If Dunn can play a stopping role in the midfield (which he can) he would be good enough to play a role in the backline and could cover talls as well as mids and smalls. He would also provide run and a bit of grunt (he is very competitive).

If there is no room in the midfield for him then i say try him down back. He may be a surprise.

DB has him earmarked as a mid who can run forward and kick goals. But may be time to think outside the square.

He can play back, no doubt

had some fine games there last year, most notably against the Pies in Round 20.

If Dunn can play a stopping role in the midfield (which he can) he would be good enough to play a role in the backline and could cover talls as well as mids and smalls. He would also provide run and a bit of grunt (he is very competitive).

If there is no room in the midfield for him then i say try him down back. He may be a surprise.

DB has him earmarked as a mid who can run forward and kick goals. But may be time to think outside the square.

excellent idea. we need some direction out of the backline, it should be the cornerstone to attack from and we desperately need players who use the ball well off half back. adding Rivers and Dunn would make a huge difference. as some have suggested around here Dunn will probably be used in a variety of positions in the mould of Chad Cornes, but right now he is needed down back with possibly a license to run forward and help in midfield and possibly snag the odd goal.

I don't care where he plays. get him in the team. In the backline he would join Peterd as the only vocal leaders of that rabble. To me that was a huge disappointment, no leadership at all in the back half. Very early on most of the backline started lookinh out for numero uno.

Dunn as a half forward would have being useful yesterday. He has the tank and the drive to present and give the 2nd efforts that were required yesterday. Newton looks like a deep forward only at this stage.

I don't care where he plays. get him in the team. In the backline he would join Peterd as the only vocal leaders of that rabble. To me that was a huge disappointment, no leadership at all in the back half. Very early on most of the backline started lookinh out for numero uno.

Dunn as a half forward would have being useful yesterday. He has the tank and the drive to present and give the 2nd efforts that were required yesterday. Newton looks like a deep forward only at this stage.

Bate should play the half forward role once he gets back, i don't think he's as versatile as Dunn so he's limited to midfield/forward imo.

Bate should play the half forward role once he gets back, i don't think he's as versatile as Dunn so he's limited to midfield/forward imo.

Agreed, but Im of the understanding that Bate wont play next week.

Bloke named Matty Whelan

I hope people aren't building Dunn into something he isn't, he's shown glimpses of being an ok player but that's about it.

How he couldn't get a game in front of Garland is beyond me. Played very well on Rusling I don't know why he hasn't played down back more often and he is a good kick unlike most of our backline.

How he couldn't get a game in front of Garland is beyond me. Played very well on Rusling I don't know why he hasn't played down back more often and he is a good kick unlike most of our backline.

Lack of fitness due to recent injury.

Bailey refused to play anyone who wasn't 100% fit, which is why injuries and lack of fitness is NOT an excuse when it comes to the performance yesterday. Some players are getting away with too much because "oh no, they were struggling with injury". Complete crap.

The only player who can get away with that excuse is Petterd, who will probably need a few weeks to catch up to the speed of the game, following his lung injury.

Lack of fitness due to recent injury.

Bailey refused to play anyone who wasn't 100% fit, which is why injuries and lack of fitness is NOT an excuse when it comes to the performance yesterday. Some players are getting away with too much because "oh no, they were struggling with injury". Complete crap.

The only player who can get away with that excuse is Petterd, who will probably need a few weeks to catch up to the speed of the game, following his lung injury.

injuries is not an excuse, lack of match fitness for some players is. limited preparation due to recovery from last year or pre-season injuries affected davey, dunn, petterd, mc'lean, wheatley, moloney, bruce, rivers, bate,whelan, bartram, silvia, and then you've got the older players on a slower build-up, junior, neitz, white, robbo. thats a big chunk of our best side who have had a compromised build-up. i'm looking for a more competitive performance when the bulk of these players have the run in thier legs.

I hope people aren't building Dunn into something he isn't, he's shown glimpses of being an ok player but that's about it.

glimpses of being an ok player? man thats tough.

what i'm looking for out of Dunn is the type of game he played against the dogs last year which you may recall. he played back, drifted through the midfield, and bobbed up and kicked the odd goal. i thought he played a great game and hope to see a few more of them. i've seen glimpses of a damn good footballer.

glimpses of being an ok player? man thats tough.

what i'm looking for out of Dunn is the type of game he played against the dogs last year which you may recall. he played back, drifted through the midfield, and bobbed up and kicked the odd goal. i thought he played a great game and hope to see a few more of them. i've seen glimpses of a damn good footballer.

