Eagles recruiting for season 2023

The SANFL league program will be released in the week of Monday January 30th.

Apparently the clubs are currently looking at a draft of the proposed program and are then expected to send comments to the SANFL.

Been searching again for more info on David Brinker-Ritchie to know what to expect.
In Brinker-Ritchie's 11 VFL matches last season, he took a total of 14 marks, 14 kicks, 64 handballs. That's averaging around 1 mark, 1 kick and 6 handballs per game. I would guess that Phillips would have checked those figures and reckoned he will be a good chance to take the rucking spot. Both players seem to be two years away from fulfilling their potential.
We desperately need a late signing of a mature-bodied ruckman of even nuissance value (eg "Seb Guilhaus type" who's not going to do much but at least physically able to contest).

hawke wrote:Been searching again for more info on David Brinker-Ritchie to know what to expect.
In Brinker-Ritchie's 11 VFL matches last season, he took a total of 14 marks, 14 kicks, 64 handballs. That's averaging around 1 mark, 1 kick and 6 handballs per game. I would guess that Phillips would have checked those figures and reckoned he will be a good chance to take the rucking spot. Both players seem to be two years away from fulfilling their potential.
We desperately need a late signing of a mature-bodied ruckman of even nuissance value (eg "Seb Guilhaus type" who's not going to do much but at least physically able to contest).

With respect "hawke" you forgot to mention one of the most important facets of a ruckman's game and that is hit outs. Over the eleven VFL games he played for Box Hill he had 259 hits outs at an average of nearly 24 a game (13, 21, 26, 17, 19, 31, 47, 16, 26, 22 & 21). We don't know if he was the only ruckman, had to share rucking duties or was just a back up. After starting at Box Hill mid season he was a regular team member. The club has watched him play several times and is very excited about his potential. He had just turned nineteen when he played his first game for Box Hill.

To get a bit more perspective on this, Brinker-Ritchie ( 12.5. 2003) is nearly a year younger than Phillips (15.8.2002).

Phillips in his only league match last season (2nd round) had 1 kick, 2 handballs and 12 hit outs for a total of 28 champion data points and wasn't given another league game.

I thinks the stats Brinker-Ritchie achieved and his continued involvement at the higher level clearly indicates he is a much better prospect than Zac Phillips. I haven't written Phillips off yet, he might just take a little more time to develop, I think that Jordan Lukac still might be a better forward/ruck than Zac Phillips.

I was talking to an U19 state cricketer on Sunday who played with Patrick Weckert in the National U19s carnival and he said that Weckert at this stage was favouring cricket over football. Let's hope not.

wimpy wrote:

hawke wrote:Been searching again for more info on David Brinker-Ritchie to know what to expect.
In Brinker-Ritchie's 11 VFL matches last season, he took a total of 14 marks, 14 kicks, 64 handballs. That's averaging around 1 mark, 1 kick and 6 handballs per game. I would guess that Phillips would have checked those figures and reckoned he will be a good chance to take the rucking spot. Both players seem to be two years away from fulfilling their potential.
We desperately need a late signing of a mature-bodied ruckman of even nuissance value (eg "Seb Guilhaus type" who's not going to do much but at least physically able to contest).

With respect "hawke" you forgot to mention one of the most important facets of a ruckman's game and that is hit outs. Over the eleven VFL games he played for Box Hill he had 259 hits outs at an average of nearly 24 a game (13, 21, 26, 17, 19, 31, 47, 16, 26, 22 & 21). We don't know if he was the only ruckman, had to share rucking duties or was just a back up. After starting at Box Hill mid season he was a regular team member. The club has watched him play several times and is very excited about his potential. He had just turned nineteen when he played his first game for Box Hill.

To get a bit more perspective on this, Brinker-Ritchie ( 12.5. 2003) is nearly a year younger than Phillips (15.8.2002).

Phillips in his only league match last season (2nd round) had 1 kick, 2 handballs and 12 hit outs for a total of 28 champion data points and wasn't given another league game.

I thinks the stats Brinker-Ritchie achieved and his continued involvement at the higher level clearly indicates he is a much better prospect than Zac Phillips. I haven't written Phillips off yet, he might just take a little more time to develop, I think that Jordan Lukac still might be a better forward/ruck than Zac Phillips.

