bananas said:

Tapscott = Moloney mark II, but bigger!

Imagine this kid after a few pre-seasons, we'll be fighting off rugby clubs trying to do a reverse-Karmichael-Hunt on us.

You think?

I don't think he'll get much bigger at all, in fact once our fitness coaches get onto him he might slim down a little.

  bananas said:

Tapscott = Moloney mark II, but bigger!

Imagine this kid after a few pre-seasons, we'll be fighting off rugby clubs trying to do a reverse-Karmichael-Hunt on us.

He's going to look like the incredible Hulk in a few years. People will be afraid to go near him on the field.

  FairBump PlayOn said:

Why would Scully train wearing a watch? Or was he not really training?

Guys in the photos look in pretty good shape.

dude, heaps of players were watches to training for time trials and to track how they are timing when doing runs and bike rides etc

Highlights:

Gawn holds the footy in one hand like a tennis ball.

Tapscott looks like Shrek

Im just a fraction excited.

Imagine Beamer and Tapscott in a boxing match.

When an irresistable force meets an immovable object.

  Bruce Almighty said:

dude, heaps of players were watches to training for time trials and to track how they are timing when doing runs and bike rides etc

Yeah , but Scully was wearing a watch in the photos during ball work which I thought was a little unusual hence the question.Anyway, Theo answered my query.

It's probably a heart rate monitor

  buck_nekkid said:

Gawn holds the footy in one hand like a tennis ball.

If you're as big as Gawn, a footy is a tennis ball to you.

Fitzpatrick, what a dag. I love him already. This kid's going to become a cult hero...

Scully - incredible intensity. Would love to see him staring down Larry David:

http://www.hbo.com/larrydavid/episode/index.html

  FairBump PlayOn said:

Yeah , but Scully was wearing a watch in the photos during ball work which I thought was a little unusual hence the question.Anyway, Theo answered my query.

I can see the hearld sun headlines

"Scully watch scandel "

when is our fist nab cup game i might go insane b4 then

late breaking news Dean Bailey and J.Fitzpatrick also wearing watches

  rpfc said:

Jurrah is 21 and he looks like that!

But, he could never be a focal point. He should be a 3rd forward.

Ugh.

Not sure if this is a shot at people like me RPFC, but I'm a self-confessed believer that Jurrah should play as our 3rd forward. I have heard from a close source to the Club that Stef Martin is being groomed as our main FF in years to come. add Watts at CHF, that to me leaves Jurrah as our 3rd forward.

Being the 3rd forward doesn't mean I think he is our 3rd best forward, chances are he could win our goal kicking for years on end. I would call Stevie J Geelong's 3rd forward (behind Mooney and Hawkins), but he still kicks heaps of goals.

The best part about having a 3rd forward like Jurrah (and Stevie J) is that generally, they will get the third tier defender meaning they will go in to that contest as favourites. If Clubs decide to put their 1st or 2nd defender on them, it will mean our 1st or 2nd forward will be matched up against an opposition Club's 3rd defender.

My opinion of Jurrah as the 3rd forward will come in to play from 2011 - once Watts and Martin have established themselves. This year, Juraah will no doubt get the 1st or 2nd defender, I just hope he can rise to the next level.

In regards to the photos - might have to cancel my subscription to Playboy - just found some new photos to get me aroused! Jones does look a heap leaner than previous years, Maric has bulked up - will be a very, very good player. I think we will find Scully wont be anywhere near ready to play round 1, however Trengove and Tapscott look likely.

  Bates Mate said:

late breaking news Dean Bailey and J.Fitzpatrick also wearing watches

i've got no time for this nonsense

Did anyone else notice that Noah (Trengove) is already as big as Bartram in terms of muscle mass, I know it is stating the obvious but damn he is an exciting proposition, and as for Tappy that boy (man/beast) is already bigger than most of our senior players. His body shape reminds me very much of Mark Ricciuto/Paul Chapman

From the others, Syvia looks in great nick, as does Jonesy...

  deefiance said:

i've got no time for this nonsense

Yet you take the time to reply?

  Keyser Söze said:

You think?

