Hard worker. Not the same level of physicality that you get with guys like Travaglia and Bo Allan, but he attacks the contest pretty hard. He’s an excellent inside mid who runs hard defensively in that role, and when he’s been deployed on the wing or a flank he brings that same work rate and intent to tackle/pressure.
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I’m not sure @noobermensch really understands drafting strategy. Things like being able to play football are nice to haves, but what you really need to be mediocre for two decades is to be able to spell GATORADE backwards.
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Having watched a few of noobers videos, Lindsay reminds me a bit of a mix of a rama, merrett, gaff type.
His tackling is good and he has courage, his kicking is good but i wouldn’t call it elite, he seems like he’d be a safe pick to be a good 200 game player, but maybe not an out and out star of the game which you’d like with a top 10 pick.
The one thing i do like is he ticks the box of being a good kick and competitive and also you could get him to play hb flank initially. I prefer this than spending high on someone that’s gonna play half back their whole life, he could do that or midfield long term so it would be a smarter selection if we wanna fill that position.
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Talent > everything else
Get the talent right and you can tinker with the mindset.
I don’t think it really matters the character of guys who aren’t good enough - we showed lots of grit and fight, for the first 2/3. But ultimately outgunned is outgunned.
There are 10 or so sides clearly better than us. That’s really 99.9% of the problem. Great coaching could have slotted us into 8th, but it’s lipstick on a pig.
Plenty of gritty jobbers down the bottom half of our list absolutely full of fight, but they’re just not all that much chop.
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Um, what???
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Are you underestimating how hard this is?
This is something I’d rather not have to put too much effort into. Given the general psychological state of our list (minimal composure, defeatist mindset, throwing the towel in too soon) we should be looking at the competitive maniacs that can also footy instead of landing another 2024 Archie Perkins.
Welcome back, by the way.
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I wasn’t suggesting that we draft some talentless mentality monster. You always pick for both talent AND desirable attributes.
Completely disagree with this. I don’t think talent is our main issue myself. Yes we have holes to fill, no doubt, but I think our strong form early in the season was a demonstration that our talent is at a decent level… we fell away in the second half of the year, like we’ve done in the past, because as a group the players struggle to handle the rise in expectation and can’t figure out how to snap themselves out of a losing streak. When the vibes around the club are positive and everyone is having fun we win games of footy, but when things get tough, the media is on our backs, the looming spectre of another failed season is staring us in the face and other clubs are lifting for a charge to the finals spots, we turn our bellies up and crumble.
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This is what worries me, because to me, we played two strong halves for the entire year - Both 2nd halves against the Dogs and Giants. I wouldn’t call our form “strong” at any point during the first 10 games, even when we were winning.
I agree on your broader point that talent isn’t all we should look for, but we are absolutely lacking in talent.
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I hear what you’re saying. I think we had a number of games where we dominated for long stretches but failed to capitalise on forward entries or field position due to how deficient/dysfunctional we are in the forward line. You could say that goes to your point about lacking talent, but I feel as though its more of a hole that needs to be plugged rather than the team needing a more significant rebuild.
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Agree. Before that, the playing group need to figure out how to stop a run of goals against us during games.
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Really feel we should invest in a tall forward with our first pick. Look for a HB with our 2nd Rounder or go mature age. Could always play Saad on HB to free up Martin on the wing.
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I’d go another small forward (if there is a good one), Kako and a half back good ball user.
I’d delist 2 x Davies, Menzie and Guelfi.
A guy like berry could play half back I’m sure, but with the added bonus that he can play small forward and midfield (two harder positions) when he matures.
The 2nd rounder will be Kako, one way or another.
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Citation?
We didn’t string two good games together at any point.
As a defensive option who uses the ball well with a late pick - 24 year old Riley Bice from Werribee.
Had a great season and hitting top form at the right time. Has AFL scouts looking at him according to the Herald Sun.
https://vfl.aflmstats.com/player/Riley_Bice
A few highlights from a game earlier in the year here:
https://x.com/werribeefc/status/1818109384469385432?s=46&t=0PnkwyrjQHK2d2Mt3vDIcQ
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Berry with our first pick.
J.Davey, Kako & Berry to play AFL round 1.
Taj Hotton looks a super talented exciting prospect.
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Is this the footballing equivalent of a Bailey Rice cover band?
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Not sure it was talent as much as manic effort/pressure that drove our better form in the first half of the year. It wasn’t/isn’t sustainable to bring that heat over a long season.
Upgraded talent allows you to get better scoreboard value for those periods of dominance and IMO HAP is correct that ultimately we simply need higher calibre players across most parts of the ground.
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