Bad season for the Indigenous players

[John Crow Batty 8,880]

Nothing is going right with these guys.

Davey-Poor form, injuries and has lost all his speed. Despite being a highly paid leader is not in best 22.

Jurrah-Cruising at a lazy 80%. Gone backwards. Distractions back home. Is he playing with injuries?

Bennell-No improvement from an inconsistent season last year.

Jetta-Some progress till season ruined by injury.

Wonnameri-Missing all year due to personal issues. Is he worth persevering with?

I finding it hard to see a long term future for any of these guys.

[Guest hangon007]

Nothing is going right with these guys.

Davey-Poor form, injuries and has lost all his speed. Despite being a highly paid leader is not in best 22.

Jurrah-Cruising at a lazy 80%. Gone backwards. Distractions back home. Is he playing with injuries?

Bennell-No improvement from an inconsistent season last year.

Jetta-Some progress till season ruined by injury.

Wonnameri-Missing all year due to personal issues. Is he worth persevering with?

I finding it hard to see a long term future for any of these guys.

Do you ever have anything positive to say about our boys?

Give them a break, all have perfectly good reasons!!!!

All a vital components to our future.

[old dee 24,001]

Nothing is going right with these guys.

Davey-Poor form, injuries and has lost all his speed. Despite being a highly paid leader is not in best 22.

Jurrah-Cruising at a lazy 80%. Gone backwards. Distractions back home. Is he playing with injuries?

Bennell-No improvement from an inconsistent season last year.

Jetta-Some progress till season ruined by injury.

Wonnameri-Missing all year due to personal issues. Is he worth persevering with?

I finding it hard to see a long term future for any of these guys.

Here is my call

Davey at the end of his career, trade if we could get something reasonable. Is only going to be a bit player in the future, small forward at best from here.

Jurrah never thought he would be the prime forward, can still be very damaging from a half forward role.

Bennell not up to AFL standard, I think his contract is up????

Jetta could still make it worth more time.

Wonnameri, Think he is just below AFL standard however injuries and other distractions are probably going to mean he does not make it.

would not surprise me if he packed it in before the end of 2011. Where was he last week? did not play in either Casey sides. The club said he was "feeling a bit off" after the Geelong game.Really cannot see him coming back just don't think his heart is in it.Contract is up?

adc you forgot Lawerence, He is very young but has started to show something at Casey looks to have a future.

Above may look a little brutal but thats my take.

[old dee 24,001]

Do you ever have anything positive to say about our boys?

Give them a break, all have perfectly good reasons!!!!

All a vital components to our future.

Sorry to disagree with you so early in the day hangon but can you get off your rose coloured glasses please.

We have been playing poorly for most of this year, have had our worst game in 20 years

and you persist with this line of every player is fine and we are ok.

If that was the case we would be in the eight right now and the constant 10+ goal losses would not have happened.

Can you please stop defending the indefensable.

We have serious problems, face them.

[Japaljarri 28]

Bit harsh with the last call in the first post for mine but it certainly has been a challenging year for that group. Thought Jetta showed quite a bit early in the year, he can be quite tough and hungry in the contest which is something the club needs. l think Daveys (and previously Whelan's) leadership of that group has been immensely important and perhaps less possible this year as he has been caught up with his own issues. He has been an excellent servant of the club and is just back from injury....And that Aussie and LJs home situations/personal losses over the past 12 months in the NT would be a significant source of stress and imbalance for anyone playing AFL away from home. Would just love to see Aussie get back........Hopefully they have all learnt alot and can bounce back next year.

[Demons 32 235]

Davey only just returned from a 10 week lay off with an injury.... I'll give him more than 1 week before banishing him to the title of 'career over'.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Davey at the end of his career, trade if we could get something reasonable. Is only going to be a bit player in the future, small forward at best from here.

Davey has just turned 28 and not 34. He is out of form. Even if he is just a small forward from here in then its something MFC sadly lack. I am sure shipping out a leadership group player on a trade will work well with the playing group morale. It would want to be a good trade offer.

