Past player - Cale Morton (2013)

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I'm a bit behind with the Morton info but this should catch everyone up. I know a lot of people constantly refresh this thread in search of fresh information....

Cale played his 3rd game for the Eagles in Round 18 against the Bulldogs. It was a pretty dark day for West Coast and Morton didn't play very well, IMO. In fact, I think he undid most of his good work from the previous week.

Cale again started as the sub and came on for Masten at roughly half time. He received a season high 47% TOG and collected 13 disposals with 5 marks.

The Good:
Morton keeps finding the ball and he's using it pretty well, although he refused to back himself all game and basically offered nothing in terms of offensive hurt factor.

His hitout did impress me, however.


The Bad:
His hurt factor. Getting 13 touches is all well and good but there's no point being out there if all you're doing is picking up the ball so that Gaff doesn't have to. I think Cale was afraid of making a mistake in a game which wasn't going our way and I think that's a throw back to his Melbourne days, especially when he was under Neeld, who strikes me as quite intense.


The Ugly:
A few times Morton was held and scragged in contests, notably in our attacking goal square at one point, and he didn't seem to have the strength to push his opponent off.

Grade: D-

Predicted selection outcome: He was dropped and that's what I thought would happen. Honest.
 
Cale played in the WAFL this weekend as the Royals lost to the league leading Tigers by 28 points.

Cale collected 17 disposals, took 6 marks and, impressively, kicked 3 goals 1.

Judging by the stats, Morton was probably playing on a wing or at half forward because along with his 3 goals he had 3 inside 50s. Having said that, the WAFL probably considers goals from outside 50 a goal and an inside 50, so maybe Cale smacked one or more in from distance, as we know he can do.

Morton's WAFL averages are now 17.5 disposals, 4.8 marks and 0.4 goals.

Chances are that Cale will play WAFL again next weekend against Subiaco, where he'll have a good chance to shine as East Perth should be strong favourites.
 

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This isn't really a direct Morton update but with the news that Glass has re-signed and word that Cox is interested in playing in 2014, Morton's chances of staying on the list have taken a dive.

I think at a bare minimum the Eagles will be looking to make 4 spots on the main list - Adam Selwood and Mark Nicoski should be two of those and Morton should be in the thick of it for the other two.

I hope Cale finishes the season with a flurry.
 
Morton played probably his biggest WAFL game of the year on the weekend, to help East Perth smash Subiaco.

Cale backed up his 3 goals in round 20 with another 3 goals in round 21. He also collected 21 disposals, took 7 marks, laid 2 tackles and recorded 4 inside 50s. Those are pretty encouraging statistics.

West Coasts WAFL wrap up described Morton's game as prominent.

Unfortunately for Cale, spots in the West Coast side are suddenly at premium and it's hard to see him getting another shot before Embley, Rosa, and even Adam Selwood. Plus Shuey is yet to come back into the side, so odds are that we wont see him in Eagles colours again this season... Or maybe ever.
 
Jimmy_the_Gent said:
Morton played probably his biggest WAFL game of the year on the weekend, to help East Perth smash Subiaco.

Cale backed up his 3 goals in round 20 with another 3 goals in round 21. He also collected 21 disposals, took 7 marks, laid 2 tackles and recorded 4 inside 50s. Those are pretty encouraging statistics.

West Coasts WAFL wrap up described Morton's game as prominent.

Unfortunately for Cale, spots in the West Coast side are suddenly at premium and it's hard to see him getting another shot before Embley, Rosa, and even Adam Selwood. Plus Shuey is yet to come back into the side, so odds are that we wont see him in Eagles colours again this season... Or maybe ever.
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I think one of the key reasons for retaining him is the fact that Embley and A.Selwood are both getting close to retirement, Rosa has been cruelled by injury this year and who's to say it won't happen again.
He's competing with our wingers and back flankers. I think there's room for competition there to keep the others honest. Guys like A.Smith aren't setting the world on fire, and Carter and Wilson are very green.
I liked what I saw of him and think the games he's having at East Perth are keeping him in the back of the MC's mind. Or at least, I hope that they are. It would be shame to see him delisted when he showed a bit in the two games that he last played. Here's hoping we see him again this year!
 
