Dappa Dan

Career best, but he's still developing. And Clark has been awful this year. They can't both take the ruck taps at the same time, and I'd back Jamar against either one... All day long. I think against in-form ruckmen, like Mumford, Sandilands, Cox, maybe Brogan who's playing well right now... Jamar could use the chop out. Also when we don't have enough forwards, PJ gives Jamar the chance to hurt them on the scoreboard. But in this case? I reckon the extra legs would do more for us at the Gabba, in what possibly will be a warm night? WHat I'm trying to say is... I don't rate the Lions right now. However, Fev hasn't gone this long in poor form before. He's VERY due, and he kicked 4 in a thrashing last time we played them. With no Brown to help him too... Another pacey KP defender I think would give our defence more confidence against those two guys who are, admittedly, out of form... I'd just hate to see us play them INTO form.

I think I might go to this game... Is Box HIll good to watch the footy at?

I was half expecting Jamar to go it alone on Leuenberger and Clark, neither of whom are doing that well. Rivers will go ok... but I would have thought Warnock would be better one-on-one. Fev has a nasty habit of kicking bags on us.

With respect, you are, without a doubt, the biggest pain in the a%#e on this site, RR. Having a conversation with you is like banging your head against a brick wall. No. Just saying there are stats, then there are stats (for example... I thought Beamer was a good goalkicker at long distance. You informed me he'd kicked, I believe 14 at that point = good stat). Neither player has had enough to make any comparison IMO. I go on what I see. And what I see is that Jamar, up until his big 5 goal game last year, was unreliable in front of goal. Stats don't account for angle, distance, or OOTFs. Jamar SO often marks within 30 metres. I reckon PJ would enjoy greater accuracy from 40+ metres. I would suggest his kicking action is more fluent, and has more distance on it... but that would be an opinion, not a "stat." And lord knows if an opinion is all anyone comes to you with then they may as well not bother right? Right. You and your stats. I'll take goal-kicking accuracy for players playing AT FULL FORWARD for a number of years. Or players resting there for their ENTIRE careers. And thats' 100-150 game careers. These stats don't take into account what role they're playing either. For example, I'd rate Bate as a superb kick at goal given that he's not often given the job of marking one-out in the square. Often he's been running far and wide, and kicks them from outside fifty. IMO, Jamar is ok. But I know who I'd want shooting from on 50. Or outside 50. Here's that brick wall again... No. Not Garbage. I think I may have missed my point though. I've not seen PJ play forward for more than a few 10 minute bursts, in a few games. 2 years ago when he was our number 1 preferred (with Jamar hurt/unfit) he was rucking pretty much on his own, and rarely rested forward. In the FEW instances he's been in a pocket with Jamar playing the bulk of the ruck, I will grant you, he's not taken a game by the scruff of the neck. But as usual, you'll focus on the lack of starring footy. I'll focus on the word FEW. Besides, I've heard on a couple of occasions commentators getting excited about him as a forward. For whatever that's worth. I even remember someone saying in his Carrarra game he was "Carey-like." Which I thought was pretty funny. Again. You've managed to miss my point completely. Playing defensively on a ruckman? Sure. You have a point with your two isolated incidents... which incidentally Jamar was guilty of countless times in his first 5 years. But I wasn't talking about going back the other way while playing in the ruck. I'm talking about being given a go as a defensive KP defender. He's done it rarely. I saw him play there against the Lions live when we juuuust got up in 2008. And I liked what I saw. Simple. Not complicated. Do us all a favour and don't look for the fault here. I'm not looking for a comment. Just expressing my opinion. I don't expect it to be upheld by anyone here, you least of all. Or the club. Serviceable is better than what Jamar gave us as a backup ruckman under White. Serviceable is as good as you can get for a backup ruckman with as limited game time as he's getting. And again, you've ignored what MANY good and sensible posters have claimed, over and over, despite your insistence they're wrong. Saying he's played well once in 70 games is just, plain, infantile hatred directed at a player you've had it in for for a long time. Something you excel at, looking at the negative... Crowing? Fair dinkum... You are a silly, silly person. Where did I crow? I've been VERY reserved about him since he let me down mid-year. And since he played these last few I've said VERY little. Unlike you, I can admit when I see something that perhaps proves me wrong. Do these couple of ok performances erase his early-year sins? No. But they go part of the way there. Would it kill you to acknowledge it? What evidence? That his career hasn't been great thus far? Did I not admit this earlier this year? I've avoided nothing. You're doing this annoying thing where you put words into a posters mouth (keyboard)... again. I don't know why I bother with this... And I doubt they ever will. No matter how much good footy he plays. He could kick 5 goals from playing on, and you'd site "no marking overhead" as a fault. HA! Now I'm a long way from giving you an "I told you so." But this is what has happened so far. I came out in support of a player back when he played enough good footy to suggest he might come on and be a useful player for us in the future. Despite the fact I'm entitled to this opinion, you disagree at EVERY turn. And this year, true to your sniping form, you have said a DOZEN times "Will not be on our list next year." What was that? Hmmm... That doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation. And now what do we see? "He SHOULD be gone at year's end." Now fair enough, saying he could become the best backup ruck in the league may have been going early. But that's me. I like to SUPPORT MFC players, crazy at that sounds. Since then, my exuberance may have been proven to be unfounded. But it seems my overconfidence in PJ is matched by your lack of confidence, wouldn't you say? What happens if (and I repeat IF... I'm not confident with him either) he keeps his spot on the list? Do you come out and admit you were wrong when you said, unequivocally, that he's gone? No... You'll have a crack at the list for being weak as far as the rucks go. Or worse still get stuck into the list management. It's a shame, RR. That's all I'm saying.