And if Bennell and Wonna are not up to AFL, I am not sure how Jetta could or will still make it. Battles hard but has few leading skills that he can build a sustainable career at AFL level.

[Range Rover 1,935]

Nothing is going right with these guys.

Davey-Poor form, injuries and has lost all his speed. Despite being a highly paid leader is not in best 22.

Jurrah-Cruising at a lazy 80%. Gone backwards. Distractions back home. Is he playing with injuries?

Bennell-No improvement from an inconsistent season last year.

Jetta-Some progress till season ruined by injury.

Wonnameri-Missing all year due to personal issues. Is he worth persevering with?

I finding it hard to see a long term future for any of these guys.

My quick take:

Davey - Stagnated under Bailey but has the tools to make a comeback. Give him a pre-season under a new coaching regime and a chance to come back firing in 2012.

Jurrah - I see problems ahead for Liam. His laconic style of play is occasionally exciting but not what we ultimately need in modern footy. Must find new levels of intensity but question mark over whether he can.

Bennell - Quite simply, not up to AFL standard. Not tough enough.

Jetta - Worth persevering with. Has a played a couple of games where I've really thought he could play. Let him fill out a little bit more.

Wonna - Should be let go at season's end. Lacks the application and fitness required and really hasn't fired a shot since that purple patch a few years ago. He's done.

[old dee 24,001]

Davey only just returned from a 10 week lay off with an injury.... I'll give him more than 1 week before banishing him to the title of 'career over'.

he was rubbish before he got injured, in fact he has been nothing much ofthe last couple of years

since teams worked out a close check takes him out of the game.

When was his last game breaker game? when did lhe ast run down any one in a defensive action.

even his great kicking has deserted him.

[old dee 24,001]

Davey has just turned 28 and not 34. He is out of form. Even if he is just a small forward from here in then its something MFC sadly lack. I am sure shipping out a leadership group player on a trade will work well with the playing group morale. It would want to be a good trade offer.

And if Bennell and Wonna are not up to AFL, I am not sure how Jetta could or will still make it. Battles hard but has few leading skills that he can build a sustainable career at AFL level.

RR Davey has a long history of injurys that he takes a long time to get over.

he missed 10 weeks this year, from memory the last 8 of 2010.

He has not had a good year since 2009.

I know he is 28 but that is 29 next year and some guys are finished at 30 through injury.

I just do not think it looks good for Davey from here in, our best option IMO is if he plays a forward role.

I think his days as a mid field player are behind him.

[John Crow Batty 8,880]

Perhaps I was a bit harsh in putting them all in the one basket but looking deep into the future I can't see much place for most of them if we want to build a premiership team. Jetta certainly needs another chance. Jurrah is still a required player. Young Lawrence is going through his development. I lost it with Davey after the St Kilda game. I wonder if things will change with a new coach.

We have been hearing good things about what the club has been doing for these guys over the past couple of years but it irks me that none of the many indigenous players that are playing good footy are at our club.

[The Chazz 4,077]

To be honest, I have seen enough in all players to believe they are still worth hanging on to. One thing I will add to the arguement;

Bennell - 48 games

Jetta - 28 games

Jurrah - 33 games

Aussie - 31 games

I don't think anyone can deny that when LJ, Jet and Aussie are in the team and are "on", we look like a better team. Think back to the Hawthorn game last year when Aussie and LJ in particular were 2 key players in us nearly rolling them.

Perhaps the new coach should do to Flash what Malthouse did to Leon Davis this year. Just a thought.

[rpfc 28,906]

White players are doing s...house too...

Damn honkeys...

[Demons 32 235]

he was rubbish before he got injured, in fact he has been nothing much ofthe last couple of years

since teams worked out a close check takes him out of the game.

When was his last game breaker game? when did lhe ast run down any one in a defensive action.

even his great kicking has deserted him.

