Welcome Liam Baker

[year of the tiger]

Surely there was Taller player like Krueger or a bugger bodied mid? His highlights look very underwhelming. A kid that small needs some serious tricks. I didn’t see any.

I thought Krueger would have been a good target - was he picked up? but what would I know.

 

[an_oxford_man]

My oldest son was an elete athlete and a tackling machine and at 175cm was considered too small for AFL was 2 years ahead of the curve. Some of the kids now on AFL lists he shut down. If you get an opportunity on an AFL list grab your opportunity with both hands.

I hope he's still playing and enjoying his footy, TT. If he's not, it's still very rewarding and potentially lucrative to play in the local leagues. Plenty of AFL players for him to towel up at the top suburban levels too. ;D

On Liam, thrilled to see we got another mosquito. Caps off a great haul. He's the cherry on top of three versatile developing talls and a classy small.

 

[seven]

How many small forwards can a club fit on its list?

 

[easy_tiger]

My oldest son was an elete athlete and a tackling machine and at 175cm was considered too small for AFL was 2 years ahead of the curve.

Im building a special vice-bed for my young fella to try keep him under 170cm

 

[Tony Braxton-Hicks]

I wonder what Btoz thinks about this pick.

 

[Harry]

How many small forwards can a club fit on its list?

44

 

[Tigers of Old]

Not sure why people are complaining. This is the way the game is heading. Glad we got another one.

I have a feeling that we've really hit on something Harry.
After all footy is played mostly below the knees.
If you can bring the ball to ground & you've got talented smalls & runners, you're always a chance.
Where we might need to adjust is defence when other teams start trying to replicate what we have been doing up forward.

 

[mad_tiggy911]

I have a feeling that we've really hit on something Harry.
After all footy is played mostly below the knees.
If you can bring the ball to ground & you've got talented smalls & runners, you're always a chance.
Where we might need to adjust is defence when other teams start trying to replicate what we have been doing up forward.

They still don't rate us and still think it's a fluke and unsustainable. Might take another year for the rest of the comp to believe this is the way forward.

 

[Tigeronprowl]

We must have broken the record for the number of mosquitoes on a list. I am loving the speed, skill and aggressiveness in the smalls we are bringing to the club. Great balance of talls and smalls coming through and the age profile of our club gives me confidence we will have a long reign at or near the top. Just love the exciting brand of footy we play and can't see the other sides catching up next season. We will swarm over all sides, they won't know what hit them.

 

[Harry]

I have a feeling that we've really hit on something Harry.
After all footy is played mostly below the knees.
If you can bring the ball to ground & you've got talented smalls & runners, you're always a chance.
Where we might need to adjust is defence when other teams start trying to replicate what we have been doing up forward.

Correct. Forward pressure. It's the way foitball is heading. It does 2 things. Keeps the ball in your forward half allowing you more scoring opportunities and denies the oppo easy transition from their back half thus assisting your backs with more time to set up.

Agree teams will emulate this and we need players that can combat the pressure in our back half.

 

[mad_tiggy911]

We must have broken the record for the number of mosquitoes on a list. I am loving the speed, skill and aggressiveness in the smalls we are bringing to the club. Great balance of talls and smalls coming through and the age profile of our club gives me confidence we will have a long reign at or near the top. Just love the exciting brand of footy we play and can't see the other sides catching up next season. We will swarm over all sides, they won't know what hit them.

One of the reasons why we'll be even better. Even our talls are aggressive and quick.

*smile* I'd hate to play against Richmond.

 

[Ghost of Punt Road]

He sounds like a Sam Mitchell type mid. I think he has been pla6ed forward by Subiaco just because he is a slight kid. You can't put them in the midfield.

 

[Ghost of Punt Road]

http://footyprophet.com/afl-draft-interview-liam-baker/

 

[Mikee]

I wonder what Btoz thinks about this pick.

:clap "Another midget" comes to mind...

 

[Harry]

Averaged 17 disposals and 6.5 tackles in the 3 finals for Subiaco this year. Good stats for a small forward.

 

[TigerTribe5]

Wow impressive highlights package - intensity & skill!
Wonder what his overall kicking efficiency is?
Some of those kicks were Martin-esque the way he hit up his team mates.

Welcome to the Premiers & good luck young fella.

 

[Tigaman]

Comes from Lake Grace WA & that is where Nat Fyfe hails from. Will be good company for Kalgoorlie lad Ben Miller.

 

[Scoop]

Do I think we have too many small forwards? Probably.

Did we just win a flag based on small forward pressure? Probably.

So I’ll shut up and go with it. But I do have a crazy theory that I’m putting out there. The small pressure forward is about to becoming the ruck trade scenario that some clubs cashed in on. Remember when Cameron Wood got pick 14? If the game keeps getting faster and more pressure based, we will be in surplus for the next three years and able to trade out smalls for sneaky second and third round picks. Maybe we are ahead of the curve on this.

But I’m not fussed with the pick, good luck to the lad. Club has huge credits in the bank so no point getting riled up.

 

[yandb]

You beat me to it Scoop, I believe that if we win the gf again this year then our glut of small tackling machines will be at a premium and we will be able to trade the surplus out for some great picks.

 

[tigerlove]

It's fine to stock up on midgets but we do have to remember that our smaller forwards this year who played any decent amount of time consisted of Lambert 178cm, Rioli 179cm, Castagna 181, Butler 182, Caddy 186cm, Martin 187cm, Townsend 187cm. The up and coming fleet - who really haven't proven themselves at AFL level yet or are new - are Stengle 171cm, Bolton 175, Higgins 178 and now Baker 173(?), so we're looking at quite a significant height difference in the new crop. I'm not really sure Baker was the right selection for us. I wouldn't have minded a bit taller outside player with speed as that's one area I think we can improve.