Dunn played a role in the second half of the year he has never played before, he had a spot in the back 6. He played it very well. Not only did he have a long and accurate kick, I thought he was quite smart when running, drawing the defender before offloading with the handball when bringing the ball out of defense. Don't see the logic in delisting him when we may have finally found his best spot.

A Keeper for mine. Probably our best kick for goal if they'd leave him thereabouts

Nice little interview with him has gone up. Looks and sounds very settled and confident in his new role and the trajectory of the club.

Always liked Dunny and the mongrel he brings, but I think now he is in a position down back where his skills can be best utilised and the debates about whether he starts should hopefully be put to rest. In both he and Watts, and the largely unknown potential of Strauss, we are amassing some damaging rebounding defenders who can go forward and kick goals if required.

At 25 years old, I think we're about to witness the best years of this bloke and they are coming at a good time.

  On 22/10/2012 at 20:11, whelan45 said:

Dunn played a role in the second half of the year he has never played before, he had a spot in the back 6. He played it very well. Not only did he have a long and accurate kick, I thought he was quite smart when running, drawing the defender before offloading with the handball when bringing the ball out of defense. Don't see the logic in delisting him when we may have finally found his best spot.

Went ok last year Dunny but I haven't given up on Troy Davis yet and hope he continues to put pressure on the back six. Gets a bit of a chance to present this weekend, like Fitzpatrick and others and I hope something good pops up.

  On 28/02/2013 at 16:01, P_Man said:

At 25 years old, I think we're about to witness the best years of this bloke and they are coming at a good time.

That's nice.

For me, a 1st round pick that has taken longer than a ruckman to get to this point when he has been given chances to play *everywhere* in his 99 games is a tad disillusioning.

This is his chance alright - his last.

  On 28/02/2013 at 16:01, P_Man said:

Always liked Dunny and the mongrel he brings,

  On 28/02/2013 at 20:53, rpfc said:

That's nice.

For me, a 1st round pick that has taken longer than a ruckman to get to this point when he has been given chances to play *everywhere* in his 99 games is a tad disillusioning.

This is his chance alright - his last.

Better late than never.

I think Dunn is one of about 3 Melbourne players that can actually kick a football.

  On 28/09/2012 at 14:49, Deez said:

I think moving him back is a good move. He has some what of a tank, he is an antagonising bastard - forwards worst nightmare.

Further, he has a good clearance kick, provided its to the right spot - in excess of fifty metres out of the back line.

hopefully it proves to be a good move.

Agree - he gets in his opponents face and I can imagine forwards not wanting to play on him relative to more genteel customers in Watts McDonald Garland etc.

I also think that with his long kcicks and those of Garland and together with Watts more precise kicking and run and perhaps the quality of a Strauus or Jetta we are improving the ability of the back line to clear defense and set up the forwards. Fast long ball movement to 3 big mobile forwards in a one on one marking contest seems like a plan.

  On 28/02/2013 at 23:15, Dinosaur Rover said:

Agree - he gets in his opponents face and I can imagine forwards not wanting to play on him relative to more genteel customers in Watts McDonald Garland etc.

  On 28/02/2013 at 21:54, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Better late than never.

I think Dunn is one of about 3 Melbourne players that can actually kick a football.

agreed, but he's still filling a hole in the list atmo.

He will need to improve out of site if he wants to finish with us.

IMO, he'll be overtaken by another young player inside 2 Years.

2015,,,, gawnski!!!

  On 01/03/2013 at 00:00, Nasher said:

We have been considered the softest team in the AFL for a many a year. You can count on one hand the players who have stood in the face of that stigma. Dunn is one of them and I'm thankful to him for it.

  On 01/03/2013 at 04:49, P_Man said:

We have been considered the softest team in the AFL for a many a year. You can count on one hand the players who have stood in the face of that stigma. Dunn is one of them and I'm thankful to him for it.

Tough players put their head over the ball and body on the line, they don't niggle their opponents.

  On 01/03/2013 at 05:52, Clint Bizkit said:

Tough players put their head over the ball and body on the line, they don't niggle their opponents.

Tell that to Steven Baker.....200 games for StKilda and was a thug, but the good players hated playing on him and was a good player for his side.

  On 01/03/2013 at 05:52, Clint Bizkit said:

Tough players put their head over the ball and body on the line, they don't niggle their opponents.

Remember when Dunn kept giving cheap punches to Paul Chapman's back and Chappy reacted.

Dunn's a poser. He ain't tough.

  On 01/03/2013 at 05:56, Bossdog said:

Tell that to Steven Baker.....200 games for StKilda and was a thug, but the good players hated playing on him and was a good player for his side.

Therein lies the difference, Baker was a thug. Dunn's a niggler / pest

  On 01/03/2013 at 04:49, P_Man said:

We have been considered the softest team in the AFL for a many a year. You can count on one hand the players who have stood in the face of that stigma. Dunn is one of them and I'm thankful to him for it.

