Rogue

Lets hope for some luck on the injury front next year hey!

All good. Just wondered what some of the posters were hanging their hat on if Newton was struggling in the reserves last year

I can see where you're coming from, but I imagine we both think it's not worth delisting Moloney on the evidence so far. I think Moloney's trade value would be extremely low, so I can't see that as an option. However, like any player I think that if the price is right we should look at trading. Moloney is one player where I can't see the market paying a price worth taking. Anyhow, let's hope he is on the mend

Indeed.

I thought I read that he topped the goal-kicking in the reserves last year. I have no idea whether this is right - anyone know how he went in '06?

Surely it comes down to exactly that - choosing whether to let him go or keep him. As I said, I suggest retaining him is far better than getting a very low draft pick. If his fitness means we're having this discussion in a year's time then sure, maybe it's the end of road. Way too premature to do now IMO.

In the quote you replied to he gave you his best defensive six, and the Bizz is there. Anyhow I thought Miller was okay, and Ward's been getting dissed the last few weeks by guys who want him dropped every week regardless.

Retaining him would be a smarter choice than ditching him and getting an extra very low draft pick IMO.

He was named emergency vs Carlton, and isn't injured.

Future being the operative word. He played one game for Sandy reserves and has just come into the Sandringham 1sts. I don't think he's fit enough yet; he's certainly not dominating at Sandy yet from what I've read.

I didn't say and don't think it was a silly question. I just don't think any rookies should be promoted to the senior list atm. That's true. However the circumstances are probably a bit different - Newton came to the Club as a bottom-age draftee and was kicking some bags in the reserves. He also had stiffer competition to get into the 1s (Sautner and the like).

Surely Ferg is gone.

IMO there's no point upgrading rookie players for the sake of it. We already have a heap of young kids playing. Weetra only came to the Club this year - he's nowhere near finished. Neville is probably gone as he's struggled to get a gig for Sandringham 1sts let alone MFC.

He's been playing some good footy of late. Sometimes our perceptions of players don't necessarily reflect how they're going, and moreso what we've seen in the past. I thought he's been more accountable.

Plus Bate and Robertson as talls & with Davey crumbing - shaping up to be a potent forward line

He's an inexperienced player - these things are going to happen. I also wouldn't be surprised if he's not quite right fitness-wise, but then again it's AFL and at this stage of the season not too many players are going to be niggle-free.

It sounded a little bit more serious than that, if you believe the newspaper reports.

As we're not going to get rid of everyone, you need to prioritise. Bizz may have some value as defensive cover but might not be in our best 18. I guess it depends how much faith you have in guys like Rivers and Frawley to stay fit and firing, and whether it hurts if we need to throw someone like Miller or Garland into the fray next season if we're struck by poor form/injuries. Ward should escape the chop.

As I've said before, a keeper. Only 26 so he'll be around for a few years yet. Wing is where it's at for Wheatley though - needs to be given more scope to attack. Playing as a wingman he can push back and play defensively (after all, he played there for x years), but we can also utilise his skills on the counter-attack and get him pushing forward and kicking some long goals for us.

Show CJ some faith, and then make a judgement. I think everyone believes PJ has made a step forward this year, and while I'm sure he's been improving each year I think at least some of this 'progress' is because he's had an extended run in the team. Watching the replay last night I heard that PJ had played as many games this year as he had in the previous three years. Food for thought. More likely 5-7, but I agree that CJ is very unlikely to be delisted.

Okay, so Sylvia was playing as a forward but couldn't even manage to put a score on the board in three weeks On a serious note, if you think my assertion was that CJ is a better player than Sylvia, would have done a better job, or anything remotely like that, then you're missing the point. The stats were simply a recent illustration of my ramblings earlier in the thread - they show a young player being persevered with despite not doing terribly much. As I said, if I had time to go back through the last couple of years I'm sure I could find many more examples of kids being shown some faith, despite having lacklustre output. Yeah, I have no doubt he'll come into the team sooner rather than later.

I don't think it is.

While stats don't mean everything, both Sylvia and CJ have averaged 12 disposals p/game this season. I'd suggest that Sylvia has had far more game time, and if true then in terms of disposals p/minute CJ is getting more of the ball. Sylvia's had 9 games this season, CJ 3. Pro-stats comparison

Before the Essendon match Sylvia's run of three games netted him ~9 possessions p/game and he'd kicked zilch, playing predominantly as a forward. His greatest output was the 3.3 tackles p/game. There are other stretches where IMO he looked far worse, but I'd read the stats recently so I'm going with this one =) This is just one example of a kid being shown some faith. If I went back across the last couple of years I'm sure I could find other examples. Countless AFL players have said they struggled until they felt they were shown some faith and finally felt like they belonged, as opposed to fearing for their spot every game. Coming in and out of the team like a yo-yo is going to make it tough for many players to fulfill their potential IMO.

Yeah, predictable. I agree re: Brown but with the potential ins we had I think we've gone down the right track.