He isn't the run down tackle player he was.... he is much more than that. He is an actual midfielder now... Real midfielders do not have the fitness build for repeated sprints these days, it's more about long distance running.

Yeah he was in bad form before his injury, probably would have been dropped until we found out he was playing with an injury....

Now he has recovered, played about 3 quartersof VFL footy, an AFL game where he spent most of the day at FP in a team getting beaten, and now you want him dropped already? I could name many other players who have been shocking and uninjured for weeks so why blame Davey? Why is he the leadership scapegoat?

Is it because everyone seems to think indiginous players have to 'break games open', 'break the lines', do something magical', 'be fast and run people down'?.... We are not making the finals, we need Aaron to play out the season, get some confidence and build toward 2012.

[old dee 24,001]

He isn't the run down tackle player he was.... he is much more than that. He is an actual midfielder now... Real midfielders do not have the fitness build for repeated sprints these days, it's more about long distance running.

Yeah he was in bad form before his injury, probably would have been dropped until we found out he was playing with an injury....

Now he has recovered, played about 3 quartersof VFL footy, an AFL game where he spent most of the day at FP in a team getting beaten, and now you want him dropped already? I could name many other players who have been shocking and uninjured for weeks so why blame Davey? Why is he the leadership scapegoat?

Is it because everyone seems to think indiginous players have to 'break games open', 'break the lines', do something magical', 'be fast and run people down'?.... We are not making the finals, we need Aaron to play out the season, get some confidence and build toward 2012.

Where did I say he should be dropped. I am saying his best is behind him. Unfortunately he is better than quite a few others and should be played the remainder of the season.

We are talking about the future.

And that does not look great in my opinion.

[old dee 24,001]

White players are doing s...house too...

Damn honkeys...

no one said they are playing well rpfc.

the discussion is about these five.

[rpfc 28,906]

no one said they are playing well rpfc.

the discussion is about these five.

I'm sorry.

Continue.

Cracker.

[old dee 24,001]

To be honest, I have seen enough in all players to believe they are still worth hanging on to. One thing I will add to the arguement;

Bennell - 48 games

Jetta - 28 games

Jurrah - 33 games

Aussie - 31 games

I don't think anyone can deny that when LJ, Jet and Aussie are in the team and are "on", we look like a better team. Think back to the Hawthorn game last year when Aussie and LJ in particular were 2 key players in us nearly rolling them.

Perhaps the new coach should do to Flash what Malthouse did to Leon Davis this year. Just a thought.

How many good games?

From my view

Bennell - 48 games 5 good ones

Jetta - 28 games 8 " "

Jurrah - 33 games 20

Aussie - 31 games 5 " "

If aussie has only played 31 games then that says in all!

Jurrah and Jetta are keeps the rest can please themselves

They will probably all be retained

[The Chazz 4,077]

How many good games?

From my view

Bennell - 48 games 5 good ones

Jetta - 28 games 8 " "

Jurrah - 33 games 20

Aussie - 31 games 5 " "

If aussie has only played 31 games then that says in all!

Jurrah and Jetta are keeps the rest can please themselves

They will probably all be retained

We could probably play this sort of game with all our players that have played under 50 games.

The big issue that I can see with those named aboved is continuity in games. Jurrah is the only one, for various reasons, that has had the opportunity to string 15 games in a row. I am confident that Aussie, Benny and the Jet would all increase the amount of "good games" that they have played if they could add a run of 15 games to their development.

[Pates 9,672]

Nothing is going right with these guys.

Davey-Poor form, injuries and has lost all his speed. Despite being a highly paid leader is not in best 22.

Jurrah-Cruising at a lazy 80%. Gone backwards. Distractions back home. Is he playing with injuries?

Bennell-No improvement from an inconsistent season last year.

Jetta-Some progress till season ruined by injury.

Wonnameri-Missing all year due to personal issues. Is he worth persevering with?

I finding it hard to see a long term future for any of these guys.

