Mitch Brown is borderline in the 22 and Ryder was an athletic freak, it’s no accident he kept getting games. I bet he was also being told to try harder each game. Langford doesn’t have Ryder’s skills to fall back on.
Langford’s the age where he should be a lock for the 22 each week and he’s not. He seems maybe okay enough to play AFL. He’s great at VFL level — and for the 100th time I’ll post this — so was Leroy Jetta.
Not my recollection (and certainly not consistently).
Okay take 2: Shaun McKernan’s great at VFL level
Given I walked passed the TV guys pregame and overheard them wishing Dixon luck on his first game for the club (3rd in a row) I wouldn’t give it too much weight.
In short - whoever disagrees - is wrong.
One of Langfords exposed weaknesses at AFL is taking too long to make a decision with ball in hand.
The real problem with Langford is that whilst he gets alot more of the ball in the VFL, the same issue of taking too long still exists.
He may not be an inside mid, but still at just 21 I don’t think it’s important to lock him into a ‘type’ and say he’s this or nothing. I also think intent shouldn’t be judged on how fast and hard you run and it’s near impossible to sit in a stand and determine the ‘intent’ of a player.
Langford’s biggest issue is second or third efforts within a contest - For me it’s a concern, though the rest of his game is fine.
Or he makes the wrong decision. Langford was one of our best. He did well as an inside mid. But some of us are looking for AFL traits. One is to get the ball. Tick. But you have to use it well, and doing so is even harder at AFL level. The weaknesses in Langford’s game meant he had far less impact on the game than his possession tally would indicate. And those issues will be exacerbated at AFL level.
This doesn’t mean he can’t be successful at AFL. Hell, it was just one VFL match. But there are good reasons why those who watched Langford play yesterday have doubts about him as an inside midfielder.
Yep,I’m one of them.
maybe he reads blitz
Out of curiosity how many good ball users do you think we have in our midfield?
If what you say is true we couldn’t field a team most weeks.
Good call Ants. It wasn’t until the 3rd quarter when I remarked,“Oh look, Langford has had an effective AND useful disposal that hit a target”. There’s no point having a ball hog that does nothing with it.
P.S. I said exactly the same thing about Jobe Watson years ago 
And you could have said it about 3 or 4 of our top mids in the seniors 2 weeks ago.
Getting rid of the ball quickly is mostly about knowing where your team mate is going to be, without having to look around for him. How is Langford going to know where his fellow mids are, instinctively, without getting consistent ones game time / training track time with them? Even in the twos, it’s hard when players are in and out so much. Give him a proper go at the ones ffs, then judge.
It certainly isn’t a strength. I’m not sure why adding another one is meant to help?
The VFL is also slower though, so he should have more time. If you’re only running on systems, that can be beaten by the opposition anyway.
watching the replay.
its thoroughly worth watching for jason bennett’s commentary.
fuarrrrrrrrrrrk
that frang to lav mark in the 1st q, im done for the day.
Dishing off quickly to a guy who’s flat-footed would get him crucified here for poor decision-making.
Take your point re: the speed of the game in the VFL, but the quickest decision-making usually comes when there is no ‘decision’ being made and the player is acting on muscle memory - repetitive actions built up over playing lots of games with the same guys. Michael Jordan was great at it (have a read of his book). He had plays in his head - that he would pull out and trigger without thinking - based on where he knew his teammates, and the opposition where going to be. That’ just comes through practice and confidence, both of which Langford is short on.