Webster's Progress

[mad saint guy]

One big positive for me so far this year has been the emergence of Jimmy Webster. After being taken fairly late in the draft with little information about him other than that he's 'far too skinny for AFL' I thought he'd likely end up being another Raymond/Sweeney/Crocker type pick who never gets close to AFL standard. His first year where he broke down and didn't do much at Sandringham didn't do anything to get my hopes up either. He and Lever looked like the token lazy, speculative late picks that have been the norm for us over the past 10 years.

But somehow, come round 10 this year he actually looks like he could be in our best 22. He's tall, quick, confident and has excellent kicking. At this stage it looks like he'll be a long-term replacement for Jason Gram, but with better skills and a willingness to compete and tackle. I don't want to get too excited too early, but he does look like a part of our next core, along with Steven, Armo, Roberton, McEvoy, Ross, Stanley, Siposs, Wright and Saad.

After 40-50 games of AFL footy and another couple of pre seasons in the gym he could be a seriously good player for us. What really stands out for me is his willingness to kick long and FORWARDS! Most of our young guys come into the side and don't have the confidence to move the ball forwards, often kicking short and sideways/backwards or handballing off. But suddenly we have a 188cm running defender/wingman who regularly takes on opponents and hits a target 40m in front of him. Obviously he's only three games into his career, but he's showing all the signs of becoming a long-term AFL player. And what a bonus that is; I never expected him to come close to an AFL debut. Well done to the club and to Jimmy on his rapid progress so far.

[plugger66]

Hope you are right about Webster. Looks good but i will never understand the crap gram cops on here. I would be ecstatic if he was as close to Gram as a player. It would be a huge ask to suggest he will have better skills and a willingness to compete and tackle. If Gram was a bad as many have made out he wouldnt have played anywhere near the games he did and he wouldnt have best on the ground in a losing GF. Gram was a very good player for Us. Hope Webster does as well.

[savatage]

Sells great Candy also!

[Con Gorozidis]

So far he looks like he might be the best of the lot.
Balanced, composed, ripper kick, tough and quick. Wondering how he got through so late in the draft.

[cwrcyn]

Hasn't had much game time yet, and he's tentatively feeling his way. I'd want to see him play two or three full games before forming any opinion.

We saw with Ross that his first couple of games were unremarkable, but in the last couple I've seen a few of things that give me hope.

We have seen guys previously who we thought were going to be good players. WE got excited by Ledger's first outing, and some were excited about Cripps. Even Nick Winmar got some touches in the few games he played.

Things could go either way from here with a lot of our young players. The only one I can absolutely be confident about is Wright. In order of confidence of how I hope these guys kick on:

1. Wright
2. Hickey
3. Ross
4. Newnes
5. Saunders
6. Markworth
7. Webster
8. Minchington
9. Murdoch
10. White
11. Lee
12.Lever

[noob]

the left wingback.

[Eastern]

It might be just me, but Jimmy Webster looks like he is already very strong in the upper body. Without wanting to put any pressure on him, he looks to have a similar body shape to Gary Ablett snr, especially around the neck/shoulder region !!

[cwrcyn]

To me, his body shape is closer to Scott Pendlebury. Ablett was a beast, particularly later in his career. An incredibly powerful man

[saintsRrising]

I think we have a lot of good emerging young players.

I just do not know yer if any of the them can be elite. Way too early to tell.

Wright I am most impressed with.

I am hoping that White van be a freak forward for us as we desperately need it.

[BigMart]

Has Webster ever been that small...

I know Howard (180, 72) Raymond (186, 69) Houlihan (182, 74) were all skinny and small men

But Jimmy Webster (188, 78) and Daniel Markworth (189, 81)

I watched their first home game last year in the Sandy twos and stood right next to them both. Neither looked small to me.
Markworth kicked 4 and Webster was damaging across HB.

[BigMart]

BTW

Webster has really impressed, a nice surprise

[gringo]

So far he looks like he might be the best of the lot.
Balanced, composed, ripper kick, tough and quick. Wondering how he got through so late in the draft.

He was pretty injury prone even pre draft from memory- always had skill just couldn't show much as he kept breaking down.

As for size footy players just aren't small anymore. Luke Ball came to my kids club recently and he's nearly as tall as me and I'm 6'2". Same with Joey and Steven- they came into my business this year and all surprised me by how tall they are- I thought they were about 5'10" or so not over 6'.

[bergholt]

Hasn't had much game time yet, and he's tentatively feeling his way. I'd want to see him play two or three full games before forming any opinion.

Agreed. We'll have a lot better idea in a couple more weeks - he's been sub twice in his three games.

That said, the OP has it spot on that he's a massive positive. I'd also been ready to write him off as one of those guys who comes and goes without a ripple. Any draftee who plays ten games and shows anything is already light years ahead of Raymond or Sweeney or Connors or Howard or Heyne or Cahill or Smith or Winmar or Johnson or Crocker - how great would it be if we could avoid picks like that in future?

[Con Gorozidis]

Has Webster ever been that small...

