Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn, Denver Grainger-Barras

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[CaptainWorpedo]

I'll give him the back of this season to see where he is at. He missed half of 2021 with a knee injury and half of this year with a toe injury. I think they'll give him another year to fully assess.

My personal opinion is if he can dominate his HBF position at the VFL for the rest of the year, he gets another year.

I actually think he will be gone at years end one way or another.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

I'll give him the back of this season to see where he is at. He missed half of 2021 with a knee injury and half of this year with a toe injury. I think they'll give him another year to fully assess.

That sounds about right to me. They have sunk a lot of time and money into DGB so they will give him another year. He also seems well liked at the club and I don't think there are any off field issues or whatnot.

Not many players (any?) get more than 5 years to prove they belong though so he will want to start to produce some consistently good footy fairly soon.

 

[Slainte]

I read that report on DGB and it was pretty brutal to be honest. I think maybe the coaching staff are getting a bit sick of the ill disciplined acts?

It's one thing to struggle with fitness and strength, that's going to take a while to fix, but there is really no excuse for those kinds of brain fades as a professional sportsperson.

Interesting though that Zanes analysis was so harsh as stats wise at least it's probably one of the better games DGB has played for a while at VFL level.

My point was that Zane was pretty brutal about most - not just DGB. Only a handful got a pass mark and even those who had good games like Ramsden and Serong copped criticism.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

My point was that Zane was pretty brutal about most - not just DGB. Only a handful got a pass mark and even those who had good games like Ramsden and Serong copped criticism.

Yes he was a hard marker this weekend but I felt DGB's was particularly harsh. Some of the comments he wrote were unusually frank for a public player review.

 

[SammyC]

i think we’d be highly likely to give him another year but you’d think another club will take a punt with a 2-3 year offer based on high draft pick and injuries to date.

He’d be stupid to stick around if that’s the case so expect he will leave for more years and opportunity.

Hope he has a really solid back end of the season, strong at box hill and a few decent afl games when the chance comes. Then at least we have some trade value to play with if he chooses to leave for more opportunity.

 

[tommyk72]

That sounds about right to me. They have sunk a lot of time and money into DGB so they will give him another year. He also seems well liked at the club and I don't think there are any off field issues or whatnot.

Not many players (any?) get more than 5 years to prove they belong though so he will want to start to produce some consistently good footy fairly soon.

To be fair, we haven't sunk that much money into him. He's not on a big wage. If there's even a glimmer, I'd prefer to give him another year.

 

[Big Hotdog]

To be fair, we haven't sunk that much money into him. He's not on a big wage. If there's even a glimmer, I'd prefer to give him another year.

DGB has certain attributes that make him valuable.

He is a beautiful kick and he is naturally aggressive/competitive. I hope that it clicks for DGB and he builds the other key attributes that will make him indispensable. A clean run with injury is a must.

 

[eldorado]

I was pretty close to both incidents where he gave away frees/50s.

Both pretty dumb, unnecessary...and not team-oriented actions.

I'm glad the coach publicly bollocked him for those.

 

[TylerDurden]

I was pretty close to both incidents where he gave away frees/50s.

Both pretty dumb, unnecessary...and not team-oriented actions.

I'm glad the coach publicly bollocked him for those.

To be fair, the niggle has always been a part of his game. Will be hard to coach it out of him. He plays on the edge.

 

[TylerDurden]

DGB has certain attributes that make him valuable.

He is a beautiful kick and he is naturally aggressive/competitive. I hope that it clicks for DGB and he builds the other key attributes that will make him indispensable. A clean run with injury is a must.

He also reads it in the air beautifully, and is a quality interceptor.
Aerobic fitness and injuries are what's held him back to date. Unsure if he's ever going to fix the former, to his detriment.

 

[eldorado]

To be fair, the niggle has always been a part of his game. Will be hard to coach it out of him. He plays on the edge.

