Three players who escape the spotlight

[Daytripper]

I find it ironic that players like Stanton and McPhee who put in 100% efforts basically every week are the first to blame for a loss yet these ones are seemeingly immune from any criticism ann they are very much responsible for losses like yesterday.

Lovett - people complain about Stanton not coping with a hard tag (whish is rubbish anyway) then what about Lovett. Form has been for a while now since opposion coaches started tightening up on him. Needs to lift badly.

Dempsey - 5 effective disposals yesterday which has capped off a bad two months with the exception of the Richmond game. Another who isn't being given the room he had before and it shows.

Pears - two very ordinary performances in a row now. Will be an excellent player but has the combination of a long season plus the return of Hurley made him go off a fraction ?

When we have Winders, Davey, Lloyd and McVeigh missing, performances from these three players are needed and they weren't there yesterday.

[Windas_Magic]

Both Dempsey and Pears have never played out a whole AFL season before so i would put a lot of it down to them tiring as the season goes on.

[Godzke]

Bit rich saying stanton and mcphee put in 100% commitment every week, but I see your point.

Stanton needs to improve his ball use and perhaps up his fitness base a bit so his effort matches his output.

Mcphee can turn it up on the day taking contested marks anywhere on the ground (not sure why we don't use him leading off half-forward) but has a tendency to make some bad mistakes. I also think he's one of those players who once the head is down it stays down.

[Daytripper]

If Dempsey and Pears are tiring then they should either be dropped or told to pull their fingers out and push themselves a bit.

As for Lovett, he just can't handle a tag - he needs to go to Stanton for advce on what to do.

[HighettBomber]

For a long time I have thought McPhee has been hard done by as he is an excellent athlete and very versatile, but the fact is he is a stupid fotballer and continually undoes all the good things with brain fades and skill errors. We need to get rid of him.

Stanaton is what he is, he is a great runner and can get loads of the ball. His disposal under pressure is poor but he does not do ridiculous things like miss handball targets by 2 metres. What he brings to the table far outweighs his deficiencies.

Dempsey and Pears get passes because they are inexperienced. We should not be relying on players with less than 20 games experience, but Pears is our main stopping tal defender and Dempsey is relied on to prov ide most of the run out of the backline because non of our other small defenders are capable.

[james_omahoney]

OP - You're probably close to the mark, but I would ease up on Pears. He's been a bit overrated this year (with the number of goals he concedes), but he's talented and tries his guts out and is still young. I think he needs more defensive coaching (such as how to not get caught off guard by the opponent so much).

Agree on Lovett and particularly Dempsey. Both these lads have periods where they're not giving 100%, more so than their teammates. Both very talented but defensive pressure isn't really up to scratch of late.

All in all, I think the main problem with us at the moment is mental weakness. I don't really buy into this whole thing about the team tiring as the season wears on. You can be tired but still put in the effort and get beaten, but getting beaten in contests because of lack of effort is something else.

I also think that when Lloyd returns he needs to be more selfish. We need him kicking goals, and I'm not sure being captain and playing the team game (moreso than his early years) gives us the points on the scoreboard that we need.

For the record, I agree McPhee tries hard, but he's lazy in terms of manning up sometimes, and he makes too many skill errors for my liking. I'd either play him up forward or as second ruckman (big call, i know) in Hooker's place. If he's going to be playing a defender's role then we might as well give him the flick - too much of a liability.

[High Ryder]

Lovett clearly wasn't fit after the massive corky he copped, shouldn't of come back on the ground. Selwood was quicker than him ffs.

[Daytripper]

Lovett clearly wasn't fit after the massive corky he copped, shouldn't of come back on the ground. Selwood was quicker than him ffs.

It wasn't just yesterday - been playing in fits and starts for a while now.

[EVERLAST]

Definitely McPhee, weak in contests, beaten often by opponents who can match him in size. Unable to lift when the game hangs in the balance.

Jetta won't be the star we hope him to be. Possible trade bait for WA side.

Hard to find a 3rd as they haven't escaped scrutiny. Perhaps Houli who has yet to live up the the hype but needs another season to press for selection before I pass judgement on his worth to our list.

[ant555]

I find it ironic that players like Stanton and McPhee who put in 100% efforts basically every week are the first to blame for a loss yet these ones are seemeingly immune from any criticism ann they are very much responsible for losses like yesterday.

