meltiger said:
OK, I will admit I took licence, what I read was getting beaten by midfielders, not last week.
It happened once, against Polo, on his first game back, and even then he still could've kicked 3-4. In his other 3 games for Box Hill this season he's kicked 6, 4 & 4 respectively. Should be back in the top grade this week, unless suspended.
meltiger said:
Dowler's fit? That's good news, I've never had a problem with Dowler. But Lance is injured again eh? Hmmm at what point do we start bagging the kid off the way Richie got slandered by all and sundry last year?
Dowler looked real deal to me, even though he can do with a few extra kilos. Lacks the more physical style of Kennedy and the extra height of Clark, but of the five main talls from the last draft, appears to read the play the best and make best position. Clark will be excellent I'm sure, but having watched the Crash Bandicoot (as raw as he is) in action, I feel more relieved at overlloking the big West Aussie. I'd be surprised if the Bandicoot didn't get a Hawthorn HFF gig before the year is out.
I thought far too much was read into Tambling's hamstring problems last year.
meltiger said:
*sigh* Mitchell Clarke again ... Some teams Kev, don't feel they need to spend almost every draft pick on KPP. At this stage, we have Cleve, Jay, Adam & Will who all will make it. We also have young Limbach and McGuane at Coburg who are starting to have an impact. Will they both make it? Possibly not, but they have made great strides since Terry came on board.
Its not about spending "every" draft pick on a KPP, its about realising that a) your club doesn't have enough of them (in quality terms); b) recognising that almost invariably, you need to get them with early picks to get the quality options; and c) understanding that Clark was the best option available fullstop by pick 8 (with the possible exception of Hurn).
I think Cleve & Jay will get there, Pattison is unlikely (and won't be a first choice top option) and Thursfield remains just a possibility at this point. Even in the unlikely event that all 6 would make it, you would still be 1 short (in the imediate term) and 3 down in the medium term (with Richo & Gaspar having limited shelf lives ahead).
Overlooking Clark for JON was inadvisable at pick 8, and the Tigers were exceedingly lucky that the Bulldogs and Geelong (the latter were particularly daft) overlooked Hughes, mitigating the Tiger error.
meltiger said:
With Adam at CHF, he possibly won't make it there, although you as well as anyone knows KPP don't come through until their 3rd year at best usually.
Yes, but the signs are almost always there earlier. If a player's reaction time and below the knee work is well off at this stage, it will almost certainly remain off.
meltiger said:
I would have thought long term, Adam would most likely play as a ruckmen as you say. Why TW touts him as a CHF I do not know, but then again, we are not the ones paid the big bucks to develop/coach the club. He may know something we don't.
I think its called only having certain cattle to play with and hoping like hell. I suspect that Wallace trying to turn Pattison into a CHF is the Richmond equivalent of Clarkson trying to turn Dawson into a FB. The latter is in the better position, if only because FB is technically easier to play than CHF, providing the FB in question has his body right.
meltiger said:
As I said before though, I wouldn't be upset to see Jay take CHF, the kid can play and has been held back by a combination of a bad attitude and injuries. From all reports though, his attitude improved out of sight last year when it became clear Terry wasn't going to play him in seniors until he put the work in. His injury this year - He got cleaned up in a text book Aaron Hammil special. Pure bad luck than anything. By the end of the season, Jay will have cemented his spot in the team.
The jury remains out on Schulz, although I suspect he has more potential for making it than not making it. I'd try him again up forward, although if Richmond persist with the Richo obsession, they'll most likely cruel him again. I think his struggles up forward in the past haven't been helped at all by Richmond directing 95% of through ball to Richo.
meltiger said:
Richmond's KPP stocks are not as bad as people make out. If we pick up another gun this year, then we should be set.... Without Mithcell Clarke.
That's a big "if". You take the talented talls high when they're on offer and you can get them.
meltiger said:
Another later thought, we keep talking about CHF ... Cleve was the U18 CHF, why couldn't he be our long term CHF? Kicked 4 goals today for the Burgers at CHF. McGuane was in the bests too.
Absolutely.
Looks a fine prospect at CHF. the thought of having him out at CHF and Clark working the goal square would definitely get me excited.
