Dancin' Douggy
18-08-2015, 12:19 PM
Apparently Johnathon Brown has declared that Richmond have 6 'A' graders, and that is enough put you in contention for a flag. (My brother, a Richmond supporter furnished me with this piece of information)
Deledio, Rance, Martin, Cotchin, Riewoldt, Maric. (According to Brown)
So. I started thinking about our A graders and decided to go through the list by jumper number.
We're a young emerging team, so there are players on our list who may not have stamped themselves as bona fide A graders yet, but show every sign of doing so. I will discuss each player case by case. And I'm going to call A grader on players who are already A graders, and also players I'm predicting to DEFINITELY become A graders over the next few years.
My other rating will be NPOTC (not part of this conversation)
Here goes.
1. J. Grant. Has all the attributes to be an A grader, and being selected at 5 in the draft means you're probably BORN with the correct athletic traits to become an A grader, IF your attitude, dedication, willpower, skills and body all come together, you SHOULD become an A grader. So with Grant, all the latter qualities have been questionable over his career.
However, this year he seems to have finally emerged from his cocoon. ( he is insect like) and I believe is tracking towards A grade status. His last 3 set shots have gone straight through the middle. Maybe just maybe, he's over the yips. His hands and vision in traffic are sublime. He is very strong overhead, he’s 193 cm, has a huge natural leap, has pace to burn, and now seems to have a bottomless tank. His running from goal square to goal square is incredible, and the amount of times he is running completely unattended into our goalmouth as goals sail over his head is quite staggering. This is unrewarded running, but he never stops doing it, and ONE day, it might mean the difference between a win and a loss.
I would get laughed out of any pub in Melbourne if I put up Grants name as an A grader, but he's building towards it and is a potential A grader in my book. We would be insane if we traded him now. POTENTIAL A GRADER.
2. R. Murphy. A GRADER
3. Wallis. is he an A grader? If not, he's a whisker away from it. Gerard Healy referred to him as a genuine A grader the other day. And I'm with Gerard. He just peels off 30+ possession games now with monontonous regularity. Plays like a leader. Kicks clutch goals. Throws himself in at the bottom of every pack and runs tirelessly in to dangerous positions in the forward line. I'm calling him an A grader, and I think by the end of the year the rest of the footy world will too.
A GRADER
4. M. Bontempelli. AAAAAAAAAAAAA GRADER.
5. M. Boyd. 2 x All Australian, 3 x best & fairest. In the best form he's ever been in? The only knock on Boyd for his entire career was his kicking. No longer a glaring problem. A GRADER.
6.L. Dalhaus. I'm pretty sure we can call Dalhaus an A grader these days. A GRADER
7. L. Hunter You might think I'm looking at the list through rose coloured glasses but............
Lachie's last 3 weeks have got potential A grader written all over them. Not yet.......but potential A grader? Maybe.
I see Lachie as a neater, fitter, more compact version of Stevie J. Maybe not so freakishly gifted but then again...I've seen Lachie do some freaky shit and he's probably better overhead for his size than Stevie. With Lachie it always seemed to be about attitude, but it’s like someones flicked a switch and now he ‘gets it’. His last 3 weeks have really been massive……and so SUDDEN!
POTENTIAL A GRADER.
8. S. Crameri. Hmmmm an interesting one. What's stopping Crammers from being called an A grader. Consistency? Some sloppy kicking? He's capable of having A grade days, a 7 goal haul 2 weeks ago counts as A grade........with some improvement in consistency and kicking, he might be hovering towards A grade status, but not quite there atm. Close though. Very close.
POTENTIAL A GRADER.
9. J. Stringer. A grader already, he and the Bont are the two most exciting players I’ve ever, yes, EVER, seen in the red white and blue.. and they are both only going to get better.
A GRADER.
10. E. Wood. The 2015 version of Easton Wood is definitely A grader. No need to elaborate, we've all seen it with our own eyes. A GRADER.
11. J. Macrae. If he's not already considered an A grader, it's only a matter of time. I'm calling A GRADER.
(wow, what an embarrassment of riches and I'm only up to number 11!!!)
