Dappa Dan

If what you want to do is bottom out of the next few years, then yes. Get rid of all the not so great players and play the youth. The problem is, some of those young players will be even worse... I sometimes wonder with you occo, if you dropped all the players you hate from the list of 40-something, would we even have 22 left to play? If we lose the first round, we still play 3 more praccys, called "challenge" matches or something. I presume he'd miss out on one of them.

Yeah. I probably should have been a bit more specific. From what I've seen of Frawley, he was played a bit last year because of two reasons. We were blooding youngsters in a season that was over by round 3, and we had no-one else. Not to say he didn't earn his spot compared to his competitors on the list or anything, but come on, he's only 18, and how often do you blood a youngster at FB at that age. Almost none of our other KP players were played within months of being recruited. The guy is going to be a career defender or wingman. And the footy he played was only exciting in patches. MOST of the time he got beaten in the body on body stuff... which is TOTALLY fair enough. I was thrilled to see him go in hard and not drop his head. I can't comment on CAC's decision to recruit him but maybe it's Frawley's work ethic off and on the ball that made him jump so high in the minds of recruiters late in the piece when he was recruited. I certainly didn't mean to slag him off. I happen to think 200 games as our full back is within his reach and talents. Maybe he could sneak an AA gurnsey one day given his size, pace and how hard he goes at it. I was, as Rogue says, only referring to him in terms of 2007. The "good ordinary" part was in reference to his skills. Rivers, for example, is NOT an ordinary footballer. I reckon the sky was always the limit with him. Frawley not so much. It's crystal-ball gazing, I know, but that's just my feeling. Why would I have rose coloured glasses with him? I know exactly what we have with him. I hated him right up to the end of 2005, even when he came in in those last few rounds and smashed a whole bunch of forwards. I am as grudgingly a supporter of his as anyone... We as fans carry on a lot about who we like and who we hate. Carroll, like I KEEP saying, is one of the only potential FBs in the side who has played at the highest level for an entire season. AND he's still within his footballing prime. Nothing rose coloured about that. Bad media or good, he's the only option out of these that's proven himself so far. My opinion about him being in his prime are spot on. It's just his prime isn't all that impressive He's of a certain age and is no longer in development. But you make a good point. It depends on how you look at it. I reckon we would have loved to have traded Godfrey or Ward at the end of last season. We didn't trade them, and we most likely didn't even ask. Why? We would have been laughed at. Not so with Carroll. He has market value. Yes, you COULD be right. Perhaps his class as a footballer isn't seen as clearly as someone like Rivers, and this makes him expendable. Maybe it's as simple as the fact that they wanted to trade a mature, ready-made FB for a younger more promising one who could help us deep into the future, unlike Nathan can. Maybe the panel sees a surplus of future KP defenders on the list, and Carroll's age doesn't fit into our grand plan of basing our future around our 23-and-unders. If he was REALLY such a pain in the arse, and was REALLY that crap then this same panel would have let him go, right? But no. He's one of those rare things on the demons list. A player in the 25-30 age bracket. REASON suggests that they clinged onto him for the same reason I suggested above. Our starting backline would consist of only one mature proven player in Rivers (who is injury prone), an old warhorse in Holland who is a season by season prospect and not much better a player than Nathan, and then a couple of 19 year olds. We'd get smashed more readily than we would if we kept Carroll on. For the record, I am actually in the same boat as all the nay-sayers. In a perfect world I'd have a 1st round pick in every position on the ground. Our defenders, particularly our KP defenders have been a weakness for a long time. We are in the process of fixing this, and what I'd like to see is about 5 players who COULD play in the 3 KP posts on the list before we let go guys like Carroll who will only ever be as good as he was in 2006. A list must be made up of your good players, and a few that you would consider workhorses. Carroll's a workhorse in a weak list. Simple really. Come the end of 2008, even if we make the finals, I think we'll see another clearing of dead wood like we did a few months ago. As many said, I reckon about 12 players had to go. Carroll could be part of phase two, but ONLY if the Frawleys, Rivers and Martins of this world show that they can cope with the big time for 22 rounds. If not, then we're going to be forced to stick with him. One thing's for certain. His attitude will need to be on. If he gets cranky and his training suffers, he doesn't have the skill and nous to go finding the footy even when unfit. It makes me nervous on his behalf, and on the team's behalf.

