2016 is a big year for ...

[Cheesy D. Pun 1,765]

35 minutes ago, ProDee said:

I will never forget this poster. 

hahaha... you must lead a pretty happening life.

[Redleg 41,793]

Jack Watts is my big improver for 2016.

[CBDees 3,167]

On 1 December 2015 2:31:56 pm, billy2803 said:

I was going to say JKH, to see if he can consolidate a spot in our best 22. But I've changed my mind, and think 2016 is going to be a big year for...

Max Gawn.

Many would consider 2015 a break out year for Maxy, but I'm not sold yet. He showed he has the ability to play at the top level at various stages, but now I want to see him do it for 22+ games in a season. I want to be assured that he has the desire to not be out of place if mentioned in the same breath as Goldstein. I want him to prove that he has both feet heavily planted on the ground, and is willing to make any personal sacrifice to give himself the best opportunity to be one of the best rucks in the league.

2016 will show me if Max is content with being the number 1 ruck at Melbourne, or if he has the drive to be the best in the league.

It's over to you, Max.

I agree that Maxie will play a massive part in our fortunes for next year however (unlike you) I don't want him to "prove that he has both feet heavily planted on the ground"! I want to see him soaring into the air taking pack marks above the opposition ruckmen!

[dazzledavey36 55,503]

On Thu Dec 03 2015 10:38:02 GMT+1100, WAClark said:

I have no problem with Watts.

Sure, he's not the world-beater we wanted when we drafted him, but I still think he's a valuable contributor.

I think there's a little too much focus on the aesthetic with Jack Watts. He doesn't throw his body around as much as others, but he finds a way to win his fair share of contests by being smart and nimble.

For all the talk about Hawthorn's small/medium forwards, I'd still take Watts over either Gunston or Breust, who perform well as cherry-pickers in a proven and effective system. Watts is more flexible and has shown something in a system that has proven to be ineffective.

You have rocks in your head.

[jnrmac 20,225]

On 12/3/2015, 10:38:02, WAClark said:

I have no problem with Watts.

Sure, he's not the world-beater we wanted when we drafted him, but I still think he's a valuable contributor.

I think there's a little too much focus on the aesthetic with Jack Watts. He doesn't throw his body around as much as others, but he finds a way to win his fair share of contests by being smart and nimble.

For all the talk about Hawthorn's small/medium forwards, I'd still take Watts over either Gunston or Breust, who perform well as cherry-pickers in a proven and effective system. Watts is more flexible and has shown something in a system that has proven to be ineffective.

Wow, just wow.

[Cheesy D. Pun 1,765]

52 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

You have rocks in your head.

Cheers.

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,465]

19 hours ago, Redleg said:

Jack Watts is my big improver for 2016.

What aspects of his game will improve?

What aspects of his game do you think need improvement?

[Wormburner 674]

Salem for me. Reckon he is going to be an absolute gun for us this year.

Also can't wait to see Frost in action again. Big unit and so quick. 

Bring on 2016. Fingers crossed for no injuries.

[ThreeOneSix 954]

Salem.

Also, big year for Oliver.

[MrReims 322]

8 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

You have rocks in your head.

A sterling rebuttal. For what it's worth I agree, Jack creates play in a way that neither of the other two are even capable of

[Wormburner 674]

18 minutes ago, MrReims said:

A sterling rebuttal. For what it's worth I agree, Jack creates play in a way that neither of the other two are even capable of

Yeah he's very good at confusing his opponent into thinking he'll take a mark, but instead he'll cleverly duck his head and drop the mark so our crumbers can take off with the ball. The man is a genius!

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

12 hours ago, Wormburner said:

Yeah he's very good at confusing his opponent into thinking he'll take a mark, but instead he'll cleverly duck his head and drop the mark so our crumbers can take off with the ball. The man is a genius!

The thing that annoys me with this, whilst I am willing to admit it has happened, is the fact other players have been seen to do the same thing, but it is allowed to slide under the radar. Patrick Cripps, who will be an absolute gun, was a victim of a similar head ducking last year resulting in a turn over and goal, yet did the media make the issue as big as when Watts happened to do it, not at all.

Watts is unlucky that both opposition and Melbourne supporters and the media scrutinise him more than any other player in the league.

Im most optimistic this season about Jayden Hunt, he provides something that our side lacked last year. Whilst Kent and Frost both add this speed to the side, with a good run with injuries Hunt could show why their is faith in him and why Roos has high faith in him.

[Gator 17,641]

42 minutes ago, Mad_Melbourne said:

Im most optimistic this season about Jayden Hunt, he provides something that our side lacked last year.

