Welcome to Demonland: Luke Dunstan

[durango 1,984]

In the 1980's once Barrassi yelled at a MFC player on the SCG and was picked up on the microphone 'get me possession and I wont criticise you'

[demoniac 1,243]

Good depth signing.

[Redlagged 806]

1 hour ago, Demon Forever said:

Agreed. One player I still have questions on is Harmes and its simply from a disposal perspective. If you measure Harmes vs Dunstan (both of which have terrible disposal efficiencies) I would select Dunstan as he gets a lot more of it and some of Dunstan's key stats outweighs Harmes Stats. When Harmes is on, he is great. But there is a big gap between his best and worst. The upside for Harmes is that he is also a great stopper and plays the negating role very well.

No issue here with this pickup. Fingers crossed Choco can fix his kicking and if this happens, we will all be screaming Dunstan from the stands or Lounge Room seats

 

Harmes's disposal 'terrible'? Harsh. Superb kick in the 3rd in the GF put us back in the game.

[Redlagged 806]

57 minutes ago, durango said:

We are supporters and have opinions and we may not agree with someone else's opinion but we should respect that they have one which is different to our own.

At the end of the day you must back the football department and their judgement, I am sure that Yze Williams and Goodwin would have looked at all the pros and cons and if their conclusion is yes we go after him then it is upto Tim Lamb to structure an offer to Luke who either accepts or rejects the offer and we as club and supporters move on to the next one.

Yes I'd be backing the football dept over us - especially as so many of our premiership stars (as well as the coach) have been relentlessly attacked on this site at some point or other. 

[Demon Forever 219]

16 minutes ago, Redlagged said:

Harmes's disposal 'terrible'? Harsh. Superb kick in the 3rd in the GF put us back in the game.

Ok, you have highlighted one kick in 7 years of football. It takes a little more than one kick to form an assessment on a player.

And yes, that kick in the 3rd was very good. If you are here, I am assuming you have watched a lot of the boys playing, I dont need to convince you here 

Scenario (1): Round 23 - 4 out of bounds on the full!

Also, Its not that I dislike Harmes as a player, far from it infact. It was just a comparison of someone in our starting 22 that I pulled out of a hat just to highlight that Dunstan would fit in. Again, he wont revolutionise our team, but if he gets a crack it will harden us up a bit more in the middle 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Demon Forever

[adonski 9,273]

40 minutes ago, Red and Blue realist said:

Jones played 7 games and AVB played 2, plus Jones had a few as sub as well. I'd suspect Dunstan knows where he is in the peaking order but might think if he can come in and do what he did during he's run with the saints that we'd be prepared to back him in more than they were. He might have also spoken with GCS and Essendon and realised that he's not best 22 anywhere, and thought that if he's going to be back-up anywhere it's better to be where 2 older guys have just left and they just happen to be the premiers as well!

Sounds pretty spot on 

[Engorged Onion 9,493]

2 hours ago, Demon Forever said:

Agreed. One player I still have questions on is Harmes and its simply from a disposal perspective. If you measure Harmes vs Dunstan (both of which have terrible disposal efficiencies) I would select Dunstan as he gets a lot more of it and some of Dunstan's key stats outweighs Harmes Stats. When Harmes is on, he is great. But there is a big gap between his best and worst. The upside for Harmes is that he is also a great stopper and plays the negating role very well.

No issue here with this pickup. Fingers crossed Choco can fix his kicking and if this happens, we will all be screaming Dunstan from the stands or Lounge Room seats

 

I agree about Harmes and the gap between when he is being really effective vs ineffective on the field as quite large.

The ruthless part of me is I would be satisfied if he was moved on, the sentimental part of me is very satisfied that a boyhood Melbourne supporter has won a premiership with the team he loved growing up and was able to extract enough from himself to be picked in the side for that premiership.

[Tough Kent 2,049]

4 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

JJ was sub and Harmes and Sparrow are playing half forward.

I’d have targeted a half forward where there’s more opportunities to hold down a spot. 

Then I’d look for midfield reinforcement but with more upside and versatility. 

Neither Jones nor Vanders were centre square options for us this year. 

Is Dunstan actually going to skip the queue or will he just end up frustrated at Casey?

Never underestimate a footballer's ego. He'll be backing himself in to play in our senior 23. Hopefully with our coaches support they can help him to make this happen.

[Demon Forever 219]

5 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

I agree about Harmes and the gap between when he is being really effective vs ineffective on the field as quite large.

The ruthless part of me is I would be satisfied if he was moved on, the sentimental part of me is very satisfied that a boyhood Melbourne supporter has won a premiership with the team he loved growing up and was able to extract enough from himself to be picked in the side for that premiership.

Wouldn't be moving him on, I believe you need role players across the field. Not all players on a list will be superstars. The fact he won a premiership for the team he barracks for is "elite". Love this all day.

[DeeSpencer 23,449]

33 minutes ago, Engorged Onion said:

I agree about Harmes and the gap between when he is being really effective vs ineffective on the field as quite large.

The ruthless part of me is I would be satisfied if he was moved on, the sentimental part of me is very satisfied that a boyhood Melbourne supporter has won a premiership with the team he loved growing up and was able to extract enough from himself to be picked in the side for that premiership.

