Where are all the Benny bashers?

[RogueSwan]

Careful you don't trip over McVeigh on the way down though.

Unfortunately I have a soft spot for the poor little buggar.

[Bloody Hell]

Where are all the Benny bashers?

Watching....Waiting.....

In all seriousness I am as perplexed at his turnaround as the next Benny Basher. His role is simple enough, when he's doing it he's invisible....when he's not, well....

[ernie koala]

Have to disagree about this.... who do you drop first?
Grundy - yes
Bevan - yes
McVeigh - maybe
Crouch - on current form Mathews is probably ahead
Dempster - er, probably ahead of Mathews
then who? Buchanan is way out of form, but will be allowed to play himself back in while in the firsts. Richards? Has to stay in the squad while LRT is out.
Who do you reckon?

One of the usual suspects....ie your top 5!
But alas, I'm sure I'll have the displeasure of watching McVeigh in the 1's next week, he never gets dropped

[bandwagon]

For mine, there are about a dozen or more players in front of him to be dropped.

Have to disagree about this.... who do you drop first?
Grundy - yes
Bevan - yes
McVeigh - maybe
Crouch - on current form Mathews is probably ahead
Dempster - er, probably ahead of Mathews
then who? Buchanan is way out of form, but will be allowed to play himself back in while in the firsts. Richards? Has to stay in the squad while LRT is out.
Who do you reckon?

[Triple B]

I do, who else would we fill up five pages of petty disagreements on?


Paul Bevan, come on down...

Careful you don't trip over McVeigh on the way down though.

[NMWBloods]

I do, who else would we fill up five pages of petty disagreements on?


Paul Bevan, come on down...

[RogueSwan]

So does anyone else think we'd really miss Mathews?

I do, who else would we fill up five pages of petty disagreements on?





Paul Bevan, come on down...

[reigning premier]

Benny is THE Cortina..... And right now, he's getting back to his 2005 form which was great.

No. He's not one of our top 10 players. But he has been one of our better performers this year. For mine, there are about a dozen or more players in front of him to be dropped.

Glad to see him firing and glad he's in the team. He does make a difference and is a required player.

[Triple B]

The long-term gain is potentially large and the short-term loss is possibly not that big.

If we were really struggling or perhaps like Hawthorn, rebuilding strongly but not realistically a chance of winning a flag just yet, I'd be happy to agree.

However I have not given up on our chance of winning the flag this year and whilst the window of flag opportunity is still open, the 'short-term loss' you speak of may just be that small loss that sees us falling agonisingly short, again.

[NMWBloods]

I'm not saying that we should dump him now because he's doing a poor job, but rather I think we'd get more value out of bringing someone else in. The long-term gain is potentially large and the short-term loss is possibly not that big. I don't think we'd really miss him.

[liz]

He is definitely playing better than last year - which was an ordinary season by his standards. He's probably playing at a similar level to years before then.

I reckon he definitely deserves his spot at the moment. While we continue to have a short backline and lack of explosive spark in the midfield, Roos is not going to change his belief that the midfield's number one priority is to shut down opposition playmakers if the team is to win. I don't think there is anyone in the reserves with the body strength and fitness to do what Benny has done so far this year.

But I also agree that when he retires (or no longer deserves his spot), if he proves to be a hard player to replace, there is something wrong with the squad.

[Triple B]

Interesting. I don't think he's playing enormously differently or better than over much of the past few seasons. However, suddenly he's become nearly indispensable.

I've mentioned a number of times his good work as a defensive specialist, but there is still the potential liability of him being so focussed plus his offensive abiltiy is limited. I think the team could replace him without too much trouble within a reasonable time frame.

I don't believe he is playing differently in regards to role, but there's no doubt, IMO, that he is playing much better than last year at least.

Now there is a huge difference between 'would we miss him' and 'is he indispensable'. I don't really need to point out that nobody claimed he was nearly indispensable.

I also think 'the team could replace him without too much trouble within a reasonable time frame' but at the minute, I believe he'd be missed in the context of the role he plays.

[NMWBloods]

Interesting. I don't think he's playing enormously differently or better than over much of the past few seasons. However, suddenly he's become nearly indispensable.

I've mentioned a number of times his good work as a defensive specialist, but there is still the potential liability of him being so focussed plus his offensive abiltiy is limited. I think the team could replace him without too much trouble within a reasonable time frame.

[ScottH]

So what do you consider his role to be, and why could no one else play it?

Confuse the opposition, teammates, Umpires, Coaches, Crowds, commentators. - No body does it better.

But I do like Benny, as frustating as he is.

[Triple B]

So what do you consider his role to be, and why could no one else play it?

Tight, lock down and provide an experienced head.

The young guys you are all pining for to get a run in his place don't have the experienced head that Roos obviously wants and needs in the side. Their time will come and probably fairly soon, but at the moment Mathews is in good form and making a good fist of the role that the team wants him to play.