Any thread questioning a champion like Dunn should be locked and deleted immediately 

4 minutes ago, olisik said:

Any thread questioning a champion like Dunn should be locked and deleted immediately 

Oh spare me FFS..

Well, this is what we want.

No one gets gifted a game.

If you're not in the team, you have to work your ar$e off to get in. Whether you're "best 22" or not.

Same for Brayshaw. No walk-up selections.

A very good sign.

4 minutes ago, olisik said:

Any thread questioning a champion like Dunn should be locked and deleted immediately 

It's good to have favourites Olisik, but finishing 10th in the Bluey last year makes me think that it is not only Demonlanders but also the Football Department that believe he was anything but a champion last season.

Only Dees fans can think it is a problem when good players find it hard to get a game...

The return to relevance will mean more of this.

I think it is a good idea playing OMac. I always believe key defenders develop better when the big heat is thrown at them.  And if the team generally shows improvement from last season, then his confidence to make the right decisions elevates. It won't take long to see if he has what it takes. With Dunn I agree he may be tainted by the old school culture. It was like his stellar form disappeared the very next game after signing his last contract and just became only serviceable ever since. I would love though to see him attain the heights of his early 2014 form. He has demonstrated he can play at  the highest level.

1 hour ago, Ted Fidge said:

Well, this is what we want.

No one gets gifted a game.

If you're not in the team, you have to work your ar$e off to get in. Whether you're "best 22" or not.

Same for Brayshaw. No walk-up selections.

A very good sign.

absolutely teddy.

1 hour ago, dee-tox said:

It's good to have favourites Olisik, but finishing 10th in the Bluey last year makes me think that it is not only Demonlanders but also the Football Department that believe he was anything but a champion last season.

 

1 hour ago, rpfc said:

Only Dees fans can think it is a problem when good players find it hard to get a game...

The return to relevance will mean more of this.

yes rpfc  more of pushing hard to win back spots in the 22 is what we want...  this is a sighn of getting stronger & an Even biigger sign,,, that that god awful tail has come under some control for the first time in nearly 15 years

3 hours ago, olisik said:

Any thread questioning a champion like Dunn should be locked and deleted immediately 

Any posts by a bloke who compared Dunn to Fyfe should be ignored or deleted immediately.

Dunn for most of his career has been a battler in a poor side, now with age and the list improving he is no longer in the best 22. Honestly he only had parts of 2013 all of 14 and parts of 15 where this wasn't the case

16 minutes ago, Garbo said:

Dunn for most of his career has been a battler in a poor side, now with age and the list improving he is no longer in the best 22. Honestly he only had parts of 2013 all of 14 and parts of 15 where this wasn't the case

2015

5th in disposals

4th in kicks

5th in uncontested possession

3rd in intercept marks

Dunn has been a reliable defender for the past 10 years....It may be true that time is catching up with him but to degrade him is a bit rich. 

Dunn is too good a player to be out for long. 

Paul Roos is known to pick roughies,so I can see why O'Mac is chosen over Dunn.

8 hours ago, Ted Fidge said:

Well, this is what we want.

No one gets gifted a game.

If you're not in the team, you have to work your ar$e off to get in. Whether you're "best 22" or not.

Same for Brayshaw. No walk-up selections.

A very good sign.

Only Brayshaw is already just as good a player, suffered an injury and will develop into a prolific member of our future

4 hours ago, Bossdog said:

2015

5th in disposals

4th in kicks

5th in uncontested possession

3rd in intercept marks

Dunn has been a reliable defender for the past 10 years....It may be true that time is catching up with him but to degrade him is a bit rich. 

Your stats are all fair enough, I'm sure they are legit. The statement on Dunn being a reliable defender for a decade is well off the mark. He was drafted as a forward and played forward at least 2-3 seasons & was in & out of the side.  He was then also a tagger / utility for a season or two. The last four years he has been a serviceable defender.

Maybe, as well as being slightly underdone, he is struggling with the new form of zoning we are implementing? Lynden's greatest strength as a defender has been his one on one contesting, not so much intercepting. It seems Salem's been handed the kick out duties which lessens his role also.

Anyway, I still think this is a beat up here on DL, am confident he'll be back in the side in the next week or 2, O Mac still looks a bit too green to me & Dunn has him covered with his disposal and gorilla minding, he did really well against Hawkins last year & better on Cloke than T Mac was (once the change was finally made) despite having a lesser year than 2014.

15 hours ago, Bossdog said:

2015

5th in disposals

4th in kicks

5th in uncontested possession

3rd in intercept marks

Dunn has been a reliable defender for the past 10 years....It may be true that time is catching up with him but to degrade him is a bit rich. 

Absolute load of rubbish. Revisionism at its worst. This is a bloke who couldn't nail down a position for the best part of a decade. He's played one good season. It's a fallacy to say anything else.

I was talking about our leadership group at work the other week and mentioned how I was surprised at Dunn being omitted from the leadership group. A suggestive reply from a 'casual' employee was "Maybe it's a sign?"

 

Probably doesn't mean much normally except that this guy is a 'casual' employee because he spends the rest of the time working for the Melbourne Football Club.

 

Just saying.

 

45 minutes ago, AdamFarr said:

Absolute load of rubbish. Revisionism at its worst. This is a bloke who couldn't nail down a position for the best part of a decade. He's played one good season. It's a fallacy to say anything else.

