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All aboard the Oliver Express

picket fence
picket fence
in Melbourne Demons

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My best mate barracks for the lions and I watched just about every game with him during their glory years.

Oliver is a Voss clone. No sweeping handballs just yet but everything else is a perfect match.

Salem is a lot like either of the Scott brothers off half back. Tough and skilful.

Tyson reminds me of Simon Black. In and under at every single contest. Clean hands.

Hogan is a mix between Bradshaw and Jonathon Brown. Strong as an Ox. Hits the scoreboard

Max Gaw is much better than Clark Keating

Jeff Garlett better than Heart

We just need a Nigel Lappin ( Mitch White)

and Jason Ackermanis (Bernie Vince too old?)

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    I just love the way Oliver seems to come from nowhere with great acceleration, grab the football and handball it quickly to get the ball moving forward. A great acquisition.

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    He spends it before he's got it, which is usually a problem but he rarely fails to still get it.  Love watching him and think he might still have a lot more tricks to show as he continues to develop physically.

    Big, big mistake not to put him straight back into the team against St Kilda.

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    15 minutes ago, S_T said:

    He spends it before he's got it, which is usually a problem but he rarely fails to still get it.  Love watching him and think he might still have a lot more tricks to show as he continues to develop physically.

    Big, big mistake not to put him straight back into the team against St Kilda.

    I don't think so.....I think we made that mistake last year with Brayshaw and he was spent in the latter half of the year.

    All the youngsters will be rested at some stage Weiderman and Hulett were rested from the VFL in the last 2 weeks Petracca will also get a rest during the year.

    They are 18 or 19 years old with half a preseason behind them 

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    On 5/9/2016 at 0:48 PM, Bossdog said:

    I don't think so.....I think we made that mistake last year with Brayshaw and he was spent in the latter half of the year.

    All the youngsters will be rested at some stage Weiderman and Hulett were rested from the VFL in the last 2 weeks Petracca will also get a rest during the year.

    They are 18 or 19 years old with half a preseason behind them 

    Agreed, not many kids are going to play every game in their first year unless they're superhuman these days! the interchange cap has made sure of that.

    It was difficult for first year players to run out games with unlimited rotations.

    Brayshaws issue imo this year is he is not a very good forward and not fit enough to play midfield yet.

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    I am going to keep repeating this until it becomes a reality.

    The Dusty fend off is now an accepted part of folklore - love him or hate him no-one in the league does a fend off with such regularity to such good affect as Dustin Martin.

    Oliver will make the head high handball his own. It is like a  sixth sense - he almost invites contact and a fraction of a second before it comes he lifts his body higher and his arms are already moving up. He gets tackled but the arms are always free above the tackle and he lets go precision handballs from eye level or above.

    He has a disproportionate handball to kick ratio but if you have a weapon like his handballing is, who gives a rats.

     

     

     

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    The reason his handballs are so damaging is that he always hits someone that is moving (not flat-footed) and that moving player is almost always either in space or heading into space. 

    He is amazing.

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    29 minutes ago, Bossdog said:

    I don't think so.....I think we made that mistake last year with Brayshaw and he was spent in the latter half of the year.

    All the youngsters will be rested at some stage Weiderman and Hulett were rested from the VFL in the last 2 weeks Petracca will also get a rest during the year.

    They are 18 or 19 years old with half a preseason behind them 

     

    I do.

    Resting him for one week was smart.  Resting (not selecting) him for 2 weeks was stupid.

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    Just watching the replay of the game now. He takes out Prestia in the centre square then follows up breaking Sexton's arm in a tackle in the space of about 10 seconds. Absolute wrecking ball

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    On 08/05/2016 at 1:22 PM, Deeoldfart said:

    imo his hands are the equal of any current day AFL player.  Bold statement I know, but I can't think of anyone cleaner.

    His hands are great and I shook one of them. Wished him luck and a great career. We will notice his teammates  looking for him and handing it off to him like Gold coast players do ( or used to do) with Ablett. This kid could be anything !!!!

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    29 minutes ago, ProDee said:

     

    I do.

