Lord Nev

Has there been one person since the day he was drafted that thought "Weideman is the messiah"?

Not 100% sure what point you're trying to make here. Is it that a key forward will have more goals and contested marks than a mid sized forward who sees more of the action and obviously then gets more disposals and tackles? Also, our average scores over those two different periods are almost the same so I don't think saying "played in a far worse side" is entirely correct in this context.

He's 23. That's still young for a key forward, especially one who was already considered a 'project' by the club whom drafted him. Gawn didn't become a consistently good player until his 7th season.

Ironically, I reckon I've got 'more hope' because I've 'given up hope'... I don't think he'll ever be the gun player we hoped for or that some in the media thought he might become, but if he can become a solid, best 22, second key forward then I think that's ok.

I'm in total agreement that he''s out of form, has to be dropped. I just don't agree that he's a write off and that a handful of games defines his career.

Ok.

Sure, but I'm talking about the context of the Weideman threads and the timing of them in relation to the Pies game.

This thread has 5 and a half new pages since the Pies game. Coincidence you reckon hey? There's also the 6 page thread about Ben Brown playing instead of Weid that was started after that game. Haven't seen one thread started about our horrendous delivery in that game, or how our defence was a mess. Not going to bother with the rest of your post, it's just another example of the ridiculous overreactions in this thread,

Please cite some examples.

Not panic like some posters are here. He's not in form clearly, but the past month doesn't define his career. Ben Brown hasn't even played in the last month, do we write him off too? No, we get to work. I have no doubt the coaches, particularly Williams and Stafford, will continue to work with him to help him get some form, and I'm sure Goody and Yze will be working with the midfield and forwards in improving structure and delivery to rebuild the synergy there we seem to have lost recently. The reality of our current list demographic means Weid will likely stay IMO, unless he requests a trade himself. I believe the club will back in it's development and coaching to get him out of his current slump and get him back to his 2020 form when the coaches rated him as a top 10 player for us.

100% discuss what's going on with a players football form, perhaps even bring some stats and analysis into it, that would be great hey? This thread has become just a 'he's a dud', 'give him away', 'can't mark, can't kick' thread where posters are just throwing silly insults that are overreactions rather than actually discussing football. It's not a 'discussion' at all now.

This thread really is bringing out the worst in a lot of posters. Just continual kicking of a young player rather than actually discussing footy.

Yes, it was an intraclub match.

Also Melksham looked better and Daw apparently pretty good. Apparently hard to read too much into it though as it doesn't sound like it was a super intense hitout given the short break.

Second hand info, so not very detailed - Heard that Jones was busy, got lots of it, and B.Brown kicked at least 3-4 goals. Apologies I don't know more yet.

That "rumour" is a couple of years old mate. Pretty clearly he won't be asking for anywhere near that this year. Whether he stays or goes, I hope we invest in a future key forward prospect, potentially through the draft, as we're looking a bit thin in that area in a few years.

Been poor for most of this season, no doubt. I'm just not convinced that defines his career though. Has had bad luck with consistently badly timed injuries,including this year. Brown has had the same problem this year after not having a proper preseason too. I think maybe you're taking my use of the word 'average' as being the classic Aussie way of saying 'bad'. I don't mean it like that, I mean it in it's true form. I would class players like Spargo, ANB, Hunt, Hibberd, Tomlinson, Brayshaw, Harmes etc as 'average', and all of them have been selected pretty consistently this year, played a role, and contributed to team performance. IMO, over his career, that's the level Weid will fit into. Personally, I think fitness will be the thing that makes or breaks his career. In 2020 he was covering a huge amount of territory and had his best year. If he can get a solid run without injury where he can build that tank I believe he'll carve out a decent career.

No, it just means you missed the point. I was referencing the expectations on him and the inability of many footy fans to realize there is a lot of space between being a dud or being a superstar. Your "honest evaluation" doesn't really reconcile with the coaches who had him top 10 in the Bluey last year. People writing off Weid after a poor month are just as bad as those who thought he was a superstar after his 'breakout game' in 2018. Overreactions.

Thanks for further reinforcing my point about the overreactions.

They need to be full time, it's insane they officiate a billion dollar sport while having to work full time jobs, run businesses etc. I have sympathy for them tbh. Their job has gotten harder and harder, the demands have gone up and up as has the scrutiny, but they're still basically expected to do it as a hobby. Just think about the difference in fitness and skill from when footy players weren't full time to now.

Burgess is (deservedly) paid more than enough to move his family if that was an option. It's not.

But they do drop them. "Heart Beats True" post is completely incorrect.

Yes they do.

Fair enough. I think the only thing we differ on is the time frame and conclusion. I agree he's gone backwards, but I think it's only been over the last month and I believe he can turn that around to become a solid player over the journey.

1. For mine, premierships are built on good average players who play a role. Players like ANB, Spargo, Tomlinson, Hunt etc have been important to our performance so far. 2. Recency bias is affecting a lot of opinions IMO. Weid finished top 10 in the Bluey last year. Has been making progress, albeit interrupted by poorly timed injuries, with his last few games being a poor showing. 3. Gawn was on our list longer than 6 years before showing any kind of consistently decent form. Patience can pay off sometimes. Just think there's a fair bit of room between the 'spud or star' mentality of footy forums and that's where Weid will end up sitting.