#4 Kyle Langford — not our worst in possibly our worst

With Watson, Hurley and hopefully Orazio to return I’m not sure whose place Langford would take

Personally I reckon him leading a good VFL finals campaign along side Francis, Mutch, Redman, Draper and Clarke would be great for our club 2018 onwards

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After seeing that Langford has racked up 25 and shown some aggression and serious intensity I’m really pumped for us and him next year.

Meanwhile we hopefully make finals, then get Dodoro to do something crafty to add to our midfield grunt and muscle.

He had 6 AFL games and was shown to be a fair way off it in terms of what an AFL mid produces.

Pure forward is not what we want from him. I want midfield beast who can go back and kill when resting forward.

The time in the seconds and maybe a bit of a reality check to step it up is exactly what he needed.

Im very excited about where he is positioned and poised right now.

If he has a killer pre season then hes set to launch an awesome career.

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I was been facetious in my first post…

I agree with your post. What I don’t agree with is playing kids if they are not yet capable of producing more then those are currently in the side. This is compounded by the fact that a team is learning to play together and continuity is extremely important. Woosha made the statement that he would play the kids if they are seen to be equal or better then those currently in the team. I agree with that.

The debate on here is bringing in the kids to fast track there development vs team short term success vs long term success. Depending on where we think the list/team is at we all have different views on this.

I also think most of our kids are exactly where they should be at and have shown good signs for the future, and that they have also developed well in the VFL while we have retained a reasonably healthy list in the AFL.

A healthy list, plus the need for team continuity has led to not as many kids blooded this year. But I am fine with that.

He has done it a few times in the VFL now. Just need to gain consistency from game to game.

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I said the same in another thread but Langford should never have been dropped. Not only was it short sighted in terms of getting more games into a young player but those that have been in ahead of him have been the same or worse.
I’ll be pretty disappointed if he’s not playing next week because his form shows he deserves to play.

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At the time it was weird he was droppe, 19 possies in a half if I remember correctly and it looked like he was one the path to a best 22 mid.

Unfortunately he was dropped and hasn’t been back since. I get the whole learning his craft in the VFL, but at some point racking up 30 each week becomes a waste. IMHO he is now at the point where his development has to occur at AFL level.

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Langford has done well for himself this year.

I reckon the coaching staff will be immensely pleased with him. Seems to have done everything asked of him, and done it well.

If it was round 15, he’d probably get brought back into the seniors this week. But I can’t see it now. They’ll stick with the side they think are their best 22, and have backed in for most of the year.

The Langford will be challenged to drag his team to a VFL flag. I don’t think that is a waste. Plenty of players have won a reserves flag before coming into the AFL and never looking back.

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I am not sold on this guy, not sure what he really brings to the table that makes everyone so sure he is going to be a great player. I can see it with Lav and BBB, I cannot really see it with him. He isn’t bad, just strikes me as a depth player.

That’s unfairly dismissive I reckon. It’s always up for discussion, but it’s unrealistic to think that the people responsible do not have as much chance at getting this right as anyone else.

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I’m really confident he will be an excellent player, has so many facets to his game that can be or major weapons.

Your frozen in time opinion is like your alias.

Go to a supporter function and have a chat to the kid. Have a look at some VFL games and you will be watching a very creative and smart kid. He won’t be depth at any afl

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I see what type of pun you were using but it didn’t work.

I do watch VFL games, he is an okay player at this stage, I am not seeing him bring a lot to the table that suggests the excitement level in this place matches. I hope i am wrong but I think he is only a depth player who will be in and out of the side quite a lot.

Others I think offer more, such as Begley and Laverde and even Mutch.

However i would be interested in people providing a better indepth analysis of his skill set because all I am seeing is “he offers a lot” or “he is creative and smart”.

Have a look at his pre draft highlite package - if you were able to see his VFLgame on the weekend it correlates that he does create.

Have a look at his VFLstats overall and for a 20 year old learning a new position he has done well. Would he be a regular at the majority of other AFL clubs -

My observations…

He has a good set of hands, both overhead, and at ground level.

He is very very good in close. Has great vision and evasiveness that gives him time with the ball.

He has excellent core strength already, and oh those thighs.

He is a good kick of the footy. Particularly at goal, but also a reasonable field kick.

He reads the play well, and is often intercepting the ball.

On the other hand, he struggles to be a link in the attacking chain in the middle of the ground. Funnily enough, as soon as he is close to goal this issue goes away.

He has little to no burst speed.

Is just average defensively.

His facial expression rarely changes.

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Thanks for that, appreciate it.

I see that too however i just don’t see him have the x-factor that goes with it that makes him stand out of the pack of other players who have similar abilities.

I am not saying he should be delisted and I am not saying he doesn’t have a place in the side, I am just saying I don’t see what all the hype is about. I see him as a depth player who will drift in and out of the side rather than commanding a place in the best 22 consistently.

I do hope I am wrong though.

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I don’t think you’re wrong at all.

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You mean he’s laconic?

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We’re talking about Pendlebury right?

If he’s half the player Dinglebury is then he’ll do just fine.

He’s averaged 24 touches and 7 tackles in the VFL as a 20 year old and also hit the score board well. He’s going to pretty comfortably fill jobe’s 2017 shoes next year.

Kelly is going to love getting dishes from him. :stuck_out_tongue:

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He’ll be much more than a depth player.

If you look at our future midfield, he is the bigger sized mid that those guys will need to feed off of. Parish, Zerrett and McGrath will love working with the big fellow.

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