Go the Biff

Again the folly of using stats as a sole basis of comparison. Jordie plays in the midfield. Davis is a young key defender - and is doing a pretty good job

Quick, go back & do them again when this quarter starts

Matt Burgan has certainly invigorated that site. There is a Q&A with Luke after his return with Casey magoos, plus a picture of the young fella. He is built like a brick shithouse Link thingy

Agreed, I'm not too happy with the papers at the moment. They are turning this into a statement game for Essendon. Good to see you on the board Ash !

I'm just going to echo the thoughts of a few earlier posters such as Axis of Bob & Jaded. I also think Spencer is ahead of Jamar at the same stage of their careers. His ruckwork is good to watch - he is not just a bash it forward type, he tries to spoon feed his midfielders with directed taps. His kicking is inconsistent but more than once I have seen him hit a leading player lace out on the [censored]. He has an awkward looking low ball drop (not unlike Frawley) but when he gets it right, it's very effective. That said, I've also seen him miss the ball completely. He's also brave & relishes body contact, something that Jolly could never have been accused of at the same age. He will make mistakes (e.g. spilled chest mark on the wing), he is probably a liability at the moment in that he costs us a running mid when he's in the side but for a 19-20 yo ruckman, I think he shows a bit. And as I recall he lost a chunk of the season along with a bit of weight when he was crook earlier on.

Doubt it will happen but it's an interesting choice. If only because Grimes is pretty much the type of player that I'd hoped a young Bell would develop into. Alas I fear that ship has long sailed - Bell lost too much of his "development time" to injury.

Jaded I also have my misgivings about Dunn but to say he will never be good enough to be a premiership player is not a great argument. Our own Stevie Armstrong is not good enough to be a premiership player but guess what, he is one ! Clay Sampson - who'd a thunk it ! Footy history is littered with 'em. Sometimes it's about playing a role & being in the right place at the right time. Mario Bortolotto from Carlton can write a thesis on the subject. Go your hardest on Dunn but give us something a bit more tangible.

Let's have a go. Ins : McDonald, Sylvia, Warnock (assuming Gumbleton & Hurley are up forward), Bail (reckon we need his run). Jurrah would be a chance as I'm not sure who Essendon would have to match up on him but I've left him at Casey for another week or two. Out : Grimes (inj), Cheney (susp or omitted), Spencer, Jetta. Bartram, who's form has tapered off, hangs on by the skin of his teeth as cover for Essendon's small forwards Davey, Melksham/Zaka etc. Jetta just doesn't do enough yet. Dunn to resume pinch-hitting in the ruck to relieve Jamar. B : Bartram, Frawley, Garland HB : Bruce, Warnock, Rivers C : Bail, Trengove, Green HF : Sylvia, Bate, Dunn F : Davey, Watts, Bennell FOLL : Jamar, Moloney, McDonald I/C : MacDonald, McKenzie, Scully, Jones

I believe Strauss and Grimes will be going rehab on their hamstring injuries together

Not a bad wishlist Jaded. I wouldn't mind a decent scalp in one of those wins. Maybe St Kilda or Hawthorn if they are getting busy towards the end of the year.

I'm too slack to give your post the attention it (and the subject) deserves but briefly : I would have GAJ ahead of Flower in three categories - straight-line speed, goal kicking & physical strength. Ablett is phenomenally strong through the core & upper legs & has a capacity to break tackles seemingly at will. Flower was more evasive & avoided or slipped tackles so the need to break them wasn't there. Flower was quick but not an out & out lawnburner. I think another of Ablett Jr's great strengths is his acceleration. Has a great gear change. I give Flower the nod in your basic hand & foot skills, particularly field kicking. Ablett has more strings to his bow in kicking for goal but Flower played in an era when banana kicks were rare, let alone the dribble & bounce goals kicked today. I've no doubt he could have mastered the art though. Flower would kill Ablett Jnr in the air. I once watched him take 17 marks in a game against Richmond. Almost all overhead & contested. Most in packs as he was being used as the go-to option from kick-outs. The Tiges were awake-up to it but still couldn't stop him. The question as to whether Flower would have done more when surrounded by good team-mates was answered, I believe, in his performances for Victoria. I can't begin to think what he would have done in the current Geelong side. The man played at a time when there were a lot of fantastic wingers including Greig, Schimma, Mickey Turner, Bryan Wood, Ricky Barham, Dennis Collins, Joffa Cunningham just to name a few. He could make good players look like first-gamers. It's a great pity he played in rubbish teams who were rarely on TV. That, as much as anything, has diminished his reputation as Hannabal suggests. If you're ever fortunate enough to speak with another great Melbourne winger Alan Johnson (terrific bloke BTW) ask him about Flower. No idea how old you are Dappa so I'm not sure who I can give as a comparison for you. If you saw Peter Matera at his best, that's getting close to what Flower produced most weeks.

