I'm worried about Sanders.

[kruder]

Sanders can potentially be a very good footballer and it's been pleasing to see the way he can now contribute on the scoreboard.
The two area's that we need to see improvement on are meters gained from his possessions and when we see an improved kick to handball ratio
He can certainly get there but there is a bit of improvement to come beforehand.

He has the vision and kicking ability to take more ground I think he will get there on the metres gained front. Do you think his best position will be inside mid? Im still concern with his aggression within a contested situation and his ability to defend I'm yet to be convinced what his best position will be.

[lemmon]

I think he's building really nicely as an inside/outside mid - a little bit in the Hugh McCluggage mould.

Not the quickest but nice lateral movement in traffic, his kicking's good and impactful and his hands tend to release players nicely. There's far more composure to his game this year, he's worked out the pace of the game and when he can take a second with the footy to use it properly.

He's a genuine best 22 player in a position that isn't really his bread and butter and he's having good impact in games - I'm happy with that rate of development for a first round draftee.

Agree with Kruder that the part I want to see lift is some of his intensity around the contest. There's not a lot of chasing and tackling with intent - he's pretty happy to motor along at 70% without genuinely putting in the big ones.

[Ozza]

Lets not confuse composure with lack of intensity.

[doggies ftw]

He is definitely prone to a handball backwards, but it's not always a bad thing as he creates time and space for the next disposal to have big metres gained.

Yeah he’s not a ‘territory’ player, not sure why that matters though? Couldn’t care less if he goes at negative meters gained if he’s putting players into space which he is showing elite traits in.

We have plenty of other guys who take ‘territory’ at all costs, not sure we need another one.

Very surprised how well he’s transitioned to this role and will hold him in good stead for future development. Definitely seen enough over the past 6 weeks or so to see him transition into full time mid in the future. I went early with my concerns on him but he’s a gem and is showing that once again, fans (ie me) don’t give players near enough time to get up to speed with AFL.

Everyone is different with how quickly they adapt, and sometimes it’s the guys that take longer (not that 12 months is long anyway….) that end up far better players than the ones that jump out of the blocks

[hujsh]

Yeah he’s not a ‘territory’ player, not sure why that matters though? Couldn’t care less if he goes at negative meters gained if he’s putting players into space which he is showing elite traits in.

We have plenty of other guys who take ‘territory’ at all costs, not sure we need another one.

Very surprised how well he’s transitioned to this role and will hold him in good stead for future development. Definitely seen enough over the past 6 weeks or so to see him transition into full time mid in the future. I went early with my concerns on him but he’s a gem and is showing that once again, fans (ie me) don’t give players near enough time to get up to speed with AFL.

Everyone is different with how quickly they adapt, and sometimes it’s the guys that take longer (not that 12 months is long anyway….) that end up far better players than the ones that jump out of the blocks

Agreed. He's often not in the right position to take territory. If he gets the ball flat footed, draws pressure or navigates traffic and releases a Bailey Dale into space then he's done his job. If he did stuff like take the ball running towards the opponents goal and did a big u-turn before kicking the ball forward he'd have better meters gained but less impact.

[doggies ftw]

Agreed. He's often not in the right position to take territory. If he gets the ball flat footed, draws pressure or navigates traffic and releases a Bailey Dale into space then he's done his job. If he did stuff like take the ball running towards the opponents goal and did a big u-turn before kicking the ball forward he'd have better meters gained but less impact.

Yeah and I think that just goes hand in hand with his current role too, he’s getting a lot of the ball leading up from half forward and like you said, facing the oppositions goal. It’s on the rest of the team to have runners for the overlap coming past. He’s just not a turn and go guy like for instance VDM, and that’s okay.

Different story when he’s playing midfield, and he probably was too quick to turn his back on goal as a midfielder and look for the ‘comfort’ of behind him. But I think he’s a different player to what he was even 6 weeks ago when he was playing midfield, and when he does get that chance again in the future his game will be a lot more developed. Hes shown small signs of being able to meet the ball on the run and burst out of congestion (which you just have to do as a modern midfielder) but doesnt get to or need to do that much in his half forward role.

