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

[tommyk72]

Pcm will be between Sicily, Moore and worps . All three could lay a stake at been AA level along with scrimshaw.

Meek would be up there depending on how he finishes the year.

 

[Roddy]

Meeks’s a sneaky I reckon…

 

[Mitchell Madness]

Meeks’s a sneaky I reckon…

Missed too many early in the season

 

[HWKR]

Among the league's top kicks inside 50 according to Champion Data. Nice work Worps.

 

[Dipper]

Among the league's top kicks inside 50 according to Champion Data. Nice work Worps.

It's been so obvious how much he's improved this aspect of his game. Somebody posted on here last week that he's become a passable AFL standard kick, I thought about replying but couldn't be bothered, but you'd have to be blind Freddy not to see that his I50 kicking is now top shelf so I'm glad these stats back that up.

 

[cryptor]

Among the league's top kicks inside 50 according to Champion Data. Nice work Worps.

A stark contrast from just a couple years ago when he would just dump kick around his body or dump it long and high down the line all the time. He's surgical now with the way he wheels out of stoppages and the whips a low ball onto a teammates tit.

 

[KermitJagger]

Among the league's top kicks inside 50 according to Champion Data. Nice work Worps.

Not too many other inside mids in that list, speaks volumes.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

I've always thought that Worps was a sound kick from a technical perspective, he just used to rush the kick when he could have taken an extra second to compose himself.

This season you can see he is taking that extra second to look up and select a target before kicking, he's made some absolutely laser passes into the forward 50 as a result.

 

[kirbatron]

the private tackling sessions has now allowed him extra time to settle & distribute.

hes turned his career around after the shit patch & is now a must have in our midfield imo

 

[Judd2Sewell]

From an obvious weakness to a strength.

Can't imagine how much work went into changing his technique/timing. You have to give credit to Worpel and the coaching unit (or whoever it was) that helped him work on this.

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

From an obvious weakness to a strength.

Can't imagine how much work went into changing his technique/timing. You have to give credit to Worpel and the coaching unit (or whoever it was) that helped him work on this.

timing is a great pick up. i don't think you suddenly become a top inside 50 kick without being a good kick your whole life. it's about adjusting to how much time you have, especially in a contested situation.

also likely his decision-making has improved significantly

 

[The Chad and I]

Among the league's top kicks inside 50 according to Champion Data. Nice work Worps.

Worpel was never a "bad kick".
He had simply formed the habit of rushing his kicks as the default because he won a lot of the football under pressure.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Worpel was never a "bad kick".
He had simply formed the habit of rushing his kicks as the default because he won a lot of the football under pressure.

His kicking ability had been his biggest issue since his junior days, it was the main reason why he slid into the 40's during the draft, despite being a captain and an accomplished performer at that level.

He's worked hard to improve it, and it's really paying off this season.

 

[The Chad and I]

His kicking ability had been his biggest issue since his junior days, it was the main reason why he slid into the 40's during the draft, despite being a captain and an accomplished performer at that level.

He's worked hard to improve it, and it's really paying off this season.

And yet his technique has not changed…

 

[flinchfree]

And yet his technique has not changed…

I'd disagree a bit.
He used to kick it 'round the corner' a bit when not needing to in general play, hanging the ball wide and trying to kick slicing worm burner kicks at super high velocity.
Feel like he kicks a lot more upright and putting the ball in front of his target far more.
Has also slowed on that last step before kicking, used to try and hit them at the same pace he was running.

Agree not huge changes, but enough to have a pretty big difference I reckon.

 

[Manila_Hawk]

As I remember, all of his kicks seemed to go straight up into the air.

Now he gets distance and accuracy and seemingly has more time.

 

[TheFourPillars]

And yet his technique has not changed…

Two things have changed. Technique and composure. Technique under pressure especially. It comes with hard work on the track. A player doesn't magically improve a part of his game automatically. He evaluates a weakness and then works on it session after session to improve.

Sam Mitchell is a perfect example most of u think he had those skills his whole football career but that would be wrong. He worked on it just like Worpel has done. Kudos to the man. He has now become a weapon from centre clearances.

 

[humid hawk]

The biggest change in Worps game IMHO is consistency. Even when we were getting pantsed at the beginning of the season he was still cracking in every week.

The very best players hold to a high standard every game and work on their weapons and weaknesses equally.

The exciting thing is that he still has so much growth in his game to come!

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Pcm will be between Sicily, Moore and worps . All three could lay a stake at been AA level along with scrimshaw.

Ginni would be in with a shot also - easily top 5. If he finishes the season strong he absolutely should make the AA 40 man squad at least.

 

[The Chad and I]

I'd disagree a bit.
He used to kick it 'round the corner' a bit when not needing to in general play, hanging the ball wide and trying to kick slicing worm burner kicks at super high velocity.
Feel like he kicks a lot more upright and putting the ball in front of his target far more.
Has also slowed on that last step before kicking, used to try and hit them at the same pace he was running.

Agree not huge changes, but enough to have a pretty big difference I reckon.

Two things have changed. Technique and composure. Technique under pressure especially. It comes with hard work on the track. A player doesn't magically improve a part of his game automatically. He evaluates a weakness and then works on it session after session to improve.

Sam Mitchell is a perfect example most of u think he had those skills his whole football career but that would be wrong. He worked on it just like Worpel has done. Kudos to the man. He has now become a weapon from centre clearances.

Fair enough.
I don’t observe any change beyond composure tbh.

I’ve always felt Worpel had this level in him which is why I never fell off when he had a down year.

He was once tradeable, but I think that time has now passed. He is essential to this team.

Nash, Newcombe, and Worpel gives such a perfect balance to the inside mids. Congrats to Mitchell for the vision, and the players for stepping up.

From a weakness to a strength.

 

[humid hawk]

Would be great to get a clip together of Worps' shoulder rolls, broken tackles and fend offs for the year.

His endurance and consistency is amazing!

Gotta poll highly in the PCM this year?

 

[FisherHawk]

Pcm will be between Sicily, Moore and worps . All three could lay a stake at been AA level along with scrimshaw.

I think Moore has it now with Worpel the runner up.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

Would be great to get a clip together of Worps' shoulder rolls, broken tackles and fend offs for the year.

His endurance and consistency is amazing!

Gotta poll highly in the PCM this year?

Has done some amazing work with Jack Vineys brother, has paid dividends. Gives Worps more time now to dispose at a high level, whilst knowing he’s strong enough to get out of tackles, and will also using good technique if someone ends up matching his strength.

 

[HedgeFund]

James’ kicking technique has softened slightly - and it’s the reason for his improved efficiency.

It’s subtle and to be honest not that difficult to change when you’re fully professional. Just adjust a few triggers around your ball drop and work on getting used to the subtle change.

He no longer holds the ball out with a full / stiff arm extension when kicking. In bringing the ball closer to his hip/thigh with a slightly bent arm, he then is kicking with his body weight further in front (head over the ball). His hand position is also a bit more “over the laces”. So he doesn’t kick out at the ball, but kicks through it.

The end result is better penetration with less effort, so he’s no longer slinging/dumping it high, but punching it into space for a leading player to run into.

I agree he is also finding that extra split second of space / composure too, which has helped as well.

 

[humid hawk]

This bloke will be one of the key pillars for our finals run.

He's been the most consistent performer for our season - even when we were getting beaten up in rounds 1-7. He's shown huge improvements in his game (tackle evasion, f50 kicking) and I reckon he can take them to the next level over the next few weeks.

If Worps can crack in hard during the finals, attack the ball and get us into space, it'll go a long way towards us progressing further through the final games.