Welcome to the Westernbulldogs Ryan Gardner

[Axe Man]

Gosh I hope we draft Raak so we can have heated and meaningless debates around his draft height, listed height and current height!

I just read he is 194cm.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/441453/w...academy-bomber

My neighbours aunties hairdressers mechanic saw Raak play once and reckons he's 193.5cm at the most.

[bornadog]

My neighbours aunties hairdressers mechanic saw Raak play once and reckons he's 193.5cm at the most.

Depends how old he was as he is growing as he gets older.

[Axe Man]

Depends how old he was as he is growing as he gets older.

I'm hoping to get to 6 feet tall by the time I retire. Progress has been slow the last 25 odd years.

[merantau]

My neighbours aunties hairdressers mechanic saw Raak play once and reckons he's 193.5cm at the most.

Thanks for the belly laugh.

[AshMac]

Here's an interesting one I thought... Was flicking through stats on the app and Gardner is 3rd in disposal efficiency. 3rd!

I know he gets it less than others and a lot of criticism has been on his positioning early but for a bloke who I was terrified to have holding the footy - he has actually been extremely efficient with it this year. 79%

Caleb Daniel (82%) and Bailey Williams (79%) both with nearly 5X the no. Of disposals

[josie]

He is improving. Thought he was fine against Freo.

Hope he gains enough confidence to clunk a few marks rather than punching ball most times however understand that might come with time. Talia from Crows mostly punches ball away so perhaps that’s what MC wants for now.

At present I think Cordy is struggling a bit more.

Hopefully Gardner, Keath and Cordy are starting to gel well.

[1eyedog]

Here's an interesting one I thought... Was flicking through stats on the app and Gardner is 3rd in disposal efficiency. 3rd!

I know he gets it less than others and a lot of criticism has been on his positioning early but for a bloke who I was terrified to have holding the footy - he has actually been extremely efficient with it this year. 79%

Caleb Daniel (82%) and Bailey Williams (79%) both with nearly 5X the no. Of disposals

He generally kicks the ball 15m sideways or backwards.

[Bulldog4life]

He is improving. Thought he was fine against Freo.

Hope he gains enough confidence to clunk a few marks rather than punching ball most times however understand that might come with time. Talia from Crows mostly punches ball away so perhaps that’s what MC wants for now.

At present I think Cordy is struggling a bit more.

Hopefully Gardner, Keath and Cordy are starting to gel well.

When Brian Lake was Brian Harris he used to punch the ball a lot then later as he became more confident started going for the mark....and holding them.

[AshMac]

He generally kicks the ball 15m sideways or backwards.

True. He had roughly 50/50 split between handballs and kicks and granted he only had 62 disposals across 9 games which is difficult to compare him against his backline peers - my point was more how concerning it was watching him get the footy, when in reality he used it pretty well.

Fingers crossed he is a player that just continually gets better and better.

[bornadog]

Ryan, you need to play the game of your life. Don't let us down.

[hujsh]

He generally kicks the ball 15m sideways or backwards.

Worked fine for Dale Morris. If he can be 90% of Morris as far as effort, heart and commitment goes with his athletic profile he should have a future as a lockdown defender.

[josie]

When Brian Lake was Brian Harris he used to punch the ball a lot then later as he became more confident started going for the mark....and holding them.

Good recollection. Fingers crossed!! He was a bloody good mark. He and Naughton are best marks I’ve seen in my time following Dogs. (Grant could clunk ‘em sometimes and Johnno was great for his size too).

[1eyedog]

Worked fine for Dale Morris. If he can be 90% of Morris as far as effort, heart and commitment goes with his athletic profile he should have a future as a lockdown defender.

100% agree.

[SonofScray]

If everything else is the system is spinning freely, there's a role for him that he is capable in. Looked awful when things weren't quite right, but has since had some good moments without the footy and serviceable moments with the pill. He definitely can get up and spoil.

Credit to his resilllience.

If I am an opposition coach though, I'd be putting my most dynamic forward on him & piping as much footy down that funnel as possible. Gardner's career is about to be forged in fire I think. I am hopeful of recent improved performances being an indicator he will meet the task head on.

I had Hamling off the list mid way through 2016 after seeing him play down at Frankston. The backline has room for blokes who can hang in there, find their groove and play within their limitations. Somewhere between Hamling and Morris would be an extraordinary result for us.

[Mofra]

He generally kicks the ball 15m sideways or backwards.

Ditto Moz.
Players knowing their limitations isn't a bad thing. Ryan's kicking is normally pretty reliable but he doesn't use it as a weapon the way Caleb or Williams do.