Jerry Lundergard

Marric only just missed out at 21 as well.

I hate the Pies and their supporters just like the rest of us. But there is no denying their large and vocal supporter base is a factor in getting them over the line in games such as that one. Fortunately, the Cats will have just as many at the G next week when they hopefully open up a can of whoop ass on them.

Didn't sound like a criticism to me, just honesty.

So we are all allowed to sit behind our notebooks and write all those things about Juice, but as soon as a teammate expresses publicly what we all think, we ridicule him? If i remember correctly, Brock said similar things about Col Sylvia at the family day this year after Sylvias was suspended. That seemed to have a positive effect.

I quite like the Chief, and Before The Bounce is right up there with one of the best footy shows on all the stations.

My worry with Rohan is that after the excitement of his mercurial bursts of speed and flare in games wear off, are we going to want more? And is he going to provide it? I used in another thread the examples of Wells and Thomas as examples of No.2 picks who thrilled early but are now leaving supporters questioning whether they are getting their worth for such a high pick.

I do believe we already have one of those on our list.

It is probably worth noting that footage shown of him was against WA who were the standout team in the Championships, i do believe he was i the best players in a couple of the other games as well. As for his efficiency, i was hoping someone who knows a bit more about him at TAC level may be able to shed more light on him as he played for the Bendigo Pioneers who were one of the bottom teams, which may mean he either received plenty of attention, and/or his teammates contributed to his low efficiency. He still seemed to get plenty of the ball though. Also in terms of his speed, i agree it is not blistering, which is why i compared him to a Dal or Pendles who can still find the ball, space and use it well without seeming slow. I would rather have that type of player than a possible Dale Thomas/Wells type player who seemingly have plenty of speed and x-factor about them as no.2 draft picks, but also seem to not do enough throughout a game.

Dustin Martin (Bendigo Pioneers, VIC) Height: 187cm, Weight: 86kg, DOB: 26/06/91 Recruited from: Castlemaine Attacking onballer with great balance and ball winning ability. Averaged 21 possessions per game for Vic Country at NAB AFL U18 Championships, winning All-Australian honours. Good skills on both sides of this body. I know much of the debate about our 2nd pick is centered around Trengove, Morabito ad Butcher, I am throwing Dustin Martins name firmly in the ring as well. Now i don't profess to know anymore about these kids other than watching the U/18 champs on Foxsports, so i am going on the performance of Dustin on that day and his impressive TAC stats in a struggling Bendigo team. I thought Martin was the outstanding player at Etihad Stadium playing against WA. He can find the pill, is an elite user by foot on both sides of his body ad can also take a grab and kick a goal. He doesn't seem to have outstanding speed, but his engine and workrate didn't seem to be an issue. If i were to compare him to a current AFL player,i would probably say he is a Dal Santo/Pendlebury type. From what i could gather from the commentry, it seems Dustin is a late bloomer and has just started coming on this year, and best of all he is a Victorian boy so there would be no go home factor with him. If anyone has seen him play in the TAC or has anymore useful info on him, please post away. I am officially heading up the bandwagon. Video Footage Dustin Martin Profile taken from contestedfooty.com(with a BP quote) Position: Midfielder Dustin Martin is a good quality attacking midfielder who can kick well off both feet. He also has good balance and can keep his feet when in a contest. Martin averaged over 21 touches in the AFL under 18 championships, which is a decent effort for a midfielder. Martin is also an AFL under 18championships All-Australian player. He was named in the team as a centre. Dustin Martin will attend the AFL draft camp in late September which is hosted by the AIS in Canberra. Martin has been touted as a first round pick “Dustin is a great chance of being in the top 10 at the national draft,” said Ray Byrne, Bendigo Bank Pioneers regional manager. Dustin Martin was the CVGT Rising Star award winner in the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football Netball League in 2008. Martin is also very good at getting the ball inside 50, as he is very attacking; he has had 27 inside 50 entries in the AFL under 18championships. Dustin was instrumental, along with Andrew Hooper, in Vic Country’s win over Tasmania. He has been consistently in the bests this year for Vic Country. He amassed 20 touches in a half to steer Vic Country to victory early in the match. He did slow in the second half though, only gathering another 8 possessions for the rest of the match. Dustin Martin has been working on his fitness and work rate this year, which enables him to play as ruck rover for large amounts of game time. He is also able to break free of tackles and keep his feet, which is a good sign in a midfielder. He has shown he is quite strong and can take a clean mark. Martin has been played deep in the forward line at times. The only negative thing that I have seen said about him is by Melbourne’s national recruiting manager Barry Prendergast who said that “Dustin Martin has struggled in some games, but has really stepped up today [July the 1st]”. Martin is a good height at 187cm and weighs 86kg, so he has a fair amount of bulk and looks to have a good sized frame for a midfielder.

