Dappa Dan

2002 was my favourite. Was out of footy for a while, fell in love again watching Neitz win the Coleman. Dating ourselves here Sku.

Ta Sku

I'd love to see a breakdown of our back to back victory records. First three in a row last year. Then again this year against Dogs. 4 in a row first time in 11 years. What's the 5,6,7 etc... Anyone know a stats page you can customise for that?

Footy folklore. We'll be recalling this game for the rest of his career. And his sons' careers.

Looked at him very closely in fantasy the year he was rubbed out. Had him very high indeed, almost a keeper. So when we targeted him I was doing cartwheels. I didn't think he'd be this good though. He's exceeded even my lofty expectations. The only downside... I wish he was 23.

12 marks, 8 R50s, 9 spoils... Wow. Shame his bro will steal all of those next week. lol

Yeeeeeah I know... But still... Let me believe it. lol I want to put together a paragraph about how players are playing longer into their careers now, that he started late, is super professional now blah blah blah. But you're right. What can I say. I love the guy. He's gonna be missed when he hangs them up, I can tell you that.

Yeah I was with you. Not disagreeing.

Good post. This is the stuff of demonland. A bit of "maybe this is what he's thinking." For the record too, I reckon Watts would have gone through whole months like that.

Love him. I don't reckon he's leaving though. Then again, I said that about Lever and now it seems the noise around him is getting bigger and bigger.

195 I think? heh. Carlisle sucks. I don't know that that's true. Caleb Daniel is a jet... He doesn't even come up to my sternum. Midfielders have gotten way taller than when I was a kid. Pendles is the classic one. But I reckon Cripps will be a real statistical outlier. I reckon it goes with the talent of the players, doesn't it? Stringer is better now and will probably end his career better than all these 2 metre guys like Lobb, Wright etc... Daniher probably has him beaten, and I daresay Moore will go down as an absolute champion... Other than that though I'd take Stringer over almost all the 200cm guys. But like I say, 200cm forward doesn't necessarily mean we HAVE to have a 200cm defender to stop them. Defenders have to be able to rebound as well. If all they do is shut out a bean pole, then that's a bit limiting. I reckon curtailing these guys is the right option... I like that our KP guys are good below their knees. Or at least good enough not to trip over their own feet. You can spoil a tall player without being massive yourself. Hunt's a good example of that. You get given a long rope when you're 10cm shorter than the guy you're up against.

And likewise, just because I'm hopeful he'll turn out ok, it doesn't mean I'm "assuming" anything. I didn't offer any opinions or facts about Weed other than to say he did well at VFL level. Not do I think his value as an early pick makes any difference of any kind, other than to say it's likely his draft position makes him more attractive in a trade. I'll give you the tackle thing though. Classic case of supporters clutching at straws. Hipwood's an exception, along with Hogan. Brown possibly, Riewoldt. Want some examples of talls who took years to get good? Lynch, Lynch, Daniher, Buddy, Kreuzer, Hawkins, Hooker, Lobb, Brown, Waite, Kennedy, Dixon... And that's just the now guys. History is littered with KP forwards who went from frustrating or downright disappointing at 20 to dominant at 23. Disagree McCartin's shown more. He's had an extra year in the system, is way heavier and match ready and has never kicked more than 2 goals in a game. Weed struggles to get involved, but has more time on his side. Also never had Reiwoldt to take the best defender. There'll come a time to write Weed off... and you never know, you may be right in 2 years if he ends up being a dud. The point is though, if we get off every 195cm kid after his first 18 months, we'll never find a good foil for Hogan. It's not about predicting whether or not a player is going to be a star. It's about at least giving them an opportunity. Weed hasn't had one. And it's stupid for fans to get on his back this early. Get on Goody's back for playing him though. That's fair enough.

There aren't any serious defenders in the league that play at 200cm. And they're not going to put a spot on the list for a guy that height who only defends. Plenty of good 193-196cm defenders who do the job well. Rance 194, Hurley 193. The height isn't the issue with our guys. Nor is their quality. They're just young.

Exactly. ie, better than McCartin. lol His first season he was doing great in the VFL. I think leading their goalkicking before he started getting some games with the Dees. That's more than Paddy's done. And yes, since you made the point, that's enough to keep him. We all know how it works for 195cm players. They get a pass for a few years while their bodies develop. You're expecting midfielder returns on a player who's the same height as Jeff White. Check out the Adelaide Lynch's stats for the first few years of his career. Two years at Saints doing less than what Weed's done so far and they made the same mistake you did. Traded him to Crows for peanuts, who gave him 12 months, after which he exploded and is now a key part of the best attack in the game. Getting good took Watts about 5 years, and he's the same height. Gawn took longer. There's really no point in drafting these kids if we only give them 24 months to start winning games off their own boots. They can't all be Hogan.

According to the radio today, heaps of interest in McCartin, and Saints desperate to keep him. If McCartin has value, Weed has even more. He's younger and has done more. I'm sounding a bit like a broken record, but since the Tom Lynch (Adelaide) trade a few years ago, teams will be very cagey when it comes to trading KP forwards 23 and under... I suspect also the 2018 draft which is stacked with tall forwards might play a part in teams' plans. That's well into the future of course.