Holland has carved out a respectable few years at MFC "out of necessity." He has about as much talent as Carroll, but you could argue he has a better attitude. Yes he will. Godsend? You'll be screaming for his inclusion when the monsters in the other squads tear Frawley, Garland, PJ etc etc to pieces... If Carroll doesn't play you'll see 4 different players play the position of FB a game. many of them will get smashed to pieces physically, and if they don't, they'll have big bags kicked on them. You'll be begging for a 20-something lunk of a lad who has a bit of resilience. It never ceases to amaze me, the rose couloured glasses that pop up in teh preseason. Are people seriously saying that Garland and Frawley will take Carroll's spot this year? Wow... Garland has thus far done about as much as 426. He's had his first few matches where he was completely out of his depth. In the few minutes he had to play in defence he was lost. later in the season he was played forward. We don't even know for sure if DB wants to play him in defence. When I've seen him play at Sandy, he's ALWAYS played forward and has certainly shown he has the skill set to play there. Frawley is a good solid ordinary footballer. I like watching him play, and think he'll carve out a nice career, but there'll be days when he cops it from supporters in the future. He's also one who is NOWHERE NEAR holding down FB full-time. I love me some Dutchy, and he'll certainly play some footy this year, but how much longer does he have left? He's got to be nothing more than a pinch hitter at this stage. People have got to be kidding if they thing we're going to have a group of KP backs that are 23, 19 and 19. Especially when the two 19 year olds have shown only that they'll be players many years into the future. Carroll is the ONLY player besides Rivers who has put it together for a whole season in the past. He's also the only one in his footballing prime. He took well into his twenties before he was strong enough physically to match it with the Lloyds and Gehrigs of the league. I'm all for developing the youngsters, but not if it means embarrassment for MFC. Carroll has to play. Maybe he's a peanut off the field, but he works hard on it.

I thought they'd already determined he was sleepwalking, went up a ladder and fell down. Apparently he was a regular sleepwalker. Often woke up with bruises, cuts and scrapes. They said something about the fact that he was tired, overworked and stressed, and that when he got that way the sleepwalking worsened. Unless I'm mistaken... That was what I read somewhere.

Fork, you're a gentleman and a scholar. And don't be shy with the posting from now on!

Aaah. Point taken.

This has to be the longest and least relevant sticky ever at demonland. I was just killing time wandering around youtube, and had another look at the mark. Jeez this kid is exciting. It wasn't pure freakiness, it wasn't luck, and it wasn't the kind of thing that would happen only rarely. Even the way he meets the ground is exciting. Unlike Robbo, he just softly rolls over. He's already heavy, even as a skinny guy, and when he fills out we've already seen he likes to throw his body around. He's going to be a player.

It's pretty simple I reckon. Daniher wasn't the kind of coach that put fire in the hearts of his troops. He was known as the kind of coach that was able to give one of the best bakes going around, but week-in week-out he wasn't much of a motivator. This was one of the reasons we waxed and waned. If DB's message gets across to CJ, we could see a COMPLETELY different footballer. They would have looked at players like him at the start of the year and debated whether a change of coach would bring about results. There were more pressing delistings that had to happen, and CJ had upside. Simple really.He's one of a few players that will have to show something. I'm confident he will, it's just a question of how much he'll show. If he doesn't do this, he'll be part of the next 6-8 delistings.

MFC Best and Fairest: Jared Rivers (big call. Defender. I just don't like the look of anyone else) MFC best team player: JMac MFC best clubman: Lynden Dunn MFC most improved: Jace Bode MFC Most Consistent: Aaron Davey MFC Best First Year player: Addam Maric MFC Leading Goalkicker: David Neitz Most votes in Sandringham’s best and fairest by a Melbourne player: Valenti, assuming we're counting rookies. He's an absolute monty to win this one. The only category I'm sure of.