In light of Tim Harrington putting Dustin Martins name forward as a possibility for the No.2 pick, i am bumping this topic.

I am very happy Martin in the mix. I have mentioned him a few times in various threads without much positive response, considering his Vic Country game and his form for Bendigo he sounds as good a prospect as any of the other potential No.2s touted.

I would only do that if we somehow ended up with their 1st round pick as well.

The point you don't seem to acknowledge though RR, is that 10 minutes was aided by both our coaching staff and the fact we had a team not close to our best, and also giving farewell games to half fit players and sticking them in our forward line trying to get them goals. If we were so shizen and the Saints so great they should have did what Geelong did to us and blow us away early and the cruise, they weren't able to and we made structural changes which made it easier for them to achieve their win. I am not trying to compare the respective teams based on the season in whole, just Sundays game. The Saints weren't switched on and could have been beaten if we wanted to win. North proved that the week before. When you sit on the bottom of the ladder, you are in a no win situation. If a top team blows you away, they are just doing what they are supposed to do to a crap side. If the game is close, all of a sudden it's because they are not switched on and can't get up to play a bottom side.

I thought Bater was pretty consistent this year, despite a slow start. He may have appeared inconsistent due to playing in our forward line which was a little starved at times this year.

Fo Shizzle!

Considering the nature of Garlands injury, i am taking a pessimistic view and won't be be holding my breath waiting for him to make a telling impact next year. The same probably goes for Blease as well.

Saints also played their best team, and players were competing for finals positions. How close was that to our best team?

My 2010 slogan would be "Move On Up", using the Curtis Mayfield song of the same name as the back drop for all advertising campaigns. It was sampled in Kanye Wests "Touch The Sky", so all the kiddies should be familiar with the hook.

Great post. I had been thinking along similar lines of late, especially with his kicking which i had been very critical of at times. He also may have increased his strength through his core, because he appears to be breaknig tackles he was once getting caught in.

Sometimes the obvious choices are indeed the best ones. Take last years draft for example. To me, the obvious choices for players who were clearly standouts, but had questions marks on them for either being a little slow or over developed for their age were Rich and Hurley. They both look like they are going to be 10- 15 year guns for their sides. While the likes of Watts, Nat, Hill and Yarran were probably selected more on potential and a couple may never reach expectations. The obvious in this draft seems to be Scully and Trengrove, and i would also throw Dustin Martin in there as well. Picking the likes of Morabito, Butcher or Rohan to me are "potential" picks, and as we already picked Watts as an upside pick last year, i would much prefer the club to go with the two obvious choices this time around.

I know the AFL probably won't allow it, but is there anyway we could have Scully training with us when preseason starts in October?

It's not all about where a player may or may not be rated in terms of his football ability. Harley and Maxwell are two recent examples of this. Nowhere near the best players at their respective clubs, but by all accounts outstanding captains.

I remember watching the Vic Country/WA game and thinking he was an absolute gun. They did comment during the game that he was a late bloomer, and no he doesn't have pack busting speed, but he just continually found the footy and used it on both sides of his body better than any of the players I watched on Fox that day. Is he worth a no.2 pick over Trengove or Butcher though? I am not sure, but I wouldn't be unhappy if we took a punt on him.

For my trifecta I'll go with, 1. Aaron Davey 2. Brent Moloney 3. Matthew Bate.

If true, I presume this means that Scully and his mum are Blues supporters.