Lovett - people complain about Stanton not coping with a hard tag (whish is rubbish anyway) then what about Lovett. Form has been for a while now since opposion coaches started tightening up on him. Needs to lift badly.

Dempsey - 5 effective disposals yesterday which has capped off a bad two months with the exception of the Richmond game. Another who isn't being given the room he had before and it shows.

Pears - two very ordinary performances in a row now. Will be an excellent player but has the combination of a long season plus the return of Hurley made him go off a fraction ?

When we have Winders, Davey, Lloyd and McVeigh missing, performances from these three players are needed and they weren't there yesterday.

Fair enough call. I was one who said we should have traded Lovett last year. He has played a lot more consistantly this year but he does have similar issues. He struggles to break free and he is also one of the offenders that has trouble finding his man. He needs to do more although he has copped an injury early in the game over the last two weeks.

Dempsey i agree with. He seems to be an untouchable. People give Hocking some stick about his disposal yet Dempsey the wonder kid who can run fast more often than not has a very ordinary disposal efficiency. He also has a problem of not being overly tight in defence which is a bit dangerous for a half back. His form has not been all that good at all and the lack of run from behind is part of the reason we have lost our spark.

Pears has struggled but it is no coindence that in the weeks the midfield has flopped badly our defenders have been under more pressure. We have a real issue as far as the lack of support our defenders get from their team mates. It annoys me that other sides can double team Lloyd and Lucas continually but we continue to leave our defenders stranded in one on one contests.

Iwill add another question mark here. Fletcher. The role they are trying to give him is back firing badly. At the moment he is zoning off opponents and while this is good at getting him possessions most weeks the opposition has worked it out and the player he is on is actually having a real influence on the game. They need to go back to him being a proper defender or play a 7 man defence. They can not continue to let him zone off.

[kelvin_sheedy]

It wasn't just yesterday - been playing in fits and starts for a while now.

That's because he's been carrying all the run in our midfield for the whole year.

It's taken it's toll and he's starting to feel the effects of a long season.

[Colin D'Cops]

Lovett wasn't at his best yesterday, I agree with that. Just didn't provide his usual run & carry game. I'm a little easy on him mainly because he hasn't had too many bad games and as such his consistency has improved which is a plus.

With Pears & Dempsey, I think they weren't as effective as we're used to but you can mainly put that down to the midfielders not working hard enough both ways.

[Daytripper]

Lovett wasn't at his best yesterday, I agree with that. Just didn't provide his usual run & carry game. I'm a little easy on him mainly because he hasn't had too many bad games and as such his consistency has improved which is a plus.

With Pears & Dempsey, I think they weren't as effective as we're used to but you can mainly put that down to the midfielders not working hard enough both ways.

Dempsey hasn't been effective for two months and whilst Lovett's best is fantastic he too often goes missing which I put down to him finding it hard to cope with taggers.

[Colin D'Cops]

Dempsey hasn't been effective for two months

That could come down to our midfielders not working hard enough also. When Dempsey gets the ball in the back half, he is normally under a fair bit of pressure and can be prone to turn it over a few times because most opposition midfielders push forward and create extra pressure. Not only that, the ball has come in the backline a fair bit in the past couple of months so there's definitely some added pressure right there to perform. Anyone & everyone would make mistakes in that environment.

I wouldn't put that down to it being mainly Demspey's fault, our midfielders need to mature and learn that when the ball's there to be won; you go in there and get it!
Clearances are gold. The umpires reward first in players, it's a well known fact. Not only that, but it gives us the chance to dictate play. We are not doing that at the moment.

[Phat Toni]

I find it ironic that players like Stanton and McPhee who put in 100% efforts basically every week are the first to blame for a loss yet these ones are seemeingly immune from any criticism ann they are very much responsible for losses like yesterday.

Lovett - people complain about Stanton not coping with a hard tag (whish is rubbish anyway) then what about Lovett. Form has been for a while now since opposion coaches started tightening up on him. Needs to lift badly.

Dempsey - 5 effective disposals yesterday which has capped off a bad two months with the exception of the Richmond game. Another who isn't being given the room he had before and it shows.

Pears - two very ordinary performances in a row now. Will be an excellent player but has the combination of a long season plus the return of Hurley made him go off a fraction ?

