Ben Griffiths [merged]

[Go Richo 12]

was a big nite.......
lmao@ posting at 5.45 am.

thats funny! I hope your not on facey! Dangerous site to post at 5-45 am!

[Smokey]

198cm,solid,good hands - whats not to like.

you could add quick for his size agile and a pretty good kick.
like most young draftees there is lots to like. didnt say he has no potential just quering what hes achieved thus far to warrant all the hype.
 his 5 games thus far have been very ordinary. hes barely got those good hands on the pill.
the thing is we should not be expecting big things from him especially after another shoulder prob.
there is nothing wrong with him proving his worth and showing he deserves a senior game by performing well at coburg and getting more than 3 possesions.
whats better for his development  3 or 4 possesion games at richmond or a good solid block of 15 20 possession games with 2 or 4 goals a game thrown in at coburg.

Agree Claw.  Good post.

[one-eyed]

Next up is Big Ben. Not big on stats yet but he finished his debut year with a 100% winning record.

What are your expectations for Griffs in 2011 and what would be a good year for him?

Career so far:

          Games   Kicks  Hballs  Disp.   Marks   Tackles   G.B      In50    1%ers
2010      5         1.6     2.2      3.8       0.8       1.2        3.0       1.2       1.6

http://finalsiren.com/PlayerStats.asp?PlayerID=2026
http://www.pro-stats.com.au/psw/web/player_profile?pid=2010019

[one-eyed]

2011 Richmond Player Countdown - 38 Ben Griffiths

http://fightingfury.tumblr.com/

Richmond picked Griffiths in the 2009 draft knowing that he had shoulder problems, but also knowing that this big lump of a kid had huge potential. Both were on display in Ben’s 2010 season.

It took until round 10 against Port Adelaide for Griffiths to make his long awaited debut.  He managed only 5 disposals in the wet conditions before injuring his shoulder. He came back in the Round 12 match against West Coast and managed to hold his spot until he injured his shoulders again in the Round 15 clash against Fremantle. This time the Tigers booked Ben in for surgery, ending his season prematurely. In that short time however, Griffths managed to show the Richmond faithful that he may very well be the answer to their long term CHF problem. An interesting side note in Griffiths appearances is that in the 5 games he played for Richmond in 2010, his team won every single one. Let’s hope that’s a sign for the future!

With his booming kicks and solid grabs it would appear that Ben is set to play a very prominent role in future Richmond sides. I would expect that we will see much more of Griffiths in 2011 as Damien Hardwick looks to get as much experience into his young key forwards as possible. Hopefully Ben’s shoulders have healed up well and we can see plenty more of his long bomb goals for years to come.

http://fightingfury.tumblr.com/

[Tigermad20011]

Hell just to stay injury free.

[Mr Magic]

Hell just to stay injury free.

That's obvious. We can only hope the shoulders are right.
Assuming he's fit I'd like to see greater involvement and more physicality up forward this year from Griff.
He's young but he's a huge lad and can really influence contests if he throws himself around up forward.
Also the word is that they're hoping he can pinch hit in the ruck. How his shoulders will go with that is yet to be seen.

20 goals from 14 games for Ben is not unreasonable to hope for this year.

[Infamy]

I'd be happy with 10-12 games and 10-15 goals
Really can't expect a 198cm kid in his 2nd year to offer much more than that, if he did he would be miles ahead of schedule

[Con65]

Mr Magic I think you would be on the money...14 games and 20 goals with the odd bag of 4 goals...is realistic.

Ideally 22 games and his body (read shoulders) holding up is what we would be after. But very few key forwards play all 22 games.

[WilliamPowell]

If he stays fit 15+ games

But considering he probably wont be match ready by round 1 I'd be happy with 10-12 games with say 2 goals a game

Will be a very good player at FF for us over the next decade   

[eliminator]

Would be great if he played more than 12 games and kicked 20 plus goals for the season.

[WA Tiger]

Would just be great if he played at this stage.

[Infamy]

Would just be great if he played at this stage.

Exactly, some of the expectations listed here are ridiculous

[mat073]

He will probably be inconsistent in 2011 like all second year players.

If he stays fit there is no reason why he cant have a "break out" game this year.

Back in 2008, Jack Riewoldt kicked a "bag" of 5 in just his 19th game of AFL football. It would be fantastic to see Ben Griffiths do something similar.It would also give us supporters great hope for the future too.

[taztiger4]

Would just be great if he played at this stage.

Exactly, some of the expectations listed here are ridiculous

I would hardly call the following "Ridiculous expectations"
Staying fit & injury free
12 to 15 games
14 to 20 goals

[Infamy]

Would just be great if he played at this stage.

Exactly, some of the expectations listed here are ridiculous

I would hardly call the following "Ridiculous expectations"
Staying fit & injury free
12 to 15 games
14 to 20 goals

For a 2nd year 199cm key forward coming off a shoulder reco, yes they are
Anything over a goal a game is optimistic, especially 2 goals a game, some career key forwards are lucky to average 2 goals a game