#39 Aiden Begg

[Pies2016]

Beggs second efforts and ground balls in particular, are as good as anyone near 200cm.
Possibly a bit undersized as a front line ruckman, so any thoughts as a key position player would require a lot of work on his agility and endurance.
I think Steene is the better pure ruckman, so he’s another one worth keeping for a couple more seasons at least. He’s also very comfortable going forward.

[Cam]

I agree with that Rude, played very well in the twos win today. I was very impressed with his poise, and also the development of Steene too.

Not a Phil Jackson [the basketball player] anymore, starting to believe that he might be playing next year as a rotation. *Might* be becoming like a Michael Gardiner [west coast] type.

[Charlie Oneeye]

Yea. In particular, I noticed his intensity has shot up. Instead of just performing his role, he is starting to have presence and influence whenever he is near it. Really good skills for a big man.

Last week, I watched Steene, great hands but still raw. Excellent natural core attributes to develop.

It did occur to me that Steene and Begg could become a complementary duo in the future.

[npalm]

He played exceptionally well yesterday, but looking at his stats for the season it was one out of the box. He took 6 marks. His average for the season is only one mark per game. Likewise he kicked 3 goals yesterday but he has only kicked 6 for the rest of the season.

There's a lot to like about him, but at 197cm he is too short to make it as an AFL ruckman and not a good enough mark to make it as a key forward\back.

[RudeBoy]

[inxs88]

The fact that Steene and Begg are playing in tandem adds to the future chemistry they may have if Senior selected. Sounds a tad odd but would love to see Begg trialed on the Wing post Steele. Has the athletic chops and prowess.

[stui magpie]

^

Nah, not wing, play him true CHF.

We actually have quite a tall forward line in the VFL now everyone is fit. Begg and Steene, with kreuger and Ash plus Reef as a leading FF. Great opportunity to learn both ruck and forward craft.

[BazBoy]

Feel if this kid works hard at his craft we could have a key position forward in the near future

[Boot]

I don't think there is any doubt that for Aiden Begg to realize his full potential as a regular AFL player he has to be developed as a Key Position player as he'll never be able to sustain a career as a ruckman at the top level, given he is relatively short for a ruckman. i.e. most AFL ruckmen are already 203 cm at least and that minimum height is getting bigger every year. There's a reason why Mason Cox is getting a game at 211 cm and the club was pleased to sign Alex Condon as a Cat B Rookie who is 212 cm and will be a potential starter at the club if his basketball career in the USA doesn't work out.
I was hoping Begg would have a breakout year this year, but he was cruelled by injury for the first half of the year, so maybe next year will be his time to break into the bigtime. From a succession planning view point I would be looking to Begg as the future replacement of Brody Mihocek who has been holding up the Collingwood forward line with herculean efforts for the last 4 years despite his relative undersize height of just 192 cm, but has been able to be super competitive due to being built like a Brick Outhouse and having a super tank that enables him to continually run to contests and has developed a skill set that makes him a potential premiership CHF i.e. kicks a lot of goals from difficult positions.
Begg would be well advised to base his game on what Brody Mihocek does. Mihocek is a similar size and playing style to Dermott Brereton and those type of players tend to drop off the cliff pretty quickly when the end comes so at 31 by the time the 2024 season starts Mihocek may only have another two seasons left in him so Begg's opportunity to replace him is coming at an ideal time given Begg will be 22 or 23 by the time Mihocek is likely to be fading from the AFL team.
For him to do that he needs to increase his contested marking ability and probably his endurance as well.

[BazBoy]

Well their are wise heads running the show in our footy department

I would suspect if they are doing their job correctly they will be monitoring his progress with a future key forward role in mind

There are others who will go with him to an AFL career in our two,s or follow close after

Least wise I hope so

[Said by Zed]

Look, I’m usually very optimistic about all our recruits wanting them all to shine and be the star player we can look forward to taking us to the ultimate prize….unfortunately Begg will never be that player. He is just so far off his contemporaries I feel he’ll never make it as a dominate or at best serviceable AFL standard player. Just doesn’t have any attributes worthy of persisting with…project/list clogger. Delist ASAP. There’s so many quality players out there who are routinely over-looked by the so called ‘experts’…look deeper and harder Pies…forget the hype and spin.

[stui magpie]

^

Who are these contemporaries you compare him against?

He's 20. Most Ruckmen don't start coming good until mid 20's, similar with KP players.

[Said by Zed]

[stui magpie]

he's not a key forward, never has been, but he's a 2nd ruck who can play key forward when resting. Comparing him to same age players who were drafted as key forwards just sets him up to fail.

Apart from Luke Jackson who's in a category of his own, how many 20 year old Rucks are playing AFL?

he has a good leap, has put on size and strength, follows up well at ground level, in my view there's a lot to work with there.

[Said by Zed]