Won't happen.  He has no tank and while he has no tank I can't see him getting a game.  I don't think he can improve it to satisfactory levels by the start of the season.

[Bossdog 2,002]

5 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Won't happen.  He has no tank and while he has no tank I can't see him getting a game.  I don't think he can improve it to satisfactory levels by the start of the season.

He had had injuries.........So a player can't build a tank over a pre season????

How about we give him a chance and see how he goes?

[Gator 17,641]

Just now, Bossdog said:

He had had injuries.........So a player can't build a tank over a pre season????

How about we give him a chance and see how he goes?

OK then.  Let him know I'm prepared to give him a go.

[dazzledavey36 55,503]

2 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Won't happen.  He has no tank and while he has no tank I can't see him getting a game.  I don't think he can improve it to satisfactory levels by the start of the season.

Agree. He has not shown anything remotely close to suggest he will be a good ordinary player. I understand the injuries he has picked over the years has stunted his development but he is a fair way behind majority of the list.

While i was happy with most of the list changes over the trade period the one that was an utterly stupid decision was putting Viv michie on the rookie list instead of Hunt.. Viv has shown to be a handy midfield depth while hunt has shown he struggles to win more then 7 disposals a game at VFL level. 

Only time will tell..

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

8 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Won't happen.  He has no tank and while he has no tank I can't see him getting a game.  I don't think he can improve it to satisfactory levels by the start of the season.

Players have their deficiencies, its hard to put together a really solid tank when he has been spending most of the last two seasons on the sidelines.

I dont think he will play 22 AFL games this year, but really hoping he can put together a season of 15 vfl games and 5-7 Afl games. Has reasonable finishing ability on top of his breakaway speed and these are skills that can translate to AFL level

[Gator 17,641]

Just now, Mad_Melbourne said:

Players have their deficiencies, its hard to put together a really solid tank when he has been spending most of the last two seasons on the sidelines.

I dont think he will play 22 AFL games this year, but really hoping he can put together a season of 15 vfl games and 5-7 Afl games. Has reasonable finishing ability on top of his breakaway speed and these are skills that can translate to AFL level

Ben Kennedy is renowned for his poor endurance.  It's one of the reasons Collingwood let him go.  At training Kennedy was noticeably poor in his running in the same group as Hogan, Hunt, and Watts.  Hogan was beating him by 70 metres in the final lap sessions.  Watts easily had his measure.  Hunt was a fair way behind Kennedy.  That puts into perspective how poor Hunt's endurance is and how far he's coming back from.  Can he get to "satisfactory" levels without the sub by the season proper ?  I don't think so.

Btw, I'm not making any assertions as to why his endurance is poor.  It could be injury or just not being a great aerobic athlete.  I'm merely making the observation.  Although, I suspect the latter, as he's a good sprinter and the combination of speed and endurance is rare.  

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

2 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Ben Kennedy is renowned for his poor endurance.  It's one of the reasons Collingwood let him go.  At training Kennedy was noticeably poor in his running in the same group as Hogan, Hunt, and Watts.  Hogan was beating him by 70 metres in the final lap sessions.  Watts easily had his measure.  Hunt was a fair way behind Kennedy.  That puts into perspective how poor Hunt's endurance is and how far he's coming back from.  Can he get to "satisfactory" levels without the sub by the season proper ?  I don't think so.

Btw, I'm not making any assertions as to why his endurance is poor.  It could be injury or just not being a great aerobic athlete.  I'm merely making the observation.  Although, I suspect the latter, as he's a good sprinter and the combination of speed and endurance is rare.  

I'm not disagreeing with his poor aerobic capacity, but these things can be worked on. Whilst he is working from a long way back, the things that he can bring to our side are things that we lack and therefore that is the main reason the club will have stuck with him and give him the one year extension. He definitely needs to string together a full pre season and a run of games without injury to put his name into contention, but I am optimistic that he adds something and if he can do so will be pushing his name up for selection.

[Gator 17,641]

1 minute ago, Mad_Melbourne said:

I'm not disagreeing with his poor aerobic capacity, but these things can be worked on. Whilst he is working from a long way back, the things that he can bring to our side are things that we lack and therefore that is the main reason the club will have stuck with him and give him the one year extension. He definitely needs to string together a full pre season and a run of games without injury to put his name into contention, but I am optimistic that he adds something and if he can do so will be pushing his name up for selection.

Roos wants runners.  He's always talking about runners.  It's more so with less rotations and no sub.  Hunt is too far back to get games in 2016 (imho).

We'll find out soon enough.

