For me it was seeming him not lose his feet. There where several times in congested ground balls he’d stay standing, bend over and collect the ball under contact. He’d allways stay standing which is unusual for a kid as they normally have a weaker core and go to ground easily. I reckon he’s got a lot of promise as an inside mid too.
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Dare I say - Hird like in that regard.
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Even Mumford would say that speed was never his go.
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True, players can develop in the VFL, when there are regular VFL games being played. This year that just wasn’t possible. While he didn’t need to be played as much as he was in the senior team, doing so has undoubtedly aided in streamlining his development This season would be worth two or three seasons worth of development usually. Considering he had no football last season, his rapid progress this year, can only stand him in good stead for the future. Granted that he and Cox looked a bit tired by the end of the season.
Yeah, but you can prove anything with facts.
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Now, I’m not sure if you intended a play on words there or not but in any case - well done!
Pretty sure he got a heap of it in an early VFL game playing either mostly or all game in the midfield, was dominant. He was elevated straight back into the seniors after that.
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Just caught up on the thread.
Surprised at how many blitzers get such a bad read on this guy.
Re: Perkins the athlete
- he is a power athlete who didn’t play much footy last year
- no surprise that he ran out of legs given his profile as a power athlete
- comparisons to Parish and Heppell etc are futile as they are different athletes
Re: Perkins the player
- please refer to Dangerfield, Martin and Petracca who all took longer to reach their full potential due to …their athletic profiles and tendency to be featured fwd in their early 20’s, especially Danger and Petracca
- Perkins is going to be a classic power inside mid like these 3 who plays fwd of centre
- during the midpoint of the year where he was at his physical best he actually showed what a smart, no nonsense and good decision maker he was. He is a footballers footballer. People worried about his footy smarts, saying he is flashy etc are just people making bad stereotypical judgements because he has wild hair and Zoolander looks.
- Bloke is made to football.
- Bloke may be the most mentally prepared teenage footballer I can remember at our club ever.
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This.
& Doesn’t panic pass - looks to use the ball to advantage.
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Who me? 
I reckon he’ll learn plenty on a flank, TBH.
Where he’s really behind, IMHO, is in his defensive running and decision making. Got lost (or at least hesitated) whether to go in at the ball or go with his man fairly often. And he’s not great at zoning up, but that’s probably due to his tank more than anything.
This is not to take a shot at him - he’s young, he’s missed a lot of footy, this not unexpected.
What he needs, above all else, is games and preseasons to improve this stuff. I don’t think it matters too much where those games are played - because his problems aren’t really with the ball, they’re without it.
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How do you define a power athlete ?
For a guy who didn’t play in his senior year, he walked into an AFL best 22. That’s super impressive in itself. If does what I am sure he will do an build his size and tank over the off-season. If the coaches recognise and play him in midfield minutes, he will be the best bomber second year player in a long time.
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Agree. People tend to forget how long it took, particularly Petracca, to get to where he is today. He was considered a fail (for a #1 pick) only a matter of 3 years ago.
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In many way’s it’s pointless arguing this stuff as we simply won’t know for a couple of years, but hey… its a bit of fun.
First full season for the three guys you mentioned plus one of our own:
Danger: 2.29 clearances per game
Martin: 4.81
Petracca: 1.88
Darcy Parish: 3.2
And…
Archie Perkins: 0.52
Now, clearances aren’t everything, and I’m not saying that Archie won’t become an inside mid, I just don’t think there’s been a lot of evidence yet that he’s tracking in that direction to this point. I think most of the real inside clearance guns in the comp like Oliver and Parish showed straight away that they had it in their bag.
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Genuinely interested in what you mean by this.
I posted this in April.
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He very very rarely played in the middle though didnt he?
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I dont think he played through the middle at all, but then neither did any of the others in their first year except for Dusty. There are still opportunities for guys playing high half forward like him to get involved in stoppage work at boundary throw ins and ball ups etc. He played a very similar role this year to Parish in his first season and the difference in the numbers is clear.