Will Olli Hotton be the real deal??

[NickyDal]

I must admit I know nothing about Hotton other than there are big wraps on the kid.

What do people think, will he be a gun or a GOP?

[cwrcyn]

I saw him do some nice things in the VFL last year after coming off a long lay off from his back injury. Fitness wise, he was way off the pace, so we get a better chance to assess him this year. He's very quick (ran 2.92 seconds in 20m sprint at combine) and has a good leap and a nice side step. Matthew Lloyd, who coached him at Haileybury , rated him one of the best clearance players he'd seen at junior level.

He's got some stiff competition now with Darcy Wilson and Hugo Garcia going the club, but I'll tip him to play some senior football tis year. Long term, I'm confident he'll make it.

[Otiman]

From the training reports, Garcia and Wilson are already ahead of him. But that could just be first year hype, and it's only training.

Played some very good VFL games last year when played in the midfield instead of half forward or half back.

For some reason we are blooding our young players through either half back or half forward instead of in the middle (see WIndhager last year for another example)

Has a 28 disposal game under his belt, and an 8 tackle game (different games) shows he can go both ways.

https://vfl.aflmstats.com/player/Olli_Hotton

He will be a player that comes into the side once Jones and Ross are retired, so I can see us hanging onto him even if he doesn't play seniors this year.

[CQ SAINT]

From the training reports, Garcia and Wilson are already ahead of him. But that could just be first year hype, and it's only training.

Played some very good VFL games last year when played in the midfield instead of half forward or half back.

For some reason we are blooding our young players through either half back or half forward instead of in the middle (see WIndhager last year for another example)

Has a 28 disposal game under his belt, and an 8 tackle game (different games) shows he can go both ways.

https://vfl.aflmstats.com/player/Olli_Hotton

He will be a player that comes into the side once Jones and Ross are retired, so I can see us hanging onto him even if he doesn't play seniors this year.

Thanks Otiman,

I guess with the emphasis on rotations, you need the speed, skills set and fitness to play either forward (and kick goals, not just accumulate entries) or back.

Running wide and breaking lines from half back looks like a smart move for players who already have defensive traits, like Windhager and Hotton who was a high pressure producer, as junior.

I think this kid might be similar to Clark. He has class but might take a while to hit his straps. A while, for mids being narrowed recently, to two or three years and then your out or depth.

[skeptic]

Watching the highlights and videos of that draft… if the crop that we got, Hotton was actually my early tip for top of the heap.

I thought he locked fantastic and looked to have that extra it factor that comes with composure and smart decision making.

Then unfortunately he got injured and despite some ok form on return, he just didn’t have the physical prep/fitness to look anything but far off the pace.

That’s not a slight at the kid… you can only do when you can only do… but I’m quite excited to see what he’ll show this season.
By all accounts he returned in ripping shape and is burning up the track. Whether he debuts or not, he may well show that he’s a class above like we hope

[CQ SAINT]

Watching the highlights and videos of that draft… if the crop that we got, Hotton was actually my early tip for top of the heap.

I thought he locked fantastic and looked to have that extra it factor that comes with composure and smart decision making.

Then unfortunately he got injured and despite some ok form on return, he just didn’t have the physical prep/fitness to look anything but far off the pace.

That’s not a slight at the kid… you can only do when you can only do… but I’m quite excited to see what he’ll show this season.
By all accounts he returned in ripping shape and is burning up the track. Whether he debuts or not, he may well show that he’s a class above like we hope

That's a good call, from memory he and his dad or someone put in extras before his draft year and he improved dramatically, then probably went too hard training with those other maniacs Owens and Windhager.

[Otiman]

It's an interesting prospect, looking at our list.

Realistically in order for improvement to be enough to the point where a flag is on the cards, 5-10 players from the 2023 best 22 need to be displaced.

Sure you can have incremental improvement from the 24+ brigade, and we need that too, but the step change comes from the 20-24 batch.

Absolutely critical for guys like Hotton, Garcia, Wilson, Hastie, Van Es, Shoenmaker, Collard to displace players like Ross, Jones, Webster, Stocker, Howard, Wood, Butler, and Crouch in the starting 18. With skill and talent rather than retirement or injury.

[B.M]

He struggled in his group for the running sessions I have seen.

Probably in a good group, bet finished at the back - behind Higgins