Doggo

Please oh PLEASE don't be injured Beamer!!!

LOL ! Fair enough... Obviously none of my beeswax, but, when you've been as bad as we've been for so long, games where the margin is 3 goals or less at the 15-20 min mark of the final term, against a finals-bound team, are like gold! I know i wasn't gonna be leaving until i heard the siren. But when u gotta go, you gotta go, i guess!

Why would u leave with 12 mins to go when u live 10 mins from the ground? We were still in it... right til the very end. In all likeliness, had the game gone for 5 more mins we probably would have got up. Weak effort joeboy.

"Only Moloney" Sang to the tune of Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely" !

Agree. What position does he play exactly??? Just doesn't get enough footy to play as a wingman, has no influence in marking contests so can't play tall. 12 disposals playing midfield on a weekly basis just isnt enough. Did he do a tag this week? I barely noticed him at all. I really hope his spot is taken by a younger player (Bennell, Jetta, McNamara) next week. I've seen enough of Dunn.

Whelan's cough up at the Punt rd end was terrible! And Bartram should never ever kick the ball in. EVER. Couldn't believe Aker(?) missed that gift from him at the city end in the last.

Spot on. Grimes was fantastic, and spent time on players like Johnson Aker etc. To play on guys of that calibre and not be disgraced is a mega effort for the youngster. He's gonna be around a long time ol' Grimey!

Harsh on Bate. He's been in poor form this season, but today he was very good. Provided a target and contested really well. Kicked 4 and had a hand in a couple more. What more do u want from him, especially considering his form in previous weeks? Was a big step-up today. If he didn't play as well as he did, we wouldn't have been anywhere near as close as we were.

GRIMEY!!!! So cool and composed for a 3rd gamer. I have to keep reminding myself he's so young, he certainly doesn't play that way. Looks like a 10-year veteran already.

6 - Moloney 5 - Morton 4 - Davey 3 - Johnson 2 - McLean 1 - Grimes Apologies: Bate, Whelan, Martin, Sylvia, Jones, Cheney

I really liked Grimes' game. I thought he played well, found a lot of the ball and defended well when he could. A couple of goals against him he couldn't stop. He's just about the best 3rd gamer i've ever seen pretty much. Gonna be a player!!

Took the words right out of my mouth. Great post. Green has never had the issues Dunn has with expecting contact in marking situations. Early in Green's career he may have been perceived as an 'outside' player, but even then, his courage in the air was unquestionable.

Haha... very appropriate in so many ways! Just an old nickname given to me at high school. Never knew it actually meant something!

Call me stupid, but... i'm not sure i know what you're saying... ??

Time will tell indeed. 15 games left this year, will be interesting times for both players. Sorry to knit-pick, but... Jamar's first year on the list was 2002. He made his debut in 2003, not 2004. Same year as PJ. PJ played just 11 games due to injury in 2003, 2004 and 2006. That's his 1st, 2nd and 4th years of development lost to injury. In his 3rd year he had a standout season at Sandy and won the Liston medal. In 06 he showed real signs that he would make it, before going down with that shoulder injury in the Sydney match. It is a pity he hasn't totally cashed in on that potential just yet, but the potential is still there. He's only 24, 25 soon, but still very young for a ruckman. His best footy is ahead of him.

Rhino. I've highlighted the above from my last post in response to yours. I agree with your sentiment that neither have shown themselves to be AFL quality ruckman, however IMO PJ has more of a chance of getting there one day.

