monoccular

For what it is worth, in the article in today's Sunday H-S Mark Neeld repeatedly talks of Clark as the power forward, with no mention of a ruck man. Now I know he isn't going to reveal all his cards, but he has spoken repeatedly of 'roles' and deficiencies, so to me that is the answer. Of course he will be required to do some forward ruck work, and may need to 'have a run on the ball' when things don't go as planned, but we needed to big strong forward an we now have one.

Don't forget though that the year he did so (reasonably) well as a backman was his first, and he was still learning th game. Were he to play back now his improving ball skills, his awareness and vision would make him both a spoiler and a set up defender.

Athleticism, height and ball handling especially at ground level make Stef a standout for 2011. I would however now be looking him as CHB - assuming that big Max comes on as back up ruck man.

Keneally Jacobs Vagg Lord Bourke Townsend ....was the last forward lineup that achieved what we all strive for, so beat that.

As you say, sometimes people get overexcited by "bloodlines" - Cordner, Kavanagh, Molloy, Chris Johnson, etc. ... unless you have a Geelong bloodline it doesn't necessarily mean much at all.

If he is retained, this will be his absolutely last chance. It will be a huge challenge, both physically and mentally, for him. Do you have it in you Aussie? Over to you mate. I am sure all here would just live you to do consistently what you have done sporadically over the last few years.

He hopefully will be able to combine with Liam to be the unpredictable 'spark' players, feeding off and supplementing the stronger Clark, and Watts. He seems to have learned to read the play pretty well, and should only get better with improved fitness and hardness, as well as having more solid players around him. I am really looking forward to his second season.

For a man of his size and youth, and the circumstances of his forced debut, Gawnius Maximus I thought had a great first taste in the big time. I have little doubt that in a couple of years he will be a dominant force.

The hanbaggers turned their on field reputation around in one to two years.......and did it without tanking. Sure some good father son pickups, but their attitude changed, I believe from within the playing group. Sick of the handbag taunts: do our guys have the G&D and true desire to do the same. Maybe they can tweet back to us!

Maybe the new fitness team, plus a new coach will help him renew his self belief and regain confidence. There is no doubt that his best is brilliant - I am prepared to say 2011 was 'one of those things, hampered by a frustrating injury', but sure as hell he needs to fire up or 2012. IMO his best role is as a deep crumbing, and tackling/harassing/chasing forward. I still remember well in his first or second season, when stationed deep in the FP, the FBs kicking in were sheeting themselves that he was going to pounce should they play on or take too long and have the maggot call "play on". We need to see that again. Go Aaron; GO DEMONS. Bring it on!

It will be interesting to watch and see just how MN goes about player development. Does he follow the convention and let Tappy serve time as a HBF long term, or is his style to throw him in right now if he sees his ultimate role as a mid? He certainly has the body to cope right now and I must say I would be pretty confident he would do well there.

I totally agree - it's not the $ that $cheming $heedy $educed $cully with that bugs me -- it is the panoply of b$ emanating from hi$ and hi$ managers mouths that upset us most. Let's face it, he didn't have a great year on field and certainly must have destabilized an already unstable playing group.

Since Bate now seems a "required player" and doesn't look a forward, maybe Mark sees his "role" as mid? Throw in Tappy and maybe later Evans and Nicho

Wonderful to see such a positive outlook, billy2803 - you must have really enjoyed the last few seasons !!

Thanks Clanget and Slayer. He looked pretty quick and agile, with good goal sense - could he be that much needed forward crumbier, who can fill in mid if needed?

Hell -- I hadn't really appreciated that that trio, who must, sadly, be amongst the most thyped yet greatest underachievers in a long time all came down in the same shower. How really disappointing. I guess one big question to answer is -- how did we get them all so wrong in the one year, or was it some systemic inability to develop talent? If the latter, thankfully we have had a huge turnover off field and things can only get better.

LOL,RL ;-)

Unfortunately, unless MN has discovered something heretofore totally hidden and occult about a new 'role' in their secret one on one, I think Tommy will be given his marching orders. Pity, seems a nice kid and those who know him say similar things, but niceness doesn't win flags. Looked good in a handful of games in his first season, then really didn't get a look in for the next two years, for whatever reason.

I forgot to ask - any info re size and age?

Sure it was edited highlights, but this kid can run, knows just where the goals and the ball are, and can shrug a tackle (at this level) and has what Alan Jeanes regarded as the biggest attribute in a young player, balance. Certainly worth a look but I don't know just where he lies in the overall scheme of things. And he has experience playing against grown men, angry Tassie men at that, not just juniors. He would certainly look better in the red and blue than those horrible Tiger colours too.

A great pick up for us - allows us to be far more flexible. He will probably play as FF / CHF freeing Watts, Howe, Petterd, Jurrah from the key defenders, speeding their development. Allowing Martin to play CHB if Big Max progresses quickly - he showed great promise 2011 (one set shot excepted) Filling in ruck if there is an intra-match injury, or to share the forward ruck work.

I think if available another strong mature mid, or a decent quick crumber would be more important. With Clarke up forward, and probably not doing much ruck work, I expect that Watts, Howe, Jurrah will come on far quicker, and Sylvia may play a more consistent part in the attack.

Mitch Clarke's addition as a strong bodied forward marking option can surely only help release Liam from the shackles and allow him to show his brilliance. He showed in his first season that he can stalk and attack defenders so he does have that there. Let's hope he fan find it again 2012 and beyond. The defenders were always looking around wondering just where he was when they had the ball. It was exciting to watch.

Nothing much to say -- certainly no chance of squeezing him into a crowded list with many ruck back up options, especially with the addition of Clarke. If possible though, retention as a rookie would be as good as we could possibly offer him.

I guess none of us here will ever know just what was said in the one-on-one with MN. I very much doubt if the 'role' will be a HFF but maybe he has another idea such as wing, HBF, with some time in the middle. Or.......they may actually be playing hardball. Time will tell.