Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn, James Worpel, pick #43 2017 - Peter Crimmins medalist 2019

[H00t]

He's been quite good at converting those fast centre clearances straight to a forward for goals. He was doing that a fair bit back in his PCM year too.

The clearance against freo in 2019 where he hit Lewis on the chest is one of my favourites. They are such value goals as they arrest momentum or allow us to continue to score quickly.

Interestingly enough he had 11 goal assists from 22 games in 2019. He’s already ahead this year after only 11 games.

 

[cryptor]

Rarely see him throw it on the boot around the body indiscriminately any more.

If he’s kicking it these days it tends to only be after he’s looked up to see what he’s kicking to, otherwise he’s handballing it off.

His evasive body work with Max Viney and his composure when kicking have really elevated his game to career best levels.

It would be good to see him hitting the scoreboard too. He’s quite a good kick on the run so I wouldn’t mind seeing him taking some shots when bursting out of the centre square if there isn’t a clear lead from a forward on offer.

 

[Bugs1977]

Rarely see him throw it on the boot around the body indiscriminately any more.

If he’s kicking it these days it tends to only be after he’s looked up to see what he’s kicking to, otherwise he’s handballing it off.

His evasive body work with Max Viney and his composure when kicking have really elevated his game to career best levels.

It would be good to see him hitting the scoreboard too. He’s quite a good kick on the run so I wouldn’t mind seeing him taking some shots when bursting out of the centre square if there isn’t a clear lead from a forward on offer.

Agreed. This would keep his opponent honest too because they can't then assume he's just going to get it in and under and then look for an easy handball out.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

I like that he's blazing away a lot less than in previous seasons. He's taking a split second more time, as he seemingly knows that he can fight through most contact and most tackles now. That confidence allows him to have enough time to dish off to someone as opposed to just slamming it on the boot.

He had several down weeks possession wise, but was still playing his role in and around the clearances. With Day and Moore rotating through the middle we have five players now that can win clearances, four of them are a decent size and the fifth is the most tenacious of them all. It's a great mix right now.

Edit: I imagine having confidence in his body has contributed greatly to this.