Player Watch #7: Ben Lennon

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Rimmer said:
I couldn't be happier for him. He gave us all he had and at a time when we had a strong team, like many others, he could not break in. He must have been in the thinking when we brought in Townsend and Graham late in the season, he was near the top of the VFL goal kicking at the time. There but for the grace of god as they say ... he could have been a premiership player.

As with the big fella Griffiths Lennon has landed on his feet with a new career opportunity opening up for him.

I think its awesome, another success story for the magic year of Richmond in 2017.

Good luck Ben Lennon, thank you for your service and may you succeed spectacularly in your new career.
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Gave us all he had. The bloke coasted, whinged and whined for years about lack of opportunity.
He tried to leave the club twice only to crawl back with his tail between his legs due to lack of interest.
Classic case of a player who thought I'm a first round draft pick it will just happen.
His work ethic for the bulk of his tenure at Punt Road was ordinary.
 
Sir_Loin said:
No doubt but the punter does nothing else but punt and kick field goals, doesn’t really matter if they’ve been a good AFL player as long as they can kick the ball the way they want them to. That’s why a lot them can play well into their 30s
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Yep it matters. Above the ears.
 
Goldust said:
Gave us all he had. The bloke coasted, whinged and whined for years about lack of opportunity.
He tried to leave the club twice only to crawl back with his tail between his legs due to lack of interest.
Classic case of a player who thought I'm a first round draft pick it will just happen.
His work ethic for the bulk of his tenure at Punt Road was ordinary.
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Pat Steinfort who was on our list for 5 years without playing a senior game had more of an impact at Richmond than Lennon.
 

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TigermanM2 said:
:drunk: Nice one.
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Sorry mate, just seemed like you have him picked as someone who’s going to fail. He’s got a scholarship to a university that participates in one the most elite sporting evironments in the world. He’s going at a very young age compared to others who made the transition to the NFL. He clearly has the potential to do it. He just wasn’t meant to play in the toughest pro endurance sport in the world.

At the end of the day its not the NFL, its NCAA and he still needs to learn the game, make the team and then if he has any dreams of making a pro roster he needs to be good enough to do that. Odds are against him but the fact he’s getting a full scholarship and is having a crack at it is an achievement in itself.

Very easy to give an armchair assessment when no one on this board has achieved anything remotely to what this guy has at his age. People love sticking the boot into this bloke.
 
TigermanM2 said:
:drunk: Nice one.
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THEY'LL defend and defend and defend, man! Congrats to Ben for securing a college contract, yet as his AFL career (if you call it that) shows, the battle is only half won ..... he now needs to prepare and perform. Sadly, these are the issues - prepare and perform - that saw him booted from the AFL.
Ben will soon find the world of college football - and indeed if he ever makes it that far - NFL football are 1000 times more cut throat than the AFL and based on what we have seen he likely won't handle the expectations and pressure.
I can tell you - as an avid US football follower since the very-late 70s - Lennon won't get the opportunity to stuff up often and certainly won't be given opportunity to clog a college list for four years like he did in the AFL with sub-par performances. The way some carry on here you'd think it's a wall in the park Lennon will soon be punting for the Miami Dolphins or New England Patriots. NFL and college football is worlds away in terms of professionalism to the AFL - yet some here think he's a walk up start.
There are very good - elite - punters like Sam Irwin Hill from Australia who have never quite cracked the pros (he did a training camp stint with Indianapolis and also won a contract - albeit shortlived - with Dallas) and he is damn good. Yet Tigers fans have an unproven Lennon already making waves. Some people never learn.
 
Sir_Loin said:
Sorry mate, just seemed like you have him picked as someone who’s going to fail. He’s got a scholarship to a university that participates in one the most elite sporting evironments in the world. He’s going at a very young age compared to others who made the transition to the NFL. He clearly has the potential to do it. He just wasn’t meant to play in the toughest pro endurance sport in the world.

At the end of the day its not the NFL, its NCAA and he still needs to learn the game, make the team and then if he has any dreams of making a pro roster he needs to be good enough to do that. Odds are against him but the fact he’s getting a full scholarship and is having a crack at it is an achievement in itself.

Very easy to give an armchair assessment when no one on this board has achieved anything remotely to what this guy has at his age. People love sticking the boot into this bloke.
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I replied to your comment about you saying it doesn't matter if players have good AFL carriers before entering the world of NFL. The big thing with elite sport is mental toughness. IMO there is no doubt that having a successful AFL career means that you are mentally tough. It can prepare you for the lows and highs of a code switch. Graham, Rocca and Bennett all had low points when they switched codes but they worked through them and became successful punters. I think this was because of what they had above the ears more than their skill in kicking a ball. That was my point. I don't think Lennon is mentally tough. Thats just my opinion, it's not yours but we both are in our rights to have an opinion. If the prerequisite to posting here is to have an elite sporting background it would be a mighty lonely place.

I stick the boot into Lennon because he gave up on the club a quarter of the way into the season. He checked out and to me that is unacceptable. In my eyes he hoodwinked a lot of his supporters from that moment on. The very same ones who are still defending him now. Again that's my opinion and others are free to disagree. I respect their right to do so.
 
