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Saint wagga wrote:
I take your point about Acres Dragit and I am a big fan and want him to do really well, but i don't think Lonie was the best example because he actually forced his way back into our best 22 at the end of last season and his last 2 games were pretty good!
Not sure I agree here, sure he kicked 3 in a shootout against brissie… the week before he had one tackle, 5 kicks and no goals
If anyone has underwhelmed me this pre-season it's probably Lonie, I feel like most of his kicks are blind slams on the boot in hope. I'm not writing him off, but I think Minch has been better and I'd like to see more of Sinclair.
Acres >>>>>>>> any of them for at least the JLT series
Bluthy wrote:He would have explained to Blacres that he missed because his preseason games were a bit underwhelming
He was only given 3/4 of a practice game to prove himself after being one of our best for the last month of 2016, compared to say Lonie who played all three JLT games despite being miles off our best 22 last year.
If he keeps running around in the VFL picking up 38 touches we are mad.
Blake being in & out of the team is one of the great selection mysteries. The club can role out generic reasons for his omission however these can be applied to just about any player in our team. The club is doing a lot right atm, this not one of those examples.
It seems to be this ongoing saga "The Complic8ted Educ8tion of Mr 8l8ke 8cres". One of the coaches said he needed to clean up his disposal. Tony said he was getting rapped over the knuckles for not running hard both ways. Richo strikes me as a lover of fitness and effort as his two non-negotiables and laconic, spacey looking Blake seems to have appeared on his radar to use the stick on to try and get good habits into him now. Likewise poor old Whitey didn't get a single game to strut his stuff due to a second helping of chrissie pudd.
It could just be a matchup thing too - perhaps he wants to bash up the Melbourne mids inside with consistent inside players rather than risk Blake who can be a bit up and down. Against WC away he might be more willing to take a gamble with him - WA boy too heh heh. But it could just be a rotation/squad thing where someone is going to have to miss out each week. I think Richo will almost treat it like a duel, giving different guys a shot each week to see who really wants it as we start to crystalise our best 22 for the serious s***.
I'm not panicking yet. If Blake isn't in in a few weeks then Richo WILL FEEL MY WR8TH! But we have 30 good players to try and get into the 22 and pretty fully fit list. Results could play a big part too. If the result aren't there then changes could be made eg. Brown, Savage, Webster, Weller, Gilbo etc. Acres could be a pretty good replacement for Gilbo if he struggles early.
Bluthy wrote:
I don't see why Dunstan should be a lock each week.
He isn't.
He has been so far. Whether Richo would be prepared to leave him out remains to be seen. He had pretty good preseason games, seemed a bit better at covering the ground bobbing up for goals. Maybe having Steele in the centre square showing great contested ball stuff will put genuine pressure on Dunny. We've got guys like Acres, Gresham and Billings who seem to have great room for growth in their game and to bring real play making ability in the middle we need. Does Dunny have another level to go to? Lets see.
Dunstan is vital, when he's going, we're going. His work in and under is fantastic. There won't be too many teams this year that could beat us when Hickey & Dunstan are up and about.
I think vital is a bit strong. Steven, ARmo and HIckey above him in CP and Steele showing he could be damn good inside. Needs to keep showing development if his main strength is inside.
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"Don't argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience."
I would like to see 8cres playing but who would you drop from the side for him to play?
My other bug bear is that, just because you come from another team doesn't mean you should get a game in front of one of our guys. Steele and Brown are straight in and I reckon Stevens would also have been straight in if he didn't cop the raw prawn. Up and coming players like 8cres (which finished last season so well) shouldn't be making way for other club's rejects
As ex-president Peter Summers said:
“If we are going to be a contender, we may as well plan to win the bloody thing.”
desertsaint wrote:From what I see Dunstan does a hell of a lot of work out there. however 1%ers are measured, they aren't measured accurately. The coaches obviously see it, and it's obviously his job. I reckon he's underratd and our second best mid.
I reckon Luke D will have to play well to keep Stevens or Acres out... they will churn out huge VFL numbers, so if he only impacts like the last three seasons, he'll make way (btw, every mid/defender/fwd are expected to do so called 1%ers)
He has been good in jlt so deserves his spot ATM but 17ppg from a mid won't cut it, because his opponents will be getting at least 25. Hopefully he trends up.
Wright will have to be on his tucker also, because
Lonie, Long, Minchington, Sinclair also are dominant at vfl level... and all offensively better
Hickey is quite safe, but Longer is reminding him he is not a walk up start
As far as other clubs rejects go
Steel is a top 20 DP of recent times, and a piss taker at lower than AFL level footy
Koby Steven has had AFL best on grounds, so he's no dud
N.Brown is actually a top ten Draft Pick, a premiership player and a Vice Captain at AFL level.
Acres and any other kid is yet to achieve a near close footy resume
BigMart wrote:I reckon Luke D will have to play well to keep Stevens or Acres out... they will churn out huge VFL numbers, so if he only impacts like the last three seasons, he'll make way (btw, every mid/defender/fwd are expected to do so called 1%ers)
He has been good in jlt so deserves his spot ATM but 17ppg from a mid won't cut it, because his opponents will be getting at least 25. Hopefully he trends up.
Wright will have to be on his tucker also, because
Lonie, Long, Minchington, Sinclair also are dominant at vfl level... and all offensively better
Hickey is quite safe, but Longer is reminding him he is not a walk up start
As far as other clubs rejects go
Steel is a top 20 DP of recent times, and a piss taker at lower than AFL level footy
Koby Steven has had AFL best on grounds, so he's no dud
N.Brown is actually a top ten Draft Pick, a premiership player and a Vice Captain at AFL level.
Acres and any other kid is yet to achieve a near close footy resume
Acres also has a couple of best on grounds already so he is also no dud.
Just for info, Steele was easily the best kid playing in Canberra before he was drafted.
BigMart wrote:
He has been good in jlt so deserves his spot ATM but 17ppg from a mid won't cut it, because his opponents will be getting at least 25. Hopefully he trends up.
Yes hopefully he trends up, but I think you are too fixated on him gaining at least 25 disposals per game.
Even The Bont, who was in Dunstan's Draft Year, does not rack up at least 25 disposals per game. The Bont actually averages less than 25 per game, and has averaged just the 3.4 disposals more per game than Dunstan.
And remember too that with Dunstan that the coach has often had him playing negative roles as a mid where he has had to do the team thing and block for teammates etc which would tend to reduce his personal disposal count.
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