When we have Winders, Davey, Lloyd and McVeigh missing, performances from these three players are needed and they weren't there yesterday.

Add Paddy's name(and a couple of others) to that list and you have highlighted why we are 'running out of gas'. The fact is too many young players have been 'lumped' with big tasks for almost the whole year, they were always going to run out of legs and drop off late in the year. Paddy now looks a shadow of his former self, it's not necessarily his ruck work it's his 2nd efforts and ability to influence the clearances/contested footy. And you can talk about Pears and Hooker in the same way, both have had big roles right through the season, they were always going to wear out.

The way I see it is it isn't necessarily any individuals fault for the recent performances, early season injuries to Welsh, McVeigh, Prismall(recruited injured I know), Reimers and Fletcher have not only curtailed their ability to influence games on a consistent basis but also lumped big chunks of responsibility on younger players who haven't had the luxury of 3 to 4 pre seasons to carry the load right through. Then throw in key injuries to Hille, BigLazy and Gumby and all of a sudden you are stretching the young guys even further and putting extra pressure on the small group of senior players who are left that have played a significant amount of footy.

The fact is we are not going to make finals, that's not a surprise, but be happy that:
Pears - is a keeper no questions asked and he will be better for the experience from 2009
Hooker - also looks a keeper, a very nice surprise thankyou very much
Prismal - might just be the best 3rd round pick we ahave ever had!
Dempsey - Looks like he can actually play footy without getting injured, he will be stronger for his experience in 2009
Ryder - Just wow is all I can say, him and Hille playing together in 2010 will just about make us finals contenders by themselves.

+ some other good stories like (Hocking, Davey, Zaka, Hurley, Lovett and Dyson) all for different reasons.

There is no reason to write us off as a finals contender until 2015 as i have read in other areas, we have a lot to look forward to, just not this year :thumbsd:

[The Donners]

I find it ironic that players like Stanton and McPhee who put in 100% efforts basically every week are the first to blame for a loss yet these ones are seemeingly immune from any criticism ann they are very much responsible for losses like yesterday.

Lovett - people complain about Stanton not coping with a hard tag (whish is rubbish anyway) then what about Lovett. Form has been for a while now since opposion coaches started tightening up on him. Needs to lift badly.

Dempsey - 5 effective disposals yesterday which has capped off a bad two months with the exception of the Richmond game. Another who isn't being given the room he had before and it shows.

Pears - two very ordinary performances in a row now. Will be an excellent player but has the combination of a long season plus the return of Hurley made him go off a fraction ?

When we have Winders, Davey, Lloyd and McVeigh missing, performances from these three players are needed and they weren't there yesterday.

I completely disagree with your comment on Lovett. He's one of only 2 players in our team yesterday with a reliable disposal (the other being a 34 year old) and after copping a cork to the thigh (which BT said would prevent him coming back onto the ground) he couldn't run.

Dempsey is too light, that is his problem, he's pushed aside too easily - it's not rocket science. Pears doesn't have the leg speed to be playing the role he has been, I've said it all along. He'll be a class play when played correctly.

McVeigh has added little to the team and our run seems to disappear when he's in the side (it pains me to say as I'm a massive fan!)!

As for Davey, though he's coming back from a knee reco (and I commend that) his ball handling, decision making and disposal have been on the whole embarrassing. He's a 150k-a-year-tackler! Having said that, he's so good at it! Without him there yesterday Essendon were exposed for the front-runners they are, West Coast virtually walked out of defense from across the half-forward line to find 2-3 players 20-30 metres clear of their opponent.

Winderlich was sorely missed yesterday no doubt. You can always expect 100% from Winderlich, we had plenty who were running at 20%.

Though Ant mentions it from time to time, I just thought I'd reiterate something out of yesterdays game. Some of the marks McPhee drops are unforgivable and they cost us dearly.

[Phat Toni]

Dempsey is too light, that is his problem, he's pushed aside too easily - it's not rocket science. Pears doesn't have the leg speed to be playing the role he has been, I've said it all along. He'll be a class play when played correctly.

As for Davey, though he's coming back from a knee reco (and I commend that) his ball handling, decision making and disposal have been on the whole embarrassing. He's a 150k-a-year-tackler! Having said that, he's so good at it! Without him there yesterday Essendon were exposed for the front-runners they are, West Coast virtually walked out of defense from across the half-forward line to find 2-3 players 20-30 metres clear of their opponent.


