stevethemanjordan

Sorry I'm not on here 24/7 mate. I have a life outside of this forum. I will have a look. Maybe some people have changed their views since then.

I wholeheartedly agree. So most opinions are that Valenti is of little or no value, some have said that we won't win a grand final with players like him and most have just said "no, he is not in my best 22" and left it at that. While we haven't seen much of him play it will be interesting to see how much of a go he gets with a full pre season. It's such a naive thing to see that we won't win a premiership with players like him. What an uneducated statement that is. Are people saying premiership sides are full of Judd's, Browns, Riewoldts, Hirds, etc etc. Hawthorn: Ladson, Osborne? Port Adelaide: Carr? Brisbane: Heart? Geelong: stokes? Essendon: Mark Johnson? I could name so many, and not just small players but I have named these few because they are valenti type players. They are the same height and some play/played in a similar position. Think about how many other players there are that don't have the greatest 'natural ability', but are so good for what they do. I don't need to name names as it's fairly easy to see who the Roles Royce's are and who the old Volvo's are (that just never give up). As the saying goes, a superstar team wins premierships, not a team of superstars. Some of you are saying that we should already get rid of him?? He has barely had an opportunity and when he has, its ALWAYS a strong contest. Everyone in the team needs a disposal clean up, not just Valenti. This is when I question why we still persist with players like Newton over Valenti. Yes I know we didn't have a key position player in the forward line after Neitz retired but he is not our answer. We have Johnson or Miller, maybe Garland and Watts is coming along. Personally I would go for a smaller full forward or forward line if I had to chose whether to play Newton or not. Valenti will never be a superstar and neither will most of our list. But his attitude and the way he plays is something we MUST have at this footy club. We don't have many players that make you think twice about going for the ball. If he improves the other aspects of his game, (skills, fitness, awareness) then I think he will be more than just a hole plugger for our side.

Ahh, looking good, looking good.

I have recently been thinking of the guy and I can't help but seeing him play a really important role for us this year. Easily in our best 22 in my opinion. All he needs is more game time. For me, he reminds me so much of Ladson and Osborne for Hawthorn. I never ever doubt their commitment to a contest. They always go so hard at it and play every MOMENT of a game as though it's their last. They have a real sense of urgency when they play and I can see that with Valenti when his plays. He never leaves anything in the tank and unfortunately there are not a great number of players on our list that do this. I feel like he has always had to work so hard to make AFL and it shows when he plays. Really hope he steps up in 09 and is one of many players that take our club back to the glory days. Go Dee's.

Two people joined !? Get on board demonlanders !!

Another league I started as I missed the last one. LEAGUE CODE: 270591 P.S. Sorry to the mods for posting this in the footy message board. P.P.S. I will win the car this year.

Whole heartedly agree. Have loved Buckley always. His disposal will improve as everyone's should this season. Is it just me or does anyone else agree that he moves a bit like Juddy? I see a bit of him in Buckley. Very excited about his future. Carn those dee's !

I beg to differ. What's the difference between our current list and any other teams list that is going through or has been through a rebuilding phase? We have not drafted a team of Selwoods, Rioli's, Franklins and Rhys Palmer's? If we had then it would be fair to say we can't lose this guy. We have picked some players that are above average and we have some young guys that have shown glimpses. I still worry about a lot of guys in our team. Bate - Bad year. In my opinion he has to work on A LOT to get to into the category that some people on this site have him in. (Gun, Star, some of the names I have heard). Having said that, I know he CAN produce good games. Jones - Like Bate has shown he can play. We all know he is an animal and would never question his hardness. Foot skills seem to be a problem on the odd occasion. Was tagged much of this year. Mclean - I would say when fit, he is pretty much our best and most important player. Gun player when fit. Sylvia - We still don't know? Had a pretty good season this year considering his niggling injuries. Will he ever show us what people say he is capable of? Davey - Another player with a bad year. But I think he is one of our best and most important players when up and running. Petterd - I think many melbourne supporters get really excited when they see a young player have a good game. They immediately make predictions and most of them are that the player will be the next big thing. Petterd has shown he can play too. Well rounded player. Good skills, attack on the ball, positioning and awareness. Bartram, Frawley and Newton - I think these three are the least exciting youngsters we have. Bartrams first year was great I thought but it has been down hill from then on. Frawley doesn't look like a natural footballer and I think the name helped him make it to this level. (his height helped him too) Don't rate him. And Newton. It looks like he is a self centered idiot that just wants to take a screamer every game. I would say junior footy was a breeze for him so he doesn't know what it takes to make it at this level. He has never really had to try it seems? He can mark and kick goals. And he is not even that great at accomplishing these things. Having said that. I know these guys are very young and have a lot of room for improvement. (I hope so at least) !! Buckley - This was easily and obviously his best year. He really excites me and he is my favorite player out of our young ones. He reminds me of judd the way he plays. Foot skills again his week link. But I believe he out of all our youngsters could become the head of the pack. Personal opinion everyone !! So basically Y_M, in my opinion and experience of playing this great game to a relatively high standard. You have to be a pretty damn good player to be drafted. And an even better player to be in the top 20. I don't have the stats, but I would predict that most, if not all the players you have just mentioned were top 20-25 players in the draft with a few being top 10. In conclusion, these players are all going to have some ability. I don't think you can solely say that CAC is the saviour. Any and every club with draft picks from the top 20 will pick a bunch of players that can play. Of course some will be bad eggs and others will be gems. I don't believe it matters who takes over.