I don't think he'll get much bigger at all, in fact once our fitness coaches get onto him he might slim down a little.

I think you're right. Tapscott said that he needed to work on his endurance so that'll probably mean exchanging a bit of his bulk for lean muscle.

In the same interview he also said that people usually compare him to Paul Chapman - and that is one hell of an exciting proposition. I've seen him play a few times and the kid is a bloody good kick. Accurate, long, good technique, can deliver quickly and from a standing start. Personally, I think he might end up being a cross between Chapman and Doug Barwick (if anyone remembers him). Not sure if he's got Barwick's run or Chapman's leap but I think he'll have the power and kicking skills of both players.

  Keyser Söze said:

He's very much on my mind and I really want to get a lot of games into him this year.

I see him as being a shorter Steve Johnson for us in the future: first class delivery to the forwards and capable of jagging goals from anywhere.

Last year I watched him closely and I think he made good decisions, but wasn't assertive enough, partly due to his build.

Hopefully in 2010 he can significantly build on that (his game, his engine and his frame).

I see him more as Shaun Higgins than Stevie J....Jones has definitely trimmed down, maybe hard to call him Chunk in 2010.

Billy, I simply cannot agree. Essentially you're saying jurrah will be a third tall because Martin and Watts will be better. There's been no evidence that Watts will definitely be better than Jurrah and certainly nothing to say that Martin will be a better forward. He will not be third tall simply because we want him to, this will only happen with better players than him in the forwardline

  billy2803 said:

Not sure if this is a shot at people like me RPFC, but I'm a self-confessed believer that Jurrah should play as our 3rd forward. I have heard from a close source to the Club that Stef Martin is being groomed as our main FF in years to come. add Watts at CHF, that to me leaves Jurrah as our 3rd forward.

Being the 3rd forward doesn't mean I think he is our 3rd best forward, chances are he could win our goal kicking for years on end. I would call Stevie J Geelong's 3rd forward (behind Mooney and Hawkins), but he still kicks heaps of goals.

The best part about having a 3rd forward like Jurrah (and Stevie J) is that generally, they will get the third tier defender meaning they will go in to that contest as favourites. If Clubs decide to put their 1st or 2nd defender on them, it will mean our 1st or 2nd forward will be matched up against an opposition Club's 3rd defender.

My opinion of Jurrah as the 3rd forward will come in to play from 2011 - once Watts and Martin have established themselves. This year, Juraah will no doubt get the 1st or 2nd defender, I just hope he can rise to the next level.

This is where I get frustrated with posters who think like you do.

Just because Martin is going to be a forward and he happens to be a few inches taller than Jurrah, it does not mean that he will become a 2nd or 1st forward, if Martin is down there and so is Jurrah, who do you think Scarlett is going to pick up?

This is why we went for a 208cm ruckman/forward and a 201cm forward with speculative picks in the draft - if they do come on then they would be very handy 3rd forwards at a cheap price.

Jurrah and Watts are near enough to each other in terms of talent that they will fight it out for the attention of the best defenders for the next decade.

Anyone else is going to have to be a hell of a lot more talented than Martin (he is going to be a very good back-up ruck though) to make Jurrah a '3rd tall.'

Gotta love the photo of Bailey there too. He's got the 'I'm serious about this' look right, that's for sure (15).

He's also looking fitter, maybe getting into the preseason a bit himself (19)?

Shame the mo' got the cut though.

  rpfc said:

This is where I get frustrated with posters who think like you do.

Just because Martin is going to be a forward and he happens to be a few inches taller than Jurrah, it does not mean that he will become a 2nd or 1st forward, if Martin is down there and so is Jurrah, who do you think Scarlett is going to pick up?

This is why we went for a 208cm ruckman/forward and a 201cm forward with speculative picks in the draft - if they do come on then they would be very handy 3rd forwards at a cheap price.

Jurrah and Watts are near enough to each other in terms of talent that they will fight it out for the attention of the best defenders for the next decade.

Anyone else is going to have to be a hell of a lot more talented than Martin (he is going to be a very good back-up ruck though) to make Jurrah a '3rd tall.'