It's the area of criticism of DGB that I agree with. I don't agree that he hasn't shown any AFL traits, I don't agree that he hasn't developed...

But the faux tough-guy stuff is just selfish...he HAS to get rid of it ..those actions are coach-killers

 

[fairdinks]

i think we’d be highly likely to give him another year but you’d think another club will take a punt with a 2-3 year offer based on high draft pick and injuries to date.

He’d be stupid to stick around if that’s the case so expect he will leave for more years and opportunity.

Hope he has a really solid back end of the season, strong at box hill and a few decent afl games when the chance comes. Then at least we have some trade value to play with if he chooses to leave for more opportunity.

i reckon this is pretty close. He may get an extension for Hawks, but I'd be surprised if it is more than a year. That leaves the door open for another team to get a cheap buy offering 2 or 3 years. Al la Massimo.

I personally don't see him on the list next year, one way or other, although I feel he can make it in time.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

It's the area of criticism of DGB that I agree with. I don't agree that he hasn't shown any AFL traits, I don't agree that he hasn't developed...

But the faux tough-guy stuff is just selfish...he HAS to get rid of it ..those actions are coach-killers

took Sic an ACL and to be ~26-7 to do it. Definitely a maturation thing that can happen a lot later than developing other physical AFL attributes. But of course, there are also plenty of flogs in the AFL who never grow up...

 

[Simon Crawshay]

took Sic an ACL and to be ~26-7 to do it. Definitely a maturation thing that can happen a lot later than developing other physical AFL attributes. But of course, there are also plenty of flogs in the AFL who never grow up...

The other difference being of course is that when Sic was doing those actions he was at the same time backing it up with being one of the best defenders in the league.

When DGB does those things it just feels a bit embarrassing to me that a kid who is struggling to get a game feels like he can get away with those types of actions.

If you want to act like a caimpangner you have to back that up with being a very good player otherwise probably best to just focus on playing footy.

 

[Billyc]

I read that report on DGB and it was pretty brutal to be honest. I think maybe the coaching staff are getting a bit sick of the ill disciplined acts?

It's one thing to struggle with fitness and strength, that's going to take a while to fix, but there is really no excuse for those kinds of brain fades as a professional sportsperson.

Interesting though that Zanes analysis was so harsh as stats wise at least it's probably one of the better games DGB has played for a while at VFL level.

It’s not the first time senior people have been very direct in public comments. Sam made comments during a session with club staff last year that indicated a high degree of frustration with his fitness and output in the second half of games. The language used was not subtle.

 

[HAWKS2016]

How did DGB go today?

 

[Rocket72]

DGB not sighted in first half, solid in the second half so it’s not a fitness issue. I give up trying to figure this guy out.

 

[Tall Tales and True]

Gee but, you can't miss the touch of class he's got. It's all a bit of a mystery.

On SM-S916B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[jenniferHAWKinS]

DGB not sighted in first half, solid in the second half so it’s not a fitness issue. I give up trying to figure this guy out.

Had a great defensive 1st half with some serious good spoils and then junked it up in the 2nd half with the usual back 6 chipping it around in the back 50. Don’t remember him losing a 1 on 1 contest all day.

 

[Walshawk]

He flew at a few today, got into a great position to mark and spilled them every time.

 

[greenroom]

He flew at a few today, got into a great position to mark and spilled them every time.

sounds like someone i know, played against his old team today and we gave him a sympathy goal

 

[tommyk72]

Timmy Almost never played for Richmond!!?

 

[HAWKS2016]

As per the afl website "Jai Serong was solid in defence with 18 disposals, as was Denver Grainger-Barras (15 and nine marks)."

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

DGB manager indicating a deal will be done in the next month or so on Gettable

 

[cryptor]

DGB manager indicating a deal will be done in the next month or so on Gettable

Will be interesting to see what it ends up being. My guess right now would be 1 year with a trigger for a second based on games played.