Early season news:- We will miss Leon

[ipswichpies]

We will miss Leon...

about the time we were 4 points in front of Hawthorn in the last quarter..

and Heath Shaw and the Ben Ried butchered the kick outs.

I miss the certainty of Leon's kick ins.

It is a huge loss and something we will feel more through the season..

Basically every time we kicked a behind (which was lots), Hawthorn walked the ball up the field...and goaled.

We couldn't even get the ball out of our back fifty..

Where art thou,

All Australian defender Leon.

You are sorely missed.

He chose to leave if you miss him so much maybe you should follow him and no I am not voting to get to get you banned in the petition,I would prefer to debate things with you.

We may miss Leon in the short term but in Yagmoor we have the player to do that job in the future,he is 18 and he needs time and experience a big ask to be kicking in in front of 78 000 people in such a high pressure match in your debut.How much time did it take Leon to get as good as he was it did not happen overnight.

 

[Blessed]

Mate it was 300k. How you could disgrace the idea of Leon and say a one game player like Yagomour who didn't even get a kick will be as good as him is AMAZING...

You can't see the future.

Leon Davis would be the third best player at our Club on Friday if we paid an extra $100k.

Already it has cost us one game.

Yagamour - who knows...he has a long way to go!

 

[Bay Pie]

No one disputes we'll miss Leon from rounds 1 to 23.

 

[Blessed]

which is where we are at the moment.

No guarantees we will get past that.

or that we wont face an important final in Perth which Leon always thrived on.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

I am starting to warm to the idea of Didak playing Leon's role for the simple reason that he can kick. I know he has not got a defensive bone in his body but he can kick. We are going to miss Leon's kicking but not in the finals as Bay Pie notes above. Judging by his zero disposals game against Hawthorn, Yagmoor will not be up to the job this year. Didak might feel a bit more confident with the game in front of him from the backline.

 

[Blessed]

MymanDawes.

As I have said in copious threads.

Agreed and Agreed.

Someone needs to.
We have lost our Distributor..

and it shows.

But the person replacing Leon Davis must be able to play defense as well

Think Travis Varcoe.

 

[danielnajdek]

Gonna say this for the final time.

Leon isn't a Pies player anymore so there's no point crying over him not being there anymore. The sooner people get used to that fact the sooner they can move on.

 

[Blessed]

But we haven't replaced him and we must.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Leon and McCarthy and whoever else we let go were delisted for a reason.......

Salary cap pressure. That salary cap relief allowed us the room we needed to retain Pendlebury.

Davis could have been still at Collingwood had he accepted the deal. Instead hes retired. His call.

 

[Blessed]

An All Australian for an extra $100k. Plzzzzz.

Could have got rid of Rounds and Sinclair instead.

It is all about list management.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Leon and McCarthy and whoever else we let go were delisted for a reason.......

Salary cap pressure. That salary cap relief allowed us the room we needed to retain Pendlebury.

Davis could have been still at Collingwood had he accepted the deal. Instead hes retired. His call.

McCarthy - 23 possessions and a goal in an 'influential' game against the
SAints. Just thought I'd mention it.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

McCarthy - 23 possessions and a goal in an 'influential' game against the
SAints. Just thought I'd mention it.

Hes a good player and will do ok at Port.

Wouldnt get a game at Collingwood ahead of Krakouer Maccaffer Didak Johnson Wellingham or Beams.

Just thought I'd mention it.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Could have got rid of Rounds and Sinclair instead.

It is all about list management.

Yes it is.

And you dont judge that after one game. Danny Stanleys going all right too. Want him back?

We had seven smalls missing on Saturday, and three tall defenders, and a ruck. And a few others.

 

[Blessed]

Hes a good player.

Wouldnt get a game at Collingwood ahead of Krakouer Maccaffer Didak Johnson Wellingham or Beams.

Just thought I'd mention it.

Hey Timmy that means he would be in now and we sure could have used him.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Hey Timmy that means he would be in now and we sure could have used him.

It doesnt work that way. Theres a thing called a salary cap.

 

[Obese Arachnid]

But we haven't replaced him and we must.

It took us until 2010 to replace Monkhorst.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Hey Timmy that means he would be in now and we sure could have used him.

Yes, Timmy, you did give Blessed a free hit there with the list of injured players.
I am not disputing salary cap pressure, just the pit of proteges of our best 22 has a superficial bottom. We need some young guys to rise from their pleasure pool of mediocrity, bite the bullet, take some pain and move up a notch in performance.
Cap or no cap, at the moment, McCarthy would easily get a game.

 

[speedytiger]

An All Australian for an extra $100k. Plzzzzz.

Could have got rid of Rounds and Sinclair instead.

It is all about list management.

