Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board

Lazza, he did get on the stats sheet though by giving a free kick away to Southby!

Haff wrote:But like Henry, not ready for the big time yet.

At the Moment we don't have many AFL Level Players in the Side Then

I have seen Henry a few times this year.
I would not play him again this year
Keep playing Wilson.
He is a bit older and we need a few games to see what he is capable of

scoobydoo wrote:Assessing this type of player ( Cat B rookie) after one game is a little silly. How many games did it take for him to look good at VFL level? More than one I’d say. Give him a 5-6 week run at it & he will look a different player especially with Roughead & Howe around him.

That’s a really good point about being surrounded by leaders or quality players when you’re still trying to make your way in the game. You learn more and your job becomes that little bit easier when you’re surrounded by cool heads and not more inexperience or panic merchants.

5 from the wing on debut wrote:Lazza, he did get on the stats sheet though by giving a free kick away to Southby!

Lol

We aren't a club who ever gives debutants "soft kills" are we.

RudeBoy wrote:I think it was a rude awakening for Wilson, playing in the seniors. However, the experience will do him good and I hope we stick with him for another week or two. At least he has a man'a body, unlike poor Henry who is physically out of his depth atm.

I agree with this. I think the benefit of having them play every now and then in the seniors is exactly for that reality check. They might think they are going well (when starring in the VFL), but put them out there and they should realize just how much work they have ahead of them. Now we see if they are hungry enough to work hard enough to make the next step in their development.

I think its also good to shut the fans up as well.

In summary, while Poulter and McCreery i think are benefitting from senior playing time, Henry, McCrae and Wilson have a lot of work to do. I think Murphy was like that 2 or 3 years ago. He looks much more ready now. i'm sure the other guys will be ready one day too. Not this year though.

[quote="Lazza"]Derek Shaw played in a Collingwood grand final and had zero possessions

I think it's quite unkind to keep bringing Derek Shaw up. He was only ever a fringe player, at his peak (47 games over 7 seasons). He was played because there was no-one else. So, he only had 4 disposals in the PF the previous week, too. He had been dropped mid-season for poor form and really only came back during the finals because of injuries.

The players that have always annoyed me the most at Collingwood are the ones who have turned up in finals and routinely played way below their "ordinary" standard. We've had many of those over the years - their many failures to turn up in finals have cost us big time. Shaw's didn't. That year, it was the useless Allan Edwards who was probably most to blame - he was our "star" recruit but could only manage 1.1 from 11 disposals and gave away 4 free kicks. Other players performed, relatively speaking, much worse than Shaw - but many of them were also fringe players, so I don't think singling them out is fair. On that day, Shaw was 20 years old and was playing his 24th game.

I actually thought Wilson went okay, all things considered. I like what I see in all of Wilson, Poulter, and Mcreery. I'm not sold on Henry, yet. I'd be interested to see how McInnes goes and want to see Macrae get a better run at it.

One of the rougher debuts for sure as every time he found himself with the footy was caught in a swarm of tackling Swans players.

SCG is a tough place to make your debut little space and time. Judge again in 10 games time.

^yeah the tackling reminded me of the reception our boys gave Jack Watts

His first opportunity at a kick was a misdirected pass from Maynard that went to Wilson's opponent. His second opportunity for a mark was a ball that sailed over the boundary line out on the full. But let's do what Collingwood supporters do and trash our first gamers until they get a few games and then we talk them up as the next Royce Hart.