i have no problems with that and i think that CJ is someone worth persevering with but it seems the footy dept is damned if it does and damned if it doesnt. if they play the kids (garland) they shouldnt because they didnt deserve it. but on the other hand the season is shot so the kids should also get a run. also we should be rewarding good performances at sandy (newton) but not other good performances (ward) but we should play CJ because he has potential even though he didnt perform at sandy.

My head hurts

But you're right, there are no straight- forward answers, there never are when you are dealing with people, personalities and careers.

However, my point still stands that Ward should not be getting a game ahead of CJ, given our current position. If the only change this week was Green for Petterd, I wouldn't have an issue with CJ being made to play in Sandy reserves.

I just can't come up with a good enough reason as to why we should play an unaccountable, 28 year old who is going nowhere fast at this level, ahead of a 21 year old who has had 4 years to develop his game. If he gets reasonable game time and is proven to not be up to it, fine. But we already know where Ward stands.

Either way, we need to make a decision about CJ and this is the year to do it.

My head hurts

it hurt mine too, but it was the only way i could make sense of everything.

a quote from Beach Road Barry's last Sandy report

ignoring the second part of the ward quote, which is BRB's view, last week at sandy CJ just went and ward was one of the best. who ever said that form at sandy should count when getting a go?

maybe CJ isnt getting a go because he doesnt want it enough. if he is just going at sandy why would he ever rip it up in the afl?

You're quite welcome to ignore the second part of my quote. On form Daniel Ward deserved his promotion this week. My concern is that he was dropped a few weeks ago and while he can be serviceable and will be suited to the style of game the Bulldogs play, I'm not certain as to whether he fits the bill over the whole season. At VFL level he looks composed and disposes of the ball well but under the higher pressure of the AFL game, his disposal tends to go off cue. To me, that means he needs at a minimum to put in a super effort of concentration if he's going to get that right. I'm not certain whether he's capable of that at AFL level. We'll see in the next couple of weeks I guess.

My theory is that the club would have liked to play James Frawley this week but he was concussed early last week coming back from a stress fracture in the foot and the lack of match practice probably told against him.

As for the non selection of Newton, I'm a bit stunned. His 11 goals in two weeks at VFL level have been pretty good. I wonder what would have happened had he gone on with it last week after half time. He had 3 goals in the first quarter and a fourth by half time and five at three quarter time. He was closely watched after quarter time and, at times, double teamed (which allowed Sautner in for a few). Had he finished with 8, he would have been difficult to ignore.

The crucial thing is that the Zebras have a bye this weekend. I would have liked him to be given a chance while he was red hot.

You're quite welcome to ignore the second part of my quote...We'll see in the next couple of weeks I guess.

...

The crucial thing is that the Zebras have a bye this weekend. I would have liked him (newton) to be given a chance while he was red hot.

BRB i don't ignore what you have to say, in fact your opinions are one of the highlights of demonland. for the point of my argument however i was only interested in who played well at sandringham. i have the same view that wards days as an afl footballer are numbered for the very reason you mentioned. however who had a better game CJ or ward? as you said ward is the one who deserved the promotion based on performance alone. potential is an ugly word, at least we know what we'll get with ward.

with regards to newton, i havnt been able to find sandy magoos teams and was wondering if newton would play down there this week?is it likely that many melbourne listed players will have a run? it seems a waste to drop pickett if he cant play for sandy, because he needs match fitness. and itd be disappointing if buckley and CJ didnt get a chance to recapture that form. however id also feel a bit for the regular 2's players who miss out because afl blokes need a run (although after last week im sure there is a couple of guys who could be dropped). the dilemmas of an alliance i spose.

potential is an ugly word, at least we know what we'll get with ward.

Yeah we do, but is it really what we want, especially for the future?

But honestly I think we really need to find out what we can get out of CJ (among others) on a more regular basis.

And this should really happen at least before he gets condemned completely.

Just my opinion !!!

Newton may have dominated in the 2's last year, but it says something if he wasn't able to crack it in the 1's. I'm sure Sautner wasn't the only reason for that. I'd be interested to hear why Garland was picked over Newton too...

I'd like to see Dunn play every game providing his form is okay so I wouldn't want to see him dropped, and I think it would send the wrong message to the team if we dropped Miller for this match considering his form so far.

No doubt Newton will get his shot at the big time if his form continues.

CJ is a guy that should be included in the team for x number of weeks unless his form is terrible. As others have said, he is the perennial scapegoat despite not getting much game time and never seeming to be the worst.

Plenty of AFL players have said they didn't start to fulfill their potential at AFL level until they felt they 'belonged', and were more secure with their place in the team.

I've said it before, but CJ should be getting as much game time as we can give him this year. Lets see whether he's any good.