JB - or how OD got it all wrong

[daisycutter 29,616]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/west-coast-recruit-jamie-bennell-pinching-himself-after-being-delisted-by-melbourne-during-rehab-from-injury/story-fnii08h3-1226938484599

[jazza 1,323]

To be fair to OD,he was on toenail fungal medication that week,please give him a break.

[Fitz Fitzpatrick 886]

This article really highlights how much pressure some of these guys are under. Its only the top percentile of the league that really live that fantasy life the media portrays.

He nearly lost his career and his house. I cant imagine that sort of pressure when youre out of form and in your last year of contract.

Im happy for Bennell.

[Pirlo 813]

Jamie wouldn't be playing in our side right now, and we had every right to chop him.

I wish him good luck at West Coast, but this isn't a sign that we made the wrong call or were too hard on him.

He regressed.

[What 18,810]

Bennell is a spud

[Demon Disciple 12,162]

Bennell is a spud

And to think, we had told Sloane that we were going to pick him with our second round pick, only to hear that WCE were rather interested in Bennell so we thought we'd trump them.

Man oh man, how i would've given anything to elect a big footy novice to have been our recruiter instead of bloody Prendergast.

[Nasher 33,616]

Bennell is a spud

We get an article that offers some real insight in to what a player goes through when they get the chop, and this is your contribution. We all know where Bennell was at when he went. Not too many of us would have done much differently had we been in charge of the list. He also was unfortunate enough to be part of arguably the worst coached side of all time. He has gone on to establish a decent career at a solid club.

You are dead set the worst poster on this site at the moment, and that's amongst some stiff competition. Grow up, mate.

[What 18,810]

We get an article that offers some real insight in to what a player goes through when they get the chop, and this is your contribution. We all know where Bennell was at when he went. Not too many of us would have done much differently had we been in charge of the list. He also was unfortunate enough to be part of arguably the worst coached side of all time. He has gone on to establish a decent career at a solid club.

You are dead set the worst poster on this site at the moment, and that's amongst some stiff competition. Grow up, mate.

Oops i thought this was a football discussion forum

How silly of me to make a footy related comment

[Courtney_Fish 183]

Who's OD?

[Elusive Tunbridge 795]

Bennell has some talent, but he was pretty inconsistent with us. I do wonder how he'd have fared under the present regime - possibly quite well. All the same, delisting him was the right choice. I'm not quite sure what a "spud" is, but I don't think he's one.

[Deeoldfart 8,033]

JB was always on the fringes at Melbourne, but we can only speculate on how his career with us might have turned out under our current coaching regime. Nev Jetta was recruited in the same draft as Jamie, and probably showed less promise until very recently.

[Courtney_Fish 183]

Who's OD?

[thevil1 421]

A spud is a potato. Much like the hero above who has nothing to do with hogan in real life, needs to change 'hogan' into 'keyboard'....

Edited June 1, 2014 by thevil1

[rpfc 28,493]

Oops i thought this was a football discussion forum

How silly of me to make a footy related comment

You gave 4 words.

How is that a discussion?

Bennell always had talent but what he will become I think are dime-a-dozen.

[Machsy 2,858]

Who's OD?

"old dee", the curmudgeon of a poster who had a morbid fascination with bemoaning Bennell's presence on the list at every opportunity.

[beelzebub 23,380]

"old dee", the curmudgeon of a poster who had a morbid fascination with bemoaning Bennell's presence on the list at every opportunity.

and really not without cause.

JB fits some possie for WCE.... he showed sfa for us. Good luck to him though

[Whispering_Jack 30,200]

Good luck to Bennell. It must have been just as difficult a task at the time to delist him but let's not forget we were a basket case at the time and tough decisions had to be made. You don't always get them right.

[Earl Hood 6,086]

JB had talent, no doubt. A goal he kicked in the wet against the Doggies in 2010 when the doggies were contenders by the way, showed me that. It was as good a goal that you would see from anyone playing AFL.

However his problem was averaging about 6 to 8 possessions a match when he was in form! He just didn't know how to get the ball. He needed to be a ball magnet to compensate for his other weaknesses.

[Courtney_Fish 183]

"old dee", the curmudgeon of a poster who had a morbid fascination with bemoaning Bennell's presence on the list at every opportunity.

Thanks for that Machsy. I thought it must be someone to do with list management.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,808]

Jamie Bennell is the poster boy for injuries caused by his team's incompetence. His knee injury occurred at the MCG when a ball being kicked to him on the lead wasn't accurate enough causing him to over-reach and tear his ACL. In any other business he'd have a Worker's Compensation claim against the employer's failure to provide a safe workplace (I'm only half joking).

With respect to his talent, I always thought he had some silky skills which we didn't see often enough. Given what we are now seeing from players like Dunn, Pedersen and Jetta I'm more convinced than I have ever been that we should recognise that all players with the misfortune to be drafted to us in the Bailey and Neeld eras may never have had the opportunity to showcase their true talents. We should cut them all some slack.

[nutbean 8,838]

I'll open up old wounds.

Im not sure whether or not Bennell has talent - but we are already seeing this year, with a few our "spuds" - that a decent coach/football department should be able to bring out the maximum amount of talent in a player. I am a firm believer that this has been missing in the past.

Edited June 2, 2014 by nutbean

[Little Goffy 14,578]

Oops i thought this was a football discussion forum

How silly of me to make a footy related comment

Indeed. I don't know how this place will get by without insights like "He's a spud".

Thanks for your input darling, have another beer.