Who are the young players who could develop into something very different and unique and if they do so could have a huge baring on our future? For me the likes of Kreuzer are obvious, no-brainers. We expect him to become this giant, athletic gun ruck. But who are the other kids who with a bit of luck might develop into something quite unique and special, and whose development could hold the key for the CFC? Which young players could morph into something very special, something that we can't quite see today?

I think Bryce Gibbs is a bit of a wild card.

He just started to come-on in the second half of 2008, and really it's going to be interesting to see just how far he can come-on in 2009 and indeed what sort of player he will turn into. Just how far he goes and exactly what sort of player he becomes will have a large baring on how Carlton go IMO, both in 2009 and beyond.

Murphy is a little star but he's just just, 'little', so there's sort of a ceiling on how good he can become and how much impact he can have (unless he can become an athletic freak like Cousins, but that takes huge dedication).

Gibbs on the other hand could become a true gun Centreman who becomes a clearance gun. This would be ideal, as it would enable Judd to use his pace more on the outside, so suddenly our midfield is tranformed. Murphy won't be that clearance gun, but Gibbs has height and potentially has some size to him, and just appears to have great nous in the centre square, knows how to find the ball and baulk and clear. He is one year behind Murphy in tems of year drafted, but his clearance and 1st possession numbers are superior to Murphy's and more in line with a young Judd.

How good will Bryce become? That is the big question. Will he become like a Goddard? A good HBF/Quarterback type? Or will he become something even better - a champion Centreman?

The other one that interests me is Paul Bower. I might be a bit naive here but he is part Islander and we all know how big those boys can become. I distinctly recall watching a young Mal Michael at Collingwood and thinking he was nothing special, but in the blink of an eye a few years later he was this massive Full Back. Paul still looks quite a skinny lad out there, so maybe I am being totally naive and he'll never bulk up to resemble anything like Michael. But then maybe he will??

Wiggins

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"I had to eat"

Could you have been any more predictable?

The progeny of Bryce Gibbs, Baby Huey spliced with the DNA of a cheeta

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Love Cricket? Love me

I like the look of Grigg & Army.

People forget that the only reason we were able to get Army was because of the Judd trade, he may be older but he has a nice X-factor.
After seeing the difference between what we got (Army & Judd) in comparison to what WCE got (Kennedy, Masten & Notte) I am very happy.

Grigg I have have also been very happy with. Given some more time to develop he could be an absolute Gun winger. Love to see him give his opponents a rough time.

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Blues Forever!

Yeah interesting notion VB.

I too believe Gibbs will become an very significant player, his size is quite amazing for a 19yo already but he definately will bulk up considerably and is quite tall.

His ability in close and awareness/evasive skills are superb and even at this tender age rarely waste a possession. I am confident that with tuteledge (sp?) from Ratts, diesel and braddles etc the sky is very blue for CFC. If he can work hard on his endurance then I think he will be an unstoppable force in the engine room. I love the fact that his dad would only let him handball when he coached him, cos you can already see Bryce look for the best placed team mate to feed it to, and of course that will often be juddy

Another player who excites me is a 21yo 1AW, he already has a similar physique to a certain #43 and will continue to fill out in the next year or 2, he has pace, a great leap, aggression, and x factor. We missed him plenty this year and once he gets the confidence of being in a winning side more often than not, he will really shine.

In fact the confidence issue is such a big factor in our sides ability to step up next season. Nothing improves performance better than self belief and that is one thing we are only just beginnning to see unfold in some of our players. Once the entire team/squad start to believe they are the best in the comp we will be a very different team.

Gibbs and Walker are 2 that excite me for sure!

As someone who is quite protective of My Smurph, please note the following players who are near Smurph's height. This should give you a possible idea of his 'ceiling'.

I would prefer that he wasn't as dedicated as Cousins, because that doesn't mean much to me.

My Smurph - 179cms
Brent Harvey - 172cms
Robery Harvey - 182cms
Ablett - 182cms
Selwood - 182cms
Sam Mitchell - 179cms
Sewell - 180cms
Foley - 177cms

Not bad company for him.

So in closing the skies the limit for Marc Murphy.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Grigg could be an amazing player yet.

JR will play 200 games for Carlton and will be one of our best 8 by the end of 2009.

..comparing gibbs and murph is difficult cos they're very different midfielder types.. ..i reckon murph's slippin' under ppl's radars.. ..it seems that everyone talks up gibbs cos this year murph's efficiency has been a little down.. ..personally to me, it's cos murph's pushing himself hard.. ..he's already been gut-running this year, he's got more urgency and hardness than gibbs in my opinion.. ..i reckon he's more instinctive where'as gibbs strikes me as more of a thinker..

..(hey, folks wanted lance's footy smarts in a footballer's body, i reckon we got it)..

..grigg surprised me alot in the second half of the year.. ..like walker, he seems to flat out sprint every step when he's got the ball, and will at times rush his kick, but i like the urgency, and he did some good inside clearance work when given a few brief runs in the middle later in the season..

..bower and jamisons are both improving quite well down back, the good thing is they're improving not just as individuals, but as a backline..