Let's also not forget that in his first match in the seniors that Phillips was up against Harry Boyd - the SANFL State Ruckman - who probably also weights twice as much as Phillips. Given this, and despite getting comprehensively beaten, I thought Phillips did ok.

We just need to get some 22-24 year old mature aged ruckman into our team who can stand there and tap the ball to our high class midfielders. He doesn't have to do much around the ground. Surely there is a player we could target in Division 3 of the Amateurs??

I'm still hoping that Jordan Lukac at 6'6" will eventually become the relief ruck/forward.
In match simulation Lukac is getting plenty of work and is now doing full training after a long period of recovery from O.P.

wimpy wrote:I'm still hoping that Jordan Lukac at 6'6" will eventually become the relief ruck/forward.
In match simulation Lukac is getting plenty of work and is now doing full training after a long period of recovery from O.P.

I always have rated his potential. He has played some good games. 6'6" mobile players don't grow on tree.

Wimpy, reassure an anxious Eagle supporter and tell me that David Brinker-Ritchie was out at training tonight. Hope he hasn't had 2nd thoughts about returning after his Christmas break in Melbourne.

hawke wrote:Wimpy, reassure an anxious Eagle supporter and tell me that David Brinker-Ritchie was out at training tonight. Hope he hasn't had 2nd thoughts about returning after his Christmas break in Melbourne.

Hello "hawke", it looks like at this stage Zac Phillips is our lead ruckman. No, David B-R wasn't at training last night but I have been reassured that he will be here later in the month. He has yet to train with us, so didn't go back for a Xmas break. We all remain anxious.

With Paul Seedsman's retirement freeing up a spot on the Crow's list, could D'Aloia be a chance to be lost from the Eagles?

hawke wrote:With Paul Seedsman's retirement freeing up a spot on the Crow's list, could D'Aloia be a chance to be lost from the Eagles?

From what I’ve seen online the crows have 2 positions opened up a player named Brown from Collingwood I think is tipped to be drafted . Not sure about the second spot though .

I don't think D'Aloia is the type of player they want. Wouldn't be surprised if Rowey was given a chance. He wasn't their worst player and was unlucky. More likely they may wait for the mid-year draft.

wimpy wrote:I'm still hoping that Jordan Lukac at 6'6" will eventually become the relief ruck/forward.
In match simulation Lukac is getting plenty of work and is now doing full training after a long period of recovery from O.P.

Only having one full senior season out of juniors, with his height, build and athleticism, there is no reason he couldn't be THE ruckman, or at least share duties with Brinker-Ritchie and Ballenden.

We will miss Redden's periods where he was able to dominate and feed our midfielders on a platter.

PS. Just read Jack Hayes now has a foot injury and is out for 10 weeks after making his way back from his ACL. How unlucky - I don't remember him hardly missing a game when he played for us and he's copped what could be two very serious injuries in a row.

In times of need, supporters optimism gets unrealistic. I respect Jordan Lukac's potential and, of course, he will be better than last year if only for natural maturity. But Jordan, in the Seconds last year was averaging only approx 6 possessions per game and this was even when playing the "easy traffic" position of CHB. 2023 might be too early to expect much from this youngster.

I realise Lukac won't be league ready for a few years, but the occasional league game will be good for him. Last year in the reserves he was played mainly in defence, I believe this was done give him a feel for the game and get him running at the ball. So far this pre-season he has played ruck and forward, if he eventually makes it, this will be his strength. I'm not expecting miracles.
Lukas Cooke at about 194-195cm also must not be forgotten about. Very mobile, a good mark and long kick, just needs to put on a fair bit more weight.

I think one of the biggest - and seemingly easiest - things for Jordan to improve on is his aggression going for the ball. Yes he is young. But he is not a skinny bloke like Phillips. He is well built but needs to learn how to use it. When the ball is kicked towards him he needs to attack it with intent. Crash that pack and knock a few people over.

Titan2 wrote:I think one of the biggest - and seemingly easiest - things for Jordan to improve on is his aggression going for the ball. Yes he is young. But he is not a skinny bloke like Phillips. He is well built but needs to learn how to use it. When the ball is kicked towards him he needs to attack it with intent. Crash that pack and knock a few people over.

