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teak
10 Jan 2010, 20:17
Been a bit of a gap between threads, but such is life. Mixture of work and holidays is to blame. Been more calls for footy talk so I thought another was in order so here you go. If you want more player reviews, let me know, if not feel free to tell me to stfu:)

Dempsey, Courtenay
#15
Height: 186cm
Weight: 82kg
BMI ([W(kg)]/[H(m)^2]): 23.7
DOB: 28/08/1987
Age as of 01/01/2010: 22.3
Games: 30
Goals: 10
Contracted until the end of: 2012
Taken with selection 19 in the 2005 National Draft

2009 Stats:
20 matches
319 disposals
Ave: 16
17 long kicks
86 short kicks
36 ineffective kicks
11 clanger kicks
169 handballs
140 effective handballs
139 handballs received
4 contested marks
65 uncontested marks
36 hard-ball gets
51 loose-ball gets
4 intended-ball gets
11 frees for
9 frees against
1 hit-out
6 clearances
32 inside 50s
Ave: 1.6
46 rebound 50s
Ave: 2.3
7 goals
6 behinds

Description:
Dempsey is a very fast backman who provides run out of defence that is an integral part of our fast paced style of play. He is able to cover short distances in an extremely short period of time, but at times lacks endurance to run out entire games. He has pretty good skills, and is not afraid to put his body on the line. Recruited at the end of 2005, Courtenay moved down from the Queensland and there was a lot of expectation riding on him. [As with any low selection in the National Draft.] Unfortunately he managed just 10 games in his first 3 years of football constantly frustrating fans. [Sound like anyone else?] This was not due to lack of form, but injuries that kept him from getting any consistency or playing at all. He seems to have injured anything you could think of, and I just hope that he can put it behind him and play his exciting brand of football.
Another AFL player to have a daughter. Congratulations to him, but would love more Dempseys running around for the Dons. But should help with his development being a father.

Season Review:
As stated previously, was marred by injury in his first few years, but was able to triple his game tally in his fourth year, and find some good consistency. So it was most pleasing to actually see him on the paddock. He has cemented himself in the roll of being an offensive defender, and provided great attack from half-back. Even though he has had so many injuries so early in his career, it was still good to see him put his body on the line and go for the hard ball. I can’t remember for sure, but I think it was the first Richmond game [Dream Time] and he crashed into a pack, and straight away I cringed thinking he was going to break in half, but he came out with the ball. Good stuff to see.
He was signed on for a further 3 years this year, keeping him at the club until 2012 at least. Being from Queensland, the lure of the Gold Coast may have also influenced this decision, but also the fact he had a pretty solid year.
At times he failed to keep running until the very end of the games, particularly towards the end of the year. But on the whole, he was pretty good in terms of skills and also managed to do defend well while providing that run and carry. Some memorable games for Dempsey would include the Carlton game in Round 3 [Just kept on running!], the Saints game in Round 8 and the Dreamtime game in Round 9 against Richmond. He was getting into some ripper form in the middle of the season, until he hurt his ankle in Round 9. Wasn’t a terrible injury, but I am sure that most Essendon supporters were worried. He did come back in round 11, but didn’t seem to have the same spark. He still played well but slowed towards the end of the season. He then missed Rounds 21 and 22 with a hamstring injury, that again, I was pessimistic about. But came back for a final that doesn’t need a mention.
Finished 16th in the Crichton Medal with 127 out of a possible 800 votes. Was equal 4th for Rebound 50’s.

2010 Aims:
Have a twin sons. Play another full season keeping injury free. Has to get fitter so he can keep the intensity up for a full 4 quarters. I haven’t been to any number of trainings this year, but in previous years he seemed to be a bit of a ‘lazy’ trainer. Can anyone confirm/deny this? If he still is a bit lazy, I would like to see him work that bit harder at training.
His skills are pretty good, but I would like his accuracy in front of goal to get a little better, as he isn’t there all that much, and needs to nail them when he can.
With a more settled defence/team, I think that Dempsey will have more inside 50’s and rebounding 50’s as they learn to cover each other better, and learn the game plan well.

