Siegfried wrote:
Cazzesman wrote:
CFC can't get slower and we need kids who can hit targets. We also need kids who are footy smart and be proactive for 100 minutes.
Cazz...does this mean there is a focus this year on drafting 'footballers' as opposed to 'athletes'?
Because it has appeared (feel free to correct me if I am wrong) over the last few years that Carlton has had an inclination to look for athletes, at the expense of some of the footy smarts and skills.
I think the way things have unfolded we have tried to mix in both.
Murphy and JK 65/35 Footballers/athlete
Bower 55/45 Athlete/footballer
Edwards 60/40 Footballer/athlete
Gibbs 75/25 Footballer/athlete
Hampston 75/25 Athlete/footballer but at 203cm thats okay he will develope his football.
Grigg 70/30 Footballer/athlete
Austin 65/35 Footballer/athlete
Benji 70/30 Athlete/footballer
Joey 60/40 Footballer/athlete.
So we have tried to get a mix. It's a constant balance/battle. To get speed with proactive footy smarts is the icing on the cake. That is the holly grail. To get skill, speed, endurance, height, mobility and foot smarts is Judd
There are plenty that have a couple of those most sort after attributes but not many have them all so then you have to see what you list needs.
When we were winning we looked quickish. In Freo we looked like a bunch of turtles. Sometimes it's not always about blistering speed (although that helps). Often it is how you run at your best personal speed, where you run to create space behind and where you run into space. That's the proactive smarts that we urgently need.
You see how the game is played at break neck speed. Guys like Jake Williams, who has hands in close as good as anyone, would just get killed in the rush. Not his fault, it's purely genetics. He may get the ball but basically the opposition could exploit his lack of leg speed
The Essendon*/Cats game is a perfect example. The ball goes up and back and from side to side. Players are running at 80% of their total speed for most of the game. It's non stop.
You have to have athletes to play the game or if they are slowish off the mark they have to be running at their optimum speed for the entire time they are on the ground simply to get to contests or create options.
Regards Cazzesman