Christian Salem

[Young Dee 1,303]

the ball couldn't have been in better hands, apart from Watts

I was thinking the same thing when he was lining up.

I think Watts has kicked 10 goals and 2 behinds for the season. If Watts can find a way of getting the ball inside 50m then he could be a real weapon - also is real weapon from 70m out (with that pinpoint kick).

I will be honest I doubted that Watts had any real great potential or whether Demonlanders were just hoping he did but if somehow he can add a pinch of Chris Dawes to his game then he could be a great player (That still seems a long way off though).

I believe Salem has now kicked a goal in every match he has played except the Queens birthday game

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

I had not the slightest doubt Salem would nail that goal, he was fresh, he was dead in front, he is a beautiful kick and he's a good competitor.

Having said that the call for him to be a rising star is premature I reckon. My recollection is he's played 2 full games and the rest as sub. In his 2 full games he's really failed to have much of an impact although he's done some good things in them. He was poor against Collingwood and I was surprised he was retained ahead of JKH but there is no doubt when he comes on as a sub when the game has slowed a bit he's very dangerous.

i dont agree with people saying he struggled in a full game, in his full game against port adelaide i thought he was very good, and stiff to not get the rising star nomination with 2.2 but multiple other score involvements, on top of 16 touches.

i agree he didnt play great against collingwood but not many did and JKH struggled coming on as the sub, which i think a bit of fatigue got to him.

that said the first point i agree with, i had no doubt he would kick it, there are few in our team who i would have preferred to have the ball in hand, but he immediately looked calm and that was a great sign.

[Young Dee 1,303]

When the ball is in Salems hands:

When the ball is in McDonald's hands:

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

When the ball is in CROSS's hands running into 50:

thank the good lord he passed it to salem

[Young Dee 1,303]

Something tells me this kid won't be playing for Casey next week

[Deez 298]

i dont agree with people saying he struggled in a full game, in his full game against port adelaide i thought he was very good, and stiff to not get the rising star nomination with 2.2 but multiple other score involvements, on top of 16 touches.

i agree he didnt play great against collingwood but not many did and JKH struggled coming on as the sub, which i think a bit of fatigue got to him.

that said the first point i agree with, i had no doubt he would kick it, there are few in our team who i would have preferred to have the ball in hand, but he immediately looked calm and that was a great sign.

I think they're both capable of playing full games and we've seen that, Its just about monitoring their game time due to being first year players.

Roos would prefer to have them in for a couple of weeks and utilised as the sub every so often to avoid them burning out toward the end of the season.

That way they hopefully don't burn out too bad, confidence stays high and therefore so cores their performance.

[DeeSpencer 25,477]

i dont agree with people saying he struggled in a full game, in his full game against port adelaide i thought he was very good, and stiff to not get the rising star nomination with 2.2 but multiple other score involvements, on top of 16 touches.

i agree he didnt play great against collingwood but not many did and JKH struggled coming on as the sub, which i think a bit of fatigue got to him.

that said the first point i agree with, i had no doubt he would kick it, there are few in our team who i would have preferred to have the ball in hand, but he immediately looked calm and that was a great sign.

Struggled in Adel when he played big minutes. Was outstanding against Port but defensive efforts were probably sub standard just made up for it with excellent play. Couldn't get in to the game against a 7 man Collingwood backline. I think you only need to look at this body to see he's not AFL fit. I'd continue the sub role for him and wait and see what JKH can do either at Casey or in the senior team and go from there. 10 games left in the season. Maybe he plays 3 or 4 as sub, a few more starting the game and maybe 1 or 2 at Casey in that time if he needs a freshen up. He's just exceptional as a sub so in any close games I want him as the guy coming on!

[KingDingAling 3,752]

Has that balance, class and poise.

Necessary characteristics of the greats.

Kid is just a gun, he'll cause headaches for sides next year.