1 hour ago, layzie said:

Gus is widely acclaimed as our most improved this year and rightly so but my word Harmes has just been immense. Such a big rap for the no.4! Can’t even remember him without that number now ?

I think Harmes has improved more than Gus's highs.  

Gus's first year was very good.   He's just above that level he set, now.

IMO, Harmes is streets ahead, of his former best.

58 minutes ago, demonoid said:

The thing that typifies harmes improvement is how many times he is breaking tackles. 12 months ago he was the guy repeatedly getting caught and pinged for holding the ball. Just seems to be so much stronger on his feet

Your right, he was to.. but he was trying to raise his level, he was taking them on.  taking the game on. 

And he's succeeding.

Fitting that he’s a Melbourne supporter and put the foot down to drag us into the finals. Enough was enough. 

Had a stellar 6 weeks in a row. Real top notch quality. 

And now we won’t have to waste Viney with run-with roles if he ever comes back. 

Harmes doesn’t mind using his left foot either and is efficient at doing it too. Great example was the kick on his left along the boundary camera side that went straight to a teammate’s chest. Quickly becoming a weapon is Harmes.

Edited August 19, 20186 yr by Dee Zephyr

He's developed really well this year and adding more strings to his bow. No longer is a flighty forward flanker who just tries hard, now he can tag the elite midfielders of the competition and have an impact winning his own ball. His kicking has improved too, nowhere near as many shanks as years gone by. When the pressure has been on, he's stood up and showed real mental toughness and lead from the front. 

Will always have a soft spot for him knowing he was a Demon growing up too!

51 minutes ago, DV8 said:

I think Harmes has improved more than Gus's highs.  

Gus's first year was very good.   He's just above that level he set, now.

IMO, Harmes is streets ahead, of his former best.

Harmes is like a caged lion right now. When he's released, good luck if you're in his way. 

Our most important midfielder ATM and good luck to him he deserves it can play both ways and allows Gus and Clarry off the chain it's going to be scary when Viney comes back.

3 hours ago, Dockett 32 said:

I owe him an apology.

Yep, that's queue I need to line up in as well

He seems to regularly start at the centre bounce lately......really great comback from where he was 12m ago. easily the most improved Dee and could be anything. he and Melksham are real weapons going forward.

Nothing this guy can't do on a football field. Attack, defence, midfield, handball receives, gets his own hard ball, marking target, crumber, press forward, can take a screamer, kick it from 55, touch kick, shut down small defender, rebounding small defender, 4 quarter tagger, has enough pace to run and carry and does it often, and at full pace can find a leading target even under tackling pressure (as he did today to Melksham on fifty). I've even seen this guy play in the ruck.

He's done every one of those things and had halves/full games where he dominated in most roles. As far as specific skills, and the athleticism needed at AFL level he's got the lot. Could really be our Stevie J. There's an argument to say he's our most talented player. Well... Maybe not most talented, but most versatile. And all this from a rookie.

The one thing he's never had is consistency. And he's now found that, too. And at age 22 after just ticking over the all-important 50 games. THIS is why we blood youth, folks. Harmes is already a success story.

Now if we could just get ANB up to this level.

Has a great fend off too, a sign of confidence in the traffic 

8 hours ago, WERRIDEE said:

Our most important midfielder ATM and good luck to him he deserves it can play both ways and allows Gus and Clarry off the chain it's going to be scary when Viney comes back.

Why Viney is the same as Jones only younger.

I rate harmes as our best and most complete mid. 

As great as Oliver is at what he does harmes is shuts a quality player out of the game plus win his own ball, provides run, kicks goals and helps out the backline. 

Hes improved out of sight 

Man I'm proud of this guy. Absolutely sensational! His post match interview last week is vindicated, he can be as positive as he wants! 

Where did he come from!!

Making him a run with player was really improved him.  He always competed well for the ball, now he is running with the best mids in the competition they are taking him to the ball so he is getting to more contests and winning a lot of footy.

