Borderline players?

[Jarka 767]

As the thread suggests which current borderline players would you like the coaching staff give more of an opportunity for the rest of the year?

Shane Valenti - McLean & Jones needs help and Valenti could be the one to give it. Sure he doesn't get alot of touches but his inside work is as good as anyone else on our list, eg his awareness to provide a block or shephard to protect the ball carrier is very good. He's not going to improve any more at Sandy, only game time at AFL level will improve him.

Chris Johnson - I still see an upside in him, but confidence could be an issue. Give the kid the rest of the year to show his worth instead of playing him for a couple of games then dropping him back to the VFL straigh away. His recent form demands an extended go and at th every worst we'll discover one way or the other whether he's capable or not. He has the speed and quality of disposal to make it and on the weekend he showed a new desire to put his head over the ball.

Paul Johnson - Probably not applicable to this topic as he has already cemented his position but it's now clear that he's our best (current) replacement for White. More minutes in the centre please!

Dunn and Frawley are two others who need as much game time as possible, even though I think they won't be as good as alot of others think, they have the skills to be at least depth players and, particularly in Dunn's case, only game time for Melbourne will see development. Would like to see Dunn tried on the wing but we already have a plethora of players for that role.

[Jerry Lundergard 420]

I would have thought Dunn is devloping nicely as our no.1 tagger. Not getting a lot of the pill yet, but it will happen as he learns the caper.

I still can't understand why people are trying to position him somewhere else. We have no one else capable(or willing) to play that role for our team.

A premiership team is not made up of just players gathering possessions and going forward, you need players willing to sacrifice a bit of their own game for the good of the team to get results. This is why i applaud both DB for his vision of finally making the Dees a more accountable team which has a defensive mindset, and also Dunn for taking on a thankless role for the team.

[titan_uranus 25,043]

Definitely Valenti because he deserves an upgrade from VFL

Also Frawley - I see big upside in him and I think with a bit more strength he'll be good down back

CJ and Buckley I think need to be retained in the seniors instead of one week AFL one week VFL. Both could add some speed to the team but neither have shown that they are long term prospects

[Roost It 1,434]

I would have thought Dunn is devloping nicely as our no.1 tagger. Not getting a lot of the pill yet, but it will happen as he learns the caper.

I still can't understand why people are trying to position him somewhere else. We have no one else capable(or willing) to play that role for our team.

A premiership team is not made up of just players gathering possessions and going forward, you need players willing to sacrifice a bit of their own game for the good of the team to get results. This is why i applaud both DB for his vision of finally making the Dees a more accountable team which has a defensive mindset, and also Dunn for taking on a thankless role for the team.

All true but somehow I think maybe DB's got bigger plans for Dunn. This kid can play. I reckon the coach is teaching him to be tough and accountable before swinging him up forward again.

[Rogue 585]

Valenti, CJ, and Newton (providing he finds form at Sandringham).

[Jarka 767]

I would have thought Dunn is devloping nicely as our no.1 tagger. Not getting a lot of the pill yet, but it will happen as he learns the caper.

I still can't understand why people are trying to position him somewhere else. We have no one else capable(or willing) to play that role for our team.

A premiership team is not made up of just players gathering possessions and going forward, you need players willing to sacrifice a bit of their own game for the good of the team to get results. This is why i applaud both DB for his vision of finally making the Dees a more accountable team which has a defensive mindset, and also Dunn for taking on a thankless role for the team.

I'm just happy that Bailey realises that he's not a key forward, also I'd think that Dunn would be grateful for any sort of run with the firsts. He still needs to work on hurting his opponenet with quality touches, all decent taggers playing at the highest level can do this and that's what he needs to work on.

[Roost It 1,434]

Dunn and Frawley are two others who need as much game time as possible, even though I think they won't be as good as alot of others think, they have the skills to be at least depth players and, particularly in Dunn's case, only game time for Melbourne will see development. Would like to see Dunn tried on the wing but we already have a plethora of players for that role.

I would suspect that both of them will play a key role in Bailey's plan. Talented kids who are being trained to be Demons!

[Demons 32 235]

CJ - Is the most tampered with player from the Daniher era.

I strongly believe he will be a great player for Melbourne and by seasons end will be best 22 going forward. Just needs to be given a continued oppurtunity and not dropped because of one bad performance.

Valenti - Probably deserves a few more goes this year, he has learnt his craft at Sandy, he is past VFL development, I want him play just so he can prove he deserves to be elevated next season.

Buckley - Could be absolutely anything, could also be depth. May as well give him a fair amount of time to figure it out. Im praying he will be what I can see him being, an out and out star, possibly.

Newton - Want to see him give it a fair dinkum crack!! Is definately worth giving a fair go to, at the very least to just see what he can give, if nothing, fair enough, what did we lose in this year by seeing if he could be our FF.

Hightower (PJ) - Not sure what to think, definately deserves his spot right now. But with the possibility of Warnock and Natanui on the horizon it's strange for him going forward, personally right now I rate him higher than Joffa, so hoping he can excel in the 2nd half of the season so we can have him and Warnock as our number 1 and 2 rucks next season while Natanui develops mainly up forward.

