Did have that exact thought,… being that at this point,… you could reasonably pick about 15 definite’s, … and easily throw a blanket over another 15 or so that are possibles for the other 7 spots.
The thing that says Laverde is valued highly by the coaching panel is the fact he’s often thrust into the team off limited preparation coming back from serious injury. They’re keen to fast track his development as soon as it’s practical. Reckon in time he’ll be a contested midfield beast.
Saw him maul a teammate during a drill yesterday… then monster him a bit more when getting up with the ball…
Lav has exceptional decision making, lots of mongrel about him, good execution/disposal skills… and he is a great size. That’s why they play him at every chance they get.
If he can find some game time continuity and get the pill more often with greater consistency, he will be an A-grader…
But the best part about him becoming an A grader, will be the fact that Carlton overlooked him for Blain Boekhurst
I really hope he gets a clear run at it this season without injury.
I’m certainly not on his bandwagon, but we’re all basically clueless as to what he can bring to the table when fully fit and prepared
Anyone saying they know where he’ll succeed at AFL level is guessing IMO.
To me he needs to get continuity and touch first, before we really know if he’s anything, let alone what that is, exactly. I think he gets a game easiest in the forward line.
He has definitely upped his output in the sessions I have seen lately. In particular he is going for mad agressive tackles almost approaching Nick Kommer intensity.
This seems to be a common theme at training; I saw Bags offload Greeny after he kicked a goal, there’s no nicey nicey it’s just training. The players know they need to HTFU.
Frankly, the “look at his TAC form” line is about as relevant as the “look at his AFL form last year” line, given he spent 3 months in a boot, not running, and then almost straight in to the side.
No one has anything substantial to reference in terms of how good, or otherwise, he’ll be, or the type of player he’ll be. We’re all guessing, including anyone saying he’s overrated and anyone saying he’s underrated.
My guess is he’ll be very good long term, but may not get a lot of games this year. But it’s only a guess.