It did look average, but of the ball bounced straight he would have picked it up and burnt away from jolly!!

Learn from your mistakesbut i tihnk he new the hit was coming so he wanted to grab the ball quick and change direction to get round him, the ball of the bounce didnt help made him look bad.

whats your point????????

morton was sensational today, delicious even.

My point is that Morton pulled out of quite a number of contests in his first season, and has also pulled out of a couple this year.

And yes, he was sensational today and he also happens to be one of my favourite players.

Kids, particularly very light-bodied ones, will sometimes not go as hard as you want them to. It happens, it's not acceptable if it happens consistently, but most learn from their mistakes and move on. To hang them for it is silly, particularly if they have never done it before.

If Bennell becomes a serial offender, I'll be the first to point it out.

My interpretation too, though it might've just been rose coloured glasses.

You're being kind. He took his eye off the ball because of on coming traffic. Yes, he tried to make it look like he was about to snare it and run around an opponent, but in reality it wasn't a great effort.

That said, it's hardly thread worthy.

Kids, particularly very light-bodied ones, will sometimes not go as hard as you want them to. It happens, it's not acceptable if it happens consistently, but most learn from their mistakes and move on. To hang them for it is silly, particularly if they have never done it before.

That's where Flower was so good. He never shirked contests, despite his slender frame.

Haven't seen the game or the contest this thread refers to (am away from home on business).

But its really interesting how people in the stands can question the courage of those on the ground. He is an 18 or 19 yo kid, he has played a handful of games. He oozes quality, he can use the ball and he may or may not end up being an outside player.

But I love that he is a one-touch player who rarely fumbles. I love that he is a well balanced player. Jamie wil be a quality long term AFL player. Hopefully our "supporters" allow him time to find is feet.

Yeah wasnt great to see. Then again he weights low 70s kgs, and White weighs 105kgs.... so over 30kgs of difference lol. I'm sure he'll hear all about it from the coaching staff and will learn from it.

Yes, wasn't good, agree he'll definitely be told, "when it's your turn to go, you've gotta go"

whats your point????????

morton was sensational today, delicious even.

Her point, you arrogant little fella, is that Morton did the same thing more than once in his debut season.

And you have his name adorning your username.

This place needs a thread police, this is a waste of internet.

Al Gore would be turning in his grave...

Jaded you are consistantly cementing yourself as the worst poster on this site, not allowing anyone to critize a melbourne player in any way shape or form.

Criticism of some players is fine - it depends what Jaded thinks of them

This place needs a thread police, this is a waste of internet.

Al Gore would be turning in his grave...

It's a moment that was mentioned with the person I was watching it with and I think the Fox commentators may have discussed it.

Maybe it could have gone in an existing thread but I don't see that it's so outrageous to discuss it on here.

It's a moment that was mentioned with the person I was watching it with and I think the Fox commentators may have discussed it.

Maybe it could have gone in an existing thread but I don't see that it's so outrageous to discuss it on here.

Having just watched the replay, i agree it did look bad, and would've been even worse had PJ not nailed that tackle straight after, and they got a goal from it.

Definitely worth it's own thread IMO. I'm not knocking the kid, but incidents like that will always come up in discussion, and for good reason. If they don't, at a coaching level, the said player will never learn from the mistake. And supporters will always want to see their players, young or old, go in hard and put their heads over the footy. It's a common expectation that all football supporters have.

I like Jamie Bennell, and i don't think he is definitively 'soft'. But that incident was indeed soft, and he'll be disappointed by it. Add to that he didn't have the best game, so it will hurt. He'll bounce back though and learn from it, as well as from a few words from the FD, no doubt.

Thought Bennell showed plenty today. Seems to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and seemed to use it well. Like all the young guys, needs to bulk up plenty though.

Thought Bennell showed plenty today. Seems to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and seemed to use it well. Like all the young guys, needs to bulk up plenty though.

I think he's shown heaps this season with his pace and tidy skills, i just thought he turned it over a bit, and on occasions untidy kicking to teammates in space.

As i said, i like him and think he's got a huge future once his body is fully matured. But today i don't think was his best performance.

problem was that he failed to commit to head over the ball, the sidestep in my opinion was an anticipation of the ball boucing. but to be clean with the pickup he must put his head over the ball. This is his first year and it will be a learning curve. The guy needs to get a good tank and he will be a very good player in the mid for the d's.