Dunn - I like whats happening with him, Bailey is trying to get us our own skillful tagger which we haven't really had in Godders, JMAC and Barty. He has come from a club whos number one tagger is the extremely skillful K Cornes and has obviously seen the way other players like B Rawlings/C Ling have changed the taggers role. You need to be able to attempt to stop your opponent, but sometimes the best way to stop an opponent is for them to know that you could hurt them with the ball in your own hands.

Frawley - I like Frawls, he has been struggling a bit which is expected. HE IS 19!! and im willing to give him a few years. However as of right now, Warnock, Garls and the doctor (rivers) are ahead of him. Those 3 players back up right now.

[Kit Walker 225]

Shane Valenti - McLean & Jones needs help and Valenti could be the one to give it. Sure he doesn't get alot of touches but his inside work is as good as anyone else on our list, eg his awareness to provide a block or shephard to protect the ball carrier is very good. He's not going to improve any more at Sandy, only game time at AFL level will improve him.

I agree with all five, but Valenti is the most interesting one. As a rookie with our injury list, he will never get a better opportunity to show he is capable of AFL footy.

Really needs to show he is AFL ready this year as I doubt (given his age and size) he is likely to get a second year on the rookie list.

[drdrake 3,187]

I cant believe people are happy for Dunn to be developed as a tagger, rubbish he is a forward and if he cant play the role he was drafted for get rid of him. We will have on our list next year Bartram, Grimes, Cheny, Petterd, McDonald and Bode maybe that can play that stopping role. Dunn is a 192cm forward when we a crying out for a key forward he is being played in a stopping role.

Frawley is the one I'm interested in. I want to see if he can play that key defensive role. He will get beaten by strength but lets see what he has got.

[DemonDave 1,089]

As the thread suggests which current borderline players would you like the coaching staff give more of an opportunity for the rest of the year?

Shane Valenti - McLean & Jones needs help and Valenti could be the one to give it. Sure he doesn't get alot of touches but his inside work is as good as anyone else on our list, eg his awareness to provide a block or shephard to protect the ball carrier is very good. He's not going to improve any more at Sandy, only game time at AFL level will improve him.

Valenti has had 2 games for the Demons. Surely you weren't expecting him to rack up 30 possies in his first few games? He's shown at Sandringham that he will run and create posessions all day when given the full game to do so, he's only 21 and should get plenty more chances to show that he can, and I believe he will, replicate his Sandy form at the top level.

[Jerry Lundergard 420]

I cant believe people are happy for Dunn to be developed as a tagger, rubbish he is a forward and if he cant play the role he was drafted for get rid of him. We will have on our list next year Bartram, Grimes, Cheny, Petterd, McDonald and Bode maybe that can play that stopping role. Dunn is a 192cm forward when we a crying out for a key forward he is being played in a stopping role.

Frawley is the one I'm interested in. I want to see if he can play that key defensive role. He will get beaten by strength but lets see what he has got.

Ling was drafted as a forward, maybe Geelong should have got rid of him. Rubbish post.

[torpedo 33]

Very keen on seeing Valenti. Bewildered that he's not been getting a gig after they promoted him, seems to defeat the purpose.

Other than that Chris Johnson and Jace Bode need as much game time as required to prove themselves, at least another month each.

I dont see either Buckley or Dunn as borderline, rather as project players. As others have stated Dunn's being trialled as a tagger, not sure whether its viewed as a permanent role or simply to add new aspects to his game but I think it has potential, he's not strong enough overhead to be a damaging forward. Buckley needs to learn the defensive game, this will take more than a couple of spells at Sandy and I wouldnt be dissapointed if we only see him back in the seniors in glimpses. Id be suprised if the MFC cut them at years end.

The status of Newton all depends on his health I guess, physical or mental, bit difficult to say whats going on with him at the moment.

I believe both Sylvia and Bell have points to prove too if they dont want to thrown around at trade time, they've been given their opportunities though and that's entirely up to them.

[Elmag 5]

Valenti should be a definite for this week against the swans - Johnston should be started on the ground (white needs to be transitioned to a support role). Morton needs to continue (hope his kicking returns this week). Perhaps Rivers to the long term injury list again and put in Zomer or Spencer and see how they go

[Jarka 767]

Valenti has had 2 games for the Demons. Surely you weren't expecting him to rack up 30 possies in his first few games? He's shown at Sandringham that he will run and create posessions all day when given the full game to do so, he's only 21 and should get plenty more chances to show that he can, and I believe he will, replicate his Sandy form at the top level.

No, I don't expect him to get 30 touches, I thought my post made that clear. I'm impressed with the 1%'s that he contributes to the team.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

With the exception of Weetra, I would be ensuring that the bottom rung players on our list get a good run to ensure that when we delist 3 or 4 at year end that we have definitely got rid of the worst on our list. It will serve our purposes in other areas.

[Guest unstable punt]

As the thread suggests which current borderline players would you like the coaching staff give more of an opportunity for the rest of the year?

