Laverde, Langford and Francis

Nothing like either. Only reason people compare him to Fyfe is because he said he was basing his game on his.

He’s not a mid. If you recruit a half forward, play him there!

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I think the Fyfe comparison was made because of Nats ability forward.

I absolutley believe Langers is a mid but only time will tell.

It was made because he had a big preseason building his legs like Fyfe did.

I just don’t think he has the composure in tight, nor the hunger for the contest.

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I’ve maintained for a long time that langford could be fyfe like. He has all the tools. I’m confident he’ll cement himself in our best team next year. I think the club has taken a long term view and wanted him to develop as a mid in the vfl this year rather than play him as a half forward in the afl.

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Hopefully he can surprise you next year then.

I think he’s going to be a beauty.

I hope so, just don’t see it.

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I think they will all make it, but for different reasons.

Francis- nobody who has the skillset that he does is dumb enough to let it go to waste. The guy is a massive talent just needs to work on his fitness. His body shape has changed quite a bit from his first season to now.

Langford and Lav- i think are very committed to being AFL footballers. From looking at it from a slightly different angle. Look at their bodies (not in a creepy way) you can tell they both put a hell of a lot of work in the gym and in their diet(something that i wish some others players at our club would do), so they can handle the bash and crash of AFL footy.

For Langford and Lav its just about getting consistent games, then they will show everyone what they can do

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I agree with this. I’m pretty confident about next year. Getting a mid in the trade period would help, but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t…as long as 2 or 3 of the mids in this list have improved years.

I still reckon there is a good chance the returning players will be better after the second pre-season as well. Especially Hepp, but hopefully we also see Colyer back to his best.

I think this is key.

It is what everyone is turning a blind eye towards.

It is why I think that - unless he has a massive change in his mindset - he will not make it to the heights people here are tipping.

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Who’s turning a blind eye to it?

I think you need to read more of his thread to see that every second person comments on his “intencity”.

It’s peoples expectations of what type of a player he is thats the concern.

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If these three came on as we all hope we will take some stopping

I don’t have time to go back to check if it is really every second person as you claim, but tonight as I was reading through the unread posts in this thread I certainly did not have the impression many people had commented on this. Otherwise I would not have posted what I did.

So I will take your comment as agreeing with mine: his biggest challenge is an attitudinal change. That is not so easy to effect.

I’m not agreeing with that opinion though.

I think he’s progressing very well and is primed for a great year next year.

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I am of the opinion that contested players and contested marking talls generally take longer. Basically any position where strength is a key factor required multiple preseasons in the majority (not all, but the majority) of cases.

This includes what we want Langford and Francis to grow into. And possibly Laverde as well.

“But” I hear you say…

In my opinion for every Clayton Oliver there a Josh Kennedy, Jobe Watson and even a Seb Ross, who at 24 suddenly had people noticing him.

We are way too impatient. It’s not long ago that “Goddard is the worst #1 pick ever” and “Ablett is just a forward pocket who was only recruited because of his name” were actually said.

Langford and Francis are 20. It might be 2 years before they’re consistent 22 yo footballers. And Laverde has had injuries every time it looked like he was ready to go.

These guys can play. It takes time. Next year they will be better, and the next year better again. Enjoy the ride.

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It is true we can be impatient.

Just imagine how good Tim Watson was to play against men in the highest competition in the land at the age of 15.

And imagine how good John Coleman was to be the only player in history to kick 100 goals in his first season.

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You do have high hopes for them if you are comparing them to the greatest forward of all time and the other one of our best ever midfielders.

I have high hopes for them but not that high.

Pretty ####### good I reckon.

(Although Francis has played more games than Coleman had at the same age!)

It’s a fine line though, how many years do you give a player? This has been one of our biggest issues over the years, that we hold onto players for far too long, just because they are high draft picks.

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Really only those involved on a day to day basis can know I reckon.

We see the outputs, but we don’t know who’s carrying injuries, it who’s meeting and exceeding the goals they’ve been given in the tigers that they’ve been asked to play.

We get rid of plenty, but as a supporter base tend to focus on one or two who get a couple of years longer than they might have. But every year we’re turning over plenty, including guys after a couple of years. Normally we’d give top end picks longer, but not heaps longer, just because we rated them higher to start with.

We’re all just scared cause, gee we held on to some hacks for way too long after the 2000 era.