Dunn is one of the chief contributors to the stigma. He acts tough in lieu of actual toughness, and wets himself when we really need someone to stand up. He's been an exponent of some of the weakest contest efforts I've seen. He has you fooled, and that is why I am sad

  On 01/03/2013 at 04:49, P_Man said:

We have been considered the softest team in the AFL for a many a year. You can count on one hand the players who have stood in the face of that stigma. Dunn is one of them and I'm thankful to him for it.

Yeah, he really stood his ground against that super tough Tyrone Vickery. Showed him a bit of what-for, eh. Not.

  On 01/03/2013 at 08:23, Nasher said:

Dunn is one of the chief contributors to the stigma. He acts tough in lieu of actual toughness, and wets himself when we really need someone to stand up. He's been an exponent of some of the weakest contest efforts I've seen. He has you fooled, and that is why I am sad

I take on board what Clint and others have said. Toughness is indeed best exemplified by the Selwoods and Browns of the competition. Bravery and putting your head over the ball best encapsulates toughness. However, there is NOTHING wrong with a bit of niggle, especially when your team is seemingly devoid of any spirit.

On a weekly basis we have witnessed this team put in meek, heartless performances, to the point where a hip and shoulder from Tapscott had you cheering on your feet, and if it didn't, it should have.

As for Dunn, he stands up in different ways, the likes of which you would never see from a Morton or a Gysberts. When he kicks a goal he gets in his opponent's face. When one of his teammates is being roughed up, he's first one on the scene it give it back to them. In short, he has a bit of bravado and stubborn refusal to be intimidated by anyone. The odd shirked contest may have washed over me because I'm just that used to it from those wearing red and a blue for the past few years, but when it comes to standing up to his opponent, Dunn has been the exception to the rule. If I'm in the minority for applauding him, so be it.

  On 01/03/2013 at 08:23, Nasher said:

Dunn is one of the chief contributors to the stigma. He acts tough in lieu of actual toughness, and wets himself when we really need someone to stand up. He's been an exponent of some of the weakest contest efforts I've seen. He has you fooled, and that is why I am sad

Absolutely Nasher.

He will need to grow some spots, to change, before he fixes his footy reputation.

He's a role player in todays spackfiller footy.

  On 01/03/2013 at 09:18, P_Man said:

As for Dunn, he stands up in different ways, the likes of which you would never see from a Morton or a Gysberts. When he kicks a goal he gets in his opponent's face. When one of his teammates is being roughed up, he's first one on the scene it give it back to them. In short, he has a bit of bravado and stubborn refusal to be intimidated by anyone. The odd shirked contest may have washed over me because I'm just that used to it from those wearing red and a blue for the past few years, but when it comes to standing up to his opponent, Dunn has been the exception to the rule. If I'm in the minority for applauding him, so be it.

I don't know about you but I don't use Morton and Gysberts as the yard stick. There's a reason why they were traded in for scrap value. Refusal to be intimidated - great - until it's time to go get the ball. I couldn't give a stuff about jumper punching and butting heads with blokes on the field, that's not toughness and it has no value. I can't believe you'd ignore the "odd shirked contest" and cheer about pretending to be tough. You laud behaviour I find embarrassing.

Rod Grinter is lauded as a tough man and while he certainly ironed out a few, notably Chris Mew in the prelim, he was never overly hard or tough at the actual footy. It's easy to get a reputation for what you do off the ball, but far harder to get a reputation for being hard when you're exposed and the only thing in front of you is the footy.

Last weekend, Dunn had the choice to go hard at the ball in a marking contest across half back as he came in from the side and slightly from the front. The minimum standard in that contest was making some body contact. Once again, he swatted at the ball and missed everything. After this many years in the system, I cannot see why people think he is tough (he isn't) or that he is best 22. I don't have him in my team.

"Refusal to be intimidated"??

I've seen him flinch quite a few times, when someone has bitten back.

Most notably the chapman incident.

There's nothing tough about that, it's just cringeworthy.

Ugh.

We don't know what tough is.

Jack Viney will show us soon, but in the meantime don't embarrass yourselves by claiming Dunn is tough.

He ain't.

  On 01/03/2013 at 23:14, Ben-Hur said:

Rod Grinter is lauded as a tough man and while he certainly ironed out a few, notably Chris Mew in the prelim, he was never overly hard or tough at the actual footy. It's easy to get a reputation for what you do off the ball, but far harder to get a reputation for being hard when you're exposed and the only thing in front of you is the footy.

Disagree. I saw most of Rod's games with us live and if not, on TV and I thought he was hard at the ball and the man. I never saw him shirk a contest. Also saw him cop a few injuries for actually going hard at the ball.

He was hard and tough at the footy.

As for the Mew incident, he connected the back of Rod's shoulder and knocked himself out, not even a free kick and nor should it have been.