Will be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.
Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Will be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Agreed.
Although Edwards is contracted for 2016 so you’d think he’s safe considering the large number of other possible departures.
A reply to: @Geoff Blethyn regarding QuoteLink
Will be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Good point. I reckon from that list, we’ll see a fair bit of Melksham and Browne, and possibly bits of McKernan and Edwards this year. I just can’t see the others breaking into the AFL side. Which makes me sad, because I rate Tayte.
Geoff & Brem, think you’re being a bit tough on Ham’s. He hasn’t done much wrong and has shown a lot of promise, he was injured for all of last year so it’s not like he’s been playing in the VFL and just not showing any talent.
Probably spot on with the rest of them though, except the end of 2015 might be a bit soon to call and end to Edwards and McKernan as well, as I’d expect they will be lucky to get 5 or so games each given the competition for spots this year.
A reply to: @wannabe regarding QuoteLink
Geoff & Brem, think you're being a bit tough on Ham's. He hasn't done much wrong and has shown a lot of promise, he was injured for all of last year so it's not like he's been playing in the VFL and just not showing any talent.Probably spot on with the rest of them though, except the end of 2015 might be a bit soon to call and end to Edwards and McKernan as well, as I’d expect they will be lucky to get 5 or so games each given the competition for spots this year.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying axe the ones that I didn’t mention, simply that I don’t reckon they’ll play senior footy this year. If I’m wrong, that’s great - because we need kids like that forcing their way into the side.
For Hams in particular, this year may be more about getting some regular footy in the VFL than playing seniors.
He’s only 20, so it’s not like he’s past his use by. He’ll hopefully get another contract before the end of the year.
A reply to: @Geoff Blethyn regarding QuoteLink
Will be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Do people really think Melksham would be delisted with more than 100 games to his name before the age of 24?
A reply to: @Sloots regarding QuoteLink
A reply to: @Geoff Blethyn regarding QuoteLinkWill be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Do people really think Melksham would be delisted with more than 100 games to his name before the age of 24?
Beat me to it. Sure, his development has been a little disappointing & frustrating but the only way he won’t be here again is 2016 is if he’s traded. The day we can afford to throw away a player like Melksham will be the day we need to build a bigger trophy room.
I’d take Chapman, Cooney, Gwilt, Goddard anyday over the likes of Alvey, Murphy, Zantuck and Allan.
Just saying at at least this time when we’ve topped up, we’ve actually topped up with quality.
A reply to: @JBOMBER regarding QuoteLink
A reply to: @Sloots regarding QuoteLinkA reply to: @Geoff Blethyn regarding QuoteLinkWill be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Do people really think Melksham would be delisted with more than 100 games to his name before the age of 24?
Beat me to it. Sure, his development has been a little disappointing & frustrating but the only way he won’t be here again is 2016 is if he’s traded. The day we can afford to throw away a player like Melksham will be the day we need to build a bigger trophy room.
Well Geoff did say “to save their careers at Essendon”, which didn’t rule out trading.
In Melksham’s case his problem is that he’s a known quantity. Sure, he could have a break out year, or things could click for him in the VFL and he could demand a spot in the seniors. The problem is that fringe players get rotated, and there are a heap of players that haven’t been given the opportunities he has that need to be given a shot. If Melksham is behind Hocking/Stanton/Howlett/Myers, then he’s on the same rung as Gleeson/J. Merret/Kommer/Laverde/Browne/Kav who have more upside than him.
It wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the guys mentioned asked for a trade at the end of 2015, we just need to make sure we seperate the wheat from the chaff first.
A reply to: @wannabe regarding QuoteLink
A reply to: @JBOMBER regarding QuoteLinkA reply to: @Sloots regarding QuoteLinkA reply to: @Geoff Blethyn regarding QuoteLinkWill be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Do people really think Melksham would be delisted with more than 100 games to his name before the age of 24?
Beat me to it. Sure, his development has been a little disappointing & frustrating but the only way he won’t be here again is 2016 is if he’s traded. The day we can afford to throw away a player like Melksham will be the day we need to build a bigger trophy room.
Well Geoff did say “to save their careers at Essendon”, which didn’t rule out trading.
In Melksham’s case his problem is that he’s a known quantity. Sure, he could have a break out year, or things could click for him in the VFL and he could demand a spot in the seniors. The problem is that fringe players get rotated, and there are a heap of players that haven’t been given the opportunities he has that need to be given a shot. If Melksham is behind Hocking/Stanton/Howlett/Myers, then he’s on the same rung as Gleeson/J. Merret/Kommer/Laverde/Browne/Kav who have more upside than him.
It wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the guys mentioned asked for a trade at the end of 2015, we just need to make sure we seperate the wheat from the chaff first.
I have an issue with this concept that these guys have “more upside” than Melksham. Whilst Melks was disappointing last year, he has still shown more to date than those mentioned (I am a massive Kommer fan, and also think Gleeson will be a good/great player for us). The fact is that none of those players you mention might kick on and become the players we want them to be. There is every possibility, given the failure rate of AFL footballers, that not one of them will be at the club next year except where their contract dictates otherwise. This idea that an untried footballer has more upside than a player with 100 odd games under his belt is slightly ludicrous. I put it in much the same category as all the posts extolling the virtues of Pears, where the truth is, that outside of half a dozen or so games in the seniors where he was very good, for the rest of his career he has been nothing more than mediocre. Melkshams best at this stage is still better than anything those other players have shown.
Last year several players had form slumps caused by factors other than injuries ( that we know of).
I got the impression that the coaching staff were trying change the natural game of some players ( with the best intentions of course) but the nett result was they lost some of that “instinctive” feel for the game.
