Matt Priddis- Our best option for getting a Good draft Pick.

[lewigie]

It's a bit loopy at this stage sometimes, granted.

His pace and vision, most of the time, is excellent, and his handball is a weapon.

He's done some stuff that, frankly, reminds* me of Judd early. Check out the Geelong highlights on our board for his two consecutive goals...also one against Carlton

*That's reminds...not is 100% like.

Don't know how they remind you of Judd.. the goals were very outside, not really bursting through packs.

Good player though. We do need more forward running seagulls.

 

[Rids]

Two reasons why I don't agree with the premise in the OP:
1) We are only doing one thing well this season - getting first hands on the pill at clearances and going on to win the clearance. Priddis is the number one reason for this because he (a) wins an enormous amount of clearances himself and (b) is an elite "in-close" tackler to prevent other sides from getting the clearing handball away and force another stoppage. You think we are struggling now - wait until we can't even win the ball!
2) I don't think we would get value for him. As soon as you actively shop a player, particularly a relatively young one, you are highlighting that there are deficiencies in his game that are too much for the 'selling' club to overlook. Potential clubs that may want Priddis will be at ease highlighting lack of pace and poor disposal by foot over 30 metres to drive down the deal. I would be surprised if we got better than a mid 2nd round pick and I would be even more surprised if said pick was to provide the club with better value than what Priddis is currently providing.

We do however need someone to take over from Priddis as our number 1 midfielder. Priddis' best season in the B&F was 2007 when he finished 4th (although I suspect he will crack top 3 this season). What is significant about that is that we still had Judd, Cousins (for half a season anyway) and a fit & firing Kerr in 2007. Priddis was our number 4 mid (in reality number 3 since when Cousins was in, Judd was injured and playing forward most of the time) and was excellent. He is a far superior player in 2010 then he was in 2007 - but sadly we have no-one that is a patch on Cousins, Judd and a pre-2007 Kerr and our midfield has suffered as a result. We can only hope that a couple of Shuey, Masten, Swift, Stevens etc step it up (considerably!) and Priddis can comfortably return to that number 3/4 midfielder role which he has proven he can do so well.

 

[Clay Davis]

Don't know how they remind you of Judd.. the goals were very outside, not really bursting through packs.

Good player though. We do need more forward running seagulls.

The first goal was outside, the second wasn't.

He's not a seagull. Squibs the occasional marking contest, and can be a bit lost through traffic, but other than that can win the hardball quite well. No draftee's perfect but I like what I see of him.

 

[Vincent Proud]

For what Priddis gives us and what we'd recieve as a trade for him, he stays.

Round 3 draft pick at tops and that wont cover losing him. Fairly simple really.

 

[Eagle87]

For what Priddis gives us and what we'd recieve as a trade for him, he stays.

Round 3 draft pick at tops and that wont cover losing him. Fairly simple really.

The problem with keeping Priddis is that he keeps taking 80+ minutes of starting centre square work every game. He cant tag (which makes a mockery of Rids "elite in-close" tackling suggestion - Rids suggestions are usually mockerys in and of themselves and given he gave Priddis 5 votes this week, need to be discounted as rank silliness) and as such he has to be compared with those he competes with - attacking midfielders. He gets more than 50% of his ball uncontested and its horrifying EVERY time he gets an uncontested possession, good rarely comes of it ... he gets the hard ball and creates zero with it, no incisive handballs, rarely a precise kick ... he is a plodder in a shit side, notions of him evolving into a good inside mid when surrounded by talent are flawed ... like everyone, he would be better with 2007 Cox and playing alongside Judd, Cousins, Braun, Fletcher etc but thats not happening again anytime soon.

He wont get us much at all as a trade but we still benefit from addition by subtraction.

 

[swannies]

Morabito and disposal shouldn't go together unless "has shit" is between them.

Agreed with the others, however.

Players on other teams just get the ball forward of centre at centre bounces, and then their players just run. Our midfield set of Priddis, Embley, A.Selwood, are way too slow and just get beaten consistently.

Oh no, Mora has developed nicely as the season has gone on, I reckon. I think his kicking has improved as the season's gone on as well. He can certainly put his head over the pill.

As for Priddis, see E87's version of events above. If someone would give pick 26 for him I think it would be remiss of the club not to accept!

That's not knocking him, just saying he needs a better midfield around him to be full value, but now we're in a catch 22 situation, he's stopping Masten, Stevens, Stevenson, Smith from getting midfield time.

 

[Geoffe_Miles]

Can't believe people would suggest giving Priddis away for free when despite his obvious flaws and as horrifying as it is he is by far our best and mentally toughest mid and there are so many crabs in the side so much more deserving of the boot. I would trade Rosa and Selwood and delist Embley and Lynch long before even thinking about Priddis. Rosa and Selwood think being a leader is dressing up like a choir boy and giving speaches to corporates and the media full of cliches and buzzwords. They get exposed on the ground for being the marshmallows they are.

But the reality is that the road back is not through throwing all our players away for nothing because we are angry and starting again with nothing in an era of compromised drafts. What we should have that other clubs may not is money in our cap and spots in our 22 and it's about time we used it. We should be out there hunting up solid players at other clubs who are getting paid under the odds, are not entirely happy at their club, are being played out of their favourite position, are under rated etc and offering them money and a regular game to get them to our club. P*** in their pockets a bit, wave the inducements around and get them sweet talked into going. Then once you have the player convinced he wants to leave you force the club he is at to eat the s*** sandwich and take whatever scraps you offer for them knowing that the AFL imposes immense pressure on clubs to make sure deals get done and players get to where they want to go these days.

Hapenned to us with Staker/Daziell last year. We got junk in exchange for a solid experienced player. Collingwood and Carlton try it on every year. We are down the bottom which sucks but there are advantages and we must make the most of them. We should be trying to get other clubs players for next nothing, not looking to give ours away for nothing.

 

[Mattman93]

Trying to put bias aside as best I can, from what I've seen I rate Sheppard higher than Morabito.

 

[Clay Davis]

I rate Fyfe above every other player in the draft.

 

[Level_Headed]

I rate Fyfe above every other player in the draft.

Sigh, you drive a tough bargain but we will trade you Priddis for Fyfe and Morabito. With great reluctance though

 

[WCE_phil]

Fyfe reminds me so much a younger burton from adelaide. Lets hope for the good of the game that he reaches the peaks of the birdmans career without all of the crippling injury lows. Tis a mercurial talent that fyfe has.

 

[Rids]

Silly of me to do this really but I will bite.

The problem with keeping Priddis is that he keeps taking 80+ minutes of starting centre square work every game.

Why is this a problem? He takes 80+ minutes because at the moment our other midfielders aren't up to it. Arguably the likes of Selwood, Embley, Rosa, Ebert, Swift are still getting more minutes then they deserve in the centre based on form. As other midfielders improve Priddis' minutes will fall

He cant tag (which makes a mockery of Rids "elite in-close" tackling suggestion - Rids suggestions are usually mockerys in and of themselves and given he gave Priddis 5 votes this week, need to be discounted as rank silliness) and as such he has to be compared with those he competes with - attacking midfielders.

What? How does not being a tagger remove the tackling comment. If tagging was just about stopping an opposing player winning a clearance then I am quite sure Priddis would be a gun tagger due to his in-close tackling capabilities. He consistently leads our tackle count. I am not disputing your tagging comment because I feel he would be exposed in open play due to a lack of speed - just can't see how that 'makes a mockery' of my comment on his in-close tackling ability.

Why we are at my 'mockerys of suggestions' - what exactly was wrong with giving Priddis 5 votes this week? I was hardly on my own in thinking he was our best. He was the only Eagle to receive coaches association votes, was considered our best player by afl.com.au, perthnow.com.au and thewest.com.au - in fact I haven't yet found an outlet that didn't consider him our best player.

He gets more than 50% of his ball uncontested and its horrifying EVERY time he gets an uncontested possession, good rarely comes of it ... he gets the hard ball and creates zero with it, no incisive handballs, rarely a precise kick ... he is a plodder in a shit side, notions of him evolving into a good inside mid when surrounded by talent are flawed ... like everyone, he would be better with 2007 Cox and playing alongside Judd, Cousins, Braun, Fletcher etc but thats not happening again anytime soon.

He wont get us much at all as a trade but we still benefit from addition by subtraction.

Why did you choose 50% as your benchmark - how many midfielders get more than 50% contested? At 45% contested possession - his contested possession % is easily the highest of our mids.

In addition his disposal efficiency at 72% is very good for an inside mid and of players with more than 200 disposals in our side he is 2nd only to Rosa (who gets far more of his disposals uncontested and hence under less pressure). I would argue his handballing is incisive. Several times he wins first possession from the centre and shoots out a handball to a midfielder who can get a clearing kick in space - our clearance wins this season backs this up. He has also greatly improved in buying himself time to find a better option rather than shooting out a close-range handball to a player about to be claimed which is becoming a rarity with Priddis this season (and is one of the main reasons for his rapid improvement in disposal efficiency this season). I am not quite sure what more you want from him with respect to handballing? No arguments with his kicking flaws and agree that it doesn't appear that anything approaching our 2007 midfield is going to occur soon ... but it doesn't make sense to me that we should be ditching the one mid who is performing because our other mids aren't performing

 

[Eagle87]

Silly of me to do this really but I will bite.



Why is this a problem? He takes 80+ minutes because at the moment our other midfielders aren't up to it. Arguably the likes of Selwood, Embley, Rosa, Ebert, Swift are still getting more minutes then they deserve in the centre based on form. As other midfielders improve Priddis' minutes will fall



What? How does not being a tagger remove the tackling comment. If tagging was just about stopping an opposing player winning a clearance then I am quite sure Priddis would be a gun tagger due to his in-close tackling capabilities. He consistently leads our tackle count. I am not disputing your tagging comment because I feel he would be exposed in open play due to a lack of speed - just can't see how that 'makes a mockery' of my comment on his in-close tackling ability.

Why we are at my 'mockerys of suggestions' - what exactly was wrong with giving Priddis 5 votes this week? I was hardly on my own in thinking he was our best. He was the only Eagle to receive coaches association votes, was considered our best player by afl.com.au, perthnow.com.au and thewest.com.au - in fact I haven't yet found an outlet that didn't consider him our best player.



Why did you choose 50% as your benchmark - how many midfielders get more than 50% contested? At 45% contested possession - his contested possession % is easily the highest of our mids.

In addition his disposal efficiency at 72% is very good for an inside mid and of players with more than 200 disposals in our side he is 2nd only to Rosa (who gets far more of his disposals uncontested and hence under less pressure). I would argue his handballing is incisive. Several times he wins first possession from the centre and shoots out a handball to a midfielder who can get a clearing kick in space - our clearance wins this season backs this up. He has also greatly improved in buying himself time to find a better option rather than shooting out a close-range handball to a player about to be claimed which is becoming a rarity with Priddis this season (and is one of the main reasons for his rapid improvement in disposal efficiency this season). I am not quite sure what more you want from him with respect to handballing? No arguments with his kicking flaws and agree that it doesn't appear that anything approaching our 2007 midfield is going to occur soon ... but it doesn't make sense to me that we should be ditching the one mid who is performing because our other mids aren't performing

With respect, you are a stats whore with a limited capacity to actually understand how football works.

I used 50% as a benchmark just to make a point, the point being that even the most inside of inside mids get at least 50% of their ball uncontested. On the weekend Priddis had 17 uncontested possessions, thats possessions where our best attacking mid had a chance to really influence play with ball in hand. He didnt, he rarely does.

As to giving him 5, again, stats whores. He was so far from our best according to anyone who actually watched the game and isnt lazy and looks down the stats. He works hard, he gets the ball and then he does absolutely nothing with it. Zero hurt factor. I am hopeful that your "incisive" handball comment was meant as some sort of deeply ironic comment - I didnt get it if so, but if you meant it seriously than you are beyond help. Completely.

On this issue of 80 minutes a game and all that, the reality is that teams build chemistry, identity and win games from the starting midfield. We are playing starting attacking mids out of position to accommodate players with lesser ceilings. Swift, for example, had more creative ball use than Priddis on the weekend, but only got 59% game time and had to tag ... this is because of Priddis. He cant tag, he cant play forward, he cant play wide, he cant defend, he has one string to his bow, getting the ball in close. But he does that 10 or so times a game, handy but it achieves little because he has no vision, he creates rarely AND he gets it more often uncontested, in space... which is ALWAYS terrifying.

Also on the weekend, S Selwood had long stretches away from the middle to accommodate the fact that Priddis was in there ... Scooter was arguably our most effective mid on the weekend but barely played mid in the third quarter when the Pies rolled over us ... Masten too, again, had to start as a half forward ... he was 20 times the player Priddis was at age 18 playing as an inside mid who released others to space .... he rarely gets to play that role for us because players like Priddis, A Selwood and even Ebert seem preferred at times ...

Priddis will be 26 when next season starts and he isnt getting better, he is an ordinary version of Shane Tuck (which is harsh), he is the slow version of Richie Vandenburg (not a complement). If you want to see whats required from a slowish inside mid reference Sam Mitchell ... then compare the gap to Priddis.

Perhaps one of the worst aspects of Priddis is the damage done to a guy like Kerr. Kerr should be the number 1 in and under inside attacking mid, but he has to try and play an outside role because Priddis cant. Makes him easier to tag and reduces his use of some of his best assets .... but people like yourself dont see this. You miss other teams rolling the dice and running off him in game breaking bursts... throwing kids like Hill in the middle last year and saying "just run forward" ....

He gets the ball, he is below AFL level at everything else. Again, in a midfield flood game style he can turtle tackle brilliantly. A barely useful skill. He gets run off 4 or 5 times a game (and I am being kind) at stoppages because teams roll the dice against him, knowing that the downside risk of him winning the ball is minimal but a quick player running into space with no chance of being caught is a certain goal most times ....

He has been at the core of our problems for 2 years. He is the most damaging (to our side) midfielder we have because of the key role he has and the abject lack of ability he has to do so ...

Other midfielders would improve more quickly if they had greater exposure in their proper positions, rather than trying to make them adjust, so we can keep Mr Dependable in his sole position... its so obvious and yet the stats whores cant see it ... look at his numbers ... as i have said numerous times, on stats he compares pretty well with Judd .. which tells you a lot about stats...

 

[Denton52]

^^^
Well you won't get a better description then that (E87's post).

I would only add vision of his signature move if i could. The one where he lines up a kick with no confidence, baulks his opponent, wrecks everyone's lead, then floats it with precision onto the head of the opposition player 15 meters in the clear. Magic.

 

[Geoffe_Miles]

With respect, you are a stats whore with a limited capacity to actually understand how football works.

I used 50% as a benchmark just to make a point, the point being that even the most inside of inside mids get at least 50% of their ball uncontested. On the weekend Priddis had 17 uncontested possessions, thats possessions where our best attacking mid had a chance to really influence play with ball in hand. He didnt, he rarely does.

As to giving him 5, again, stats whores. He was so far from our best according to anyone who actually watched the game and isnt lazy and looks down the stats. He works hard, he gets the ball and then he does absolutely nothing with it. Zero hurt factor. I am hopeful that your "incisive" handball comment was meant as some sort of deeply ironic comment - I didnt get it if so, but if you meant it seriously than you are beyond help. Completely.

On this issue of 80 minutes a game and all that, the reality is that teams build chemistry, identity and win games from the starting midfield. We are playing starting attacking mids out of position to accommodate players with lesser ceilings. Swift, for example, had more creative ball use than Priddis on the weekend, but only got 59% game time and had to tag ... this is because of Priddis. He cant tag, he cant play forward, he cant play wide, he cant defend, he has one string to his bow, getting the ball in close. But he does that 10 or so times a game, handy but it achieves little because he has no vision, he creates rarely AND he gets it more often uncontested, in space... which is ALWAYS terrifying.

Also on the weekend, S Selwood had long stretches away from the middle to accommodate the fact that Priddis was in there ... Scooter was arguably our most effective mid on the weekend but barely played mid in the third quarter when the Pies rolled over us ... Masten too, again, had to start as a half forward ... he was 20 times the player Priddis was at age 18 playing as an inside mid who released others to space .... he rarely gets to play that role for us because players like Priddis, A Selwood and even Ebert seem preferred at times ...

Priddis will be 26 when next season starts and he isnt getting better, he is an ordinary version of Shane Tuck (which is harsh), he is the slow version of Richie Vandenburg (not a complement). If you want to see whats required from a slowish inside mid reference Sam Mitchell ... then compare the gap to Priddis.

Perhaps one of the worst aspects of Priddis is the damage done to a guy like Kerr. Kerr should be the number 1 in and under inside attacking mid, but he has to try and play an outside role because Priddis cant. Makes him easier to tag and reduces his use of some of his best assets .... but people like yourself dont see this. You miss other teams rolling the dice and running off him in game breaking bursts... throwing kids like Hill in the middle last year and saying "just run forward" ....

He gets the ball, he is below AFL level at everything else. Again, in a midfield flood game style he can turtle tackle brilliantly. A barely useful skill. He gets run off 4 or 5 times a game (and I am being kind) at stoppages because teams roll the dice against him, knowing that the downside risk of him winning the ball is minimal but a quick player running into space with no chance of being caught is a certain goal most times ....

He has been at the core of our problems for 2 years. He is the most damaging (to our side) midfielder we have because of the key role he has and the abject lack of ability he has to do so ...

Other midfielders would improve more quickly if they had greater exposure in their proper positions, rather than trying to make them adjust, so we can keep Mr Dependable in his sole position... its so obvious and yet the stats whores cant see it ... look at his numbers ... as i have said numerous times, on stats he compares pretty well with Judd .. which tells you a lot about stats...

Priddis may have limitations and he will never be an A grade player. And it may be embarassing and not very flattering to our playing list that he is our best and most consistent midfielder at the moment. We didn't need you to tell us that. But the fact is that he is the only player in our midfield who turns up every week ready to play, gives 100%, plays 4 quarters, doesn't give up and most importantly does one of the following basic skills to a decent standard - win the ball, use the ball well or tag. We know he only does one of these things and we know it would be great if he could do 2 or 3 as the best players in the comp do. But the fact is we don't have a single other player in our midfield who is AFL standard in any of these skill areas. Not one. He is the best player we have in our midfield at the moment and has guts. If you want to turn your guns on one of our players i would think the likes of Embley, Rosa and Selwood would be far more deserving.

As for blaming him for Kerr's demise, firstly Kerr has barely played in the last 3 years so blaming Priddis for that is a bit bizarre. Secondly, when he has played he has been shown to have a major chink in his armour in that he can't handle a tag mentally. Players like Judd, Simon Black, Rob Harvey and others get and got tagged every week just like Kerr but they don't fall in a screaming heap mentally like Kerr does. That is not Priddis' fault.

 

[Kernel Sanders]

Well done E87!


I've heard Priddis mentioned as a possible Captain. Captain Priddis. That sends shivers down my spine, rewarding mediocrity.

Hat's off to Priddis avhieving what he has, he absolutely gets the most out of of himself. Unfortunately his best is rubbish. Can't blame Priddis for getting picked, the blame lays at Worsfold's feet on this.

Priddis was mentioned along the lines of a Tuck.... Pffftt. I'd call him a more average version of McManus. The sad part about McManus was that everyone instinctively knew he was a hack, bar the Freo supporters. It's like having that bastard offchild, you know he's no good, but you have to support him.

Screw that, Captain Priddis resigns us to the scrap heap for the next 5 years. Embracing Mediocrity... we sound like the old Freo more and more every day.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

As for blaming him for Kerr's demise, firstly Kerr has barely played in the last 3 years so blaming Priddis for that is a bit bizarre. Secondly, when he has played he has been shown to have a major chink in his armour in that he can't handle a tag mentally. Players like Judd, Simon Black, Rob Harvey and others get and got tagged every week just like Kerr but they don't fall in a screaming heap mentally like Kerr does. That is not Priddis' fault.

What would you know about it? When you star crapping on about mental fortitude your just pissing in circles.

Priddis plays Kerr's old role. Priddis is no Kerr and Kerr aint no Judd.

E87 is spot on.

 

[Eagle87]

Priddis may have limitations and he will never be an A grade player. And it may be embarassing and not very flattering to our playing list that he is our best and most consistent midfielder at the moment. We didn't need you to tell us that. But the fact is that he is the only player in our midfield who turns up every week ready to play, gives 100%, plays 4 quarters, doesn't give up and most importantly does one of the following basic skills to a decent standard - win the ball, use the ball well or tag. We know he only does one of these things and we know it would be great if he could do 2 or 3 as the best players in the comp do. But the fact is we don't have a single other player in our midfield who is AFL standard in any of these skill areas. Not one. He is the best player we have in our midfield at the moment and has guts. If you want to turn your guns on one of our players i would think the likes of Embley, Rosa and Selwood would be far more deserving.

As for blaming him for Kerr's demise, firstly Kerr has barely played in the last 3 years so blaming Priddis for that is a bit bizarre. Secondly, when he has played he has been shown to have a major chink in his armour in that he can't handle a tag mentally. Players like Judd, Simon Black, Rob Harvey and others get and got tagged every week just like Kerr but they don't fall in a screaming heap mentally like Kerr does. That is not Priddis' fault.

You forgot to mention that he's a great bloke ...

I find it funny that people dont get how much easier it is to tag a bloke who is playing the wrong role and playing it alongside blokes the other side dont fear ... its also odd that Kerr never gets any help to free up from his tag (blocking) ... that wouldnt be Priddis' fault either - i mean he is a great bloke ...

 

[Kernel Sanders]

Priddis may have limitations and he will never be an A grade player. And it may be embarassing and not very flattering to our playing list that he is our best and most consistent midfielder at the moment. We didn't need you to tell us that. But the fact is that he is the only player in our midfield who turns up every week ready to play, gives 100%, plays 4 quarters, doesn't give up and most importantly does one of the following basic skills to a decent standard - win the ball, use the ball well or tag. We know he only does one of these things and we know it would be great if he could do 2 or 3 as the best players in the comp do. But the fact is we don't have a single other player in our midfield who is AFL standard in any of these skill areas. Not one. He is the best player we have in our midfield at the moment and has guts. If you want to turn your guns on one of our players i would think the likes of Embley, Rosa and Selwood would be far more deserving.

As for blaming him for Kerr's demise, firstly Kerr has barely played in the last 3 years so blaming Priddis for that is a bit bizarre. Secondly, when he has played he has been shown to have a major chink in his armour in that he can't handle a tag mentally. Players like Judd, Simon Black, Rob Harvey and others get and got tagged every week just like Kerr but they don't fall in a screaming heap mentally like Kerr does. That is not Priddis' fault.

His 100% effort is rubbish.

He's hurting the teams development.

What most supporters could cope with is structural change in the midfield (Priddis & A.Selwood out of the team & Ebert out of the middle). Even if this resulted in some floggings at least we, as supporters, could see a plan and would love seeing the young midfield develop. I can't be any worse than we are currently going, after a few floggings?

Isn' it a sign of madness to keep repeating mistakes and expecting something different to happen? Three years of the same midfield plodders.

Good on Ya Woosh Suma,"He's in carreer best coaching ATM"

 

[Eastern Rangers]

I rate Fyfe above every other player in the draft.

He's close. Hird/ Birdman hybrid.

 

[placebo]

I wish the Priddis apologists would realise that saying 'he's a hard worker, gives his all, and plays 4 quarters' means absolutely nothing as it doesn't make up for his faults (no hurt factor, speed, penetration, creativity, etc). For christ sake, Ash Hansen and Quinten Lynch give their all, work hard, and give 4 quarters but hardly any of the Priddis lovers are sticking up for them. Nor should they. Just like those who realise Priddis doesn't add anything to our team of any real value shouldn't stick up for a bloke's position in a team because 'He works hard'.

 

[Geoffe_Miles]

You forgot to mention that he's a great bloke ...

I find it funny that people dont get how much easier it is to tag a bloke who is playing the wrong role and playing it alongside blokes the other side dont fear ... its also odd that Kerr never gets any help to free up from his tag (blocking) ... that wouldnt be Priddis' fault either - i mean he is a great bloke ...

Nice try at avoiding the facts. FACT - Kerr has barely played in the last 3 years and when he has played has been playing with injuries and interupted or non-existant pre-seasons. None of that is Priddis' fault or the fault of any other player on the list. If you wish to disagree with this please directly respond to it rather than going off on tangents.

That players play and look better when surrounded by other good players is an obvious point. It is not Priddis fault that the midfield as a whole is s***. And getting rid of Priddis and replacing him with somebody struggling in the WAFL wouldn't fix it either would it?

Kerr doesn't get protection and would play better if he did. Thats true. But again, that is not Priddis fault and would not be solved by sacking Priddis. Priddis is not selected to be Kerr's bodyguard. It is a collective problem about the whole group and the lack of toughness in the group. It's not about one player and won't be solved by sacking one player.

You are presenting this issue as though Priddis is the source of all our problems and sacking him solves everything. Priddis is no star but sacking him solves nothing and he is a long, long, long way from being the worst of the experienced group. Embley, Selwood and Rosa are all worse. Sack him when he is the worst player in the midfield rotation and we have someone better to bring in.

