i like the way this lad is shaping up.
On Fox Footy back in November sometime, they interviewed Cleve (along with many other hopefulls) as part of the Draft Preview show. At the end of the show (and if you have a tape of it, re-watch it and you'll see what i mean) it's Cleve that stood out heads and shoulders above any of the others as far as being a genuine human being.
Now i dont know the lad from a bar of soap and i'd never lump that kind of fathoming upon anyone let alone a young lad BUT... he was exactly that, well rounded and innately together.
from all reports from the hitout in Learmonth today this guy has the (yes that word again) POTENTIAL to fill the Post-Richo void.
I'm subscribing to this wagon of thought too because theres a few things that i see that are going to benefit our foward structure immensely if this boy does indeed come on.
He's a good strong lead meaning he likes to take the front and has an excellent set of mitts. From what i've seen of him, he reminds me alot of a young dunstall (yes the same old fat bald guy you see on telly now). Dunstall was a magician whenever the ball was kicked to him. He had a knack of holding on to the pill in the most uncanniest of ways and in the most unholdable situations.
Twice in my lifetime i saw it with my own two eyes right in front of me. Eight guys jump up for a pack mark, Dunstall and the ball get lost right in the middle of them all. whos the only one standing holding the ball, you guessed it, how? i dont know. Also the day he was pirouetted through the air vertically and somehow managed through centrifugal force to keep the ball balanced in one hand while holding his oponent with the other, how? i dont know. Its all about having strong hands, i know that much and Cleve has that.
Another trait of Dunstalls was his clever leading which is one of Cleve's strengths. His ability to lead hard and straight will straighten up our attack no end, a luxury our forward thrusts have lacked for years. Richo's open 50 policy can negate other options within the forward line like making it harder for your rovers to get to the fall of the ball in time and choking off other forward leads. I much prefer Cleves straight leading although it might be more predictable for the opposition to pick at least it brings in your forward rovers and opens up other dangerous hotspots within the forward 50. This is gonna be the biggest change post-richo and i believe for the better.
its all way too early to be speaking this way of a new recruit but the mere thought of the possibility of this coming to frution should Cleve come good, well its just mouth watering.
