Luke Dunstan Excited for 2022

[Fritta and Turner 4,180]

3 minutes ago, Cards13 said:

To be fair he runs rings around Vanders. 

He may well do that but Vanders was Viney backup, for when he hurts his foot

[58er 5,909]

16 hours ago, KingDingAling said:

If 2021 is anything to go by Dunstan Is very good. Viney at his best I think has more to offer, but Viney is rarely at his best, whereas Dunstan is ultra consistent, improving, and could possibly work better with our midfield. Dunstan gives our midfield more versatility because he can be first cab off the rank, which makes Oliver/Petracca harder to tag at center bounces as they would be on the move. It’s just something else for our opposition to worry about. Dunstan is a very good ball winner. He is a magnet to the footy, just needs to continue to improve his usage. For a large part of 2021 we didn’t use Gawn’s taps all that well. Dunstan may be the guy who gets better use of them.

 

KDA sorry but you have not looked at our last 6 Finals. Jack Viney has been in our top 3/5 in all games except the 2018 Prelim Final where hardly any one played well.
I also suggest you look at the GF again and see who got the ball out numerous times for our outside mids to break open the game and score multiple goals.

Jack played one of his best games ever and has changed his role for the teams benefit. He looks to pass the ball on first grab he gets and no longer takes on the opposition and gets caught with the ball.

 I believe Dunstan will be valuable and get games as part of our midfield mix but form and injury will decide over the season who plays in the AFL team.

Sparrow especially but  Harmes and Jordan also deserve their spots if they are in form and fit early days 2022.  

But Dunstan is a good player who will be valuable in 2022 at various stages, 

But to say he will work better than Viney with our rucks and mids after the Finals is not correct as their chemistry was as good as it gets from Round 20.
 

 

[58er 5,909]

11 hours ago, Jontee said:

He wouldn't have been recruited if VDB had opted to stay

Don't really think VDB had any choice when push came to shove. 

[58er 5,909]

12 hours ago, demon3165 said:

More upside than Viney, the others are kids in football terms.

Utter rubbish look at our last 6 Finals !!! 

[manny100 1,387]

Viney form ok is pretty much a walk up start for selection. Dunstan will have to earn his spot and he would know that. There may well be the odd injury or form issues that create a gap or 2.

[adonski 10,788]

It's Dunstan vs Sparrow vs Jordon for one spot in the 22 

I would suspect if it's a lineball call, the coaching staff will always go with one of the youngsters who currently have unknown upside

I think the football department would view Dunstan as Viney's back up for when he gets injured again personally 

Edited January 1, 2022 by adonski

[Fritta and Turner 4,180]

14 hours ago, 58er said:

Don't really think VDB had any choice when push came to shove. 

Especially when you want to leave. There was a 1 year contract in the wind.....

[Dante 2,704]

I've watched a couple of Dunstan's games and he's not in the same street as Viney.

If he gets a game it won't be at the expense of Jack, he will have to improve many aspects of his game to get in to the side.

 

[Dr. Gonzo 23,678]

1 hour ago, Dante said:

I've watched a couple of Dunstan's games and he's not in the same street as Viney.

If he gets a game it won't be at the expense of Jack, he will have to improve many aspects of his game to get in to the side.

 

Viney is severely underrated on here which is suprising considering his finals series.

[dee-tox 4,835]

Going to be interesting to see where he lands. He's a first dibs midfielder who is elite at extracting the ball. He'll be an excellent replacement for Viney if Viney continues to struggle with his feet.

Obviously a midfield these days isn't just the centre square blokes. Half forwards and half backs plus bench rotations. Sparrow, Harmes, Jordon, ANB, etc have different skillsets to Luke. Sparrow a thumping kick. Harmes decent overhead. Jordon and ANB incredible aerobic running. 

Hard to imagine a like for like replacement. But things quickly change depending on form, injury and game plan.

 

[Megatron 884]

12 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Viney is severely underrated on here which is suprising considering his finals series.

People on this site are like goldfish sometimes.

[demon3165 2,565]

3 hours ago, Megatron said:

People on this site are like goldfish sometimes.

Depends on what side of the discussion you come from.