TigermanM2 said:
I replied to your comment about you saying it doesn't matter if players have good AFL carriers before entering the world of NFL. The big thing with elite sport is mental toughness. IMO there is no doubt that having a successful AFL career means that you are mentally tough. It can prepare you for the lows and highs of a code switch. Graham, Rocca and Bennett all had low points when they switched codes but they worked through them and became successful punters. I think this was because of what they had above the ears more than their skill in kicking a ball. That was my point. I don't think Lennon is mentally tough. Thats just my opinion, it's not yours but we both are in our rights to have an opinion. If the prerequisite to posting here is to have an elite sporting background it would be a mighty lonely place.

I stick the boot into Lennon because he gave up on the club a quarter of the way into the season. He checked out and to me that is unacceptable. In my eyes he hoodwinked a lot of his supporters from that moment on. The very same ones who are still defending him now. Again that's my opinion and others are free to disagree. I respect their right to do so.
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Doesn’t matter to the extent of the physical requirements. AFL endurance sport, NFL power sport. And how much time is on the field in any event? The mental side is important no doubt but to call a guy mentally weak, well...Sure feel free to have a go at him. I’m sure if you and others on this board ever had a chance to sit down face to face with him you’d repeat what you’ve said here about how mentally weak he is.
 
Sir_Loin said:
Doesn’t matter to the extent of the physical requirements. AFL endurance sport, NFL power sport. And how much time is on the field in any event? The mental side is important no doubt but to call a guy mentally weak, well...Sure feel free to have a go at him. I’m sure if you and others on this board ever had a chance to sit down face to face with him you’d repeat what you’ve said here about how mentally weak he is.
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Yeah ok.

First it was how was my punting career going and now its I bet you wouldn't say that to his face.

No point continuing this on with you.
 
TigermanM2 said:
Yeah ok.

First it was how was my punting career going and now its I bet you wouldn't say that to his face.

No point continuing this on with you.
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Nah mate you’re the expert in Ben Lennon’s future tell me more
 
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TigermanM2 said:
Maybe you are the one that should fill us in Ben.
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LOL, thats Mr Lennon to you. Nah mate I dont know what his future holds. Might make it, might not. Might just not be good enough. I’ll just see how he goes. Probably a bit early to write him off
 

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Goldust said:
Gave us all he had. The bloke coasted, whinged and whined for years about lack of opportunity.
He tried to leave the club twice only to crawl back with his tail between his legs due to lack of interest.
Classic case of a player who thought I'm a first round draft pick it will just happen.
His work ethic for the bulk of his tenure at Punt Road was ordinary.
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There are better footballers who we will never know, footballers playing in the bush who will never know how good they might have been, this because they don't have the psyche or drive to reach their full potential and recruiters know it. Whether he suffered from an inflated opinion of his abilities or whether he was just not quite as good as we hoped he earned the right to be on an AFL list and gave what he had. On his surly attitude to not being a regular in the senior side well if I think I am good enough and am giving what I can then I am a bit annoyed too, and well their is a little bit of arsehole in all of us isn't there. I can accept the best he was capable of combined with a bit of attitude were just not quite enough ~ shrugs~
 
Happy to see the back of him held us up
For more cash off the back of * all and tried to piss off to carlspoon one of the laziest players to ever be drafted. Good luck with the nfl dream Ben hope your work ethic improves
 
We know where THE_GUN will be Sat arvo,s this season.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/...d/news-story/5b2d5f0d15c28fa6633c5b024a3e9b98
Former Richmond forward Ben Lennon returns to Northern Football Netball League club Macleod
Toby Prime, Heidelberg Leader
March 22, 2018 3:00pm
NORTHERN Football Netball League premiership contender Macleod has received a timely boost on the eve of the season with former Richmond forward Ben Lennon returning to his junior club.

Lennon put pen to paper at De Winton Park this week, less than a month out from Macleod’s Round 1 fixture against North Heidelberg on April 14.

The 22-year-old played junior football at Macleod and made four senior appearances for the Roos in 2011 before going on to TAC Cup club Northern Knights, from where he was drafted to Richmond with pick No.12 in the 2013 draft.

Lower Plenty premiership captain Billy Barden has also recently signed at the Roos, making the jump to the competition’s top tier.

Macleod coach Garry Ramsay said Lennon would also serve as a playing assistant coach.

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Billy Barden has linked up with his Lower Plenty premiership coach Garry Ramsay at Macleod.
“There was no negotiation, I think it was two nights ago, he went and saw someone in the gym and said he wanted to play at Macleod and I think the next day he was signed,” Ramsay said.

“It’s a great boost, we always try to hang our hats on promoting our own and to get an ex-AFL footballer, and to also be an ex-Macleod junior, is fantastic.”

However, Ramsay said the Roos were unsure how many games they would see out of the ex-Tiger.

Lennon played 21 games at the top level but spent the majority of last year in the VFL after being starved of opportunity in Richmond’s premiership forward line.

“I don’t think we’ve had a franchise player (recruit) in my time and Ben could probably be considered a franchise player,” Ramsay said.

“It’s nice to have a big name that in the big moments, we can have someone that really stands up,.”

Lennon will travel to America in 2019 to pursue an NFL career after receiving a punting scholarship from the University of Utah.


Rourke Turner (Sandhurst/Bendigo Pioneers) and Fraser Pope (Montrose) are among the other inclusions at Macleod, while Hayden Sievers returns after spending 2017 overseas.

Reece Geary and Cathal Corr have retired, while Matthew Clarke (Keilor) is the only other notable departure.
 
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