Footscray ♥ wee man!

[SonofScray]

Hi all,

Given his recent string of games in the firsts, I thought it'd be appropriate if we all got around Andrew 'Wee Man' Hooper and gave him his very own thread.

What are your thoughts on his form so far this year?
Can he make it at AFL level?
What are your expectations?

For mine, he could certainly play a role as a small forward, with instruction to hunt the defense and create turnovers. I liked that he works hard up around the 50m arc and half forward line before pushing into space deep. Jagged a very nice goal on the back of some hard running.

He can sniff them out I think.

Beyond that his application to simple things like blocking and tackling has been better than I expected from him. He has a long way to go, but I like what I see.


http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/images/uploadedfiles/editorial/pictures/2010/09/14/MBHOOPS1_STORY_-_DEEP_HORIZONTAL_WIDE_F10110519_325815.JPG

[bornadog]

I thought he was great combined with Dahlhaus we have two little guys sparking up our forward line. He didn't get alot of the ball but tackled and harassed his opponents and kicked two goals. Its only his third game, and still along way to go, but I would keep him in for a few more games and lets see how he develops.

[AndrewP6]

Not sure I'd call two games a 'string', but anyway... :)

Wasn't that impressed with his first game this year, but today showed great endeavour and gave a different look to the forward pressure. I agree with your assessment of what he could offer. For me, I'd like to see a bit more of him in the senior side to see if he's going to be a long term player.

FWIW, at the East-West Day last year when the new recruits were introduced, I said to someone next to me, "Who's the little fat bloke?" :D

[LostDoggy]

Still don't think he can make it at AFL level but do love his enthusiasm

[comrade]

He's definitely worth persisting with next week. He buys into the unselfish team aspect of football and that has been sorely needed in our forward line.

I'm interested in seeing how that Dahlhaus/Hooper combination develops but if Wee Man is going to carve out an AFL career, he really needs to look at how guys like Blair and Rodan have done it which is by being able to find the ball higher up the ground when required. His tank needs to improve a fair bit and he does need to lose some bulk which should help him squeeze out a bit more speed.

I would give him one more pre-season to prove his worth.

[firstdogonthemoon]

Speaking as another short fat bloke, I thought he was excellent. We were laughing about him in the first half and then... he came good. Love him.

[craigsahibee]

Keep him in the side until he plays in a losing team. He is the Talisman.

[LostDoggy]

Yes , SuperDooperHooper has a future , another pre-season to lift his fitness base up , he has worked hard on his fitness and has spent some time in the midfield with Williamstown , he does have one problem in that he is in a group of players who can play similar roles so it,s up to young Andrew to make the most of his opportunities , his game today was based on zone pressure he may not have impacted on the stats sheet but his two goals were vital , there will be a few Blues players replaying parts of the game in their minds and the common themes will be " Where did that little bugger come from " and " Where did that little bugger go " ( same goes for the Grominator )

At the moment you would say that Dahlhaus and Hooper should be our FP,s , Gia can move to CHF

.

[Dogmatic]

I don't think he has been superb but he can be an important part of our fwd set-up. his tackling, enthusiasm and work rate is good so i am happy for him to be a role player up fwd.

I hope we see him do "the worm" as a goal celebration this year.

[LostDoggy]

Yes , SuperDooperHooper has a future , another pre-season to lift his fitness base up , he has worked hard on his fitness and has spent some time in the midfield with Williamstown , he does have one problem in that he is in a group of players who can play similar roles so it,s up to young Andrew to make the most of his opportunities , his game today was based on zone pressure he may not have impacted on the stats sheet but his two goals were vital , there will be a few Blues players replaying parts of the game in their minds and the common themes will be " Where did that little bugger come from " and " Where did that little bugger go " ( same goes for the Grominator )

At the moment you would say that Dahlhaus and Hooper should be our FP,s , Gia can move to CHF

.

Sensible post West-Dog - it's easy to forget these guys are just starting their careers, and we must expect them to get lost at times in games! I'm loving the zing both Hoops and the Grommet put into our side - we've been missing that!

[LostDoggy]

Love it when a low pick/rookie makes it, especially someone who doesn't fit the modern game body mould. Obviously he hasn't made it yet but with performance like that he can go a long way to giving it his best shot. Tackle hard, run hard, get to space. That's his game.

Buggered if i know how Dalhaus slipped through to the rookie stage.

