Waite only came on this year at age 22, Kouta was about 21 when he started to come on also. Andrew will only be 20 next year so he has heaps of time to develop. Don't be disappointed if he isn't tearing sides apart next year cause it is unlikely. Andrew Walker is the least of Carlton's problems.

Excellent comments RE following instructions.
AW was encouraged continuously through pre season to take on the opposition and carry the ball.
If he failed to do so during a drill, he was told to stop and recommence with carrying the ball.

The really difficult balance for young players is recognising when risks can be taken during games.
Most AFL players are taught to be robots when they enter the AFL system. The creative and risk taking component is removed and playing the percentages is encouraged.
If a player is given licence to create and take risks, it wont always work.
Especially with young, inexperienced players!
Mistakes will happen but as long as the player learns from the mistake, it shouldnt be an issue.
If an error occurs, the player should be encouraged to try again.
If the player is dragged or blasted for taking risks, they soon will cease to do so.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I think AW just needs a bit of confidence and he'll be a star. Would have been fantastic if he was selected for the International Rules squad, he'd excell against that opposition and it would have given him a great deal of belief in his own ability. Sheedy selected Kepler Bradley for similar reasons i suspect.

I would let him settle on the wing with stints as part of the midfield rotation. He has shown he has the ability to get the ball and dominate in that position and his stint as a tagger will have sharpened his defensive side.

I think theGame got it right!

I expect nothing from Walker this year - he is still learning and he will be rotated through different positions.

And if Andy doesnt end up in the top 6 in our b and f -he will up for trade-Sheeds loves indgenuos players

Thats not what we want to hear DOA

I don't think the club would be looking to trade him if he doesn't finish top 6 next season

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

I hope walks hasnt been told that by the match comittee !!!

Walks will be a star - you can see it.

everyone thinks of game 1 - which was friggin awesome and he has replicated parts of this on many occassion.

I love walks and look forward to him killing it next year

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Andy goes for the hanger and drops the pill.Fluffs far to many kicks.But im not really concerned with this as i think with work,he will improve out of sight in these areas.Skill can be improved with lots of hard work.My problem with Andy is dont get enough of the pill.And finding the footy is something that cant be taught.Anticipation is something that you got or you aint got. BUT.........It can be worked on sorta.And thats to let them run with a ball magnet in the hope you just might develop a bit of nouse.Quite certain Denis realized Andy was not a natural ball magnet,hence the run with roles with guns in the hope he got the gist in where to run.Andy has got great athleticism and a zest for hard work and its just time that he needs.

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All my dangerous friends

Can't get much of the pill on the pine Mickstar.

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"A good composer does not initiate. He steals."

- Igor Stravinsky

Much appreciated. There have been quite a few other 'kids' given a Claytons 'opportunity' in recent years, Simpson, Davies and even Setanta this year. From memory this was the case at North also, I recall a couple of the younger guys coming out when Pagan left saying that they played in fear of making mistakes and being dragged (or something to that effect)... may have even been Teague? Curious to know if Denis is up front from the outset that ground time will be minimal?

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Patrick Smith - Just another reason to HATE Essendon*!

He's been my favourite player since we drafted him and I reckon although he hasn't played as well since his debut game he's definetely shown signs of improvement. I think as some have mentioned before he just needs to slow down a bit instead of kicking the ball running at 100 kph.
IMO he's one of a few on our list that tries to get in the oppositions head by mouthing them off. Nothing wrong with this (Voss is meant to be the king of sledging). It's great to watch and although only minor something I think we lack...
When he was playing VFL it was so obvious he didn't belong there. He looked in a league of his own and his skills were actually pretty decent. Hopefully he's just having trouble adapting to the tempo of the game and as he grows older and gains more confidence he'll improve his skills.
Next year I don't really care where he plays just hope he is given 100+ minutes TOG.

aboriginal team of the next century

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

There's no doubt that Pagan is a hard man to do an apprenticeship under.

There is clearly no mollycoddling and it seems he believes in maknig the young 'uns prove themselves before he will place his full confidence in them.

Kade Simpson is a key example of this. He got a few chances and didn't get too much pill and was dropped. We were bitching about him not getting a chance but he kept getting his half-chances until finally making an impact with his few minutes and now he is a fully fledged member of the senior team.

Setanta and Jordan Russell both had anticlimactic debuts in that they had very limited impact with what they were given.

Nonetheless if you look at the young players in recent years that have been pretty regular in the seniors from debut on you look at Walker, Fisher and Betts. These guys made impacts pretty much straight away and Pagan has largely persisted with him.

I think that the jobs Pagan had AW doing this year, rather than negative, show that Pagan has a huge amount of confidence in Andrew, but just wants to knock off the rough edges. Given his jobs on Aker and McLeod etc it seems to me that Pagan has big plans for Andrew as a centre-square ball-tearer and he is making sure he does the hard yards to get ready for it.

He will be the next Kouta in terms of his ability to get the ball out of contested situations. He has a bit of magic about him, and I sense that sometimes he is torn between instinct and doing the team thing. It'll all work itself out in time.

Good post Ponkstar...I agree with you.

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There's so much I could say...

I certainly hope that statement was made tongue in cheek. I'm still recovering from Fevola being up for trade. If Walker was thrown up for trade next year that might just about be the end of me!

I'd happily bet on AW making the top six in the B&F next year.

That's after paying off all my Carlton-will-finish-above-Essendon bets this year, of course. Got to stop doing that.

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Dut, de dut, de daaa!

DOA's typo also ALMOST coined a new, but very apt phrase:

IND-GENIUS!

Family Trait

I think this thread should be deleted

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!