Well they are hard to grow so it seems.
If he starts the season hot, then other clubs will be calling the manager for sure. He may not leave but he would cost more $$$. Lock him in now for peanuts and worst case he is back up over the next 3 year.
There is no negatives. Smart decison
12 Likes
Get your head out of the sand
Blitzers seriously go on about nothing. Two years extra is zero, I am not even a big fan and I donāt care that he got the extra years.
5 Likes
Whats the negative?
That he turns out to be not very good (we have 1.5 practice matches worth of data as to his ability as a ruckman) and we are stuck with him for 3 years.
The club has made a stack of overly generous list management decisions - Setterfield getting a year when half dead, Jones 2, Guelfi 2, Edwards 1 - these constrain our ability to make other moves and unearth good players in the latter parts of the game draft, SSP, MSD etc - which is actually an area weāve historically done ok.
2 Likes
This is stupid. Literally saw his athleticism on display second half of last year. Most mobile big man Iāve seen in the sash in defence for a while. He clearly is a covering the ground ruck type of player and showed his wares against probably two of the best rucks in the gameā¦
13 Likes
Isnāt the same true of any player signed?
3 Likes
Worst case he is back up ruck and can also play as a key defender.
5 Likes
I think pretty much every club in the league would have made this deal. I donāt think this is an āEssendon Specialā. May end up being depth but can be reliable when called upon and will challenge Bryan.
8 Likes
Counterpoint - we also have 7 years worth of WAFL footage that heās far better than any other ruckman we have on the list.
2 Likes
Geez some of the heartburn about a 2 year extension for Blakiston is slightly ridiculous. Heās not exactly going to be chewing up our cap space and for those saying itās premature; heās got half a season of performances to go by as well as this pre season.
6 Likes
Seems a little premature, but also we will always need three ruckmen on the list. If it means we now donāt need to ride the ruck merry go round for two years then thatās a good buy.
Itās not a bad spot to be in if by round 14 2028, Bryan is first ruck with Vigo nipping at his heels and we have Blaki as a backup. Even better if all three of them are real number one ruck options.
3 Likes
Obviously I disagree and reckon he is better than you guys give him credit for. I think it makes a lot of sense to sign him now. He still has lots of good footy ahead of him.
How would you know what the other clubs are thinking about him? Are you an AFL recruiter / coach?
1 Like
Rosa: Hey Goldy, you know a bit about this ruckman caper donāt you?
Todd Goldstein: Yeah mate, I played 345 games over 19 seasons, I have the AFL record for the most hitouts ever, including an 80 hitout game.
Rosa: Yeah, and you would have played against a few other ruckman in that time?
Goldy: I tried to count once but itās well over a 100, including some of the best including Cox, Sandilands, Gawn, Grundy, Naitanui, Ryder, McEvoy.
Rosa: And youāve been working with Blakiston all summer?
Goldy: Yeah
Rosa: And you watched him in all the match sims over the summer and the 2 practice matches?
Goldy: Yeah
Rosa: Whats your assessment of his progress?
Goldy: Heās doing great. Had an excellent pre-season. Heās very athletic, great leap, mobile around the ground, great follow-up from the ruck contest, covers the ground well. If you want my opinion you should sign him up for a few more years ā heās a keeper.
Rosa: Pffft. As if we need your opinion on this - thereās a bloke on BomberBlitz who knows more than you.
29 Likes
What are you talking about?
where did I say anything about his ability?
I literally just said, we should be waiting 3-4 months before looking to re-sign him.
F*ck me, people get so defensive about any decisions that the club makes.
I think he is a John Barnes type ruckman
3 Likes
F*ck me, you get so defensive about any protest of your criticism of the club
7 Likes
Good on him. Hope he delivers on the trust the club has paid him.
Amazing to think that less than 6 months ago no one had heard of him.
More contested marks around the ground please, Lachie.
5 Likes