My assessment:

Davey - Started the year poorly and then got injured. I feel a lot of people are quick to forget how valuable he was last year, fans talk about how we don't have any experienced players and yet want to get rid of him. Give him a chance FFS.

Jurrah - Has gone backwards, name one player apart from Judd who hasn't had a backwards year. He'll be back.

Bennell - Has been disappointing, flashing in and out of games, was good early one and looks great when he backs his pace but has doesn't have good awareness. We'll persist with him, but will be interesting to see where he is in two years.

Jetta - similar to Bennell but has also been injured. Sounds like he's been valuable at Casey, hopefully he can stay injury free next year and show us something next year.

Wonna - Impossible to judge this year, has clearly had a tough year physically and mentally. My thoughts are we'll give him another year, perhaps reduced salary or even rookie list him if he's still a bit unsure of his plans. But if he WANTS to play for us, give him a go because we've barely seen him and LJ together, and i reckon the could light it up!

[Ouch! 2,269]

I think I mentioned this elsewhere, and sure it might be a slightly left field option here:

Maybe the club should look at getting a coach in like Michael O'Loughlin who I understand is very highly regarded at the academy/centre of excellence, and has coached one of the underage international rules teams I think). Not only could I see him being capable of being a forwards coach (something I personally feel he has a better understanding of than Josh Mahoney) but he would also be there as a mentor for our indigenous players in getting the most out of what they have.

Please note I am not saying get an indigenous coach for our indigenous players, thats too simplistic a view to take, however take a serious look at Micky and if he is a capable the benefits could be two-fold.

[Redleg 41,942]

I think I mentioned this elsewhere, and sure it might be a slightly left field option here:

Maybe the club should look at getting a coach in like Michael O'Loughlin who I understand is very highly regarded at the academy/centre of excellence, and has coached one of the underage international rules teams I think). Not only could I see him being capable of being a forwards coach (something I personally feel he has a better understanding of than Josh Mahoney) but he would also be there as a mentor for our indigenous players in getting the most out of what they have.

Please note I am not saying get an indigenous coach for our indigenous players, thats too simplistic a view to take, however take a serious look at Micky and if he is a capable the benefits could be two-fold.

Good post.

[Chicken Deelicious 0]

It takes 22 to make a team. If we had other parts of the team firing, then the 'third forward' role (LJ) or 'small forward' (Aussie/Flash) would be much easier, and we would be crowing about the sublime skills these guys exhibit. I think in the current context it is difficult to make such an assessment. Better to ask "when the team around them is working, can they add real value"? LJ - as third forward, absolutely. Aussie or Flash - in form, both would. Jetta - midfield dash? Needs to get a bit more authority and trust his skills. Bennell?? Maybe, but where? Half back? Half forward??

It is a great question - but I think we need another pre-season and the rest of the team doing their bit to fairly judge these guys. Bennell would be the closest to the edge in my humble opinion.

[wisedog 352]

I'm sorry.

Continue.

Cracker.

rofl

[monoccular 17,642]

he was rubbish before he got injured, in fact he has been nothing much ofthe last couple of years

since teams worked out a close check takes him out of the game.

When was his last game breaker game? when did lhe ast run down any one in a defensive action.

even his great kicking has deserted him.

I guess it depends just when Davey "got injured"?

He looked as if he was under par physically long before he was declared injured.

I would like to see him get ready for pre-season 2012, even if that means he is 'rested' for the remainder of this wasted season (giving someone else such as Laurence or Tom McDonald or Tom McNamara a run) under new tutelage, play as a forward, then see.

Liam - as above - a new coach, possibly a new role, say as a HF floater who can run opposition down, and a demand for full commitment to the cause.

I am not sure of Aussie's contract status - I would certainly demand a commitment from him to get fit and stay fit over the preseason, and commit to playing his heart out for another couple of seasons at least.

Bennell?? The new coach needs to "interview him" and they need between them to work out if he really wants to play AFL.

Jetta - needs more time.