Toast Welcome to the AFL Buku Khamis! It’s Buks party time :D

[dogwatch]

In the few games I've seen him I haven't yet seen a whole lot of evidence of his groundskills. They haven't yet passed the eye test for me. And that's notwithstanding his loose-ball goal when it went over the back of the pack on Friday. It was the only good instance I can recall.

The eye test also includes what I've seen in fragments of VFL broadcasts and the 2min 38sec video of his highlights when he kicked 4 or 5 goals in VFL Round 6. There were a couple of handball receives but only one ground ball pickup in that whole clip.

Someone said the other day that what Bevo saw in him as an 18yo was a kid who was a really good intercept mark but he didn't stand out in much else. And he got drafted largely on that one skill (correct me if I've misquoted it, but that's how I remember it).

Before you pile on, I am not saying he doesn't have those ground skills. At his height (190cm - shorter than Bont, Dunkley and Macrae, same height as Lipinski and Hannan) you'd expect that he would. I just want some more evidence before I'm convinced he has them to a significantly greater measure than the likes of similar role players like Cordy and O'Brien. According to the stats he has averaged 4 CPs over his three senior games so I'm prepared to concede I might've missed something if anyone can show me the clips.

What I've liked so far, among other things, are his one-grab marking, his leap, his ability to pinch-hit in the ruck, his forward's IQ, his growing self-belief and his accuracy in shooting for goal.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I can happily add groundskills to that list.

 

[weltschmerz]

In the few games I've seen him I haven't yet seen a whole lot of evidence of his groundskills. They haven't yet passed the eye test for me. And that's notwithstanding his loose-ball goal when it went over the back of the pack on Friday. It was the only good instance I can recall.

The eye test also includes what I've seen in fragments of VFL broadcasts and the 2min 38sec video of his highlights when he kicked 4 or 5 goals in VFL Round 6. There were a couple of handball receives but only one ground ball pickup in that whole clip.

Someone said the other day that what Bevo saw in him as an 18yo was a kid who was a really good intercept mark but he didn't stand out in much else. And he got drafted largely on that one skill (correct me if I've misquoted it, but that's how I remember it).

Before you pile on, I am not saying he doesn't have those ground skills. At his height (190cm - shorter than Bont, Dunkley and Macrae, same height as Lipinski and Hannan) you'd expect that he would. I just want some more evidence before I'm convinced he has them to a significantly greater measure than the likes of similar role players like Cordy and O'Brien. According to the stats he has averaged 4 CPs over his three senior games so I'm prepared to concede I might've missed something if anyone can show me the clips.

What I've liked so far, among other things, are his one-grab marking, his leap, his ability to pinch-hit in the ruck, his forward's IQ, his growing self-belief and his accuracy in shooting for goal.

Hopefully over the next few weeks I can happily add groundskills to that list.

Here's his draft profile. His other big strength when drafted was an excellent kick.

 

[dogwatch]

Here's his draft profile. His other big strength when drafted was an excellent kick.

Thanks, that's an interesting read. It only mentions ball skills once in passing without giving any examples. They are not listed in the bullet points of his strengths. It also suggests he was mainly an outside receiver/rebounder in addition to his intercept marking.

Two things that raised my eyebrows were (1) it talks about his great endurance as one of his strengths - lack of endurance is surely one of the biggest knocks on him at the moment, and (2) he needs to improve his game sense - that's something that I've thought has been quite good so far.

 

[weltschmerz]

Thanks, that's an interesting read. It only mentions ball skills once in passing without giving any examples. They are not listed in the bullet points of his strengths. It also suggests he was mainly an outside receiver/rebounder in addition to his intercept marking.

Two things that raised my eyebrows were (1) it talks about his great endurance as one of his strengths - lack of endurance is surely one of the biggest knocks on him at the moment, and (2) he needs to improve his game sense - that's something that I've thought has been quite good so far.

I reckon his endurance was very good in the beep test type of enviroment, but turned out a bit lacking in VFL games where so much was going on compared to juniors.