Seems to me like they tried to turn Zaka into an in and under contested ball animal. Fortunately Zaka snapped out of his form slump and went back to his instinctive game.
They tried to turn Melk into a tagger. Melk did not get back into the team.
They successfully broadened the focus of Dempsey to include a more defensive mindset.
I noted that when Kav spoke to the coaching staff at the end of the year they advised him “…“That is very much to do with playing off instinct, following what I think is the best option at the time…”
I believe that Hird and Harvey in particular like hard at it players and believe in using players who have good instincts to their natural strengths and I think Melksham will get a chance to play his natural game again in 2015 under the new coaching regime.
Will regret it if we don’t get a flag outta it, but realistically adding these guys to the list are our best chance of achieving said flag
A reply to: @jtd regarding QuoteLink
Will regret it if we don't get a flag outta it, but realistically adding these guys to the list are our best chance of achieving said flag
complete non-statement what else could we have done? pick up speculative picks that would just as likely fail than succeed?
I reckon there’s a very real possibility that decent kids/players will not get a game (or just barely). I put up a 22 and look at the next 8 or 10 likely next in line and there’s still plenty left, who have played good footy in the past and have a fair bit of potential to unlock. (Jerrett Kommer Browne Ashby Kav! Edwards).
Those are the sorts who low end clubs target, dangling games in front of that we simply can’t match.
Top end is a way off Hawthorn and it’s hard to see that gap closing, but the depth stacks up with anyone else.
The Melky Bar kids needs to rediscover the form he displayed in 2013, when he played with a bit more abandon. Last year he fairly wayward, and took a decent size step backwards. For a 100 game player he needs to impose himself more on games, otherwise other young bucks will zoom past him.
I have no doubt Melksham plays differently for Hirdy, just as I have no doubt he’ll be in our next Premiership team
A reply to: @Lifetime ban regarding QuoteLink
A reply to: @wannabe regarding QuoteLinkA reply to: @JBOMBER regarding QuoteLinkA reply to: @Sloots regarding QuoteLinkA reply to: @Geoff Blethyn regarding QuoteLinkWill be interesting to see the list changes at the end of 2015.Fletcher, Winderlich and Chapman will almost certainly retire.
All of Pears, O’Brien, Melksham, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams, Kavanagh, and Edwards, plus rookies Aylett, Steinberg and McKernan need to perform this season to save their careers at Essendon. List-wise into the future it would be a disaster for Essendon if all of this cohort failed to produce.
Do people really think Melksham would be delisted with more than 100 games to his name before the age of 24?
Beat me to it. Sure, his development has been a little disappointing & frustrating but the only way he won’t be here again is 2016 is if he’s traded. The day we can afford to throw away a player like Melksham will be the day we need to build a bigger trophy room.
Well Geoff did say “to save their careers at Essendon”, which didn’t rule out trading.
In Melksham’s case his problem is that he’s a known quantity. Sure, he could have a break out year, or things could click for him in the VFL and he could demand a spot in the seniors. The problem is that fringe players get rotated, and there are a heap of players that haven’t been given the opportunities he has that need to be given a shot. If Melksham is behind Hocking/Stanton/Howlett/Myers, then he’s on the same rung as Gleeson/J. Merret/Kommer/Laverde/Browne/Kav who have more upside than him.
It wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the guys mentioned asked for a trade at the end of 2015, we just need to make sure we seperate the wheat from the chaff first.
I have an issue with this concept that these guys have “more upside” than Melksham. Whilst Melks was disappointing last year, he has still shown more to date than those mentioned (I am a massive Kommer fan, and also think Gleeson will be a good/great player for us). The fact is that none of those players you mention might kick on and become the players we want them to be. There is every possibility, given the failure rate of AFL footballers, that not one of them will be at the club next year except where their contract dictates otherwise. This idea that an untried footballer has more upside than a player with 100 odd games under his belt is slightly ludicrous. I put it in much the same category as all the posts extolling the virtues of Pears, where the truth is, that outside of half a dozen or so games in the seniors where he was very good, for the rest of his career he has been nothing more than mediocre. Melkshams best at this stage is still better than anything those other players have shown.
My reasoning is that players generally improve a lot in their first 50 or games and give you an idea of how good they can be. Sure some players might plod along and then explode later in their careers but it’s less likely.
The other guys might never be as good as Melksham but from what we’ve seen from Gleeson/J.Merret/Kommer in their limited appearances I think they are tracking to be much better than Melksham whose played 96 senior games.
I agree with you on Pears, unfortunately his injuries haven’t allowed him to progress as we predicted and even if he can get it right he’ll be way down the pecking order. I do seem to think that Hird was a fan so I guess we’ll see.
I note that a lot of the guys we think will struggle to make the team are doing really well in pre-season trials (Melk included), so we might be surprised with a few selections.
A reply to: @Darli regarding QuoteLink
I have no doubt Melksham plays differently for Hirdy, just as I have no doubt he'll be in our next Premiership team
FYI: Hird was coach in 2012.
Melksham may get a reprevial because of Hockings injury, but he’d be lucky.
He’s a long way off deserving to be in the 22.
win a flag and who cares how old they are !
A reply to: @Paul Peos regarding QuoteLink
A reply to: @Darli regarding QuoteLinkAssuming average form for him, he's about 5 spots out by my count. Problem is there's another 4-5 guys very very very close behind.I have no doubt Melksham plays differently for Hirdy, just as I have no doubt he'll be in our next Premiership teamFYI: Hird was coach in 2012.
Melksham may get a reprevial because of Hockings injury, but he’d be lucky.
He’s a long way off deserving to be in the 22.