Footscray ♥ wee man!

[SonofScray]

Hi all,

Given his recent string of games in the firsts, I thought it'd be appropriate if we all got around Andrew 'Wee Man' Hooper and gave him his very own thread.

What are your thoughts on his form so far this year?
Can he make it at AFL level?
What are your expectations?

For mine, he could certainly play a role as a small forward, with instruction to hunt the defense and create turnovers. I liked that he works hard up around the 50m arc and half forward line before pushing into space deep. Jagged a very nice goal on the back of some hard running.

He can sniff them out I think.

Beyond that his application to simple things like blocking and tackling has been better than I expected from him. He has a long way to go, but I like what I see.

[bornadog]

I thought he was great combined with Dahlhaus we have two little guys sparking up our forward line. He didn't get alot of the ball but tackled and harassed his opponents and kicked two goals. Its only his third game, and still along way to go, but I would keep him in for a few more games and lets see how he develops.

[AndrewP6]

Not sure I'd call two games a 'string', but anyway...

Wasn't that impressed with his first game this year, but today showed great endeavour and gave a different look to the forward pressure. I agree with your assessment of what he could offer. For me, I'd like to see a bit more of him in the senior side to see if he's going to be a long term player.

FWIW, at the East-West Day last year when the new recruits were introduced, I said to someone next to me, "Who's the little fat bloke?"

[LostDoggy]

Still don't think he can make it at AFL level but do love his enthusiasm

[comrade]

He's definitely worth persisting with next week. He buys into the unselfish team aspect of football and that has been sorely needed in our forward line.

I'm interested in seeing how that Dahlhaus/Hooper combination develops but if Wee Man is going to carve out an AFL career, he really needs to look at how guys like Blair and Rodan have done it which is by being able to find the ball higher up the ground when required. His tank needs to improve a fair bit and he does need to lose some bulk which should help him squeeze out a bit more speed.

I would give him one more pre-season to prove his worth.

[firstdogonthemoon]

Speaking as another short fat bloke, I thought he was excellent. We were laughing about him in the first half and then... he came good. Love him.

[craigsahibee]

Keep him in the side until he plays in a losing team. He is the Talisman.

[LostDoggy]

Yes , SuperDooperHooper has a future , another pre-season to lift his fitness base up , he has worked hard on his fitness and has spent some time in the midfield with Williamstown , he does have one problem in that he is in a group of players who can play similar roles so it,s up to young Andrew to make the most of his opportunities , his game today was based on zone pressure he may not have impacted on the stats sheet but his two goals were vital , there will be a few Blues players replaying parts of the game in their minds and the common themes will be " Where did that little bugger come from " and " Where did that little bugger go " ( same goes for the Grominator )

At the moment you would say that Dahlhaus and Hooper should be our FP,s , Gia can move to CHF

.

[Dogmatic]

I don't think he has been superb but he can be an important part of our fwd set-up. his tackling, enthusiasm and work rate is good so i am happy for him to be a role player up fwd.

I hope we see him do "the worm" as a goal celebration this year.

[LostDoggy]

Yes , SuperDooperHooper has a future , another pre-season to lift his fitness base up , he has worked hard on his fitness and has spent some time in the midfield with Williamstown , he does have one problem in that he is in a group of players who can play similar roles so it,s up to young Andrew to make the most of his opportunities , his game today was based on zone pressure he may not have impacted on the stats sheet but his two goals were vital , there will be a few Blues players replaying parts of the game in their minds and the common themes will be " Where did that little bugger come from " and " Where did that little bugger go " ( same goes for the Grominator )

At the moment you would say that Dahlhaus and Hooper should be our FP,s , Gia can move to CHF

.

Sensible post West-Dog - it's easy to forget these guys are just starting their careers, and we must expect them to get lost at times in games! I'm loving the zing both Hoops and the Grommet put into our side - we've been missing that!

[LostDoggy]

Love it when a low pick/rookie makes it, especially someone who doesn't fit the modern game body mould. Obviously he hasn't made it yet but with performance like that he can go a long way to giving it his best shot. Tackle hard, run hard, get to space. That's his game.

Buggered if i know how Dalhaus slipped through to the rookie stage.

[LostDoggy]

Love it when a low pick/rookie makes it, especially someone who doesn't fit the modern game body mould. Obviously he hasn't made it yet but with performance like that he can go a long way to giving it his best shot. Tackle hard, run hard, get to space. That's his game.

Buggered if i know how Dalhaus slipped through to the rookie stage.

I think you answered your own question above — he doesn't fit the mould. It's a great thing that other clubs' recruitment staff were so short-sighted. Though, to be fair, we let him slip through to the rookie draft ourselves.

Interesting thought: He said in an interview the other day that missing out on the draft absolutely shattered him, so I wonder if perhaps his tenacity and work rate is a result of being forced to do it the hard way. Was slipping through to the rookies the best thing for his career in the end? If he had've been drafted earlier, may he have taken it for granted a bit more??

[always right]

I'm not a fan and until he jagged those goals in yesterday's match, I actually thought he was a liability. Has no tricks to compensate for lack of stature and doesn't even appear to be a particularly good crumber.

What I will concede however is that in combination with Dalhaus he has added a different dynamic to our forwardline and from that point of view it is difficult to assess his worth. Certainly worth persisting with to see if he can develop further.

[Mofra]

Adds more to the side than his talent suggests - good second half after a poor first half.

Not sure anyone before the game yesterday would have picked our two as the best two small crumbing forwards of the game yesterday.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I think I heard that we drafted Tom Hill but rookied Dahlhouse because Hill was already rookied by GWS and we had to primary list him to trump them.