Shane Valenti - McLean & Jones needs help and Valenti could be the one to give it. Sure he doesn't get alot of touches but his inside work is as good as anyone else on our list, eg his awareness to provide a block or shephard to protect the ball carrier is very good. He's not going to improve any more at Sandy, only game time at AFL level will improve him.

Chris Johnson - I still see an upside in him, but confidence could be an issue. Give the kid the rest of the year to show his worth instead of playing him for a couple of games then dropping him back to the VFL straigh away. His recent form demands an extended go and at th every worst we'll discover one way or the other whether he's capable or not. He has the speed and quality of disposal to make it and on the weekend he showed a new desire to put his head over the ball.

Paul Johnson - Probably not applicable to this topic as he has already cemented his position but it's now clear that he's our best (current) replacement for White. More minutes in the centre please!

Dunn and Frawley are two others who need as much game time as possible, even though I think they won't be as good as alot of others think, they have the skills to be at least depth players and, particularly in Dunn's case, only game time for Melbourne will see development. Would like to see Dunn tried on the wing but we already have a plethora of players for that role.

all the young blokes need to be getting a go now, we need to start looking to the future(stating the bleedin' obvious) and those above plus Petterd,Newton etc need to get runs.

[CARN THE DEES! 14]

Meeson: just to find out whether or not we wasted a draft pick or not

[drdrake 3,187]

Ling was drafted as a forward, maybe Geelong should have got rid of him. Rubbish post.

Rubbish post, lets just turn all our players to stoppers, who many players in your starting 18 can you play as stoppers and to be honest Dunn has done 3 good jobs. If we play Petterd, Bartram, Mcdonald and bring Grimes in as well thats 4 players that will be better at this role than Dunn. At least Ling played in the midfield before he changed roles and lets face it it is easy for Ling to stop players when you have Ablett, Bartell, Cory and co winning the footy.

[torpedo 33]

Rubbish post, lets just turn all our players to stoppers, who many players in your starting 18 can you play as stoppers and to be honest Dunn has done 3 good jobs. If we play Petterd, Bartram, Mcdonald and bring Grimes in as well thats 4 players that will be better at this role than Dunn. At least Ling played in the midfield before he changed roles and lets face it it is easy for Ling to stop players when you have Ablett, Bartell, Cory and co winning the footy.

Dunn's done 3 good jobs, out of 3 or 4 goes at it, are you actually saying thats a bad return for someone learning a new role?

Petterd's not a tagger, I've never heard anyone from the MFC suggest that's his likely role.

Since when does what McDonald do mean anything? We're grooming our youngers players to take over the likes of him remember.

Grimes is a tagger is he? What are you basing that on? The 0 games you've seen him play?

That leaves Bartram. OK, so we have 2 potential taggers. Hopefully at the end of the year we'll know which ones the better tagger. To be honest I'm not sure Bartram has the size to tag out many modern day midfielders, can you imagine him on a Goodes or a Cooney?

Developing players so they can play multiple roles can only be a good thing. We dont even know this is a permanent role for Dunn. Maybe they are just trying to add a new side to his game which you have to agree will be good for his development no matter what position he ends up playing.

[PhilReadFury 1]

Excellent Topic

PJ, Garland and Warnock started the year as Fringe players and have now earned their spots - Lets not drop them on 1 bad performance (if that comes) - PERSIST!!!

Morton - Has also worked his way in to a secure spot. Due to body size, should be carefully managed and rested (occasionally) throughout the remainder of the season; Lets not break him.

Chris Johnson - A run of consecutive games could be the make or break for CJ, has been around a while now, needs every opportunity to prove he belongs before the end of the year.

Valenti - Actually thought he perfomed well and was surprised he was dropped on early performances - Should be played as much as possible for the remainder of this year.

Petterd - Pending injury and fitness permitting... Would be great to see him get back to where he was on debut

Frawley - Needs some consecutive games and decent game time to develop (Not to mention some time in the gym)

All the Youth - Martin, Grimes, Maric, McNamara, Cheney, Zomer- These guys are the future, lets start building today. It would be great to get a couple of games into each of these blokes by years end - Bit of Top Level game experience cannot be a bad thing to take into the pre season.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Meeson: just to find out whether or not we wasted a draft pick or not

Just watch Sandy.

[Cards13 9,117]

Rivers, Beamer and one D Nietz

[Guest MFC4Life]

Just watch Sandy.

I understand where you are coming from completley. However a certain individual called Colin Garland has totally changed my outlook. I was steadfast in my belief that Colin did not have the tools or the talent required for senior football and we have all seen what has happened since that overcast day on Round 1 this year.

We can make assumptions based on what we see at VFL level but I am wary of casting judgements at this point, especially with those who have yet to be tried.

[deanox 9,989]

i think bringing valenti into the side could help out brock alot. i think brock is his best when he is allowed to use the ball, and one of valentis strengths appears to be getting it and then getting it out with a handball. hopefully this combination can work to the benefit of both players.

RE dunn i agree with those who think it is positive. he isnt a key forward. his overhead marking isnt strong enough, his body on body isnt quite strong enough. but he has a massive motor. i think they are trying to develop him into a damaging run with player. so far he is keeping players quiet, he has time on his side to learn how to hurt teams the other way.