Sandilands was clumsy, but got 40+ hitouts in a game in his first season on a senior list. That is a good return in anyone's books and of course you persevere with that.
Well obviously his massive height had a lot to do with the pure quantity of hitouts, however its taken a long time before he's actually learnt how to tap to advantage. There were articles only a year or two ago about how predictable he was for opposition midfielders to rove to his taps. Obviously he's one of the best in the game now, but it's still taken him a good 7 years to get to that level.
First year on a senior list is a bit misleading too, he was 20 years old and had been on the Freo list for a full year before he got a shot at senior level, so it's not like he just walked in to the side after getting drafted. As I pointed out, on his debut he was still older than Vickery is now and older than he will be at the end of the season.
If you want to compare them at the same age then you'll have to see how Tyrone goes next year and compare that to Sandilands first season.
Just like you persist with a 211cm giant who gets 41 hitouts in a game in his first season, you persist with a young ruckman taken with Pick 8 who has played 17 games of AFL before he's even turned 20.