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

12 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Roos wants runners.  He's always talking about runners.  It's more so with less rotations and no sub.  Hunt is too far back to get games in 2016 (imho).

We'll find out soon enough.

if this was Roos opinion of him, then surely he would have been delisted rather than offered a 1 year contract?

 

im not disagreeing with the fact that he does want runners, but why would the club as a whole offer him an extra year when he was out of contract and could easily have delisted him and offered the spot to another player in the draft or even viv michie?

29 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Agree. He has not shown anything remotely close to suggest he will be a good ordinary player. I understand the injuries he has picked over the years has stunted his development but he is a fair way behind majority of the list.

While i was happy with most of the list changes over the trade period the one that was an utterly stupid decision was putting Viv michie on the rookie list instead of Hunt.. Viv has shown to be a handy midfield depth while hunt has shown he struggles to win more then 7 disposals a game at VFL level. 

Only time will tell..

This is true, his disposal count is really poor for VFL, but he also was able to find the goals quite often and was able to often exploit the space behind the zone, which is a really handy asset that we have seen Jeffy do quite often this year.

The stats per game for him are often skewed also due to the fact that he was coming back from injury and working on his game time, that being said he would want to find more of the football and increase his pressure acts in order to push for a spot.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Mad_Melbourne
fixing

[Gator 17,641]

13 minutes ago, Mad_Melbourne said:

if this was Roos opinion of him, then surely he would have been delisted rather than offered a 1 year contract?

They see the X factor and talent we all see and are prepared to see how it ferments over the next 12 months.  And yes, take it to the bank that Roos is huge on "runners".  Jack Viney isn't a runner, but he has willed himself to be a satisfactory runner.

We have 40 players on our primary list.  Where do you think Hunt currently ranks ?  I'm guessing it's 40.  (yes, he's still behind the Terlichs of this world)

So when you say "why is he still on the list" ?  He's a hairs breadth from not being.  But with a list of 40 plus rookies it's not an unreasonable gamble when you've got to know the player.

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

26 minutes ago, ProDee said:

They see the X factor and talent we all see and are prepared to see how it ferments over the next 12 months.  And yes, take it to the bank that Roos is huge on "runners".  Jack Viney isn't a runner, but he has willed himself to be a satisfactory runner.

We have 40 players on our primary list.  Where do you think Hunt currently ranks ?  I'm guessing it's 40.  (yes, he's still behind the Terlichs of this world)

So when you say "why is he still on the list" ?  He's a hairs breadth from not being.  But with a list of 40 plus rookies it's not an unreasonable gamble when you've got to know the player.

This debate keeps drawing further and further away from my point, my statement was that I was optimistic, whilst I acknowledge his weaknesses, I see the aspects that he can bring to the side as the main reason he has stayed on the list and if he is able to combine this with a full pre season and consistent form in the VFL he will play AFL games this year. I also think it is a big year for him, for the obvious reasons that he is being given one last chance. So in relation to your quote, the club is optimistic about what he can offer to the side and therefore that warrants the extra year?

Do i rank him in our top 30, no, but Roos and co have a knack of playing players based on form and was able to play a large chunk of the side next year.

 

Sometimes I think you just like to type, because alot of what you are saying is in support of my initial statements but laced with a condescending and negative tone.

[Palace Dees 2,352]

Like many others I believe Salem is going to be exciting to watch this year and I expect a top 5 result in the B & F.

It may be just hope, but I also expect a much better year from H.  He is a lot better than he showed us this year.  Maybe it was his feet (he had surgery of both ankles recently) and with this rectified he will regain pace, agility and confidence. 

P,S.  Not sure about the new look demonland - putting my avatar in a bubble strips it of all its dignity.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Palace Dees

[Gator 17,641]

52 minutes ago, Mad_Melbourne said:

This debate keeps drawing further and further away from my point, my statement was that I was optimistic, whilst I acknowledge his weaknesses, I see the aspects that he can bring to the side as the main reason he has stayed on the list and if he is able to combine this with a full pre season and consistent form in the VFL he will play AFL games this year. I also think it is a big year for him, for the obvious reasons that he is being given one last chance. So in relation to your quote, the club is optimistic about what he can offer to the side and therefore that warrants the extra year?

Do i rank him in our top 30, no, but Roos and co have a knack of playing players based on form and was able to play a large chunk of the side next year.

 

Sometimes I think you just like to type, because alot of what you are saying is in support of my initial statements but laced with a condescending and negative tone.

His endurance won't get to the point where he's a viable option to get games next year, imho.

 

You disagree ?  Fantastic.

Edited December 7, 2015 by ProDee