I have not even seen him show much in the ressies, he should be dominating that level now. I just cannot see him improving enough to be a regular AFL player. I have been wrong before though so whatever call they make I will be OK with. I was last wrong in June 1963 though.
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1963? That is a coincidence - same year as I was last wrong.
Of course I was pretty young back then. I thought I had made a mistake, but didnāt.
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we are doing a lot of delistings this year - its round 17 and time is up for a few of the guys - its sad but we arenāt all good enough for the AFL
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We need to send Lual and ADJ to Run It Straight. Hopefully when they collide one person emerges with the desire and toughness of the former with the pace and skills of the latterā¦.
We played him wayyy too early.
Those fkd goal celebrations on a sub 5 possession game were career killers, though.
Itās a bit strange that he was played for blocks of games in both '23 and '24, including both ANZAC day games, when he was clearly not ready for AFL, but now he has filled out a bit, had a few preseasons and been relatively injury free, he canāt crack it for a senior game.
Doesnāt really make sense.
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Not strange at all.
In 2023, our small forwards were Guelfi (who had a restricted pre-season and missed the start), Snelling (who started in the reserves), Tippa (who was nowhere near ready, was sub in round 1 then sent back to VFL) and Jye Menzie. You could add Wanganeen in there too.
This year, we have Kako, Gresham (heās a high half forward, but most still put him down as a small forward), Guelfi and Menzie. You could also include Day-Wicks and Unwin there too.
We have better options now (yet still not good enough compared to other teams) so he has more competition for spots.
He got games early because there were injuries so an opportunity opened up. Once better players returned, he was back to the VFL. He has rarely shown a good month of form at VFL level to warrant selection. And in all honesty, whenever heās delisted, Iām unsure that he gets onto another VFL team. He may be better off at lower levels like Baldwin and others weāve delisted (assuming he doesnāt want to go to SA or WA).
Players donāt always make it at AFL level. Itās a far bigger jump now from VFL to AFL than it was a few decades ago.
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In rounds 9 and 10 we had Guelfi and Gresham both out injured and Menzie had been dropped after round 8 for being well, shĀ”t and Kako was left as the lone small forward both games.
The fact Alwyn couldnāt even get a game then says all you need to know about where he obviously now sits in the estimation of the coaches. He definitely got more opportunities in earlier years when in theory heād have been less equipped.
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have we?
the only job easier at the EFC the last 10 years than indigenous welfare officer is finals tickets officer
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The Davey brothers played rugby in high school, itās interesting how adverse alwyn is to being tackled or tackling off that background. In saying that he doesnāt seem anywhere near as soft this year as the previous two.
Youāve left out Hobbs. Heās preferred as a forward albeit as a high half forward which most include in the small forward group.
Youāve also left out Day-Wicks. He debuted for memory in round 9.
For memory, in both those games they shifted Durham into more of a high half forward role. For memory, Caldwell was played more as a high half forward as well whilst he was coming back from injury. If I recall correctly, we also shifted Merrett out of the midfield and also ran him through the high half forward role.
So that slides Hobbs and Day-Wicks back to more of a small forward role or elsewhere.
So there were still far more options within the playing group than playing ADJ in the forward line (whether as a high half forward or a small forward) than there were in 2023.
Regardless, round 9 and 10 were the Sydney and Bulldogs games. ADJ may have thrived when we had control of the Sydney game, other than that, he would have largely been as invisible as senior games in previous years. Just as Menzies was. Just as Day-Wicks has been.
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ADJ was always profiled as more of a running wing rather than a small forward, pre draft, although that hasnāt been where heās largely been played since getting to the club. Jayden was supposed to be the crumber of the two.
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The fact that they chose to play midfielders as forwards rather than playing him reinforces my point even further. With Gresham, Guelfi out injured and Menzie dropped he didnāt get a game. And a first year medium forward in Day-Wicks being picked ahead of him again reinforces the fact he has been shunted.
Last season all we heard was complaints about him getting free games. Now people are complaining heās not getting free games. This might be the most blitz thread in the history of blitz.
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Agree. Iād prefer to play those other options ahead of ADJ.
I donāt rate him or think heās anything special either.
Unfortunately, he just isnāt good enough for AFL footy.
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Oh I agree on that. I wouldnāt be opposed to having one last look before the year is out because heck, why not, but I donāt reckon heās up to it either.
Unless thereās more crazily injuries ahead, Iām not expecting him to get a game.
He hasnāt changed significantly at VFL level for the last few years. I mean, he might do a Lual and surprise us, but that is far more unlikely than likely. Itās pretty rare that a player improves better at AFL level after showing minimal improvement at VFL level. And I still suspect Lual will regress somewhat before going back to VFL and probably doing exactly what he was doing before his games at AFL level.
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Who is doing that exactly? Complaining that heās not playing?
I donāt think heās up to it.
My point was just that he got more opportunities in the last two years and the fact that he hasnāt played at all, particularly in rounds 9 & 10 when Kako was the lone small forward says a lot about the way he is regarded by the coaching group.
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Pretty sure theyāve already made a call on him, and in my opinion weāve seen enough to be satisfied that it is the right call.
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Bring him in for a block of games before season end. Kako is our #1 small forward, and Gresham if he stays is for mine #2 ā¦ for the moment. Menzie is doubtful heāll make it into next season. Wouldnāt be too phased if Kako was managed a bit more here on end, heās got nothing much more to prove I reckon. Heās our future.
But ADJ deserves another decent look for mine, off the IC starting next Sat night v Tigs.