I wonder if a switch forward for Dempsey would work? Maybe while Davey is out it's worth a shot.

[The Donners]

If Dempsey and Pears are tiring then they should either be dropped or told to pull their fingers out and push themselves a bit.

As for Lovett, he just can't handle a tag - he needs to go to Stanton for advce on what to do.

What is your love affair with Stanton, the guy is just short of complete shit! If you don't get the hard ball, you can't handle a tag, you don't attack the ball and you can't kick, that makes you shit. His saving grace, and his ONLY saving grace is his engine.

As for Lovett asking for Stanton for advice, you're kidding yourself. Lovett's already a soft outsider... though with exceptional pace and skills!!! :rolleyes:

[Phat Toni]

Dempsey is too light, that is his problem, he's pushed aside too easily - it's not rocket science. Pears doesn't have the leg speed to be playing the role he has been, I've said it all along. He'll be a class play when played correctly.

As for Davey, though he's coming back from a knee reco (and I commend that) his ball handling, decision making and disposal have been on the whole embarrassing. He's a 150k-a-year-tackler! Having said that, he's so good at it! Without him there yesterday Essendon were exposed for the front-runners they are, West Coast virtually walked out of defense from across the half-forward line to find 2-3 players 20-30 metres clear of their opponent.


I wonder if a switch forward for Dempsey would work? Maybe while Davey is out it's worth a shot.

[The Donners]

That's because he's been carrying all the run in our midfield for the whole year.

It's taken it's toll and he's starting to feel the effects of a long season.

Agreed. If we had decent skills and Essendon was a decent side, Lovett would look like one of the best players in the competition. Alas, we don't and we aren't.

[The Donners]

I wonder if a switch forward for Dempsey would work? Maybe while Davey is out it's worth a shot.

That, or Jetta. Though Jetta hasn't done enough from his opportunities at senior level, nor had Ryder until Hille went down. Some players get a free ride while others, i.e. Houli, get overlooked. Don't get me wrong either, I realise Houli has defficiencies but get me right on this, I was expecting a youth policy at Essendon (I'm sounding like a broken record, I've mentioned that 3 times in 2 weeks! :o).

[HFF_07]

Brent Stanton should be traded come seasons end, we could pick up a very good draft pick, for this once loved, budding 'superstar'

[The Donners]

Brent Stanton should be traded come seasons end, we could pick up a very good draft pick, for this once loved, budding 'superstar'

I wonder if St. Kilda will do a straight swap for Ball... in fact, maybe they'll throw in X Clarke for free.

[Daytripper]

What is your love affair with Stanton, the guy is just short of complete shit! If you don't get the hard ball, you can't handle a tag, you don't attack the ball and you can't kick, that makes you shit. His saving grace, and his ONLY saving grace is his engine.

As for Lovett asking for Stanton for advice, you're kidding yourself. Lovett's already a soft outsider... though with exceptional pace and skills!!! :rolleyes:

The fact of the matter is that Stanton gets tagged every single week and has got 20+ possessions (with the exception of 3 games) in every match. So he can handle a tag, he does get contested possessions (I think he is top 5 at our club at the moment) and his efficiency ranges in the 70-75 range which is basically par for a player whose major disposal type is kicking. How about watching him with an open mind next time.

Lovett has been getting tagged the last 2 months and IMO is not doing a very good job of handling it. He does need a lesson in handling a tag and as Stanton is probably the one player at our club who copes with it, then he should seek him out for advice.

I offered this bet to ant a few weeks ago but I am prepared to agree to a bet that Stanton will finish top 5 in our B&F. If he is so shite, the coaches will obviously recognise it and vote accordingly. Or do you know more than they do ?
Money where mouth is please.

And secondly, if again he is so shite, then why do coaches always tag him ?
Are they all incompetant as well ?

Anyway back to OP - why does Dempsey get off so lightly ?
Have never seen a post from you on him and his performances are at about 25% that of Stanton's the last 2 months.
Or were you happy with the 5 effective possessions playing as basically a loose man in defense yesterday ?

[Knight Ryders]

We need to keep Stanton imo. What is laughable for us and our midfield is that he attracts the No.1 tag nearly every week. We need some better players in our midfield so he is not getting tagged. He could be very effective as our 3-5th ranked midfielder. We know he can find a crap load of it when he isn't tagged.

