I always thought he had the capacity to be the second best mid taken in that draft class, just behind Kelly

Had no idea Bont would become a mid or Cripps would go to his Oliver-like level 

Still think Salem can be right up there with those mentioned

Such a smooth mover

4 hours ago, binman said:

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.

Yep, putting the ball into space is a real forte for Salem; he anticipates a 'run-on' opportunity with great precision and it works to very good effect.

It may have been mentioned before on the thread (and certainly I am repeating myself to myself)  - I genuinely think he is as talented and will be as durable as Shaun Burgoyne.

Am a huge fan of this kid. A fit Salem will finish the year in the top 5 in the Bluey, have top 3 for us with goal assists and stamp himself as a hard and skilled midfielder. He has every attribute to be an out and out gun IMO.

Edited February 28, 20187 yr by Rod Grinter Riot Squad

6 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

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!

Agreed. Other than -

Point of order LH. The goal v Essendon wasn't after the siren. After he kicked the goal, there was a centre bounce and about another 60 seconds of the match. I was there. Couldn't actually watch him taking the kick, but have watched the replay dozens of times !!!!

 

 

31 minutes ago, bingers said:

Agreed. Other than -

Point of order LH. The goal v Essendon wasn't after the siren. After he kicked the goal, there was a centre bounce and about another 60 seconds of the match. I was there. Couldn't actually watch him taking the kick, but have watched the replay dozens of times !!!!

I was in a remote area with patchy internet. I was watching on the AFL ap which would show 30seconds and then cut out for 30 seconds.

I got to see the great passage of play to get the ball up from one end to the other. I saw Salem take the mark and Crossy waving his arms to tell him to take the shot before it cut out.

We were celebrating when it came back and I went nuts! I don't think I will ever forget that moment. So much suspense. I was confident that he would kick it.

58 minutes ago, bingers said:

Agreed. Other than -

Point of order LH. The goal v Essendon wasn't after the siren. After he kicked the goal, there was a centre bounce and about another 60 seconds of the match. I was there. Couldn't actually watch him taking the kick, but have watched the replay dozens of times !!!!

Actually it was closer to 20 seconds ...

Salem looks as though he is over his injuries and we need someone like him to be on top of his game. With his smooth running ,clean handling and precise kicking he could well be an X Factor in the midfield. Now that his bulked up .  We need a classy outside player with run.  Salem will stand up and is ready to go.

 

Not convinced that Salem is as good as everyone else here rates him. Understand the illness and injuries history/excuse, though the latter is just part of being a footballer. 

This view about his elite disposal skills seems a bit over the top based on his performance to date, sure he hits targets every now and then, but he’s no where near the elite like Sam Mitchell, certainly haven’t seen anything to indicate he’s top class in being in & under and he’s never been a major possession accumulator.  

He’s a solid B class player for me based on evidence to date, but hope he proves me wrong and has a great year.  

12 hours ago, 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 agree. Also has been too inconsistent and hasn't played up to his potential. Capable type but needs to get his head right.

12 hours ago, 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.

I can see two explanations for this:

1. His thyroid, which has been giving him grief,  is in his neck (close enough)

2. He got hit on the head with a brick at the boot  camp last yr. maybe there have been side effects?

Edited February 28, 20187 yr by small but forward
Spelling

5 hours ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

 

 

What a fantastic passage of play bringing that up from deep defence.

The much maligned Jodie McKenzie was a key link man and looked almost Oliver like (in appearance, and vision) with that chain of hand passes. 

And listening to that moron Derrwaynn only emphasizes what a <person who tosses something > he is “...and he’s only got Dawes, he’s only got Dawes ....” and Cross passed to Salem .

 

 

9 minutes ago, monoccular said:

What a fantastic passage of play bringing that up from deep defence.

The much maligned Jodie McKenzie was a key link man and looked almost Oliver like (in appearance, and vision) with that chain of hand passes. 

And listening to that moron Derrwaynn only emphasizes what a <person who tosses something > he is “...and he’s only got Dawes, he’s only got Dawes ....” and Cross passed to Salem .