Overview:
The great James Hird described Dempsey as the most exciting thing going through Essendon last year. His team mates also seem to think he is something special, and I tend to agree. Very exciting prospect, and looking for him to improve on his solid 2009.Should be coming into his prime at Essendon’s next premiership. I’m more excited than Big Kev. [RIP]

My rating: 7.5/10

Some questions for those playing at home:

Rate his 2009 /10

How many games in 2010?

What aspects of his game does he need to change/improve apon?

Has he found his calling as a attacking half-back, or could he move somewhere else? Eg: midfield, where he played his junior days.

Not too much of him on youtube, without looking at the entire games. If anyone has some good footage of him, please post. I'm on capped, so can't search youtube too much.:thumbsd:
Also any good pics of him would be good.:thumbsu:

tmrAYay72nU
more of this

KwmFJVQUnHQ
pretty mental:p

http://i891.photobucket.com/albums/ac116/teakm/Essendon%202009/rd19_2009_7.jpg

http://i891.photobucket.com/albums/ac116/teakm/Essendon%202009/rd23_2009_18.jpg

http://i891.photobucket.com/albums/ac116/teakm/Essendon%202009/rd12_2009_7.jpg

Godzke
10 Jan 2010, 20:41
Good effort teak. Probably our best HBFer and if he can put behind him an ordinary second half of 2009 after blitzing the first then he should be a chance to become a superstar for us. Hugely talented and like many of our younger blokes I'm glad his injury worries are over ... for now anyway.

centrelink1
10 Jan 2010, 20:44
Great review teak, and James Hird wasn't far off, he certainly had a good season. I think most fans would have im in their starting 22.

zen dice man
10 Jan 2010, 21:34
WTF 82kg? Ok they may publish that,but we all know that ain't the truth. He is closer to 75kg if that...

I like Dempsey. I can feel another " this guy is going to become elite ( or this guys is the A grader we need) thread coming on.

He was good last year, but at most high 6's not 7.5.
Why don't we just give everyone a 5 or above.

yaco55
10 Jan 2010, 22:05
You have to be happy with 2009 considering where he came from in the previous 3 years.

My impression is they he played within himself at times as though he wasn't sure about his hamstrings.

Positive qualities

- good speed
- can run the lines
- usually good vision
- disposal is good without being brilliant
- usually a good ball handler
- strong overhead
- willing to leave man to help other defenders

Negative qualities

- needs to push his body more
- bit loose in defence at times
- prone to lose concentration

In summary, Dempsey is a loose checking defender ( most teams have one ) who can set up numerous attacks with his rebounds from the defensive 50. A vital player if we are to continue our march up the AFL ladder.

BringBackCransberg
10 Jan 2010, 22:37
[...]
I like Dempsey. I can feel another " this guy is going to become elite ( or this guys is the A grader we need) thread coming on.
[...]

I reckon he's more likely than any other Essendon player to win a Brownlow in 2011-2014.
(A big reason for that belief is what ant555 said in his crystal ball post - something like he could be the best player on our list by the end of 2010. That mobilised the massive hopes I've got for him. Your pets will know his name.)

Thanks heaps teak.

centrelink1
10 Jan 2010, 23:43
Why don't we just give everyone a 5 or above.

Why don't we just nitpick at every little detail we don't agree with....

zen dice man
11 Jan 2010, 04:42
Why don't we just nitpick at every little detail we don't agree with....

Nitpicking? Pfffffft - call it honesty

such generous interpretations of our list don't help the team, it leads to delusion & disbelief when we fail to advance.

If Dempsey is 7.5 - how do we rate Ryder or Pears? Were they both 10's in 09? No that's simply not true.

I would like the scores we give our players to be comensurate with where the team is at in terms of the AFL not some bigfooty fairyland. Perhaps we already have a premiership team, I just don't know it yet..

Dempsey was good in 09 as mentioned & could have a lot of upside however interms of the rest of the AFL he is a fairly unproven good half back flanker.

James Hird got it wrong IMO when he said he was te most exciting player going round at Essendon ATM. Hurley is, followed by Pears & Ryder.

