On 26/06/2011 at 07:36, RalphiusMaximus said:

"Fall from grace"?

Is that what you call it?

I thought it was just a bunch of hacks sitting in their homes typing furiously about him on a fan forum because they no longer have Cam Bruce to complain about. I know he's struggling a bit right now, but all indications are that the club still see him as a promising player with a clear place in the future premiership tilt.

Yep. Some people just are not happy unless they have someone to kick.

  On 26/06/2011 at 09:35, grant said:

I like him, but he reminds me of Cam Bruce, and the team can only accommodate one CB at a time.

Do you mean Cam Bruce from Hawthorn?

He's been behind the eight-ball since his injury at the start of the year, just as he was in 2010. Yep his form has been average - his disposal yesterday was poor - but I think we need to stick with him. He's got the makings of a very good player which he has shown in the past. I think in time he'll reward us.

  On 26/06/2011 at 08:02, Sydney Dee said:

I wouldn't be so quick to discard Morton. I've still got some faith that he can turn into a very good player at the club.

Interesting about his game v Richmond was that while his first two possessions were rubbish, he kept at it and finished with eight kicks

I want to see the replay to see everything he did, but there were certainly a couple of defensive saves in that last quarter that were telling and that's been part of his game since he has been back.

Worth perservering with.

As I mentioned in the other thread, what really annoyed about Morton's game on Saturday was his refusal to man-up at stoppages. At one point he was standing five metres off Dustin Martin at a ball-up in Richmond's forward line.

Inexcusable.

Haters need to learn that there's alot of grey areas with young blokes coming through, and next year with a proper pre-season and a fresh mindset Morton may start to utilise his natural tools and abilities closer to his noted potential and become a real handy asset for us

On the other harnd...

Morton lovers should realize that drafting is an educated guess, and no matter how many tests are done on players not all of them will make it

This year seems like a bit of a nothing year for him so far and I reckon he'll be back and forth from Casey a bit, would love to see a Jones, Rivers, or even a McDonald or Dunn taking him under their wing in a mentoring kind of way and help him work out these effort and hesitance issues.

Speaking of which, anyone know if Beamer and Jones ran the boxing camp for the young blokes this year?

You're basing the fact he is gone on body language, really?

  On 26/06/2011 at 21:12, whelan45 said:

You're basing the fact he is gone on body language, really?

Got a big old roll of the eyes from me as well. As usual with this kind of carp, people have no facts at all to base things on so they make stuff up.

If Cale does roll, does this constitute GWS's one non-contracted player from each club or does TS (hypothetically / if he decides to) then simply not sign, and go into the PSD? If this is the case how is the one player per club rule enforced?

  On 26/06/2011 at 08:28, Redleg said:

Good post. Yes there are hundreds of 194cm players who can run quickly and play anywhere from BP down to FP. Given time he will fill out more and may be a key position player who with his speed and mobility can cause headaches for the opposition. On the other hand he could be a tall quick HFF who is also hard to man up on. Too many are too quick to write him off. He made some clangers yesterday but coming on in a pressure situation late in a game can lead to that. Cut him some slack people, these guys aren't machines.

I agree - his early high pressure short kicks are no good but some of his longer kicking was impressive and his run back with the flight in the last quarter was impressive. Like most big guys when in stride he is quite quick. I think we should perservere with him.

  On 26/06/2011 at 23:35, Dinosaur Rover said:

I agree - his early high pressure short kicks are no good but some of his longer kicking was impressive and his run back with the flight in the last quarter was impressive. Like most big guys when in stride he is quite quick. I think we should perservere with him.

His immediate problem is that in the back half his kicking and decision making has led to opposition goals.

His disposal has been woeful and he does not contest consistently.

I'd like to think he will make it but his time is now. HE must start to do the right things for the rest of the year.

nothing would delight me more to see him turn it around.

  On 26/06/2011 at 21:12, whelan45 said:

You're basing the fact he is gone on body language, really?

You've read the Scully thread, right.......

  On 26/06/2011 at 11:37, Clint Bizkit said:

As I mentioned in the other thread, what really annoyed about Morton's game on Saturday was his refusal to man-up at stoppages. At one point he was standing five metres off Dustin Martin at a ball-up in Richmond's forward line.

Inexcusable.

Honestly, I didn't notice it, but how do you know what his intructions were?

How do you know what the strategy was for playing Martin?

Martin didn't exactly tear us apart. He was quiet by his standards.

Surely if you noticed, the coaches would have, and if they did he'd have been dragged and this would've been corrected.

Storm in a teacup.

  On 26/06/2011 at 08:50, why you little said:

Cale Morton needs to be played Forward of the centre.

Totally agree with this! If we are to keep him and and persist with him, i agree that he needs to play in the forward half! He is a good kick for goal and can get on the end of some easy uncontested ball

I'm conflicted on Cale. His first two disposals were shockers and split us open, but he again was able to complete some goal-saving marks and won plenty of the ball - 6 kicks in the last despite those confidence shaking first couple of possessions.

He has been handy in the air the last few weeks while in defence.

I would like to see us persevere. There's not a lot left to come into this side - Tapscott, Davey and Bail this year, and Grimes a definite for next year. Dunn a maybe this year.

The kid is 194cm, has basically not had a full preseason for the past 2 years and has had some very good games (eg.the 37 disposal game against WB in 2009}. He's a loper and will always look slower than he is.

With a full preseason and some continuity in games, I suspect he will live up to his earlier promise. Just give him some time.

  On 26/06/2011 at 08:02, Sydney Dee said:

I wouldn't be so quick to discard Morton. I've still got some faith that he can turn into a very good player at the club.

