On 11/29/2019 at 3:36 PM, Bitter but optimistic said:

I have a concern about Weid’s ability to read the play.

To paraphrase Captain Blood -  He’s not where the ball’s at 

Wasn't the quote from Jack Dyer: 'It ain't no good being where the ball ain't!'?

9 hours ago, TRIGON said:

Lived in the UK for a decade (90's). Set an example and did manage to raise the English skills of those I had regular contact with. Sadly, recent evidence suggests that they've slipped backwards since.

If only they logged in to Demonland...

90"s ????   Surely you mean 90s

16 minutes ago, monoccular said:

90"s ????   Surely you mean 90s

I stand corrected.

1 hour ago, MikeAlphaTango said:

Grundy the most comparable player, played 7 games in his debut year. 

Pre-season games will give us a good indication whether he's going to be pushing for an early debut.

I think you have written off Pruess too early, from training reports he appears to have slimmed down remarkably and coaches have him working on his forward craft. 

Pruess is a more than decent ruckman but he's not a natural forward nor does he have good hands. 

It's Jackson,  Weideman or Pruess for the 2nd KPF IMO and they'll all almost certainly get opportunities to prove themselves at some stage (probably by half way through the season)

But  if we're looking at playing a proper back up to Gawn then I'm not sure Weideman will get in the 22 as well.  Unless he trains the house down in the off-season.   Petty or Smith are a chance too although we might see Petty down back

Nothing is written in stone though and it's just different opinions.  We've seen all the others bar Jackson but I wouldn't like to see a Watts-like unveiling either.   Part of my reckoning is to debut the bloke early and get it out of the way. 

We won't be expected to win either of the first 2 games so it's an ideal time to try the new blokes out.  Low risk in my opinion but others may see it the opposite way.  Anyway,  we're mere onlookers and Goodwin will do what Goodwin will do. 

2 hours ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Wasn't the quote from Jack Dyer: 'It ain't no good being where the ball ain't!'?

As I said 'mania - I paraphrased !

1 hour ago, Macca said:

Pruess is a more than decent ruckman but he's not a natural forward nor does he have good hands. 

It's Jackson,  Weideman or Pruess for the 2nd KPF IMO and they'll all almost certainly get opportunities to prove themselves at some stage (probably by half way through the season)

But  if we're looking at playing a proper back up to Gawn then I'm not sure Weideman will get in the 22 as well.  Unless he trains the house down in the off-season.   Petty or Smith are a chance too although we might see Petty down back

Nothing is written in stone though and it's just different opinions.  We've seen all the others bar Jackson but I wouldn't like to see a Watts-like unveiling either.   Part of my reckoning is to debut the bloke early and get it out of the way. 

We won't be expected to win either of the first 2 games so it's an ideal time to try the new blokes out.  Low risk in my opinion but others may see it the opposite way.  Anyway,  we're mere onlookers and Goodwin will do what Goodwin will do. 

Weideman is pretty solid in the ruck IMO. He just drops too many marks as a KPF when he gets both hands on the ball. 

25 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

Weideman is pretty solid in the ruck IMO. He just drops too many marks as a KPF when he gets both hands on the ball. 

I like our approach to the current rucking situation and going forward Tony.  The kid is the (hopefully) heir apparent to Max down the track whilst Pruess is very good reserve.  Paying a bloke to be pure back up is necessary.  Let's face it,  we often have any number of NQR in betweeners on the list but at least with Pruess,  you know what you're getting. 

The other talls (Weideman,  Smith,  Petty,  Oscar et al) need to fully concentrate on nailing down a KPP spot.

But sight unseen Jackson has the most upside (all things considered)

old dee may well be right though,  it might take quite a while.  But there again,  Jackson might make a bit of an impact in his first year.  Good players often show you something early. 

Obviously he'll be a few years off being a consistently good player (but only if he is a good player to begin with)

Anyway,  it's exciting to have 3 decent young prospects.  Drafting has its flaws but it's the pathway for all the good players.  We could have traded the picks for proven talent and I'd be just as excited. 