..bettsy.. ..didn't kick as many goals this year, but played an entirely different role and seemed to be our best chf/lead-up player across HFF.. ..improved his fitness, and i'd happily back him to kick a half-tonne in played fulltime in the F50..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

Could shape our future.

Lachlan Hill and Aaron Joseph. A fair chance neither will make it (which is why they were only rookied and not drafted). But if they continue to improve, they will both add some real excitement and blistering pace to our playing stocks.

Aaron Joseph as a small forward/midfielder.
At his size, Lachlan Hill could play in a stack of different positions.

I would submit that Mick McGuane, Craig Devonport, Stephen O'Reilly and Mick Mansfield shaped our future.

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

In terms of the level of impact & shaping of our club & team, by far the greatest will be Krooze.

His development, more than any other young talent we currently have on our list, will determine just how much of a force we will become, IMHO, closely followed by Bryce.

For mine Gibbsy will be a Brownlow winner or at least very regularly in contention (time will tell) & he will be an absolute matchwinner on his day as will Krooze. These 2 will have the greatest impact on our side IMHO.

Next on the list as far as level of shaping the future of our success goes, IMHO, AW & Smurph come next. AW I am hoping will pull a Gibbsy next year & have a blinder. He will also take mark of the year

Smurph IMHO is almost if not already at elite midfielder status & his stats this year certainly support that, it's just his development has not quite yet reached its peak & I for one am absolutely stoked that I will get to watch this kid over the next 2 to 3 years especially. Could be a Brownlow winner also.

Others like Jamo, Bower, Griggy, Army, Joey Anderson, Aussie & Steven Browne (maybe) will also be outstanding IMHO & hopefully give us a very healthy level of depth of talent across the park as they develop in the next couple of years.

I would very much like to see more game time next year for Joey & Aussie especially, as I liked alot, what I all too briefly saw of them this year & hopefully they will be the next to come on like Bryce, Smurph, Grigg, Bower & Jamo did this year.

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"You will always miss 100% of the shots you don't take"- Michael Jordan

Yeah, I could have said Gibbs, Kreuzer or Murphy. The whole thread's predictable come to think of it.

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"I had to eat"

Grigg, Bower and GIBBS.

Murph is a little gun, but I just think he has his limits. Bower, Grigg and GIBBS have a certain X about them, IMO.

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger

Guys like Grigg and Army will shape our future. Add Bower, Jamison, Browne, Betts, Walker, Anderson and Hampson to that list.

We know we're going to get 3 greats out of Gibbs, Murphy and Kreuzer. Gibbs and Murphy are already showing enough and its more than likely Krezuer will match them. How far we go will depend on how much the next rung improve.

I am getting tired of the comparisons between Gibbs and Murphy and the discussion on who'll be better. They're both going to be great, in different ways. Similar to Judd and Ablett.

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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

Let me know when you're ready to make a good contribution to this thread. Perhaps you could try the 'if you don't like it read over it' practice.

My point was not to diss Murohy, so apologies if you were slightly offended in any way. You seem to be a bit protective of the little gun and good on you for being so.

My point was that I think we can sort of foresee the type of player Murphy will become. But with Gibbs I think there's greatest scope for him to become something different altogether. Not sure he'll become that player, just highlighting the possibility and the fact that if he was to become that player (a true champion Centreman) that this could reap huge dividends for the club.

Army is an interesting one, and I haven't got a view on him yet.

He looked very good in patches earlier in the year, against Collingwood in particular he buttered up neatly down back at stages and carried the ball and hit targets like a champ.

But then later in the year he struggled to tag (granted it was against some of the game's elite) and misread the play badly on numerous ocassions (missed handball receives etc).

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he is a recent convert to the game, but even still I think I need to see another season from him to get a better idea of his abilities/prospects. It's worth noting Wiseby rated him incredibly highly but did mention as his main drawback his inability to read the play/get to where the ball is. I'm not sure he overcame that problem in 2008

The words Murphy and ceiling in the same sentence is a nonsense.

He's 21. Each of his 3 years he has shown improvement, and this year, whilst sensational and discovered by the media, he has only just started his momentum.

If anyone thinks he will not imrove much when he's 22, 23, 24, 25...is either a fool or Nostradamus.

Just imagine what he'll be like if he improves 5% each year till he reaches his peak years (ceiling) as a 25-26 yo.

2009 22
2010 23
2011 24
2012 25
2013 26

I expect Bower and Jamison to be the pillars of our defense. Bower's pace is obvious, and over the next year or two his ability to align his drop of the ball to his foot and his pace will make him a phenomenal CHB.

It will happen!

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I'm unsure what the requirements are for this thread but IMO, Hampson and Jamo are the 2 most crucial players on our list.

If Hammer can develop into a knowledgeable ruckman, his physical attributes can make him a superstar.

As for Jamo, if he can continue to develop and control the oppositions best backman consistently, he's the type of player to build a defence around.
If you look at Geelong, their backmen win so much of the ball because they have confidence in Scarlett and Taylor to win contests on the last line.
Players like Bower, Grigg and Browne etc can become exceptional rebound players if they have a reliable stopper down back.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.