Club Players - Rate their year

A couple of mates and I got talking about the club last night and were discussing the players. We’ve mutually agreed on most of the content below and we’re interested in sharing it with the blitz community for some feedback on your own personal thoughts on our current list. Perhaps if you could rate the players year and where you see them moving beyond 2017 into the future?

Here’s what we came up with:

Andrew McGrath - The Rising Star, cool under pressure, absolute gun. No doubts about him for the future.

Tom Bellchambers - A serviceable ruckman. Is very Inconsistent. Tap work is ok. Doesn’t set the world on fire but does the job.

Darcy Parish - A decent midfielder with the potential to be a gun. He’s well on his way to becoming that gun.

Jobe Watson - The Brownlow Medalist. Great Captain. Resilient. Retired gracefully and at the right time. Don’t care what people say/have said about him. Will forever be remembered in the hearts of Bomber fans.

Brent Stanton - Was a serviceable player over his career. Whilst not spectacular, he always had a go. Retired at the right time in order to give our younger tier of players some development.

Joe Daniher - An absolute beast of a forward who I am proud to have at our club. Bleeds red and black and is a great leader through his work ethic and how far he’s come along since debut. He has the potential to become the best forward in the comp.

Zach Merrett - Big fan. He’s a natural athlete and a real competitor. Can see him winning a Brownlow before his career is done with. Our best midfielder.

Martin Gleeson - He’s developed a lot this year. I think he’s courageous in the way he goes about things, just lacks the body size at the moment. Lot of potential.

Brendon Goddard - Deserves another year, he’s been a quality trade in. True leader and competitor. Shows a lot of heart.

Aaron Francis - Disappointing. I was excited when we drafted him and I’m aware that he may take a little time to develop, but I didn’t think it’d take this long. Needs to build his tank. He has potential, but can’t put my finger on it. Is the work ethic there? There are players lower in the draft that have come on this year and have been decent. Shame we couldn’t get more out of him this year. Needs a good pre-season. If he is not truly committed to the club, put him up for trade while he’s young.

David Zaharakis - Started the year slow and was worrisome, but improved in the second half of the year to become one of our better mids. A good outside mid, who will hopefully continue to develop. A little inconsistent, but when he’s on, is very valuable.

Mark Baguley - One of our tougher small backman who isn’t afraid to get stuck into opponents. He’s dropped off a bit, but hopefully has a good pre-season and comes back to form.

Orazio Fantasia - Wow, pick 55 and almost an AA small forward had he not been injured. Such an exciting player and a lovely set shot. One of the few shining lights this year.

Jordan Ridley - The riddler! The riddle is when’s he getting a game? When can he prove he’s worth a game? Is he up to AFL standards? Not at this stage. Need to see more of him.

Joshua Green - Has been an ok forward this year. Plays well in patches, and was important to our forward structure this year due to his speed. Long term we need to pump more games into the Begleys and the Redmans.

Joshua Begley - Didn’t see a lot of him this year but boy what a debut! Was kept a touch quiet in his following games but the potential is there and am looking forward to see him progress.

James Stewart - Has been a valuable pick up and a good 3rd tall. Needs more games pumped into him for experience.

Michael Hurley - All Australian defender after 12 months off is a magnificent effort. Have never doubted Hurley and he hasn’t failed to deliver. A key for our backline.

Kobe Mutch - Has played well in the VFL and deserves a game at AFL level to see where how he fares.

Jackson Merrett - Have seen glimpses in previous years in AFL matches, but appears to be a good VFL player and a depth player at best for AFL level.

Dyson Heppell - Not his best season after 12 months off, so hopefully gets back into the swing of things sooner rather than later. A good player to have around the club and has plenty of growth left in him. Mixed feelings on the captaincy. Feel like we need a lot more direction and aggression on match day to motivate the boys.

Matthew Leuenberger - Is a good back up ruckman for if Bellchambers goes down with an injury. Again not spectacular, but fills the gap. Lost his spot as number 1 ruckman.

