Did we draft the wrong guy again?

[leucopogon 1,472]

A lot of people are getting defensive on this thread. I don't see the topic as a "who's the better player?" Issue rather than a "which player is a better fit for MFC?" Issue. Toumpas will likely be good but we need players like Wines to support Jones and Viney right now. Our midfield is so undermanned its not even true and to draft a pacy winger when wines was available was a mistake I think.

[machine11 142]

down the track = Toumpas will way better than Wines or Viney in class. I was waiting for this thread to appear.

Edited March 31, 2013 by machine11

[Sdemon53 15]

Yes we did his name is JACK WATTS.

[Dee Dee 1,046]

down the track = Toumpas will way better than Wines or Viney in class. I was waiting for this thread to appear.

So was I!

This young man will be an excellent player for the MCG!

Do not look at him in a negative fashion after yesterday's terrible, terrible game. Toumpas, Viney, McDonald, the Joneses, Clarke, Howe and one or two others are the future of this club..

They are the ones who will say "enough is enough" and drag those who really want to play along with them.

(I believe young Viney has already made his fealings known to the playing group)!!!!!

I remember some games in the mid 80's when we were as bad, if not worse than we are today and one newspaper article pointed to Lyon, Wight, Brett and Glen Lovett and proclaimed them as the bright future of the team, and they were!

And I want to see what Terlich and Kent can do for the team and I reckon Blease needs to be on from the opening bounce.

Edited March 31, 2013 by Dee Dee

[Gippsland Dee 367]

i thought he looked good yesterday. He was another who didn't get a lot of the footy, but you can expect that from a first gamer and one which is an outside mid in a team which was getting thumped at stoppages. He does generally look like a good thinker and decision maker though.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,389]

He's only a kid, give him a chance to develop without the pressure this sort of speculation creates.

[demonchris 162]

A huge over reaction, how quickly people are prepared to jump ship on a player who only just played their first game astounds me. Toumpas has the class,heart and dedication that our club needs and people are prepared to write him off after one game? Yet, they will be one of the first to claim to have 'backed him' WHEN he becomes the star us demon fans know he is capable of being. Stick by your players and reap the benefits later when those doubters have been proved wrong.

[deeflog 679]

i thought he looked good yesterday.

you and i were watching a different jimmy toumpas.

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

short term perhaps wines would provide more for us but toumpas is for the long term. hes a talent and you have to take them when you can get them.

like barry, we put these guys in our back pocket and pull them out at a later date when theyve developed and the team can actually provide them with some footy. toumpas will be fine. loved that pass of his to viney in the pocket . a quick glimpse at 2014.

[whatwhat say what 19,272]

It's entirely possible that we drafted a better player, but we need more attack at the ball and competitive drive, and Wines has that in spades.

Toumpas will be a good player, but never in a struggling side. Wines will compete no matter whether you're being flogged or beating up on a team.

We've gone for silk over grunt, again, and it will haunt us as we have few players capable of getting the ball into Dmitri's hands.

A like the Camporeale analogy - he'd look like a $1m player in a decent side, but with us? He's going to bear the brunt of supporter angst or a Lin time.

[Benson 254]

Wines 7 inside 50's would have been nice on Sunday.

Wines is the type of player Melbourne need NOW, where Toumpas is a player we need when Melbourne start getting competitive. Both players will be very fine players but Toumpas is not what Melbourne need currently.

I am unsure why Dawes & Pederson was brought in last season. The only reason I can think of is maybe the club was not 100% on when Mitch would return, which prompted the pick up. Gillies... Well would have been better off drafting a VFL defender that had a solid 2012.

[dazzledavey36 48,999]

Toumpas struggled to get into it the first half but got better as the game wore on. Can kick a footy though!

[picket fence 15,360]

No offence to young Jimmy. I sure he is a lovely bloke and will be a good footballer. However I think we made a grave error in not drafting Ollie Wines. He had a ripper game. Can take a great overhead mark too. I know it's early days but Wines is ready to go now.

I said at the time that there is no way known "Ollie Wines" would not have been a better fit for the Melbourne Football Club than Jimmy Toupas and was howled down.

