Jarka

Two questions for you. First is what specific role are we trying to fill and how has Hale demonstrated that he's capable of filling that role in a finals quality team? The answer tot he first is obvious, but I have major doubts about the second. Hales forward line performances have been on par with Brad Miller, his rucking is sub PJ level. He is a dinosaur. Ben Holland mark II

Sure, that's great. The problem with this line of reasoning is that up until now Hale has never been able to perform that role on a consistent basis. Why do you think he's automatically going to vastly improve just because we recruit him?

Hale and Brown are two completely different players, Hale is a log and towards the end of this season was a liability in the North forward line. Brown has the agility over Hale to perform the role you're talking about. If you want another player to take over PJ's and Miller's dominance at Casey then Hale is the man for the job.

He has kicked 37 goals in a season only once in his career. He has kicked more than 20 goals only twice, the other being 22. Why do supporters think that a player will immediately have a career best performance at a new club? The reality is that he probably won't get anywhere near his career best stats, this puts him on a par with Brad Miller.

Then why bother posting at all? Hell, might as well shut demonland.com down as there's no need for any discussion at all

If they're prepared to involve our first pick then the answer is yes. I'm undecided on our second pick, but I beleive his true value is a third rounder How do you work that out? Want want him as a KF first and then as a back up ruckman, but being a forward is a priority. Hale's highest goal tally for a season is 37. Hollan's highest was 35, they both averaged 0.9 over their careers...He has kicked more than 20 goals in only two seasons, the other being 22 in 2009. How the hell does that make him 3 times better than Holland? The last 5 games he kicked nil goals, so that's 17 goals in 12 games. Why do people automatically think that once a player changes club that he'll instantly start playing at his absolute best all the time? Hale is an average ruckman, at best. He's averaged 7.6 hit outs over his career and he's only had one game where he had 20 hitouts. One game. He has never had more than 20 hit outs in his entire career. PJ has him covered as a ruckman by so much it's not funny. In 2010 he got more than 5 hit outs on only one occasion, in 2009 he got into double figures just twice. Where has his ups been? What has he done that's so bloody good? Once again I'm staggered that people actually think that just because a player changes clubs that they'll automatically get career best stats. If we give up a second round pick (or god forbid our first rounder) or a player like Warnock or Jones then Hale would have to have career best stats to make up for it. Why do people think an player will somehow play better then they've ever played before when they switch clubs? Our forward line relies on versatility, speed and defensive pressure to keep the ball from quickly rebounding. Hale is not that player. There's a reason why he's struggled at North over the last couple of seasons and that's because he's not good enough and the game has passed him by.

Yah, I just read the thread titled 'Clayton Hinkly' ... Apparently sign an exension with Freo, but by the sounds of his kicking looks like we may have dodged a bullet with that one

Hale is not a ruckman and he is a NQR forward, our interest in this guy really troubles me, kinda reminds me of the Ben Holland situation. I just hope our current FD isn't that stupid.

At the very least Nugde you're entertaining, no idea if you really have the inside word or you just collate the info from various sources, it doesn't matter because the end result is the same. All I have to do to hear the rumours is open your thread, even if it's just for a bit of fun in the off season! I could handle ending up with T.Walker, Sherman or Everitt. I'd wet my pants with glee if we landed Jessie Smith but I can't see us landing him. If we somehow got Smith/Walker and Sherman for Warnock and Jones I'd be happy. Ross Smith as a rookie would be interesting, not quite sure how I feel about that proposal, last I heard he had pretty much retired earlier in the season. Not sure about everyone else but I'm a little concerned about the rumours of us targeting Hale. Sure he's big, but as a ruck he's ordinary (PJ is better) and he lacks presence in the forward line. If we're going to get a mature tall forward I want someone who is willing to bust open packs, and the Roos won't let him go cheaply. I hope we chase others and only take him if he's cheap. Edit - I have no idea about Clayton Hinkley, can anyone tell me what type of player he is and how he has been performing. Just found he's played one game for Fremantle and is 21, midfielder size

That's just not halal

I laughed, although I think the general population missed it.

I'm in Malaysia right now and almost spat my Nasi Lemak on the keyboard when I read this... If the club even considered taking Fevola I would fair dinkum lose it. We're building a strong culture within the club, why would we take a guy like this when we've recently got rid of the likes of Carroll, Johnstone & McLean? Ridiculous & crazy!

Pia...oh, and my wife

What amuses me about Adelaide's attempted manipulation of the draft is that there is zero guarantee that GWS will trade with only them to land them Jack Viney. If he became available this way then every club would have a crack at him which basically means he'll have even less control over where he ends up because GWS will want the best deal possible. Young Jack has the choice of either knowing where he'll end up or he basically goes into a lottery to the highest bidder, which is even worse than nominating for the draft. It's his choice PS Sorry for taking the discussion back to the topic

I love the snow referance, it's this part that has me sold on your info.

Pretty sure Boak extened his contract at Port earlier this week

Wow, another Watts 4+ pager thread, who would have thought I've mentioned this previously and I think it's still valid for Watts this season. I believe that the kid lacks confidence, it's coming slowly as he gets stronger and improves but he still has a bit to go. There's probably a couple of area's of confidence where he's lacking. The obvious one is his onfield presence, he's still clearly timid when flying for marks, committing his body to a tackle or the ball. He has improved alot since the start of the season though and I'm confident this improvement will continue. The other area of confidence which I think he's lacking is whether he truly believes that he deserves to be out there right now. What I'm talking about is his desire for the contest and the ball, this is what H is referring to (I think). In time he'll demand the ball from his teammates and fully commit to a pack mark or have a shot for goal if within range instead of passing to someone else. But right now he's probably got so much going through his head, from eveything I've already mentioned to all the instructions he's getting from the coaches and making sure he's doing the team things. He's not playing natural instinctive footy yet that's he's capable of because he may be second guessing himself, at AFL level you can't afford to do that. He's still learning how to play as a forward at AFL level, but I'm confident that once he's learnt that and has the confidence in his body and ability he'll be a completley different player.

On the 'AFL match centre' Jones is included and Johnson isn't listed

And Moloney

I think the 'physicality' issue has been confused somewhat. Hird is not a physical player in the sense of damaging other players, but he was inspirational with putting his body on the line is crucial plays and this is what I believe H is referring to. H, correct me if I'm wrong. There has been a query over Watts with this but I think he's recently shown this is to incorrect

Watts is pretty much holding down CHF at the moment, he's not dominating the position but he's definitely holding his own. Not too shabby for a 19 year old.

I agree, it is magnificent. It's bold and new but it also honours our history and heritage. I love it.

Listening to the game on the radio and everytime Bate gets the ball it sounds like he turns it over, how is he playing? Bate and Dunn have 5 points between them...hmmm

Playing great footy and continues to demonstrate the absurd decision from a couple of seasons ago to not include him in the leadership group.

Sure, there are some question marks over Fitzpatrick which reflects the position he was taken in the draft, mainly his kicking and CFS, but he does have attributes that can translate to AFL. He can definitely ruck, he's quick and agile and he's also able to go forward as a strong marking target. I have no idea whether he'll make it or not but I believe he already has more raw 'tricks' than Martin and PJ combined and it's going to be interesting watching him develop. I'm pretty excited about what Fitzy can achieve now he's at a good club that can develop young talent, and also excited about Gawn, Tapscott and Blease.