I think delistings this year will come down to 2 of Morton, Dick and Hams being given the flick (along with Adam Selwood and Nicoski). If someone like Smith asks for a trade, Morton is a lot more likely to survive.

The temptation is always to back in the players on your list but we have to get 3 new kids in and promote McGovern, so even though Morton isn't a terrible player, he might have left his improvement too late.
 
Jimmy_the_Gent said:
I think delistings this year will come down to 2 of Morton, Dick and Hams being given the flick (along with Adam Selwood and Nicoski). If someone like Smith asks for a trade, Morton is a lot more likely to survive.

The temptation is always to back in the players on your list but we have to get 3 new kids in and promote McGovern, so even though Morton isn't a terrible player, he might have left his improvement too late.
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Yeah you make a good point Jimmy. I think Morton has the potential to take over seamlessly from someone like Andrew Embley on the wing with his run-and-carry and extra height. We've also seen his appetite for goal. I think Dick will get the flick, Hams is Morton's direct competition. Hams has proven that he can kick goals as a small forward, but we really need midfielders and that is where Morton has the edge for me.
A Selwood and Nicoski need to retire for their own careers and the club, to be honest I also think Embley needs to face that his career is waning too. He's been amazing throughout his whole career but I think some of his discipline slip-ups this year have really reflected poorly on him. I heard that he is chasing one more year but I'd give him 250 and ask him to leave on his own terms with a solid game at home.
Do we want to promote McGovern? He's struggled a lot with injury this year hasn't he? I haven't seen enough of him to comment.
 
Diego Garcia said:
Do we want to promote McGovern? He's struggled a lot with injury this year hasn't he? I haven't seen enough of him to comment.
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IMO McGovern has shown too many flashes to not be promoted.

Yes, he's missed most of the season with an ankle injury but I'd rather a 21 year old KPF who takes a good mark and is a booming kick than Morton, Hams or Dick.

The only trouble with him is that Kennedy, Darling and Lycett are all ahead of him as tall forwards and we still have McIness to consider. I wouldn't be shocked if McGovern asked for a trade, which would help Morton stay on the list.

With regards to Embley, I tend to agree with you.
 
Jimmy_the_Gent said:
The only trouble with him is that Kennedy, Darling and Lycett are all ahead of him as tall forwards and we still have McIness to consider. I wouldn't be shocked if McGovern asked for a trade.
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Yeah but what currency would he have? I reckon Carlton, St Kilda, Melbourne, GWS and Gold Coast might be interested. But what currency would he have? We probably get a third (generous) or fourth for him.
 
Diego Garcia said:
Yeah but what currency would he have? I reckon Carlton, St Kilda, Melbourne, GWS and Gold Coast might be interested. But what currency would he have? We probably get a third (generous) or fourth for him.
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Yeah, I'm not sure we'd get much for him but if demands a trade what choice to we have?

We'd be smart to keep him but our history suggests we'd rather keep players happy (Ebert, Stevens etc) when they want to progress their career elsewhere.
 
Jimmy_the_Gent said:
I think delistings this year will come down to 2 of Morton, Dick and Hams being given the flick (along with Adam Selwood and Nicoski). If someone like Smith asks for a trade, Morton is a lot more likely to survive.

The temptation is always to back in the players on your list but we have to get 3 new kids in and promote McGovern, so even though Morton isn't a terrible player, he might have left his improvement too late.
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Delist Dick and Hams. Adam retire and be a playing assistant coach at East Perth, Nico retire due to his injuries. Trade McGovern to the purples and trade Smith to somebody/anybody in Victoria.
 
royalsfan said:
Delist Dick and Hams. Adam retire and be a playing assistant coach at East Perth, Nico retire due to his injuries. Trade McGovern to the purples and trade Smith to somebody/anybody in Victoria.
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Preview

I'm not giving anything to those mutants. Agree with what you say about delistings and Smith. I'm sure St Kilda would be in the market for a HBF. Second rounder?;)
 

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Jimmy_the_Gent said:
Yeah, I'm not sure we'd get much for him but if demands a trade what choice to we have?