Godzke
11 Jan 2010, 06:04
WTF 82kg? Ok they may publish that,but we all know that ain't the truth. He is closer to 75kg if that...

I like Dempsey. I can feel another " this guy is going to become elite ( or this guys is the A grader we need) thread coming on.

He was good last year, but at most high 6's not 7.5.
Why don't we just give everyone a 5 or above.
75 is what bombersfc website says... 82 according to essendonfc which I trust more. He's definitely put on some bulk. I don't see, from those pictures, how he weighs only 75kg for a 186cm bloke.

Slattery_20
11 Jan 2010, 09:36
His shoulders and hips look about as "huge" as mine, upper body not much different, I'm 68kg & 180cm. I'm 64kg fit. It's possible.

As for how highly we rate him, he can easily chop up an attack and run it 50m up the ground. There's a bit to work on, needs more consistency obviously, but there's a lot of talent there.

Kong
11 Jan 2010, 11:16
His shoulders and hips look about as "huge" as mine, upper body not much different, I'm 68kg & 180cm. I'm 64kg fit. It's possible.You also need to remember that these guys are running on a regular basis, as well as strengthening their legs in the gym. Legs are the largest muscle area, meaning they weigh the most. I'd say that's where the extra weight is coming from.

For example look at Fevola; he's a big boy, but I wouldn't say bigger (to the naked eye) than Courtney Johns or Daniel Bradshaw. Yet he weighs around 10kg more. He has some major tree trunks on him, which would be the answer.

As for how highly we rate him, he can easily chop up an attack and run it 50m up the ground. There's a bit to work on, needs more consistency obviously, but there's a lot of talent there.Without doubt I'd have him in the top 3-5 of natural talents on our list, which is a massive achievement.

teak
11 Jan 2010, 12:19
WTF 82kg? Ok they may publish that,but we all know that ain't the truth. He is closer to 75kg if that...

I like Dempsey. I can feel another " this guy is going to become elite ( or this guys is the A grader we need) thread coming on.

He was good last year, but at most high 6's not 7.5.
Why don't we just give everyone a 5 or above.

I am not that great at estimating the weight of other people, but as has been said, he must have pretty solid legs. Whomb covered this quite well with the Fev example.

I would hazard a guess that almost half of any list is predicted to become A-grade or elite at some point in time. I think 2 seasons ago on this site I even remember a Jay Nash one for Brownlow...

As for my ratings, so far I have given 4, 3.5, DNR, 4, 5.5 and now 7.5. so 2 out of 6 over 5 so far.
I find giving ratings the most difficult part. It should really be done after an entire list review so you can compare each player. I am rating the year they had to the best of my ability, and I think that Dempsey had a good year. I have to be able to separate those that had an awesome year [Ryder], to those that had a really good year [Pears] to those that had a pretty good year [Dempsey] to those that had a good year [Dyson] all the way down to Quinn or Laycock [DNR]. Of course nobody on our list had a good as year as Ablett for example, so nobody will get a 10. The same goes for nobody will get a 1 [Richmond list].
But give me some lee-way, I won't always get it exactly right. Please don't turn this thread into another "how do we grade players" - I think there is already one on it. [/Rant]

Nitpicking? Pfffffft - call it honesty

such generous interpretations of our list don't help the team, it leads to delusion & disbelief when we fail to advance.

If Dempsey is 7.5 - how do we rate Ryder or Pears? Were they both 10's in 09? No that's simply not true.

I would like the scores we give our players to be comensurate with where the team is at in terms of the AFL not some bigfooty fairyland. Perhaps we already have a premiership team, I just don't know it yet..

Dempsey was good in 09 as mentioned & could have a lot of upside however interms of the rest of the AFL he is a fairly unproven good half back flanker.

James Hird got it wrong IMO when he said he was te most exciting player going round at Essendon ATM. Hurley is, followed by Pears & Ryder.

I really should have said that the Hird quote was from 2008, so he really didn't see the likes of Hurley, Pears was injured and Ryder was playing in the backline. I really rate Dempsey, and he would be in the top 5 players I would be least willing to lose.