Edited December 2, 20195 yr by Macca

12 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

From today's Guardian..

A society dedicated to preserving the “much-abused” apostrophe is to be shut down as its chairman said “ignorance and laziness” had won.

 

John Richards, who worked in journalism for much of his career, started the Apostrophe Protection Society in 2001 after he retired.

Now 96, Richards is calling time on the society, which lists the three simple rules for correct use of the punctuation mark.

“We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won!”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/01/laziness-has-won-apostrophe-society-admits-its-defeat

Serve's them right

14 hours ago, MikeAlphaTango said:

Grundy the most comparable player, played 7 games in his debut year. 

Pre-season games will give us a good indication whether he's going to be pushing for an early debut.

I think you have written off Pruess too early, from training reports he appears to have slimmed down remarkably and coaches have him working on his forward craft. 

I'm not sure I ever thought I would ever see the word "craft" attributed to a player the size of Preuss. It just seems wrong.

15 hours ago, Macca said:

I like our approach to the current rucking situation and going forward Tony.  The kid is the (hopefully) heir apparent to Max down the track whilst Pruess is very good reserve.  Paying a bloke to be pure back up is necessary.  Let's face it,  we often have any number of NQR in betweeners on the list but at least with Pruess,  you know what you're getting. 

The other talls (Weideman,  Smith,  Petty,  Oscar et al) need to fully concentrate on nailing down a KPP spot.

But sight unseen Jackson has the most upside (all things considered)

old dee may well be right though,  it might take quite a while.  But there again,  Jackson might make a bit of an impact in his first year.  Good players often show you something early. 

Obviously he'll be a few years off being a consistently good player (but only if he is a good player to begin with)

Anyway,  it's exciting to have 3 decent young prospects.  Drafting has its flaws but it's the pathway for all the good players.  We could have traded the picks for proven talent and I'd be just as excited. 

On this one we are in total agreement Macca.

On 11/30/2019 at 2:10 PM, Soprano661 said:

Melksham being fully fit will help - curtains for weid after this year, but surprisingly he looks way bigger in the training photos I’ve seen. 

"Curtains" for a contracted 22 year old key position player taken top 10 in the draft? Wouldn't think so.

 

12 hours ago, Lord Nev said:

"Curtains" for a contracted 22 year old key position player taken top 10 in the draft? Wouldn't think so.

 

LN it is time he proved he can perform consistently at Senior level. The club has added a couple of options to the list  for his spot in 2020. Suggests to me they are not convinced he is a certainty to hold down a spot.

35 minutes ago, old dee said:

LN it is time he proved he can perform consistently at Senior level. The club has added a couple of options to the list  for his spot in 2020. Suggests to me they are not convinced he is a certainty to hold down a spot.

I think re-signing him to a new contract contradicts your view OD. Plus, the "couple of additions" have been a project player ruck/forward and a mature rookie replacement for Tim Smith. Not sure I'd be reading that the same way as you. The reality of the situation is more in depth than what people on the internet can generally be bothered posting, but he was always a longer term project and has had bad luck with injury compounded by horrendous forward delivery, inept forward line coaching, form slumps and injuries to crucial players around him and a game plan that does anything but favour key forwards. He needs to improve next year, no doubt, but to say it's "curtains" for him next year is laughable.

 

On 12/2/2019 at 7:53 PM, Macca said:

Pruess is a more than decent ruckman but he's not a natural forward nor does he have good hands. 

It's Jackson,  Weideman or Pruess for the 2nd KPF IMO and they'll all almost certainly get opportunities to prove themselves at some stage (probably by half way through the season)

But  if we're looking at playing a proper back up to Gawn then I'm not sure Weideman will get in the 22 as well.  Unless he trains the house down in the off-season.   Petty or Smith are a chance too although we might see Petty down back

Nothing is written in stone though and it's just different opinions.  We've seen all the others bar Jackson but I wouldn't like to see a Watts-like unveiling either.   Part of my reckoning is to debut the bloke early and get it out of the way. 