Early last season he played a couple of games at Sandy playing this exact role. At the time he was a long way from fit, and had only just returned, and even with low confidence and being a bit doughy, he MONSTERED the games I watched... one in particular more than the others. I wonder though, if he was so good at this role, howcome he hasn't played it in the past? Was it just ND's decision? Or was there games where he played this role and wasn't damaging enough? I'd like to see him play like this, but there is some stiff competition for the guy. Bruce, Bate, Sylvia, Dunn, Green etc etc... I think in the grand scheme of things, in the coming years this will be seen as his greatest downfall as a coach. It seems he already has. He's got the team united on the training track, which I'm certain couldn't have been as easy as it looked, given the fact that many of them were coached by Neale for a decade. Me too. I'm behind him because he's our coach... but there is much work to be done here just yet, and just as with Neale, I imagine, on demonland at least, that he'll be judged as much on his faults as on his strengths.

The ONLY thing in his favour, as you say, is a new coach. The only thing I can think of is that he may be inspired by a new message from a new voice. Maybe Yze, all along, was the kind of player that would only excel with a coach willing to force his face into the grindstone with his heel... Daniher sang his praises over and over, and after a few stellar games in which he was regarded throughout the league as a star, he knew that regardless of poor performances, Daniher was never going to drop him. I respect your opinion, and I hope you're right, but my heart tells me it will not end as positively as you say. Sometimes a player has a bad season or two, and you begin to want to write them off, a la Miller. Your heart keeps a faint hope, but in the end you know the footballing gods must have their sacrifices. With Yze, he hasn't had one or two below par seasons, he's had about 5. This is the defining factor in my pessimism. Though I will say that since the announcement of his rejoining the leadership group, I would imagine the Dean will play him as often as possible. In so far as that is concerned, I was likely wrong. Why? I have only so far heard words. If we're 2 - 8, or 0 - 9 again, and Yze is widely blamed or criticised, or even scapegoated for our losses like he was last year, I'm sure Bailey would feel the pressure and may, as a new coach, wish to drop him. He's all bluster so far, and unlike many others I will judge him on his actions and results alone. That said... again... I hope your confidence is rewarded, and I admire your positivity. Like who? You mean Pavlich/Brown? When was the last time a former rookie stopped either of them? Carroll is certainly capable of stopping them. He's stopped MANY of these better forwards. I'm going to go ahead and assume you're referring to his 2007 in which he had NO help. His 2006 was impressive to say the least. Take, for example, Glass. He (up until recently) was surrounded by a very good defence, with strong, skilled and smart support in both the tall and small variety, as well as a midfield and ruckman that have maintained periods of being untouchable. Glass is a better player than Carroll, but I reckon even he would have struggled if he played in the red and blue in Nathan's place last year. With defenders like Ward and Brown, who though they were admirable, weren't the most accountable players. With Holland fighting admirably but with zero pace, and with his counterpart in Rivers in the stands, and with only Bell showing some real resistance for long periods, he was up against it. When he was at his best, Carroll had his man cramped for space, with short leads, and found himself marking and spoiling easily. With our lack of decent players he had none of these luxuries. Unlike much of the crystal-ball gazing that goes on here I have a full season of good form from Carroll to substantiate my arguement that he's an important player in the side. I don't think he'll take any huge new steps, but I'm confident he'll do all that can be done within reason to get the job done, and what more can you ask? Other than 3 KP defenders taken in the first round of the superdraft.

That's a pretty good analogy. Better kick though. I was thinking Ryan O'Keefe as well, but Tarrant is closer to the mark. I think if he IS played as a forward I hope people don't get on his case for not kicking big bags. He has a nice kick on him, but I think he could be good as that last link-up man.

