#47 James Kelly - #BackIn

They have a ■■■■ coach to start with. Only success they have had was handed down from bomber.

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Motlop I agree with but I have to disagree on Guthrie and Duncan.

Both are guns when they are fit.

I’ve got Geelong supporting mates who feel his best a few years ago was excellent but he’s failed to live up to that in the last two years… and it’s now they really need it from him. I tend to agree with them.

Kelly was very good in that last quarter.
Repelled so many Collingwood attacks by getting to the right place at the right time and that game icing assist.
Will be great to see him get to 300 against Geelong.

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Bounced back like a really really bouncy thing.

So how many games is he on now? Geelong is 3 weeks away … Melb/Freo/Geelong I believe.

Obviously aiming for the 300 between the 2 clubs… a shared Banner?

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Love the little Corgi!

Was very passionate and focussed tonight. Glad we won the milestone game for him.

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Key to winning a milestone game seems to be winning it yourself

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this guy is a legend. ended up with us due to some really ■■■■■■ circumstances, but glad he did and has stuck around. well done kel.

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Congratulations to him for 300 games. We’re very lucky to have this bloke at the club. You could see the affection for him from players on both sides. Seems like a ripping bloke.

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Wut?

Kelly has been super consistent since he’s come to Essendon which should be commended given the circumstances in which he did come to Essendon. He still moves so well for his age and looks like he can keep going.

Nice of joel to help carry him off, not a geelong supporter in sight to see it though

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I think Kelly was fantastic last year and was great last night… I am so glad we could assist him to reach 300. Watching Stevie J kick the winner in the afternoon and then Kelly by instrumental to our success early… you have no choice but to think Geelong made some mistakes with letting those blokes go.

I was very proud to have J Kelly in the Red and Black for his 300 and I hope he feels part of the EFC family.

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Nah, they had to move them on. In fact, I’d suggest they held them too long and got nothing in return when the likes of Stevie J, Kelly, Enright, Bartel at al finished up. Managing the transition of premiership heros is a very difficult thing.

Correctamundo.

They managed it perfectly in my opinion. They got 3 premierships out of a uniquely talented group of players while losing the best player in the comp and the coach deciding to leave towards the end.

Compare that to what we and other dominant teams did during a period of success and you’ll see they’ve done better than the last two decades worth of premiers.

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I’m just old school… still believe in silly concepts like loyalty, club pride and playing for the jumper. I know there has to be transition and it has to be managed and we screwed the pooch after 2000…

But I know some cats supporters who would have loved to see Kelly play his 300th in the hoops… the bigger question is how do you define ‘success’. Clearly premierships are the yardstick… but then you watch a club like the dogs… no premierships for 50 years… but they still had their champions etc etc.

I don’t know what the right answer is… but yeah… I reckon clubs are playing with fire right now.

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There’s probably no right or wrong answer and no doubt supporters of every club want to see their champion players farewell the game in their club colours. But unfortunately that doesn’t always best suit the interests of the club going forward. Geelong have probably handled it as well as anyone, but you could easily argue they needed to be more ruthless. Ultimately, their last premiership was 2011, some 5 years past when they could’ve potentially looked to transition out some of those guys in favour bringing some younger talent.

Those three were moved on so they could have the next generation stand up in place. But nobody has and it would have been worse if not for Dangerfield who wasn’t part of the plan when they were moved on.

All three would be possibly finishing up this year, but they would have helped Geelong be a much better side than they are right now where apart from Selwood, Danger, Hawkins and Taylor(50/50) they have nobody else than can stand up and make a difference.

Maybe they felt like they had to move them on, but honestly just like North last year made the mistake you hang onto your aging stars that can help coach through the next generation even if you create a leadership role for them.

Geelong would have moved on Murphy and Boyd by now too. Same with North.

Don’t see the year getting any better for Geelong when Selwood or Danger have down games or are injured.

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