13 minutes ago, Watson11 said:

Any player who can nullify the above 2 plus Josh Kelly, Sloane, Selwood, Lachie Neale, and Mitchell while also being damaging is no flash in the pan. If it was a one off, then maybe.  But all those players are champions that no other teams could stop.  We have a gun.

I'm looking forward to both the Richmond games this year and expect Harmes to get the run with role on "Dusty". It will also be interesting to see who he gets in the two Woods games. Giving him an early look at both those sides in a pracie and a JLT shouldn't hurt. I'm very much a fan of him and have been from the beginning. Some players just get it. It's the endeavor that he has shown that has always been so encouraging and now that has started to be coupled with belief, never under estimate the belief factor. Nev Jetta is probably my favorite player and it seems that he always believes he can impact a contest doesn't matter how big or how many of the opposition there are. I always saw that in Harmes and of course the whole team looks like it has that belief.

Below are some interesting stats on the Nut and I thought it would be interesting to compare his year with "Dusty's

Ranked 16th in Total Tackles

Season Highlights       26 disps (13 kicks 13 hballs), 4 marks, 10 tackles and a goal in Elimination Final 29-pt win over Geelong at the MCG (7 Sep 2018)     29 disps (17 kicks 12 hballs), 7 marks, 6 tackles and a goal in Rd 23 45-pt win over GWS at the MCG (26 Aug 2018)     28 disps (12 kicks 16 hballs), 7 tackles and a goal in Rd 22 17-pt win over West Coast at Optus Stadium (19 Aug 2018)     25 disps (13 kicks 12 hballs), 3 marks, 5 tackles and 3 goals in Rd 20 96-pt win over Gold Coast at the MCG (5 Aug 2018)     24 disps (13 kicks 11 hballs), 4 marks and 3 goals in Rd 15 2-pt loss to St Kilda at the MCG (1 Jul 2018)     33 disps (16 kicks 17 hballs), 9 marks and 6 tackles in Rd 8 69-pt win over Gold Coast at the Gabba (12 May 2018)

Season/Career Highs       2018 Highs Career Highs   Contested Possessions 18 v Gold Coast, 12th May 2018 18 v Gold Coast, 12th May 2018   Uncontested Possessions 18 v Geelong, 7th Sep 2018 * 21 v Adelaide, 3rd Jul 2016   Effective Disposals 22 v Gold Coast, 12th May 2018 22 v Gold Coast, 12th May 2018   Clangers 8 v West Coast, 22nd Sep 2018 8 v West Coast, 22nd Sep 2018   Contested Marks 2 v GWS, 26th Aug 2018 * 4 v GWS, 6th Sep 2015   Marks Inside 50 2 v GWS, 26th Aug 2018 * 3 v St Kilda, 13th Aug 2017 *   One Percenters 3 v Fremantle, 7th Jul 2018 * 3 v Fremantle, 7th Jul 2018 *   Bounces 3 v Sydney, 12th Aug 2018 4 v Fremantle, 15th Apr 2017 *   Time On Ground % 90 v GWS, 26th Aug 2018 90 v GWS, 26th Aug 2018 *   Centre Clearances 4 v GWS, 26th Aug 2018 4 v GWS, 26th Aug 2018   Stoppage Clearances 5 v Adelaide, 28th Jul 2018 * 5 v Adelaide, 28th Jul 2018 *   Metres Gained 518 v Sydney, 12th Aug 2018 518 v Sydney, 12th Aug 2018   Score Involvements 12 v Gold Coast, 12th May 2018 12 v Gold Coast, 12th May 2018   Turnovers 7 v Geelong, 7th Sep 2018 7 v Geelong, 7th Sep 2018 *   Intercepts 8 v Western Bulldogs, 2nd Jun 2018 8 v Western Bulldogs, 2nd Jun 2018   Tackles Inside 50 4 v Hawthorn, 14th Sep 2018 * 4 v Hawthorn, 14th Sep 2018 *

* Season/career high achieved two or more times. Match shown is the most recent game when season/career high was attained since 2010.

