At the start of the year 1 player who we cant afford to lose was Gawn. Lose a mid or a forward we have other options. Yes we have Jake but he is not Max. This is a massive massive loss.

salt on the wound of a truly shite afternoon. I still feel angry. 

Lets hope its not career threatening and we dont talk of max like we speak of shwartz, Tingay, Charles and Jakovich.

I hate barracking for Melbourne sometimes

And apparently some bastard stomped on Bernie's toe and he has lost a toe nail but is still likely to play next week. 

Gawn you're wearing number 11 you have to play next week. 

Just posted ( on post match discussion thread) a rumour heard from a mate of mine and since confirmed on Melb Website that Max could be in serious trouble with the Hamstring! Tendon damage and surgery being explored ! Sheesh we cannot take a trick!

They are talking 12 weeks !!!! 

Well that's just about the worst thing that could possibly have come out of yesterday.

Could've been worse, Spencer could've rejected the one year offer and gone to another club for more senior experience

1 hour ago, Mr Steve said:

Gawn you're wearing number 11 you have to play next week. 

With a torn hammy? :S

 

2-3 months out.

We had to expect this at some point. Playing 90% of game time as the only ruck after playing hardly any footy for 5 seasons. 

Time for Spencer to step up. Midfield will learn a lot from this. Dare I say it's a blessing in disguise for the league's youngest team.

Just now, praha said:

2-3 months out.

We had to expect this at some point. Playing 90% of game time as the only ruck after playing hardly any footy for 5 seasons. 

Time for Spencer to step up. Midfield will learn a lot from this. Dare I say it's a blessing in disguise for the league's youngest team.

I'm not sure there is any evidence at all to suggest he got the injury because he played 90% of the game as the number 1 ruck.

It was something we always had to prepare for regardless of how we use him. 

I see what you mean about it being a blessing in disguise but Spencer has a lot of work to do to play consistently near the level Gawn usually gets to.

Kent did a similar injury at a similar time in 2015 and wasn't seen again until the following season. With a 12 week injury, you've got to hope for no hiccups AND an additional 2-3 weeks of match practice. I don't think we'll be seeing big Max for a long time.

Plenty of successful teams have had a plodder in the ruck so I don't think our finals chances are as bad as one might fear. 

Just now, titan_uranus said:

I'm not sure there is any evidence at all to suggest he got the injury because he played 90% of the game as the number 1 ruck.

It was something we always had to prepare for regardless of how we use him. 

I see what you mean about it being a blessing in disguise but Spencer has a lot of work to do to play consistently near the level Gawn usually gets to.

I'm not saying there is either but he was working hard for long periods suddenly before having played little football for so long. All I'm saying is it shouldn't be a surprise. We ran with and risked a lot with a one-ruck approach. If there wasn't a contingency in place then that would be frustrating. I assume keeping the likes of Spencer in the VFL was for this. I am very confident he will take advantage of his chance. Let's not forget a few years back many on here didn't think much of Gawn. I am honestly looking forward to seeing Spencer play. I think he's a very smart player and grossly underrated by the football negative nannies on here

 

Not ideal, but it is what it is.   Spencer is at his peak age and will break even in hitouts with most rucks.  The Dogs won a flag last year without a recognised ruckman.

I'm far from writing off the season. 

Well this is a kick in the balls. Strangely think about how lucky st Kilda and Reiwoldt were, he comes off the ground with what everyone thinks could be career ending and plays a couple of weeks later. 

Max comes off, appears to be your standard hammy and ends up being out for an extended period. I guess that's just life. 

Spencer looked hungry in the pre-season, it must be mixed emotions for him. Part of him would be really happy about the opportunity but another would be gutted for Maxy you'd think. 

We got a great run on injuries last year, time to test our depth. 

9 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

 

I see what you mean about it being a blessing in disguise but Spencer has a lot of work to do to play consistently near the level Gawn usually gets to.

Are you seriously suggesting that even with a lot of work, Jake could play consistently near the level of Gawn? 

One is the best ruckman in the game and the other an honest battler. 

I will be happy if Jake can compete and do the odd nice thing. 

Knee would have been much worse. Best case, no surgery and we see him in 6 weeks. Worst case, we don't see him until the final few games of the year.

Imagine if we are gearing up for a finals run and we get our AA back into the 22.

Gawn isn't the first most important player to go down, plenty of teams have replaced and prevailed.

Lets see what Goodwins Demons can really do with their backs against the wall.

4 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Are you seriously suggesting that even with a lot of work, Jake could play consistently near the level of Gawn? 

One is the best ruckman in the game and the other an honest battler. 

I will be happy if Jake can compete and do the odd nice thing. 

No. That was precisely my point.

I'm not saying it destroys our year, but Spencer will never be Gawn and that is not a positive thing.

8 minutes ago, ProDee said:

Not ideal, but it is what it is.   Spencer is at his peak age and will break even in hitouts with most rucks.  The Dogs won a flag last year without a recognised ruckman.

I'm far from writing off the season. 

Agreed, not writing off the season. , but it's going to be a real test. Our single biggest advantage in gaining possession is gone for an extended period.  Of all players, Max is the biggest loss. But certainly an opportunity for Jake to step up. But he is no Max. Interesting times ahead. 

It's gonna hurt us badly. Max is obviously dominant in the hit outs, but he gives us a good marking target all around the ground. Half the time the kick out is bombed to him as at worst it will come to ground. Spencer doesn't have that same marking power. Max is also smart enough to read the play and get behind the ball to take goal saving marks etc

It also means we'll become less aggressive at centre bounces as we were backing ourselves to win the tap most of time. Now we'll have to become less agggrasive and more traditional which is disappointing as it was one of the things that separated us from other teams.

Hope Maxy makes a speedy recovery and can return for finals action later this year!

2 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

No. That was precisely my point.

I'm not saying it destroys our year, but Spencer will never be Gawn and that is not a positive thing.

Sorry obviously misunderstood your intent. 

 

On 09/04/2017 at 5:47 PM, demonique said:

They are talking 12 weeks !!!! 

So he'll be back in plenty of time for finals, sweet.

7 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Are you seriously suggesting that even with a lot of work, Jake could play consistently near the level of Gawn? 

One is the best ruckman in the game and the other an honest battler. 

I will be happy if Jake can compete and do the odd nice thing. 

Spencer hasn't even had 2 seasons of game time to become anything more than an honest battler. Gawn has become the best ruckman in the game precisely because his opportunity arose. 

1 minute ago, DominatrixTyson said:

Spencer hasn't even had 2 seasons of game time to become anything more than an honest battler.

Agree, but he has been on our list for about 8 years and the point is, he may go ok, but he is not Max. 

Anyway I wish him well and hope he can stay fit all year. 

30 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

Could've been worse, Spencer could've rejected the one year offer and gone to another club for more senior experience

And that's supposed to make me feel better?