#2 Big Sammy Draper (from May 2024)

Good post

Social media influencer written all of him, he could improve in his areas of weakness and be a top 3 ruckman in the comp if only he would apply himself.

Because you know him.

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Get some sleep Wim

Night shift, silly.

Why do you talk about him like you know him?
Why do you and others feel it’s okay to make personal comments that have nothing to do with football about him?

Maybe check yourself.

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Where did you go?

No, seriously?
Why do you think that’s okay?
Talking about what sort of person he is.
Saying you know what sort of footballer he could be ā€˜if only he applied himself’, like you know whether he applies himself or not.

Knee surgery.
Best game this year, driving rain, doing it himself.
Who’s there at the end of the game? Who has been there at the end of the game for Essendon several times this year?

But cool.
Social influencer mindset.
Jog on.

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Yeah, it’s weird.

Interrupted pre-season after surgery and then missed a bunch of games mid-season.

He’s improving. Maybe not as quickly as we’d all like (who knows, maybe the injuries are playing a part :person_shrugging: ) but if you can’t see the improvement then you’re not paying attention. And he’s still only played 70 games.

But… He’S hAd 8 YeArS iN tHe SyStEm!

But… He HaS a MuLLeT!

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Is Draper being coached by anyone? If not, he needs to be. That’s if we are planning to keep him otherwise, either trade him or let him go.

Thought he was very good against freo. Super dangerous up forward, thought he and Bryan together beat the very good Fremantle rucks

His last qtr was fantastic, and his tap to Zac in the last 30seconds was absolutely perfect

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I don’t.

I think it will be based off draper plays the majority forward, which i think he’ll be terribly inconsistent at

I’d really be suprised if it worked long term. It might work here and there (like the weekend) but i honestly think it’ll fail most weeks. I only see room for one of them

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Agree with WOB, it will only work if Draper becomes the forward/ruck. His marking has got a fair bit better, his set shot kicking is still a lottery despite the fact he kicked a really good goal on the weekend and narrowly missed another from a tougher angle. If Bryan is kept on for 2025 and this combo was a success, it would spell the end for 2MP.

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It wasn’t his fault we dropped games against Dees and Crows, he did his part (including kicking goals). Yes he was towelled up by Marshall, along with 20 of his teammates. Was pivotal on Sunday. I really don’t get the hate.

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It’s a shame that neither of them are adequate as key forwards or even key backs. That’s not to say that can’t improve. Generally, I’d say versatility is overrated unless you’re a ruck.

I concur.
I don’t think he has the leading of a genuine forward and I assume that would take time.

I think it’s a fair call to say he needs to apply himself. He has been up and down all his career and we are having to play a 36yo because he can’t ruck a full game.

He’s not alone though, other than Merrett, the whole team need to apply themselves. We have a team that gives up when things get tough. Why does Brad need to give the senior players in our side a rocket? It’s because they have it too easy from a selection perspective and they become happy with their achievements far too quickly.

Sometimes players don’t even know that they can do better. That is the issue with having a losing culture for so long. Nobody there to tell you that you can be doing more.

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I think Draper forward is better than Wright forward under our current game plan. He’s just better at at least halving marking contests which helps keep the ball in there.

I think the issue is that (1) our current game plan is outdated and won’t stack up against the best teams and (2) we have nowhere near the small forward stocks to make it work in any event.

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Just need a decent relief ruck that plays forward……Wright if he was any good. Or Cox if he had more strength…….

Wright is a pretty handy 2nd ruck, seems not to be noticed around here. However I reckon they’ll go with the two rucks if Drapes can continue to get goals

Wright is a forward first, so should prove himself as a forward before returning. We can play Cox or Jones as pinch hit ruckmen if we really need to.

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We just won by using Bryan and Draper against a couple of decent rucks. It is a small sample size, and more proof is needed that it will work, but it is worth trying again this week, to gather more data.

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Exactly. It ain’t broke so no need to ā€œfixā€ it. 2MP needs to show us he will have a go. At this stage he has not, so he is no where near needed in the 1s. If he doesn’t man up, get rid of him, along with Weiderman at seasons end.

Pair of dumb farking pussycats. Lacking simple man courage is gunna cost them