I am not sure that I want my young players putting their bodies at risk in insignificant contests in insignificant games. I want my players to be smart and know when to go hard and when to play the odds. What he did is a far cry from ducking under a high ball. If he took the ball head on, the absolute best result would have been yet another stoppage. If the ball bounced well, he had set himself up to take it away. No big deal.

You have to hit the contest hard and bennell didnt on this occassion. Didn't look good for him, there is no escuse for not putting your body on the line. lets hope it doesnt happen again

jetta is soft as butter

Well, you clearly know nothing about football.

Bennell wasn't as bad as the Gibbs and Milne incident, but it was bad enough. I'd drop him for it.

not really worried about this

jetta is soft as butter

i like bennel

What?!

No he isn't.

Back to the end of the queue, DJL.

They mentioned this on One Week at a Time tonight. Walls and Harley basically defended him by saying that the guy coming at him was twice his size and that most young players find themselves in a similar situation at some point. He mightn't be happy with his effort, but he's a first year player.

Haven't seen the game or the contest this thread refers to (am away from home on business).

But its really interesting how people in the stands can question the courage of those on the ground. He is an 18 or 19 yo kid, he has played a handful of games. He oozes quality, he can use the ball and he may or may not end up being an outside player.

But I love that he is a one-touch player who rarely fumbles. I love that he is a well balanced player. Jamie wil be a quality long term AFL player. Hopefully our "supporters" allow him time to find is feet.

Well said. Bennell is going to be a beauty. His speed and balance have been noticeable since his very first match. Give him some time and he'll learn from his mistakes. We didn't need a thread on this. That said, I was at the game and missed this, it might have been up the other end? Could anyone tell me which quarter?

jetta is soft as butter

I disagree. Jetta, like many of our young talent (including Bennell) has a small body, with an undeveloped frame. Jetta's tackles might occasionally slip, but that is only because he needs to build up his core strength. That will come with time.

I've watched the reply a couple of times and I've come to the conclusion that my first impression was correct. He was trying to do some tricky, magic stuff whereby he was going to tap the ball out of the way of a big lumbering ruckman, and then run off with it. The way I see it is that he was running on instinct and had it worked there would be a thread saying how talented he is. Talent does this. It does things we can only dream of. Sure it looks bad when it doesn't work but geez it looks good when it does - Just think of Mark Waughs sublime shots and his so-called lazy outs. I think it was a positive.

I've watched the reply a couple of times and I've come to the conclusion that my first impression was correct. He was trying to do some tricky, magic stuff whereby he was going to tap the ball out of the way of a big lumbering ruckman, and then run off with it. The way I see it is that he was running on instinct and had it worked there would be a thread saying how talented he is. Talent does this. It does things we can only dream of. Sure it looks bad when it doesn't work but geez it looks good when it does - Just think of Mark Waughs sublime shots and his so-called lazy outs. I think it was a positive.

I know exactly what you're saying, but when you don't win the ball you wear the consequences. He had to take the ball and didn't. He'll learn from what was clearly a mistake.

I know exactly what you're saying, but when you don't win the ball you wear the consequences. He had to take the ball and didn't. He'll learn from what was clearly a mistake.

Indeed. I imagine if he's got the ball, we wouldn't be having this discussion -- we'd probably be having a significantly different one. Conversely, if he'd put himself in line with the ball rather than out of the way, he'd have increased his chances of getting it significantly. Either way, he will hopefully learn from it.

Could anyone tell me which quarter?

1st quarter.

its the stigma of the melb footy club, we've never been known as a tough club and these blokes arn't shown real aggression from the older guys. perfect example when we played geelong miller had the perfect chance to run through selwood but didn't, selwood took the mark and miller didn't even make contact. we need to pick up players with real toughness in them.

Question. Name melb most feared player. Arrrrh i'll get back to you.

Question. Name melb most feared player. Arrrrh i'll get back to you.

It's a very good question you ask and unsurprisingly no-one has replied.

I once thought that McLean would become a tough midfielder. He's not tough at all. Joel Selwood is tough. McLean doesn't even go in hard.

It's a very disappointing group of players.

Our toughest player is Moloney. Although I'm not sure he's in the "feared" category. No-one is feared.