Player Watch Daniel Curtin - Debut

[Eddie Murphy]

But he could have been playing wing and pulled to the full back line and been exploited?

Surely not giving him either of the KPF (Daniher or Hipwood), the 3rd tall interceptor role (Worrell has owned it) and not playing on the most dangerous small forward (CC), we have avoided the 4 hardest match ups. We have hidden or protected him as much as possible - at some stage the player also needs to perform surely and we can attribute some responsibility to the player and not always Nicks. Peripheral role players kicked 4 on him in a half last weekend - not the real guns in their forward line and also they are missing a chunk of other good half forwards currently like Mc Carthy and Bailey who are clearly better players.

If Brisbane wanted to have their winger track into deep offensive 50 they’re free to do it, we could have had another defender track back. You don’t see Sheezel pulled back to deep 50 very often. Different players of course but my point is there’s flexibility there beyond subbing him out at half time.

 

[119others]

If Brisbane wanted to have their winger track into deep offensive 50 they’re free to do it, we could have had another defender track back. You don’t see Sheezel pulled back to deep 50 very often. Different players of course but my point is there’s flexibility there beyond subbing him out at half time.

I think there will be great flexibility longer term, but as a brand new draftee having trained all summer in defence - without debating the merits of this all again - I just don’t think it’s that easy to flick a switch and move him away from defence to a brand new position mid game when he is already struggling in the one system he has been learning

 

[I_Was_There]

Not here to be an apologist, and like many I was surprised, but not surprised. He had a very average first quarter and that continued into the second quarter. Were there others who could have been subbed? Of course. What we don't know is what high performance managers were trying to achieve in his game. Was his fitness at a point where he could handle a full game? Was the plan all along to blood him, give him a taste, but limit TOG? You could certainly argue, he should be fit enough, its good for his development etc etc. However modern high performance management seems to play a very scientific approach to game time, where we like it or not. (I would have preferred to see him play a full game and try a different position.)

 

[GreyCrow]

I think there will be great flexibility longer term, but as a brand new draftee having trained all summer in defence - without debating the merits of this all again - I just don’t think it’s that easy to flick a switch and move him away from defence to a brand new position mid game when he is already struggling in the one system he has been learning

Or we could let him play football

 

[NSolis]

And yet there are posters on here stating he will be a mid and this is just his introduction to the AFL.

I’m stating we don’t see him as a mid and if that’s the case we should not have used another top 10 pick on a defender. If that was our intention to draft a defender, we should have stuck with our picks and drafted Wilson and Goad.

The question would be, would Wilson have be playing SANFL or AFL?

Would we have drafted Wilson? I thought we were closely tied to O'Sullivan - another defender. Not sure if the club has said somewhere they were into Wilson but I can't find anything from googling.

edit: Nevermind, misread your post. Wilson looks a good player so would have been a nice pickup. I doubt we would have picked him though, he went 10 picks after Curtin because he was overlooked by a lot of drafting teams. We'd just have picked a different defender.

 

[adelaidecrows]

And yet there are posters on here stating he will be a mid and this is just his introduction to the AFL.

I’m stating we don’t see him as a mid and if that’s the case we should not have used another top 10 pick on a defender. If that was our intention to draft a defender, we should have stuck with our picks and drafted Wilson and Goad.

The question would be, would Wilson have be playing SANFL or AFL?

the problem is Nicks. The Coach has the final say on his positioning. Hamish and Co no doubt presented Curtin as this great swingman must get, genuine future star that Nicks found appealing. But none of that is going to stop Nicks the day Curtin walks in and change his mind and go Big bodied 1:1 defender and he must be prepared as such.

Nicks doesnt do the research, he wouldnt have had the faintest idea who the hell Curtin was until a week before the draft when they present the candidates and possible strategies. We have a lack of height, Nicks would have been seduced by that alone.

If Curtin was at West Coast right now, He probably would be on the other wing to Reid.

 

[adelaidecrows]

I think there will be great flexibility longer term, but as a brand new draftee having trained all summer in defence - without debating the merits of this all again - I just don’t think it’s that easy to flick a switch and move him away from defence to a brand new position mid game when he is already struggling in the one system he has been learning

I agree. Everything he has been training for is defence. But as a new recruit, there would be no harm in having him do some extra fitness work with a view to play around the ground more in the Sanfl. Its too late to switch at AFL level. Who knows, he may stay in the side this week. I wouldnt bet on that happening but who knows.

 

[eaglevision]

the problem is Nicks. The Coach has the final say on his positioning. Hamish and Co no doubt presented Curtin as this great swingman must get, genuine future star that Nicks found appealing. But none of that is going to stop Nicks the day Curtin walks in and change his mind and go Big bodied 1:1 defender and he must be prepared as such.

Nicks doesnt do the research, he wouldnt have had the faintest idea who the hell Curtin was until a week before the draft when they present the candidates and possible strategies. We have a lack of height, Nicks would have been seduced by that alone.

If Curtin was at West Coast right now, He probably would be on the other wing to Reid.

He’d be playing as the third tall off a HBF and we’d be looking to put the ball in his hands at every opportunity (unless Gov has it) running the ball out of defence and distributing. Those are his strengths. That’s where he’ll be a weapon at this stage of his development and that’s also where he’s going to develop best with gradual exposure to brief midfield stints once his body and tank are ready.

Also-Reid has never played on a wing for us WTF? Our wings tend to play largely sacrificial games so it’s unlikely in our system that Curtin would line up there.

