Dappa Dan

Can't believe it took this long to mention him.

Favourites? Not a bad thread idea actually. I reckon someone should do a score. 1) Trengove: Can't find anything I don't like about his game. 2) Frawley: Is going to be a top 3 player at the club for ten years. 3) Petterd: I've been on him from the beginning, and he hasn't let me down. 4) Bail: He might slide... but what he's shown me so far, he has what it takes. A huge bonus. 5) Tough choice for #5, but what Davey does, he does better than anyone in the league. And he's been one of our most enigmatic since 2004. Love him. Honorable mentions: Grimes, Jurrah, Scully, Sylvia, Tapscott

My goodness me. If you asked for a player with a certain skillset, that would be it. I was too. Until this morning. What a choke. Massive. Although they're ALL massive really. I was saying to another Eagles fan that if we're 5-2, I'd have us juuuust as a chance to make playoffs. We have a nasty run home there. And I reckon we're going to need to pick up a few division wins to be sure. That means a couple of 2-from-2s against the Giants and Cowboys. The other games are going to be veeeery tough against Vikings, Colts etc etc Yup. Now WE'RE the 3-0 team. I'm not picking us though. Not with no Deshaun, and with us copping a lot of sacks. Took me AGES to get it. You really do need someone to sit with you through your first few games. Know any other sports like that? That was unbelievable. People who think they're soft for wearing armour should watch that. There's nothing like that in the AFL. LIke a car crash. As for Deshaun, they said it wasn't as bad as first thought... and that if he does miss this week, which he will, we have a bye so he'll be straight back in. He's my second favourite player. Awesome pace. Disagree. He torched the last game... The one before he was serviceable. Vick has more weapons, and too many to ignore. But I reckon he won't come back til after the bye either. How good is that? On the downside, they're likely to pull themselves together in time for when we play them. Which sucks. The redskins are supposed to be the weakest of the three opponents... and yet... Don't know much about them, but I'll keep an eye on them now.

So does everyone else who has no idea of Cam's importance to the side... I reckon asking for 2 years is ok. But he's 30. If it was good enough for Shane Crawford, it's good enough for Bruce. 30 year olds the league over accept 1 year contract. What makes him think he's deserving of special treatment?

Yeah, I knew there was one... Maybe one other as well? How are you finding the season so far? ARe you starting to believe a bit? They may not be the best side going round, but [censored] they're fun to watch. So unpredictable Are you like everyone else? On the Vick bandwagon?

Last off season was quite busy here, particularly around draft time. E25 and a few others are doing their best to keep it busy, but I must admit I've barely visited... This'll be the first year in a few in which the actual football will be the most encouraging part of following the club. :D Not the off season.

One of my favourites. Seems to go from having a quiet game, to making plays that change the course of the game so often. Love his pace.

Actually, it's the 6 winners plus the two best "losers" from the remaining teams... Wild Cards if you're a fan of the MLB or NFL. That makes 8 teams and then it picks up where it would normally for round two of the NAB cup, with normal elimination rounds til someone's crowned. I like it personally. For a bit of fun, which is all the NAB cup is. Since there are 3 "games" with 20 minute halves... A,B and C... I reckon being in games A and C would be the best. You're as fresh as your opponents in the first one, then you get a nice hour break or so for your coaches to figure things out... (have to stay warm) then you come out and play a team that's just played a half-game ten minutes before. Beyond that I reckon being in A,B would be next best, then in B,C... The other good thing is, let's say you lose your first game, and then the winner of that game wins the second one as well... If the score difference is massive, you can easily put the cue in the rack and play out time as you know if you're still in it or not. http://sportal.com.au/afl-news-display/nab-cup-set-for-revamp-90806

McChins will probably somehow use it as a reason to claim they should play their last 10 rounds of the H&A season at the G.

I know there's one or two on here that like the NFL. I've just gotten into it over the last year or so... Though I find it too overwhelming to visit their sites. Anybody here follow it? Anybody follow the Eagles by chance?

I giggled. Fantastic. Hawks are a pretty damn good side, Essendon, well... Pleased with that group. Will be nice to be the first official team to knock off Hird.

PJ stays. Not as a rookie. The talk of him being moved on or shifted on the list is 100% supporter garbage, as usual. I was going to say all three rookies get the chop, but the noise coming from the club makes it seem like Newton will get another year. If so, then it's as a rookie. The other two should go... So how many spots does that leave? Is it 5 (with the extra two added recently?) Do we gave any veterans now?

He's one of the most interesting players we have on the list at the moment. I'm still not completely sold, if I'm being honest. Though I want to be. When he's good, he shows he can break games open, but his form has been patchy at times... He'll be gievn chances, because he brings a lot to the table... and that's fair enough. But I'd like to see him play four quarters a few weeks in a row. Could be anything, could be mediocre. Unlike a lot of players, the end product could fall just about anywhere on the scale.