    Resting him for one week was smart.  Resting (not selecting) him for 2 weeks was stupid.

     

    But at what cost do you compromise your principles of making kids earn their way into the AFL side?

    I think someone like ANB would feel rightly aggrieved if Oliver were included without having to prove in the VFL he hadn't lost form due to a week off.
    Prior to rest, Oliver's impact on matches had been lessening.

    I'm interested in playing the long game here, even if it costs us a win or 2 this season.

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    34 minutes ago, ProDee said:

     

    I do.

    Resting him for one week was smart.  Resting (not selecting) him for 2 weeks was stupid.

    I agree, poor management IMV

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    5 minutes ago, Mach5 said:

     

    But at what cost do you compromise your principles of making kids earn their way into the AFL side?

    I think someone like ANB would feel rightly aggrieved if Oliver were included without having to prove in the VFL he hadn't lost form due to a week off.
    Prior to rest, Oliver's impact on matches had been lessening.

    I'm interested in playing the long game here, even if it costs us a win or 2 this season.

    I understand your view, but I reckon he's really important even in his quieter games.

    If he's ready to go I'd never not have him in the team.

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    1 hour ago, Bossdog said:

    I don't think so.....I think we made that mistake last year with Brayshaw and he was spent in the latter half of the year.

    All the youngsters will be rested at some stage Weiderman and Hulett were rested from the VFL in the last 2 weeks Petracca will also get a rest during the year.

    They are 18 or 19 years old with half a preseason behind them 

    Yes, but they did not need to rest him for two weeks. We have lost three games this year as a direct result of poor selection choices (North, Essendon and St Kilda). It would be a very different story without them.

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    Watched the full replay, and I counted only 1 missed handball, which he then went and got himself.. His hands are so good and he often makes the receiver move to the right spot.. I also think his field kicking looks good too, but haven't seen him use it enough.. He will improve the team structure as he will allow Salem to play outside next year when he moves into the midfield..

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    1 hour ago, Bossdog said:

    I don't think so.....I think we made that mistake last year with Brayshaw and he was spent in the latter half of the year.

    All the youngsters will be rested at some stage Weiderman and Hulett were rested from the VFL in the last 2 weeks Petracca will also get a rest during the year.

    They are 18 or 19 years old with half a preseason behind them 

    He had a complete week off - good management and I fully agreed (when it happened and in hindsight) that it was the right thing to do

    Making him come back via Casey was a terrible call though.  What purpose did that serve at all?

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    35 minutes ago, S_T said:

    He had a complete week off - good management and I fully agreed (when it happened and in hindsight) that it was the right thing to do

    Making him come back via Casey was a terrible call though.  What purpose did that serve at all?

    It helped St Kilda by us having one of our best players out.

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    still not perfect but the mrp are a fair bit better this year.  nothing too soft resulting in weeks

    far out Oliver exceeds my expectations every time I see him.  and it just seems to come so easy to him

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    Oliver is sublime, an absolutely  fantastic talent.. Such quick hands and speed of reaction to dish out pinpoint passes with eyes in his backside.. Love him to bits!!

    Old head on a such a young body, he just seems to have been born to play football... thank the lord above he is a Demon and the fellow who plucked him from the draft!

    I can't believe he's played a hand full of games only at AFL level.

    What delights  this talent will bring us into the future if he continues at this rate.

    As someone else wrote, I have never seen his like before!

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    3 hours ago, Wrecker45 said:

    My best mate barracks for the lions and I watched just about every game with him during their glory years.

    Oliver is a Voss clone. No sweeping handballs just yet but everything else is a perfect match.

    Salem is a lot like either of the Scott brothers off half back. Tough and skilful.

    Tyson reminds me of Simon Black. In and under at every single contest. Clean hands.

    Hogan is a mix between Bradshaw and Jonathon Brown. Strong as an Ox. Hits the scoreboard

    Max Gaw is much better than Clark Keating

    Jeff Garlett better than Heart

    We just need a Nigel Lappin ( Mitch White)

    and Jason Ackermanis (Bernie Vince too old?)

    Salem is not tough.

    Tyson does not have clean hands.

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