In that case Francis wins. He kicked three times as many points in his first game as Ridley did all year.
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Interested in your analysis DJR your spreadsheet seems to run contrary to my impression. I was surprised Ridley was not named in the bests in any game ! Usually if a defender picks up a lazy 26 touches with 12 marks, he is worth a mention. Then he played played a good game in the forward line, as many have mentioned.
Someone working for an outfit called AFL Player Ratings reported on Ridley over the course of the year comments below. It seems his first 3 games were very good but he dropped away a bit. maybe a niggle ?
Jordan Ridley
11 VFL Back from injury and was handy with 17 touches ā at 100% efficiency. Good way to start. -
12 VFL Didnāt miss a target by hand or foot. 20 possessions, 13 marks floating across half back. -
13 Bye.
14 VFL Excellent again with 26 touches, 12 marks. Rarely makes a bad decision. -
15 VFL Not as efficient as recent weeks, but won the ball well down back. -
16 VFL Quieter game, but rarely made a mistake with ball in hand. -
17 VFL Steady game down back without the big numbers of early games. -
18 Rested.
19 VFL Not a massive say in proceedings. Nine disposals. -
20 VFL Bye. -
21 VFL Okay down back without being at his best. Again used the ball quite well. -
22 VFL Took 10 marks and kicked a goal playing in attack. Lovely mover. -
23 VFL Steady without starring in the back half. Early season form has tapered a touch.
http://www.aflplayerratings.com.au/Ratings/Player/124102/Jordan-RIDLEY
Given Iāve been known to say the named bests may not always correlate with reality, the main point of that post was in the final sentenceā¦ and not just because itās (almost) a quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I didnt see much of Sarah Michelle Gellar in Buffy but I wouldnt mind seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar in the buff.
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Eliza
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THE LEVER ROLE?
Watch him force his way in next year.
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We need to start actively playing younger guys like Ridley, Langford, Redman, Mutch ETC over known quantities like Myers (certified plodder), Colyer (turn over machine), Stanton (Gifted games due to ban), Hocking (see Stanton).
Quality sides like Geelong and Sydney have been able to stay at the top because they know when to switch from Veteran to Rookie to keep them at the top.
I think heād be pushing already if he didnāt get injured.
he has rare attributes, decent size (height) skinny but solid, reads the play terrifically, assured kick at his worst, and just moves really well.
really excited about the ridley, even though i lamented that we drafted more utility type players.
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Stanton and Hocking gifted games? Really?
You know Hocking played only 2 games right?
And Stanton played 7 all at the start of the year. Most likely Stanton outperformed everyone on the track in the pre-season which is why he earnt a spot at the start of the year. Then once they realised he was past it he never got picked again l.
But I agree we need to be playing the youngsters now.
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Thatās a total of 9 games (nearly half a season) that could have been pumped into one of the kids from which we could have got some form of return.
Putting 9 games into Stanton and Hocking gains us what exactly?
We honestly need to invest games into kids or else we are going to be treading water for another 13 years.
Yep. One of my first comments in this thread was i think he could potentionally be our carlise replacement. Heres me still hoping.
Just not a wanka like carlise
7 of those games were for the guy who won the Nobby the last time he could get onto the park, and traditionally (canāt remember this year) has excelled over the preseason.
You canāt see the forest for the trees. We need to develop the next generation of Essendon players who will help us contend for our next premiership.
No weāre not. You donāt just throw out long-serving gun players before knowing that theyāre past it. There was no evidence prior to actually playing this year that Stanton had declined so much.
For all we knew (and some people expected) Stanton could have could have come back refreshed form the year off and his running capacity would have held him in good stead for 3 or 4 more years, then he would have been part of our future. It didnāt work out that way, but at least they took the time to find out for sure
Anyway, I think everyone agrees we should be playing youngsters more. The exact specifics of how many games they should be playing and whether:
(a) playing them in a team that is aiming for and a chance of making finals and
(b) whether playing VFL is actually better for developmentn in some instances
ā¦is a big separate debate. One Iām not interested in going into in detailā¦other than to say, that a blanket assumption that the best of method of development in all instances is to play in the 1ās, is just stupid.
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Nothing actually suggested Stants regressed that badly anyway.
They just played him in a different position.
Was managed perfectly.
Charisma
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Amy Acker if weāre talking Whedon alumni. Underrated.
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Morena Baccarin
Christina Hendricks
You seem to have somehow forgotten this thing that happened.
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