4 hours ago, McQueen said:

Clearly there was a fair amount of luck to the short injury list that we had for pretty much all year but, let's for a moment consider the medical and sports science blokes we have on board have the skill and knowledge to get him right.

Definitely worth the punt. 

Love your optimism, but those same sports science blokes at the cattery waited and managed menzel through years of injuries for him to come good against the odds, yet they are willing to move vardy on.

Our sports science blokes are the same ones who had to rely in the Richmond doctors to correctly uncover the extent if trengoves injury.

Not saying our docs are bad, but geelongs docs have a ripping track record with menzel, lonergan and the older brigade.

2 hours ago, Adzman said:

Love your optimism, but those same sports science blokes at the cattery waited and managed menzel through years of injuries for him to come good against the odds, yet they are willing to move vardy on.

Our sports science blokes are the same ones who had to rely in the Richmond doctors to correctly uncover the extent if trengoves injury.

Not saying our docs are bad, but geelongs docs have a ripping track record with menzel, lonergan and the older brigade.

The fact they are looking to offload would be partly due to his injuries but they also have an enormous amount of big men on their list.  

I think he is worth a punt 

9 hours ago, McQueen said:

Clearly there was a fair amount of luck to the short injury list that we had for pretty much all year but, let's for a moment consider the medical and sports science blokes we have on board have the skill and knowledge to get him right.

Definitely worth the punt. 

 

8 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Vardy maybe as a delisted free agent or for pick 80. A punt !!

 

1 hour ago, Demons11 said:

The fact they are looking to offload would be partly due to his injuries but they also have an enormous amount of big men on their list.  

I think he is worth a punt 

Look at the odds....

Would you bet on a lame horse even at 1000/1? Worth a punt?

One thing you can guarantee is the club won't be taking a punt.

Super talented 

Unfortunately can't get on the park.... even as a dfa I'd pass

14 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Wow. 

 

 

Walk Away....

I live in Geelong and work with a number of the Cats players (they help out our school footy program).

One of the things they say is how highly rated Vardy is internally - yes the games played in 7 years is alarming, but that's not to say it's all injury - he has played a lot of VFL coming back from inj and due to the Cats having Clark, Hawkins, Stanley, Blicavs, and now Smith. He is leaving simply open to leaving for opportunity because he knows that even with his body the Cats preferred combo is Smith and Stanley pinch hitting with Blics 3rd man up/mid. They are happy with Kersten's development into second fiddle for Hawkins.

Given the low cost it would be to get him over, i am absolutely all for it. Jake Spencer has only played 36 games.....#justsayin

Is he more of a chance of making it than someone taken late in the draft? My guess would be that he is, and he fits a big hole in our team.

Worth a punt at a very low cost, as opposed to other clubs potentially gambling a couple of first rounders on Jaeger O'Meara's wonky knees.

Fool's gold. This guy's best years are so far behind him it's ridiculous. His body is toast and not in any way similar to Menzel who had multiple recurrences of the same injury.

1 hour ago, Red and Blue Flame said:

I live in Geelong and work with a number of the Cats players (they help out our school footy program).

One of the things they say is how highly rated Vardy is internally - yes the games played in 7 years is alarming, but that's not to say it's all injury - he has played a lot of VFL coming back from inj and due to the Cats having Clark, Hawkins, Stanley, Blicavs, and now Smith. He is leaving simply open to leaving for opportunity because he knows that even with his body the Cats preferred combo is Smith and Stanley pinch hitting with Blics 3rd man up/mid. They are happy with Kersten's development into second fiddle for Hawkins.

Given the low cost it would be to get him over, i am absolutely all for it. Jake Spencer has only played 36 games.....#justsayin

So highly rated that they prefer Kersten as a forward, and 3 others as ruckmen?
Even Mitch Clark got brought back into the senior side after a couple of good VFL games, against better judgment..

Everybody with any ability at the cats, gets talked about as being highly rated (unless you're Billie Smedts).
They've made an art form out of persevering with players whose bodies keep breaking down: Vardy, Menzel, Cowan, Lincoln McCarthy, Mitch Clark...

Unfortunately for Vardy, his body is toast and he hasn't been able to re-capture his past form in the small amount of time he's managed to get back on the park.
I was told a couple of years ago he was on the verge of retirement because his hip was that bad, but he followed the lead of all the others that refused to give up.
The cats were actually angry with him because he was meant to be rehabbing and was inexplicably given permission to go to Europe with mates as long as he adhered to strict guidelines, but then the club became aware of him "being overly active" on many occasions when on the [censored] and when he came back it hadn't healed very well at all.

Good enough guy, handy player when he was fit, but for us I think he'd only be giving us the opportunity to upgrade a rookie, if you know what I mean.

Vardy is the most talented of all the rucks/fwd-rucks that seem to be available.

Geelong do have a lot of rucks and fwd-rucks on their list this year but it would be different next year.  From what I can gather Mitch Clark is gone from there and if Vardy went that leaves them with Smith, Stanley, Blicavs and then Read and Lucey who have not played.  Stanley has his moments but they are few and far between, surely Vardy fit is a better option than Stanley and they'd keep him if he was fit enough?

If we thought he could play then whatever trade value we could generate from Dunn or Garland would be a good deal for us.  With Gawn and Spencer we wouldn't have to rush him.

High risk in terms of his body, but potentially high reward at low cost.  At somewhere near his best Vardy is be exactly what we need, and I'd be very happy to take the punt, subject to an optimistic medical outlook. 

I'd say the risk is too high, i.e. the 98% likelihood that he'll just be taking up a spot on our list but won't actually be able to contribute in a meaningful way.

 

It seems reasonably straight forward to me.  He is clearly talented and fills a need, but his body hasn't withstood the rigours of AFL footy.