12. Z. Cordy...will keep the cue in the rack on Z. NPOTC
13. Hrovat. Came in with a big reputation but seems to have stalled. NPOTC
14. C. Smith. NPOTC
15. T. Campbell, I've been of the belief for some time that Tom would emerge as our number 1 ruck. But A grade?
I'm not writing him off and I think he's got a lot of growth football wise in him, but NPOTC.......yet
16. T. McLean. Maybe one day but NPOTC.
17. T. Boyd. MOST DEFINITELY part of this conversation. Should, by all that is holy and right become an absolute A grader. So let's assume all the screening, testing, profiling, hype etc is right and let's presume he'll be an A grader shall we? Ok. Then!
A GRADER
18. F. Roberts NPOTC.
19. L.Webb NPOTC.
20. D. Pearce NPOTC.
21. Libbaaaa!!!! A GRADER
22.M. Honeychurch. NPOTC.
23. J. Roughhead. Could he become one? I don't think I can include him in A grade contention at this stage.
24. S. Biggs. Not in consideration but I do like the way he's playing.
25. K. Stevens. If Stevens could realign his sights to about four to six inches higher, so that his kicks and handballs landed on peoples chests, instead of their ankles, he might be part of this conversation. But at the moment he's just too rough around the edges. I love what he brings, but gee he would be a much more damaging player with a tweak on his sights. NPOTC. Come on and prove me wrong Koby.
26. D. Hamilton. NPOTC.
27.W. Minson. Will's contested marking.........even his UNcontested marking was never good enough for him to ever be considered an A grader. so Sorry Will, but no.
28. Prudden. NPOTC.
29. T. Dickson. Well............Tory is getting better and better. He's a menacing presence all over the ground now, He tackles , he smothers, he links up chains. And, as we all know, he’s a very, very dangerous proposition anywhere near the goals. Plays some A grade games, but it's hard to judge someone like Tory because it's not his job to get 30 possessions a week. It's his job to apply defensive pressure inside our 50, and kick goddamn goals, which he does to a very high standard. A grade standard? I probably can't put him in the A grade category, but like a lot of our list he is getting better and better. At this stage no...but getting there.
30. Hamling. NPOTC.
31. B. Dale. NPOTC..................yet
32. M. Talia. NPOTC. Too rough around the edges, still a work in progress, not sure his kicking will ever be A grade standard. He's doing well with what he's got at the moment though, I’m not having a crack at him.
33.S. Darley. NPOTC.
35. C. Daniel. NPOTC.........................yet, but we may have a future A grader on our hands here... His handball to Crameri for a goal last week was sublime. Well thought out and well executed. Showed a great understanding of the game and how to manipulate time and space.
36. M. Fuller. NPOTC.
37. R. Smith. NPOTC.
38. D. Morris. A GRADER.
39. J. Johanissen. What a great year he's having, If he keeps this up, and continues to grow in confidence, we may have another gem of a player pushing towards A grade status, not there yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if this time next year he was considered to be verging on A grade status, hard to find a flaw in his game atm. Not yet my pets.
POTENTIAL A GRADER
42. L. Picken. Hmmmmm. Liam Picken. I believe he's part of this conversation. He’s really starting to push A grade status. Averaging 100 supercoach points over the year puts you near A grade territory. Maybe another year like this and he’d start to possibly………….but not atm I don’t think.
43. J. Redpath. Last weeks game illustrated Jack's one major flaw to me. He drops too many contested marks that a real A grade forward would hold. I love his energy and he's a pack buster, a beautiful long kick and I believe he can improve from where he is now..... another preseason maybe........if he held more of those marks he might be part of this conversation, but not yet my pets, not yet.
44. B. Goodes. NPOTC.
46. L. Jong. Burst out of the blocks this year and really looked like he could be anything. Right now though, he’s starting from scratch again almost. Love Jongy, but at the moment? NPOTC.
49. If we can convince Brisbane/ Gold Coast he’s an A GRADER, that would be good….very good. NPOTC
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________
So, according to my assessments / predictions we have 11 current / future A graders.
Murphy, Wallis, Bontempelli, M. Boyd, Dalhaus, Stringer, Wood, Macrae, T. Boyd, Morris, Liberatore.