Yeah... Because according to these so-called experts, leaders are supposed to be players under 21. I thought leaders were supposed to be experienced? If this guy had his way Jones, Brock, Moloney, Davey and Miller would be leading the club. What a twit. Apparently Richmond has it right promoting Newman and some guy who's only been with the club a year. So yep, let's follow suit with the weakest and worst club at the moment, and the wooden spooners of 2007 eh? They ALWAYS get it right... This clown is clearly a Carltank fan who thinks that a leadership group that comprises twelve players is the way to go, and among them an 18 year old who hasn't even played a game. Football media = more incompetent than CBA and Telstra put together. Clinton, we miss you.

I thought I'd start an independent thread here to the Neitz/captain one, which is sort of a different topic altogether. I noticed some disappointment and ire at the result, from some posters. My five cents: Robertson - Makes sense to me. We've lost a lot of experience, and Robbo is one of the better demons of the past couple of decades. At his best he can push for a Coleman, and unlike Neitz, is still in his footballing prime. He was dropped in years gone by, but I think a 28-year-old Robertson will have focus unlike we've seen in his past. McDonald - Yep. No complaint here. Veterans should lead, and even if he wasn't in there with a title, he'd be leading anyway. Bruce - Should be there. Is one of the players that holds heaps of responsibility. McLean - The only "young" one in there. Is still being spoken of as future captain despite recent bad press. Yze - Has been vocal on the training track apparently, and must have impressed DB. This would suggest he will be selected whenever possible. Personally I think it makes SOME sense from Dean's perspective. He's highly respected by his team-mates, and is among the most talented on the list now that Trav is gone. My query is that he's shown us all this before. He was dropped from the leadership group in the past DESPITE these strengths outlined above. So what could have changed? Hopefully I'm wrong. Miller - I'm shocked by this, but not the way people may think. Given a coach that has gotten behind him, and given a good honest run at ONE position, you may find Brad finding his Mojo again. People say he's a "confidence player" whatever that means, and if that's true, a confident coach may bring about results. My shock comes from the fact that he's not put it together YET. I would have thought pump up his tyres all year, let him play whole games at CHF, or CHB (wherever Dean has plans for him) and let him regain his reputation before promoting him. Maybe a touch premature. If he does the same again this year as he did in 2007, there's going to be some unhappy campers. Though I will say this, with Neitz, Holland, Robbo and White coming to the end, Miller's age and strength will be more important than ever in the coming years. He may find himself leading because there's no-one else. And the ones that missed out? Green - I can't believe this. Maybe he's just not done enough at training? Maybe it's a precursor to a future trading? Maybe Dean likes his footballers, not his athletes? This is HUGE news, and the biggest thing to come out of this announcement, along with the Miller promotion. I'm not sure what to think, and would appreciate some comment from the club, as well as 'landers. Jones - Too early of course, but I can see this guy being in the leadership group as soon as 2009, and as Brock's right hand as soon as 2011 or so. Davey - Is it time for the club to start looking at him? People used to say "captain material." Perhaps when he's 27+? Rivers - When will he pop up? He's of that age now, but maybe it'll take an injury free season. The sooner it happens the better, I always worry about him being traded. White - Looking at the players promoted, he should have been up there. He's a lifetime demon. Perhaps not the profile. Bate, Dunn, Bell maybe one day... But too early really to be able to tell. So questions? Comments?

Yep. The lottery system has been applauded by many... And they stuck with it I believe, which shows it's getting results. That said, I'm not sure if any team has been badly shortchanged yet. I liked Sheedy's idea of awarding picks to teams in the bottom eight who make the highest score in the points for column. That would mean you still had to work for the picks and couldn't tank, and it would combat the flood. There are problems with the idea, but I think it's a good starting point.

