binman

All fair points. But in terms of being surprised, I have been posting on dl for over 10 years now, and I can think of quite a few players who have not been afforded the same respect. Melksham is just one recent example.

It doesn't. I wasn't suggesting people should be disparaging. I certainly haven't. Perhaps I should have said I'm pleasantly surprised there hadn't been much angst towards him.

Unfortunately for Sam this is reality. I'm surprised it hasn't got more attention on Demonland, or indeed more broadly. Bottom line we absolutely desperate for a second tall forward. We had one in Weed, who by the by was a top 10 draft pick, and decided not to use him. I'm sure Goody was hugely frustrated that Weed wasn't up for the job, and as i say i'm surprised there hasn't been more angst towards Sam for not stepping up when he needed.

Best case scenario Jackson stays. But now that's not the case, there is no question that him leaving relieves salary cap pressure. There's no way we would have paid him a million a year, but we would have had to pay overs for a few seasons. He won't hit peak until he's mid twenties, but we would have had to pay peak wages. And freo are having to pay way overs for the next couple of years.

Which club are you referring to?

Luke who?

Bwaahhhhhhh, i want a mega deal

Yeah, nah

I don't like smoking Bruce or Hunter - bit harsh.

That's interesting. it can be easy to over rate oppo players when you only watch them sporadically. Disposal efficiency is not the most useful stat and arguably nor is clangers, in terms off assessing foot skills as there are lots of intersecting variables - for example a mid like Viney who gets most of their kicks under pressure might have poor DE and high clangers. That said i compared Salm and Hunter over their career (quite comparable as Hunter was drafted the year before Salem) and these were the effective disposal per game, DE and clangers numbers (Hunter is on the left) 17.4 Effective Disposals 14.9 74.4% Disposal Efficiency % 74.9% 2.3 Clangers 2.4

He's good kick in terms of hitting short and medium targets, which is critical because when those kicks are turned over it often gift the oppo a scoring opportunity - and of course our potential scoring chain is broken. The shocking turnover by may on the HB against the swans in the semi is the perfect example - we went from controlling the ball (and the game for that matter) and looking to transition and create a scoring chain, to gifting them a goal (and arguablly the game). I agree being a left footer helps. Good left footers so often get gifted space to release the ball.

Agree. I don't care about his leg speed - he is an excellent kick, which is what we really need. And is a reliable set shot, so can play the rotating half forward mid chop out role. If Salem can get back to his best, Bowey comes back in and we snare Hunter, then suddenly our kicking skills looks a lot better.

We like dog hunts

And then in a couple of months, will put the icing on the contrivance cake when they release their FIXture

Bruce is a gateway player

That remands me of the old drug related joke. Are you Jason?

I agree he is not particularly athletic, but i reckon his rick craft is actually pretty good. He's done quite bit of ruck at Casey, and not just this season. In 2019 he did a quite bit of back up ruck work, and IIRC was the number one ruck in a few games (i think because of injury to the main ruck). I remember writing on demonland a few times during that season that i thought Weed's ruck work was quite impressive. One of things i find interesting about Weed in the ruck is he uses his body and strength better than he does as a forward, and is pushed off the ball less. My feeling is he often gets pushed off the ball in marking contests because he slightly misreads the flight of the ball and ends up in the wrong spot, or is nudged off line by a defender who has read the flight better. Reading the flight of the ball is obviously not quite the same issue in the ruck. And at around the ground ball ups and throw in he can plant his feet and wrestle.

Fair points. The point i was trying to make is that as you say leg speed was not an issue.

I'm saying speed across the ground is not an issue for us. We are plenty 'fast' enough. My comment about the 'narratives' is the commentators regularly noted we were a 'fast team' - when in fact that what they should have focused on is our ability to move the ball quickly. We looked like world beaters in that 10 zip run because we were fit and running in waves - and when we pressed the button regularly transitioned the ball super quickly, just as we did in the first half and last third of 2021. And as a result i I wouldn't prioritize an ability to run fast in anyone we draft or trade in. I would prioritize foot skills because that is what will increase our ability to transition the ball quickly. In footy these days, how fast a player can run is barely a factor in how fast a teams can move the ball given how infrequently players actually get the chance to run and carry and how little space they have Which is not to say speed is not helpful. I think Freo has the most genuinely quick players - and if they can get the ball on the outside and into space use that leg speed to good effect. The Swans are probably second to Freo in terms of leg speed. But we have very few plodders and have plenty of players who can cover ground quickly - including our bigs who are all pretty quick for their size. You imply the Cats, Swans and Pies are fast teams. What's is you evidence that is the case? Their performances in the last part of the season? Their ability to transition the ball quickly?. Or do you actually think they have more quick players than us? I don't, with the possible exception of the Swans. The Cats quicker than us? Please. Go back and look at two in season lions game. We torched them them for speed. Yes, but lions are slow i hear you say. Then go to the first Giants game - again we absolutely torched them for speed. Still not convinced? Go back and watch the first half of the second Pies game - the pies were chasing our tail, and as a result looked slow and we looked fast. Hunt is arguably our fastest player. He was in our best 22, so no fringe player. Clearly pace isn't a priority for the club if they are trading him out. The Swans and the Pies got us on the outside because they were less banged up and were fitter than us. They could run faster for longer. The Cats didn't get us on the outside when we played them at Kardina Park - but come finals they too were fitter and less banged up than us. And crucially all three teams have better kicks than us, which in the Pies and Swans case meant they could go through the corridor more often. And in doing so move the ball quickly - and look fast as a result. We lost our ability late in games to cover the corridor kick and spread, the Cats didn't and consequently smashed the Swans. Who by the by, looked incredibly slow in the GF - in part because they couldn't hit targets under the pressure of a GF and in part because they had, like us, clearly hit the wall physically.

During our 10 zip run i heard several commentators note how quick we were

I would prefer above average kicking skills. Teams look quick when they hit targets regularly by foot. And look slow when they don't as they can be exposed on turnover because players have pushed ahead of the ball on the expectation/hope the disposal chain won't break. When the disposal chain breaks often multiple players are out of position and have double back and chase tail

More the point, if nibbler was a mid he wouldn't be redlining at every contest.

What are his kicking skills like? From the little i have seen of him he seems to be a good kick, but i haven't watched him enough to really assess him.

I think you are being very unfair on Jeff. Jeff understands how serious this is - he is not minimising it. He said it was a bump on the highway. Much bigger than a road.

How long is this 'short break'?