Jump to content

Featured Replies

Posted

2020 Player Reviews: #42 Josh Wagner 

Managed only two games this year and while he was handy against St Kilda at Alice Springs, he disappointed against the Swans in Cairns. Delisted at the end of the season.

Date of Birth: 24 June, 1994

Height: 189cm

Weight: 84kg

Games MFC 2020: 2

Career Total: 42

Goals MFC 2020: 0

Career Total: 2

 

Josh's two games this year summed up his contribution over five years on the list - showed a little first game back, and then fell away badly the following game. The gap between his best and worst is far too great, and the worst comes out far too often. He did well to play 42 games because I would have delisted him after 2018.

 

Like his brother, he didn't quite have what it takes at the top level.  He had hit his peak, and was always going to be no more than an occasional a 'stop-gap' in our best 22..  Simply put, one of those 'depth' players who we had to delist if we aspire to bigger things.  Thanks for your service Josh ..... the AFL is a tough business.

about time, long running joke in our household is doing a wagner, just another wagner which is basically when something is useless

21 minutes ago, Turner said:

about time, long running joke in our household is doing a wagner, just another wagner which is basically when something is useless

Good gag champion....

Seriously, what sort of person puts this comment on a forum? 

Belittling, a human, (not even to their face)  because they've given the best and the current context of an elite football club, has told their services are no longer required, because now, and finally, there are others to take his place. 

Like, you could have just kept it within your prejudiced  household... but your need to display it publicly, is it for humour? Like a [censored] house Dad joke? Or is it to confirm with others you've never met that they agree with you that 

a) he was useless

but really 

b) I wish we had more skilled players than a particular bloke we recruited with good intentions, but ill call him useless because my club disappoints me and he is an easy one to target?

 

 

Edited by Engorged Onion

 

He never had the ability to get the ball and go.  Whenever he took a mark he would just back pedal then look to see where he could go.  No urgency in his game.   He was another one who wasn't developed properly to get his full potential.

The Wagner boys may not have had the love and respect of a few here on Demonland, but I think they well and truly had that from their team mates - I know what I'd rather have.

I recall the podcast from AVB around the middle of the year, when asked who was just outside the 22 that was knocking on the door and with hesitation, he named Josh Wagner, basically as someone who was having a red hot crack - a few weeks later he was picked.  More reciently another senior player (perhaps Max, Gus or Viney) called out the great character and team first spirit of the Wagner boys after their attitude in attendance of the B&F a few days following being let go by the club.

Always had a soft spot for Josh in particular, had hoped he could develop into a good player.  While I acknowledge that in the end, he wasn't quite good enough, I certainly value and respect his contribution.  Even as a rookie/frindge list player, I think he bought more to the team in his time than some of the more fancied prima donnas that I've seen on a footy field.

My favorite memory of him was from a close win we had against Gold Coast at the G back around 2016/2017 when we were just starting to put winning form together.  He played a cracker of a game, stood under a number of incoming balls when he knew it was coming, got crunched and went again.  May never have made it to superstardom, but I don't think we should dismiss the positive impact that guys like him who try their guts out week after week can have on good team culture.

Edited by Rodney (Balls) Grinter


7 hours ago, Turner said:

about time, long running joke in our household is doing a wagner, just another wagner which is basically when something is useless

At least your household had much more respect for Oscar than many Dees fans and D/Lers!!!

Josh showed great potential. Good mark and okay kick but lacked the intensity and drive to succeed. Had a chat to him at a Maroochydore pre season session and he is very easy going bloke. I think he could have been better but didn’t have the hunger.  Another player who will star at a VFL or NEAFL level but could not quite get to the ongoing AFL standard. Still he played 42 games so made a good contribution. Best of luck to him. 

  • 1 month later...

Josh wasn't a match winner but he played his role well and at times he had to be left out of the side for an incoming better credentialed play than him.  Josh was a goer at least he battled well with  40 odd games  under his belt.

Thanks for your contribution Josh.  

6 hours ago, nosoupforme said:

Josh wasn't a match winner but he played his role well and at times he had to be left out of the side for an incoming better credentialed play than him.  Josh was a goer at least he battled well with  40 odd games  under his belt.

Thanks for your contribution Josh.  

Josh wasn't a match winner ... 

NSFM ... you are truly the high priest of understatement !!!

 


Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

Featured Content

  • GAMEDAY: Rd 16 vs Gold Coast

    It's Game Day and the Demons are back on the road again and this may be the last roll of the dice to get their 2025 season back on track as they take on the Gold Coast Suns at People First Stadium.

      • Haha
    • 546 replies
  • PREVIEW: Gold Coast

    The Gold Coast Suns find themselves outside of the top eight for the first time since Round 1 with pressure is mounting on the entire organisation. Their coach Damien Hardwick expressed his frustration at his team’s condition last week by making a middle-finger gesture on television that earned him a fine for his troubles. He showed his desperation by claiming that Fox should pick up the tab.  There’s little doubt the Suns have shown improvement in 2025, and their position on the ladder is influenced to some extent by having played fewer games than their rivals for a playoff role at the end of the season, courtesy of the disruption caused by Cyclone Alfred in March.  However, they are following the same trajectory that hindered the club in past years whenever they appeared to be nearing their potential. As a consequence, that Hardwick gesture should be considered as more than a mere behavioral lapse. It’s a distress signal that does not bode well for the Queenslanders. While the Suns are eager to remain in contention with the top eight, Melbourne faces its own crisis, which is similarly deep-seated but in a much different way. After recovering from a disappointing start to the season and nearing a return to respectability among its peer clubs, the Demons have experienced a decline in status, driven by the fact that while their form has been reasonable (see their performance against the ladder leader in the Kings Birthday match), their conversion in front of goal is poor enough to rank last in the competition. Furthermore, their opponents find them exceptionally easy to score against. As a result, they have effectively eliminated themselves from the finals race and are again positioned to finish in the bottom half of the ladder.

    • 4 replies
  • NON-MFC: Round 15

    As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

    • 287 replies
  • REPORT: Port Adelaide

    Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

    • 3 replies
  • CASEY: Essendon

    Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

    • 0 replies
  • PREGAME: Gold Coast

    The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

      • Shocked
      • Like
    • 372 replies