And 4 guys hovering who could push for A grade status
Grant, Crameri, Hunter, Johanissen.
Am I being too generous? Discuss……………..
Deledio, Rance, Martin, Cotchin, Riewoldt, Maric. (According to Brown)
So. I started thinking about our A graders and decided to go through the list by jumper number.
We're a young emerging team, so there are players on our list who may not have stamped themselves as bona fide A graders yet, but show every sign of doing so. I will discuss each player case by case. And I'm going to call A grader on players who are already A graders, and also players I'm predicting to DEFINITELY become A graders over the next few years.
My other rating will be NPOTC (not part of this conversation)
Here goes.
1. J. Grant. Has all the attributes to be an A grader, and being selected at 5 in the draft means you're probably BORN with the correct athletic traits to become an A grader, IF your attitude, dedication, willpower, skills and body all come together, you SHOULD become an A grader. So with Grant, all the latter qualities have been questionable over his career.
However, this year he seems to have finally emerged from his cocoon. ( he is insect like) and I believe is tracking towards A grade status. His last 3 set shots have gone straight through the middle. Maybe just maybe, he's over the yips. His hands and vision in traffic are sublime. He is very strong overhead, he’s 193 cm, has a huge natural leap, has pace to burn, and now seems to have a bottomless tank. His running from goal square to goal square is incredible, and the amount of times he is running completely unattended into our goalmouth as goals sail over his head is quite staggering. This is unrewarded running, but he never stops doing it, and ONE day, it might mean the difference between a win and a loss.
I would get laughed out of any pub in Melbourne if I put up Grants name as an A grader, but he's building towards it and is a potential A grader in my book. We would be insane if we traded him now. POTENTIAL A GRADER.
2. R. Murphy. A GRADER
3. Wallis. is he an A grader? If not, he's a whisker away from it. Gerard Healy referred to him as a genuine A grader the other day. And I'm with Gerard. He just peels off 30+ possession games now with monontonous regularity. Plays like a leader. Kicks clutch goals. Throws himself in at the bottom of every pack and runs tirelessly in to dangerous positions in the forward line. I'm calling him an A grader, and I think by the end of the year the rest of the footy world will too.
A GRADER
4. M. Bontempelli. AAAAAAAAAAAAA GRADER.
5. M. Boyd. 2 x All Australian, 3 x best & fairest. In the best form he's ever been in? The only knock on Boyd for his entire career was his kicking. No longer a glaring problem. A GRADER.
6.L. Dalhaus. I'm pretty sure we can call Dalhaus an A grader these days. A GRADER
7. L. Hunter You might think I'm looking at the list through rose coloured glasses but............
Lachie's last 3 weeks have got potential A grader written all over them. Not yet.......but potential A grader? Maybe.
I see Lachie as a neater, fitter, more compact version of Stevie J. Maybe not so freakishly gifted but then again...I've seen Lachie do some freaky shit and he's probably better overhead for his size than Stevie. With Lachie it always seemed to be about attitude, but it’s like someones flicked a switch and now he ‘gets it’. His last 3 weeks have really been massive……and so SUDDEN!
POTENTIAL A GRADER.
8. S. Crameri. Hmmmm an interesting one. What's stopping Crammers from being called an A grader. Consistency? Some sloppy kicking? He's capable of having A grade days, a 7 goal haul 2 weeks ago counts as A grade........with some improvement in consistency and kicking, he might be hovering towards A grade status, but not quite there atm. Close though. Very close.
POTENTIAL A GRADER.
9. J. Stringer. A grader already, he and the Bont are the two most exciting players I’ve ever, yes, EVER, seen in the red white and blue.. and they are both only going to get better.
A GRADER.
10. E. Wood. The 2015 version of Easton Wood is definitely A grader. No need to elaborate, we've all seen it with our own eyes. A GRADER.
11. J. Macrae. If he's not already considered an A grader, it's only a matter of time. I'm calling A GRADER.
(wow, what an embarrassment of riches and I'm only up to number 11!!!)
