Hannibal

Irrespective of the mind-boggling decision to award him votes, it's sad watching him play. He's little more than a park footballer. Struggles to get it, uses it poorly when he does, and spends his life chasing tail.

Toumpas will become a decent AFL player, but already there are signs he's not going to become a gun AFL mid, which is what you want from a top 5 draft pick. Rarely have I seen a young top-performed junior seem so uncertain of himself and out of his depth. He's admitted that he's struggled to adjust to AFL footy. He's neat and will be far better as he matures and plays in a decent team, but I struggle to see any "star factor" with Toumpas. He's the type of player that will do well as a linkman in a chain of disposals, but I've seen nothing to suggest he can initiate play. The best AFL mids are the architects, they're the drivers that set up play and initiate proceedings, but Jimmy seems an over the top hand ball receive kind of guy, who then delivers it nicely. Supporters will say, but he's only 19 and hasn't played much footy, etc. Thanks for stating the bleeding obvious. Jimmy may become what we all hope, but the best young mids usually show what they'll become even when they starting out on their fledgling careers. I've seen enough star mids start out in my lifetime to at least have some early concerns regarding Toumpas and what he brings to the table.

What are you talking about ? Wingard regularly flies for marks that take extreme courage.

If there's a more disappointing player running around in the AFL than Trengove tell me who it is. We ALL know the excuses, but something seriously isn't right. He's border-line Amateur A-grade at the moment and that's at odds with what I saw when he was a teenager. Something horrible has gone wrong - injuries, coaching, ??? I don't really need to hear the copious excuses, it's just sad watching him play.

My first sentence was directed at the poster in question. My second point was directed at the thread.

And it doesn't mean he won't be. Bias ? It's unbelievable the bias that supporters on this site have. Extraordinary really.

So you're judging a first year players status at their club based on the fact they've started as a sub at round 13 ? You're privy to their inner sanctum, the management philosophy, training loads, etc. Or maybe you're biased.

Wines gets the ball in his hands more often, is maniacal in his approach to the man and ball, and makes things happen. Toumpas links play, kicks neatly, but doesn't make much happen. Toumpas doesn't get involved. He's not making the play. As I said, he's neat, he runs on the outside and we need his type, but right now he's so far behind Wines in impacting games it's not funny. That's not to say he won't impact games, or that he won't end up being the better player, but right now he's a mile off. But that's OK. Let's judge both in 5 years time.

The jury will be out for years. Wines is the type of competitive beast every club would kill for. He was truly sensational yesterday.

There was no bullet to dodge.

Too kind. Too much benefit of the doubt. Half true, half wrong. Does avoid contested marking situations. But hopefully will improve this failing. We live and learn. P.S. I miss you.

If I was him and I had about 5 Vic clubs that wanted me, I'd not meet Melbourne either. Why meet the club if I have a preference for others and I'm fortunate enough to have a number of suitors ?

That may be hard given our present plight, but it also isn't necessary. Robert Walls loves telling a story about Craig Lambert. He told Lambert that they'd be taking him as they had first access to him. Lambert said I won't play for you. Brisbane took him anyway. Walls rang Lambert after the draft and Lambert told him to go and ... Lambert cooled down and decided he had no choice, but to go, as standing out of footy for 2 years wasn't much of an option. He stayed 18 years in Queensland. He stayed on as a coach after he retired and loves the club. You've just got to get players onto your list. If you become a good club the rest takes care of itself.

I'm not sure if this has been posted, but: "Carlton and Geelong are understood to be leading a four-club assault on reluctant Gold Coast midfielder Josh Caddy. Caddy, who last week told the Suns he wanted to return to Victoria to continue his career, did the rounds this week in Melbourne, speaking with four clubs after narrowing his options following huge interest from most clubs. It is believed he had previously declined an invitation to meet with Melbourne." It's going to be very difficult to get players to want to come to us without offering silly dollars.

I reckon he'd be pick one, but it still makes our pick 13 a "live" pick 12 on the basis of the remainder of the pool. At one point it looked like Essendon were going to finish in the 8 and he was going to be picked up at around 16. Them finishing outside of the 8 bumped our pick up by one. But I understand what you mean.

What do you mean by "I agree with the rest of your post though" ? I said King's assertion was "ridiculous".

I have to back the club on Caddy and whether they think he's worth pick 13. He's been underwhelming thus far, but he looked fantastic against Geelong. I think I read that straight after the season he was going in for a shoulder reconstruction, so I wonder how that impacted his game. David King calls him a "star", which is ridiculous, but at least I know that Melbourne recruiters should have a pretty good handle on him - far more than most of us. It's worth noting that our pick 13 is really a "live" pick 12, as Daniher will be going to Essendon for pick 10.

Yes he will. He'll have a "preferred" club and GC will want to be compensated adequately. I agree that there's no guarantee that he'll get to the club of his choice, but in the early stages both he and GC will try and make it happen.

If I was Caddy the last club I'd choose would be Melbourne. Also, he's had a bloody average year, which was confirmed by his 17th placing in their B&F, despite being one of only three players to play every game. At this time of year every opposition player seems to be a "star" for success starved Melbourne supporters.

I've seen him play one ripper game against Geelong and plenty of ordinary games. He was terrible against us at the G. But as I said elsewhere, I accept he played injured for much of the year and also had little support, as Rischitelli, Prestia, and Swallow for various reasons didn't have the expected output. Do I salivate at the prospect of getting him ? No. Would I be happy to get him ? Yes.

Caddy was one of only 3 players to play all 22 games this year for the Suns yet finished 17th in their B&F last night. Khunt finished 12th.

I see Caddy has the staggering total of 3 possessions to half-time. He virtually never gets any of the ball.

I'm open minded, but he looked terrible yesterday. Other than the Geelong game he's pretty well done nothing all year. He's played every game and averaged 15 disposals, but more to the point he's fumbled a lot and turned it over with poor disposals and decisions. Right now I'd rather keep pick 13. One of Garlett, Kennedy, Menzel, or Stringer should be around at that pick and from what I've seen I'd prefer all four.

I too am simply trying to provide some facts, i.e. no deaths or cases of serious illness from the nuclear plant problems despite the fanatical scaremongering by some. Why don't you present ongoing reports of the tsunami and earthquake that killed 20,000 people; and how the affected areas and local residents are coping 12 months on ? Nuclear disaster = no deaths, tsunami = 20,000 deaths yet you focus on the former ?

The predictions of potential health problems are flaky and those at severe risk are relatively few. The misreporting and wild exaggerations at the time by those in the media and of the left have been scandalous, such as the 60 minutes report and many newspapers articles. And if I have to explain why I posted reports on radiation levels in Tokyo then you must have lived in a bubble when it happened. The scare mongering and reports of people not wanting to go to Tokyo, as well as the fear of the local residents at the time was extreme. Why do I need to explain this ? And yes, I'm not invested in every post on here, or every line. If you're well read on this site you'll understand why.