 

....and the other commentator rattling on about how "its too late" for the Melb players to go back  in the last 19 secs. Only to see Salem comfortably cover Hurley at that centre bounce. But I did love their excitement....one of the most rewatched 4 mins in my supporting lifetime. Still get a kick out of it. We had such a frikn awful side....and couldnt buy a goal that year. Suddenly we pulled out what was probably the best passage of play for us all taht year AND in the final minute. Against .......the druggies. Soooo satisfying. 

Very glad the club failed to listen to me at the end of 2016 and trade an injury riddled Salem.

Despite suffering injury setbacks in 2017 as well, I've always loved Salem's attributes as a player. He posseses that perfect blend of skill, decision making and toughness, which affords him one of the highest ceilings at our club. 

Our medical staff seem to have handled his body well over this pre season and like many others here, I reckon he's on the cusp of finally taking his game to the level it deserves.

Think about a midfield of Oliver, Salem, Viney and Petracca. If Salem and Brayshaw both come on, we're going to have an insanely talented and scary midfield.

20 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

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.  

That Salem is there suggests the coaches aren't satisfied with how the inside midfield is working.   Perhaps, it is too one dimensional, lacking variety (excluding Oliver).

FWIW, my thoughts are:  Jones is quick but not clean as he tends to bomb it out to nowhere.  Tyson is quick but not clean, bombs it out or gets caught HTB as he takes on the opposition.  Viney, is Viney and takes on the opposition, sometimes gets away with it (and is a joy to watch when he does) but just as often gets pinned HTB.  And I'm not sure any of them have a really high footy IQ.  So our winning the hitouts isn't translating to winning the clearances often enough and immediately puts our defence under pressure.

Salem is quick, clean, tough and has the footy smarts.  He is one of those players for whom time stands still when he has the ball.  He may yet end up our 'outside polish' player (he is only 22). 

Also, maybe the club is looking at one of the new recruits (eg Balic, Spargo) or even Hunt to take up that outside role.  If Hunt learns to slow his last 2 steps just a fraction before kicking he will become a more accurate kick into the forward line.

It is an interesting 'sub plot' to see how it plays out during the year.

Edited February 28, 20187 yr by Lucifer's Hero

20 hours ago, Ron Burgundy said:

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 (though not worthy of pick 2).

 

What is going on with the delete function on this site?!

This is not intended to be a post - but I can’t bloody delete or edit it.

Apologies for the re-post.

Salem will be a gun by the way.

 

 

Edited February 28, 20187 yr by Ron Burgundy

16 hours ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

 

 

Twas there that night with three female Japanese friends. You haven't lived till you have heard barracking in Japanese.

It was a rollercoaster of the emotional for sure. I thought we were sunk after Zakker kicked those two goals as he did it with such conviction and ease. 

However, when Salo got the ball in his hands, I knew he would dob it. Even though he was a first year player.

On another note, I think if Salo does break out this year, it will be the realization of Roosy's vision of how players should be developed at the MFC. From day one, Salo was not expected to be a first 22 player. He was allowed to develop at his own pace.

Compare that to Jimmy Toumpas and see the results.

22 hours ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

 

 

 

 

22 hours ago, bingers said:

Agreed. Other than -

Point of order LH. The goal v Essendon wasn't after the siren. After he kicked the goal, there was a centre bounce and about another 60 seconds of the match. I was there. Couldn't actually watch him taking the kick, but have watched the replay dozens of times !!!!

What about Jordie McKenzie's role in that great team goal.!! (not bad for a much-maligned Demonland "list-clogger".)

By the way....can anyone remind me of a time where we won with a kick after the siren?

I can think of at least two where we lost,(87 prelim, and Clarkson's first game for North),but I can't remember us doing it.

Another one close to the siren was Leoncelli in Adelaide.

Edited March 1, 20187 yr by Jumping Jack Clennett
Typo and closed bracket

20 minutes ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

What about that "list-clogger" (like h

 

What about Jordie McKenzie's role in that great team goal.!! (not bad for a much-maligned Demonland "list-clogger".

By the way....can anyone remind me of a time where we won with a kick after the siren?