[LostDoggy]

Love it when a low pick/rookie makes it, especially someone who doesn't fit the modern game body mould. Obviously he hasn't made it yet but with performance like that he can go a long way to giving it his best shot. Tackle hard, run hard, get to space. That's his game.

Buggered if i know how Dalhaus slipped through to the rookie stage.

I think you answered your own question above — he doesn't fit the mould. It's a great thing that other clubs' recruitment staff were so short-sighted. Though, to be fair, we let him slip through to the rookie draft ourselves.

Interesting thought: He said in an interview the other day that missing out on the draft absolutely shattered him, so I wonder if perhaps his tenacity and work rate is a result of being forced to do it the hard way. Was slipping through to the rookies the best thing for his career in the end? If he had've been drafted earlier, may he have taken it for granted a bit more??

[always right]

I'm not a fan and until he jagged those goals in yesterday's match, I actually thought he was a liability. Has no tricks to compensate for lack of stature and doesn't even appear to be a particularly good crumber.

What I will concede however is that in combination with Dalhaus he has added a different dynamic to our forwardline and from that point of view it is difficult to assess his worth. Certainly worth persisting with to see if he can develop further.

[Mofra]

Adds more to the side than his talent suggests - good second half after a poor first half.

Not sure anyone before the game yesterday would have picked our two as the best two small crumbing forwards of the game yesterday.

[Sockeye Salmon]

I think I heard that we drafted Tom Hill but rookied Dahlhouse because Hill was already rookied by GWS and we had to primary list him to trump them.

[GVGjr]

I think I heard that we drafted Tom Hill but rookied Dahlhouse because Hill was already rookied by GWS and we had to primary list him to trump them.

Took a huge gamble then

[the banker]

There's no doubt he has footy smarts and loves a contest. I would say he is a result driven player. The question is : "Has he the physical attributes"? The mix forward worked on Sunday. Just need Grant to spark up.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Took a huge gamble then

I don't think we were sure he'd have this much impact at the time

[Ghost Dog]

Love it when a low pick/rookie makes it, especially someone who doesn't fit the modern game body mould. Obviously he hasn't made it yet but with performance like that he can go a long way to giving it his best shot. Tackle hard, run hard, get to space. That's his game.

Buggered if i know how Dalhaus slipped through to the rookie stage.

It's amazing isn't it!!! There was this bit in a recent article about him in tears that nobody picked him up the first time round. What a great pick up.

[SonofScray]

Didn't do enough tonight. Probably had less than 5 touches for the night. To his credit though he was thereabouts in many ways to the point I thought he might get 10 touches and kick 3 goals. I think if he does that he is good value... but.... he didn't.

Some of it was that better payers didn't pave the way for him, some of it was lack of class - on the whole it was a tick in the "not up to AFL standard" camp. Hopefully he can get more involved.

Give him one more week before sending him back to Willy if he has another ineffective performance like that.

[GVGjr]

Didn't do enough tonight. Probably had less than 5 touches for the night. To his credit though he was thereabouts in many ways to the point I thought he might get 10 touches and kick 3 goals. I think if he does that he is good value... but.... he didn't.

Some of it was that better payers didn't pave the way for him, some of it was lack of class - on the whole it was a tick in the "not up to AFL standard" camp. Hopefully he can get more involved.

Give him one more week before sending him back to Willy if he has another ineffective performance like that.

He's not up to it at the moment. I like his endeavor but he doesn't have enough strings to his bow.

[w3design]

Think that's where your quote from Lindsay gaze really comes in, GVG. Without being able to mark, he's not got a whole swag of tricks. He does provide a liveliness and vim that makes me think he deserves another week, but I'm having to put myself in the 'doubters' camp at present.

[Rocco Jones]

Said it last week. He was an obliged to pick him but you will probably rue it type selection this week for mine.

[AndrewP6]

He's not up to it at the moment. I like his endeavor but he doesn't have enough strings to his bow.

Ditto, endeavour just isn't enough.

[Ghost Dog]

Agreed. but we had to see him to find out

[LostDoggy]

Back to the VFL wee man. Sorry, but don;t think you will make it at AFL level

[Mofra]

I think we need to play him until Sherman is back.

Who is quick enough to play the fast, high forward role and add defensive pressure? Grant at a pinch? There's clearly a hole in our list. Thank god Dalhaus has come on.

[Sedat]

Horses for courses might see him retained this week on the smaller ground against a high stoppage team. But I agree with the assertion that he has far too few strings to his bow at this stage of his career. At his height he needs to have blistering pace and a massive tank to be able to contribute in the defensive forward role - he has neither.