Yze will play. Will probably play more than half the games for the year. But since it's an opinion you're asking for, I'd like to see the future persevered with. Yze's a brilliant, but faulted player. I'd HATE for him to end up rubbing off on the Marics and Petterds of this world. However, they say he's a very vocal leader in training, so you'd always leave these judgements up to the powers that be, and the players themselves. Also I just reckon his outside brand of footy will be useful only when we're sure Jones, McLean, Moloney etc etc are winning the pill. If they're not, we'd need more hard options through the middle. I don't want to turn this into another Yze bashing thread any more than you do, but he's the wrong side of 30 and I don't expect him to learn any new tricks. His designation as a player is as an outsider. But yeah, I do see your point, and it's a close thing. I expect him to remind us sporadically of what he's capable of, but he's not going to play in a premiership for the demons. It was between the two, yes. And it really depends on those around him. I'm not sure I want to see him playing 3+ quarters for 22 rounds this year. Even for a 21 year old, he's still just so green. Dunn has played some more footy and I see him as more ready at this stage to play 22 rounds, and to come in firing in round 1. Newton will be playing HEAPS when Robbo, Neitz, Holland are injured or have niggles. I didn't highlight the post, but whoever it was that suggested our tall forwards are a bit geriatric was right... Newton will be our first drop KP forward... But for now Dunn is quicker and more flexible off the bench. Yes. Said in one sentence what I said in a paragraph... I reckon Juice will one day play as a genuine CHF. He seems to revel in the added pressure, and loves all that room to lead into. Maybe not in 2008 so much, but at 23+ years of age, look out...

Rhino... I didn't recognise you... And you're right. Even if you select a 22 (or is it 24? or 26?) with your most experienced players, you'll still end up with players like CJ, Buckley, maybe one or two of the first-year players in the side. Then consider we have 4 matches to blood these guys. I reckon almost about EVERYONE will get a go... particularly considering we have all these brand new rookies at the club. No more 2nd yearers like Neaves/Hughes/Hayes to worry about.

Is this the first "Best 22" thread for the year?!!! Is it that time already? I would say Garland was played in defence for him to better appreciate a defender's mentality so that he can approach the one-on-one situations with a greater understanding of what his opponent might do. Back in the day future gun full forwards would play a season or two in defence for this reason. This could be a Daniher methodology that may be scrapped. I think PJ and Meesen are about even for the second ruck spot. I'd select PJ based on what he's done so far, and because Meesen hasn't played yet while I've been watching. Yes to Maric, no to Morton. The lack of genuine small forwards will call for a quick replacement, and if his kicking boot is as magical as they keep saying he may be good for a smart goal or two. He can be hidden in a pocket... Having said that he may not have the strength to play anywhere else, being so young, which limits Bailey's options. Morton probably will play at some point, but by gee the kid is skinny. Grimes isn't much better, but he's a genuine hard-nut midfielder apparently. Bartram did quite well as a tagger in his first season. Grimes could be given a job in the same fashion. Hopefully he has the pace. I'd say Grimes a fraction ahead of morton at this point. I'm happy to not see Morton in the red and blue until 2009. As far as the 22 goes. It seems to select itself, with the exception of Yze, Meesen and Newton. I think Dunn has claims to Newton's spot. Meesen, PJ and Jamar will be a week by week proposition. The NAB cup will tell us a lot. And after that I reckon Frawley and the best performed of Buckley, CJ, Frawley and Garland would be next in line. That's assuming you want the best 22. The 22 Bailey will select with development in mind, will be different. Miller will play, Holland will be needed. And there will be surprises, like Weetra, Bode and others...

HA! Dazzler says what we're all thinking. Yeah. Or that one bloke calling us "Strawberry Fields" over and over. You can almost smell his smugness through the monitor. Nerd.

Warnock... Yeah that's right. Not Ferguson. I knew something was wrong there as I wrote it...

I can't remember if it was the NAB cup loss last year or not, but in that game Ferguson and Frawley were tried on him, and got poleaxed, then Rivers was moved on him and while he didn't stop him completely, he corralled him and the goals stopped raining... they kind of drizzled after that. Franklin is an arrogant peanut. One of those players who's overconfidence is useful at times. Don't get me wrong, I reckon Brown is number one at the moment, and when he declines ion his 30s Franklin will take over as the power forward with the most impact... I'd recruit him, but I don't rate what comes out of his mouth as anything but trash-talking twaddle... in the same vein as Feva.