 

[adelaidecrows]

He’d be playing as the third tall off a HBF
and we’d be looking to put the ball in his hands at every opportunity (unless Gov has it) running the ball out of defence and distributing. Those are his strengths. That’s where he’ll be a weapon at this stage of his development and that’s also where he’s going to develop best with gradual exposure to brief midfield stints once his body and tank are ready.

Also-Reid has never played on a wing for us WTF? Our wings tend to play largely sacrificial games so it’s unlikely on our system he’d line up there.

Yeah most likely. It just the point that he'd be running and learning to apply his trade in what he was brought up doing.

To be fair, ive only seen Reid named there. Watching a West Coast game right now is not a priority. The only time I will watch them is when the Crows play them.

 

[Big Dub]

the problem is Nicks. The Coach has the final say on his positioning. Hamish and Co no doubt presented Curtin as this great swingman must get, genuine future star that Nicks found appealing. But none of that is going to stop Nicks the day Curtin walks in and change his mind and go Big bodied 1:1 defender and he must be prepared as such.

Nicks doesnt do the research, he wouldnt have had the faintest idea who the hell Curtin was until a week before the draft when they present the candidates and possible strategies. We have a lack of height, Nicks would have been seduced by that alone.

If Curtin was at West Coast right now, He probably would be on the other wing to Reid.

There appears to be a lot more evidence to suggest that Nicks is building Curtin into a running half back with some defensive capacity than as a big bodied 1:1 defender.

Curtin has played on one player above 190cm, and that was second gamer Logan Morris (191cm). He hasn't spent a minute on a KPF.

I don't even know who he played on against Port, he appeared to be given licence to just go and get the ball.

Which is exactly how I would look to develop a running defender. Like Brodie Smith, whose biggest knock until his recent form drop off was that he didn't defend.

Curtin's on inside ball getter with great composure, agility and skills. He's not yet used to being accountable for someone that will kick goals on him for a small lapse in concentration (although he did a decent defensive role on Walter in the nationals). He's best suited to the backline for now, but either expect him to have basic defensive capacity or expect him to be Smith-esq over his career.

Personally, I think he'll build some basic defensive capacity pretty quickly and become our key play maker out of defence with some midfield stints (Soligo, Rankine and next year's first pick being our gun mids). But it will be years before we know if that’s true, or if he will be a starting mid.

I do know he won't be standing KPFs.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

How did he go in the SANFL today?

 

[jackster83]

How did he go in the SANFL today?

He's probably half way through the new Assassin's Creed game by now.

 

[thebirdman 24]

Let’s not forget Curtins role in that Jack Anthony goal in the prelim

I heard Curtin was the brains behind 'Crows chant night' as well.

On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[hugecannon]

Wasn’t it Curtin who suggested the team go on a camp after the grand final in 2017??

That’s what I heard anyway.

 

[Burtonsgottago]

Wasn’t it Curtin who suggested the team go on a camp after the grand final in 2017??

That’s what I heard anyway.

He also planned the failed Bay of Pigs invasion

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

He's had his rest, get him back in next week nice & fresh.

 

[hugecannon]

He's had his rest, get him back in next week nice & fresh.

And play him on the wing

 

[BRL121]

He's had his rest, get him back in next week nice & fresh.

Illogical. He wasn't rested, and he has had no opportunity to go back to SANFL and work on his defence. He won't be back for a while.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Illogical. He wasn't rested, and he has had no opportunity to go back to SANFL and work on his defence. He won't be back for a while.

No, it's illogical not to be getting games into our best young talent when our season is cooked.

The sooner they get to 50+ games, the better we should be.

Particularly getting confidence against lesser teams.

 

[NSolis]

If the feeling is we need a third tall defender against West Coast it should be Curtin rather than Borlase. No Worrell, he can play that role.

We might just keep the same defensive unit as against Collingwood though.

 

[skam85]

He's had his rest, get him back in next week nice & fresh.

Had his rest? His first two AFL games were rests.

 

[GreyCrow]

Had a random thought while looking at the RoB thread

Was or is putting Curtin in the ruck an option at times? Just to give him a run and feel of the game

The talk around where do we play him if he is struggling like he did in defence : never mentioned rucking as an option to get him going

Just a random thought

 

[clinto69]

Imagine if we had drafted Harley Reid, he'd still be in the SANFL 10 weeks in and possibly in defence.

 

[cmndstab]

Had a random thought while looking at the RoB thread

Was or is putting Curtin in the ruck an option at times? Just to give him a run and feel of the game

The talk around where do we play him if he is struggling like he did in defence : never mentioned rucking as an option to get him going

Just a random thought

I'm not sure sticking him in a position to get battered and bruised by much larger players is the best option for him. He'd get monstered in the ruck.

The obvious way to get him in the game is already right there in front of us - he takes Worrell's spot. Plays loose at times, minds a third or fourth KPD at times, and is used offensively on the rebound.

 

[Captain Furious]

Had a random thought while looking at the RoB thread

Was or is putting Curtin in the ruck an option at times? Just to give him a run and feel of the game

The talk around where do we play him if he is struggling like he did in defence : never mentioned rucking as an option to get him going

Just a random thought

Not sure what this obsession is with playing this kid where he hasn't played before. He would get massacred in the ruck.

He's a defender. Let's play him there. If he has to play in the SANFL until he's strung more than 1 good game together and worked on his defensive craft, then cool. We didn't draft him for this year.

Take a look through the other talls taken in the 1st round last year - there's a small handful of games between them and no one has had a major impact. It's just how it goes with talls. Do you think the fans at the other clubs and having major meltdowns because Connor O'Sullivan or Jordan Croft or whoever isn't playing every week?

Games are earned at AFL. If they're given away based on where a player was drafted, that club will fail.

Need to chill.