How lucky are we Chris Dawes said no to us.

[dee-tox 4,835]

Dawes cannot mark over his head. Bit like catching farts with a butterfly net. Not what you need as a centre half forward.

[Sir Why You Little 36,607]

Dawes is a great second or third forward.

He competes his ass off. Those doubting him are fools.

[Je Roos Salem 661]

Get real

What chance does Dawes have with the worst delivery in the history of football kicking the ball and the paltry amount of inside 50's we get?

Lay off Dawes, the guy busts his ass every week and is the main reason we beat Adelaide in Adelaide

It wasn't to have a go at him, just to highlight the previous opinions and assess where he's at right now.

[Demon trucker 1,800]

Hhe Meat needs to lead more from the goal sq last week he calleed pedo to kick to the top of tthe goal sq! When he had three port players on him,, should of,told him to kick so he could lead to the ball

[Pipefitter 2,133]

He's a 2nd or 3rd forward but he's getting paid first forward money. He's a real competitor though so hopefully we will see the best of him when Hogan arrives.

[JV7 2,348]

He has been really poor the past month, no one can question his pressure... Yes the delivery is terrible. But I made a thread after the dogs game Dawes doesn't do himself any favours. He just stands there puts his hand in the air and says put it on my head! A lot of the reason why we stuff around with the ball is because no'one is leading up at the kicker. Dawes is at his best when he leads up and can take it on his chest. I just think his that low on confidence he doesn't want/demand the footy

This was my take on him following the bulldogs game 2nd time around :

Any chance this bloke can get in front. Week after week he is caught behind, it drives me insane. The best games his played is when he is working hard and been hit up on the lead . He isn't a very good contested mark and time after time his caught behind his opponent or trying to wrestle them. When we have the ball around the centre line he just stands there and points to the air to sit it on his head... Chris your not that good in the air or one on one, get on your bike and lead to the kicker and provide an option to players coming forward

Edited August 4, 2014 by JV7

[praha 11,110]

Came to the club knowing Clark was there, with Hogan in the shadows.

Turns out he's our only forward at least for the rest of the season.

Teams just need to stop him and they've stopped our forward line.

Imagine if we still had Clark and Jurrah? We'd be a 6-7 win better team. Easily. Even with the current crop of spuds missing from 5 meters out.

Edited August 4, 2014 by praha

[dazzledavey36 52,729]

Call me lame but I reckon we'd be that keen for another decent big man besides Clark I'd make a play at Cam Pederson from North.

Ha called it early!

good stuff

[Barney Rubble 1,576]

Dawes is a great second or third forward.

He competes his ass off. Those doubting him are fools.

I don't deny he competes his arse off WYL

We have a lot of players that also compete their arse off.

The problem we have with Dawes and the others, is they haven't got the skill set to make competing worthwhile.

[rjay 24,579]

I don't deny he competes his arse off WYL

We have a lot of players that also compete their arse off.

The problem we have with Dawes and the others, is they haven't got the skill set to make competing worthwhile.

I kind of agree, I think he has to give us a lot more. As noted by 'JV7' above, he needs to start leading up at the ball a lot more. He's not there purely for forward pressure, it's nice that he will chase but at the end of the day the absolute best forward pressure is kicking goals and that's not happening.

So often I see Dawes either leading back or holding his position rather than making a legitimate lead up and really wanting the ball. It's a sure sign he doesn't have the confidence to take the game on. He's being paid overs to make a difference, not to speak well in the media or chase players around the ground, occasional catching them, very occasionally. He needs to provide a legitimate target and hold his grabs.

[Deecisive 1,709]

Dawes would be a far better player if he had the support around him and the players delivering the ball better to him. he was recruited to be our CHF with Hogan or Clarke beside him. But he is essentially our whole forward line now and is more often than not double tagged for the whole game as opposition teams keep their spare in defense,, while ours runs around on the ball. How many times do we actually get the ball inside 50 and what percentage of those entries are directed at Dawes in any way that could resemble decent delivery. When we get some of these other things right I am sure Dawes will do a lot better, the bloke chases and harasses the opposition players when a lot of our other players just sit back and watch or mind their own players. I just hope we dont ruin the poor bugger before he has a chance to show how good he can be for us.

[Moneider96 1,045]

Common guys this was 2 years ago lol...I'm sure they don't think that anymore.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Moneider96

[McQueen 17,864]

Right at this moment I reckon Fitzy would give us more.

Dawes has been very underwhelming of late.

[rjay 24,579]

Dawes would be a far better player if he had the support around him and the players delivering the ball better to him. he was recruited to be our CHF with Hogan or Clarke beside him. But he is essentially our whole forward line now and is more often than not double tagged for the whole game as opposition teams keep their spare in defense,, while ours runs around on the ball. How many times do we actually get the ball inside 50 and what percentage of those entries are directed at Dawes in any way that could resemble decent delivery. When we get some of these other things right I am sure Dawes will do a lot better, the bloke chases and harasses the opposition players when a lot of our other players just sit back and watch or mind their own players. I just hope we dont ruin the poor bugger before he has a chance to show how good he can be for us.

...but he must start leading to the player with the ball. Part of the reason our inside 50's are not up to scratch is because there is no one to kick it to, chicken and egg I know but Dawes must make more realistic attempts to provide an option. The games I've seen live he tends to want the ball over the back and when the teammate is around 50 away meaning they would have to kick it at least 60-65 mtrs and it's not going to happen.

He needs confidence to take the game on and not just chase opponents all day.

[spirit of norm smith 15,116]

Dawes is getting ignored too much. Man on Man he is a very goid pption.

He must stay within the fwd 50 as a target and as a scoring option.

We must try for our firwards to not get sucked up the ground.

[beelzebub 23,197]

I don't deny he competes his arse off WYL

We have a lot of players that also compete their arse off.

The problem we have with Dawes and the others, is they haven't got the skill set to make competing worthwhile.

Chippy . Id agree he doesnt have the tricks bag to make a #1 kpf. He wasnt meant to be one and hes having to carry that role. Its very 50-50 as to how well hes coping. I think itll change markedly once Hogan gets on the park.....He'll suck the oppos 1st and 2nd defenders to him ( poor bastards lol )

How anyone can make much of a meal with our attrocious delivery is beyond me though

[KingDingAling 3,737]

Dawes is a spud, a shocking kick and a clumbsy mark.

We dodged a bullet, thats for sure.

Dawes is still a shocking kick and a clumbsy mark.

But I will add, his leadership has been invaluable.

That is probably something I didn't expect from Dawes, such great leadership.

[Pennant St Dee 12,657]

His leadership, tackling and pressure inside forward 50 is invaluable

He is not a bad kick, in fact better than I thought after his last year with the Pies

Agree with others he is a number 2/3 forward and will benefit from assistance inside the forward 50

[Chook 14,988]

Chis Dawes should be joined at the hip with Dean Kent, and everyone else should be told to kick it on his head 30 times a game. We'd do a lot better with that than with whatever sorry excuse for an attacking gameplan we have now.

[Fork 'em 6,938]

So Kent can read the bounce off Dawes head.
Nice.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Fork 'em

[Akum 2,660]

Dawes cannot mark over his head. Bit like catching farts with a butterfly net....

Just out of interest ...

What's the correct technique for catching farts?

[Chook 14,988]

Just out of interest ...

What's the correct technique for catching farts?

With a vacuum cleaner.

[P-man 13,366]

Tick for leadership no doubt, and reserve final judgement til we have a fully functioning forward line. But it's disappointing he hasn't been able to reproduce efforts like that against the Crows. He was actually superb that day and has been a shadow of that player since.