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Will we ruin Dunkley?

Cranky Franky
Cranky Franky
in Melbourne Demons

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Our current coaching group does not seem to be very good at developing young players.  Unless you are an outstanding prospect most young players need to learn the game at VFL level then when they are playing consistent footy at Casey you slowly ease them into first grade.

I despair that we have wrecked any chance Oscar McD & Spargo have of being AFL players by playing them when they were not ready & not giving them time to learn the game & develop - now I worry that we will do the same to Dunkley..  Hope I'm wrong. 

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    Yep, frightening to think how Clarry would be at other clubs.

     

     

    Edited by The Stigga

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    Not sure about that. 

    We had Weideman coming along slowly but well enough to dominate a final last year.

    Spargo also was dropped/rested at times around playing some very good games last year. This year has been a typical 2nd year blues mess.

    Oscar played earlier than expected but was mostly protected from doing too much damage and played about as well as his talents have to offer last year. He's played games he shouldn't have this year but that's due to injuries to the team as well as his own lack of fitness. Kaiden Brand for Hawthorn is a similar talent to Oscar and has probably played 100 VFL games and 30 senior games. He's not getting any better either.

    Petty's been managed pretty well for a young tall. The gave him a game last year, he wasn't up to it, bought him back and he's done well enough at both ends to suggest with the right coaching he could have a career.

    When you've got 15 injuries you have to throw some guys in and see how they go. It shouldn't really hamper their long term development. Dunkley's had some good moments and some  not so good moments. He's playing low minutes on a wing and at half forward and I'm sure the coaches instructions are very simple - run hard, attack the contest, keep it simple with the ball.

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    His brother took a while before he became a star, 4 years I think. So need to be patient.

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    10 minutes ago, The Lobster Effect said:

    His brother took a while before he became a star, 4 years I think. So need to be patient.

    I'm not seeing it, but if he ends up being half as good Josh, we'll have a player on our hands. Josh is absolute gun, like top 10 in the AFL gun if he keeps his trajectory up.

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    Kyle is young and will no doubt develop further but other than being a good set shot for goal (unlike most in our team), I haven't seen anything that suggests he will be a lock in future years.  We seem to have quite a few players in his mould (mid/half-forward  who can find the footy a bit but lacks leg speed) and I think the mid-season draft would have been the ideal chance to get some leg speed and/or forward crumbers on to our list, something that we are desperately crying out for.

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    • Demonland changed the title to Will we ruin Dunkley?
    41 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

    I'm not seeing it, but if he ends up being half as good Josh, we'll have a player on our hands. Josh is absolute gun, like top 10 in the AFL gun if he keeps his trajectory up.

    I reckon he might be a smokey for the brownlow this year. He is having a fantastic 2nd half of a season

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    4 hours ago, Glenn Molloy said:

    Kyle is young and will no doubt develop further but other than being a good set shot for goal (unlike most in our team), I haven't seen anything that suggests he will be a lock in future years.  We seem to have quite a few players in his mould (mid/half-forward  who can find the footy a bit but lacks leg speed) and I think the mid-season draft would have been the ideal chance to get some leg speed and/or forward crumbers on to our list, something that we are desperately crying out for.

    He took 10 uncontested marks against Collingwood. That suggests a willingness to work hard and run to space. On its own that wouldn't be enough but it's certainly a good start.

    Edited by La Dee-vina Comedia
    typo

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    We had McCartney as development coach based on his work with developing Geelong in the 00' to win three flags.

    He also coached doggies who also won a flag after he left behind his development work.

    He came well credentialed, it was a good idea but hasn't worked out as well as it should. My gut feel is that his development goals either did not mesh with the coaching goals in that players were not played when ready or in the right positions or he did not have enough time to complete his work. It takes at least five years to develop a player.

    The coaching panel needs a complete reset for 2020.

     

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    2 hours ago, The Lobster Effect said:

    His brother took a while before he became a star, 4 years I think. So need to be patient.

    If that were to be the outcome, we should be very happy. 

    2 hours ago, Glenn Molloy said:

    Kyle is young and will no doubt develop further but other than being a good set shot for goal (unlike most in our team), I haven't seen anything that suggests he will be a lock in future years.  We seem to have quite a few players in his mould (mid/half-forward  who can find the footy a bit but lacks leg speed) and I think the mid-season draft would have been the ideal chance to get some leg speed and/or forward crumbers on to our list, something that we are desperately crying out for.

    The guy has not had one AFL preseason so I will not pass any judgement on Kyle tight now. 

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    3 hours ago, The Lobster Effect said:

    His brother took a while before he became a star, 4 years I think. So need to be patient.

    BUT I WANT CONFIRMATION OF DEVELOPMENT NOW!!!

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    Development - sends shudders down the spine - so many young hopefuls and so little return.

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    He's going alright for a 19 year old effectively taken as the next-to-last selection in the rookie draft and who didn't get a preseason.

    I think it is a bit early to say this particular piece of the sky is falling.

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    If you look back at when we really did ruin careers the most common factors were:

    1. Complete lack of professionalism at the club: That seems unlikely these days even if things have wandered I still have faith that most of our playing group are professional and we have resources invested in the footy department. Plus Dunkley can see what his brother is doing, it's not like he doesn't have a guide to being a professional athlete.

    2. Awful fitness and medical management: The injury management is still a concern but I think overall we have got better and that's before hiring Burgess to try to fix that up.

    3. Overburdening young players with leadership and/or expectations: Dunkley is unlikely to be subjected to the Grimes/Trengove or Jack Watts treatment

     

     

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