Age: 27
Games Total: 131
Games Last Year: 23
The story:
Recruited in the shadow of the flag as a 19yo, Tim moved to Perth from the wheat belt to board at Christ Church - a school know in equal parts for academically excellence AND for being a sporting dumpster fire. He was 184cm tall when he moved up and not considered a prospect to the extent that when he started growing the club he was zoned too - South Fremantle - didn't even know he existed (and very nearly lost him to Claremont).
He quickly took to becoming a full-time athlete gaining weight rapidly to the extent that he was able to debut in 2017 and by 2019 was leading the ruck.
It's hard to say too much before getting into the over/unders but when you go back and read some of his draft notes (I don't do ALL of this from memory but 'cos I'm lazy I do most of it) but articles like this certainly seem to sum Tim up even 9 years later: https://www.afl.com.au/news/149481/w...-steal-of-2016
"English doesn't yet have the physical presence of Grundy, but what makes him special is his ability to cover the ground and play the role of a fourth midfielder and rack up possessions."
"The South Fremantle product can find the football at ground level, and often is seen scrapping at the bottom of packs, he backs himself to take the game on by hitting his targets by foot, and he can drift forward and take marks."
Is Tim:
a). Over-rated - He has ZERO physical presence. Whenever the pressure is on, Tim gets bullied by the opposition ruckman and our clearance/contested game overall suffers. When will he toughen up?
b). Properly-rated - He won AA selection for a reason - he really is a POD player with his ability to link up between the arcs and push forward to hit the scoreboard. Week-in/Week-out he's in the most influential 2-3 ruckman in the game.
c). Under-rated - He is such a point of difference - a ruckman who WINS THE BALL and KICKS GOALS. The criticism of him is completely unfair and simply not backed up by numbers...everyone wants to blame Tim whenever 'something' goes wrong in a big game but no-one wants to suggest he played a part when we WIN those games...the Giants game at Ballarat near the end of the 2024 season is a perfect example. No player on the list gets a rougher go of it from fans.
Games Total: 131
Games Last Year: 23
The story:
Recruited in the shadow of the flag as a 19yo, Tim moved to Perth from the wheat belt to board at Christ Church - a school know in equal parts for academically excellence AND for being a sporting dumpster fire. He was 184cm tall when he moved up and not considered a prospect to the extent that when he started growing the club he was zoned too - South Fremantle - didn't even know he existed (and very nearly lost him to Claremont).
He quickly took to becoming a full-time athlete gaining weight rapidly to the extent that he was able to debut in 2017 and by 2019 was leading the ruck.
It's hard to say too much before getting into the over/unders but when you go back and read some of his draft notes (I don't do ALL of this from memory but 'cos I'm lazy I do most of it) but articles like this certainly seem to sum Tim up even 9 years later: https://www.afl.com.au/news/149481/w...-steal-of-2016
"English doesn't yet have the physical presence of Grundy, but what makes him special is his ability to cover the ground and play the role of a fourth midfielder and rack up possessions."
"The South Fremantle product can find the football at ground level, and often is seen scrapping at the bottom of packs, he backs himself to take the game on by hitting his targets by foot, and he can drift forward and take marks."
Is Tim:
a). Over-rated - He has ZERO physical presence. Whenever the pressure is on, Tim gets bullied by the opposition ruckman and our clearance/contested game overall suffers. When will he toughen up?
b). Properly-rated - He won AA selection for a reason - he really is a POD player with his ability to link up between the arcs and push forward to hit the scoreboard. Week-in/Week-out he's in the most influential 2-3 ruckman in the game.
c). Under-rated - He is such a point of difference - a ruckman who WINS THE BALL and KICKS GOALS. The criticism of him is completely unfair and simply not backed up by numbers...everyone wants to blame Tim whenever 'something' goes wrong in a big game but no-one wants to suggest he played a part when we WIN those games...the Giants game at Ballarat near the end of the 2024 season is a perfect example. No player on the list gets a rougher go of it from fans.
Comment