Comparatively... Johnson's highest possession count for a game is 20 (twice). He averages 10.3 a game for his career. In 2007-2008 he averaged 11.5 in 32 games. Last season he averaged 13.75 in 16 matches. He got over 10 disposals in every match he played. This season he averages 13.0 in 7 games. Interesting reading. The hitouts tell a different story. As a tap ruckman Jamar has it all over PJ. In his last 23 games (2008-09), PJ's averaged 10.4 hitouts per match with a career best of 21. In Jamar's last 24 (2007-08), he averaged 15.5 hitouts with a career best of 25. Over their careers, PJ averages 8.1 and Jamar 11.6. It has to be said, in terms of finding and using the footy, PJ's upside is far greater than Jamar's. But Jamar is the superior tap ruckman. Often stats tell us very little, and these stats really only tell us everything we already knew. PJ's the better player around the ground, Jamar the better tap ruck. What PJ has over Jamar is IMO, the ability to improve his ruckwork, to go with his work around the ground. Jamar will always have issues finding the footy and using it well and has an almost non-existent influence on games. Given those limitations, and in his 8th year in the system, the chances of him succeeding at AFL level, or even staying on the list, are far slimmer than those of PJ. In MY opinion... Source: http://stats.rleague.com/afl/afl_index.html

Of course i'll go. To get there, i only have to stay on the train two or three extra stations. Like diesel, i'll go wherever they play. Obviously i'd prefer them to play at the G, but staying on the train those few extra stops is no worry to me at all. And even though the ground is completely lacking in character and heritage, the club and the team are still there, still the same. Not attending just because it's not at the G is completely weak.

I disagree. For a man of his size, he's an exceptional kick. Lovely booming left foot with a sound technique and the ability to kick 55m. We've seen this in the past at Sandy (in a premiership side), and even now, occasionally you see it in his field kicking. He's a lovely short to middle-distance pass of the ball too. The reason i think he stuffs a few of his kicks up is he often goes for passes or options that are rather ambitious. Foot skills aren't his problem at all, although i think decision making is something he could improve. In regards to set shots, it's all confidence. He's a lot more capable in front of goals than he's shown in his career thus far.

The day he plays a game like PJ did last week on Cox, then you'll find a lot more people getting behind him. As it stands, i don't think he'll ever be able to get 20 possies in a match, ever. At the moment, and throughout his whole career, he's struggled to get 10 possesions a game (i think his career av stats around 5 a game or thereabouts, and over the last 2 years that improved to around 7 disposals a match). Even when playing as #1 ruck and spending majority time on ground. The way football is headed these days, those kind of numbers are not acceptable.

Johnson kicked a goal in each of the last 5 or 6 games last year, as well as in the first two this year. I don't think Jamar has kicked goals in back to back games ever...

If Dunn plays key position defence, then yes, we are tanking! *shudders* Funny old selections IMO. We lose two key defenders and a small defender, and replace them with 2 small defenders and an inside mid. I really really hope the Doggies don't stack their forward line with talls. Potentially they could have Minson, Hahn, Murphy (plays tall), Welsh, Hill and Brad Johnson all playing in there and with the ability to mark the ball strongly. With only Warnock and Martin as our key backs, and with Martin needed to provide relief for PJ in the ruck, i can see Eade really trying to stretch us height wise. Can't understand the non-inclusion of McNamara at all. Really would have liked to see him play at the G, but i guess he'll get his chance soon. On a positive note, it's a very good chance for Valenti, and i hope he does well. But ultimately, he wasn't really needed in our side. And fancy Jamar coming straight into the emergencies after not playing a single game this year at all. He's not THAT good! Could he be a chance to come in for team balance? Maybe one of the mids is carrying an injury, hence the inclusion of Valenti, with plans for Jamar to be a late inclusion... Hmmm... <_<

Yep, bring him in! On recent form, and with the injuries to key defenders Rivers, Frawley and Garland, you'd think his inclusion this week is close to certain. I hope they play him, he was really impressive against Coburg, and his last 2 weeks prior to that he was in or close to in the bests. He's ready for a taste of senior footy.

I voted for Beamer, although that would be completely dependant on him staying injury free and playing 22 games this year. Like many others, I'm also a huge fan of Green as a potential captain. Not so sure about Davey. Concentrating on getting the footy and being as consistent as possible is all i want from him at this stage.

hahaha!!!! What have the last 5 years been about, Wallet??