How Good are the Youngsters?

[PuntRdRoar]

I'm starting to have some doubts about the overall quality of the youngsters at Tigerland. My view is that at this stage only

Brett Deledio is going to be a major star
Danny Meyer will be terrific- may become a star
Richard Tambling could be anything but hasnt shown us anything because of injury
Brent Hartigan- As jack used to say "A Good ordinary Footballer" but i understand good leadership skills exhibited
Tom Roach has basically gone unseen this season- major concern
Daniel Jackson- is now a concern and as i mentioned several weeks ago after seeing him has definately gone backwards
Alex Gilmour- Unseen
Andrew Raines- looks like a footballer, doesnt get it enough, Question mark still
Adam Pattison- havent seen him enough, seems to have wraps but question mark still
Dean Polo- havent seen him enough. Reports are he is still 2 years away
Limbach and McGuane- See Polo
and Foley I dont think will make it, hopefully im wrong.

So going by that... I dont think our youngsters are as good as we all hope. At best we have 3 very good ones (the top three)

We're going to need a bloody good draft again this season. Opinions Please!

[Razorblade]

Wait until there 21 before writing them off!

[harry bosch]

Jackson is coming along nicely IMO , a long way from being a good senior player but people forget he
is somewhat of a project player. He was always going to be a player who would take 3-4 years to make it...

It might not be reflected in his senior performances so far but he is abetter footballer than at this time last year
and is improving..

[Bulluss]

Jackson will be a good player for us, he still has a lot of learning to do though.

He will end up being one of our top midfielders. He just needs to learn to play that position more.

[Tiv]

If u look at Melb & Geelong their youngsters took 2-4 years.
Just have to turn over some senior players that are average and recruit a couple more youngsters for the next 2-3 years and hopefully by then most of the players mentioned above will be mature and have enough experience to play senior footy.

I expected Del & Tambling to play senior footy with Meyer & Patison to get a couple of games this year.

Raines & Roach will have to start showing positive signs this year, although they should be around next year.
Jackson is still raw but will be very handy player for us.

Foley needs to mature physically as do the rest of the list.

Note Hartigan will be a 200 game player for us, really impressed with him, had he not been injured twice this season our backline would have had more run. Very positive player who loves to run and will make many forwards work hard and be accountable.

Staffs, Graham and Morrison are talls that we will lose in the next 1-2 years, so Pato, Shulz & Archibald have to step up.

We aren't far off, jumped by Melb by 5 goals to nil and then 6-1 after Browny went down (matched it with them albeit 15 minutes at the stat and 15 mins at the end) lost to WC by 2 points and had we our kicking boots on we would/should have beaten Kangas who had their best 22 playing. If we had the services of Brown, Rodan, Hartigan & Tambling we would be able to omit players such as Chaffs, Tivers etc and make them accountable, but injury has robbed us of that extra two running players. At this stage we havent the depth but will have it very soon.
The team is doing very well and I am excited in the coming years. Most important now is youngsters stepping up, and game plan execution.

Adelaide are physically stronger, playing great footy and also have that mental edge over us, so another tough assignment.

[WilliamPowell]

Jackson will be a good player for us, he still has a lot of learning to do though.

I agree - have a look at the replay in the third quarter his run off the back half and long kick that resulted in a goal to Richo. A small piece of play but this showed 2 things IMO.

1/ he can follow instruction
2/ He's got good pace and his long kicking is a helluva lot better than his short kicking.

Brent Hartigan- As jack used to say "A Good ordinary Footballer" but i understand good leadership skills exhibited

Agree with Tiv - he'll be a 200 game player for us. And yes he shows excellent leadership qualities. And geez we are missing his run out of the back half at the moment.

Alex Gilmour- Unseen

Very skillful but seems to struggle with injury. Gets right but then gets another injury. Don't foget he is only 18 - we drafted him as a 17 y.o. in 2003 and was the youngest kid taken.

Andrew Raines- looks like a footballer, doesnt get it enough, Question mark still

Disagree - you can't get it if you are sitting on the pine. He showed enough in the final quarter to suggest long term he will be good for us. I reckon it is fair to say he has gone ahead of Roach and considering how far back he started coming from a second string competition in Qld (sorry Julz) he is ahead of where most thought he would be

Adam Pattison- havent seen him enough, seems to have wraps but question mark still

Will be very very good once he is fills out and gets bigger. Sensational skills (especially below the knees) for a bloke of his height.

Dean Polo- havent seen him enough. Reports are he is still 2 years away
Limbach and McGuane- See Polo

First season for each of them (include Patto here too). They've done one pre-season and they are 12 weeks into their AFL careers. These 3 were selected as long term project players and were not expected to play seniors this season. Limbach is coming along well in the Coburg seconds - please remeber he missed most of last seasons TAC Cup through injury.

McGuane is like Raines has come from Qld - needs to bulk up but shows a lot of goods signs.

Polo played on Saturday for the Burgers seniors and although got limited game time I was impressed with his courage and ball getting ability, granted his skills need work but I he is tracking where he should be at theis stage.

Not all kids are going to be like Deledio and ready to play senior footy in their first years. Look out how many games Coughlan played in his first season and you can see it takes time.

Give all of our recruits time and a least 2 or 3 pre-seasons before we pass judgement I reckon.

[PuntRdRoar]

just asked a question thats all! and just trying to liven up the forum

[mightytiges]

For most of young guys it's going to take a few years to see if they are up to it. Remember we have something like the most teenagers in the AFL (13 IIRC) and a few more only 20 plus some our guys like Tuck and Hyde were late developers. I know I thought Hyde wouldn't do any good before this year.