I don’t see any reason to be concerned about his game from a midfield perspective anymore, anyone whose shown as quick a rate of development as he has, and an ability to adapt and find new traits that we didn’t even know existed (ie goal kicking) is going to keep improving and have a pretty high ceiling IMO - in whatever role he ends up in.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

I didn't see the turnaround coming in this way but his footy IQ and composure have made him effective, especially early in games when the intensity is higher. He knows how and when to evade in traffic, when to invite pressure to release a team mate, when to take the shot at goal. His finishing is exceptional.

Next step is to use the ball a bit more by foot, and improve his defensive running patterns (which are getting better). He'll naturally become more seasoned so I expect his contest work will be solid.

We would be happy with his development, he's shown great improvement already, and clearly still has the scope to get a lot better yet.

[Rusty12]

Only a second-year player, and has every right to be still developing his game for these moments.
But last night wasn't great, very passive.

[lemmon]

Interestingly, he attended 42 CBAs up to Round 5 and has attended three since - all of his inside midfield time has gone to the Bont.

I'm fine with that, he has to bide his time and do the apprenticeship, but he's got to find a way to make it work as a pure high half-forward.

[Sedat]

I'm back to being worried about Sanders after the last 2 matches. Hurt factor is minimal, he doesn't have much flexibility with regard to roles he can be deployed outside of centre square, and he has pace concerns.

There's a bit of valid discussion around Treloar and Libba not being able to play in the same team, but arguably Sanders could also be added to this discussion IMO. I suspect if Garcia wasn't injured, these 2 would be competing for the last spot as half-forward/midfield.

[Ozza]

I'm not remotely worried about a second year player who has been down for a couple of weeks in terms of the long term package.

[Bornadog]

I'm back to being worried about Sanders after the last 2 matches. Hurt factor is minimal, he doesn't have much flexibility with regard to roles he can be deployed outside of centre square, and he has pace concerns.

There's a bit of valid discussion around Treloar and Libba not being able to play in the same team, but arguably Sanders could also be added to this discussion IMO. I suspect if Garcia wasn't injured, these 2 would be competing for the last spot as half-forward/midfield.

My biggest concern is his Kick to HB ratio. He is constantly turning around looking for a HB instead of kicking the ball especially when he is in range to kick a goal.
71% of his disposals are HB

Description	Date	Opponent	K	HB	D
Round 13	Jun-05	Hawks	3	14	17
Round 11	May-22	Cats	3	10	13
Round 10	May-17	Bombers	4	20	24
Round 9	May-10	Suns	5	14	19
Round 8	May-03	Power	2	15	17
Round 7	Apr-26	Giants	6	14	20
Round 6	Apr-20	Saints	11	21	32
Round 5	Apr-12	Lions	6	16	22
Round 4	Apr-06	Dockers	11	9	20
Round 3	Mar-28	Blues	7	17	24
Round 2	Mar-21	Magpies	3	13	16
Round 1	Mar-15	Kangaroos	8	7	15
			69	170	239
			29%	71%

[SquirrelGrip]

I suspect if Garcia wasn't injured, these 2 would be competing for the last spot as half-forward/midfield.

I'd want the ball in Sanders' hands every time ahead of Garcia.

In the last quarter, Ryley started to connect with Treloar who has taken up the reins as his mentor. I don't care if he kicks or handballs as long as the ball moves quickly and accurately to a person in a better position.

[Sedat]

I don't care if he kicks or handballs as long as the ball moves quickly and accurately to a person in a better position.

Does he move it quickly, and does it go to someone in a better position to help us score?

I'm all for handball chains to players in better positions, which help us pressure the oppositon D50 and contribute to scores, but I'm not big on short backaards and sideways handballs just to make it the next person's problem.

I hope he succeeds for us. We need him to and he had some good tools to work with.

[Bumper Bulldogs]

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