3 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

I want the Christian Salem from 2021.  Was 2nd best player in the GF team.  
He’s lost his sharp disposal.  Erratic up and under kicks. Appears slow to react. Might be form or confidence or just not being 100% right. 

Seems to be one week on then the following week or two he hits a physical wall or something.

Compromised pre-season no doubt impacting.

Not sure where Hibb is at here either but if he was right to go i'd probably be putting him in ahead of Salo for this one.

Keep in mind about 2/3rds of the team did not show last week.

That surely can't happen two weeks running.

If it does then some big questions will need to be answered as to the why.

Fingers crossed we don't have to go there.

Edited September 14, 20231 yr by Demon Dynasty

15 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Votes

15 - Christian Petracca, Melbourne
10 - Bayley Fritsch, Melbourne
3 - Clayton Oliver, Melbourne
1 - Christian Salem, Melbourne
1 - Caleb Daniel, Western Bulldogs

Salem. 27 possessions. 22 kicks. 5 handballs. 96% disposal efficiency. Repeat. 96% disposal efficiency. 8 score involvements. 7 marks. 7 tackles. 1 goal as a half back.  I should have rephrased as “ I thought he was our 2nd best player behind Trac in the 21GF. “. Yes Fritsch and Clarry also starred. 

4 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

I want the Christian Salem from 2021.  Was 2nd best player in the GF team.  
 

He’s lost his sharp disposal.  Erratic up and under kicks. Appears slow to react. Might be form or confidence or just not being 100% right. 

Or….what the article is about. 

4 hours ago, John Demonic said:

Yup! Imagine if some numpty bumped this thread (below) to post an interview article with Christian discussing his AFL journey of recovery from that ACL

 

Imagine. 
 

I just posted this article here, because it’s a fresh article about “Salem’s Thyroid Concern”, which is obviously an ongoing thing. 

And I continue to be a bit weirded-out by a couple of posters even now still saying “yeah but what’s this drop in form all about?”  

As other sensible voices have noted, Salem at “solid AFL level” is not what we’ve come to expect from an “elite” player, but he’s still got his place in the side because “Solid AFL” Salem is better than what else is on offer. We just have to be patient with him. 

His form is certainly a concern.

8 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Salem. 27 possessions. 22 kicks. 5 handballs. 96% disposal efficiency. Repeat. 96% disposal efficiency. 8 score involvements. 7 marks. 7 tackles. 1 goal as a half back.  I should have rephrased as “ I thought he was our 2nd best player behind Trac in the 21GF. “. Yes Fritsch and Clarry also starred. 

long long time ago

Nobody is questioning his status only his current form

The concern with Salem is the massive gap between his best and worst football. We know how good he can be on his day, and how important he is to the team, but his worst is putrid. 

At present he is in self-preservation mode - safe 20 metre kicks that hurt the team by slowing down the play; half hearted tackles; hospital handpasses to teammates to avoid being hit. He really needs to lift.

4 hours ago, Kent said:

long long time ago

Nobody is questioning his status only his current form

There’s no need to question when an answer has been placed right in front of you. 

Salem’s drop in form is entirely attributed to his thyroid issues, which are ongoing. Whether his current form is good enough to be named in our best 22 is a question I’m sure the selectors grapple with week after week, but clearly in their opinion, any would-be replacements still don’t match him. 

43 minutes ago, Mel Bourne said:

There’s no need to question when an answer has been placed right in front of you. 

Salem’s drop in form is entirely attributed to his thyroid issues, which are ongoing. Whether his current form is good enough to be named in our best 22 is a question I’m sure the selectors grapple with week after week, but clearly in their opinion, any would-be replacements still don’t match him. 

yep playing injured and out of form stars is the go with this match committee

Selection hasnt been great in my view all year But thats only me>

3 minutes ago, Kent said:

yep playing injured and out of form stars is the go with this match committee

Selection hasnt been great in my view all year But thats only me>

Who replaces him?

15 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

So, who does he replace in your top two...Petracca or Fritsch? 

(I do agree he was probably third best, though.)

Equal really but 6 goals In a Granny is hard to beat 

1 hour ago, Mel Bourne said:

There’s no need to question when an answer has been placed right in front of you. 

Salem’s drop in form is entirely attributed to his thyroid issues, which are ongoing. Whether his current form is good enough to be named in our best 22 is a question I’m sure the selectors grapple with week after week, but clearly in their opinion, any would-be replacements still don’t match him. 

Is this a medical fact because players are prone to form changes it doesn't mean they are injured?
 

With our riches for half backs if he was suffering the thyroid complaint again this decision to keep playing him is as perplexing as last years myriad decisions of the same style. I thought we had firmly moved on from that. 

The forward move has a lot of logic much more than the post to limit him to handball if more than 20m out. 

53 minutes ago, 58er said:

Is this a medical fact because players are prone to form changes it doesn't mean they are injured?
 

With our riches for half backs if he was suffering the thyroid complaint again this decision to keep playing him is as perplexing as last years myriad decisions of the same style. I thought we had firmly moved on from that. 

The forward move has a lot of logic much more than the post to limit him to handball if more than 20m out. 

“That is all part of it. You just have to embrace it. It is all going good now, and I just have to keep on the medication and keep it under control.”

Hyperthyroidism requires constant vigilance and medication (usually radioactive iodine) to keep it from overwhelming the patient and sending them back to the couch. It’s pretty easy to draw the conclusion that Salo, while currently on top of it, is always going to have to work harder than others on team to keep his base fitness intact. 
 

I see this as different to fielding an “injured” player, as nothing suggests that playing him has a potentially adverse effect on his condition.