Paps 200

[imuninformedtwo]

I love the little fella. What a find he was in that rookie draft, probably our last great find there.

His best is elite. Charlie Cameron may have pushed a little ahead of him the last year or two based on continuity, but he’s been as elite a small forward in the comp in the last seven or eight years as there’s been.

I hope his body can cope with being such an explosive player for another few years whilst our window is open. We play far better when he’s out there and in form. He’s a sneaky long kick for goal and his instincts around the ball are unreal. And Heeney got the attention for good reasons, but that final quarter against GWS in the final in 2024 was something special.

And god bless him for being such an energiser bunny. I know his style isn’t for everyone, but he’s our man and hope he sticks it up ‘em against the Weagles.

[dejavoodoo44]

Yes, I always find it bizarre that he slipped through to a late, speculative pick, a year after his draft year. Then IIRC, he played a couple of preseason games where he showed his obvious talent and made his AFL debut in round one. Then never looked back.

Now he's 12th on the Swans all time goalkicking list with 306, and he only needs 12 more to surpass Capper and move to 11th. I tend to think he'd already be there, if it wasn't for Clarkson; who decided to inform the AFL media, that he thought Tom milked free kicks. Then it seemed to me, that for a long time, the umpires didn't give Tom the sort of frees, that they'd instantly play to other small forwards.

Anyway, I hope we see a fair bit of his trademark celebrations on the weekend.

[KSAS]

Yes, I always find it bizarre that he slipped through to a late, speculative pick, a year after his draft year. Then IIRC, he played a couple of preseason games where he showed his obvious talent and made his AFL debut in round one. Then never looked back.

I recall watching Papley play in his first preseason game and Dermot Brereton was commentating. He immediately noticed Papley's natural forward instincts after kicking a crumbing goak and said "you can't teach that!" He reckoned we found a player.

Love Paps. He is a pest to opposition teams and supporters, which is why i'm so glad he plays for us! Was so relieved he didn't end up going to Carlton.

May we see plenty more exuberant goal celebrations!!!

[stellation]

I love the little guy, few things on the footy field bring me greater joy than when he is all worked up and does his quick marching celebration whilst pulling a serious face. He makes footy fun.

[imuninformedtwo]

I love the little guy, few things on the footy field bring me greater joy than when he is all worked up and does his quick marching celebration whilst pulling a serious face. He makes footy fun.

Yep. It’s a selection Kinnear deserves credit for too (given we give him @@@@ over a couple of others). He saw the footy instincts in him and once he realised the little man was exhausted from digging trenches and being on the plumbing tools all day, he knew what was possible if you swapped that for an elite training environment that’d get the best out of him.

[dejavoodoo44]

I recall watching Papley play in his first preseason game and Dermot Brereton was commentating. He immediately noticed Papley's natural forward instincts after kicking a crumbing goak and said "you can't teach that!" He reckoned we found a player.

Love Paps. He is a pest to opposition teams and supporters, which is why i'm so glad he plays for us! Was so relieved he didn't end up going to Carlton.

May we see plenty more exuberant goal celebrations!!!

I often felt that I could see the difference between Papley and other less instinctual small forwards. It seemed that in comparison to players like Ronke and Konstanty, he could get a shot heading towards goal, in less time than they took to pick up the ball.