The queries of Pears in the last few weeks is unjustified imo because like Ant has said, our midfield pressure has dropped significantly which has meant our backline has been exposed. Very hard to play in a backline when good, fast ball is coming in. FCS, Maxwell looks like a star this year because of the team defence that Collingwood is implementing.

[GoldenboyHird_5]

the key with Stanton and Essendon is that if he is our BEST midfielder, then we are in trouble.

Not saying that we should cut him, but we need to find guys that exceed his ilk very quickly.

[Bombermania]

I agree there are times Essendon supporters take it out on Stanton, I know last year after the round three game against Carlton, I was very unimpressed and i sit with essendon mates who bag him but in my view Stanton has improved greatly over the past three years.

There are guys in this side that excape attention, Lovett had a good first half of the season but appears to have fallen back into last seasons form maybe injuries are to blame for this.

Pears is going okay and will be a good player.

I would rather us pay attention to the guys who have let the side down this year, Mark McVeigh, this is the same boke who at the end of last season made a big speech about wanting finals footy, I am left asking the question what the heck has happened.

McPhee really needs to get his act together, i get frustrated with him for i know he can be a great player but he seems to drop too many uncontested marks.

Daveys, look i love the guy but he needs to learn to take position of the ball before taking off, and please o please why does he try to outmark guys way bigger than him, as i say he is one of my favorites but i wish he had a little more pose.

I think NLM has been better than last season.

All up we have improved on last season and whilst i am disappointed with the past two weeks at least we know we are heading in the right direction.

[HighettBomber]

I wonder if St. Kilda will do a straight swap for Ball... in fact, maybe they'll throw in X Clarke for free.

I'd much rather Stanton, Ball always has been and always will be very average.

[yaco55]

The fact of the matter is that Stanton gets tagged every single week and has got 20+ possessions (with the exception of 3 games) in every match. So he can handle a tag, he does get contested possessions (I think he is top 5 at our club at the moment) and his efficiency ranges in the 70-75 range which is basically par for a player whose major disposal type is kicking. How about watching him with an open mind next time.

Lovett has been getting tagged the last 2 months and IMO is not doing a very good job of handling it. He does need a lesson in handling a tag and as Stanton is probably the one player at our club who copes with it, then he should seek him out for advice.

I offered this bet to ant a few weeks ago but I am prepared to agree to a bet that Stanton will finish top 5 in our B&F. If he is so shite, the coaches will obviously recognise it and vote accordingly. Or do you know more than they do ?
Money where mouth is please.

And secondly, if again he is so shite, then why do coaches always tag him ?
Are they all incompetant as well ?

Anyway back to OP - why does Dempsey get off so lightly ?
Have never seen a post from you on him and his performances are at about 25% that of Stanton's the last 2 months.
Or were you happy with the 5 effective possessions playing as basically a loose man in defense yesterday ?

You must be watching a different game to me.

The opposition tag Lovett first and then tag Stanton.

I have been surprised how well Lovett has coped with a tag, which is something that he could show Stanton.

[Daytripper]

You must be watching a different game to me.

The opposition tag Lovett first and then tag Stanton.

I have been surprised how well Lovett has coped with a tag, which is something that he could show Stanton.

If I posted statistics from Rd 6 this year (when Lovett started getting attention), would you change your mind ?

Will include effective disposals, tackles and contested possessions.

[yaco55]

The three players mentioned

- I think that Lovett has been incredibly consistent this year. I can think of only one bad game for the year - yesterday was very average. My concern is that he doesn't appear to have impacted on games like in previous years. It may he has traded brilliance for consistency.

- Pears will probably be an A Grade defender. He has developed sensationally for a second year player and the future looks bright. He has been poor in 2 of the last 5 games and average in another.

-Dempsey has had an inconsistent season. He was poor in the first 3 games ,then had an excellent 6 or 7 games, and has been average to poor in the last 6 to 8 games. I have found that he is good form when he is flying third man up for marks which has been missing from his play in the last few weeks. Overall it has been a solid season and he will most likely be part of our next premiership team.

