Watching VFL

[Dogs 24/7]

Great points doggies ftw

[NAUGHTY100]

I tend to look for attitude from the Afl guys that have been dropped or are comming back from injury , i like to see these senior guys leading by example , head down bums up type of thing .
Doing all they can to impress to get back into the seniors.
I dont like seeing certain guys who just float through VFL games , no desperation just making up numbers .
I like the white line fever type guys , once they cross that white line they take no prisoners , intresting that our new recruit Sellwood while being interviewed said just that , " i have white line fever " .
Of course a win is nice as well .

[Bulldog Joe]

I just watch for traits/attributes of the younger players to be completely honest.

I don’t really care for the stats, except to confirm/deny thoughts from the game, ie “felt like Arty was more productive than usual, will check what he ended up with”

I especially don’t really care for stats from a guy like Garcia for example, yeah he dominates VFL and 30 & 2 is a good game no matter what level you’re playing at but he comes into the AFL and plays exclusively small forward so it’s just not really relevant, what’s more relevant is his cleanliness around goal etc

also guys like McComb in previous years, Scott etc yeah we know they rack up big numbers in the 2s. Still not really relevant to how they’ll contribute in the AFL.

I think VFL is so far gone from AFL level now there’s not a huge amount to take from it tbh, hence it’s pretty clear these days the coaches value training output over VFL output . Yeah it’s nice to reward good VFL form but I don’t think it’s the deciding factor in whether you’re making the cut for the ones anymore. The structures and running patterns etc are just so far out of touch with AFL. I do think it makes a difference for some players when the quality of teammate is a completely different level too, especially outside players so I’m a big believer that some players will just never show much at the scrappy VFL level but don’t necessarily think that means they won’t perform at AFL level.

It’s just all about watching things like intensity, how a player uses the ball, their cleanliness etc skills that will transfer to afl level. Dont really care about winning but in saying that, ‘winning’ is a skill that players need to learn too and its nice to know who steps up in big moments whether it’s local footy or the top level. Theres definite benefits from winning - a better, happier full club culture, finals experience, and even just still having the VFL team playing when the AFL team is going deep in finals is a huge benefit

This totally explains the problem with not having dedicated reserves competition

[doggies ftw]

This totally explains the problem with not having dedicated reserves competition

Yeah mate it’s genuinely crazy we don’t have that yet, especially considering the push to further dilute the talent pool with 19 & eventually 20 teams. An AFL wide reserves side would go a long way to bringing alone the bottom half of every teams list.

Dont get me started on the byes and the continuity issue in the 2s, you’ve got players pushing for an AFL game and they may have played 2 VFL games in 4 weeks it’s just not good enough!