Against the doggies last year he had 12 touches and a couple of opportunistic goals....that to me is just an ok peformance, especially for a first round pick. I'm bewildered with how you managed to get 'great' out of that.

i reckon Dunn could easily be a kpp. he has the height, skills and athleticism, and he has a goal kicking nous as well.

We should play Newton, Dunn, Garland, Frawley and Bate in Kep Positions ALL YEAR LONG.

unless they are freaks of nature, the only way to get a dominent key position player is to inject 50 games into them playing as key position players. very few KPP become dominant before them.

there's no reason to waste 2-3 seasons getting enough experience into these guyz before they can start playing important roles in key positions.

play them this year when we are crap, and reap the benefits 2 years down the track.

Garland may look young, inexperienced and thin now. but apparently Bailey reckons he has bucket loads of talent and will become a great player. the only way he will become a great player is by playing him in the afl even if that means a bit before he is ready.

Neitz will retire at years end. Carrol is useless. Miller is useless.

Frawley, Rivers, Garland, Dunn, Newton and Bate (and i'm hoping Morton if he bulks up) are gonna be our KPP in 3 years. lets play them now so that in 3 years they will be ready to dominate the competition.

Here is a thought play him for what we drafted him for a CHF, if he has the tank to go into the midfield he should get tapes of Ryan o'keefe from Sydney and mould his game on him. Will be the same size we need hard workers in our team if Dunn is willing to run hard and present all day try him at this role. We have enough midfielders we need a CHF.

Dunn is not a CHF and has never displayed anything to suggest otherwise, I challenge anyone to prove me wrong on this. His contested marking is non existent.

I want him at CHF. He's really good around goals, he's got a great engine and he's a smart footballer, which we don't have many of.

Play him at CHF with Sylvia and Bate rotating flank/on-ball beside him as another option.

It'd actually give us some options at CHF, which we didn't have against Hawthorn and we didn't have under ND in 07 either.

Against the doggies last year he had 12 touches and a couple of opportunistic goals....that to me is just an ok peformance, especially for a first round pick. I'm bewildered with how you managed to get 'great' out of that.

wasn't looking at stats, and rarely do, particularly when playing the bulk of a game in the backline.

time will tell......you think he has the makings of an ok player, i think he'll be much better than that. we'll soon see.

I want him at CHF. He's really good around goals, he's got a great engine and he's a smart footballer, which we don't have many of.

Play him at CHF with Sylvia and Bate rotating flank/on-ball beside him as another option.

It'd actually give us some options at CHF, which we didn't have against Hawthorn and we didn't have under ND in 07 either.

In the forward line he plays like a goal sneak, not a KPP.

wasn't looking at stats, and rarely do, particularly when playing the bulk of a game in the backline.

time will tell......you think he has the makings of an ok player, i think he'll be much better than that. we'll soon see.

I'm just amazed that you thought that that performance was great

In the forward line he plays like a goal sneak, not a KPP.

He does when he's deep but he can lead up futher fine. And he's got the engine to work enough that he'd run most CHBs off their feet.

Plus with Neitz/Robbo/Newton we wouldn't need him flying deeper in the forward line. He'd be about the only crumber up there!

He does when he's deep but he can lead up futher fine. And he's got the engine to work enough that he'd run most CHBs off their feet.

Plus with Neitz/Robbo/Newton we wouldn't need him flying deeper in the forward line. He'd be about the only crumber up there!

In which game has he displayed an ability to be a good leading forward?

Second half of 06 when he was playing CHF

I'm just amazed that you thought that that performance was great

depends how you define a great game doesn't it? did he dominate the game? no, but he kept his man quiet, gave drive out of the backline, won a few clearances in the middle and kicked, what i considered, to be more than just opportunistic goals. i'm a fan of versatility.

Second half of 06 when he was playing CHF

This is a joke right?

In the second half of 2006 he played 5 games and kicked 5 goals, although he did manage to get into double figures for touches twice, I guess that's a fair effort...

/sarcasm off

Hards, get your hand of it, he didn't play as a key forward in those games, he was tried without success. He plays as a small forward, not as a KPP that we desperately need which is why the coaching staff decided to try him as a midfielder. If he had of shown any potential as a key forward then they would have stuck with because we have no one else.