Be a good pickup if we were close and had a deficiency on outside mids. In fact, I reckon he might find himself at a Collingwood/Carton.

Whoa. Big comparison. :D He's mates with Davey.

Aaah Jeez. I thought Maric was ok. He's pretty stiff. Mostly because everyone around him was so good. I'd almost be all for him getting the gig in place of whatever injuries there are, over Trengove who may need another week.

I suck. I did this a year ago and got 80%.... Got 60% that time. My rarest get was Williams (who the hell got Chisholm?) And my most popular miss, shame on me, was Grimes!!!!

Hmm. Green I used to worry about. That his form could be patchy at times. Also he was one of our leaders in our darkest period, though that doesn't necessarily mean it's all his fault. As for Junior, I do worry about him. Not a great kick, but moreso I'm not sure he'll be there next year. And if he is I'm not sure it'll be for long. Could be, yes. Certainly seems to run a little quicker. Scarlett's probably a neater kick, but I would imagine both players' effectiveness isn't that far off. Not quite yet. Too many ahead of him. But if he is, you better believe I'll be bumping my "Frawley for AA" thread from earlier this year. When he got it from Goodes, a big part of me wanted to be listening to the commentary to see what Commetti would say. Another big part wanted him to miss, just so we could add one to the tally. Poor kid. He'll be right though. I think in the coming years he's not going to have much competition for a spot.

They've both still got a ways to go... and could each easily be superceded by other players. For Dunn, possibly another big KP player could take his spot. For Barts, a skilled running half back might be more necessary. That said, they're going in the right direction. I think Barts is safer than Dunn marginally.

Did anyone read Inside Football today? On the first page one of their main writers (they all get to make 3 dot points in "what we learned this week in footy"), wrote... "The demons will have won more flags than any club by 2020." Which mean we will have had to have won 5 in the next 10 years. And the Blues and Dons would have to win none. It appears the lid is off, and we're only just out of the bottom 4... This is gonna hurt when we show the first signs of losing form.

I don't know why it's taken til now for the media to notice that he resembles Scarlett. When he dashes, his speed, willingness to take the game on, and his uncanny ability to shrug a tackle... It screams Scarlett to me. I was discussing this with a couple of mates of mine who went to the game. On our list, which players do you not worry about at all. Trengove is one. Other than horrible bad fortune with injury this guy just doesn't have weaknesses. Chip is the other. I have no worries about him. Not even his kicking which with hard work he's turned into a strength.

