I reckon Heppell attracting the tag is going to unleash Watson big time next season, He will be number 1 in the comp for clearances if he escapes the tag more often than not, The flow on from this will unleash Zaharakis and Colyer on the outside with pace.
i think sides will tag hepp more than jobe because hepp links up better once the ball is outside. Cornes did a good job on him against port, that will not have gone unnoticed. But hey let jobe have a field day, go for it, i dare you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjN7Vp5TIY8
Dyson!!!
Myers, Zaka and Stanton are 2 too many one way running midfielders so one has to go.
What's bad is Myers and Stanton are REALLY slow off the mark and do not chase their opponents.
What's really really bad is Zaka is really fast off the mark yet you never see him chase and drag down a player with his speed.
When you add a not so fast Jobe, Goddard and Hocking (then Cooney) tou have a slow as fark midfield that if they do not get the ball, their midfield opponents will run forward and ruin our backline.
It's been this way for years, yet the coaches keep giving the same one way running midfielders games, makes no sense.Yup, no idea why we've kept all our two-way running, highly skilled, fast, goal kicking, big bodied midfielders playing VFL for so many years. I mean they must be there, right? It couldn't be that they don't exist.
I'd take Ricky Dyson over 2 Stantons.
Dyson showed more grit in his 5 games a season than Stanton did in a whole one.
Abysmal that Stanton was given free reign to kick balls into opponents weekly, run behind players in the backline calling for the ball then duff the kick and give 0 accountability while Dyson was overlooked and then delisted. The careers of those two players should be swapped and I have no idea why one was given all the games and the other none when 1 clearly had 10x more heart than the other ever did or would.
A mid who racks up high 20's/low 30's and occasionally a goal is an A grade mid. Yes, he slows down late in seasons often, but he still has an impact in games. Jobe is an elite mid, not A grade so my mistake. There's a diff between A grade and elite in my book.I'm sorry what?Zaka and Myers need to take the next step and become consistent A grade mids just like Jobe and Stants have been for years.
Watson yes, Stanton definately not.
Stanton has never been "consistently" good and probably had his most "consistent" run for a stretch of about eight games in 2012 when Jobe was out injured.
Stanton has never been deemed an A-grader and never will be unless he improves a heck of a lot.
I could think of plenty of positives to say about Ricky Dyson, I really liked the guy. Having 10x the heart of Stanton wouldn’t be one of them though. And he isn’t / wasn’t half the player Stanton is. Funny how opposition coaches, players and fans rate Stanton higher than some of our own supporters. Anyway, that’s not the topic.
Personally, I think the plan was always to go ‘all in’ for 2014/15. Outside influences, some blatantly obvious and some less so, have conspired to mean we are not in the position we would have hoped.
I think if everything fell our way, this current squad has the talent to go deep in September. But any hiccups along the way, and we’ll be just like we’ve been for the last three years… Not quite good enough.
I have far more confidence that in a few years the JD, Zerrett, Ashby, Gleeson group, which will have Heppell, Hurley, Zaha, Carlisle etc as veterans, will be more successful, than the current squad.
A mid who racks up high 20's/low 30's and occasionally a goal is an A grade mid. Yes, he slows down late in seasons often, but he still has an impact in games. Jobe is an elite mid, not A grade so my mistake. There's a diff between A grade and elite in my book.
I'm sorry what?Zaka and Myers need to take the next step and become consistent A grade mids just like Jobe and Stants have been for years.
Watson yes, Stanton definately not.
Stanton has never been "consistently" good and probably had his most "consistent" run for a stretch of about eight games in 2012 when Jobe was out injured.
Stanton has never been deemed an A-grader and never will be unless he improves a heck of a lot.
So Tendai Mzungu, David Armitage, Danyle Pearce, Shane Edwards and Matthew Wright are all "A-graders" to you?
I'm not saying I don't like Stanton because I do and I think he has some great qualities that add to and compliment our team but "consistency" isn't one of them.