Tell me why no other club took him on then? If it was simply for an extra $100k surely Port, WC or Freo would snap him up. And if it was only money and not wanting to go home why didn't any club from the whole competition grab him? Maybe he found out what his market value really was?

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Cap or no cap, at the moment, McCarthy would easily get a game.

But there is a cap.

With seven midfielders missing (probably more, I wasnt counting Elliott and Thomas etc), Paul Licuria would get a game too. Its pointless keeping your 12th best midfilder just in case seven of them get injured, because you think he might be fractionally better (ie older and more experienced) than your 13th best midfielder.

As I said he'd been in the system longer than Sinclair and Rounds, and his contract was up. I assume Sinclair and Rounds have another year left on theri contracts and then they might have to face the chop as well. I actually rate Ronds, I think he will make a great small defender in time. Not sure about Sinclair. McCarthy was the right player to let go. Even he knew that, and thats why he mutually agreed to leave the club.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

We need some young guys to rise from their pleasure pool of mediocrity, bite the bullet, take some pain and move up a notch in performance. .

Nothing will achieve that better than experience.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

Yes, Timmy, you did give Blessed a free hit there with the list of injured players.
I am not disputing salary cap pressure, just the pit of proteges of our best 22 has a superficial bottom. We need some young guys to rise from their pleasure pool of mediocrity, bite the bullet, take some pain and move up a notch in performance.
Cap or no cap, at the moment, McCarthy would easily get a game.

May as well just go and get Judd then.

 

[Number 10]

We need some young guys to rise from their pleasure pool of mediocrity, bite the bullet, take some pain and move up a notch in performance.

Do you think it is really that easy... to just rise up and be better all of a sudden? Easier said than done.

We simply haven't had the draft picks or the talented listed players to expect that from our kids. Blair was the last player to do this in the last 2-3 years, but he came into a strong 22 with lots of support and has played almost every game since. This game time has seen him improve - he didn't simply just turn it on, he was just called up because he could play his role well.

Before you (most likely) shoot off about our wasteful use of high draft picks for young depth who can "rise from the pleasure pool of mediocrity" - Just think about the quality we got from those picks.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Do you think it is really that easy... to just rise up and be better all of a sudden? Easier said than done.

We simply haven't had the draft picks or the talented listed players to expect that from our kids. Blair was the last player to do this in the last 2-3 years, but he came into a strong 22 with lots of support and has played almost every game since. This game time has seen him improve - he didn't simply just turn it on, he was just called up because he could play his role well.

Before you (most likely) shoot off about our wasteful use of high draft picks for young depth who can "rise from the pleasure pool of mediocrity" - Just think about the quality we got from those picks.

Actually, my comment was mis-read. I agree that young guys are not going to become great players over night. Nor did I specify a time limit on the player 'moving up a notch'. I was referring most to players like Wellingham and Wood who have both enjoyed a reputation at times for their love of life beyond footy - hence the 'pleasure pool' reference, which is also directed at any player, old or new, who is not 100% committed to football. In context, it just means players making hard decisions about their lifestyle.

Realistically, I am aware that quality players are in the minority, and that they generally take a few years to develop. We do need some young players to step up this year if we are to seriously contest the premiership. Some seem less likely to do so than others, but a couple of guys need to fast track themselves by showing they can play.

Finally, to the use of high draft picks to get young depth i.e. Krakouer and Clarke or Ceglar and Elliott? We are loading up for a shot at the premiership, so picking up ready made players is perfectly understandable and we still drafted 2 promising young guys. Never have I moaned about these selections.

 

[Number 10]

Appreciate the answer, well put and sorry for misunderstanding ur initial post. You make a solid point but I still believe that it's not that easy even for more seasoned youngsters without that initial talent. For example we can compare side bottom and beams with wellingham and harry. 2 came from high drafts in a very good year, both had a very high skill level from the get go. Whereas Harry and wellingham obviously came off the rookie list and their skill level hasn't allowed them to excel into those elite categories that you seemingly want them to grasp in the coming weeks.
Their careers, like most rookies will have their ebbs and flows and we just need to hope that these guys can peak at the same time, which is during finals. In saying hope, I want to distinguish that from expect.

One side note to my post is the obvious exception to some of these types who are picked up in the rookie lists with some poor attributes namely Boyd, sandilands and cox, who are truly elite, albeit coming at a later stage in their short lives as afl players.

I know you haven't doubted the selections, I just thought you may given that was part of my initial argument.

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

No probs Number 10. With Wellingham, Wood and others, the aim with them is not so much eliteness but consistency. Beams and Sidebottom are probably examples of players who we would be hoping to achieve closer to elite status. Didak gave up drinking alcohol after his suspension from the game and had a great season in 2010. Maybe some young guys need to exercise more self-discipline in order to become consistent players.