We'd be smart to keep him but our history suggests we'd rather keep players happy (Ebert, Stevens etc) when they want to progress their career elsewhere.
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True, we'd be better off giving him what he wants than keeping him on the list and playing him in the WAFL. Plus whatever we get for him we can try and beef up through some other trades (Ashley Smith listen to this telepathic message - St Kilda needs you, but only go for a second round pick)
 
Morton played probably his best or 2nd best game of the year yesterday - I'll post a more detailed round up of it tomorrow- but it occurred to me that if he doesn't get a gig with West Coast against Collingwood, his fate has already been decided.

Morton could barely play better and a lot of Eagles could hardly play worse.
 
Jimmy_the_Gent said:
Morton played probably his best or 2nd best game of the year yesterday - I'll post a more detailed round up of it tomorrow- but it occurred to me that if he doesn't get a gig with West Coast against Collingwood, his fate has already been decided.

Morton could barely play better and a lot of Eagles could hardly play worse.
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What do you mean Jimmy? It would seem to me that if you keep killing it in the WAFL when others are stinking it up you're going to bash the door down eventually. I think now that finals are completely out of the question (i'm being pragmatic) he should be getting a game based on this form.

33 disposals, 2.1 is a pretty solid return against Perth. He kicked 3 last week! I guess you think he might be getting delisted?
 
Jimmy_the_Gent said:
I'm saying the only logical reason for him to not pay against Collingwood is if we've already decided to delist him.
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With you now. Will watch the selection closely as always. Hard for the MC to ignore him considering the last two games, but they have done stranger things.
 
Selwood is gone and Embley should follow.

I would be very annoyed if Morton doesn't get another contract.

Has been solid in the WAFL and I would like to see him get another Eagles preseason into him.
 
So, I managed to catch the last 3 quarters of Morton's game with East Perth on TV recently and I must say I was rather impressed.

Cale ended up with a personal season high of 32 disposals (20k, 12hb) and a season high 11 marks. He also continued his goal kicking form with another 2 majors, although he was credited with a goal that was actually a behind.

Overall, I had Cale close to best on ground, probably only after Josh Smith, who had 6 goals and 20 possessions.

From what I saw, Cale played exclusively on a wing and, as opposed to his early season form on the wing, found the football at will.

What's more, he showed surprisingly good poise with the ball in hand, especially considering the slippery conditions. Often Morton would be loping near the boundary line, seemingly oblivious to an opponent chasing after him. Just when you thought he was about to get caught, Cale would serve away from the potential tackle and buy himself more time. Throughout the entire game this was a common theme - Morton holding the football until the last millisecond and waiting to pick out the best option inside 50.

Other things Morton did well were:

1. Hitting the scoreboard - 2 goals after kicking 3 goals in each of the last 2 weeks is good stuff. Nothing says you're in good form like hitting the scoreboard from a wing.

2. Playing the hardman - On at least 2 occasions I saw Cale run towards a dead ball situation and randomly start pushing an opposition player. Normally I wouldn't think much of this but for Cale, it's significant.

3. Lowering the eyes - As mentioned, Cale was composed with the ball and often that resulted in not bombing it long. For all I know there was a good option long but somehow it seemed encouraging when he found team mates with well weighted short kicks

4. Kicking - He hardly missed a target all game and while most of his kicks were uncharacteristically short, he did kick that goal (which was actually a behind) from about 70 metres away. Apparently a strong breeze aided that particular kick but still, it was a monster and all his other kicks were either good or really polished.

Overall, I would like to think that Cale will get another chance in an Eagles jumped on the back of that display, however I'm sort of sceptical.

Morton now averages 18.7 disposals, 5.3 marks and 0.7 goals for the season.
 
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