When he was recruited, Robert Shaw was of the opinion that at that stage Chris was the most influential player in the competition. He understood why Roos targeted him as he was then and is now rarely beaten, very competitive and hard at it as well as being a beautiful kick. I note that in the picture of the top 10 draftees that year, 3 are at other clubs, Boyd, Freeman and Aish have all moved on. 

Edited June 20, 20178 yr by Older demon

5th best kick in the league... not bad.

 

Lets hope that he handles / responds to the positive article better than the other Christian did.

7 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Lets hope that he handles / responds to the positive article better than the other Christian did.

I hope you're not drawing a direct line to the fact the Petracca was drinking his own bath water. Personally I think its damn lazy that people think - an article has appeared in the media about 'said' player, therefore they must have tickets on themselves. Just remember its not the player ringing up the media for a interview. And For what its worth, correlation is never causation. 

33 minutes ago, Danelska said:

I hope you're not drawing a direct line to the fact the Petracca was drinking his own bath water. Personally I think its damn lazy that people think - an article has appeared in the media about 'said' player, therefore they must have tickets on themselves. Just remember its not the player ringing up the media for a interview. And For what its worth, correlation is never causation. 

I was just making a point that it seems whenever one of our players has had a positive article written about them in recent times they have had, for whatever reason, a poor game or two following.   

Hope this doesn't, for whatever reason, happen with this Christian. 

salem has really impressed me this year with his hardness and pressure acts.. couldn't help but think he was a bit soft the past few years. not anymore! wins his own ball too, which is a bonus. hopefully that thyroid issue never comes back again!

17 minutes ago, Rocky said:

salem has really impressed me this year with his hardness and pressure acts.. couldn't help but think he was a bit soft the past few years. not anymore! wins his own ball too, which is a bonus. hopefully that thyroid issue never comes back again!

I mentioned a couple of years ago Salem being as hard as Jack Viney. He is. Always was. Just that Salem didn't have the body for it - so we played him down back where he could use his outside game. Now Salem is maturing we are starting to see his inside game. I have always believed he has a better inside - than outside - game. He is see ball get ball, a good tackler, and has great hands on the inside of a contest. I watched him as a junior. We ain't seen nothing yet IMO.

1 hour ago, Rocky said:

salem has really impressed me this year with his hardness and pressure acts.. couldn't help but think he was a bit soft the past few years. not anymore! wins his own ball too, which is a bonus. hopefully that thyroid issue never comes back again!

Salem was never soft at the ball, unlucky for a couple of years, but never soft. 

I hope he plays in the middle on Saturday night. His kicking could create many scoring oportunities

I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again, Nat Jones said a couple of years ago that Salem loved the hard stuff and I'd say he'd know if any player was shirking or soft. 

To suggest he's been soft in the past is just stupid. 

From the moment I saw him play I knew it was just a matter of time before he was a star of the competition. He is now. 

Edited June 22, 20178 yr by Dante

6 minutes ago, Dante said:

I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again, Nat Jones said a couple of years ago that Salem loved the hard stuff and I'd say he'd know if any player was shirking or soft. 

To suggest he's been soft in the past is just stupid. 

From the moment I saw him play I knew it was just a matter of time before he was a star of the competition. He is now. 

Getting a bit carried away there. Is not even in our best 10 players.

16 hours ago, Watts the matter said:

Getting a bit carried away there. Is not even in our best 10 players.

Well within the top ten, unless you are one of those suggesting that he be traded for a second or third round pick, last draft period, then you mightn't think so.

 

On 6/20/2017 at 4:21 PM, binman said:

Written by Anna Harrington. I really like her articles on the dees.

Because she did work experience atthe Dees.

2 hours ago, Dante said:

Well within the top ten, unless you are one of those suggesting that he be traded for a second or third round pick, last draft period, then you mightn't think so.

