binman

Respectfully, thats not true Damo. They advised he had hip surgery before the season and again when he had a mid season break to build his strength. On the surgery he was often left of lists on here and in the media of players who had surgery - perhaps reflecting his standing. And I certainly reminded dl posters of those surgeries often enough.

All very valid questions. The club has a big call. Two other factors are relevant I reckon. The most important of those is that really, really good bigs are very hard to find. The draft is stacked with good flankers (could be rhyming slang?) and mids. So perhaps we get ash instead of young. But we won't get another jackson. The second factor is more speculation on my part. I wonder, given his athletisim, whether jackson might actually be played as a mid (ie with gawn still rucking). Say rotating wirh petracca. Would be formidable I would have thought.

I am sure we will see plenty of omac this year. And barring injury to him expect him to play most games. He is important to our structure. Will take an opposition big freeing up may and lever to be more aggressive and play ood their men. And his reliable kicking will be important. Would not be surprised to see him take a fair share of kick outs. Had to laugh when I read who made the omac comments - an 'Ian' apparently. Funny because my name is Ian. I promise it wasn't me. Unless I've gone rogue. On a serious note it is great that people at the forum and on here rightfully derided Ian's borish comments made in a public forum. Id love it if posters on dl considered this site a public forum and applied the same expectations of respectful criticism and comment. On the number of games omac plays happy to take bets, with choice of avatar the stake. Which if I win will be a picture of omac. I'm 2 for 2 on such bets (Hi prodee and Dr d) so betting with the bank's money. So to speak. Maybe Ian can put his money where his mouth is.

You may be right but im not sure the final sentence above proves the point. One im not sure it is accurate (ie some of the surgeries were wear and tear e.g. omac, a number of senior players had contact injuries eg melk, hannan, avb). Two luck plays a big part in contact injuries. Three, one year sample does not prove the point. But none the less I agree the style took an obvious toll. But if that is the model goody wants the team to become second nature then it is the approach they had to employ.

Yep. My post was supposed to follow on from your quote. Understandable that it could have been misread.

The decision Taylor has to make is not on who is the best footballer now. Or even in the next 2-3 years. But who is the best over 10 years. One assumes most experts think jackson is untapped and given he has played relativey little footy and is still growing has a tonne of upside. Young gives us what we need but it is hard nor to be excited by a player who could become an out and out star. Or not. Same vibe as for buddy in his draft year.

Not everyone

Not really. Surely the fact we had so many key players injured and rehabbing through the preseason made responding to the 666 rule change more difficult, for example just in terms of positioning and set up. Add to that avb and kk were likely our wingers and neither played a game.

Or he could have gone to the forum and made his point(s) there.

From Captain crisis

We've had way more than our fair share of funke

That is the sort of pre season interruption i can deal with. Mind you I'm a bit concerned with how specific the information is about the timing of their expected return.

What makes you think they are going into 'full on training'? I suspect, but don't know, that they are getting a good base down the pre Xmas so they can really attack jan and Feb before tapering in March.

I thought the same thing this season ie he's surprisingly quick from a standing start. Really gives him flexibility. From memory he stood Cameron for a while and kept with him on the lead. If he has dropped some weight and has a good run with injury (and prior to last year he was rarely injured) I think outside of gawn he might be our most valuable player next year. Having not been super impressed with Lever outside 2 or 3 games before his knee injury I was super impressed with his attitude in the last few games this year. More in terms of attitude and intensity than anything else. In the sane way talia did a fit and firing will help lever no end. Takes the spotlight of him and allows him to do what he does best - intercept marks, zone off and third man into aerial contests and float across half back. Dare I say it but a fit and firing omac will also support lever.

Fair comment. Perhaps I'm judging him a bit harshly. My assessment is influenced by the fact I thought he might be the sort of player who thrives at a higher level. Someone wirh a real x factor. I half expected him to slot straight in and light it up. Like a Sydney stack or higgins. Which he didn't. I'm not writing him off and he could well make it. But he might have to recent himself. Maybe as a dashing hb.

I assume you are missing a question mark. For some reason i thought he had a full presason. Gives me some more confidence that he didn't in so far as if he can have one he might go to a better level. Is he currently injured?

That really hurt didn't it nasher

Absolutely. To be honest I was a bit disappointed with his form last year. One of tbe few to hsve an uninterrupted preseason, his best position was vacant and had a chance to cement his spot. Showed some glimpses but for mine simply did not impact enough, dissipated in games and disposal iffy. If not wing where does he play?

Some good points. I wouldn't want trac taking silly shots but sometimes it looks as if he is so fixed on following team rules that he limits his brilliance. And I'd only give a couple players licence. Trac and fennel or Lockhart. Its just that he is at his best when playing. free and totally on instinct. And the sort of goals he can snag are real team lifters

I'd really love goody to encourage him to go for go goal more often and give some licence to take more low percentage shots He is terrific at finding team mates and setting up goals and you dont want to lose. But he has great instincts and is real spark plug. He had an excellent 2019, super consistent. I expect him to go to another level and if he does we will be in for a treat.

Fair play. Did i mention surgeries?

I have this funny feeling of de ja vu again

Yes, i guess so. I thought he meant professional sports

They don't actually. Or at least i 'm pretty sure they don't. I stand to be corrected but i don't think any of NFL, NHL, NBA, MBL or Golf are signed up to the WADA code. In fact most of those sports have incredibly lax regimes and penalties, baseball being a classic example. In golf i have feeling they only recently started testing players for performance enhancing and recreational drugs (long been rumors about heavy coke use on tour)

I don't know, but i'm willing to be a guinea pig and test a range of scenarios (guvna i slipped and fell into a bath of coke)