I had to laugh at the comment about McPhee missing easy marks each game. He does tend to miss about 2 sodas per game but he is criticised, and the forwards are let off scott free. There was 2 incidents in the last quarter - Lovett missed an easy mark in the goalsquare and one where Hooker and another player could have raflled a mark in the left forward pocket in the last quarter. The only player I feel confident about taking a contested type mark in the forward line is Neagle.

[HFF_07]

Dont think people watch that much football, because my views the last few weeks has been that Stanton has played more off the points of the square than actually in in, therefore meaning he is not an onballer, his disposal count is up on his much malinged 2008, he averages 25 touches a game, but honestly how many of them are actually damaging, a 15 possesion game from Andrew Lovett, or a 25 possesion game from Brent Stanton? who would you prefer, since Brent Prismal has come into the side, he has taken Brent's position in the midfield, I just think that we could seriously think about trading Brent Stanton, first rounder at least, have posed this question to a few of my mates, and they would all offer at least a first rounder, everytime he gains possesion of the ball I sometimes cringe at what he is going to do with is, he is a really good player dont get me wrong, but everytime he gets the ball I think Travis Johnston, someone who is apparently a beautiful user of the ball, that often lets his teammates down with his disposal, stats can fool you, they do tell lies, they count handballs and kicks, count how many times he will miss a target 40 meters away, I am not saying go ahead and trade him, but simply, what could we get for him?

[Bombermania]

I had to laugh at the comment about McPhee missing easy marks each game. He does tend to miss about 2 sodas per game but he is criticised, and the forwards are let off scott free. There was 2 incidents in the last quarter - Lovett missed an easy mark in the goalsquare and one where Hooker and another player could have raflled a mark in the left forward pocket in the last quarter. The only player I feel confident about taking a contested type mark in the forward line is Neagle.


I have not overlooked the forwards and their inability to lead and take marks. I have nearly all season been disappointed at the static forward-line and how frustrating it has been watching for the number of times we have had the numbers in the mid-field only to look forward and see little to no movement.

Our forwards have for the most part played from behind and we seem to have too many players going to the same spot creating overcrowding, another problem and it has been a little better than last year and that is the ease at which the ball is cleared from our forward line

[flow_ryder]

I have not overlooked the forwards and their inability to lead and take marks. I have nearly all season been disappointed at the static forward-line and how frustrating it has been watching for the number of times we have had the numbers in the mid-field only to look forward and see little to no moment.

Our forwards have for the most part played from behind and we seem to have too many players going to the same spot creating overcrowding, another problem and it has been a little better than last year and that is the ease at which the ball is cleared from our forward line


Why isn't Lovett-Murray he is a pile of shit

[The Donners]

The fact of the matter is that Stanton gets tagged every single week and has got 20+ possessions (with the exception of 3 games) in every match. So he can handle a tag, he does get contested possessions (I think he is top 5 at our club at the moment) and his efficiency ranges in the 70-75 range which is basically par for a player whose major disposal type is kicking. How about watching him with an open mind next time.

Lovett has been getting tagged the last 2 months and IMO is not doing a very good job of handling it. He does need a lesson in handling a tag and as Stanton is probably the one player at our club who copes with it, then he should seek him out for advice.

You are watching a completely different game to me. Only 3 games with fewer than 20 possessions and in two of those he kicked 2 goals and 3 goals. In the other game, against WCE, he copped a cork as I've already said. 15 possessions from Lovett is worth more than 30 possessions from Stanton. I don't care what the statistics say, Stanton's possessions are largely ineffective or for a better word, unproductive.

I offered this bet to ant a few weeks ago but I am prepared to agree to a bet that Stanton will finish top 5 in our B&F. If he is so shite, the coaches will obviously recognise it and vote accordingly. Or do you know more than they do ?
Money where mouth is please.

Who cares where he finishes in the B&F, that says nothing about his ability. You've got to realise that Stanton is not the answer.

And secondly, if again he is so shite, then why do coaches always tag him ?
Are they all incompetant as well ?

Tell me who has tagged him.

Anyway back to OP - why does Dempsey get off so lightly ?
Have never seen a post from you on him and his performances are at about 25% that of Stanton's the last 2 months.
Or were you happy with the 5 effective possessions playing as basically a loose man in defense yesterday ?

I've been a massive fan of Dempsey since he arrived at the club. It's his first full season. He's got twice as much ability as Stanton, twice as much speed and his natural skills are far better. Given another pre-season and some bulk and he'll be a brilliant utility in the true sense of the word, switching between forward, back and the midfield.

