My first impression of him when he first came was another McPhee. Looks like a brick an plays like one. But even McPhee looks better than Lav. Another epic dordoro pick
Mckenna and Gleeson were immediately impressive, albeit with a few kinks. It was plain as day. Laverde has a short highlight reel and has always been rushed into the starting 22β¦Heβs not assertive in the contest in anyway, has the worst skills on the ground and Iβve somehow completely missed how he got this βaggressiveβ tagβ¦Iβd consider him to be very lucky to be playing consecutive games, let alone 26.
impressive revisionism
I thought Gleeson and Mckenna showed heaps when they arrived.
most wanted conor sent back on life raft with a paddle. and gleeson wouldβve lost a contest against a wet tissue.
McKenna showed plenty early as a forward and even more so when he went to half back.
The transition to AFL was slow at first but for those of us that had seen him regularly at VFL level we knew what he was capable of.
Gleeson was more of a slow burn.
McKenna is testament to the fact that our development canβt be really that bad
The ability to kick can take you a fair way though and the club have nothing at all to do with that where mckenna is concerned,
we can develop players, itβs just the commitment is optional and the midfield stinks.
I didnβt want to be so kind to connor.
How often does a player have a negative player rating? What a spud.
Still donβt see what people see in him.
Needs a positional change to get him into the game more.
If no improvement by the end of the year test the market.
Heβs got limited afl experience, been perennially injured, is going to be average-good at best and is playing in the current Essington squad. Heβs always going to look like an absolute turnip.
Heβs not the kind of guy youβd build a team around but I think heβd be a solid contributor in a real team.
Is it Essendonβs good development system that you mean?
I must admit Iβve always been lukewarm on him, however Iβd certainly be using the rest of this year to find out about a few players and he would be at the top of the list.
He has quite simply been rushed back to AFL level too soon. And they have done it to him a number of times now.
I think the issue is that at VFL level playing a forward role is not going to help his development and we donβt have any midfield spots available due to the glut of players needing experience there that are in front of him.
My personal thoughts are that a player of his size needs to contribute on the scoreboard or otherwise heβs not going to be effective. A smaller player can at least apply more pressure.
He is a player that is very much in limbo.
He has been selected in 3 consecutive games and is not improving. Playing as a forward at our club at the moment is a shjt sandwich. However we need to try other options, probably Jake Long, Guelfi, Redman, Trav. when fit,
Every time he recovers from an injury he plays a couple to a few games in the VFL. Then someone either gets injured or is so β β β β for the last month the club has to drop them. Then Lav is called up prematurely.
What is this βdropβ of which you speak?
Are you referring to being Langforded?