Ablett probably has the bigger engine, but a lot of what he does is cruising the packs and receiving. Yes he goes hard, but I'm talking about the man on man stuff. In terms of running all day, if that's what you call "hard" then yes, you're right. My post was to do with body-on-body stuff, which you say yourself he doesn't tackle with the same ferocity. I've never seen Ablett lay a bump like the one Col did in Darwin to make space for a team-mate's goal. Besides... if I was playing with a niggle and was suffering badly from tackles and bumps, I know who I'd rather take a big hit from. See above. Not a chance in hell Ablett is as hard at the man as Colin is. Which is not to say that A) He's soft or B) He's a worse player. There aren't all that many that have a love for taking a player out like Col does. Certainly not these days anyway.

Did he ask for a trade to be made, so the club got something in lieu of his services? And if it were such an "oh well, that's just how it goes" moment, why did Bailey tear him in a new one in such a public way? Also, it was a while ago now, and I cared about as much then as I do now, but from what I recall he didn't come to the club to work it out, he just left. If you're convinced that it was just another example of a player getting offered more by a rival club, then fair enough. I'm not convinced, though. And saying I'm not doesn't mean I'm "emotionally involved" and can't view decisions outside of my romanticism of of the AFL, if that's what you were implying. In fact I would say that there are those that have a rose coloured view of these things that's comparable, if a polar opposite. I think there are times that players are dishonest with clubs. And times when players can, by their actions, do a lot of damage, and they get off scot free... Aker, and more recently Sherman are good examples of what can happen if the dealings become transparent. That said, you're right. Bottom line it's none of our business... But when we DO see clashes like that of Bailey/Johnson, you can't blame people for drawing certain conclusions.

THAT'S why he regretted leaving the club? Because he couldn't get any more out of MFC? I guess it is a shame FOR CHRIS that he left... It's the manner in which he left. Is that what it was though? He was told he was a required player, wasn't he? At the time the midfield/HB line didn't look nearly as busy as it does now. I'm not convinced at all that he did what Brock did, and brokered a deal because he was shown he wasn't getting the game time he did elsewhere. If it was a case of a player who'd been BOG over and over, had won a final off his own boot, knew he was slowing up, and wanted to get as much game time for himself and as much fro the club as he could in a deal... then sure. Particularly if you're being pushing into the background. Jones was going down that path this year too, and I thought that was ok. He's EARNED his currency, and the right to say to the club "make a deal for me." But my understanding is CJ didn't do any of that. Completely different thing. He was pushed out after Voss went all chainsaw massacre through their list. Chris up and left of his own accord. Like some others have said, I have no huge animosity for him. The guy played a few dozen more games for us and for the AFL than I did. So good luck to him. But at the same time I think it's important to stress how little anyone would care about a guy who walked out in the manner her did.

Aaaaah. No. No sensitivity here. I reckon Bailey's much-discussed response to him leaving was a pretty good sign he wasn't putting his club first. The only sadness is the link to his old man is now snuffed out. As for Chris himself, I regard him the same as a Danny Hayes, or Isaac Weetra. Just wasn't up to it, despite his skills. Far bigger fish to fry at the dees.

Jeez I do. Don't get me wrong, I have faith that now that he's older than 80% of the kids he's going up against, they'll come off second best... I just know that the outside running game of, say, a Cam Bruce isn't going to suffer the same kind of impact injuries as the game that Sylvia plays. The NFL comparison isn't a great one. Obviously impact injuries in that sport are far more prevalent. Say what you like about the timeouts and the fuss... Those guys are tough and know how to take a hit. Case in point, Deshaun Jackson nearly getting decapitated on the weekend. And both players getting concussed. I have no doubt Aussie rules is harder to play and master... but the hits NFL guys take? They're nuts... Back on Sylvia. Since the rise and rise of Ablett Jr, I've always fantasised about having a player that's genuinely inside AND outside, that can accumulate touches, and can finish accurately and at great distance. In my mind it's these players... the ones that extract run and deliver the ball remove the need for two players who can each do one of those jobs. eg, rather than have Jones give it to Davey, why not just have someone do both? IMO it's those players that take the pressure off their team-mates, and while they're very, very rare when you find one, you often see that the team enjoys some success around them. Judd and Ablett being two good examples. I have a strong feeling Sylvia is harder at the contest than Ablett. In fact, I know he is. With that in mind, on paper, Colin is the superior player. Can kick it further, is a bit quicker I daresay, tackles a lot more and a lot harder... Perhaps doesn't have Ablett's evasion, and maybe not the footy brain. But if you take out the intangibles, Colin is a better player... The longer I go in this thread, the more I think he'll hold our 2011 in his hands as much as a Jamar/Frawley.