Sorry you feel that way RPFC, this is a forum where we voice our opinions, very rarely is everyone going to agree, and generally, we all think our opinion is the correct one.

I want to see Jurrah play as the 3rd tall/3rd forward, as I believe we will see the best of him. If all of a sudden he is getting the best defender week after week, I'm just not sure if he will be able to produce week after week like everyone on here is expecting him to do. Don't get me wrong, I think he is an amazing talent, but to continue to see that unpredictable work that he so brilliantly done (IN 9 GAMES), I think he may struggle with that type of role.

Introducing Martin (or another tall) will allow 1 of 2 things. Being a bigger body, match up wise they will need a stronger defender. I'll give you a scenario that I have in my head so you can try and understand what "posters like me" are thinking;

2010, Melb vs Geelong - our forward line could include Jurrah and Watts, with Geelong's obvious defenders being Scarlett and Taylor. Our 2 boys are far from being able to handle 2 defenders like that, and, if they (Jack and Liam) are our "tall forwards", they will be the blokes most likely to line up on them. Now, if we were to include a Stef Martin, or a bigger body like that, all of a sudden, Geelong will need to play a Mackie or Milburn on Martin - WILL NOT HAPPEN. I think (and this is from a non-AFL level coach, like yourself), Bomber Thompson would shift most likely Scarlett on to Martin, meaning Liam Jurrah would get Mackie/Milburn, also known as their 3rd defender. This is in no way saying that Martin is a better forward than either Jurrah or Watts, but match up wise, he will nee to be matched up by a bigger (an generally better) defender.

Hopefully this helps you partially understand my theory behind my original post.

Personally, I don't think Thompson would be too worried about seeing Martin in our forwardline. If he was to move a key defender off anyone, going from the evidence of their careers to date, he would move the defender from Watts.

Simply adding another tall to a forwardline does not automatically make him dangerous. Of course we would see the best of LJ if he was the third forward - we'd probably see the best of most of our players when they don't have to match up against the best.

At the moment our best forwards are probably Bate, Sylvia with Jurrah not far behind. Petterd and Green can play a role but are not designated (or respected) forwards and there is daylight to Maric, Miller and Watts.

I think there's merit in what you say Billy.

My major concern with Jurrah is the Wonna effect. If he drops off in form, or like Wonna gets injured, then his handful of great games will be forgotten very quickly.

That's not a good enough reason just to keep at at 3rd tall. I think we'll see him tried all over the place next year. One thing's for certain though. He won't get as easy a run as he did in '09.

  45HG16 said:

Personally, I don't think Thompson would be too worried about seeing Martin in our forwardline. If he was to move a key defender off anyone, going from the evidence of their careers to date, he would move the defender from Watts.

Simply adding another tall to a forwardline does not automatically make him dangerous. Of course we would see the best of LJ if he was the third forward - we'd probably see the best of most of our players when they don't have to match up against the best.

At the moment our best forwards are probably Bate, Sylvia with Jurrah not far behind. Petterd and Green can play a role but are not designated (or respected) forwards and there is daylight to Maric, Miller and Watts.

I think Thompson would be a little nervous if he saw Martin vs Mackie one-on-one in the goal square. I think a move would be made quick smart (swinging Taylor or Scarlett on to him), otherwise all our mids would have to do is kick it long to that one-on-one contest, and Martin would mark 95% of the time. You are spot on in saying that adding a big body in the FF spot doesn't automatically make them dangerous, well, actually, in a way it does. If an opposing side didn't get that match up right, it could potentially be very dangerous.

Playing someone like Bate, Petterd or Green in a FF-type position (in the Geelong scenario that I've used) would not really achieve anything because I believe a Milburn/Mackie vs Green/Bate match up is a pretty even contest.