I know Howard (180, 72) Raymond (186, 69) Houlihan (182, 74) were all skinny and small men

But Jimmy Webster (188, 78) and Daniel Markworth (189, 81)

I watched their first home game last year in the Sandy twos and stood right next to them both. Neither looked small to me.
Markworth kicked 4 and Webster was damaging across HB.

Its interesting.
The question I have - which we wont be able to answer for another year or two - is did our recruiters become geniuses in 11 and 12 or is the overall standard of player up?
Because Ross, Newnes, Webster, Markworth and Wright are already better than most of our 2007-10 draftees.

[Scoop]

Its interesting.
The question I have - which we wont be able to answer for another year or two - is did our recruiters become geniuses in 11 and 12 or is the overall standard of player up?
Because Ross, Newnes, Webster, Markworth and Wright are already better than most of our 2007-10 draftees.

2011 was Elshaug's first draft.....could he be our Stephen Wells?

[The OtherThommo]

Its interesting.
The question I have - which we wont be able to answer for another year or two - is did our recruiters become geniuses in 11 and 12 or is the overall standard of player up?
Because Ross, Newnes, Webster, Markworth and Wright are already better than most of our 2007-10 draftees.

2011 was Elshaug's first draft.....could he be our Stephen Wells?

Or, is this the manifestation of the Pelchen master plan? Young early, see who fits in subsequent years and tailor it from there.

I'm very happy compared to the Pattison, Smith stuff of the desolate years. Wright's a lock, Webster will prove so, Ross is improving, White's the excitement (named on a HFF for Sandy tomorrow and could play senior footy there before the EOY, a la Fraser's start in the west), Saunders has grunt, Murdoch looks a real prospect and Lewis Pierce is making ground rapidly for a 200+cm kid. Lee will prove OK, Lever's got something, Ferg's named tomorrow, Minchington could play before year's end, Staley's interesting.

Next up - the exploitation of the cap room at year's end - that's Pelchen's real go.

[St Ick]

From what I remember reading about Webster he was touted as a potential top 10 pick as a 16 year old. Didn't he spend the majority of his U18 year injured. I'm not going to say I always thought he'd make it but I think his injuries and size was the only reason he was taken so low. Regardless of his form, all I want from him is a full, injury free season.

A few Taswegians that I know reckon he was the best kid that has come out of that state for some while. I certainly hope so. Now, I'll have to suss out his brother...

[QuestionOfAccuracy]

Nathan Wright is still head and shoulders above any of our other emerging youngsters.

Webster has been really promising so far, but need to see him play more rather than just as the sub.

As encouraging as Seb Ross' form has been this year, I think our most pressing need for the next draft is a top midfielder.

[Stillwaiting]

I think the difference with Wright is he seems to have a more mature body, I think Ross , Webster and Dunnell are just as promising but may take a little longer to adjust to the same level as Wright is, in about another 50 games I think we will have 3 quality players

[mad saint guy]

Hasn't had much game time yet, and he's tentatively feeling his way. I'd want to see him play two or three full games before forming any opinion.

We saw with Ross that his first couple of games were unremarkable, but in the last couple I've seen a few of things that give me hope.

We have seen guys previously who we thought were going to be good players. WE got excited by Ledger's first outing, and some were excited about Cripps. Even Nick Winmar got some touches in the few games he played.

I disagree that he's tentatively feeling his way. I think he's thrown himself straight into the contest and done very well. So far he's had 9, 14 and 4 disposals from 34%, 93% and 24% TOG. The way that he came straight on in a very heated match against Carlton and performed well was very promising.

Ross also showed good signs from his debut. Clean hands, accurate kicking and good clearance work. Just needed to build his tank. Cripps always looked average to me - he was a strong offensive runner and got loose on the end of a few scoring chains but didn't do much else. Winmar was one of the softest, most tentative players I've seen on a footy field, though he did have clean skills.

[BigMart]

Winner wasn't fit and was soft wrt to effort and work ethic

[PJ]

Interesting that our improvement seems to have come across the half back line with Roberton, Wright & Webster. The difference between Webster and Wright seems to be that Jimmy has better skills however Wright moves through traffic better. Both have stepped up big time and from a development perspective it's about time the club started getting this right.

IMO Jimmy could be a mid, just has that speed in close, courage, aggressive tackler and hits targets.

[BigMart]

I think he is a natural HB

Like Roberton, Geary, Wright.... The seem like straight run, line breakers to me....

Some players are not suited to the midfield and don't need to be to make them any better or help the team
Eg/grant birchall

Team need defender

[St Ick]

I think he is a natural HB

Like Roberton, Geary, Wright.... The seem like straight run, line breakers to me....

Some players are not suited to the midfield and don't need to be to make them any better or help the team
Eg/grant birchall

Team need defender

Roberton, Geary, Wright, Webster, Fergusson. Suddenly we once again have too many helf backs

[Richter]

For mine, Webster is a half back, as is Roberton. Could also see Webster on a wing, using his lovely kick to supply to leading forwards inside 50.

I could certainly see Nathan Wright going through the midfield. Did a lovely break from congestion in the centre of the park to kick to Rooey for a goal in the 2nd Q vs Carlton. He's tough, quick and has a fair kick on him. Not sure how quick his hands are or how he is with the ball on the ground though.