Where on earth did you pull that list of comparisons from?
A mid who racks up high 20's/low 30's and occasionally a goal is an A grade mid. Yes, he slows down late in seasons often, but he still has an impact in games. Jobe is an elite mid, not A grade so my mistake. There's a diff between A grade and elite in my book.
I'm sorry what?Zaka and Myers need to take the next step and become consistent A grade mids just like Jobe and Stants have been for years.
Watson yes, Stanton definately not.
Stanton has never been "consistently" good and probably had his most "consistent" run for a stretch of about eight games in 2012 when Jobe was out injured.
Stanton has never been deemed an A-grader and never will be unless he improves a heck of a lot.
So Tendai Mzungu, David Armitage, Danyle Pearce, Shane Edwards and Matthew Wright are all "A-graders" to you?
I'm not saying I don't like Stanton because I do and I think he has some great qualities that add to and compliment our team but "consistency" isn't one of them.
Where on earth did you pull that list of comparisons from?
david armitage is the only player on that list that one could possibly compare with stanton.
the rest are bona fide hacks.
either trolling or genuinely nfi
Myers, Zaka and Stanton are 2 too many one way running midfielders so one has to go.
What's bad is Myers and Stanton are REALLY slow off the mark and do not chase their opponents.
What's really really bad is Zaka is really fast off the mark yet you never see him chase and drag down a player with his speed.
When you add a not so fast Jobe, Goddard and Hocking (then Cooney) tou have a slow as fark midfield that if they do not get the ball, their midfield opponents will run forward and ruin our backline.
It's been this way for years, yet the coaches keep giving the same one way running midfielders games, makes no sense.Yup, no idea why we've kept all our two-way running, highly skilled, fast, goal kicking, big bodied midfielders playing VFL for so many years. I mean they must be there, right? It couldn't be that they don't exist.
I'd take Ricky Dyson over 2 Stantons.
Dyson showed more grit in his 5 games a season than Stanton did in a whole one.
Abysmal that Stanton was given free reign to kick balls into opponents weekly, run behind players in the backline calling for the ball then duff the kick and give 0 accountability while Dyson was overlooked and then delisted. The careers of those two players should be swapped and I have no idea why one was given all the games and the other none when 1 clearly had 10x more heart than the other ever did or would.
Hi Ricky, hows post AFL life treating you?
What a fkg weird comparison to make....
Same lonergan maybe, he ended up getting more tackles than possessions, but Dyson? the fark?
I'm allowed to say that Dyson was a better player than Stanton
It's called an opinion, look it up.
Your opinion is wrong.
Like....so wrong.
Stanton is incredibly overrated here...
Stanton is incredibly overrated here...
Over-rated by some.
Under-rated by others.
Dyson...ffs.
Where on earth did you pull that list of comparisons from?
So Tendai Mzungu, David Armitage, Danyle Pearce, Shane Edwards and Matthew Wright are all "A-graders" to you?A mid who racks up high 20's/low 30's and occasionally a goal is an A grade mid. Yes, he slows down late in seasons often, but he still has an impact in games. Jobe is an elite mid, not A grade so my mistake. There's a diff between A grade and elite in my book.I'm sorry what?Zaka and Myers need to take the next step and become consistent A grade mids just like Jobe and Stants have been for years.
Watson yes, Stanton definately not.
Stanton has never been "consistently" good and probably had his most "consistent" run for a stretch of about eight games in 2012 when Jobe was out injured.
Stanton has never been deemed an A-grader and never will be unless he improves a heck of a lot.
I'm not saying I don't like Stanton because I do and I think he has some great qualities that add to and compliment our team but "consistency" isn't one of them.
Shane Edwards has racked up more than 25 possessions twice in the last five years, Armitage 10 times, Pearce 15, Wright 5, Mzungu 5.
Stanton's done it 42 times in the same period. That's more than those other five players combined.
Laverde is our talisman.
I can feel it in my waters.
