Rogue

Who were the star KPFs you saw running around? That said, there doesn't look to be any KPF putting their hand up for #2 atm. No thanks. I don't care what our 2009 draftees are like next year, I care about how good they are at their peak.

Not on the past two weeks form, no, for this reason: Indeed, and I'm sure there are other kids that have been in better form at this moment in time. For sure. I'll be surprised if he doesn't get a nomination this year. I agree. As I said earlier in the thread, I think he'll be a player.

Fair enough. I didn't get the impression you were talking about 20 years into the future when you said this: It's not impossible but it'd be a big ask. We'd want to get some success, and sustain it, ASAP.

It seems like pick 1 will be a mid. Is Scully still the lock as #1 pick for most? If pick 2 was a choice between an equally-ranked KPF and mid we should take the KPF (assuming we've already taken the standout mid). However, I'm not sure there'll be a KPF ranked in the top two unless Butcher happens to turn it on in a couple of days.

My reading of your post was that you were trying to dismiss any discussion of errors by suggesting we should not talk about his disposal for a couple of years. My point was that by asserting that Grimes' disposal over the past two weeks has been 'very good' it's a talking point now. As I've said, I don't particularly mind that he's made some errors - although the fact that many of those are unforced is a slight concern - but judged on his merits his disposal hasn't been 'very good' the past two weeks (well, at least to AdelaideDemon, 45, myself et al.). By the way, the fact that he's played less than 10 games is a weird excuse when we're talking about his performance in the context of the Rising Star - no other Rising Star contenders have played significantly more senior footy. Regarding playing in a 'backline under siege', someone made a decent point regarding it giving him opportunity to find the footy more than he might have otherwise. While it does mean he's under pressure at times, many of his errors have been unforced (two in a couple of minutes v Ess at TD in the third quarter spring to mind). DB highlighted Davey's elite foot skills following the Brisbane game. Either the DE stat is useless without context or DB should have been highlighting Grimes as our elite ball-user. I know which one I'm leaning towards. In a similar vein, I see you mention the fact that Morton turned it over a bit last year. I haven't been able to find his DE from '08 (which site has DE stats from previous seasons?) but from memory, a couple of people who last year contended that Morton was using the ball very well relied on his flattering DE%.

Bump - only two days left.

The only guy out of those four that I think we'd get value for is Jones.

I'd say he made that many in each game the past two weeks. Davey gets a heap more of the ball so even if he made the same number of errors the percentage would be less. I certainly don't expect players to be perfect from the start so that's a strawman argument - I just don't think his disposal has been 'very good' the past two weeks. It has nothing to do with how I rate him overall, or how I predict his disposal will be when he has a few seasons under his belt. If you're making the case that he deserves a Rising Star nomination this week, and that his disposal the past two weeks has been very good, isn't it a talking point now? EDIT: As an aside - it's not really relevant to whether he deserves a rising star nomination this week - I like Grimes and think he'll be a player. I haven't been overly fussed about his disposal errors but have to agree with AdelaideDemon and 45hotgood. His disposal will look good but then he'll make a really poor mistake, and often it'll be under little or no pressure. The fact that he's making these mistakes under no pressure is the only concerning bit, and it's not a major concern at this stage of his career. The cause needs to be identified though. Given he often looks very compact perhaps it's just a concentration thing?

You've also suggested that his disposal over the last two weeks has been 'very good'. Since he's made a few bad errors in both games over the last two weeks I don't think it has been 'very good' in the last two games. You also excused it by talking up the pressure when many of the errors have been 'unforced'. Many of the bad errors I can recall have been under no direct pressure - unforced errors, if you like. Mistakes under pressure aren't too much of an issue at this stage, but unforced errors are more of a concern. I'd say a majority of his bad mistakes have been by foot. Judged on its merits his disposal hasn't been 'very good'.

Hurrah.

Yep. Unfortunately some supporters seem so enamoured in Grimes that they discard anything that doesn't fit their image of him. The last two weeks he's also made some very bad errors when under little or no direct pressure. It doesn't mean he's a bad footballer but having a balanced view doesn't hurt.

From a PR perspective it wouldn't be the worst move. There'd be a fair bit of media heat if we were to drop him - much easier to take him up and not play him. If we were to do that, the news of his omission would then be buried amongst all the other footy chat that arises from the weekend's games.

With the end of the financial year looming I know many people are keen to create some more tax deductions. MFC.com.au article

I think he was brought in as a midfield option.

Agreed.

Great idea, good luck with it. A couple of points - Probably not the best idea to publish their upper limit on the forum - makes it easy for someone else to come over the top. I might remove that bit of the email - if you still want it there you can edit it back in You might also want to be willing to stump up all the cash pledged, since it's not certain all pledges via the net will be delivered. EDIT: Note that you can make tax-deductible donations to the Mt. Theo program, so that might be a good way to go about contributing. Further info @ http://www.ourcommunity.com.au/mttheo

Most players could play in a premiership side. Armstrong did it with WC and he wasn't a great player.

Yeah, I was surprised by this - I thought he was doing okay before he was out sick. The possibility of a late change, perhaps?

I'm not convinced. Is there room for him on the HB-line? We seem to have a few guys putting their hands up to play there, like Grimes, Bennell, Strauss, etc. Could Petterd make it as a tagger? What would people take at the trade table?

Ingo might deserve a gig in the 'dream team'. Wight (not White) retired more than 10 years ago. Surely Tingay gets a run. Way too early with Grimes and Jurrah (let alone Scully ). I still maintain that Bailey mixed up Weetra with Wona! Honestly, I was at the Geelong pre-season game and couldn't see how he was picked that season. What? From memory Prymke was ruined by a back injury - like many of his era - and was no way in line for a 'worst 18' gig.

Yeah, I agree. If they were down by 10 goals I'm not sure he would have been dubbed 'awesome' and a 'star'. It was a nice finish but I think the Jurrah goal's more noteworthy. :D

Haha, touche. ...after you gave marks and disposals as your main argument for Grimes being more deserving? Exam period has clearly fried your brain

IMO the jumper is a massive part of what the Club's about. Like Enforcer, I'd rather have the 'red and blue V logo' on gear than a cartoon demon. That's why we do have the demon, and the demon's used in that manner.

Adequate for who? If he's not a creative defender you want him to be your #1 small, and IMO for that he needs to be quick.

It's hard to do that these days if you're not quick, since most of the opponents we'd want a shut-down small defender on are quick. If he's not creative, as you suggest, and he's not quick enough to play on the pacey smalls, it puts him in a difficult position.