[Megatron 884]

3 hours ago, demon3165 said:

Depends on what side of the discussion you come from.

Nah not really.

[Paulo 285]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:12 PM, Dante said:

I've watched a couple of Dunstan's games and he's not in the same street as Viney.

If he gets a game it won't be at the expense of Jack, he will have to improve many aspects of his game to get in to the side.

 

I cannot believe some people think otherwise 

[Dante 2,704]

Well I've watched a half dozen of his games from last year and I don't know quite where to start, but I will say that there didn't seem to be a great connection between Luke and the other Saints players. There were many times he would be alone calling for the ball and they would ignore him and kick it long down the line to a big contest. Or they would handball to another player who was under the pump who would in turn get rid of it to another equally under pressure, etc.etc. Some of there games I've watched have been appalling and the level of football smarts virtually non existent. But he was never the focal point even though he was metres from any opponent and seemed to be the best option.

Luke played predominantly as a tagger and I felt he was a little loose and lost his player as soon as the ball was bounced. He was generally the third tackler in a contest, so the player had been tackled and he just joined in. He doesn't lay tackles like the good taggers. He gets a bit of the ball but does zero damage with his possessions, there are some exceptions but not many.

He's certainly not hard at the ball or opposition player. His handball is not bad but his kicking is a bit off. This could be part of the pressure he's been under at the Saints, I'm not saying he plays bruise free football but he he doesn't throw himself around.

It just seems to me he drifts through games and doesn't play the brand of football we play.

 

[dazzledavey36 52,693]

9 hours ago, Dante said:

Well I've watched a half dozen of his games from last year and I don't know quite where to start, but I will say that there didn't seem to be a great connection between Luke and the other Saints players. There were many times he would be alone calling for the ball and they would ignore him and kick it long down the line to a big contest. Or they would handball to another player who was under the pump who would in turn get rid of it to another equally under pressure, etc.etc. Some of there games I've watched have been appalling and the level of football smarts virtually non existent. But he was never the focal point even though he was metres from any opponent and seemed to be the best option.

Luke played predominantly as a tagger and I felt he was a little loose and lost his player as soon as the ball was bounced. He was generally the third tackler in a contest, so the player had been tackled and he just joined in. He doesn't lay tackles like the good taggers. He gets a bit of the ball but does zero damage with his possessions, there are some exceptions but not many.

He's certainly not hard at the ball or opposition player. His handball is not bad but his kicking is a bit off. This could be part of the pressure he's been under at the Saints, I'm not saying he plays bruise free football but he he doesn't throw himself around.

It just seems to me he drifts through games and doesn't play the brand of football we play.

 

Ben Brown didn’t play the brand of footy the club wanted when we recruited him.

At North, Brown was just a a stay at home forward who barely moved outside the 50.

This year Brown spent more time playing higher up and even he’s been on record stating he had to change his style to fit into the team structure.

Just because Dunstan may not play the brand we want as a club doesn’t mean he can’t change to suit our structure. The club have already said he brings a lot of strengths to the team and is a ‘cultural fit’.

I think I’ll put my faith in the coaching staff that’s just delivered a flag in 57 years..

Edited January 6, 2022 by dazzledavey36

[Dante 2,704]

50 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Ben Brown didn’t play the brand of footy the club wanted when we recruited him.

At North, Brown was just a a stay at home forward who barely moved outside the 50.

This year Brown spent more time playing higher up and even he’s been on record stating he had to change his style to fit into the team structure.

Just because Dunstan may not play the brand we want as a club doesn’t mean he can’t change to suit our structure. The club have already said he brings a lot of strengths to the team and is a ‘cultural fit’.

I think I’ll put my faith in the coaching staff that’s just delivered a flag in 57 years..

You can do just that, but I'd suggest that you watch a couple of his games before you form any opinion. I've watched 6 in the last week and only the ones where he got a lot of possessions so I could get a good picture of him. He had some good patches in several games but nothing sustainable over a full game.

There seems to be a disconnect between him and his team mates.

