Dunstan

[saynta]

Our most maligned player and second chief whipping bot on this forum after Seb Ross.

He has been pur best player over the past two weeks and even earned praise from the coach.

Glad you stuck it up them Luke. Knew you could play.

[cwrcyn]

Has played a lot of games and has not set the world on fire. Had a positive end to 2018 after being pretty ordinary for a couple of years. Two shoulder reconstructions didn't help him and may have slowed his development. I'm still not convinced, mainly due to he lack of pace, his inconsistent kicking, and his less than elite endurance. I'd love it if he could continue the form of tha past two weeks, but history has shown that his longest stretch of good games has been about three or four, and then he will put in a couple of stinkers. I hope he really does consolidate his form from here

[Crossy66]

We need his work in the centre clearances, so hope he keeps up the good form

[twirlyhair]

Gets the ball, is high in contested possessions but lacks pace. But that's ok. Sidebottom is not fast either, but it's his smarts that defeats em.

[Impatient Sainter]

I must say I had written him off as to never return, but his last 2 weeks have been outstanding. He is winning possession and breaking away which has been great to see. Even his kicking has gone to another level. Well done Luke keep it up dude!

[Goose is king]

He has shown in games he can be effective and that is what has frustrated me. If he has finally found his new norm then I am rapt. I’ve always looked at him and thought why can’t he be like one of the crouch brothers. Perhaps it was because he had a defensive midfield role as people on here have previously suggested.

[guitars4]

He has been very good over the past 2 weeks I hope he has turned the corner & others follow his lead

[skeptic]

24 years old, 93 games -
Pbly pushed harder than what he should have been and harshly judged by many here.

But by the same token... the pain of that early investment may be starting to pay dividends even if it’s taken longer than we hoped.

Much like how Lonie was in and out of the side... dropped, earned his way back, did okay, lost form, dropped... rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat...
Dunstan has followed the same formula and gradually gotten better. The knock on his game has been he doesn’t get enough possessions and fitness wise, he fades.

Well he’s not. He might not be elite yet, but he’s accumulating a lot of ball, running the game out and he’s having something of an impact.

I always hated how we failed to pump games into Armitage early in his career and how that could have potentially impact the 09-11 era (granted there were other factors there too). None the less it was what 2015 when he had the type of season that we always hoped he had?

I’m not a Richo fan by any means but Lonie and Dunstan are both examples of development that he’s knocked out of the park IMO

[Cairnsman]

24 years old, 93 games -
Pbly pushed harder than what he should have been and harshly judged by many here.

But by the same token... the pain of that early investment may be starting to pay dividends even if it’s taken longer than we hoped.

Much like how Lonie was in and out of the side... dropped, earned his way back, did okay, lost form, dropped... rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat...
Dunstan has followed the same formula and gradually gotten better. The knock on his game has been he doesn’t get enough possessions and fitness wise, he fades.

Well he’s not. He might not be elite yet, but he’s accumulating a lot of ball, running the game out and he’s having something of an impact.

I always hated how we failed to pump games into Armitage early in his career and how that could have potentially impact the 09-11 era (granted there were other factors there too). None the less it was what 2015 when he had the type of season that we always hoped he had?

I’m not a Richo fan by any means but Lonie and Dunstan are both examples of development that he’s knocked out of the park IMO

Absolutely Skeppers, as you and I both know, Alan is a great developer and his hardwork since arriving at the club is starting to pay off, which is evident in the number of players that have improved this year.

[Yorkeys]

Dunstan has exceptional reflexes. I think some of the stuff he does is quicker than the eye. And he is tough/strong in and under. If he could kick well: a Brownlow chance, but he can't consistently, however he has obviously worked on that.

[skeptic]

24 years old, 93 games -
Pbly pushed harder than what he should have been and harshly judged by many here.

But by the same token... the pain of that early investment may be starting to pay dividends even if it’s taken longer than we hoped.

Much like how Lonie was in and out of the side... dropped, earned his way back, did okay, lost form, dropped... rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat...
Dunstan has followed the same formula and gradually gotten better. The knock on his game has been he doesn’t get enough possessions and fitness wise, he fades.

Well he’s not. He might not be elite yet, but he’s accumulating a lot of ball, running the game out and he’s having something of an impact.

I always hated how we failed to pump games into Armitage early in his career and how that could have potentially impact the 09-11 era (granted there were other factors there too). None the less it was what 2015 when he had the type of season that we always hoped he had?

I’m not a Richo fan by any means but Lonie and Dunstan are both examples of development that he’s knocked out of the park IMO

Absolutely Skeppers, as you and I both know, Alan is a great developer and his hardwork since arriving at the club is starting to pay off, which is evident in the number of players that have improved this year.

Obviously I’m not as bullish on Richo as some but credit where credit is due, I think he’s done a great job with both Lonie and Dunstan in the face of a lot of doubting.

He’s given them opportunity to try again and back up when many wanted them gone... but most importantly, he’s made them earn their spots back. I’m a big believe in the idea the one of the better attitudes towards development is to give the younger players an opportunity with a few games, them send them back until they demand a spot back. Being dropped is really not that big a deal.

At the risk of being negative, I do wish he’d adopted that approach to a few other select players but at the same I guess one has to be flexible in knowing that different ppl require different approaches. I guess there’s only so much you can properly understand from the outside looking in.

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

Required player. Make or break year though.

[Jacks Back]

Our most maligned player and second chief whipping bot on this forum after Seb Ross.

He has been pur best player over the past two weeks and even earned praise from the coach.

Glad you stuck it up them Luke. Knew you could play.

This is my preferred whipping bot:

[Ghost Like]

Required player. Make or break year though.

Why would it be a make or break year if he's a required player?

[Josh Battle]

I agree that Richo should have dropped Luke at certain times and I'm sure the coaches had their reasons, but they stuffed up royally last year in not playing him for the Good Friday match against North

Luke was in and out of the team in 2017. At the end of 2017 Dunstan strung together a few good games and it seemed like he had again cemented his spot with the seniors with consecutive 30+ possession games.

I'm baffled as to why a player who finishes a year with 30+ possessions in both of the last two home and away rounds (and then has a decent preseason and shows good form in practice matches) then fails to win a spot in the senior team early in the next year. In early 2018, Richo chose not to play Luke until round 3.

How would his teammates have felt with an 18 year old kid debuting in a marquee match on Good Friday and yet a bloke who was potentiallly going to help them win the match was sitting in the stands and asked to play with Sandringham? You cannot make stupid selection decisions that penalise the team.

[Special]

Dunny I reckon has only a couple of years left. He’s so slow and can only get slower. Plays with the pace of a 30 year old

[Sanctorum]

Luke Dunstan is like a lot of up and coming players at St Kilda that are taking a long time to become consistently good - Ross, Billings, Acres, Long are all in this category, Gresham is about the only exception and now maybe Marshall as well. From what people say Max King is also likely to be an early regular selection.

It is the slow development of young recruits that has led to the club signing mature age players from the state leagues for the 2019 season: Parker, Wilkie, Young, Hind and Marsh, in recognition that the team lacks a strong core of experienced players.

Whilst we are all feeling frustrated about the Saints slipping down the ladder, I am satisfied that the club is now back on the right track and should make their way back to becoming a force in the AFL competition later this year and the next.

[saynta]

Our most maligned player and second chief whipping bot on this forum after Seb Ross.

He has been pur best player over the past two weeks and even earned praise from the coach.

Glad you stuck it up them Luke. Knew you could play.

This is my preferred whipping bot:

Very funny. Unfortunately you can no longer amend opening posts so typo's stay forever.