[bornadog]

Funny after a loss we see things differently. To me he wasn't the problem last night. We just didn't contain their mids . Hoops has a long way to go, but after only three games I am not prepared to burn him

[LostDoggy]

He did alright the last time we played Sydney. Stays in for mine.

[Mantis]

He did alright the last time we played Sydney. Stays in for mine.

He did? Why then was he demoted the following week? That's right because he had only 5 possessions in that game.

He has had just 20 possessions in 3 games which isn't good enough thus far.

[Sedat]

He did? Why then was he demoted the following week? That's right because he had only 5 possessions in that game.

He has had just 20 possessions in 3 games which isn't good enough thus far.
I don't necessarily mind the lack of possessions (wouldn't mind a few more) if they are accompanied by relentless sacrificial running to create space in the forward 50 for other teammates to run into, or if he provides constant and sustained defensive pressure to help lock it in there. He was OK in the 2nd half against Carlton in these defensive pursuits but so far he doesn't do anywhere near enough either with or without the ball. He needs to have the pre-season of his life to build the tank to be able to make such repeated and sustained defensive efforts over the course of 120 minutes.

I've said it before but if it is OK for a forward running crab like Milne to learn and adapt and become a strong defensive presence inside forward 50, then anyone can and should be able to do it.

[stefoid]

Sherman is a better option than Hooper, when available.

We could do worse than give Vespremi a game at Hoopers/Hills expense in the meantime.

[OLD SCRAGGer]

Sherman is a better option than Hooper, when available.

We could do worse than give Vespremi a game at Hoopers/Hills expense in the meantime.

Agree with this

[BulldogBelle]

Hooper should have been traded or delisted at the end of last year, along with his fellow duds Josh Hill, Dylan Addison and Brennan Stack. We well might have drafted a good player. Hooper has no bag of tricks to make up for his obvious lack of physical attributes.

Wallis, Liberatore, Vespremi, Howard and even Sherman (who I never agreed with him getting drafted by us) would do a lot better.

[Rocco Jones]

Funny after a loss we see things differently. To me he wasn't the problem last night. We just didn't contain their mids . Hoops has a long way to go, but after only three games I am not prepared to burn him

Totally agree that a win/loss changes how most see things but without being all I said that last week, I said the win meant Hooper's game was overratd.

[SonofScray]

I think we need to play him until Sherman is back.

Who is quick enough to play the fast, high forward role and add defensive pressure? Grant at a pinch? There's clearly a hole in our list. Thank god Dalhaus has come on.

Agree. That is why I would keep him in for another week, even though he was ineffective last night. I maintain that he was a chance to jag a few and regardless of how many touches you get, if you can work hard and sniff a goal then you're adding something to our forward line.


Totally agree that a win/loss changes how most see things but without being all I said that last week, I said the win meant Hooper's game was overratd.

Don't agree that his game was over rated at all. Most of the posts in his favour have acknowledged that he hardy touched the ball. I probably rate him more than he deserves on the back that I can see a real goal sense about him, an ability to manufacture goals without having the ball very often. I think mostly we've been pretty honest in the assessment of him to date - has a bit of spark, works hard but isn't looking like a long term player.

[Desipura]

Hooper should have been traded or delisted at the end of last year, along with his fellow duds Josh Hill, Dylan Addison and Brennan Stack. We well might have drafted a good player. Hooper has no bag of tricks to make up for his obvious lack of physical attributes.

Wallis, Liberatore, Vespremi, Howard and even Sherman (who I never agreed with him getting drafted by us) would do a lot better.

Agree with the above players not being good enough. Josh Hill lacks the intensity however has the others covered for ability.

[stefoid]

If Hooper is in the team mostly for defensive pressure, then just about anyone could play that role.

Addison for instance I think someone mentioned last week.

But, we obviously have a few decisions to make at the end of the year, and I think the process of playing hooper, stack, hill, howard etc... is part of that decision making process.

We arent going to win or even compete in the GF. But playing one or two finals gives us that much more match practice to sift through the list for next year.

So I expect us to try and win as many games as we can, yet still give guys like Tutt, Vezpremi and probably Cordy a trial run as sooner or later.

[SonofScray]

Thought he was OK against the Swans, again showing his ability to manufacture goals. Keep him in for another week.

[GVGjr]

Thought he was OK against the Swans, again showing his ability to manufacture goals. Keep him in for another week.

Conditions probably suited him to. The question is more around how he will perform at Etihad.