Josh Weddle has been an unfinished product for a few years now, as most tall players are before they fill out their frames with muscle and learn how to play the more difficult positions up the spine. Last week against the Bulldogs was arguably his best game in the brown and gold to date, and perhaps it was the absence of the injured James Sicily that brought it on. His role this year had been a spare parts man, starting at half back and switching forward occasionally plus pinch hitting in ruck, but perhaps it is in Sicily's intercepting role that his future lies.
Josh Weddle has been an unfinished product for a few years now, as most tall players are before they fill out their frames with muscle and learn how to play the more difficult positions up the spine. Last week against the Bulldogs was arguably his best game in the brown and gold to date, and perhaps it was the absence of the injured James Sicily that brought it on. His role this year had been a spare parts man, starting at half back and switching forward occasionally plus pinch hitting in ruck, but perhaps it is in Sicily's intercepting role that his future lies.
Josh Weddle was named at centre half back in the best under-22 team this week, even though when played in that role as a back-shoulder defender in 2024, his defensive work has been terrible. It is the nature of such a team that you are likely to struggle to find key defenders getting consistent games in the seniors, as players with that kind of height are still too skinny at 21 years of age to play back-shoulder on the gorilla target forwards. Whatever Weddle's best role ends up being, he is still the unfinished article, with loads of talent but not enough polish.
Josh Weddle showed some excellent signs in his debut season and has made some more leaps and bounds in 2024. His role has become more accountable in year two, nominally lining up on some of the best centre half forwards in the game and ending up with not many goals kicked on him. Obviously coach Sam Mitchell has tried to free up James Sicily by giving the CHB role to Weddle, which has fast-tracked the younger man's development but left Sicily in a terrible run of form. Will we see a further structural change today with Sicily going forward? Or perhaps Weddle himself.
Josh Weddle was one of the stars of Hawthorn's surprise victory over the Western Bulldogs last week, starting at centre half back and keeping Jamarra Ugle-Hagan very quiet, even creeping forward to snap a crucial goal himself in the dying stages. The Hawks have been decimated in key defensive stocks this year by injury, and didn't have impressive depth charts to begin with. Jack Scrimshaw has been called upon to play this role and battles hard, but Weddle has a much higher ceiling based on this performance. Could be be a Sam Frost type who can actually kick?