I agree, Sydney Dee.

We must remember he's missed the last 2 pre-seasons due to injury(one due to a "sacrificial act" of supreme courage v. Ess at Princes Park in a practice match)

He ran back into a big pack with the flight of the ball on Sat. v. Richmond, too.

His form's slowly improving. When he's at his top, he's hard to match up on. He can tag a mobile tall, too.

I really hope we do all we can to keep him.

Sorry , "Angry Dee", just read your post. Don't be too angry at me for plagiary!

Best trade bait we've got at the end of the season. Trade high or no deal. That's the way it goes.

Watts was soft just 7 games ago!

Morton will be a very good AFL footballer

  On 27/06/2011 at 12:08, Roost It said:

Watts was soft just 7 games ago!

Morton will be a very good AFL footballer

I'm not convinced about Morton, Strauss or Rivers yet in terms of them being in our best 22 in the medium to long term.

Rivers plays/looks great on the right match up and does push forward at times to create, but very exposed when mis-matched (which is far too often for mine and often seems over powered). Seems to lose his feet in the contest way too often for an experienced player, allowing his opponent to run off and create havoc. However, I can't see a direct replacement in the Magoos at present that offers us a better option. Maybe Warnock body wise but i don't rate Warnock higher than Rivers at this point. Warnock has less than half the experience of Rivers. Maybe a tad unfair to compare at this point in their careers. Big fan of Rivers and was one of my favs early on. But if we're going to make it to the top of the mountain... trade options (Rivers & Warnock) end of year maybe?

Morton shows glimpses/flashes of promise/class. But then there's the short ball clangers. If he can get the muscle on a little, puts himself in to a few more contests and starts making the right choices with disposal more often, he could be a very nice asset. Lots of pieces missing in his puzzle for mine. However, If filled in over next year or two, then we got ourselves a sweet jigsaw to draw on.

Strauss, just starting out so expectations shouldn't be too high, however, seemed to be chasing tails all day against the Tiges/Dockers and a little off the pace at this level from what i recall in last 2 games. Like to see Evans in for Strauss for a few games sometime soon if he's available for selection (and earned it) to take another look.

  On 28/06/2011 at 11:21, Rusty Nails said:

I'm not convinced about Morton, Strauss or Rivers yet in terms of them being in our best 22 in the medium to long term.

Rivers plays/looks great on the right match up and does push forward at times to create, but very exposed when mis-matched (which is far too often for mine and often seems over powered). Seems to lose his feet in the contest way too often for an experienced player, allowing his opponent to run off and create havoc. However, I can't see a direct replacement in the Magoos at present that offers us a better option. Maybe Warnock body wise but i don't rate Warnock higher than Rivers at this point. Warnock has less than half the experience of Rivers. Maybe a tad unfair to compare at this point in their careers. Big fan of Rivers and was one of my favs early on. But if we're going to make it to the top of the mountain... trade options (Rivers & Warnock) end of year maybe?

I think that we are missing another CHIP sized defender, Garland is good but dont think he can handle a Buddy or Dawes when required, Rivers will benefit from being the Maxwell type marking floating across definately in our best 22 i believe

  On 26/06/2011 at 23:25, Territory said:

If Cale does roll, does this constitute GWS's one non-contracted player from each club or does TS (hypothetically / if he decides to) then simply not sign, and go into the PSD? If this is the case how is the one player per club rule enforced?

I am absolutely certain that DumbItrou would find, or create, some loophole, though not of course were a Collingwood, Carlton or Essendon player involved.

(And I am not paranoid, it is just that the voices tell me that they really do hate me)!

  On 27/06/2011 at 08:03, pitmaster said:

I'm conflicted on Cale. His first two disposals were shockers and split us open, but he again was able to complete some goal-saving marks and won plenty of the ball - 6 kicks in the last despite those confidence shaking first couple of possessions.

  On 27/06/2011 at 11:30, maximum bob said:

Best trade bait we've got at the end of the season. Trade high or no deal. That's the way it goes.

  On 28/06/2011 at 11:21, Rusty Nails said:

I'm not convinced about Morton, Strauss or Rivers yet in terms of them being in our best 22 in the medium to long term.

Morton shows glimpses/flashes of promise/class. But then there's the short ball clangers. If he can get the muscle on a little, puts himself in to a few more contests and starts making the right choices with disposal more often, he could be a very nice asset. Lots of pieces missing in his puzzle for mine. However, If filled in over next year or two, then we got ourselves a sweet jigsaw to draw on.

These say it for me. Morton to me is one day a putz, another day a young bloke showing glimpses of a lot of promise. Trouble is, he has proven he can be a putz, but the promise is still only a promise. Right now, I'm still leaning more towards the putz end of the scale.

Maybe the test question is: Would you go out of your way to recruit him if he were at another club?

"I think that we are missing another CHIP sized defender, Garland is good but dont think he can handle a Buddy or Dawes when required, Rivers will benefit from being the Maxwell type marking floating across definately in our best 22 i believe"

If you really have this worry then whip down and watch the Scorps one day and I think your concerns will disappear.

  On 28/06/2011 at 11:36, Jordie_tackles said:

I think that we are missing another CHIP sized defender, Garland is good but dont think he can handle a Buddy or Dawes when required, Rivers will benefit from being the Maxwell type marking floating across definately in our best 22 i believe

I initially worried about this myself, however I think Garland is showing that despite his physical appearance, he is up to the task on these type of forwards. He actually plays them extremely well. Rivers is great in the Maxwell role, defiantly best 22. I think the fact we have Martin as the back-up ruck gives us terrific flexibility as he is able to go down back and play on a gorilla if they are showing they are too big for the other boys.