Former #49 Tom Hird

[Chris_1993]

Dom Brew was trialled by Western Bulldogs last pre-season and looked a bit slow for AFL level.

But at VFL level, no issues, he dominates.

[Paul_Peos]

@HirdMentality

@Eastie_Boi1

this year.
Should we wager on how many will have AFL careers?

I remember this one kid who played FF in our VFL team and won the BnF in his 1st or 2nd year, what was his name?

Julien Kirzner?

[Blummers32]

Not everyone is a Liam McMahon type. And I wouldn’t be calling him a success story yet, but he’s on a closer path to it (albeit at a terribly performing club). There is a far greater majority that are not.

We as internet nuffies have no idea what he can do because we project what his old man did. There is a lot of hope attached to it. I’ve read that in this thread and in the Davey Jnr thread.
The club would know far more than us based what he did whilst at the club. But we discredit it because they are imbeciles.

I don’t for a second think that the genius marketing department led by the most marketing CEO to ever market in AFL wouldn’t have been chomping at the bit to roll out a son of James Hird at say the 150 year anniversary of the club. But coaches and football department knew otherwise. Like it or not, at this point in time, he is a VFL level talent.

I think we’ve posted about this before.
You’re in the camp that players should stay on an AFL list until they develop.
I think that has its time limits. And I’m fine with three years (especially for anyone who isn’t a key forward, key defender or ruck) and accept that some will need longer and will blossom to become AFL players later whilst the vast majority won’t.

Yes, just like people think about Davey Jnr, Tom Hird may be a late bloomer and develop into an average to good AFL player or role player. It doesn’t mean they should be doing that whilst on an AFL list. They’ll need to do it elsewhere.

I get it. Some here can’t wait until the next Voss or Massimo to show that we haven’t changed. For every one of those, there’s plenty of others. Jayden Davey was a case in point. He had his chance, didn’t make it (for whatever biased reason people have) and he’s at Port Melbourne, has had injury problems and I doubt he makes it back on to an AFL list. Ditto Baldwin. People said he’d be good to great (certainly better than Laverde). But he barely gets on the park at VFL level. Same deal with Tex Wanganeeen. Lasted on the list, didn’t make it, now I can’t even remember where he is. Maybe SANFL. A lot more don’t make it than make it. Especially when it gets to players who are in the back half of the draft and are rookie selections.

And yes, the industry does think it knows everything about guys far too early. But they are more likely to also play the odds based on what they see and know at the club. And project from there. Yes, they get decisions wrong. That comes with trying to project where a player ends up. I’m fine to gamble that both ADJ and Hird don’t become anything better than average players if they do even make it back into an AFL environment. It’s not a huge take, the odds are heavily stacked in my favour. But most will give them greater opportunity to succeed (because of who their father is) than the typical VFL player who has performed even better (Dom Brew is a good example).

[Blummers32]

@Chris_1993

Dom Brew was trialled by Western Bulldogs last pre-season and looked a bit slow for AFL level.

But at VFL level, no issues, he dominates.

The Bulldogs do their usual thing.
They try and shoehorn a player who dominates as a midfielder (either as a tagger or as a typical midfielder) at VFL into their small forward role.
They’ve been doing it for plenty of years and they cycle through it to try and catch the one that sticks. Lachie McNeil, Ben Cavarra, Will Hayes, Riley Garcia, Anthony Scott Robbie McComb are good examples of this. Even Michael Sellwood who smashed it at WAFL as a midfielder is being turned into playing a slightly different role
off the back flank (as well as midfield).
The Bulldogs, Geelong and Hawks use their VFL program to get players into the AFL system. Whether that’s playing rookies for extensive periods of time through VFL or actually giving them a chance in their environment before drafting them.

[Dunnybrush]

@Paul_Peos

@HirdMentality

@Eastie_Boi1

this year.
Should we wager on how many will have AFL careers?

I remember this one kid who played FF in our VFL team and won the BnF in his 1st or 2nd year, what was his name?

Julien Kirzner?

He was fun to watch back when the ressies player before the AFL game. Loved a hanger and could kick a goal. I miss those days.

[Paul_Peos]

That stretch there in ‘94, when Kirzner and Cummings were kicking 20 goals a game between them, made getting to the ground very early, well worth it.

[Houli_Dooli]

[Bomb_Doe]

feels like I’m encroaching on @Wanderlust’s territory

Tania tells us that Tom graduated yesterday with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce

[stander2]

A bit early for the Appeals Board Chairmanship I suppose..

[Albert_Thurgood]

He just got his degree! Lessons in corruption come much later.

[chris_64]

I hear a lot of smart Aussie graduates in Law and Commerce have taken the Insolvency practice units recently. At the same time medical graduates are steering away from opthalmology as the baby boomer boom in cataract surgery tapers off.