12. Z. Cordy...will keep the cue in the rack on Z. NPOTC
13. Hrovat. Came in with a big reputation but seems to have stalled. NPOTC
14. C. Smith. NPOTC
15. T. Campbell, I've been of the belief for some time that Tom would emerge as our number 1 ruck. But A grade?
I'm not writing him off and I think he's got a lot of growth football wise in him, but NPOTC.......yet
16. T. McLean. Maybe one day but NPOTC.
17. T. Boyd. MOST DEFINITELY part of this conversation. Should, by all that is holy and right become an absolute A grader. So let's assume all the screening, testing, profiling, hype etc is right and let's presume he'll be an A grader shall we? Ok. Then!
A GRADER
18. F. Roberts NPOTC.
19. L.Webb NPOTC.
20. D. Pearce NPOTC.
21. Libbaaaa!!!! A GRADER
22.M. Honeychurch. NPOTC.
23. J. Roughhead. Could he become one? I don't think I can include him in A grade contention at this stage.
24. S. Biggs. Not in consideration but I do like the way he's playing.
25. K. Stevens. If Stevens could realign his sights to about four to six inches higher, so that his kicks and handballs landed on peoples chests, instead of their ankles, he might be part of this conversation. But at the moment he's just too rough around the edges. I love what he brings, but gee he would be a much more damaging player with a tweak on his sights. NPOTC. Come on and prove me wrong Koby.
26. D. Hamilton. NPOTC.
27.W. Minson. Will's contested marking.........even his UNcontested marking was never good enough for him to ever be considered an A grader. so Sorry Will, but no.
28. Prudden. NPOTC.
29. T. Dickson. Well............Tory is getting better and better. He's a menacing presence all over the ground now, He tackles , he smothers, he links up chains. And, as we all know, he’s a very, very dangerous proposition anywhere near the goals. Plays some A grade games, but it's hard to judge someone like Tory because it's not his job to get 30 possessions a week. It's his job to apply defensive pressure inside our 50, and kick goddamn goals, which he does to a very high standard. A grade standard? I probably can't put him in the A grade category, but like a lot of our list he is getting better and better. At this stage no...but getting there.
30. Hamling. NPOTC.
31. B. Dale. NPOTC..................yet
32. M. Talia. NPOTC. Too rough around the edges, still a work in progress, not sure his kicking will ever be A grade standard. He's doing well with what he's got at the moment though, I’m not having a crack at him.
33.S. Darley. NPOTC.
35. C. Daniel. NPOTC.........................yet, but we may have a future A grader on our hands here... His handball to Crameri for a goal last week was sublime. Well thought out and well executed. Showed a great understanding of the game and how to manipulate time and space.
36. M. Fuller. NPOTC.
37. R. Smith. NPOTC.
38. D. Morris. A GRADER.
39. J. Johanissen. What a great year he's having, If he keeps this up, and continues to grow in confidence, we may have another gem of a player pushing towards A grade status, not there yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if this time next year he was considered to be verging on A grade status, hard to find a flaw in his game atm. Not yet my pets.
POTENTIAL A GRADER
42. L. Picken. Hmmmmm. Liam Picken. I believe he's part of this conversation. He’s really starting to push A grade status. Averaging 100 supercoach points over the year puts you near A grade territory. Maybe another year like this and he’d start to possibly………….but not atm I don’t think.
43. J. Redpath. Last weeks game illustrated Jack's one major flaw to me. He drops too many contested marks that a real A grade forward would hold. I love his energy and he's a pack buster, a beautiful long kick and I believe he can improve from where he is now..... another preseason maybe........if he held more of those marks he might be part of this conversation, but not yet my pets, not yet.
44. B. Goodes. NPOTC.
46. L. Jong. Burst out of the blocks this year and really looked like he could be anything. Right now though, he’s starting from scratch again almost. Love Jongy, but at the moment? NPOTC.
49. If we can convince Brisbane/ Gold Coast he’s an A GRADER, that would be good….very good. NPOTC
____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________
So, according to my assessments / predictions we have 11 current / future A graders.
Murphy, Wallis, Bontempelli, M. Boyd, Dalhaus, Stringer, Wood, Macrae, T. Boyd, Morris, Liberatore.
And 4 guys hovering who could push for A grade status
Grant, Crameri, Hunter, Johanissen.
Am I being too generous? Discuss……………..