If you've played football before, you will know that it's not that difficult to ensure a situation like making Jurrah our third forward. If you start him inside the 50m, of course he is going to get the better defender (based on his exposed form), so if you don't want that to happen, start him on the half forward flank with a licence to go as far up the ground as he sees fit, but to make sure he is around goal enough to kick his 2 or 3 a week. I the lead up to such a match, Scarlett will probably be expecting to go to him first up, but at the opening bounce, if LJ started almost on the wing with the view of floating forward, there is no way Scarlett will stay with/on him, meaning HE WILL GET THE THIRD DEFENDER as then Thompson will know that he will go forward at some stage, so will need a Mackie-type to run with him. The best part is, if LJ decides to have a spell in the forward 50m, he will be one-on-one with Mackie, or, Geelong will have to make quick changes to get Scarlett on him, which will lead to some confusion and a big chance of a mismatch elsewhere. With that said, my plan for LJ fr the next few seasons would be to make him as unpredictable as possible.

I see a lot of similarities between LJ and Robbo, more than the obvious jumping ability. Both played a lot taller than what they really were, when Neitz was playing and Robbo was able to roam more freely (becuase he had the 2nd/3rd tier defender), that's when he kicked his bags, but as soon as he was the main forward, let's be honest, he was very inconsistent.

Unless I have absolutely no f**king idea about football, I'm amazed a few of you can't understand my point.

So you know, I have it on very good authority that Martin WILL play more at FF this year.

  billy2803 said:

I think Thompson would be a little nervous if he saw Martin vs Mackie one-on-one in the goal square. I think a move would be made quick smart (swinging Taylor or Scarlett on to him), otherwise all our mids would have to do is kick it long to that one-on-one contest, and Martin would mark 95% of the time. You are spot on in saying that adding a big body in the FF spot doesn't automatically make them dangerous, well, actually, in a way it does. If an opposing side didn't get that match up right, it could potentially be very dangerous.

What damage could Martin do? That's what they would be pondering in the Geelong box. Martin is in the square, and Jurrah leading up 30 out - if I was a mid I know which player I would go to; I would go to Jurrah. Jurrah attracts the pill from the mids and Geelong, or any team, will put their best defender on the opposition's focal point.

  billy2803 said:

If you've played football before, you will know that it's not that difficult to ensure a situation like making Jurrah our third forward. If you start him inside the 50m, of course he is going to get the better defender (based on his exposed form), so if you don't want that to happen, start him on the half forward flank with a licence to go as far up the ground as he sees fit, but to make sure he is around goal enough to kick his 2 or 3 a week. I the lead up to such a match, Scarlett will probably be expecting to go to him first up, but at the opening bounce, if LJ started almost on the wing with the view of floating forward, there is no way Scarlett will stay with/on him, meaning HE WILL GET THE THIRD DEFENDER as then Thompson will know that he will go forward at some stage, so will need a Mackie-type to run with him. The best part is, if LJ decides to have a spell in the forward 50m, he will be one-on-one with Mackie, or, Geelong will have to make quick changes to get Scarlett on him, which will lead to some confusion and a big chance of a mismatch elsewhere. With that said, my plan for LJ fr the next few seasons would be to make him as unpredictable as possible.

So we have to start our best forward outside the 50 just so he doesn't get the attention?! Put the white flag down.

He is our most dangerous tall forward and is the number one target of the footy that goes into the forward line. Of course, he won't spend all his time at FF, but he is our focal point for the foreseeable future and he will be played predominantly at FF.

  billy2803 said:

I see a lot of similarities between LJ and Robbo, more than the obvious jumping ability. Both played a lot taller than what they really were, when Neitz was playing and Robbo was able to roam more freely (becuase he had the 2nd/3rd tier defender), that's when he kicked his bags, but as soon as he was the main forward, let's be honest, he was very inconsistent.

Where is our Neitz? Will Watts be solid enough to be a FF, or will he be a mobile (Riewoldt-like) CHF? Martin certainly isn't as talented as Neitz, he won't have the same affect on - the mids delivering the ball, and the attention of the defenders.

  billy2803 said:

Unless I have absolutely no f**king idea about football, I'm amazed a few of you can't understand my point.

So you know, I have it on very good authority that Martin WILL play more at FF this year.

I have little doubt that Martin will play a deep forward role in 2010 and be back-up ruck, but his presence in the forward line doesn't mean that he will get the best defender or that the midfielders will kick it to him more; both of which are needed to relegate Jurrah to 2nd or 3rd tall.