Player Statistics Comparison
	James Harmes Name Dustin Martin Melbourne Demons Team Richmond Tigers Midfield, Forward Position Midfield 69 Career Games 201 Dandenong Stingrays Origin Bendigo Pioneers October 5, 1995 Date of Birth June 26, 1991 23yr 4mth Age 27yr 7mth 185cm Height 187cm 86kg Weight 92kg 2013 Rookie Draft Last Drafted In 2009 National Draft Round 1, Pick #2 Last Draft Position Round 1, Pick #3 Melbourne Demons Last Drafted By Richmond Tigers 2018 Stats for Season 2018 25 Games 23 10.3 Kicks Per Game 15.7 11.0 Handballs Per Game 9.7 21.3 Disposals Per Game 25.4 3.5 Marks Per Game 3.7 0.6 Goals Per Game 1.4 0.5 Behinds Per Game 0.9 5.2 Tackles Per Game 2.2 0.2 Hitouts Per Game 0 3.5 Inside 50s Per Game 5.9 0.5 Goal Assists Per Game 1.0 1.0 Frees For Per Game 1.2 1.4 Frees Against Per Game 1.6 9.3 Contested Possessions Per Game 11.8 12.4 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 13.3 14.9 Effective Disposals Per Game 16.5 70% Disposal Efficiency % Per Game 65% 3.0 Clangers Per Game 4.7 0.4 Contested Marks Per Game 1.0 0.4 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 0.7 2.8 Clearances Per Game 5.4 1.4 Rebound 50s Per Game 0.2 1.2 One Percenters Per Game 1.2 0.6 Bounces Per Game 1.5 79.4 Time On Ground % Per Game 82.8 1.0 Centre Clearances Per Game 3.3 1.8 Stoppage Clearances Per Game 2.1 5.2 Score Involvements Per Game 8.6 316.8 Metres Gained Per Game 439.5 3.4 Turnovers Per Game 5.3 2.6 Intercepts Per Game 1.6 0.9 Tackles Inside 50 Per Game 0.5

I've found it difficult to decide who to leave out between Brayshaw and Viney when pondering our starting midfield for the season ahead. 

12 hours ago, Skuit said:

I've found it difficult to decide who to leave out between Brayshaw and Viney when pondering our starting midfield for the season ahead. 

I'd imagine you would want both starting in the middle. I don't think Harmes will start off tagging every game. It might be a matter of seeing how much we can win the ball early and how damaging their best mid is before sending him in. Viney seems like the only one who will spend 90%+ game time in the middle as he's not as effective elsewhere as Gus and Oliver.

Oliver and Gus will rotate with Harmes, Trac, Jones, ANB, Vanders all spending some time in the middle. I think we'll see less of Salem in the middle then last year and same for KK as well with both playing predominantly high HB/Wing.

13 hours ago, Skuit said:

I've found it difficult to decide who to leave out between Brayshaw and Viney when pondering our starting midfield for the season ahead. 

What a horrible problem to have.

Harmes will be a gun.
And he bleeds Red and Blue like few others.
Living our dreams, playing for the club he supported as a kid.
Knows the heartache we've all been through.
Fast becoming one of my favourites.
 

Edited February 19, 20196 yr by Fork 'em

10 hours ago, Yung Blood said:

I'd imagine you would want both starting in the middle. I don't think Harmes will start off tagging every game. It might be a matter of seeing how much we can win the ball early and how damaging their best mid is before sending him in. Viney seems like the only one who will spend 90%+ game time in the middle as he's not as effective elsewhere as Gus and Oliver.

Oliver and Gus will rotate with Harmes, Trac, Jones, ANB, Vanders all spending some time in the middle. I think we'll see less of Salem in the middle then last year and same for KK as well with both playing predominantly high HB/Wing.

With centre bounces becoming more important this season I would have Oliver in most if not all these contests. As far as midfield time in general he can float forward from there if he needs a break. The others can rotate through as you say...

1 hour ago, rjay said:

With centre bounces becoming more important this season I would have Oliver in most if not all these contests. As far as midfield time in general he can float forward from there if he needs a break. The others can rotate through as you say...

IF Petracca steps up in the midfield rotations this year, 'Oli'  could play both forward, and inside the stoppages.   IF.

On 2/18/2019 at 5:22 PM, ProDee said:

Rjay is too polite to say your point is silly.  I'm not.  Although, naturally, you're welcome to it.

Averaging 25 disposals per match for his last 9 games and kicking 7 goals while nullifying some of the best players in the game is enough of a sample size to say Harmes is the real deal as long as injury doesn't raise its head, or his application drops.  I don't see the latter happening.

Clearly, the club was also happy with his output, as a top 3 placing in the B&F for a prelim team attests. 

He's fast, aggressive, and he's strong bodied.  He's also improved his foot-skills.  

Agree. Will only get better. Is already a good player. 

Smile every time the media raves about our midfield and omits his name. 

On 2/18/2019 at 1:28 PM, FlashInThePan said:

I'm hopeful on Harmes but still in 'wait and see' mode. There has not been a big enough body of evidence to say whether he is the real deal or not. If he can continue on from where he left off last season then awesome. I'm just a little worried that he will be another Hunt or Kent, showing us blocks of great stuff and then not following up...

Sorry but I think you are way off the mark here.  Harmes has displayed far more than the two you mentioned combined. The scalps he claimed last year speak for themselves, and when combined with his average possessions and score contributions its hard to argue that he is an unproven commodity.