Matthew Fuller

[GVGjr]

Somewhat of a surprise selection at pick 42.

Welcome aboard Matthew Fuller

[Eastdog]

Welcome to the Bulldogs Matthew. How did he go at his local club Norwood.

[GVGjr]

I can see this being a great selection. His kicking skills out of the backline is exactly what we need.

[Eastdog]

I can see this being a great selection. His kicking skills out of the backline is exactly what we need.

Hopefully your right GVG.

[always right]

Drafting for a need. I like it.

[Cyberdoggie]

Christian Howard replacement?

Similar position and big left foot at least.

Mid aged recruit it an interesting choice.

[Hotdog60]

At 23 he's ready made.

[LostDoggy]

Cam Howard replacement?

Similar position and big left foot at least.

Mid aged recruit it an interesting choice.

Christian Howard? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Be interesting to see how this one pans out. Happy to trust the club staff but pretty surprised.

[The Coon Dog]

Found this write up on Big Footy:

Fuller is best known for his kicking and rightly so. He has a huge left boot that goes further and quicker than defenders expect. You will regularly see defenders playing for a normal kick and then being forced to try and scramble back and recover. Not only is he very long but on those kicks he has a great ability to pick out targets. He is not a guy that just bombs it long and hopes for the best. He will identify a target and then put the ball where his teammate has the best chance to get it. Like most backs he doesn’t mind a ping at the goals when he gets the chance and he has fantastic range as demonstrated by his goal from 60m out in the SANFL GF. Fuller is a natural left footer and is quite dominant on that foot but when forced onto his right he also has great penetration and I cannot think of any player with such good penetration off his non-preferred.

What makes Fuller so good by foot is not just his long kicking but also that he assesses situations and will take the good short or intermediate target if that is the best option. He hits the shorter targets just as well as the longer targets. He will on occasions lack a bit of urgency when he stops to assess and this could cause some difficulties with press defenses at AFL level. Fuller loves to go for short dashes from defense, usually not more than 20m or so and then kick the ball. He charges hard in these runs and when you combine that running with the length of his kicks defenses often struggle to adapt and the ball will quickly find its way behind zones. When he absolutely has to he will handball and he is solid by hand but nothing really more than that.

Fuller is strong through the hips and has a decent step and change of direction. He likes to attack with and without the ball and will accelerate quickly. I don’t think he has great top end speed but he makes good use of the pace that he does have. He gets up to full speed quickly and is often on opponents before they are properly set and with his core strength he will brush through the tackle. He makes good decisions about when to run with the ball and when to give off. When he is caught in a difficult situation he has the evasiveness necessary to buy himself time.

As I have mentioned he is a small defender and is not going to be considered as anything else. Defensively he is a capable one on one defender who when he chooses to help out he usually does a good job of it. He is not someone who zones off a lot but when he does he is a good judge of the ball in the air and is a capable mark. He is not a flyer at the back and if he needs to get off the ground in a contested marking situation he will virtually always go the spoil. It certainly seems like he enjoys a good spoil. He dislocated his shoulder before last year’s grand final and had to have shoulder surgery. It has been noted that he was stronger in the air in years past but that he did seem to start to get more confidence back in his marking as the year progressed.

As mentioned above he is a strong guy and he uses his body well in contested situations. I think he might have trouble with some of the quicker and more tricky AFL small forwards but generally I think he will hold his own. He is certainly better defensively than Terlich who got his chance last year. A comparison I have heard a lot to describe how he goes about things is Guerra and that is pretty apt. He is a quite aggressive guy who doesn’t mind things getting a bit physical.

One thing which I would have liked to see is for him get more of the ball. He does not get off his man often enough to present as an option and as you might imagine teams will put some effort into stopping him from getting the ball. He needs to up his running ability and to get to space and be someone that his teammates can use. Even at AFL level his team is going to want the ball in his hands and he has to work harder to make that happen.

Fuller is said to have a good work ethic and he identified that his kicking was potentially his selling feature and he has really worked on honing his skill to get it where it is now. He was being looked at by teams in 2011 before suffering a major leg injury I think, the recovery for which carried over to 2012. This year is the first year since then where he has been fully fit and he has made the most of it. I think the willingness to work and make the most of his opportunities would make him a good role model in any team but most especially for a younger group. He is an SANFL premiership player and is capable of starting from day one and he could be a real weapon if used correctly. Although they are fairly different physically I would set up Fuller to play the way Gold Coast has done for Trent McKenzie and that kind of drive is what he could give from defense against modern zone set ups. He elongates zones and creates space just by being out there.

[LostDoggy]

http://m.afl.com.au/news/2013-10-29/...pt-under-wraps

[The Doctor]

yet another gilbee replacement?

[LostDoggy]

Geez excited about Fuller!

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Looks a really good pick. Love that left foot and his decision making.

[boydogs]

yet another gilbee replacement?

We have Goodes, Murphy and Picken to replace, and Howard and Wood aren't coming along as expected

[Eastdog]

We have Goodes, Murphy and Picken to replace, and Howard and Wood aren't coming along as expected

Wood may be a late bloomer.