David Myers - Disappointing year. Not sure on his role in the side as he’s not polished enough to be a mid. Very little squeezed out of him due to injury in his 10 years at the club and he’s not getting any younger. Would dangle at the trade table. Not what we need right now. Had his chances.

Craig Bird - Not sure where Bird fits in as he’s not getting any younger. Only a couple of games for the year and arguably offered more than what Jobe was putting out. Not phased whether he stays or goes.

Alex Morgan - Haven’t seen enough to comment.

Cale Hooker - Looks like he’s enjoying it up forward. Always been a great mark, just needs to work on the kicking as he sprays quite a few from close range. Prefer him down back, but if forward is where he wants to be, let him work on it. Unlike that ■■■■■ Jake Carlisle. Sook.

Mason Redman - Haven’t seen enough to comment.

Mitch Brown - Ok depth player. He could probably be a decent player, but appears to be a bit soft.

Patrick Ambrose - Tough, fit. Don’t mind Ambrose in the backline. Had an alright year, hopefully can squeeze a bit more out of him next year, even if it’s just to crunch ■■■■■.

Kyle Langford - Hopefully comes out next year and proves what he’s capable of, otherwise move him on.

Travis Colyer - Was good a couple years back but done nothing this year. Has pace, and isn’t too bad a kick, but wouldn’t be phased if we moved him on.

Jayden Laverde - Disappointed in Laverde. Was excited about him when he was drafted. Big body, keen to get going. But seems to have taken a backward step. Injury riddled season, so hopefully just a confidence thing.

Jake Long - Jake who? Didn’t see much of him this year. Could be an exciting player, but until we get more games into him, we won’t really know where he stands as an AFL player.

Yestin Eades - Haven’t seen enough to comment.

Michael Hartley - Was serviceable this year. Seems to have a worried look on his face at times, may be a confidence thing. Inconsistent but happy to keep on the list another year.

Dylan Clarke - Haven’t seen enough to comment.

Sam Draper - From what I see and read he seems to be tracking along well. Gonna take a while to mature.

Heath Hocking - Didn’t get a lot of opportunity this year. Not sure whether he’s playing on or what, but he bleeds red and black. Never any doubt that he gave his best on field. Shame Woosha doesn’t like to play tagging roles as I feel like Hocking did an alright job of it a few yeRs back.

Ben Howlett - Good guy to have around the club. Hard nut who always gives 100% despite limited ability. Not sure where he sits in our current line up.

Ben McNiece - Showed a few good signs, but nothing amazing.

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti - Love Tippa. Love the story behind his journey to the club. An excitement machine and a cult figure for the Bombers. Can go missing in games and appears to crawl into his shell on the big stage. Looking for a big 2018 from him.

Shaun McKernan - Smack never really gets a chance to string more than a couple of games together to show his worth. It’s a shame he wasn’t a few cm taller as it would allow him to become a gun ruckman. Brings toughness, and is a decent kick for goal. Keep on the list.

Conor McKenna - He’s came a long way and really taken the game on. Has shown dash and flair off half back and will be an exciting player for the bombers if we can get him to sign the dotted line.

James Kelly - Hopefully moves into a coaching role. His work ethic is great and he has been a valuable pick up for the club for his short time.

Matt Dea - Not sure where Matt fits in the lineup. He looked to have been on his way up last year but has since gone missing. Depth.

Mason Redman is developing fairly well in the VFL, could see him taking the James Kelly role across half back at times next season. Has the same tenaciousness at the contest, just not quite the polish yet.

Gets nowhere near the amount of ball kelly does.

You probably haven’t seen enough of Eades because he’s not even there

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Everyone gets a 4

Eades is a ‘retiree’ but just means, ■■■■■■ up so bad the club wants nothing to do with him.

Our backline deserves better all of em.
Zach Merrett deserves better.
Joe would have the Coleman if he had mates like Hanneberry.

2017 was for the returning 14.
2018 is for the efc.

Oh and thanks for the service but Goddard is done, pay him to play golf if we have too and get another kid on the list.