Luke I don't have favourites when it comes to players. each player is only as good as heir last game as far as I'm concerned. But adding up the games and seeing the picture take shape and dimension is also wonderful. The whole of a players career might come down to a goal missed or got in the last minute of a Grand Final. But to compare a first year player, who by the way is averaging just under 2 goals a game, to experienced players, especially Bruest, is just ridiculous. He is going to make blues as he develops but he gets the job done. But I will say I don't think Bruest would have kicked 5 with the same opportunities Papley has had. He might have made the most of several and kicked one or two more if that, his kicking is a bit off at the moment. I think he has been a pretty good opportunist. As for comparing him to Rohan and Macca, who in my humble opinion should play back as it was his going back yesterday that really got our blokes charged. Rohan, while he is a great competitor doesn't kick a lot of goals and his delivery is sometimes much worse than Papley's.
As for Rohan coming back he has to earn his spot the same as everybody else. The same applies to Sam Reid, get match fitness in the reserves and then we'll see. There is only one walk up starter as far as I'm concerned and that is Buddy. The only reason I have him in that category is his billion dollar price tag and the fact he puts bums on seats. People literally go to the footy to see him play. If that wasn't the case I wouldn't have any automatic starters. If a player is out of form he should be dropped. If another player is in good form in the reserves, no matter who he is, even rookies if we have the capacity to upgrade them, he should be played. BJ and Rose are obviously playing well but so are Towers and Davis but you don't mention either of them. A little BJ and Rose bias perhaps?
I don't have favourites as I have said but I sometimes like the way a player goes about his job. Examples of this are Parker, Rampe, Reg, AJ (when he played), Smithy (his game was very good against Essendon), Mitch, Franklin, Heens, Mills. I like a little less Hannaberry & JPK mainly because they bake the ball too much for my liking. Love their ability to get plenty would just love better ball usage. Mitch suffers that too a bit but not as badly as the other two. If JPK had 80% efficiency I reckon you could put an extra 5-6 goals to the score, same with Hannas. Then again I suppose 20 out of 40 efficient disposals is pretty good just by sheer numbers but 36 would be better.
Play of the day. Ballet on grass. A useful move that could be added to Sinclair's game:
TubeChop - Chop YouTube Videos
Aside from that, there's a lot to get excited about with the reserves side.
Davis will be a cracker. He's such a natural footballer and can play anywhere on the ground.
Marsh has become a real solid player. He has a lot of the same attributes as Rampe.
With Newman and O'Riordan both looking good we have plenty to choose from in that mid sized defender category.
We could bring in Rose any time and I'm sure he'd do fine.
Matt Wilson looks a promising small forward. If he keeps going like he is atm I wouldn't be surprised if we took him as a rookie this year.
Naismith easily outplayed Tom Nicholls, who played some decent games for the Suns. I'm not sure if it's just because Nicholls is down. But Naismith looks to have what it takes to be an AFL ruckman. He just needs to string some games together.
See, when you mentioned Sinclair at the top of your post, I just assumed that you had moved on from Derickx. But of course, I should have known better.
Ohhh, why are people so unkind!??
But football wise, I have been impressed by what I've seen of O'Riordan. He seems both hard at the ball and already skillful. I've also liked the little bit that I've seen of Wilson. And in the little bit of what I saw of the Suns game on the weekend, Jordan Foote was busy and doing some good things.
Our list depth has come on really well this year but Davis, O'Riordan and Naismith are three players that I believe can also make the step up.
It gets us very close to that number of 30 genuine senior footballers you hear bandied about. From the 22 last night we had four genuine first teamers out - Reid, Rohan, Ted and Talia. I'd also qualify Towers which leaves you with 27. BJ is borderline in my opinion but with AA and those three developing it gets us close.
Surely our first pick this year at the draft is a KPD, geez we are light on there
I believe that these players are growing in stature due to one man, Rhyce Shaw. I love the way he has combined defensive skills and attacking forwards plays into the game. He is looking a very good Coach and a possible AFL coach. Something I would never of picked in 100 years given his early adult misdemeanors at collingwood.
Saturday's game was the most cohesive I've seen a reserves team play. Shawly Shaw deserves much credit for the performance this year. It's hard to say how much credit should go to the top ups training with the regulars as well as our small injury list. The standard of the playing group as a whole is quite good. Only Galloway looks out of his depth.
"I'll acknowledge there are more talented teams in the competition but I won't acknowledge that there is a better team in the competition" Paul Roos March 2005
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