[The Donners]

I'd much rather Stanton, Ball always has been and always will be very average.

Yeah, Stanton is a superstar...........

Are you suggesting Stanton is better than Ball??? Hahahahaha

[yaco55]

I rate Stanton and Ball on a par.

Ball is a tad over rated.

[Bombermania]

Yeah, Stanton is a superstar...........

Are you suggesting Stanton is better than Ball??? Hahahahaha


According to supercoach Stanton outscores Bell

[yaco55]

I have not overlooked the forwards and their inability to lead and take marks. I have nearly all season been disappointed at the static forward-line and how frustrating it has been watching for the number of times we have had the numbers in the mid-field only to look forward and see little to no moment.

Our forwards have for the most part played from behind and we seem to have too many players going to the same spot creating overcrowding, another problem and it has been a little better than last year and that is the ease at which the ball is cleared from our forward line

We pretty much agree.

I believe it is essential to play McPhee at half forward.

His hard running and leading creates spce in the forward line.

Additionally because he is often hit up - His opponent is forced to chase McPhee out of the 50.

[Daytripper]

Yeah, Stanton is a superstar...........

Are you suggesting Stanton is better than Ball??? Hahahahaha

If you think Stanton's disposal is poor, you will be having epileptic fits watching Ball butcher it.

There's a reason why he can't get a game at St Kilda ahead of guys like Raph Clark and McQualter at the moment. He can't kick.

[Seb78]

I find it ironic that players like Stanton and McPhee who put in 100% efforts basically every week are the first to blame for a loss yet these ones are seemeingly immune from any criticism ann they are very much responsible for losses like yesterday.

Lovett - people complain about Stanton not coping with a hard tag (whish is rubbish anyway) then what about Lovett. Form has been for a while now since opposion coaches started tightening up on him. Needs to lift badly.

Dempsey - 5 effective disposals yesterday which has capped off a bad two months with the exception of the Richmond game. Another who isn't being given the room he had before and it shows.

Pears - two very ordinary performances in a row now. Will be an excellent player but has the combination of a long season plus the return of Hurley made him go off a fraction ?

When we have Winders, Davey, Lloyd and McVeigh missing, performances from these three players are needed and they weren't there yesterday.

Spot on! I agree with the above 100%, slightly harsh on Pears & Dempsey I feel. But for Mcphee, Stanton etc I have no idea why they are so protected from criticism especially the former.

[Hirdman]

Stanton weapons are the fact that he is a great gut runner, finds space, picks up ball and he has a long if inconsitent kick. Although he just doesnt run the other way unfortunately Jobe doesnt run the other way, Lovett doesnt run the other way and thats 3 of our starting 6.

McPhee works his arse off and wins some wonderful and tough ball, takes a great mark, competes et.... he just has consistently awful brainfades and for someone of his experience it isnt good enough.

[The Donners]

If you think Stanton's disposal is poor, you will be having epileptic fits watching Ball butcher it.

There's a reason why he can't get a game at St Kilda ahead of guys like Raph Clark and McQualter at the moment. He can't kick.

Seriously, Stanton would not get a game ahead of Ball. Ball gets his own... err... ball.

I'm not having this conversation, Ball is way better than Stanton regardless of Ball being overrated.

[The Donners]

According to supercoach Stanton outscores Bell

Firstly, we were talking about Ball, secondly, you are kidding aren't you bringing supercoach scores into the equation?

[Bombermania]

Firstly, we were talking about Ball, secondly, you are kidding aren't you bringing supercoach scores into the equation?

Desperate might be the word

[The Donners]

Desperate might be the word

Touche!

[Knight Ryders]

If we are talking about Luke Ball of 2005, he is far better than Stanton. Luke Ball of 2006+ is not as good as Stanton. The only reason you would want to trade Stanton is if you think you could get a better player than him. I think that would equate to a top 4-5 pick in the hope that we could get a Trengove, Scully etc.

Stanton will be a very good player for us if we are as good as I think we can be in 3-4 years time. He could very easily recipricate what Swan is doing at Collingwood.

Stanton has actually coped with the tag better than he did last year, but sometimes I think Knights tries to protect him with the tag by playing HF etc., when he could be rotating him more or just putting it on him to outrun in the guts.