Tappy has the tools to be a good player. Injury, confidence, confusion over role might all be contributing to his medicore form. Having said that he's still young! Nathan Jones showed a bit early on but only really came good last year. Give the kid some time FFS

I have my fingers crossed that Tappy will establish himself as 'best 22' in 2013, but he has a way to go. He obviously needs to get a lot more of the ball (av. only 11 disposals per game in 2012), and he needs to consistently 'hurt' the opposition with his main weapons, his strength, his tackling and his 'booming' left foot.

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I think the Tapster is actually right footed, but he can use his left ok.

At a touch over in the old terms 6'1" you could get away calling him a tall mid.

I agree he is 187cm. That is a tall mid.

You can't always be first to the ball.......If you are second the least you can do is tackle.....He will be okay....8 tackles is a good effort IMO

8 tackles is a good effort or it means he was second to the ball alot. Without seeing the game hard to know.

I watched it online and thought he was good. Hard at it and tackled very well. Can't have the ball all the time, so I was happy with his high tackle count.

Am I reading this right, and people are actually complaining that he had TOO MANY tackles? Far out!! If every player racked up eight tackles a game, the opposition would never dispose of the ball!

Am I reading this right, and people are actually complaining that he had TOO MANY tackles? Far out!! If every player racked up eight tackles a game, the opposition would never dispose of the ball!

Think they are saying theyd prefer him to get to the ball first and have 8 kicks instead of 8 tackles

Think they are saying theyd prefer him to get to the ball first and have 8 kicks instead of 8 tackles

It's a disengenuous criticism and you know it.

Think they are saying theyd prefer him to get to the ball first and have 8 kicks instead of 8 tackles

Nice try, but it really depends on the role he is being asked to play, which none of us are privy to.

Scratch that, it was a poor attempt.

Tapscott had a couple of great moments in the first and last quarters yesterday but went missing in between. Half forward is his spot at present but he needs to be able to go hard for longer and stay involved.

Nice try, but it really depends on the role he is being asked to play, which none of us are privy to.

Scratch that, it was a poor attempt.

Twist it anyway you like. Whatever makes you happy.

Bumping this thread 4 months later. Tapscott hasn't played more than a couple of quarters of good football and is sitting at Casey. Time is surely ticking on his future at the Demons.

Bumping this thread 4 months later. Tapscott hasn't played more than a couple of quarters of good football and is sitting at Casey. Time is surely ticking on his future at the Demons.

He will survive.

Only because there are so many who are due to go before him.

Bumping this thread 4 months later. Tapscott hasn't played more than a couple of quarters of good football and is sitting at Casey. Time is surely ticking on his future at the Demons.

I think he has abit going for him, more than some of the players on the list I would say will certainly be moved on, trade bait or kept on for one more year, i'd rather give him the one more year but if a good offer is made for him it would be a good option too.

I hope he plays well tomorrow. He needs to be back in the AFL frame and improving.

Especially now when (besides today) we've started to get more ball and more ball forward.

I've seen enough of Kent for the time being. A stint in the Casey midfield would be good for him now.

Certainly seen enough of Davey for a lifetime.

I'd rather get rid of Davey, Dunn, Gillies and McKenzie than get rid of Tapscott.

Tappy had his issues with injury, etc.

He will be ok... The kid is a beast and the older he gets - the more he will just cream through blokes.

We need that, especially in the landscape of football today, where it wouldn't take much to scare sides to not go for the ball.

It's certainly not an era of hard men, it's an athletic era and having Tappy out there, it will add another dimension to our side.

I think Tapscott will be alright, I understand those bagging him, but I'd rather persist with Tappy than Dunn - like we've persisted with Dunn for 5 years too many.

I wonder how tappy would go in a Crowley sort of role? he certainly has the strong body to stand up in the contest and keep his opponent out

I'd rather get rid of Davey, Dunn, Gillies and McKenzie than get rid of Tapscott.

Tappy had his issues with injury, etc.

He will be ok... The kid is a beast and the older he gets - the more he will just cream through blokes.

We need that, especially in the landscape of football today, where it wouldn't take much to scare sides to not go for the ball.

It's certainly not an era of hard men, it's an athletic era and having Tappy out there, it will add another dimension to our side.

I think Tapscott will be alright, I understand those bagging him, but I'd rather persist with Tappy than Dunn - like we've persisted with Dunn for 5 years too many.[/quote

Three cheers for that! Dunn, Davey, Gillies and Mckenzie have proved to bit players who are taking us nowhere.

No idea why he didn't play today. Perfect for the conditions.

A good coach can turn him into a good player. I would be interested to see him play as a tagger. He is a tough [censored], which is his best asset.

Neil, now is the time to experiment!

I wonder how tappy would go in a Crowley sort of role? he certainly has the strong body to stand up in the contest and keep his opponent out

Crowley is a very underrated player and has the height and pace to match it with most mids, Tappy doesn't and hasn't.

Was bloody good early on in the year. Short memories. Short minds.

Edited July 13, 201312 yr by The Song Formerly Known As

Crowley is a very underrated player and has the height and pace to match it with most mids, Tappy doesn't and hasn't.

I certainly have nothing but respect for Crowley as a player but I feel that most of the trouble with tappy is he has never had a defined role within the team

they should decide if he is a defender or a defensive forward or whatever and just stick to it, I personally think he is a half forward flank who can be injected into the midfield for abit of physicality and he is capable of being a good player, never going to be a star but that's okay.

Was bloody good early on in the year. Short memories. Short minds.

I don't think he was that good at all, he was dropped back to Casey early and is back there again. I would like to see him be more attacking, he is one that seemed to be caught up in the defence first mode. He will get another chance and I hope he takes the game on like he did early in his career.

If you can't run then you'll struggle.

Was bloody good early on in the year. Short memories. Short minds.

Actually I thought he was WAY overrated on this site when he was getting games earlier this year.