Well he has played 161 games and kicked 96 goals and played all 22 games last year.......It must say a lot about our club then if he has only played ONE good season in that time.      At his age you would expect him to be passed by young up and comers.    Has played 61 games straight since rd 6 2013. and still managed a top ten finish in the Best and fairest.    His man seldom kicks a bag on him and I feel a lot better if he is in the side ie reliable.  

 

14 minutes ago, Bossdog said:

Well he has played 161 games and kicked 96 goals and played all 22 games last year.......It must say a lot about our club then if he has only played ONE good season in that time.     At his age you would expect him to be passed by young up and comers.    Has played 61 games straight since rd 6 2013. and still managed a top ten finish in the Best and fairest.    His man seldom kicks a bag on him and I feel a lot better if he is in the side ie reliable.  

 

Yep. Have you been watching the last decade? Blokes that wouldn't have got games anywhere else played seasons on our list.

Really surprised with this call and I was way wrong with my dismissal of the idea of omac ahead of dunn.

On deetv roos implied it was to do with injury and not playing all nab. But given he is an emergency - and the fact he was vc and isn't even in the lg this year - it feels as if they're sending him a message.

2 hours ago, thevil1 said:

Maybe, as well as being slightly underdone, he is struggling with the new form of zoning we are implementing? Lynden's greatest strength as a defender has been his one on one contesting, not so much intercepting. It seems Salem's been handed the kick out duties which lessens his role also.

Anyway, I still think this is a beat up here on DL, am confident he'll be back in the side in the next week or 2, O Mac still looks a bit too green to me & Dunn has him covered with his disposal and gorilla minding, he did really well against Hawkins last year & better on Cloke than T Mac was (once the change was finally made) despite having a lesser year than 2014.

its not a beat up on DL,  & he will be back very soon.  no doubt.

 

but the point is he's seeing first hand,  there is no walk up start into the team.  you have to earn it,  & howe.

2 hours ago, AdamFarr said:

Absolute load of rubbish. Revisionism at its worst. This is a bloke who couldn't nail down a position for the best part of a decade. He's played one good season. It's a fallacy to say anything else.

Dunn was atrocious until about 3 seasons ago... at best a journey type player,  he didn't want to play down back in his early career & ducked his head far too often as a forward.  he was definately a product of the soft Melbourne culture of that time. 

best season 2 years back, thought he'd turned the cortner..

 

I put him in the Frawley basket,  capable,  but not absolutely competent.

 

there is an old footy saying:   there are 'contenders',,,  & there are 'pretenders'.  those pretenders are made up of  'fools gold'  players,  & get found out.  see Melbourne finals teams circa 2000's.

1 hour ago, Bossdog said:

Well he has played 161 games and kicked 96 goals and played all 22 games last year.......It must say a lot about our club then if he has only played ONE good season in that time.      At his age you would expect him to be passed by young up and comers.    Has played 61 games straight since rd 6 2013. and still managed a top ten finish in the Best and fairest.    His man seldom kicks a bag on him and I feel a lot better if he is in the side ie reliable.  

 

One good season is a bit over the top but it's fair to say he struggled to nail a regular spot for a long time, which doesn't necessarily mean all that much as some very good players in the history of the game have done that. He finished of 2013 well down back, was excellent in 2014 and solid enough in 2015. But new year, new times, new game plan means everyone has to earn their spot. 

Too much focus is on Dunn, not enough on Oscar. If Oscar can become a regular and Tom McDonald starts playing more like the first half of 2015 then that's exciting times for the club. I expect Dunn and Garland will push each other for a spot and keep pressure on the McDonald's to keep improving.

23 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

One good season is a bit over the top but it's fair to say he struggled to nail a regular spot for a long time, which doesn't necessarily mean all that much as some very good players in the history of the game have done that. He finished of 2013 well down back, was excellent in 2014 and solid enough in 2015. But new year, new times, new game plan means everyone has to earn their spot. 

Too much focus is on Dunn, not enough on Oscar. If Oscar can become a regular and Tom McDonald starts playing more like the first half of 2015 then that's exciting times for the club. I expect Dunn and Garland will push each other for a spot and keep pressure on the McDonald's to keep improving.

He was capable and effective at times last year, but would you say he was consistently so? I wouldn't. The only season he's played consistently well every week is 2014. He played a couple of good games in 2013 as well, but you'd be lying if you said he had a consistent 2013.

I think being able to call someone 'reliable' is a measure of consistency. I'd say he's only been reliable for one season.

13 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

One good season is a bit over the top but it's fair to say he struggled to nail a regular spot for a long time, which doesn't necessarily mean all that much as some very good players in the history of the game have done that. He finished of 2013 well down back, was excellent in 2014 and solid enough in 2015. But new year, new times, new game plan means everyone has to earn their spot. 

Too much focus is on Dunn, not enough on Oscar. If Oscar can become a regular and Tom McDonald starts playing more like the first half of 2015 then that's exciting times for the club. I expect Dunn and Garland will push each other for a spot and keep pressure on the McDonald's to keep improving.

also if Oscar comes on well, & improves his field kicking,  & could allow TMac forward,  which puts pressure on other forwards to raise their games.

 

potential>

Jetta, Dunn, Frost

Trengove, OMac, Harmes

Stretch, Brayshaw, Salem

Petracca, TMac, Kennedy

Watts, Hogan, Garlett