Delisted #40: Ben Howlett - Not offered a contract for 2018 - 24/10

[DonsRule]

probably the best player at Essendon. good idea to keep him.

 

[ghostdog]

Fair enough for him sticking his nose up a bit at 1 year and with all the board that is shitting him and all the players.

I thought this might be a sign of Hirdy staying. Maybe not, but Hirdy will be around for at least another month and by that time preseason wouldve started and Hirdy wouldve been right back into it anyway. I think Hirds going through with us next year. No one from our clubs is gonna accept a deal and if they did then id see Hirds position as almost untennable even though i sort of disagree a bit with that in that the 'deal' would just be to get it over with but Hird did say if anyone copped time off he would have to take responsibility for it, so a hard one to play out.

I thought we couldve ended up getting slight overs for Howlett and as stated was happy to see him go, however it was more important for the look of the club that he signed and the look for Hirdy. I hope Fletcher and Winders can get on board now.

It still wont surprise me that Ryder plays in the red and black next year. I cant see Port offering a good enough deal, we know the clause wont stand up as he doesnt seem wanting to go to another AFL club be it outside of Victoria even. Wont look good in court for him IMO, but who knows sometimes common sense doesnt stand up.

The idea that the players will support him, and how this positions the club to potentially stand by Hird essentially has him all in. Winning a final would be gold. The commitment of Howlett, Fletcher, Winders, Gwilt and Cooney speaks volumes, especially the elders and Fletch.

 

[kfc1]

probably the best player at Essendon. good idea to keep him.

Who lives in a house under the sea?

 

[Dacksaredown]

Gotta hear the reasoning here.

Fast and ballsy. Consistent. I'm sure any club would want someone like him.

 

[VelvetSledge]

Who lives in a house under the sea?

Caro. She is a bottom feeder.

 

[Loonerty]

Fast and ballsy. Consistent. I'm sure any club would want someone like him.

Over a Heppell or Watson?

 

[Seagrave_Holmes]

2015 will be interesting for Benny. Will merely be a depth player? Will he play consistently well or just have his 1-2 blinder games (R1 last year, Dream time this year) for the season and not do much else?

 

[hurlygurdy]

2015 will be interesting for Benny. Will merely be a depth player? Will he play consistently well or just have his 1-2 blinder games (R1 last year, Dream time this year) for the season and not do much else?

Unfortunately he has shown himself to be extremely consistently inconsistent. It's really hard to see him changing that now... Can anyone think of any other player who tracked like he has but became consistent at an advanced stage in their career?

 

[Kakkle]

2015 will be interesting for Benny. Will merely be a depth player? Will he play consistently well or just have his 1-2 blinder games (R1 last year, Dream time this year) for the season and not do much else?

At worst will be very handy depth.

 

[hurlygurdy]

At worst will be very handy depth.

Ironically, i can see him achieving some consistency as depth, in that he usually comes back with a bang after a break

 

[Kakkle]

I am genuinely excited to see what Ben does this year.

 

[eth-dog]

I am genuinely excited to see what Ben does this year.

He needs to do something, very much on the fringe.

 

[LocalBomber]

He needs to do something, very much on the fringe.

I totally disagree with this. If he was on the fringe as you say, there would have no desire to re-sign him like they did.
Very much part of the 22, and just because he doesn't get 30+ touches a game, it's the stuff you don't see that makes him a valuable contributor to the team.

 

[Ashton Agar]

I totally disagree with this. If he was on the fringe as you say, there would have no desire to re-sign him like they did.
Very much part of the 22, and just because he doesn't get 30+ touches a game, it's the stuff you don't see that makes him a valuable contributor to the team.

What else does he really do apart from tackling?

 

[Andronicus]

Can see him player a bit deeper this year and having one of the half forwards moving more into the mid.

 

[Mercurial89]

What else does he really do apart from tackling?

One of the few on our list that can gather a ball on the inside of a pack and actually break away. Isnt elite at it by any means but provides that threat around the ball. Him along with Z.merret, Zaka and now cooney provide that run away from packs.
Complements Jobe, hocking, heppell well in that they can extract a ball but have to dish it off normally to clear a pack situation, too slow to run it out most of the time.

 

[eth-dog]

I totally disagree with this. If he was on the fringe as you say, there would have no desire to re-sign him like they did.
Very much part of the 22, and just because he doesn't get 30+ touches a game, it's the stuff you don't see that makes him a valuable contributor to the team.

He's in the bottom 6 of the best 22 at best. That is the definition of "on the fringe". He wouldn't be played ahead of Hibberd, Bellchambers, Chapman, Watson, Stanton, Daniher, Winderlich, Goddard, Zaharakis, Baguley, Cooney, Hurley, Heppell, Carlisle, Myers, Hooker, Fletcher and Hocking. He's in the fringe group of Z Merrett, Dempsey, Melksham, J Merrett, Giles, Ambrose, Colyer, Gleeson and Gwilt.

 

[Beerfish]

#standbybobcat

 

[Doss]

I don't agree with a 17-22 player being 'fringe'. I think of fringe as being more the 23-26 range.

Howlett is the former.

 

[eth-dog]

I don't agree with a 17-22 player being 'fringe'. I think of fringe as being more the 23-26 range.

Howlett is the former.

To me the fringe is a player a couple of poor performances away from being dropped, or a couple of good performances in the VFL being recalled. To me, Howlett is slightly outside the 22, but even if he was best 22, he'd be very close to the bottom of it.

 

[hurlygurdy]

Come on people! He has to be fringe, because if he isn't then who the * is? Besides, every season his form oscillates and he ends up getting dropped at some point or another. No one doubts his best is good enough, but we also know him well enough now to see that he is incapable of producing his best consistently. I love him as a player, but he IS fringe and is in serious danger of not being best 22 this year. I struggle to believe that if he brings his past few years to the table then the likes of Gleeson, Jackson, Ambrose or even Browne, wont take over his position in 2015.

I am genuinely excited to see what Ben does this year.

I'm genuinely excited to hear you say that! On what basis do you think he can turn around his consistently inconsistent output?

 

[LocalBomber]

Watch a few of the games from last year, he also scores goals when he is near the big sticks.

 

[Kakkle]

Watch a few of the games from last year, he also scores goals when he is near the big sticks.

Yeah, no

It was one game against a team that was really poor defensively.

 

[Kakkle]

Come on people! He has to be fringe, because if he isn't then who the **** is? Besides, every season his form oscillates and he ends up getting dropped at some point or another. No one doubts his best is good enough, but we also know him well enough now to see that he is incapable of producing his best consistently. I love him as a player, but he IS fringe and is in serious danger of not being best 22 this year. I struggle to believe that if he brings his past few years to the table then the likes of Gleeson, Jackson, Ambrose or even Browne, wont take over his position in 2015.

I'm genuinely excited to hear you say that! On what basis do you think he can turn around his consistently inconsistent output?

Nothing in particular. Just excited to see what he can produce this year.

 

[Ashton Agar]

Watch a few of the games from last year, he also scores goals when he is near the big sticks.

Watched Dreamtime last Sunday, was really good but Richmond's defence was laughable. The whole team was.