I can think of at least two where we lost,(87 prelim, and Clarkson's first game for North),but I can't remember us doing it.

Another one close to the siren was Leoncelli in Adelaide.

The only one that springs to mind was the Ricky Petterd dropped mark in the goal square with 1 second to go against Collingwood in 2010... coulda-shoulda-woulda.

13 hours ago, Colin B. Flaubert said:

Twas there that night with three female Japanese friends. You haven't lived till you have heard barracking in Japanese.

It was a rollercoaster of the emotional for sure. I thought we were sunk after Zakker kicked those two goals as he did it with such conviction and ease. 

However, when Salo got the ball in his hands, I knew he would dob it. Even though he was a first year player.

On another note, I think if Salo does break out this year, it will be the realization of Roosy's vision of how players should be developed at the MFC. From day one, Salo was not expected to be a first 22 player. He was allowed to develop at his own pace.

Compare that to Jimmy Toumpas and see the results.

salem ant expected to be a first 22 player?... really? he was a top ten draft choice and clearly had skill from the outset? bizarre..

12 hours ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

 

 

What about Jordie McKenzie's role in that great team goal.!! (not bad for a much-maligned Demonland "list-clogger".)

By the way....can anyone remind me of a time where we won with a kick after the siren?

I can think of at least two where we lost,(87 prelim, and Clarkson's first game for North),but I can't remember us doing it.

Another one close to the siren was Leoncelli in Adelaide.

I loved Wonnameiri's (completely wrong spelling) goal in our big comeback against Fremantle at the "G". One of the best celebrations by a Melbourne player. I thought he was going to be a gun.

17 minutes ago, Rocky said:

salem ant expected to be a first 22 player?... really? he was a top ten draft choice and clearly had skill from the outset? bizarre..

I think what was implied is that he wasn't expected to be rushed into the side as an 18yo and be one of the saviors of the team.

28 minutes ago, Rocky said:

salem ant expected to be a first 22 player?... really? he was a top ten draft choice and clearly had skill from the outset? bizarre..

RBG beat me to it but I was implying that he wasn't expected to be first 22 from moment dot.

16 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

That Salem is there suggests the coaches aren't satisfied with how the inside midfield is working.   Perhaps, it is too one dimensional, lacking variety (excluding Oliver).

FWIW, my thoughts are:  Jones is quick but not clean as he tends to bomb it out to nowhere.  Tyson is quick but not clean, bombs it out or gets caught HTB as he takes on the opposition.  Viney, is Viney and takes on the opposition, sometimes gets away with it (and is a joy to watch when he does) but just as often gets pinned HTB.  And I'm not sure any of them have a really high footy IQ.  So our winning the hitouts isn't translating to winning the clearances often enough and immediately puts our defence under pressure.

Salem is quick, clean, tough and has the footy smarts.  He is one of those players for whom time stands still when he has the ball.  He may yet end up our 'outside polish' player (he is only 22). 

Also, maybe the club is looking at one of the new recruits (eg Balic, Spargo) or even Hunt to take up that outside role.  If Hunt learns to slow his last 2 steps just a fraction before kicking he will become a more accurate kick into the forward line.

It is an interesting 'sub plot' to see how it plays out during the year.

Agree.  I personally think our midfield has been lacking one or two players that can really pack a punch moving the ball forward.  I always thought Salem was slated as a future midfielder when we recruited him.  I like his toughness, compeditiveness and his class with his disposal.  Reminds me a bit of Jimmy Bartell in his prime.

As much as I understand the need for players with quality foot skills down back, I've often thought Salem was wasted down there and he looked like he didn't really enjoy or was fully suited to the fully defense mindset down back.  Besides, we have medium sized backline players to burn these days. We really do need players that can deliver well and find targets inside 50 as so often we have dominated time in forward half, only to miss targets and waste opportunities for quality shots on goal.

I also think the club has taken a conservative approach, holding back some younger players from having big midfield time/roles too early in their career when they were physically and psychologically less developed.  I think it's now time to throw guys like Salem, Brayshaw and Harmes in there and have them bust it up a bit and hopefully take some opposition midfields to pieces.

Edited March 1, 20187 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter