Delisted #14: Slammin' Sam Lonergan - Has announced his retirement

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Phone said:
- now i understand 'quality over quantity'....but his clearance work is totally over-rated. he doesn't smash his way to the ball, break a tackle, use his speed to get away and put out a great kick to a leading forward. he positions himself well, the ball lands in his leap....and he snaps a kick out. It's a clearance. It's 50/50 whether the ball stays with us. It's not good enough. A broken clock....
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The stats will say he had (at least) 3 clearances in the last quarter tonight. Immediately you'd think "YES! Gun play!".... They were all the same clearance. The ball landed in his leap, he snaped the ball to a 50/50, maybe 2 on 1 due to a loose man behind play. We even got the better of the 50/50 once or twice, but really, we're better off just leaving the ball at the stoppage and hoping we somehow land a free-kick or something. or kicking it 60 meters like myers can.
 

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I don't think that many people overrate Lonergan, to be honest.

I think most on here realise what we get from him:

- Animal in the clinches, really wrestles for the ball
- Doesn't get nearly enough of the ball
- Has no outside game
- Has a great tackling technique
- His clearances are nearly always a hurried kick 30 metres long, 30 metres high
- He's a big body in there until the likes of Melksham and Heppell are strong enough to stand over the ball
 
I think the type of game Sammy play's really takes alot out of him. His earlier games were a standout but as the season progresses his impact continues to diminish. I don;t think it would hurt to rest him for a couple of games and bring him in fresh for the end of the season.
 
Phone said:
His first game of the season he came on as a sub, and did nothing for 2 quarters.
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??? Point?

His best games were against Carlton, Collingwood, Brisbane and WC in his 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th games for the year.
 

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brendan84 said:
Myers in, Lonergan out. Should be a pretty simple decision. Myers offers much more than Sam does.
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Uuumm, Myers is already in.....Not so simple for some,
Reimers must get a chance, in place of froggy....Or Dellilio,
So I think Lonergan may survive, but Dell and reimers have him covered for all important pace in the west...
 
Yes but the current side does not include Zaharakis.

We are dealing with the long term issue of what happens to Myers, NLM and Lonergan when Zaharakis is ready to go again. I know that NLM was dropped for the last match but it is likely that he will retain a place as a sub given that he has been effective in the role and is about as versatile as a player can be. In any event Lonergan is not a candidate to be a sub, it is not his game.

Considering that we need the proper balance of inside and outside midfielders Watson, Hocking, Howlett, Lonergan and Myers is too much for the one side (the best balance of our side has always been less one of these players). We do not play out best football when we get the balance wrong.

Obviously Watson selects himself. Hocking and Howlett both have numbers of runs on the board and have other roles they can play. Hocking can be a prolific ball winner in his own right and can tag while Howlett is explosive enough to have reasonable outside value (and to be honest he isn't really part of this given that he is not one paced). I'd say it is beyond doubt that these three players select themselves.

It is then a question of Myers vs Lonergan. Lonergan is not capable of the sort of footy Dave played against Sydney on Saturday night. If you are backing Myers to do it consistently (maybe a little less dramatically over 4 quarters) it seems pretty straight forward that we swap Lonergan for Myers.

I'd also like to add that this is not a disgrace for Lonergan and it is not like any of us sit there tearing our hair out waiting for the day Loneghan is not part of the side. He plays a valuable essentially stop gap role that allows our midfield to compete with more talented groups of players. I'm just not prepared for the team to rob itself a significant upgrade just because a player has a cult following.
 
His tackle count is undervalued.
 
I have similarly thought of Lonergan over recent years. I just can't see him in the best 22. However, when he does play our team goes better and I'm certain that is because he gives Jobe a chop out at the stoppage. Yes he does kick it hurriedly out of the pack a bit but he also often takes the tackle, gets his arms free and feeds to another player. He is also a tackling machine around there.

I know Howlett and Lonergan have a lot of fans around here. However, Watson and Hocking are capable of doing a lot of hard work around the packs and with a lot more class. They also are taller so find it much easier to have bigger bodies, add Myers with those two. Lonergan and Howlett stay for now, but we wont be a real challenger until they are replaced with players who can bullock and tackle like they do and have break away speed and/or that touch of class that allows them to dish off to a player who can break away.

Next year I'm guessing our best 22 midfield will be Watson, Stanton, Zaka, Hocking, Myers, Heppell, Kavanagh and guys like Jetta, Reimers, Colyer and Winderlich rotating through there from the pockets and flanks to provide a bit of run and spark. Dempsey running off the back flank will be important for that too. Howlett, Lonergan and Brown provide depth to the inside role, Davis is a back up tagger, or comes into the side to allow Hocking to play a more proactive role, and Ross, Baguelly and Merret provide depth for the outside run and speed.
 
since the start of last year (different position, more faith put in him) he has continually proven why he should be in the 22.

Hasn't he?
 
Lonergan's contested work shouldn't be underrated. When he plays, the whole midfield plays better. If David Myers is going to play midfield than it should be at the expense of another mid.

I really liked Dempsey on the outside taking over Zaka's spot. We may need to find one to cover him in defence (I would expect that to be Hibbard).
 
I've been a fan of Lonergan for a while, he's tough as nails and as honest as the day is long, but I believe we are at a point where we could look at trading him for a draft pick (probably 3rd round is realistic). We wouldn't get much in a player trade for him.

With Myers being fit and hopefully never to be banished to the back line again (thanks to Hardingham and Hibberd being best 22) we have enough clearance/bullocking players in our midfield. We need to introduce the speed and silk to compliment them. Zaharakis and Stanton currently provide the bulk of our run and carry, we need to provide more options to lighten the load on them and hopefully with the development of our squad we will see that in the next 12 months.

For me it leaves Lonergan on the outer. A shame, but the way I see it is that it is the reality of the situation.
 
When a player is recognised on the list as depth it is time to consider moving them on. Depth is where I see him (hence my opinion on this) and I don't think it's fair on the guy at his age to tell him he'll get a game if someone is unlucky enough to get hurt. Give that opportunity to a kid and give Lonergan the opportunity elsewhere.

If Lonergan is happy to stay on the list knowing he is depth and on a relatively low wage then fine, keep him. To be honest, he is a very good club man and seems to love the place so I wouldn't be completely surprised if he stayed under these circumstances, but if he doesn't then let him try his luck at another club.
 
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