midfielder he ran at over 80% DE with only one game under 80% KE.

Nash doesn't have any glaring weaknesses besides his set shot goal kicking, which is pretty shocking considering he didn't grow up playing the sport. The only other weakness I could think of is that his relative inexperience playing football might be exploited by some of the bigger star players.

 

[MrPremiership]

I like Nash, but we're underselling Worpel here.

 

[KermitJagger]

I like Nash, but we're underselling Worpel here.

I don't think so, I was bullish on Worpel back in 2018/2019 but there are just a few things that he is really struggling to get out of his game that hurt the way we structure and the way we want to play. He goes to ground in most contests, he tries to take on the tackler too often and his kicking is too rushed even when he has time to assess his options. I would love for him to get this out of his game, but it continues to be an issue.

 

[cryptor]

Might be controversial, but he offers more than Worpel for me.

Both have question marks on their disposal under pressure but Nash's improvement rate is rapid and the potential if it clicks for him is huge, while Worpel almost seems to have hit his ceiling already.

If one or both of he and Long can make it, we have some real weapons and points of difference in the midfield.

Development isn't linear. Both have had periods of rapid development and plateauing. Nash has only recently made the move into the midfield which means there's plenty of scope to rapidly improve now that he's effectively done apprenticeships in other areas of the ground. But that will slow and then just like Worpel he'll need to work hard on more nuanced parts of his game to reach another level.

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

My man!
Big year ahead.

 

[Tassie Cryptik]

Great game as a midfielder ruckman.

 

[Sicily]

Clean and composed - really stood out in a somewhat scrappy game

 

[Slainte]

He was kinda competitive in the ruck. Probably not his go but he gave it a crack.