Better. By some margin.

As usual when this topic comes up posters are focussing on who does the kicking as opposed to who is offering something to kick to. You could have Bernie Quinlan kicking in but if you don't get your leads & structure up the ground right, it will turn over & come back.

Thanks Prof. I enjoyed the read & the memories. Fair side you've put together. You mention you saw Big Carl's first game. Did you see his last as well ? Don't think I've ever laughed as much at the footy - there were 'Pies players ducking for cover left, right & centre.

Eventually Strauss but that's dependent on him getting a game for reasons other than kicking in. Garland in the interim. Would prefer Frawley & Grimes to be targets who can use the ball to set up an attack.

Nah, Kelly O'Donnell has the development job Dazzler. May have been Williams last year

Well you just wrecked a potential 4 page thread full of wild speculation, baseless innuendo & absolutely no substance. Killjoy !!!!

Chris Judd, Matthew Pavlich or Cyril Rioli could sign for GWS today & it would barely create a ripple in Sydney, particularly the west Folau creates a bloody great splash The AFL are already getting a return on their investment in him A thousand Auskick clinics won't do that

Goes very well in the wet. Gets over the ground beautifully

Pass - we don't need another ruckman with dodgy feet If you could get in that time machine again & get us a Michael Jordan with 20 or so years wiped off the clock, that'd probably do

Gilligan & the Skipper ? You said light-hearted !

It's a bit hard to gauge whether your basing your assessments on their goal kicking, field kicking or both. You wrote of Jetta but didn't address his kicking at all which I find confusing in the context of the post. But I'll try to "kick in" to the discussion I'm going to disagree on Grimes. I think you might be taking more notice of his errors & not balancing them against his kicking successes. Your A+ selections are probably fair enough - Moloney has a wider repertoire than he had when he first came to us. Davey is superb but needs to look further up the ground - maybe that will come when we have an effective leading forward. The one I disagree most strongly with is Garland. He rarley kicks ball-bursters but his disposal by foot is the equal of anyone bar Davey's left. Just wish he was getting a bit more of it. Jurrah & Wonna are superb passers of the ball as well. Scully sprays it a bit. He & Trengove you could assess as "first half / second half" kicks. They both miss targets when fatigue sets in deep into the game, particularly Trengove. As they gain strength & conditioning over the next couple of years, the sky is the limit as both have sound techniques. Dunn is a poor set shot. His run-up does him no favours. He's an ok field kick but comes into his own when having a shot at goal on the run. Gets nicely balanced & kicks through the ball. As an aside, if you think it was inaccuracy that got him dropped I suggest you have another look at his game. Junior has been a so-so kick all his career. That said, his kicking this year seems to have gone up a notch. Particularly his left foot - he is getting penetration & pretty good accuracy. Morton I prefer kicking 50+ rather than going short when he tends to miss targets too high. Jones can be very good when he gets balanced but too often tries to be Moloney Mk2. He doesn't have the arsenal for that & should apply the Clint Eastwood rule to himself. If Jetta is included as core then Jordie McKenzie should probaly be rated as well. I'm a fan of his kicking action, particularly on the run. Keeps the ball reasonably low so it gets to its target quickly. He's another who looks great when he gets balanced. As someone else said, all of our left-footers are too one-sided. I understand that most are (watch Hawthorn under pressure) but I believe it is a weakness more pronounced in left footers than right. It has cost us scoring opportunities on a number of occasions this season as our left footers have retreated to get onto their preferred side & a free player is covered in the meantime. Green as a young player could use his right. Davey has said his right foot is "only for emergencies". For those that use stats to assess effective disposals, there is a need for a category "kicks under pressure", sort of a kicking equivalent of the contested marks stat. It's easier to forgive an error from a kick out of a congested pack than it is a kick in open space that sails over the targets head.

You might want to re-think that thread title. I reckon it infers a name or two. Neither of which are in the article

Too many clubs think they can turn their transgressors into instant Steve Johnsons. Just add a suspension & voila ! Should have been kept inhouse & Motlop made aware of his responsibilities in a way that doesn't impact onfield. And given a cabcharge account. He picked up hs missus from the airport. FFS

Hook. Line. Sinker. Nice cast Jaded ! And you're right, one facepalm would be nowhere near enough Still chuckling