I have posted a thread on Bate before saying how I have never rated him. People on this forum punished me for it, but I still stand by what I said. I don't know why so many people on this forum think he will be a star or a superstar player. He will never be any of those. He is not a natural footballer. He is very Ian Perry like. I have heard people say he is quick? Quick?!!! Anyone can be relatively quick once they hit full pace. The problem is, he takes about 73 years to hit full pace. He has terrible acceleration. He has terrible awareness. He is just slow in general. Looks like he is going along in slow motion. I agree sometimes he has good hands but he is not consistantly good with his hands. Many people may argue that other players need more improvemnt than Bate and I could probably agree with that. However, even if Bate improves these faults in his game, I feel he will still never be a "star" as some people have already labelled him to be. There are so many other players I am more excited about unfortunately. Bate just doesn't tickle my fancy.

Why he has chosen to cover "Summer of 69" I will never know...

Ahhh. Thanks mate. Was hoping I didn't start another topic on the issue. Looks like I did though !

No worries...

Just wondering if anybody heard how these two boys went on the W/E?? Especially Grimesy !! Would love to know. Cheers

I thought you were taking a vacation of some sort YM? Why are you still posting?

Because thats EXACTLY what this is mate. A forum for people to write about football. I asked if anyone knew how old Lyon's kids were and if they are playing footy? What was wrong with that?

A hack?? Carved up by dunn? I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure you loved how he played as we all did when he was with us. It's just his attitude that was the problem.

Does anyone on this forum know how old Garry Lyon's kids are ?? And can they play the game ?! Would love to know how far off they are !!

In the opinion of Davey's sugar daddy, I don't think Bate deserves all these compliments. I believe his biggest attribute is his long kick. He has a hard body potentially could be good. There are too many negatives with Bate at this point in time. Im sick of people saying a player is going to be a "superstar" or something of that status after one good game. Bate came alive when melbourne came alive in the second half. Bate had a terrible first half and an ok second half. Miller is someone who had a good game. He played well the whole day even when Freo were up. Bate's negatives to date. *Awareness *Lack of pace *Lacks aggression Now I know there will be a few that blast me for this. I am simply giving you my opinion. I think Bate has a long way to go before he can prove to us that he is "superstar" quality. Bate has the potential to be a great player. I hope he becomes one.

Mate, Who the F$#^K do you think you are calling someone emo because their display picture is of a band that are dressed in dark colours ? Absolute [censored] jockey mate. Grow up.

Could not agree with you more Demon Disciple. I believe Miller is a confidence player. (along with alot of our team). I think he should always be played at CHF. I have a dvd at home which is called "demons magical moments" or something of the sort and it has a section on Miller. When he is up and about he is a great player to have. The times people bag him are mainly when he is playing in the backline and I really don't think he understands how to play that position. I thought Miller did some great things against Geelong and I really hope he stays at CHF this year. For Robbo. I think he is lacking in his defensive pressure at the moment. Doesn't chase/block/talk/handball. Really has to start thinking TEAM rather than GOAL or MARK of the year every round.

No !!! Rivers was there !! I saw him on the list. I could have sworn !! Someone back me up !

haha. You are a [censored] YM. A funny [censored] though.

Ohhhh stop your moaning and groaning. We don't even know if this is true for christs sake !!!

You see Dappa Dan. You say that this is a stupid thread name, but in my eyes and many others, Green SHOULD be playing like it is his last season. It's people like yourself who settle for mediocre players like him, and just because he is now a senior player and has played regularly for the last seven seasons you think he should be safe. Why not run another young player through the midfield this season? We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Green will never be a great or even a good midfielder. He is average, and if he considers himself one, he should play as if he is playing for his career.

I feel and have felt for sometime that Brad Green really should be playing for his career with Melbourne this year. The final against Carlton in 2000, where we saw a glimpse of our future with Green and Bruce leading us over the line... what a day that was !!! I believe Bruce is a quality player and has delivered as a player since then. Green however, (apart from having the odd great game here and there), really hasn't done a great deal. Green should be a played as a perminant forward, just as he was in the Carlton game in 2000. (He reminded me of Lloyd at times in that match) He should not be played in the midfield. He is far too soft and he plays like a forward playing in the midfield !!! He was one of the few senior players that played against Geelong on the weekend and I barely remember seeing him touch the ball. The set shot he kicked really showed where he should be playing. Forward pocket !!! I would like to hear other peoples opinions on this issue. Cheers.