I certainly hope I'm wrong but from what I've seen he's behind a lot of players at our club. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Dante

[picket fence 16,632]

Yeah he disconnected coz his team mates are SUB STANDARD

I agree with Dazzle

This guy will deliver in Spades

Won Brownlow votes vs good teams in crucial stoppages and clearances

Welcome to MFC LUKE

You will just fit in fine

[Watson11 2,200]

17 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Ben Brown didn’t play the brand of footy the club wanted when we recruited him.

At North, Brown was just a a stay at home forward who barely moved outside the 50.

This year Brown spent more time playing higher up and even he’s been on record stating he had to change his style to fit into the team structure.

Just because Dunstan may not play the brand we want as a club doesn’t mean he can’t change to suit our structure. The club have already said he brings a lot of strengths to the team and is a ‘cultural fit’.

I think I’ll put my faith in the coaching staff that’s just delivered a flag in 57 years..

According to this 2019 article (Telstra Tracker) "North Melbourne’s Ben Brown was the player with the highest average distance covered per game across the entire season, moving 15.6km per game".  In 2018 he was at 15km per game. I am not sure what brand he was playing at North or how it changed, but he was clearly getting up the ground and back a lot at North when he was playing well.

[Dr. Gonzo 23,678]

3 hours ago, Watson11 said:

According to this 2019 article (Telstra Tracker) "North Melbourne’s Ben Brown was the player with the highest average distance covered per game across the entire season, moving 15.6km per game".  In 2018 he was at 15km per game. I am not sure what brand he was playing at North or how it changed, but he was clearly getting up the ground and back a lot at North when he was playing well.

Never left the goalsquare until he had to go back for his run-up

[DeeSpencer 24,682]

22 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Ben Brown didn’t play the brand of footy the club wanted when we recruited him.

At North, Brown was just a a stay at home forward who barely moved outside the 50.

This year Brown spent more time playing higher up and even he’s been on record stating he had to change his style to fit into the team structure.

Just because Dunstan may not play the brand we want as a club doesn’t mean he can’t change to suit our structure. The club have already said he brings a lot of strengths to the team and is a ‘cultural fit’.

I think I’ll put my faith in the coaching staff that’s just delivered a flag in 57 years..

I'm not a Dunstan fan at all, similarly I wasn't a huge Ben Brown fan either. I was worried about his body and I thought it was going to be very difficult to change his game. For half a season I felt I was right, but with a top up mini preseason and maybe a bit of a humbling effect of going to Casey Brown came back in a far better player. I don't think it was getting up the ground that was the big thing for him, it was more making big improvements in his contesting work - particularly when out of position - and sharpening up his defensive efforts.

It's a good point that Dunstan has surely been recruited to be a different player than he was. He was also chopped from a non finalist and there wasn't a single team that wanted him enough to promise a starting role. So much so that he chose the games best on ball brigade rather than a lowly side. That tells me he's more than willing to make significant improvements to his game.

[Fork 'em 6,938]

I watched Gus and Gawneys podcast when they had Goodwin on.
They asked Goodwin who his favourite player was.
And the answer was ...... Vines.
"You watch his vision .... He's actually half mad."
 

Point being .... If anyone thinks Dunstan is gonna walk past Viney into this side had better have a rethink.
And he won't be getting past Sparrow IMO either.
He's a gem.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Fork 'em

[BAMF 4,078]

On 1/6/2022 at 9:31 PM, Dante said:

You can do just that, but I'd suggest that you watch a couple of his games before you form any opinion. I've watched 6 in the last week and only the ones where he got a lot of possessions so I could get a good picture of him. He had some good patches in several games but nothing sustainable over a full game.

There seems to be a disconnect between him and his team mates.

I certainly hope I'm wrong but from what I've seen he's behind a lot of players at our club. 

I think both you and Dazzle have valid points.

I'm happy we have him as depth but think it was an odd choice for him to choose us. 

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,312]

Backing in LD to win the 2022 Norm Smith medal.

[Left Foot Snap 2,318]

7 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Backing in LD to win the 2022 Norm Smith medal.

Wow, that would cause a melt down for the Saints supporters. First Trac then a discarded Dunstan.

I'll settle for him playing a few good games with improvements in his weaknesses at the Saints. That will still get them restless.