Hate to go against santa at this time of year but sorry claw, you're on your own on this one. Take it from someone who, like you is a cynical realist, extremely weary of hype and has seen & heard it all before....kid's got what it takes and frankly I'd be staggered if he didn't make it.
dont believe ive said he wont make it.
what i have said is theres an awful lot of love for a bloke who is yet to play a game. all im doing is questioning why we annoint them before they have done a thing. until he does perform at the level hes just another kid with a potential tag.
totally agree
the guy hasn't done a thing imho
37 goals in 14 games strongly suggests otherwise, in fact it strongly suggests he's done more in just two-thirds of a season than both Griffiths & Elton have done in a combined total of six seasons.
Can we guarantee 100% he'll make it - well no, there a very few kids you can 100% guarantee until they actually start playing AFL. Could well be one of those too good for VFL, not good enough for AFL types but I doubt it... IMO barring severe injuries -which is always a possibility with tall skinny kids and trust me, was the only reason he was held back last year- there aren't too many other reasons why he can't.
He has guts, determination & work ethic, this already puts him ahead of the likes of Griffiths & Post - he has great game sense/smarts and knows where to run, this puts him ahead of those two as well as Todd "lost" Elton. He's quicker than Astbury. His agility for his size is remarkable, in fact his level of agilty would be impressive for a 185 cm mid, so it's not merely just "good for his size".
His alleged deficiencies - contested marking (he doesn't really play the kind of role that requires alot of it yet -plus his skill in creating leads and reading the flight is such that he often finds himself out on his own. ) & set shot kicking (technique's fine enough)are not that bad and are more just aspects he'll need to work on the same as every kid his age -even the the highly rated top draft picks - has aspects of their games they need to work on.....and yes he probably won't be playing in the ruck for a fair while yet.
Let's not forget his 37 goals in 14 games came playing on the end of some shocking and often non-existent delivery in the second worst team in the VFL, a team often heavily compromised as to what structures & match-ups they could employ.
Yes there's been a lot of exaggerated urine extracting hype around the traps regarding his talents, but every now & then there are kids you can just tell have what it takes - for me he's one of those kids....and as I said, I'm far from a glass half full brightsider or delusional feral.