Remember the heady days when every thread we commented on became something to do with Juice? Well here I go again... I agree with that point about Newton, that the jury is still out. But as with many of the Juice faithful, I have compiled a LOT of personal info and opinions about the way he goes about the game. Where available I went to see him play and would watch him almost exclusively when he was on the ground. And in terms of the "jury being out" I have a point or two to make about him. With PJ, he has his strengths and he has his weaknesses. His lack of genuine ruck dominance, and his inability to mark overhead are two concerning factors. With Juice, like you say he has to get down and dirty and get used to making hard contact with the heaviest opponents in the AFL. The difference between the two is that PJ has shown, in his 5-odd years in footy that he is only very slowly learning to correct the faults in his game, if at all. Juice was told by Neale that he had to do the one-percnters and add defensive work to his leads, marks and kicking. Basically to do the bumping, chasing and tackling. Juice added these strengths to the point that, at least at Sandy, they were something of a feature in his game. More than a few times I saw him try to deck guys after they'd disposed of the ball, which is something you LOVE to see. A forward who wants to beat his opposition AND hurt them. So when you say the jury is out on Juice, and PJ alike, I would say that at least Newton has the embryonic signs of the complete KP forward in there. PJ as a step or two behind him in that sense. The concern with Michael I think is the whole VFL/AFL divide. He has DOMINATED at VFL level, more often than not last season, and at AFL he has done some encouraging things (and one SENSATIONAL thing) but hasn't looked like he could own a game just yet. This is my concern. Sylvia, CJ, PJ, Jamar, Read, Ward, Godfrey... these are the names of players that as yet in their careers have owned many VFL games but have never made the transition. For my part it always seems the most intangible thing. Bartram stepped straight into the AFL and did more than his fair share. Some guys just never do. Is it a mental thing? I can never tell, and it's one of the hardest things when determining a player's worth for the red and blue. The only thing that got me behind Juice early on was the fact that he had ALL the aspects a modern day power forward needs. THEORETICALLY I thought he'd make it... but then if that's true, why has Sylvia struggled? The whole thing gives me a headache.

Doggo... You've probably summed up the generl consensus when it comes to PJ right there. The negative nancies will decry his weaknesses and call for his head, and the positive... umm... percys (?) will claim his kicking ability and endurance will keep him in good stead. Your post has provoked a thought in me though - I think it's fair to say that one of the tougher jobs for recruiters is to select ruckmen in the modern game that are going to turn out to be stars, or at least one of the starting 16 ruckmen in the AFL. Along with selecting good CHFs and CHBs it must be the hardest type of crystal-ball gazing going around. When we look at players like Kreuzer and Leuenberger... Ruckmen taken within the first few picks who may not play quality football for years to come, I sometimes wonder whether or not it's wise to use such crucial picks on players who could come unstuck for any number of reasons. For example, Fraser was taken early, and in my opinion while he's an ok player, I wouldn't call him a top 5 ruckman. At least not yet. He just turned 26 and has not dominated the game as some ruckmen have in the past. For example, Jeff White. Back in the day when you could run and jump and 195cm ruckmen were dominant, Jeff was having a say in football games when he was barely out of his teens. What with ruckmen now needing to be gigantic to even be considered for a list, things have changed. These days Jeff would have probably gone lower due to his height (Not MUCH lower). So over the last five or so years, since the rule changes were brought in, it's fair to assume that the complexion of ruck rucruiting has changed. So what do they do? As far as I can tell, it seems that the ridiculously tall guys are recruited, but given YEARS on the list as more-or-less a rookie to learn the ropes until their bodies fill out. The fans and so-called experts call for their heads as they develop slowly, and if they're lucky enough to stay in the game they seem to do their best work in their late twenties and beyond.... Some examples, Ottens (28), Lade (31), and Everitt (57?). In Lade's case, he's certainly done his best work in his Autumn years, Everitt was considered the best in the game in the years around his thirtieth birthday, and Ottens was a basket-case who was traded to another club by the vultures at Punt Road, he landed at the Cats and was scapegoated for a terrible season, and now he's a much loved big-man who was one of the keys to the Cat's long-awaited premiership. If you're a tall bloke (6-foot+), ask yourself this. When was it you felt comfortable in your body? As in, when did you fill out? Maybe you're a Cam Bruce typre and you're perennially skinny. Maybe it was early twenties... I have a feeling though that MOST big guys struggle to put weight on and get comfortable in their skin until heir 25th birthday. For small sky-scrapers like Brad Ottens and PJ, I have a feeling this may be true too. With modern day training techniques, PJ has become a big man well before his 24th birthday in June this year. But would it be fair to say that despite being the size of a small elephant, he's far from comfortable throwing himself at the Aaron Sandilands in the game? It doesn't matter how big you are if you don't have the willpower to throw yourself into the contest. I remember that infamous Sydney game where he did his shoulder. Probably unanimously the most courageous play of the year by a demon, and what did it get him? A career threatening injury, and a huge set-back in his development that didn't clear up COMPLETELY 'til midway through last year. So anyway, my theory is that with the new-found hunger recruiters have for 200cm plus ruckmen, we as fans should probably be prepared to not see their best footy until roughly their 25th birthday, depending on the player, how they are coached, where they play, how they develop their bodies etc etc... With that in mind, I still think PJ has a future. Possibly an enormous one for MFC. Every year there's always a ruckman that comes out of the woodwork and defies expectation to knock off some of the bigger names in the game. I'm almost completely off Jamar's bandwagon as I think he doesn't have anywhere near the ability of PJ, and Meesen is an unknown quantity... PJ HAS played some good footy for us, and I'm keen to see what he can do with the next 2-3 years. I no longer think of him as one of those "perform now, or goodbye" players.

