His ave disposals is 6.7 a game. Needs to find more of the footy.

putting his average disposals doesnt really show much.. Salem has been the sub a considerable amount of times, it's an invalid statistic.

Not to mention, he is being played out of position

Edited August 25, 201411 yr by JackVineyForPresident

putting his average disposals doesnt really show much.. Salem has been the sub a considerable amount of times, it's an invalid statistic.

Not to mention, he is being played out of position

Yeah pretty sure he played as a mid/back flanker in the juniors.

Cant beleive after our history of bad development people still want to give the kid the benefit of the doubt.

He needs more touches, way more to impact a game.

Cant beleive after our history of bad development people still want to give the kid the benefit of the doubt.

He needs more touches, way more to impact a game.

He had illness over the pre-season. Basically did not have a pre-season.

This isn't Dimboola reserves he is playing in, it is the AFL, where half the players are performance enhanced machines - who can run all day long.

Judge Salem after a pre-season, he has all the right tools to make it as an AFL player.

Edited August 25, 201411 yr by KingDingAling

Cant beleive after our history of bad development people still want to give the kid the benefit of the doubt.

He needs more touches, way more to impact a game.

and I can't believe that after what every knowledgeable expert ( and some dimwits) and coaches write about 18 /19 year olds - don't judge them until they get 30-40 games under their belts you would post this.

Sink the boots into Watts/Frawley/Dawes all you like - this kid has played 12 games.

Cant beleive after our history of bad development people still want to give the kid the benefit of the doubt.

He needs more touches, way more to impact a game.

Heres one for you - who's first season was this ?

games 12 disposals 100 marks 13 goals 10

not too dissimilar

Lets lay off the kid. Full pre season and Bob's your Uncle.

Heres one for you - who's first season was this ?

games 12

disposals

100

marks 13

goals 10

not too dissimilar

Silvio Facini

Silvio Facini

Correct RTG. You are an amazing wealth of knowledge. Can I borrow you for the next trivial pursuit challenge?

Silvio Facini

can we rookie him next year ?

When I was reading the "draft picks 1-20" thread it said Daniel Merrett was taken by Brisbane at pick 30 in 2002 - I thought "surely not" I had no recollection of Merrett playing that early - I actually thought it must have been a different Daniel Merrett - yet sure enopugh that's when he was drafted and he didn't debut until 2005! That is what we lack, that is our poor development in a nutshell - we draft kids and lump 50 years of expectation on them from day dot and if they don't dominate by their 5th game we're ready to turn on them. Talk about Tigers eating their own have a look at us! These kids shouldn't even really be playing seniors but due to our [censored] poor list they are forced into the side to install a little bit of class instead of putting out a team of Nicho's, Bail's, Terlich's and Matty Joneses.

Salem has been fine and has shown a bit of class in at least 3 games off the top of my head and desire for the contest and willing to back it up with multiple efforts in at least 2 or 3 others. That's all he needs to show at this stage. Next year he should have a similar to this allowing him to develop in the VFL for half the year and playing seniors the other half with half of those games as sub. Then in year 3 )at the ripe old age of 20-21) hopefully he can come in and contribute and become a consistent best 22 player.

Cant beleive after our history of bad development people still want to give the kid the benefit of the doubt.

He needs more touches, way more to impact a game.

You're a dead set dill mate.

Salem has shown very little so far - a worry but early days - fingers crossed he has a big pre season and justifies the faith - time will tell.

Listen to what Roosy said....

The Gap between Playing @ afl std vs U18 is so huge!

The mental toughness required & development to play at this std is huge & for them to be guns is another huge step!

Only clubs that have great environments with development & culture seem to always get kids turning into good afl players... Hence Hawks , cats & swans you see young players doing so well...

So please take a step back & ask is our club creating the environment for the young talent to develop???

Can't wait to see this thread dragged back up after every good/bad game Salem plays...

*sigh*

Can't wait to see this thread dragged back up after every good/bad game Salem plays...

*sigh*

And so it gos!!and gos and gos

Listen to what Roosy said....

The Gap between Playing @ afl std vs U18 is so huge!

The mental toughness required & development to play at this std is huge & for them to be guns is another huge step!

Only clubs that have great environments with development & culture seem to always get kids turning into good afl players... Hence Hawks , cats & swans you see young players doing so well...

So please take a step back & ask is our club creating the environment for the young talent to develop???

Of course the gap is huge, some step up to the mark in their first year, others don't, some never do.

Let's hope Salem comes up in the next couple, I would start to be concerned if he doesn't show marked improvement next season.

Go back and watch his game against port in Darwin!

Christian will be fine, will find more of the ball when he builds his tank and moves into the midfield

Another preseason will solve everything - in the meantime, the other AFL clubs will be snoozing!

We'll catch them napping yet!

Cant beleive after our history of bad development people still want to give the kid the benefit of the doubt.

He needs more touches, way more to impact a game.

Can't believe after your history of hyper-critical posting about our young players that I've kept giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Must work out how to put you on Ignore.

No doubting his skills, but he has the clever knack of being where the football isn't at this point in time. I suspect it is easier to fix the skills side than the other, but time will tell.

The question is whether he will ever be a genuine onballer at AFL level, or just a pinch hitting half forward.

OMG...are you serious???? Really????

How well have those charged with fixing the skills done their job?????

Edited August 26, 201411 yr by monoccular

Can't believe after your history of hyper-critical posting about our young players that I've kept giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Must work out how to put you on Ignore.

Geez mate how do you get through this site without the ignore button, I had this one on ignore after al the ludicrous trade hypotheticals he was throwing up were driving me nuts.

Very pleased with the glimpses Salem has shown, particularly his willingness for the contest. Can't wait to see him played more in his position in the next two years, off a wing or half back as a start, then in the guts. Imagine his kicking skills off half back, malceski like.

For those unsure because of his low stats, which players in our team playing solely forward deep have averaged more touches per minute of game time? Not sure I could name any. Can't recall any of Bail, Riley, JKH, Tapscott, Dawes getting many more when deep.

Very pleased with the glimpses Salem has shown, particularly his willingness for the contest. Can't wait to see him played more in his position in the next two years, off a wing or half back as a start, then in the guts. Imagine his kicking skills off half back, malceski like.

For those unsure because of his low stats, which players in our team playing solely forward deep have averaged more touches per minute of game time? Not sure I could name any. Can't recall any of Bail, Riley, JKH, Tapscott, Dawes getting many more when deep.

He has been playing as a half forward.

Wat h the games.

Should've picked up Freeman