At least it's now possible to see the skill set he brings and what he could contribute to the team.

At this stage in his career he probably won't get it right every game, and he WILL make mistakes! But would be great if he can reproduce that performance at least a few more times this season.

If he does get it together, he adds another facet to our midfield that we don't have otherwise.

Luke Parker..

DOMINANT junior at every level.

Smashed the TAC cup.

Captioned Metro.

Displayed a great work rate, physicality, ability to win contested football, good skills.

Ran 15 plus beep tests and displayed superior endurance.

In the case of Parker, IMO sometimes we overlook players who do things consistently well.

There is nothing flashy about Parker, he gets the job done, that is what he does.

This was just a case of recruiters outsmarting themselves, I think the majority would look back and shake their head.

The herd mentality amongst recruiters is also strong, they are only human after all.

I hope it was only mismanagement & nothing more

but how do carlton end up hiring our X off-field fails, & why??

To all the haters (esp Picket and swyl), humble pie is nearly done. Bring your own knife and fork and when your done eating, fork off.

You are a nut job !!

Do it again Jimmy

and Do it even better...

well ????????

i have to admit i thought watching at the ground, Toumpas had a poor game but after watching the replay I'll take that back. He had a very solid running game, blemished by a few clangers (which much have stood out for me at the game)

preconceived perception, is a dangerous thing, especially when driving. it colours our thoughts for us, instead of just watching with a clear head.

This is the guy we recruited today. Confidence was up which was good to see.

Hopefully we get to see Jimmy on the rise from here.

anyone who was drafted to us in the last few years, would fear the criticism, well most would.

self conscious types feel it the worst. we should choose our targets carefully. some wyl repsond well to criticism, & some will go the other way, whilst developing. sometimes criticism is helpful. sometimes its a crusher.

do what works, if it isn't, change it.

It depends on whether you watched him with the attitude of "come on Jimmy, show us what you can do" or "bloody Wines/Stringer and we end up with this spud - do something!"

I watched it with the former, and I thought it was wonderful to see the boys get around a 21 (!!) year old who has had a tough time of things.

He wouldn't be the first player to need time before producing, and I sense that once he gets the confidence he needs - he'll keep it.

It depends on whether you watched him with the attitude of "come on Jimmy, show us what you can do" or "bloody Wines/Stringer and we end up with this spud - do something!"

I watched it with the former, and I thought it was wonderful to see the boys get around a 21 (!!) year old who has had a tough time of things.

He wouldn't be the first player to need time before producing, and I sense that once he gets the confidence he needs - he'll keep it.

Yup, he played against a team of players roughly around his age and came out on top! Says something for the future i say.

It depends on whether you watched him with the attitude of "come on Jimmy, show us what you can do" or "bloody Wines/Stringer and we end up with this spud - do something!"

I watched it with the former, and I thought it was wonderful to see the boys get around a 21 (!!) year old who has had a tough time of things.

He wouldn't be the first player to need time before producing, and I sense that once he gets the confidence he needs - he'll keep it.

if he puts in a few OK games along the way, he'll start to realise he's not that far off it. & he can indeed survive in this terrain. thats where he'll start losing the self consciousness, & start being more intuitive with his footy... growth happens thru enduring

Toumpas certainly uses the ball better. Not sure if that's what this thread is about though.

You are a nut job !!

It's Humble Pie Hen, not nuts! It's big enough for all. Bring your fork too if you like.

Go to 1:14... Toump putting his body on the line in defensive 50 and getting flattened in the process. Great courage and more proof hat the fools that allude to him being timid are clowns.

He will never be ready

Timid.

SWYL, timid you ain't. But Toumpas can play football...

No [censored].

Seriously, just try being happy for once. Just once. You don't need to start talking about how we're so good we're going to make finals and Toumpas is ofdds-on for the Brownlow, but just try being positive every now and again. It feels good you know.

Give me a break. I acknowledge he had a decent game but we should expect more. All I'm saying is that Morton had some blinders and when he did everyone on here said he was the next best thing.

JIMMY T ... some promising signs agst the Dogs. Time to shine in the next few weeks. He does have the ability to be a very good running midfielder. Exactly what MFC needs.

As I said in the match day thread, it was a two steps forward, one step backwards game.

His best was very good, he still had a few howlers but overall it was a big leap in his development.

The footage of after the game, you could tell this meant a lot to Jimmy, lot's of little fist pumps to himself, he was pumped up.

I know it sounds corny, but I just felt really good for him. He has had a bad time of it, and to be involved in a big win and play a major role in it, you could see the confidence growing. And his confidence had looked completely shot to pieces in previous games.

Always been a huge Leon Cameron fan. Loved him as a player and he's as smart a coach as he was a player.

But let's face it, GWS had so many high draft picks that they couldn't lose. They were always going to be a fearsome team at some stage. It was a matter of when, not if.

It's like someone who's inherited a trillion dollars telling everyone the secret of how to make money.

Exactly!

How long until their team dissipates as their good players start asking for the wage they deserve?