 

[Geoffe_Miles]

I wish the Priddis apologists would realise that saying 'he's a hard worker, gives his all, and plays 4 quarters' means absolutely nothing as it doesn't make up for his faults (no hurt factor, speed, penetration, creativity, etc). For christ sake, Ash Hansen and Quinten Lynch give their all, work hard, and give 4 quarters but hardly any of the Priddis lovers are sticking up for them. Nor should they. Just like those who realise Priddis doesn't add anything to our team of any real value shouldn't stick up for a bloke's position in a team because 'He works hard'.

I am not an apologist for Priddis. I have no particular favouritism towards him. But if you get rid of him who do you bring in that is better and actually deserves a game. If you get rid of Priddis and all the clearances and tackles that he brings that nobody else in our team seems capable of getting and bring in some young player who barely gets a game in the WAFL what does that solve?

We know he is not A grade. Thats not the question. The question is who would you replace him with and is he the player most deserving of getting sacked and i say that despite all of his faults there are many players worse than him who should be out the door first.

 

[Geoffe_Miles]

What would you know about it? When you star crapping on about mental fortitude your just pissing in circles.

Priddis plays Kerr's old role. Priddis is no Kerr and Kerr aint no Judd.

E87 is spot on.

Kerr has barely played in the last 3 years. If Priddis is playing Kerr's role it's because Kerr is not there.

It's beyond dispute to everyone except the most one eyed eagles fan that Kerr struggles to deal with tags. He is not the only bloke in the comp that gets tagged every week he plays. Nor is he the first elite mid to play in a struggling team that doesn't help him much at stoppages. He doesn't deal well with tags and that is a fact that few people would disagree with.

 

[Eagle87]

Nice try at avoiding the facts. FACT - Kerr has barely played in the last 3 years and when he has played has been playing with injuries and interupted or non-existant pre-seasons. None of that is Priddis' fault or the fault of any other player on the list. If you wish to disagree with this please directly respond to it rather than going off on tangents.

That players play and look better when surrounded by other good players is an obvious point. It is not Priddis fault that the midfield as a whole is s***. And getting rid of Priddis and replacing him with somebody struggling in the WAFL wouldn't fix it either would it?

Kerr doesn't get protection and would play better if he did. Thats true. But again, that is not Priddis fault and would not be solved by sacking Priddis. Priddis is not selected to be Kerr's bodyguard. It is a collective problem about the whole group and the lack of toughness in the group. It's not about one player and won't be solved by sacking one player.

You are presenting this issue as though Priddis is the source of all our problems and sacking him solves everything. Priddis is no star but sacking him solves nothing and he is a long, long, long way from being the worst of the experienced group. Embley, Selwood and Rosa are all worse. Sack him when he is the worst player in the midfield rotation and we have someone better to bring in.

Kerr needs to play Priddis' role. If he does that and then we play a defensive mid there is no role for Priddis. I get that Kerr is injured but despite that, we have spent 3 seasons now with Priddis as our main in and under guy. I spotted the disaster that this was 2 full seasons back - its not that there arent worse performers in our team, its just that they are peripheral, flank, role players. We have constructed our centre square identity around Matthew Priddis and everyone else has been fitted around him, including Kerr - who was basically shifted to the Judd role and doesnt have the silk or speed for it ...

If you want to rebuild the Eagles you must rebuild the midfield and it cant be with Priddis as the featured midfielder, the pivotal midfielder around whom everyone else fits ... thats whats happened and it was always bound to end in mediocrity ...

A massive positive for our club would be starting games with a more offensive midfield and that would involve Masten/Swift/Ebert/S Selwood (presently fit guys) running through the 2 offensive slots. It would involve bursts of strijk and lecca through the middle as well as Shepherd!, defensive roles should be primarily A Selwood and maybe a dash of S Selwood (who shows signs of being able to do both). Obviously a fit Kerr helps. Shuey & Stevens to come through. Keep Pridda on the bench for a few weeks, to back up and maybe as cover if the kids get belted BUT importantly, make the statement that we are changing the midfield and we are encouraging flair abd attack ....

We cant make that statement with a midfield that starts with Priddis.

He is a key symptom of our malaise .... not the worst performer but the most crucial mediocre plodder.... he needs to be moved aside.

Instead they make him captain for 2 weeks.