Harmes certainly has up and down quarters or even games, but I'm not so convinced by this idea that he's completely up and down. Most of his variance comes from the role he's been asked to do.

If you play him consistently as a midfielder and with a mix of defensive assignments ranging from hard tag to occasional minding at stoppages he'll give you pretty much the same outcome most weeks. Great tackling, lots of hard run, some much needed line breaking and some occassional dodgy disposal/decision making.

Play him as a 4th midfielder with a bit of half forward and wing he'll contribute very solidly there just as he did in finals. Play him too much half forward and it won't be as pretty, he doesn't get the time and space to run and decision making is harder there. Play him down back and we won't talk about that...

Overall though he can step in to a full time midfield role at any time and can also step back to splitting time on a flank and wing and providing run, aerial contest, pressure and tackling there too. As a full time mid he's only better than Dunstan due to his pace. As an overall player he's more valuable because he can move around.

Brayshaw gets a lot of credit for selflessly taking a team role on the wing. Harmes giving up a lot of centre square time and deferring for Viney and then being rotated through positions in the finals deserves similar praise. We won't be in any hurry to move him on until our half forward and midfield depth is a lot stronger than hoping Laurie can play and signing Dunstan.

[Demon Forever 219]

4 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Harmes certainly has up and down quarters or even games, but I'm not so convinced by this idea that he's completely up and down. Most of his variance comes from the role he's been asked to do.

If you play him consistently as a midfielder and with a mix of defensive assignments ranging from hard tag to occasional minding at stoppages he'll give you pretty much the same outcome most weeks. Great tackling, lots of hard run, some much needed line breaking and some occassional dodgy disposal/decision making.

Play him as a 4th midfielder with a bit of half forward and wing he'll contribute very solidly there just as he did in finals. Play him too much half forward and it won't be as pretty, he doesn't get the time and space to run and decision making is harder there. Play him down back and we won't talk about that...

Overall though he can step in to a full time midfield role at any time and can also step back to splitting time on a flank and wing and providing run, aerial contest, pressure and tackling there too. As a full time mid he's only better than Dunstan due to his pace. As an overall player he's more valuable because he can move around.

Brayshaw gets a lot of credit for selflessly taking a team role on the wing. Harmes giving up a lot of centre square time and deferring for Viney and then being rotated through positions in the finals deserves similar praise. We won't be in any hurry to move him on until our half forward and midfield depth is a lot stronger than hoping Laurie can play and signing Dunstan.

Can’t disagree with any of that. 
 

good post

[The_Wrecker_45 88]

Done deal

[dazzledavey36 49,300]

Welcome Luke!

 

[KysaiahMessiah 725]

Great get,   I love what this club is doing

[dazzledavey36 49,300]

I'm calling it.. a steal!

Another feather in the cap to @goodwindees 👏

[Lucifers Hero 37,323]

Our medi subs this year have usually been JJ, Sparrow, Jones, Melksham and Chandler.

While Dunstan may not be a first 22 there is a likely to  start as the medi sub in most games.

I'm confident he will get senior games with us.

[ben russell 764]

He looks so much better in the red and blue.

Will come to the club as handy depth but with some hard work and buying into the Melbourne culture, he has the ability to force his way into the 22, even without injuries.

[WA Demon Boy 966]

I love JJ but he could push him out of the side for sure (that's if Dunstan fixes his kicking and work rate) 

 

[BAMF 3,809]

Gotta say.. I'm surprised. 

I've always liked him, but we have a heap of players who are forced out of their natural position because we are stacked for his type. I have mentioned a few times that we have no one as an inside mid for Casey anymore. 

I'm really surprised he chose us over other clubs which would have given him more games in the seniors.Maybe we were the only Vic club on offer and he didn't want to move.

Regardless. Welcome Luke!

Edited October 6, 2021 by BAMF

[Bates Mate 3,963]

Good write up on him in his draft year.

Good character and leadership qualities. Trivia his debut was against the Dee's and he got a rising star Nom.

https://afl.draftcentral.com.au/2013/07/29/2013-draft-profile-luke-dunstan/

[Hardley Benial 470]

2 hours ago, durango said:

In the 1980's once Barrassi yelled at a MFC player on the SCG and was picked up on the microphone 'get me possession and I wont criticise you'

And shortly there after followed by "Healey off, Ellingworth on...Weak as [censored]

[NeveroddoreveN 1,034]

Welcome aboard Luke! Hope the rest of your career is stellar in Red and Blue!  

You will be valued with a fresh slate. 

Work hard, earn your teammates trust by training your ar$e off like never before.

Backing you to thrive in our 'system" .

May you win many Premierships!

Best of Luck!

[Guest]

If I were him, I'd be concerned that every time he is referenced on the AFL website, they mention a straight to DVD movie about an orangutan wreaking havoc in a hotel! 🐒

[durango 1,984]

Like Dom Sheed, Luke Dunstan is another player who is difficult to place in this year’s draft. His elite kicking and endurance ability could see him chosen anywhere between pick 10 to 20,

Edited October 6, 2021 by durango

[MrMoose 262]

Great get! And for nothing!