Again, I have trouble rating. I get comments on how I rated player X too low, and how I rated player X under player Y, and now I get comments on how I rate everybody too high. This is my opinion. Can't please everyone.

Just read through my response; not meant to be as agressive as it turned out. Thankyou for your feedback. :thumbsu:

Daytripper
11 Jan 2010, 14:22
Was good in the first half of the year and very, very average in the second half of the year. How the above poster can rate Dempsey's performance above Dyson's for 2009 is ludicrous.

A 16th in the B & F is pretty indicitave of his season really.

Glad that he got his injury problems over with and played almost a full season but the reality is he still has a long way to go in terms of consistency, hardness and accountability.

B-Bomber
11 Jan 2010, 15:05
Realistically, this was the type of season we could hope for from Dempsey -- to play out most of the season with only minor injury troubles. Basically just get onto the park and play some games and build from there, showing glimpses of his undenyable talent.

Realistically, this is all we can hope for from Gumbleton, also. It's fun to imagine what it would be like if these guys burst onto the scene and make a huge impact -- but if you asked me right now if I'd be happy with a 2009 Dempsey-esque season from Gumby in 2010, I would take it no hesitation.

zen dice man
11 Jan 2010, 20:49
Throwing handgranades helps to liven stuff up round here.

Don't take it personally Teak, your reviews are good, keep em up son.

yaco55
11 Jan 2010, 21:56
I am not that great at estimating the weight of other people, but as has been said, he must have pretty solid legs. Whomb covered this quite well with the Fev example.

I would hazard a guess that almost half of any list is predicted to become A-grade or elite at some point in time. I think 2 seasons ago on this site I even remember a Jay Nash one for Brownlow...

As for my ratings, so far I have given 4, 3.5, DNR, 4, 5.5 and now 7.5. so 2 out of 6 over 5 so far.
I find giving ratings the most difficult part. It should really be done after an entire list review so you can compare each player. I am rating the year they had to the best of my ability, and I think that Dempsey had a good year. I have to be able to separate those that had an awesome year [Ryder], to those that had a really good year [Pears] to those that had a pretty good year [Dempsey] to those that had a good year [Dyson] all the way down to Quinn or Laycock [DNR]. Of course nobody on our list had a good as year as Ablett for example, so nobody will get a 10. The same goes for nobody will get a 1 [Richmond list].
But give me some lee-way, I won't always get it exactly right. Please don't turn this thread into another "how do we grade players" - I think there is already one on it. [/Rant]



I really should have said that the Hird quote was from 2008, so he really didn't see the likes of Hurley, Pears was injured and Ryder was playing in the backline. I really rate Dempsey, and he would be in the top 5 players I would be least willing to lose.

Again, I have trouble rating. I get comments on how I rated player X too low, and how I rated player X under player Y, and now I get comments on how I rate everybody too high. This is my opinion. Can't please everyone.

Just read through my response; not meant to be as agressive as it turned out. Thankyou for your feedback. :thumbsu:

To be fair to Leak - I have also heard Sheedy and Ayres say during radio interviews that Dempsey is the most exciting player on the list.

teak
12 Jan 2010, 05:43
Throwing handgranades helps to liven stuff up round here.

Don't take it personally Teak, your reviews are good, keep em up son.

Not taking it personal, appreciate the feedback:thumbsu: Everyone is entitled to their own opinion!:)

Going to be working most of this week, then next week am going to the beach for the week, so I might get a couple done on Friday if your lucky...:p

Towno78
14 Jan 2010, 16:56
I definitely rate this guy in our top 5 players for the future. Will be a gun, and I don't think it's fully recognised how important he was to our structure last year.
:thumbsu: to Hird, Sheedy, Ayres and whoever else said he's the most exciting player on our list.
Stuff 1 set of twins, in 2010 Dempsey needs to convert to Islam, marry 3 more wives and impregnate each of them with twins.

centrelink1
14 Jan 2010, 17:39
Stuff 1 set of twins, in 2010 Dempsey needs to convert to Islam, marry 3 more wives and impregnate each of them with twins.

Lol.

Slattery_20
15 Jan 2010, 06:51
Davey's got twins as well.
What are the chances.