The club won't take him unless it is highly confident he's over his woes and can sustain playing AFL footy.

So I'm relaxed either way. 

12 hours ago, Adzman said:

I salivate at the idea of getting him cheap and him reaching his potential.

But reality is that footy is a harsh business. His body hasn't held up for the past 7 seasons, what reasons do we have to think 2017 is going to be any different?

Gawn barely got on the field in his first 5 seasons either. If true that Vardy played 17 games this year then he may be growing into his body and be ready to play consistent footy. If he's cheap I'd definitely go for him.

As long as the club is sensible and doesn't overpay in terms of picks or or contract $ or length, I can't really see the downside here. We carried Trengove in 2015 and Melksham in 2016 who were never going to play, so I'm pretty sure we can afford to take a risk on one player in 2017, especially given that he potentially fills a pressing need.

2 hours ago, CP5 said:

It seems reasonably straight forward to me.  He is clearly talented and fills a need, but his body hasn't withstood the rigours of AFL footy.

The club won't take him unless it is highly confident he's over his woes and can sustain playing AFL footy.

So I'm relaxed either way. 

He has played a fair bit of VFL football this year compared to the last two which is something.

However his form hasn't been great.....

http://www.aflplayerratings.com.au/Ratings/Player/114802/Nathan-VARDY

1 hour ago, AngryAtCasey said:

He has played a fair bit of VFL football this year compared to the last two which is something.

However his form hasn't been great.....

http://www.aflplayerratings.com.au/Ratings/Player/114802/Nathan-VARDY

Doesn't read well.

Does he need a preseason or the dole ?

Is he still athletic enough ?  Does he have a tank ?  Does he work hard enough ?

I don't have the answers...

7 hours ago, rjay said:

 

 

Look at the odds....

Would you bet on a lame horse even at 1000/1? Worth a punt?

One thing you can guarantee is the club won't be taking a punt.

It's more like buying a former champion 3 year old that's broken down and missed 2 years for a few dollars and hoping you can get it right. 

We've added 2 basketballers to our cat B rookie list on the basis of good family pedigree, some under 16's footy ability and athleticism. The previous regime took Liam Jurrah. The Hawks wasted a pick on Dale Garlett. Freo took Shane Yarran. Even Jeff Garlett was a risk if some of the stories Carl fans say about him in his last year there are true.

The way I see it there's only ever going to be so many talented players around and clubs will take risks to fill out their last few list spaces. I'd rather a Jayden Hunt type risk of a player with huge upside than adding a James Magner and I see Vardy as the type of risk that could work.

7 hours ago, rjay said:

 

 

Look at the odds....

Would you bet on a lame horse even at 1000/1? Worth a punt?

One thing you can guarantee is the club won't be taking a punt.

That's the way I see it too.  If we find ourselves using the word 'punt' when it comes to recruiting a player, I become instantly skeptical.  

4 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

It's more like buying a former champion 3 year old that's broken down and missed 2 years for a few dollars and hoping you can get it right. 

We've added 2 basketballers to our cat B rookie list on the basis of good family pedigree, some under 16's footy ability and athleticism. The previous regime took Liam Jurrah. The Hawks wasted a pick on Dale Garlett. Freo took Shane Yarran. Even Jeff Garlett was a risk if some of the stories Carl fans say about him in his last year there are true.

The way I see it there's only ever going to be so many talented players around and clubs will take risks to fill out their last few list spaces. I'd rather a Jayden Hunt type risk of a player with huge upside than adding a James Magner and I see Vardy as the type of risk that could work.

What I'm getting at is if what 'Mach5' says is right, and his Geelong mail is usually pretty good then it's a dumb punt.

The odds look good but they are because there is no prospect of winning.

Forget taking a punt, the club will have a look and the medical people will give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

There will be none of this his legs are f....but hey lets have a punt, he might come good.

3 minutes ago, rjay said:

What I'm getting at is if what 'Mach5' says is right, and his Geelong mail is usually pretty good then it's a dumb punt.

The odds look good but they are because there is no prospect of winning.

Forget taking a punt, the club will have a look and the medical people will give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

There will be none of this his legs are f....but hey lets have a punt, he might come good.

It's also about the reward, even if there was a chance of him getting right it's not like he's an O'meara level superstar, he's a good average player, the reward isn't even worth the effort.

I know Bliclavs is not on the market, but he's a player i'd throw big money at to lure over to Melbourne to jump into the ruck when Gawn needs a rest instead of Vardy. Slightly off topic and in the dreaming direction

10 minutes ago, rjay said:

What I'm getting at is if what 'Mach5' says is right, and his Geelong mail is usually pretty good then it's a dumb punt.

The odds look good but they are because there is no prospect of winning.

Forget taking a punt, the club will have a look and the medical people will give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

There will be none of this his legs are f....but hey lets have a punt, he might come good.

I'm assuming the punt is after a positive medical and that after evaluation our medical staff disagree with what Mach5 has attributed to Geelong's. Whilst he's got 2 arms, 2 legs and can still play at VFL level there's a chance that different experts give a different opinion. 

It's still going to be a punt even if he passes the medical based on his history. It would be a burning cash and list spot if he fails the medical. 

 

Remember Craig Turley?

Wayne (Moose) Henwood?

when you are done you are done. 

7 hours ago, CP5 said:

It seems reasonably straight forward to me.  He is clearly talented and fills a need, but his body hasn't withstood the rigours of AFL footy.

The club won't take him unless it is highly confident he's over his woes and can sustain playing AFL footy.

So I'm relaxed either way. 

Is that you @ProDee?

22 minutes ago, A F said:

Is that you @ProDee?

Interestingly A F, ProDee last logged in on August 24, the same day CP5 joined.