You probably already know this, in fact it may have been you that mentioned it originally, but apparently a few weeks ago Chris Connelly went on SEN and was asked about Barts. He mentioned that his ankle injury is going to be Tingay-like in the way they manage it. Would it be presumptuous to suggest it's related to this? Happy to be corrected, but I've always made the assumption that this is why we've not been hearing much about the kid.

Disagree with that. I reckon he did it pretty much on his own last season. Even Rivers at full tilt would have had a hard time with NO help. We all know he's not a great AFL player, he doesn't have the skill and brilliance of Rivers, but he CERTAINLY has his uses, and I think you'd struggle to find a successful defence that hasn't had one of these workmen. Carroll needs a handful of other quality talls who know how to zone off around him, but he is at least a fantastic one-on-one defender when he gets his assistance. To take him out when the injury list is not as severe smacks of cutting off the nose to spite the face. And as an added bonus, he's one of the most resilient, if not the most resilient players in the side. We see him every second week get knocked out, or all but have his rib-cage caved in, and he still gets up and gives the same quality footy. We have a lot of brilliant but injury prone players. He's not one of them. On PJ, I'm happy for him to have a run there. I've seen him do some really good work. But I think it's naive to think he has a future as a four quarter CHB or FB. He has pace, he is ENORMOUS both in height and breadth, his work ethic is among the best at the club... if ever there was going to be a 200cm ruckman that would go well as a KP defender it would be him. Unfortunately though, even though he's a small man in a tall man's body, his engine will let him down. How is he supposed to keep up with the lightning quick, endurance-based athletic CHFs like Reiwoldt, the Pav, Franklin and Brown? These guys make 50 leads a match and eventually PJ will be found out. Add to that the fact that unlike Rivers who will take 6-10 grabs against his man in defence, PJ will probably be instructed to always go the spoil if he has the opportunity. He could be a handy negating force against the Everitts and Lades of the world who rest in a forward pocket, but in the end he still hasn't found a home. The exception would be if he had an appropriate opponent for the full four quarters. THEN you could see what he came up with with his 120 minutes... That's the fundamental problem with him. He has heaps going for him as a footballer, he can pich-hit at both ands AND in the ruck, but can't earn his stripes at any one of these positions as a regular AFL player. I am a HUGE fan of his, and have been for a while now, but I worry...