Looking forward to big things from Salem this year. He has threatened for the past few years to have his "breakout" season but obviously injuries, illness and suspensions have hampered him. Apparently came back to preseason training already in great nick.

I just loved this from the linked article below.

According to Champion Data, Salem attended the second-most centre bounces (21) of any Melbourne player against North Melbourne in Saturday's JLT Community Series hit-out in Tasmania, just one less than clearance specialist Clayton Oliver.

Salem gathered 19 disposals at 84.2 per cent efficiency, winning five clearances and contributing two goal assists in a standout performance.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-02-27/bulkedup-dee-set-to-make-his-midfield-mark

Salem has been a big disappointment over the past couple of years. There is no doubt he has all the tools to be a very good player, but he needs to get his head right (like a number of his mates). Hopefully this is the year that it starts to happen for him.

  On 27/02/2018 at 22:24, poita said:

Salem has been a big disappointment over the past couple of years. There is no doubt he has all the tools to be a very good player, but he needs to get his head right (like a number of his mates). Hopefully this is the year that it starts to happen for him.

I'm curious. Why do you say "he needs to get his head right"? I've always thought his problems were with his body.

  On 27/02/2018 at 22:32, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I'm curious. Why do you say "he needs to get his head right"? I've always thought his problems were with his body.

That was my feeling too. He's a silky smooth player who just never got a good/long enough run at it without a string of injuries & the thyroid problem. I think the midfield role will suit him better than playing off the halfback.

Interesting, that he will be played as an inside mid as he was often touted as the outside, classy distributor. 

With his 21 centre bounce attendances, 5 clearances and 82.4% disposal efficiency, he will add class to the work engine and Max will love having his silkiness at his feet.

It is a great move by the club to put him in there as Jones, Viney, Tyson are all bulls who can get the ball but often turn it over - either caught HTB or miss targets. 

Salem is not an eye-catching, 'flashy' player - he is the quiet achiever who many won't notice.  He can do eye-catching things - his match winning, after the goal siren vs Ess in one of his first ever games.  Cool as a cucumber. 

I forsee a very high performing consistent year from him and he is my smokey to rise up the B&F ranks this year. 

Salem lining up with Oliver will give other teams a lot of headaches in the middle!  I'm rapt with this move!

Edited February 27, 20187 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Big Salem fan. Has one of the best foot disposals in the team. Will be handy in the midfield. Brayshaw is another I would look at.

  On 27/02/2018 at 23:01, dl4e said:

Big Salem fan. Has one of the best foot disposals in the team. Will be handy in the midfield. Brayshaw is another I would look at.

He is also good by hand. Makes smart decisions and has a knack with his kicks and handballs of not only finding players in space but also putting it to their advantage so they can run onto the ball rather than have to stop and wait. So important and a skill surprisingly few seem to have. Also a critical skill in our game plan that involves chains of handballs and sweeping the ball forward.

Edited February 27, 20187 yr by binman

I've loved Salem since his debut and reckon with a decent uninterrupted run at it he will prove to be one of our most valuable players. He is class with a touch of mongrel.

Just needs to get into a rhythm and he will be away.

Where's that lid?

  On 27/02/2018 at 22:24, poita said:

Salem has been a big disappointment over the past couple of years. There is no doubt he has all the tools to be a very good player, but he needs to get his head right (like a number of his mates). Hopefully this is the year that it starts to happen for him.

Bloody hell mate... Harsh as  - thyroid issues  has had a significant influence on his trajectory.

  On 27/02/2018 at 23:30, Danelska said:

Bloody hell mate... Harsh as  - thyroid issues  has had a significant influence on his trajectory.

And a couple of nasty hamstring injuries.

  On 27/02/2018 at 23:30, Danelska said:

Bloody hell mate... Harsh as  - thyroid issues  has had a significant influence on his trajectory.

Yes but 'needs to get the hormonal glands in his neck right' just doesn't sound very decisive!

 

  On 27/02/2018 at 22:32, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I'm curious. Why do you say "he needs to get his head right"? I've always thought his problems were with his body.

