Is that irony?or just bad management?
It’s pipe dreaming.
Yeh, like that player we ( effectively delisted )
delistedbecause he was no good, what was his name ? Ted Richards. Ended up an all Australian, 250+ games premiership player. I guess that was a pipe dream when Brown kicked a bag on him ?
Whatever.
Grossly different players.
Is that irony?or just bad management?
It’s pipe dreaming.
Yeh, like that player we ( effectively delisted )
delistedbecause he was no good, what was his name ? Ted Richards. Ended up an all Australian, 250+ games premiership player. I guess that was a pipe dream when Brown kicked a bag on him ?
Richards was traded. The reason he was traded is because another team wanted him and could see his value when we did not. In this case the player was delisted (because we could not see the players value) and nobody else picked him up (because they could not see his value either) even though he was “free”.
I’m sure many would agree that he improved considerably this year which can’t be said for many of last years list. Its just that he still had a way to go. I would say though his disposal into 50 when he played well was some of the best I saw all year. If our big bodied brigade of Watson-Myers-Hocking were 2 years older he probably would’ve been retained. Good luck to him. I hope he makes it back somewhere, but time to move on.
Is that irony?or just bad management?
It’s pipe dreaming.
Yeh, like that player we ( effectively delisted )
delistedbecause he was no good, what was his name ? Ted Richards. Ended up an all Australian, 250+ games premiership player. I guess that was a pipe dream when Brown kicked a bag on him ?Whatever.
Grossly different players.
Reboot, I know what you are saying. The draft sanctions had an effect, but generally speaking if it takes more than 2 years for a player to get regular games in the AFL side, they need to be flicked off, irrespective of potential ironies. Its time for our club to become just a tad more ruthless and yep, I reckon the correct decision was made re Nick, Stein, Kav and the others. Notice no other club even rookied any of them. QED.
hes still in the area ATM, came into work yesterday.
hes still in the area ATM, came into work yesterday.
He always looked slow, but to only be finishing the rep now would be ridiculous
hes still in the area ATM, came into work yesterday.Can confirm this morning that he has signed with the Eagles in Adelaide, their offer blew Norwood's out of the water
That works out well for me thats just around the corner!
Richards and Josh Kennedy better example.
Swans saw potential in both. Offered better deals. Off they go.
NOB delisted. No one interested. Looking at lower leagues now.
We’ll just play Langford as an inside mid more so and his upside far greater.
I see a lot of Ben Jolley in him…ie. Will have an esteemed career at the next level down.
Improved alot this year and I thought it was a strange decision to delist him considering the time we had invested to date. However with Watson, Heppel, Hocking, Myers, Howlett and Bird ahead of him I guess we were happy to say goodbye.
Waiting for that awkward moment when this thread gets moved to Non-Essendon Stuff.
A man of great character and I wish him all the best but simply not an AFL level midfielder for a team that aspires to be any good. End of story.
This article was published in last Saturday’s Ballarat Courier. It was the full front and back pages.
thecourier.com.au/story/3556881/obrien-reveals-dark-side-to-afl-career/
O’Brien reveals dark side to AFL career
NICK O’Brien is not unlike many of the footballers that realise their dream of playing in the AFL, only to have just a fleeting impact on the game.
O’Brien’s career at the elite level never really got going - he played just 14 senior games across four years before being delisted by the Bombers last month - but his time in the system will never be forgotten.
The Ballarat boy was front and centre during Essendon’s supplements program, which has haunted the powerhouse club for the past few years.
And while he admits to being involved in the Bombers’ injection program, O’Brien is able to press on playing the game he loves without the fear of sanction.
The 22-year-old, who revealed he is not one of the 34 past and present Essendon footballers issued with an infraction notice for their part in the scandal, is gearing up for a season with SANFL club Woodville West-Torrens, which he hopes can ignite a return to the big time.
O’Brien admits to having “about five or six” injections during his time at Essendon and feels lucky to escape without an infraction notice.
“There was one or two first-year (players) that were the same year as me that got notices, but they were certainly getting 20-30 injections that year, which is a pretty big number,” O’Brien told The Courier.
“I had a couple throughout the year. I didn’t think too much of them at the time and from the feedback I’ve received from ASADA, it was all (above) board.”
O’Brien said he had been told by former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank that the needles were for immunity rather than anything sinister.
“As a young kid, you just trust what people say, I suppose. Don’t you?,” he said.
O’Brien admits he thought the program was normal practice and believed his injury at the time spared him from being fully involved in the injection process.
"As I said as a young kid, I was pretty up front in… I was pretty enthusiastic about the program we were on - unfortunately it was proven to be a little bit unorganised,” he said.
"It’s probably something in years we will look back and say it probably wasn’t the club’s best moment, but I certainly didn’t have any reservations at the time, so I can’t really look back now and say that I regret this or regret that. It’s just the way it happened at the time.
"I just thought that’s what sort of everyone was doing.
"It is what it is and I just hope that all the boys can get off in a couple of months time when they get the verdict again.”
O’Brien said it has been sad to see many of his former teammates struggle mentally with the intense pressure of the past few years.
"I think without naming names, you see people whose dream it is to play AFL like mine was and that’s all you want to do as a young kid and to see them not enjoy doing it and almost feel like a chore to rock up and train and play, I just think … that did shock me a fair bit…” he said.
"I’ve been alright, but there was definitely times where I felt a little bit worn down by it all, to be honest.”
O’Brien says he still has a good relationship with sacked coach James Hird and stresses he will always be thankful for the opportunity given to him by the Bombers, Carngham-Linton, St Pat’s and the North Ballarat Rebels.
As for the future, he just wants the boys in red and black to enjoy some rewards for their hard work.
“It would be great to see them have success because what they have been through the last couple of years in such a public manner has been really sad to watch and sad to be apart of,” he said.
We received an end of 1st round draft pick for Richards which was a brilliant piece of trading given the level where Ted was at the time. Nick would need to improve fitness, athleticism, speed & disposal efficiency to become part of a premiership AFL midfield. That is unlikely.
COME BACK NICK
COME BACK NICK
So in summary.
Two little dickie birds, they were really trying,
One named Jacobs,
One named O’Brien,
Fly away Jacobs,
Fly away O’Brien,
((hindsight)
Come back Jacobs,
Come back O’Brien.
We need to move this thread to non-essendon or something please before it gets gurged.
We need to move this thread to non-essendon or something please before it gets gurged.
No. It stays right here until he gets re-drafted by us next year.
would be playing all 22 games in 2016 if still on this list… a top up chance? got a body big enough, accumulates ball… without Jobe, Dys, Hocking, Myers in the team we need someone like this