I reckon he would be an easy guy to coach, would do exactly what he is told to do.

13 hours ago, KingDingAling said:

The past 2 weeks especially Harmes has stepped up when needed. Many around him haven't but James Harmes has delivered. Now one of our most important players heading into finals. If Harmes and Brayshaw can get a support cast we are dangerous in the finals.

The support cast is lurking within, and it is called 'teamwork'. The onfield Harmes/Brayshaw interaction is aided by Clarrie and Gawn almost continuously and with the return of Viney will be awesome - but Viney must be prepared to 'share' the load with two who are becoming invincible. Tyson's recent improvements are an offshoot of this onfield relationship, as well. It can be likened to a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger as it (is allowed to) progress. Toss in the talent forward and backward of the midline and you have a team of well-oiled machines in harmony. Now dream: suppose we can add the possessions and penetration of Gaff to this mix!

Harmes has picked up where Viney left off.

I hope they don't get in each others way when Viney returns.

This is where Goodwin shows what his strength is as a coach. He's shown faith in and got return from Harmes, Hannan, Oscar, Joel Smith. Other coaches might have marked the cards already of Salem, Smith J, ANB, Kent. Even JKH who looked finished was given a chance to shine, and by crikey he nearly did.

Onya Goody, and GO DEMONS

14 hours ago, KingDingAling said:

The past 2 weeks especially Harmes has stepped up when needed. Many around him haven't but James Harmes has delivered. Now one of our most important players heading into finals. If Harmes and Brayshaw can get a support cast we are dangerous in the finals.

I think Oliver might provide some good support.

51 minutes ago, drdrake said:

Making him a run with player was really improved him.  He always competed well for the ball, now he is running with the best mids in the competition they are taking him to the ball so he is getting to more contests and winning a lot of footy.

I reckon he would be an easy guy to coach, would do exactly what he is told to do.

I thought he whole team responded well to what I assume was a targeted coaching message during the week. Gone were the "long bombs" into the forward line and instead there was much more precision, low kicking. It was probably overdone a few times when players perhaps should have had shots for goal instead of looking for someone else, but overall, the change in tactics seemed obvious to me and well executed most of the time.

James started off with some real strong foundations and had some key elements of his game which made me think he was definitely worth pursuing. He's always been good in the air with strong hands in a marking contests. I've always thought he uses his body really well in each contest and tackles with ferociousness. He also bleeds red and blue having barracked for the club since childhood and you can see it with his passion for the contest and when he smiles when he got selected and after wins.

He's developed steadily and I think this preseason season he built his tank to allow him to run out games better and work on his finishing and polish with the ball. He'd be one of our most confident and consistent players this year. I think his ability to stand up in a tackle and get his hands free is what has really stands out to me. He adds to our other players who do this so well in Oliver, Brayshaw, Trac, Hibberd. You just know they're not going to give up.

Would be in our top five most important players now I believe.

 

Edited August 20, 20186 yr by Yung Blood

Always seems to be involved in the big moments that decide matches. Has fluffed them in the past but is making the most of them in 2018.

The only Demon to make Cornes’ team of the week. 

Our best win in over a decade and we only have one player in the team. Goes to show what a monumental team effort it was on Sunday. 

Harmes rising rapidly, Red and Blue blood through and through.

 

14 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

The only Demon to make Cornes’ team of the week. 

Our best win in over a decade and we only have one player in the team. Goes to show what a monumental team effort it was on Sunday. 

Harmes rising rapidly, Red and Blue blood through and through.

 

Oliver, Gawn, Hogan, Jetta, TMAC have all made it before haven't they?

1 minute ago, SFebes said:

Oliver, Gawn, Hogan, Jetta, TMAC have all made it before haven't they?

Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough Febes, I was talking about this week.

2 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough Febes, I was talking about this week.

Whoops.