Yes, a thyroid issue and a couple of blown hammies are hardly issues related to a player's headspace.  In this instance I'd have to say that I don't think it's Salem that needs to get his head right.

So excited if this kid gets going. Beautiful user by foot, and is able to kick accurately off one or no steps in congestion, which is a skill not possessed by many in our team.

Training with the midfield group will have done him wonders, even if he does move to half back/forward the upgrade to his tank will pay dividends.

  On 27/02/2018 at 23:59, Richard Tionary said:

So excited if this kid gets going. Beautiful user by foot, and is able to kick accurately off one or no steps in congestion, which is a skill not possessed by many in our team.

Training with the midfield group will have done him wonders, even if he does move to half back/forward the upgrade to his tank will pay dividends.

Great name Dic

People need to relax. Salem will be an absolute class player. Not only has he had constantly interrupted pre-seasons, but has also struggled with injuries and thyroid issues during the home and away season. Additionally, he has been played in multiple positions which has never allowed Christian to find his feet and work with that one main training group and on his craft (see Pederson)

Wait until he strings games together, and gets continuity under his belt and playing in a position week in week out.

 

Not sure if this is what POITA means with getting his head right, but last year was probably the most consistent year Salem had with his body, yet he let himself down with a few undisciplined thing (AFL and VFL) and got rubbed out.
Given the year we had last year, and how close we got.... sure that can be partly attributed to injuries to some key players... but it's probably also fair to say we had some really costly suspensions of key players (Hogan, Vince, Lewis) but also Salem IMO... and they hurt our momentum at critical times through last year.

We missed out on finals by 0.5%

 

  On 28/02/2018 at 00:04, Ouch! said:

Not sure if this is what POITA means with getting his head right, but last year was probably the most consistent year Salem had with his body, yet he let himself down with a few undisciplined thing (AFL and VFL) and got rubbed out.
Given the year we had last year, and how close we got.... sure that can be partly attributed to injuries to some key players... but it's probably also fair to say we had some really costly suspensions of key players (Hogan, Vince, Lewis) but also Salem IMO... and they hurt our momentum at critical times through last year.

We missed out on finals by 0.5%

 

fair point

Salem will turn a few heads this year. He's hard at it but he's such a smooth mover with elite kicking skills/vision.

Roos rated him highly. While he didn't expressly say it, I always thought Roos:

- rated Salem slightly higher than Josh Kelly; 

- would've used pick 2 in that draft on Billings or Bontempelli; and

- rated Salem better than pick 9 in that draft.

 

Edited February 28, 20187 yr by Ron Burgundy

  On 27/02/2018 at 22:32, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I'm curious. Why do you say "he needs to get his head right"? I've always thought his problems were with his body.

As in he needs bricks to stop hitting it?

  On 28/02/2018 at 00:04, Ouch! said:

Not sure if this is what POITA means with getting his head right, but last year was probably the most consistent year Salem had with his body, yet he let himself down with a few undisciplined thing (AFL and VFL) and got rubbed out.
Given the year we had last year, and how close we got.... sure that can be partly attributed to injuries to some key players... but it's probably also fair to say we had some really costly suspensions of key players (Hogan, Vince, Lewis) but also Salem IMO... and they hurt our momentum at critical times through last year.

We missed out on finals by 0.5%

Agreed... but relatively minor transgressions at AFL and VFL level that each resulted in one week bans, is hardly enough of a reason to go questioning the mental state of a player.

Nobody would have seen an inside mid role coming for Salem.

Its really interesting, as we are loaded with inside mids and need outside polish.  

Interesting vibe on the board these days.

Starting to feel like 1987 where a lot of players that had been okay to that time started to have a real impact.

The Febey brothers come to mind as a good example.

Hopefully this is Salem's year. No doubt he has the talent.

Salem will get 17-25 possessions as a mid and waste pretty much zero of them.

If Salem can get his body and fitness right, then his disposal is far too good to waste. He could be devestating delivering the ball up fwd.

 

I really hope he can take that next step.