Gator

No you don't. You don't have to say anything. Why people feel the need to share their concerns on a thread dedicated to such a joyous moment for the bloke is beyond me.

Why do you associate with "bullies, bad cops and drug pushers" ? Actually, never mind ...

I met Glenn Swan in 1986 when he made an enquiry at the business I was working at. I asked him if he was the 'one and the same' who kicked that bag 13 years earlier. He was shocked I remembered. Like so many, his VFL career just didn't work out.

Not to mention I never sit at the footy. I've been standing on the members steps for 30 years.

It's a bare minimum, Turbo. Where do I suggest otherwise ? As for that other prolific poster... I have zero idea what your barely comprehensible burblings mean. Then again, I never do.

Those that have unnecessarily fawned over Watts' insipid efforts for years can't have it both ways. If you recognise what we've all admired over the last 8 weeks surely it's dawned on you how deluded you were to gush over his previous extraordinarily inadequate offerings. It appears that in his 7th year the penny has finally dropped, but even then I'd like a larger body of work to conclude that this is the new 'norm' and not a dastardly aberration.

Comparisons should always provide context. Plugger was 17 in his debut season.

Contested marking Brilliant decision maker Fantastic handballer, which goes unnoticed Has shown he can slot goals on both his left and right feet on the run with rare class for a power forward Pace Will get nastier Jack Watts

I saw more of a Nick Riewoldt type. I saw someone who could impact the scoreboard. I was wrong. Btw, there's been a comment or two about how long it can take for players to come on, which is true, but don't forget that the best key forwards the game has ever seen have virtually all been either very very good by the age of 21/22 or out and out stars. People will mention Hawkins as the example of a slow burn, but they are few and far between and he's a rung below the greats anyway.

It would only be depressing if you'd just woken from a 10 year coma.

I agree. But in his 7th year, a year in which he decided to drop himself, it's fair to say he's been an underwhelming top 10 pick in the extreme.That said, I see what everyone else sees and his last 8 weeks have been beyond what I expected. I have a firm grasp of reality when it comes to Watts and can only hope he's now set a bench mark for the rest of his career. I see him in the roaming Goddard "trouble shooting" role.

He's been a diabolical dud. To rate him "incredibly highly" is utterly nonsensical. Thankfully, it looks like he'll reach his potential, which is so far from his draft selection it's not funny. Nonetheless, we're grateful for small mercies. He's a mistake. But he's a mistake that's becoming a valuable entity as we move forward.

Sure - Hall, Brown, Neitz, Richardson and even the hard working Nick Riewoldt at only 1.5. But there's not many more modern ones as goals are hardly kicked these days. As I said, it's a non-issue. The only issue is the terrible state of the game. Going to watch the average footy match these days is the pits.

Non-issue. How can you tackle blokes when you've either spread eagled them or taken a contested mark ? FFS, we have the lowest inside 50 count in the AFL (up until the weekend). Hogan has far less opportunity to tackle than ANY other opposition forward. As we improve as a side his tackle numbers will automatically rise. It's a non-issue.

He will never "drop off" and you should wash your mouth out with soap for even suggesting it.

Carey, Locket, Dunstall, Lloyd, Kernahan, Tredrea, Ablett Snr and others all averaged somewhere between .7 and 1.4 tackles per game. Tackles is a non issue for a power forward like Hogan. It should never be a topic for conversation.

I don't rate Frost as a forward, but reckon he'll be a gun defender.

This is the 5th time in 15 games Hogan has received votes from both coaches, i.e. 1 in 3. Amazing for a key forward in his first season of AFL footy. My guess for the current B&F top 3 is 1. Vince 2. Hogan 3. Jones Although the 2 games Hogan has missed might cost him second place.

Tyson is down 10-12% on his key stats from last year and that makes a significant difference in output. If a team was down by that much from one year to the next it would be a significant drop off. When he should be getting better, he's gone backwards. There has to be a reason. It's either mental or physical. I'm still excited by his future years and it's not uncommon for young players to experience this type of issue. Just ask Andrew Gaff, who had a very poor third year.

You're funny.

We don't win that game without Hogan. His strength, competitiveness and structural benefits are huge. Not to mention 16 possessions, 9 marks and 3 goals as the dominant key forward on the ground. 6. Vince 5. Gawn 4. Hogan 3. Watts 2. Dunn 1. Viney

I only tip Melbourne if I think we'll win and I tipped them this week. We had 9 100+ game players to their 6. Going into the game we both had 9>50 game players. They ended up with 10 due to Goldsack being a late withdrawal. We had an average age of 24.2 to their 23.2. And we had an average games played of 85 to their 73. They were younger and less experienced. We should have won. Our problem is belief as much as anything else.

It's all about intensity. I'll cop losses, but won't cop lack of effort. We're breaking some hoodoos and for that I'm glad. I expected a minimum of 8 wins this year and we're still on track. I reckon Roos is on par for what I expected and I don't believe my expectations were unrealistic. I don't reckon Roos has been "great" from an onfield point of view, but he may well have been exceptional from a club point of view. I'm not in a position to judge.

Along with Judd, O'Meara is the best young mid I've seen, so it's silly to compare O'Meara as a talent to virtually any young player, imo. I've seen plenty of Prestia and can't agree with Jack 7's assessment. Prestia does have good pace, is exceedingly powerful and is something I haven't seen at Melbourne since Brian Wilson or Greg Wells, he's a ball magnet. Unlike many players of his height he's also a very long kick. I agree that he's not a "line breaker" at AFL level, but who cares ? In the traits I want for Prestia that's near the bottom of the list. And it's not as if he can't run lines, because he can to a degree and it was considered a strength at junior level. I know nothing of his injury. If reports are true and it's career threatening we won't trade for him. I do remember however, Andrew McLeod's knee was supposedly "bone on bone" for about the last 7 years of his amazing career. EDIT: Prestia averaged over 27 possessions in both his 4th and 5th years. He's averaged over 27 possessions since he played his 50th game. He's now played 81. As a comparison, Nathan Jones took 9 seasons to average over 27 and he's only done it once. Prestia's third season is statistically better than Jones' second best.

Thanks. Next you'll be telling me Walter Palmer isn't popular.