2012 AFL Grand Final: Sydney v Hawthorn

Even as a North fan, I find this statement questionable.

 

Haha, this.

I genuinely think Kennedy will be gone. The lads not a 'monster' so he doesn't need as long as most talls to develop and he's just not. I doubt he'll ever be a better KPF than a Hansen or Tarrant and that says a bit. At best, a good ordinary player at worst - not afl standard. Probably the latter.

Black I've always liked but the clock is ticking on him too - now is when he needs to be making an impact. I think he'll be an alright footballer but never a great one unfortunately - as I've always liked him. It's pretty rare for a KPF to go three seasons without doing anything and then become an elite prospect.

I think the real error of your post is the underration of gibson. It'd be naive to expect him to be a physical monster given he's only 6'3. It'd be like expecting Matthew Pavlich to be the best contested grab - he's an elite forward but not in the conventional mold due to his size. Gibson the same - he's often on lads well taller and bigger than him and when he's one out, it'd be pretty bloody difficult to outmuscle them so you can't hold that against him IMO. Hawthorn's inability to secure a decent fullback really works against him. What he is absolutely elite at is reading the ball and preventing it from getting to that one out stage. He can still be 1-1 but get to the ball before his opponent purely due to his read of it. he's also an excellent stopper - he almost keeps his opponent clean while chopping any loose balls and being the third man up in many contests - while his disposal out of defence is awesome. He very much reminds me of Sam Fisher in many ways. He mightn't have been like this at north, but at the hawks he's excellent. I think you're just biased against him due to the circumstances of his departure.