Isn't he... This might be a bit outside the box, but I can't help but think of Michael Vick in the NFL. And no, it's nothing to do with the dogs, the changing of sides, the attitude. I watch Vick, and even last year before he knew the Eagles playbook, he would come in for McNabb and do some incredible things, particularly when he was needed to run and use his body as a battering ram. He's a delight to watch in the passing game, but then when he tucks it in and runs, you think "why doesn't he do that all the time?" Where I see the parallel with Colin, is not only in their body types (fearsome mix of bulky strength and atleticism, both are built like running backs), but also in that tantalisingly dangerous way they go about it. I'm in constant fear, with both, that they're going to do something courageous, get hurt, and sit out a month. And when they make these plays, it's all the more exciting, because you're not sure how long it's going to last. Colin may not play 10 years of quality football, like a Robert Harvey, but one of these years the luck will fall his way, his body will do the right thing by him, and he'll rank amongst the top 3 midfielders in the league. And it'll be all the more special because it may end up being the only year he does it.

Yeah. I never get tired of watching it. The crowd knew it, the commentary team knew it... it was a 20 second preview of what's to come. We'd seen it a number of times this year, but for some reason, maybe the time in the game, the way it was shot and what cameras were cut to... the fact the game was, in point of fact, a really, really good game of football by anyone's standards. As for the side, the forwards I think will really benefit the most from an open game like this. Bennell is one I can't wait to see next season when he gets those hard bodies around him. His pace coming out of defence, or running forward from a wing is going to bust open a few sides next year. Wonna is interesting. You can see why they were so desperate to get him in the side. Not the quickest player in the league, but somehow just knows where to be and how to play forward. Moreover, the fact he's made wholesale changes to his game, and to good effect... that's possibly the most pleasing part. All in all, it bodes well for the opportunist deep forwards. Think Dunn when he plays deep, and Petterd. Even Jamar. Watts and Bate will continue to play higher, so I don't expect huge bags, but they'll benefit too... I'm not saying the job is done. Just because we win those open, free games against younger sides, doesn't mean we're going to smoke teams by ten goals week in, week out. There are other games. The wet days, the punishing days against bigger bodies (Swans/Cats/Hawks), the days on smaller grounds where everyone's cramped (SCG, Dome)... Those ones are going to be interesting too. But given how we play the G, I think we can just about say with footy like that, we'll win more than we'll lose in the next few years. Perfect example of the fact that there's nothing criminally wrong with Bruce's kick. He's no Davey (who is?), but when his players run to space, and lead strongly, it makes your ok/mediocre kicks look better. Funny how once the whole team figures out it can run, how everyone starts to look like they can kick... even, shock horror, Bruce...

Ditto Petterd. And I think maybe Frawley?

Probably more that they recognise Ottens hasn't got all that long left.

As good as Jamar is, Jim Stynes would be pretty damn useful.

I just went through this years wins, just skipping forward for the good plays in each game... And I have to say, easily the most dangerous and comprehensively skilled player in the side is Colin. Other players have other skills, like Green, Davey etc... but Sylvia is the kind of player other supporters just groan when they see him "on." I reckon he sometimes doesn't get the press, as there's all these other big names coming through. But when Sylvia carves his way through the midfield, smashing into guys and laying vice-like tackles, and then turning and burning guys off, finishing with accurate long kicks... other teams supporters say "oh bugger... forgot about him." When at his best, he's our most unstoppable. Anyone remember the best goal we scored this year? I think it was against the Tigers. It started with a deadly-accurate chain of about six handballs, with the Tigers just standing around watching... Davey runs a few steps out of defensive fifty, places it on Bruce's chest, Bruce runs towards the wing and delivers a BEAUTIFUL long kick (HA!!!) lace-out to Sylvia who is at full tilt, and he just keeps going... and going... The crowd goes wild as he's got all this space to run into with only Wonna leading back to the square with an opponent 30 yards behind him. Sylvia by now has burned off his opponent so effectively he can slow down and consider his options. Instead of calmly drilling it from 40, he chips it to Wonna who turns and drills it. From the start of the play to the end, the only thing that was ever going to happen was a goal. Up until that point we hadn't quite shaken the Tiges in what was a pretty spirited game. You knew that it was the kind of goal that was both a confidence builder and inspirer for the team (you could almost feel every demon in the stadium say "wow... I didn't know we could do that") and an absolute dagger to the heart of the Tigers. Good times. Sylvia at his best. And making all the right decisions too.

Joeboy - Probably on Holiday.