Deledio looks a gun and Meyer will be also after a few pre-seasons to build up his size and more importantly his strength. They are our classiest youngsters.

Tambling we haven't seen enough of because of injury. Unknown at this stage but obviously has that X factor.

Hartigan - Belongs in the seniors in a back pocket now. He'll be a good AFL player nothing more.

Jackson - Has the talent and if nutured correctly could be better than good. Will make it in time.  

Raines - Coming along nicely and improving all the time. Will make it in time. He'll be a good player at least IMO.

Moore - Hard to say. Sometimes he makes you go yeah he's very good but other times looks average. Sadly he copped a broken jaw just when he was in excellent form at Coburg and would have had a opportunity in the seniors replacing Graham most likely.

Pattison - Very happy with picking Patto up. Skills, agility and footy smarts good for a big bloke. As with most talls he'll take time to fill out but looks to have what it takes with proper development to make it in the AFL.

Roach is struggling. He's may attribute is his pace but I don't see enough football ability and brains in him to think he'll make it.

Archibald - He's still young and as a "tall" he most likely will take longer to develop but I'm not convinced he'll make it. I have question marks over his decision making.

Foley - reminds me of Craig Ednie. He has the talent but unfortunately genetics (too small) looks like stopping him beig any more than a good VFL player.

McGuane - has a badly broken arm so is unknown.

Limbach was drafted with a late-ish pick and as WP mentioned is a "tall" project player so his status is also unknown.

Polo - Not Dean's his fault but using a good pick like #20 on a project player with questionable disposal was a huge risk. I know we drafted him as a future inside midfielder who can win and feed out the ball but I would have thought his draft value was a high 2nd rounder. Unknown.

We did the same in some ways with Gilmour in using pick #21. He just made the age limit so has time on his side. As WP mentioned his career so far has been dogged by injury. Unknown.

So at this stage I have 5-6 who I reckon will be regular seniors players at Tigerland by the time Wallace's first 5 years are up.

[harry bosch]

I guess the point about our young players is that it is only the last two drafts that we have
stated to seriously target young players. So if our young players aren't better than a lot of clubs it is understandable...

In 2003 we had 5 players on the list who were 20 or under at the end of the year , we now have 15 who are 20 or under at the end of the year
so that is obviously a big step in the rightdirection...

Basically two years ago we would have had the worst groupf of young players now it is at least on a par with a lot of other clubs so it's hard
not to be happy with that.

[Mopsy]

Andrew Raines- looks like a footballer, doesnt get it enough, Question mark still

Disagree - you can't get it if you are sitting on the pine. He showed enough in the final quarter to suggest long term he will be good for us. I reckon it is fair to say he has gone ahead of Roach and considering how far back he started coming from a second string competition in Qld (sorry Julz) he is ahead of where most thought he would be

Raines only played at junior level at Southport.

[Razorblade]

IIRC, Raines was a bottom-age pick, and was considered a PR pick, as he was hardly dominating playing for Southport.

He was expected to play the 2004 season in the Coburg RESERVES, with the possibility of playing a couple of late games in the Coburg seniors.

He has exceeded all expectations thus far, by a mile, so good on him.

I'd stick him on a wing, and let him be!

[PuntRdRoar]

What this also clearly shows is that we have a major problem coming up in the key position posts, i dont know how we could manage it but if we continue to slide down the ladder we may end up with a pick about 6-7-8. That may get us someone like Josh Kennedy or Cleve Hughes from South Australia. Somehow we have to try and conjure up another early pick to get both. I doubt that Mitch Clark or Beau Dowler will be available when our picks come up ... anyway who knows...we need 2 more drafts to sort out frawleys mess!

[DallasCrane]

Great post RT

Richard Tambling could be anything but hasnt shown us anything because of injury

I might go against the grain on this one.
Tambling hasn't shown ANYTHING yet. I can't say that I have seen him develop, coz I haven't seen any Coburg games. But all he has done in the seniors are a couple of assists. And they were good, but lets face it they were just tap ons. Tambling has clearly got pace. But at 18 I can't see how he is ahead of any other youngster at Richmond.IMO he has a hell of a lot of development to go. He is primarily a forward and hasn't even kicked a bag in the reserves yet. I'm keeping low expectations with Tambling and hopefully he can surprise me.

Tom Roach has basically gone unseen this season- major concern

It is a concern. I think I got excited about young Roach because last year he was breaking the lines. The pace was good and it seemed like he was the only player all year that was going down the guts. That may have made him look better than he is. From what I've seen of Roach, he can blaze away thru a midfield off CHB, but at the end of the 50 metre dash, the ball could end up anywhere. Anyone can run a quick 50m, it's the polish at the end that counts-bringing to mind Tivendale's shocking handball to Knovel yesterday.

Daniel Jackson- is now a concern and as i mentioned several weeks ago after seeing him has definately gone backwards

I don't think he has played as well as he did last year, but I'm not sure that he is a 'concern'. Needs more footy IMO, interesting to see that Wallace gave him a very short stint in tghe midfield, hopefully a sign of things to come. Jackson is worth working on because he has the perfect football body. Even though he got torched by Matera 2 weeks ago, he can play tall or small.

[Tiger Spirit]

Daniel Jackson – I wouldn’t know, but maybe he’s coming to terms with being an AFL player.  Like all players, it’s up to him whether he makes it or not.  From what we’ve seen so far, he has a lot going for him and just needs plenty of game time, whether it’s with Richmond or Coburg.

[julzqld]

Watching Raines play on Sunday was a step back in time.  He looks like and plays like his old man (girls -remember how gorgeous Geoff was!!).