Just on that Freo win. What would the media be like if we scraped into 8th, and Freo made 5th? The last final we played, 4 years ago almost to the day week, we lost to them. I reckon if we won every game and DID make the 8, and they limped their way to 5th they'd be more than a bit concerned. Not likely of course, and it's not smart to be talking finals. Still. Fun to think about what it would be like. BTW, I love that we're in the "run home" calculations this deep into the season. I'd hoped we'd get to the last 3 round before we were officially out of the race, and it looks like that will happen. Tow big percentage boosting wins against the Lions and Tigers would really have people talking.

Tappy is a shoe in for me. Assuming his body stays ok, he has the build to make an immediate impact. And if he does, goodbye Maric.

Answering the OP. 5 IS the record, currently held by the Bombers, and I think maybe one other side.

Yeah he kicked badly... I reckon he forgot how. It's not been his role this year. He's a shut-down player. When he gets the ball, I think he basically drops his head. Not to worry. Against better sides he's back to his dour, no-frills best.

Moloney out, Wonna in.

Yep. Was a good time for him to get dropped. The perfect time in fact, as Maric is probably more desperate for his chance. I think people are neglecting to mention what this is really about. We can't make the finals, and Bailey is still in development mode. I think if we were desperate, or looking at a top 4 spot, Bate would be needed for structure. As it stands, Bailey is playing around with the 18 to see what he has in the cupboard. I like it.

He probably does. We're looking at him with a microscope to find the positives. Until he beats Lethal over the heat with a 6+ goal game, he won't take aaaany notice.

Just on the alternative jumper situation... What the bloody hell was wrong with the all red, with the blue M design from a few years ago? I thought that was pretty good! Howcome it changed? It may be no good with the new GC side being all red... but still.

I don't rate those stats. Once he gained the level of fitness he has, and gained some confidence in his place in the side, I think we have seen him kick straighter. Before that, I saw him flub some VERY easy ones. PJ is no different. Actually... he IS different. Give a player with that kicking action some time to get some confidence, and you'd see a similar, probably better conversion rate. As for getting the ball... That's another matter. Jamar certainly has him covered there. Flirted is the operative word. He's never enjoyed the gametime there like Jamar has. The only times are the Sydney game where he did his shoulder, and from memory, I think a Carrara game where he looked pretty damn good. I've always rated him as ok in defence in the few times I've seen him there. Not that it matters. The club isn't interested in him resting there (and rightly so, tall defenders are the one thing we don't need). You've been uncharacteristically soft on PJ here. Why so? Is it just his good game last weekend? Or are we starting to see the fault in getting stuck into players, making sweeping statements about their future?

Witty. How 'bout you try contributing instead of adding only irritation to a discussion not involving you, smartarse. Only if you're making a direct comparison, valuing stats equally. You didn't say this up until a few posts ago. You just said comparing like to like is pointless. Besides, JA's point is valid. Stats can be misleading, but they do tell SOME of the story, as well as being very valuable to the average supporter with only one pair of eyes (not 18). I won't say I agree with JA's general point, but he's well within reason making it. Jeez it's only the rising star. No need to get bent out of shape and start insulting people.

Depending on when it IS released, I'm not sure this [censored]-up is going to hurt anyone. in fact, it'll only get it noticed more.

I might have missed something. You were saying you shouldn't compare a KP defender to a midfielder because they play different roles and rack up different stats. Am I right? My point was that I think it's fair to compare the players on a thread who's topic centres around the Rising Star... Because comparing players of ALL different roles is what the judges have to do. On any given week they might compare a Stratton to a Trengove... and choose accordingly. And at the end of the year EVERYONE is compared. Ruckmen (Nicnat), midfielders (Scully, Hannebery etc) and KP defenders (Reid) alike.

Not for the rest of the season though, right? The OP suggested they wanted to see Maric a couple of times before the season is over. In that sense, I'm more worried about Strauss, who is due to play again in a week or two I think.