That’s some fairly “sky is falling” type thinking Alex.
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Why is it so hard for people to admit the obvious on blitz sometimes lol.
It was clear as day for literally anyone watching VFL that Bryan could and should have played every game last year.
I dont think his development is screwed but he absolutely should have played another 20 games by now.
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The obvious thing is theres nothing wrong with developing in the VFL.
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Never said there was, but he was ready and in form and should have played more.
I watched heaps of VFL last year and didn’t want Bryan as first ruck, I wanted Wright at full forward and Draper in ruck. Wright underperformed, now we are trying a two ruck strategy. It will be interesting how things play out from here.
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That’s where the strong emphasis should lie. STRONG GLIMPSES of talent.
yes he struggled, so did phillips and goldstein.
it didn’t effect out ladder position exponentially playing stronger more matured ruckman.
There is probably an extra 20 odd games left on the table that Bryan could have had as development in the AFL setting, and again considering people run with you need 100 games as a benchmark for “being ready”, “developing” him in the vfl simply isn’t the same.
Would you drop caddy at present and claim he can get just as much experience and development at vfl level ? of course not.
it’s like roberts alot of us were saying he should have gotten more games last year. there was a strange reluctance to play him til the last 4 weeks.
this year all of a sudden the coach is praising how awesome and level headed he is down back and in general how he’s a potential heppell replacement down back.
he sure as ■■■■ didn’t just develop all those traits in a measley 4 ■■■■■■■ games at the end of last year.
he always had them, he could have been given more gametime last year therefore he could be even further developed that he is now.
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Briggs was behind mumford
Meek was potentially behind sandilands and then darcy, then left when they were bringing in jackson
Cameron was behind grundy.
xerri was behind Goldstein
bryan has missed out on development behind andrew phillips and a 36 yr old goldstein (who north kicked out to back in xerri)j
It’s not the same context, surely even you get that.
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All those rucks were far more physically developed combative players
Bryan needed the development at lower levels to work on those aspects, and his tank from a running capacity and ability to handle that battle against bigger AFL level rucks
We saw as he was getting opportunities in the senior team he’d be gassed and subbed out often
I do think he’s missed out on some games “could” have played, but IMO his development hasn’t been hindered by the path taken. Got him to really want it also and grab his chance once ready
It’s a shame he’s done an ACL when had established himself in team, silver linings is could spend more time on his upper body now and come back stronger again.
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2024 preseason -
“Hey Nick, you’re getting towelled up by old man Goldy in our match simulations.
We want you long term but you need to build a tank and put on some muscle so you don’t get pushed around so easily.
When you go past Goldy you’re in our AFL team.”
The same folk who incessantly bag the coach don’t recognise motivation and development strategies in elite sport.
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you could make the same argument for caddy.
do you think the approaches have been the same for each player ?
There is a big talent gap between Caddy and Bryan coming out of the draft. Also a position need in the firsts for Caddy. Bryan might of played more games if he was a better forward.
I don’t really agree with this at all. Bryan was running out full games in the VFL, often against mature bodies.
I think subbing out Bryan was more often for strategic reasons.
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so you’re saying ones development path is based on their draft number ?
well that doesn’t seem like a great development plan now does it.
Ruck isn’t a position need for us over the years ? phillips a gun ruck, a 36 yr old goldstein, they were what, long term investments for players in their youthful prime ?
he is a ruckman, why does he need to be a better forward to play more as a ruck ?
And this is where I go back to he has been developed poorly. no he wasn’t ready, yes he was getting monstered, and where did we end up anyway ?
Caddy with a higher draft number and more talent is also getting monstered most weeks, should we drop him to learn at lower levels ? build his tank ? learn to outbody people at lower levels ?
oh that’s right a draft number dictates it’s ok to keep him in the seniors to learn, because that philosophy has worked out so well at this club, separating players based on their draft position and giving them more opportunities.
To cut this arguing short do you think Bryan is a better ruckman than Draper now and then into the next 6 years or so?
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You are correct. Anyone who thinks development is linear and the same for 2 players who play in different positions should not be taken seriously.
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