Definitely good enough and hard enough, as he showed last year before his injury. Not that anything less than being the Dangerfield will change your mind Nico
"Fortunately, this is the internet, so knowing nothing is no obstacle to having an opinion!." Beerman 18-07-2017
Stop Trolling Nico!
Harry's progress has been held back by missing too many training sessions due to visiting children in hospital. I've suggested that Matt Ling be slowly groomed to take over some of Harry's responsibilities, but not groomed by Jordan Foote. Jordan can drive Matt to hospital and wait in the car until he's done.
Very much agree with this assessment as to where the 2 Harrys an Robbo stand in the pecking order.
Nico and Nephew
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Are you sure that isn't the two latest appointees to the AFL tribunal?
Based on the pre-season so far or at least best early season 22 to be:
B: Nick Smith, Heath Grundy, Dane Rampe
HB: Jake Lloyd, Lewis Melican, Callum Mills
C: Dan Hannebery, Josh Kennedy, Zak Jones
HF: Isaac Heeney, Sam Reid, Oliver Florent
F: Will Hayward, Lance Franklin, Tom Papley
R: Sam Naismith, Luke Parker, George Hewett
I: Gary Rohan, Dean Towers, Aliir Aliir, Kieran Jack
Fox, Newman, Sinclair would be emergencies.
I�d prefer to keep McVeigh on the sidelines ready to play if and when injuries, niggles hit.
I can't see them going in with Reg, Aliir and Melican. Not with Rampe too. In theory Rampe could be freed up to be more rebounding with three genuine talls, but he's so good as the general in defence, even when also playing on someone much bigger than he is, that it seems a waste to sacrifice run for additional height.
I used to marvel at how good Craig Bolton was as a one-on-one defender while also organising and rebounding. I remember the games just after he injured himself for the final time. Our defence looked so shambolic. Rampe is the current day Bolton. He may not be quite as good as Bolton on the bigger forwards but he's a better kick. And to think he came to us via the circular route and the rookie list. We have many very valuable "diamonds from the rough" on our list at the moment but he's the most valuable of the lot.
But he doesn't need to be a McVeigh replacement. I reckon what he already does in the backline is more valuable than McVeigh's recent role. That isn't intended to denigrate McVeigh but it does recognise that his recent role is designed to make the best use of his remaining strengths while leaving his loss of pace not too exposed. Sometimes it has been exposed and he's been moved during a game. But his main weakness over the last two to three years is his physical durability. He's just not been there as much as we (and he) would like.
Rampe is already as good an organiser as McVeigh. Maybe he doesn't quite have the McVeigh's vision of what is available up the ground but his reading of what is coming towards him is superior. He's quicker. He's taller and plays even taller than his height. And while his short kicking may not have McVeigh's finesse, his long kicking has more penetration.
I know I don't need to persuade you on Rampe's merits. I'm just arguing that becoming a "McVeigh replacement" is a backward step (for him and the team), based on McVeigh's recent role.
You are probably right. What a nice position we are in though. It is so so tough to pick a side right now without leaving out genuine first graders. For this reason, I�m hoping that Hanners, Grundy, McVeigh et al are not rushed back into the side and are given all the time they need to be ready.
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