We won't be expected to win either of the first 2 games so it's an ideal time to try the new blokes out.  Low risk in my opinion but others may see it the opposite way.  Anyway,  we're mere onlookers and Goodwin will do what Goodwin will do. 

Yes, the early debut is important; a major reason for this - if appropriate to 'risk' an appearance and the circumstances of the opposition on the day - might well be to identify areas for inexperienced players' subsequent training and development at such a level of football. If the talent, as described so far, is there then such exposure may well prove to be a Godsend for a 'learner' and his readiness for duties on a more permanent basis. 

14 hours ago, Lord Nev said:

"Curtains" for a contracted 22 year old key position player taken top 10 in the draft? Wouldn't think so.

 

Dunno, this player has been given extensive opportunities so far to polish his game.

21 hours ago, old dee said:

Pruess is very good reserve.  Paying a bloke to be pure back up is necessary.

Bludoath. A recent focus of fitness, readiness and craft skills as a forward amongst our improving mosquito fleet sounds pretty damn good to me - we have all seen his ability to screen, block, bump, shepherd and terrorise opponents with good effect - honing playable skills with the ball can only be good stuff for Preuss. As it is, he can kick 'em, surprisingly well. He could be a vastly improved asset to our team - and for mine, a better asset than the Weed, for example. He could change upwards, really going for the marks and the snaps in the half-forward zones; and, he could well clear areas of forward play for teammates. I like the lad, so I hope the coaches can work on his skills as a forward and his running pace/take-off to space (he already has commendable ruck skills, to boot).

Edited December 4, 20195 yr by Deemania since 56

17 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

Dunno, this player has been given extensive opportunities so far to polish his game.

He's 22. He's contracted. He's a top 10 pick.

Get a grip.

25 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

He's 22. He's contracted. He's a top 10 pick.

Get a grip.

Who so far has shown very little.

3 minutes ago, old dee said:

Who so far has shown very little.

A top ten pick. Age: 22. Showed very little at all, over the past 3 years. But wait! There's more ... OMac is the same!

5 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

A top ten pick. Age: 22. Showed very little at all, over the past 3 years. But wait! There's more ... OMac is the same!

Not quite. OMac was pick 53.

12 minutes ago, old dee said:

Who so far has shown very little.

 

6 minutes ago, Deemania since 56 said:

A top ten pick. Age: 22. Showed very little at all, over the past 3 years. But wait! There's more ... OMac is the same!

I thought we were passed the days of expecting kids to carry us and not understanding what development was, I guess it takes a while to sink in with some supporters.

 

9 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Not quite. OMac was pick 53.

The pick number is not as important as many would think.  However,  top end picks often get a lot more time to prove themselves but that often serves as a waste of time

Worth the risk though IMO because it's usually just the 1 or 2 spots involved.

44 minutes ago, Macca said:

The pick number is not as important as many would think.  However,  top end picks often get a lot more time to prove themselves but that often serves as a waste of time

Worth the risk though IMO because it's usually just the 1 or 2 spots involved.

I agree Macca the earlier the pick the greater expectation. It trick is to judge when it is time to move on. the success rate of early picks is not high. 

3 hours ago, Lord Nev said:

He's 22. He's contracted. He's a top 10 pick.

Get a grip.

Over the years, I must have studied the attributes of a far greater number of good-to-very talented MFC players than you have Lord Nev and hence, formed the view of the Weed as a consequence. Sorry, it was just my opinion and that of others who have contributed their thoughts on the same player to this site. If it brushes your opinion with barbs, just ignore it. Your comment is like labelling theory: meaningless. Thanks, anyway.

3 hours ago, old dee said:

Who so far has shown very little.

... that you're capable of seeing.