Then we'd need a replacement for Weed. We're thin on for KP forwards. Hogan for future, Pedo for the next few years. I'd love a third to rotate in so we can free up Watts to roam far and wide. Hulett not looking to good at this stage. In reality we probably need 2 more while Weed develops. Reid is the obvious target there, and if the papers today are to be believed, McStay as well. He's a KP defender, but has played forward a lot. I think he was recruited as a forward possibly.

lol Gotta give a man credit when he admits fault though. Just putting my hand up. The only player I ever said will never ever make it. Jamar. 12 months after that, All Australian.

Class act fence... my boy o-hizzle made me proud today.

Yeah. If you look at our midfield, Jones, Vince, Lewis are getting on. Oliver, Viney, Tracca are A grade. We definitely needed Brayshaw as much as Lever. In fact, in a couple of years, we'll need to have found 4-5 really good midfielders. Harmes, Melksham, ANB could carry some of that weight.

Yeah that's why I said I thought it was unlikely. But you never know... Funny things happen in trade weeks. What if someone wanted Kent, ANB etc... Suddenly there's room.

Most are going to say no. I would go for it for the right price tho. Trouble is, the right price is a third rounder, which they'd laugh at. That and we have forwards galore that need games. I reckon he would go well under a different coach, like Bevo. Also the Ablett thing might see Motlop moved on, not necessarily to Gold Coast, but in a three wayer like the Clark/Varcoe/Lamumba deal. So Motlop, could we reform him into a rebounding defender? I have a bit of a theory about the Cats that's rattling round my head. I reckon raiding them for players is a good idea. Why do they seem to have only two guys that anyone's scared of? Selwood is a star footballer... but I really think, given some of the smack talk that's come out of his mouth aimed at Viney and Jones, that he has a massive, massive ego. Leigh Matthews style. In an environment where Danger is such an immense talent, and Selwood is such an ego, I wonder if it's the place for a young player to feel like he can become a superstar. To take a game by the scruff of the neck and express himself. I think it's imperative that 22 guys are given the confidence to feel like they can go for the high mark, kick an impossible goal. In other words there should be 22 leaders... the Cats in the Bartel era were exactly that. The current Cats seem to have so many talented kids that don't do that, but pass off to Selwood and Danger and let them do it. I know with teams, so often, it's really not a team, but a team of blue collar types, and then a few guys that really do 80% of the work. That's one of the reasons I love the team currently as the leadership of Viney and Jones really does bring in their team mates, rather than demand the ball and attention themselves. It's usually about the team mate more than themselves. Take a Motlop and put him in a team where he's given the privilege of being able to play his own game? Yeah. He might work. I don't think it'll happen though. We're actually a tough team to get into at the moment and going forward. And we also have a few specific needs.

Well. No. That's not a fact. That's an opinion. We have a lot of improvement left in us in the midfield, that much is true. But we've been smashing clearances, contested ball and tackles all year. We're one of the best sides in that regard. When we lose, it's not because the midfield is't pulling its weight. Another opinion: Our inside fifties have been appalling. We get slaughtered on the rebound every week. Our wins were on days when we curtailed the influence of opposition HBs (Saints), or when we were against sides that made errors when slingshotting the ball (dons). If we can hit a target going inside fifty consistently, THEN our results are different. Hence why Jesse up and running is of so much importance.

That's what I'm thinking. The team has great depth throughout the whole list. Most times when we turn up our worst six are kids with great potential who can't play 4 quarters yet. Often they're not stars, but we sort of already have the talent at the pointy end. Hogan, Oliver, Trac, Viney, Gawn... I'd pit them against any teams best five in two years. That's I think why so many are in the Lever camp. We don't need to do a Salem/Tyson trade. We don't need to roll heaps of players into the team to get a list together. If we do go for a big time free agent or trade, make it a Lever type., but failing that... I really hope the club develops the players we already have. I have a bad feeling that if we did get May, we'd have to give up our first rounder... likely to be around pick 8-10... or even worse... We'd have to trade away, say, a couple of Kent, Harmes, Spencer, AVB or ANB... Each one of those guys could go on to play 100 games. ANB and Harmes possibly a lot more. That's just bad numbers for us. Giving up players with big AFL futures in terms of games played and potential, for just a few seasons of a good player.

In the couple of years before his ban, I had him in fantasy and he was an incredible ball winner. I hadn't watched him closely, and had imagined he wasn't much of a ball user. Anyone who got it that much and I didn't know who he was must slaughter it. When he was traded I couldn't believe we only gave up a second rounder. Still can't to be honest. Literally hasn't played anything but great games for us. The only negative is that if he played the first four rounds like he did these four, he'd be in everyone's All Australian side. As it stands though, I'm thinking he'll be ignored. Any excuse to squeeze players out.

To each their own. I don't have him rated that high. Plus I don't like the idea of going two years with only one pick in the first 2 rounds.