 

1. Oliver

2. Jones

3. Gawn

4. Hogan

5. Garlett 

6. Hibberd

7. Viney

8. Petracca 

9. Jetta

10. Watts

 

Who you moving out? Yes, he is coming off a great last 6 quarters but be realistic about it please.

On 6/22/2017 at 7:54 PM, KingDingAling said:

I mentioned a couple of years ago Salem being as hard as Jack Viney. He is. Always was. Just that Salem didn't have the body for it - so we played him down back where he could use his outside game. Now Salem is maturing we are starting to see his inside game. I have always believed he has a better inside - than outside - game. He is see ball get ball, a good tackler, and has great hands on the inside of a contest. I watched him as a junior. We ain't seen nothing yet IMO.

as hard as viney?! pleeeease! so out of ten contests you reckon it'd be 5 & 5 between viney & salem?... how about between oliver & salem? i reckon viney & oliver would smash him. but don't get me wrong, he's been very tough the past few weeks and playing a lot harder than viney (who hasn't hit his straps this season). i agree he has only recently built up his body for afl and that's why he was played down back (in addition to his foot skills, which have never been in question). glad to hear that you rate him as much inside as outside, i look forward to the next few years and him destroying teams like he has the past few weeks. as long as he plays at his current level i'll be stoked. if he goes better, i'll be in love. glad he's resigned for sure.

On 6/22/2017 at 8:40 PM, Sir Why You Little said:

Salem was never soft at the ball, unlucky for a couple of years, but never soft. 

I hope he plays in the middle on Saturday night. His kicking could create many scoring oportunities

i recall a match against the bulldogs a few years ago (maybe winter 2014, i think it was the pink lady match?). it was close and tense towards the end (they ended up skipping away towards the end). i was at the game and salem lost a few one on one contests against the young dogs that cemented in my mind his softness. admittedly, the fact that he hasn't played inside since has contributed to not altering this in my mind.. i agree he is now hard. and i hope that now he has the body and we have other skilled backmen, he gets a chance to play a role in our midfield. 

Check his last quarter tackle from the game against the Bulldogs - tackle - pick up and pushed with a few steps - could have been Stringer - but certainly someone bigger then him - akin to  a rugby league pick up and drop...he's tougher than we have seen...but for me that was an inkling of what he can bring - and I always thought he was purely outside...he is clearly not.

20 hours ago, Watts the matter said:

1. Oliver

2. Jones

3. Gawn

4. Hogan

5. Garlett 

6. Hibberd

7. Viney

8. Petracca 

9. Jetta

10. Watts

 

Who you moving out? Yes, he is coming off a great last 6 quarters but be realistic about it please.

So how do you arrive at your top ten? Is it output, potential, years of service, value to the team as a player, or is it another variable. 

Hogan has hardly been on the field this year yet you rank him top ten, Track has lots of potential and will be a star, but what has he done that makes him better than Salem. Watts has been very good this year but so has Salem. And so on and so on.

You could argue the case for several other players, if you want, but it's only your opinion and you may be wrong. 

8 hours ago, Dante said:

So how do you arrive at your top ten? Is it output, potential, years of service, value to the team as a player, or is it another variable. 

Hogan has hardly been on the field this year yet you rank him top ten, Track has lots of potential and will be a star, but what has he done that makes him better than Salem. Watts has been very good this year but so has Salem. And so on and so on.

You could argue the case for several other players, if you want, but it's only your opinion and you may be wrong. 

Potential is the only way Salem would be in the top 10.

Based purely on output (obviously if a player is injured I base it on their output when they do play).

Salem is great with ball in hand, would feel as comfortable with the ball in his hand as just about anyone in the team but lacks in other areas. 

Pettraca wins 1 on 1s, 2 on 1s, has an unmovable body, and is already in the elite section of the AFL in goal assists. He is explosive, Salem is not.

Salem still has a big gap between his best and worst.

Good prospect, but nowhere near a star of the competition.