I now will spell it out. Jimmy Toumpas nice skills and may become a very good footballer but the club AGAIN has been remiss in not securing a player that fits our most glaring need.

IN AND UNDER CONTESTED BALL AND MID FIELD GRUNT!!

It could not have been too hard to get it right, BUT alas like so many monumental stuff ups by this club why would you be surprised.

I hope Jimmy Toumpas will become a very good player, but if I could ask a question Just who is going to get it out to him to show his skills??

A mid line of Jones, Viney and Toumpas would at least have given us more conistent first use!

[old dee 22,946]

I have no idea if Toumpas is any good

But gee guys he was playing his first game with the worst list in the competition.

Add a dozen guys who have totally lost it mentally and surprise surprise he looked average.

Give him a season or two with a reasonable team before we cast him into the Abyss.

[Muvver Jones 64]

All this is way too premature. I've seen enough players who look like champions in the first few games then completely disappear.

[DeeZee 6,803]

As much as i love Jimmy Toumpas, i always said that we should have drafted Wines, because we needed not one but two animals in the middle to make this club rise.

Jimmy is the cream.....we dont need that just yet, we need midfield grunt.

Its all academic,now anyway.

Edited April 1, 2013 by DeeZee

[jacey 333]

short term perhaps wines would provide more for us but toumpas is for the long term. hes a talent and you have to take them when you can get them.

No doubt if we drafted wines, it would only be time that supporters will bemoan that we keep drafting the same style of player. How slow our midfield is with Jones, wines, viney, trengove, grimes. We got smashed in the middle but long termToumpas actually adds something we need/don't have. Please mfc don't fark up up jimmys development. He should be a good player

[45HG 1,539]

Wines get the Rising Star nod.

Jimmy T will be a very good player - but isn't ready for the big stage yet.

[Melb16 458]

This thread is almost as embarrassing as the performance on Sunday. Sometimes people need to be shielded from their own stupidity so it’s best it be removed, even though it won’t be.

The only solace I can find after being exposed to this utter garbage is that the people that have made such a judgment on a player after one game, are likely the same people that hailed Morton, Gysberts and Newton as stars…. after one game.

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,323]

As someome else mentioned, if Wines played for Melbourn on Sunday, he probably would've struggled and got about 8 possessions and 5 clangers.

Meanwhile if Toumpas was in a Port jumper, he probably would've kicked 3 goals and set up 5 others.

[Goodvibes 3,596]

People view midfielders too simply. Either they're viewed as inside grunt or outside skill. Wines will most definitely be a solid meat and potatoes footballer. If everything goes right he might become Andrew Swallow. If he stagnates, he'll become Brock McLean. Toumpas has the body, speed and skill set to become a fine outside midfielder but I'm hoping he becomes more than that. I've seen enough to suggest that he will become more inside as he matures and we might have a genuine inside/outside midfield star. If it takes 4 years for him to become that player I can wait even if it means I've watched Wines play 4 really good seasons and win a rising star award in the meantime. We need a genuine midfield star. Someone who is the complete package. Wines will be a very good player but he'll never be the whole package. Toumpas, on the otherhand, could grow into a top 5 midfielder in the comp and along with Viney and Jones give us a midfield capable of competing with the big boys.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Goodvibes

[titan_uranus 22,628]

People view midfielders too simply. Either they're viewed as inside grunt or outside skill.

Couldn't agree more.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,498]

I said to my mate there were three guarantees on Demonland post game. A sack Neeld thread, an overturn the board thread and a "we should have taken Wines instead if Toumpas" thread. Thanks for completing the trifecta.

You should have gone with the quadrella and predicted there'd be a "Jack Watts was a wasted No. 1 pick" thread, too.

All four are useful vents and meaningless chatter.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,078]

As much as i love Jimmy Toumpas, i always said that we should have drafted Wines, because we needed not one but two animals in the middle to make this club rise.

Jimmy is the cream.....we dont need that just yet, we need midfield grunt.

Its all academic,now anyway.

We have so many needs - which one do you choose - some class, run and disposal (which we dont have) or another in-and-other mid to back up Jones and Viney (who is too young to have a massive impact yet). Wines is built like a brick shithouse as well.