With Guelfi, that way I see it is that for him to be an effective player, it has always relied on him frenetically running around at 100% intensity giving repeat effort after report effort, especially in defensive actions, anything less than that and he just doesn’t work.
So the problem for him now that I’ve noticed in recent times is that after accumulating multiple repeat soft tissue injuries, he is understandably wary about really red-lining it and going flat out in his exertions. And without that yard of pace he is rendered a very basic, ordinary player unfortunately.
Let’s see if Inness and the new High Performance team have somehow managed to restore his confidence and have him going beserk again.
There is no way that Guelfi can be compared to Laverde.
His main issue has been the general club issue: staying on the field. When he has had a run at it, he has been possibly the best defensive forward we have had. No, he is not a star but on a number of occasions he has been able to both, cover attacking backmen and kick goals. He is also a decent mark.
If you want to argue that he is an example of a standard we need to exceed to be a genuine premiership threat, then I can accept that. But the comparison to Laverde is just not based in reality.
The only club he would have played this many seasons at is EFC. It’s an inditement on us as a club and particularly Adrian Dodoro that he’s still around.
The best teams have multiple forwards that give Guelfi’s above average defensive pressure, but then also have x-factor and scoreboard damage to go along with it as well..
Small pressure forwards have been completely neglected by Essendon for 10-15 years despite all the trending saying it’s the most important part of game..
Ill be honest, ive been disappointed in things I have heard about Guelf outside of footy. I used to really like him as player because I thought he was very blue collar, hard working.
I have friends that have personally partied with him and Draper and the stuff they told me was not what I had thought of Guelf in the past. My mates literally laugh at me for following Essendon knowing some of our players are acting up like that.
Now of course they are young guys and it might be a semi one off thing but I like to think you get out of yourself what you put in and I seriously doubt you’d ever see some of the best players doing the same thing.
I recon you need to get rid of these sorts unless they are supremely talented, which Guelf is not.
Ive not been a big fan of Brad but I can say from stuff I know about our players that the whole living an AFL lifestyle outside of the game was spot on.
We definitely have/had a few lads that like to drink ■■■■ and party.
I have heard the exact same thing from current Afl players, it doesn’t take a genius to work out which ones they are and yet they get handed two deals like they are candy, a few may surprise some on here but anyone with a social media account can work it out easily.
To agree with @TempleOfDurham I thought it was completely contradictory for Scott to talk about players needing to “live the AFL lifestyle” and then go and sign Guelfi to a 2 year deal. He would have been the first to go if I was in charge