Originally Posted by
bloodspirit
I think a few posters on here are way too fickle, too impatient and too harsh on the young talent. Rowbottom is no Bailey Smith but he's a good player who is still developing. McCartin has done superbly as KPF still only 20 years old. We can't expect the world of him, especially in the absence of the senior forwards. The thing that chafes me about the comments is that we lost the game by just 6 points; if we had scored 10 more points - and if Buddy or Naismith had played we may well have done that - we wouldn't be hearing the griping and moaning going on. And it wouldn't mean the other players or coaching was suddenly any better. We don't have to look further back than our last match against Adelaide in Round 1 for a decent case study. We played well early and should have put them away but we didn't, and we let them come back and then just held on long enough to come away narrow winners.... and there was nowhere near the level of angst and misery on these boards. Yet the Crows aren't as good a side as Essendon and our performance in round 2 was at least on a par with our performance in round 1. But you'd never know that from all the carping.
I think the calls to blood young players have to factor in that we already have done that - our team is predominantly made up of young talent. We have to place faith in those that we have picked and give them time to develop. While I would like to give the new draftees a chance it's hard to figure out who to drop because either it's a young player who you want to back in or it's one of our relatively few senior players who you can't afford to lose. In any event, it seems likely that there will be a few injuries this year and plenty of opportunities for fringe players to get a run over the course of the season.
If Ronke comes in, it has to be for Gray. But I'm not expecting Ronke to offer a lot more. He's also young and while he is certainly talented, he has been inconsistent. Gray is a solid player who hasn't shone in the two opportunities he's had so far but it's too soon to write him off.
Yes, I'm being conservative and leaning to the status quo; but there's a fair bit to be said for stability and continuity and sticking fat rather than sending a third of the team through a revolving door every week. Especially when you're a young and developing side.
My two bob.
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