I'm worried about Sanders.

[SquirrelGrip]

This was Sanders heat map from last night.
The wing seems to be a better fit for him
One or two more kicks rather than handballs on a performance like this should be his aim.

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Thanks GVGjr for this. The closer he is to the centre corridor and also to the 50 arc, he handballs more than kicks. Wider on the wings and deep in defence, he's choosing to kick.

[Bornadog]

Thanks GVGjr for this. The closer he is to the centre corridor and also to the 50 arc, he handballs more than kicks. Wider on the wings and deep in defence, he's choosing to kick.

Is that because the corridor is more congested?

[Go_Dogs]

If we’re worried about Sanders, we’re going OK.

He’s got some work-ons but he’s also improved a number of aspects of his game and his impact has improved. Quieter patches are to be expected in year 2. He’s probably having a better year than Harley Reid? Hes going to be a death by 1000 cuts player - his ability to impact the scoreboard will elevate him over time.

Like that we’re giving him time in a few different roles too. Good long term investment.

[Ozza]

For me. He just doesn’t go in hard enough. Too many time he looks to be timid and down at go in to hurt the opponent. He has the “nice guy” feel about him and I don’t see anything that would stack up against inside mids like Libba, Newcomb, etc

I promise you I'm not going the man here...but I think this is a really bad take.

I think you need to watch Sandars grab a ground ball. He is one grab every time and this allows him to be in and out of a contested ground ball situation immediately rather than banging and crashing around that may make it look like someone is going 'hard'. I wouldn't be confusing his mild mannered persona with any absence of courage or hardness. The thing that matters in the contested part of the game is the ability to extract the ball and get it to your team mate in a better position - and he does this brilliantly.

There was a great example that went unnoticed by the commentators last night where everyone was fumbling and crashing about at half forward and he just put his head in, grabbed the footy and in a split second it left the congestion via his hands.

[Ozza]

If we're worried about Sanders (I'm not)
Out of the 2023 draft - who is going better than Sanders (and Friejah for that matter) out of the top 10?

1. Reid
2. McKercher
3. Walter
4. Duursma
5. Watson
(6 Sanders)
7. Windsor
8. Curtin
9. Read
10. Caddy

Friejah was #45.

Both our boys are going very very well and are at least at this point the peer of anyone in the top 10 on output to date.

[Uninformed]

I promise you I'm not going the man here...but I think this is a really bad take.

I think you need to watch Sandars grab a ground ball. He is one grab every time and this allows him to be in and out of a contested ground ball situation immediately rather than banging and crashing around that may make it look like someone is going 'hard'. I wouldn't be confusing his mild mannered persona with any absence of courage or hardness. The thing that matters in the contested part of the game is the ability to extract the ball and get it to your team mate in a better position - and he does this brilliantly.

There was a great example that went unnoticed by the commentators last night where everyone was fumbling and crashing about at half forward and he just put his head in, grabbed the footy and in a split second it left the congestion via his hands.

I noticed this with him too. Also his evasive ability is really good and creates space for him to be creative.

[GVGjr]

If we're worried about Sanders (I'm not)
Out of the 2023 draft - who is going better than Sanders (and Friejah for that matter) out of the top 10?

1. Reid
2. McKercher
3. Walter
4. Duursma
5. Watson
(6 Sanders)
7. Windsor
8. Curtin
9. Read
10. Caddy

Friejah was #45.

Both our boys are going very very well and are at least at this point the peer of anyone in the top 10 on output to date.

It's a very solid top 10.

[comrade]

Am I crazy for taking Freijah over just about all of them.

[Uninformed]

Am I crazy for taking Freijah over just about all of them.

Not crazy. As they stand at the moment I can't see anyone on the list I would swap Joel for. But then again, I am not entirely unbiased!

[Go_Dogs]

Am I crazy for taking Freijah over just about all of them.

Oh, you’ve seen football?

[Rusty12]

If we're worried about Sanders (I'm not)
Out of the 2023 draft - who is going better than Sanders (and Friejah for that matter) out of the top 10?

1. Reid
2. McKercher
3. Walter
4. Duursma
5. Watson
(6 Sanders)
7. Windsor
8. Curtin
9. Read
10. Caddy

Friejah was #45.

Both our boys are going very very well and are at least at this point the peer of anyone in the top 10 on output to date.

Geez, so far, Freijah is the best performed player from that list by a fair margin. Very happy with Sanders progress, 2nd pre-season, he lost the puppy fat, and got propper AFL fit, 3rd pre-season, puts on 5-6kgs, and look out.

[Mofra]

It's a very solid top 10.

That was my initial take as well. Some years are just ok. This draft looks extremely good.

Then throw in Freijah, Logan Morris, etc

[westdog54]

Am I crazy for taking Freijah over just about all of them.

The only knock I have on Freijah (and it's a nit pick) is that he has a "one step too many" tendency.

[doggies ftw]

The only knock I have on Freijah (and it's a nit pick) is that he has a "one step too many" tendency.

All the best players have that to start their careers though IMO, it’s a trait I really like to see. People used to cringe when Williams & Richards played like that in their early careers but now they still take the game on but know how too. It’s something I’ve been critical of Sanders on in that in his first year he was way too quick offload the responsibility of having the footy in his hands, I wanna see young blokes with the confidence to think they can take on the world and then either learn the pace of the game and thrive or at least learn their limitations - Freijah has that in spades IMO, 50 more games and no one will get near him