 

[doggies ftw]

Thanks, that's an interesting read. It only mentions ball skills once in passing without giving any examples. They are not listed in the bullet points of his strengths. It also suggests he was mainly an outside receiver/rebounder in addition to his intercept marking.

Two things that raised my eyebrows were (1) it talks about his great endurance as one of his strengths - lack of endurance is surely one of the biggest knocks on him at the moment, and (2) he needs to improve his game sense - that's something that I've thought has been quite good so far.

Agree his game sense has been good, genuinely looks like a natural out there, knows where to run where to be etc.

He’s only having 9-10 touches a game so there hasn’t been that many examples of his good ground ball game but he’s had some really nice involvements - if you can be bothered I like to go to the AFL app and you can watch an extended highlights clip for every player which shows all their involvements, good or bad, worth a watch and shows how impressive he’s actually been the last two weeks imo, up that production a little bit, run out the full game and geez we have a player.

I like that he seems to know when to stay down, when to fly, when to get drawn into the contest and when to spread - not easy for any young player to pick up straight away

 

[maddog37]

I think his biggest issue was concentrating the whole time to remain in the contest and provide second and third efforts. Has all the tools but can float a bit when low on gas.

 

[Bulldogs85]

Bulldogs Media | Western Bulldogs

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[The City Boyz]

Love the loyalty Buku continues to show us

 

[JohnnySteel]

Getting better every year and made massive improves this year in particular.

Who knows what level he can eventually get to but definitely has the tools to be a good AFL player which we saw at stages.

Well done Buku.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Snarls Barkley]

Think it's the right move to give him a two year deal. Wasn't sure if we were going to keep giving him one year deals. Feel like he has earned it.

Still has a lot to work on but at the worst he should be good depth for either end. Not convinced he'll be more than that but he's still young enough that there is no reason he can't make another jump.

 

[SweatOnMySkin]

Assuming his tank is now up to scratch, he needs to focus on strength this offseason. Really gets shown up in the contest that he lacks the power to wrestle with forwards. Some of that will start coming with age and years in the system now hopefully

 

[stefoid]

good to have on the list.

 

[Eastdog]

He has been very good this year Buku. Hoping for more improvement in 2025.

Glad that he has signed on.

 

[LondonBulldog]

The club need to decide what the want from him and them make him work on it.

For mind, he is never going to be key position, just doesn't have the strength or height.

Therefore he is competing against running defenders. He needs to add this to his game. An interceptor who takes off every chance he gets, runs past for the handball, long raking drop punts to forwards etc.

I think their is a role there but he must take the game on more and be offensive as well.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Sorry to say that I just don't get this one.

Khamis has developed a lot in the six (!!!) years he's been on the list, but his progress has plateaued dramatically. To those saying he has improved a lot this season, I actually see it differently. I think he has been provided with more opportunity this year in a different defensive system with more space, which has hidden the fact that he is effectively the same player as he was in 2023.

The upshot for me is that the attributes that held him back as a first-year player continue to hold him back as a soon-to-be seventh- and eighth-year-player.

As a forward he lacks the pressure and intensity required to make it as a third tall, but does not have the height or power necessary of an AFL-level lead-out full forward.

As a defender, his 1v1 limitations are so significant that he can only function in an offensive role, but he is nowhere near impactful enough to make him a net positive. Defensively he is stable when we are well on top, but whenever we can't provide manic pressure he is aggressively isolated by opposition coaches, which never ends well for him or us. He is a player who is perennially stuck between AFL roles no matter where he plays.

I am a big advocate for needing depth and would absolutely have signed him on, but two years is an unnecessarily long deal for a depth type that is still not best 22 after so long.

I so hope I'm wrong, but based on what we have seen, if he factors into team selection to a similar or greater level in 2025 or 2026 it is not a great sign for our recruitment/development. This was either a one year deal or a let someone else offer more, for me.

 

[fred cook]

Computer says no for me