Agree. I haven't seen much of him live, but feel like he does that ok at the lower level? If he can compete with the bigger mens bodies and have that hunger for the contest that you talk about consistently - given the Ruck is a position of need for us - I think that could suit him. See ball, get ball, get the body in the way type of work instead instead of the footy smarts you need to play forward or back and be effective. I don't think kicks, marks and handballs are that much of a sticking point for rucks. The key is we have someone in there that competes in the centre taps and around the ground and gives our midfielders an even chance. Being regularly involved in the play, taking marks in defence and moving up forward to grab a mark and kick a goal a game isn't something we should be expecting of our ruckman (unless its Ballenden) this season and isn't something we necessarily need to be successful. Being aggressive and competitive is.

David Brinker-Ritchie has arrived, was at training tonight.

wimpy wrote:David Brinker-Ritchie has arrived, was at training tonight.

Last night the club held training at Footy park and then ended with a three x 20 min practice match. Basically it was the possibles Vs the probables, with a few exceptions. Several players didn't participate because of injury, or recovery from injury or work load not quite enough. A bit hard to get a read on several players because of different jumpers and strange numbers. I thought three players stood out, Rowey. Mitch Hardie and Will Pearce. Rowe appeared to split time onball and up forward, Hardie just keeps on improving and gets better every year, i thought he was very precise in everything he did. Will Pearce has all the potential to be a very good players his left foot kick is deadly, he kept hitting targets and lead to the ball strongly. The coach will need a lot of these internals to sought out his best team.

Who was rucking for both sides? Any key talls (forwards or backs) catch your eye? Knowing that we are better set up for "smalls", our season is going to be dictated by how well our few "talls" perform and remain injury-free. Did Brinker-Williams, Phillips and Lukac play?

hawke wrote:Who was rucking for both sides? Any key talls (forwards or backs) catch your eye? Knowing that we are better set up for "smalls", our season is going to be dictated by how well our few "talls" perform and remain injury-free. Did Brinker-Williams, Phillips and Lukac play?

Lukac and Phillips did the bulk of the rucking. Brinker-Ritchie did a couple of centre bounces as did Ballenden. I thought Phillips showed considerable improvement on last season.

Did hear a whisper that Weckert might now be favouring football and that he should be out at training next week, I think his preference changes, depending on how he is going in each sport.

I think our fortunes will depend on how our backs gel and master the system, how good our midfield is and if our smalls up forward can fire/contribute. Max Beattie is a runner, shows promise, it will be interesting to see how he develops.
Williams had a few nice touches and seemed to play a little more up the ground. Studham looked good across half back.

Wimpy, I'm assuming we'll be competent in those areas but my concern is that Boyd(Norwood) Harvey (North) Brooksby(?South) even McCree (Glenelg) and others will rip us apart at the centrebounces and ballups.

wimpy wrote:

hawke wrote:Who was rucking for both sides? Any key talls (forwards or backs) catch your eye? Knowing that we are better set up for "smalls", our season is going to be dictated by how well our few "talls" perform and remain injury-free. Did Brinker-Williams, Phillips and Lukac play?

Lukac and Phillips did the bulk of the rucking. Brinker-Ritchie did a couple of centre bounces as did Ballenden. I thought Phillips showed considerable improvement on last season.

Did hear a whisper that Weckert might now be favouring football and that he should be out at training next week, I think his preference changes, depending on how he is going in each sport.

I think our fortunes will depend on how our backs gel and master the system, how good our midfield is and if our smalls up forward can fire/contribute. Max Beattie is a runner, shows promise, it will be interesting to see how he develops.
Williams had a few nice touches and seemed to play a little more up the ground. Studham looked good across half back.

Unless you are considered one of the top 3 up and coming prospects in the ENTIRE COUNTRY I don't understand why Weckert would concentrate on cricket over football given at this stage he is likely to be a top 30 AFL draft prospect. Clearly I don't know enough about his cricket ability but how good is he really? Is he a possibility of making the Australian side in any form within 5-6 years? It's a massive gamble for him to choose the cricket pathway. But perhaps he just enjoys cricket more than football?

Will Pearce - fantastic to see him in great shape at this stage. He should be really priming himself to get super fit leading into this season with a goal of kicking 20-30 goals this season and to play short period as an onballer. I hope he sees himself as a legitimate shot at getting drafted at seasons end because I think he has all the weapons to be a very good player.

Ruck and key defender challenges aside, I am very excited about the group of onballers and flankers at our club at the moment. There is going to be some intense competition for positions which can only be a good thing for our club.

Is Collier-Dawkins out there? I haven't read any mention of him for a while. Apologies if he has been mentioned.