He is a nice lad but simply does not have any mongrel in him. Will be moved on along with Grimes who just doesn't have the natural ability to fire up!

He is a nice lad but simply does not have any mongrel in him. Will be moved on along with Grimes who just doesn't have the natural ability to fire up!

There is mongrel and then there is going when it is your turn. ( for the record - Robbie Flower did not have any mongrel about him but absolutely went when it his turn)

He may not have mongrel in him like Riley has mongrel but he showed on the Sunday that when the ball is on the line and he has to go - he goes - see post 285 and his effort in the second quarter. One swallow doesn't make a summer but even with some "panic moments" it was a pleasing to see a lot of hard efforts, hard running and clean first time gives.

As for Grimes - he had his best game on the weekend for almost 2 years. What I really like is the way he attacked the ball and attacked the contest.

So ....if Sunday was one off for both of them then like all players who don't perform they will be on shakey ground but if they both continue to have games like Sunday then they will be here next year

He is a nice lad but simply does not have any mongrel in him.

Nor does Nat Fyfe. Or Gary Ablett Jnr. Or Patrick Dangerfield. Or Scott Pendlebury

You get my point,.

Nor does Nat Fyfe. Or Gary Ablett Jnr. Or Patrick Dangerfield. Or Scott Pendlebury

You get my point,.

Fyfe doesn't have mongrel? He's ruthless.

Go to 1:14... Toump putting his body on the line in defensive 50 and getting flattened in the process. Great courage and more proof hat the fools that allude to him being timid are clowns.

Yeh look.

Unfortunately for the MFC, that kind of act isn't always the norm for certain players when really it should be.

And singling out something like that just highlights my point.

I don't mean to rain on Jimmy's parade. He easily had his best game for our club on Sunday and you could see that not only by his possession count but in his intensity and energy in and around the ball.

It's the same with Watts. If anyone watched footy classified last night Gary pointed it out too. Two acts that were polar opposite in his willingness to compete.

We need players who commit these acts on a consistent basis.

Yeh look.

Unfortunately for the MFC, that kind of act isn't always the norm for certain players when really it should be.

And singling out something like that just highlights my point.

I don't mean to rain on Jimmy's parade. He easily had his best game for our club on Sunday and you could see that not only by his possession count but in his intensity and energy in and around the ball.

It's the same with Watts. If anyone watched footy classified last night Gary pointed it out too. Two acts that were polar opposite in his willingness to compete.

We need players who commit these acts on a consistent basis.

I largely agree with the above, though i'm not sure if you are implying if the Toump is not consistent with his effort. I reckon he rarely shirks it and on Sunday was was hard at it all day.

Lyon was right to point out the two Watts example and right to say the first could have cost us the game as it allowed them to maintain their momentum they had going (which bails should have also impacted on by slotting that shot after the 3 q siren). From my usal spot at the far end of the ground i could see he didn't go hard enough at ball and let out an audible "Wattsy!". But unluike other days there were a number of examples of him going hard at the ball.

Interesting stat for Watts was that he had 14 pressure acts. Only 4 other players had more (Vanders had a whopping 26, but he was the outlier, the other 3 were around the 17 mark). He is usually good with this stat and i think it often goes unnoticed.

Give me a break. I acknowledge he had a decent game but we should expect more. All I'm saying is that Morton had some blinders and when he did everyone on here said he was the next best thing.

Cale morton had blinders!??

Bahaha now i have heard it all

I feel like the the funny thing about Toumpas' game on Sunday is that it could have gone either way depending on a few minor things.

If 1-2 of those very risky (maybe stupid?) kicks into the corridor hadn't been well marked by a player 1v3 (Grimes, Pedersen), and had been turnovers into goals, then Jimmy T might have gone into his shell and stopped working so hard.

The fact that a player managed to get on the end of them gave JT confidence and improved his output considerably.

The scoring chain for his first goal on Sunday was really good as well - I was glad to hear the commentators point out that he'd run 150m from the opposite wing (after being involved in the play earlier) to get on the end of Watt's pass.

I feel like the the funny thing about Toumpas' game on Sunday is that it could have gone either way depending on a few minor things.

If 1-2 of those very risky (maybe stupid?) kicks into the corridor hadn't been well marked by a player 1v3 (Grimes, Pedersen), and had been turnovers into goals, then Jimmy T might have gone into his shell and stopped working so hard.

...

Yeah, good point.

But if we want our guys to "take the game on" - and it's the likes of Toumpas, Watts, Salem etc that we want to take the game on - that involves taking risks that won't always come off. As long as they do come off a lot more than they don't. The margin between "brilliant" and "clanger" can be paper-thin a lot of the time, and sometimes "zero clangers" can mean "not taking the game on enough".

Which also shows the limitations of judging a player's performance by his mistakes. Toump's game was a great example - he did a lot of positive things, but gave away a goal, and missed a target or two. Similarly, if you run off your man to make position but your teammate turns it over and your opponent gets the ball metres in the clear - you've done the right thing, but the result is badly wrong.