Well, (a) I wasnāt saying they were similar, I was saying his game was kind of somewhere in between, and (b) I would have thought it was given I was describing their games nearer the ends of their careers, rather than how they started out over a decade ago, given that is what is fresher in the mind.
Stanton did play a little inside later in his career, and had contested possesions, but was mostly (as you said) a winger or link up man. Mitchell still had a strong inside game but was way more outside later in his game, and was well known for his punishing dinky kicks and vision, and his ability to link up.
I see Mutch as being a bit of a combination of their traits. More outside and link up, but can do some contested work. Short dinky kicks to advantage like Mitchell. Gets a lot of possessions.
And I thought I was pretty clear saying he has a long way to go, which should be interpreted as saying heās nowhere near Stanton let alone Mitchellās level yet.
A little bit of a guy who was totally one sided, average in the contest, looked to kick long at every opportunity, had almost no hard edge at the player, and had almost no peripheral vision;
and a little bit of a guy who was almost perfectly two sided, great in the contest, couldnāt kick over 45m, loved a bit of niggle and had an almost preternatural ability to find space in tight.
I like him as well but from what Iāve seen he really isnāt excellent off both feet, more adequate. I donāt think he has a lot of penetration off either nor the ability to hit a quick, flat, field pass. Also his speed does worry me a bit. Again from what I have seen he has mainly played outside this year I would assume he will be played inside next year and also assuming that is the plan long term will likely play a lot if VFL football next year as he develops (following a similar path to Langford). . My gut tells me he will struggle as a wingman in the AFL with that speed (although Stanton had a fine career), so will need to develop his contest work. I really like his size, seems to be good aerobically and he is clever in terms of running to the right spots. 2nd in the BnF year 1 is a ā ā ā ā ā ā good start and he joins a talented group of kids knocking on the door next year.
Thereās a good chance heāll be an Andrew Lee or Bomford type. Iām hoping heāll be more Joe Misiti, but time will tell. He is ridiculously over hyped at the moment.
Noā¦the way to treat all our draftees is to concede theyāll be utter crapā¦deny any good performancesā¦ridicule those who see positivesā¦and then call for their delisting or trading after two years, because theyāll never make it.
I never said he was crap or wouldnāt make it. Just that the jury is out and that the hype isnāt warranted. In short, Iām not sold on him like others. Some of the comments about elite kicking or being Jobe like, but with better kicking are wrong in my opinion. Keep up the quality ranting.