All averaged 0.7 and 18 disposals a game or better to Stanton's 0.7 and 23 disposals.
Not sure why you wouldn't have picked players who average the same sort of possession count instead of five lower. Probably because names like McVeigh (23 and 0.6), Griffen (23 and 0.5), Sloane (23 and 0.6) and Goddard (23 and 0.8) don't really help your argument. And before you ask, no I don't think Stanton's as good as Goddard.
Aaaaanyway I think our list is in pretty good shape, except that it's light on midfielders in the 24-26 age bracket, and we've got a few players around in that age bracket that are a bit misleading because they were picked as mature age recruits. There's not really much can be done about that because it's the exact same reason we were lacking 21-23 year olds a few years ago.
If Laverde and Langford are more like Heppell and Zerrett than Kav and Melksham then I think we're pretty well placed in terms of experience and age profiles. Tall depth and our aggressive refusal to address the small forward problem are the obvious issues but if there's any player types I think we're good at picking regardless of draft position, it's tall defenders and rucks.
I remember in 2013 when our depth of talls was a hindrance.
Nash was robbed of being the best player ever.
I disagree I think Courtney Johns was robbed of being the best.
Sorry I didn't realise it was let's say stupid things day.Your opinion is wrong.
I'm allowed to say that Dyson was a better player than Stanton
I'd take Ricky Dyson over 2 Stantons.
Yup, no idea why we've kept all our two-way running, highly skilled, fast, goal kicking, big bodied midfielders playing VFL for so many years. I mean they must be there, right? It couldn't be that they don't exist.
Myers, Zaka and Stanton are 2 too many one way running midfielders so one has to go.
What's bad is Myers and Stanton are REALLY slow off the mark and do not chase their opponents.
What's really really bad is Zaka is really fast off the mark yet you never see him chase and drag down a player with his speed.
When you add a not so fast Jobe, Goddard and Hocking (then Cooney) tou have a slow as fark midfield that if they do not get the ball, their midfield opponents will run forward and ruin our backline.
It's been this way for years, yet the coaches keep giving the same one way running midfielders games, makes no sense.
Dyson showed more grit in his 5 games a season than Stanton did in a whole one.
Abysmal that Stanton was given free reign to kick balls into opponents weekly, run behind players in the backline calling for the ball then duff the kick and give 0 accountability while Dyson was overlooked and then delisted. The careers of those two players should be swapped and I have no idea why one was given all the games and the other none when 1 clearly had 10x more heart than the other ever did or would.
Hi Ricky, hows post AFL life treating you?
What a fkg weird comparison to make....
Same lonergan maybe, he ended up getting more tackles than possessions, but Dyson? the fark?
It's called an opinion, look it up.
Like....so wrong.
Remember the time that guy said he thought Ricky Dyson was twice the player Stanton is?
I believe clubs vfl teams are an underrated barometer of a clubs health,listwiseThanks Humble for a well written summation.
One thing I would like to elaborate on is the question of depth. Sure we have a great midfield. As long as the older players are managed and have the opportunity to use the incredible skills they have we could see some great footy from them.
But its the last few places just outside the best 22 where we have been exposed for depth to our great detriment. Against North, we were forced to pick Stein, a VFL player and put him on Brown. Thats because Jake and Fletch were out. I have no doubt Fletch would have matched up better on Brown and probably saved 2 of his goals.
I believe we have more depth now as well as an extra elite midfielder. Dont forget, Tayte Pears may even get fit ! (All he has to do is remember how to play football like he did around 2010). So we have more depth. I also believe the VFL side will do a lot better this year.
Its our forward line. Once it clicks, we will be a very good side
If joe and jake kick 80 between them itll be a start. Past that its a struggle to see who can kick 30+ and their lies the problem. We need a genuine small forward and a good third tall. I hope ambrose becomes more dangerous offensively
Shane Harvey was the best Essendon player ever. He made Jay Nash look shocking.
Close the damn thread.