Tanner Smith Delisted

[Kram]

If it was about the haircut then that probably explains why we were down the bottom
- apart from Neale the midfield had all had either forgotten what a barber was for or tried to do it themselves (Thinking Mundy, Blakely, Weller, Fyfe, Hill, Pearce - the horror of it all!)

Young blokes these days.. why didn't they all go to great Pav's barber? Now that's a haircut you could set your watch to.

 

[Square Peg]

Utter rubbish .

What bit of it? That he'll get another contract or that his skills are elite?

 

[mightymouse75]

He just needs a new stylist and another club will.pick him up menagola style

 

[Freomaniac]

I think is the haircut that got him delisted , should had go to ross usual place to had his hair cut

I think that decided jesse critchons fate as well. lol

He had that horrible mullet

 

[Superkoops]

I'm a little surprised at the outrage of some for this delisting of Smith. It could have gone either way but his inability to hit the park played against him. He has played 4 games since his drafting in 2012. He has experienced recurring hamstring injuries and his latest being at the high end severe scale. So would likely miss all Pre-season and a chunk of early season undergoing conditioning.

Mitchie will be delisted by Melbourne for good this time. Morabito it is indeed sad but the time has come, his body is just not up to the rigors of an AFL environment. Every club has a Tanner Smith and Sam Menagola; what ifs and so forth and then there are the likes of Andrew Browne and Morabito whose bodies are just not up to but managed to hang around based on potential.

I do agree that we could have given Menagola a crack and he was close from memory but is similar to Stewart Law and Jamie Siddons not cracking the test team (well in law's case only 1 test). Menagola has been gone from Freo a couple of seasons now and to be fair we were a pretty decent side between 2012 -2014 when he was around.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Sam Menegola is playing alright footy for a pretty decent side. It's another nail in the coffin for the selection panel, and the stupid arrogance they have. Tanner never set the world on fire but he showed as much as any other young guy usually does within five games. It was a hard trip but honestly even when he was fit, the club was imposing stupidly long wait times for him before he was available for AFL selection – inevitably he broke down in the 10 months between ticking off the first and last thing the club wanted.

Honestly it could have gone either way but the club being so frigid with him in his first three years was the issue. That's what got him delisted as much as his chronic injuries.

 

[Taylor]

It doesn't help if the coach thinks you're a moron.

 

[Purple Suit]

Sam Menegola is playing alright footy for a pretty decent side. It's another nail in the coffin for the selection panel, and the stupid arrogance they have. Tanner never set the world on fire but he showed as much as any other young guy usually does within five games. It was a hard trip but honestly even when he was fit, the club was imposing stupidly long wait times for him before he was available for AFL selection – inevitably he broke down in the 10 months between ticking off the first and last thing the club wanted.

Honestly it could have gone either way but the club being so frigid with him in his first three years was the issue. That's what got him delisted as much as his chronic injuries.

Menegola only worked out because he was finally delisted and had to go back to the WAFL to prove himself. Had he stayed on Freo's list, I highly doubt he would have become the player he has as he needed the reality check to get the motivation to change. It is very rare that a player gets some mongrel in them after this but it seems to have occurred for Menegola so good luck to him.

The fact that no one picked him up the year he was delisted is good enough to excuse the selection panel for that one.

 

[beetz]

Menegola was on Freo's list when there was no spot for him in the best 22 - the team was flying. If he was still on there this season he would have had a run for sure.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[E Shed]

Menegola only worked out because he was finally delisted and had to go back to the WAFL to prove himself. Had he stayed on Freo's list, I highly doubt he would have become the player he has as he needed the reality check to get the motivation to change. It is very rare that a player gets some mongrel in them after this but it seems to have occurred for Menegola so good luck to him.

The fact that no one picked him up the year he was delisted is good enough to excuse the selection panel for that one.

More like in the WAFL he was actually allowed to play as a playmaker not just a tagger. He's a ball magnet and one the absolute elite runners in the AFL. Disposal will determine if he turns out to be Kane Mitchell revisited but its plain stupid that he couldn't get a game while we've had suban running around all these years.

 

[Kram]

I think a lot of us simply overrate some of our fringe magoo players. Ballard is a classic example.

 

[Taylor]

The worst thing that could happen for Menegola is that Geelong fall out of the finals on the back of Dangerfield burning the ball inside fifty, Sam has a few kicks that miss the target and the media go to town on the disposal efficiency of the midfield letting them down.

 

[Paracleet]

Menegola was on Freo's list when there was no spot for him in the best 22 - the team was flying. If he was still on there this season he would have had a run for sure.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

At AFL level Menegola is an end to end gut runner. Like Hutchings for WC or Mzungu was for us before he slowed down / we fell off a cliff. They perform an important role in good sides. I think his limitations will still restrict his career in the end and if he gets to 100 games, like Mzu has, he'll have done very well (like Mzu has).

 

[E Shed]

I think a lot of us simply overrate some of our fringe magoo players. Ballard is a classic example.

Ballard must have a personality disorder or something. the guy is a pure magnet. One chance he got at AFL and he had a possession inside a minute. I'm still mystified he's not on a list. Sometimes there is more than meets the eye because on pure football ability he's a fine player.

 

[GilG]

Morabito does not have any of the skills described here. He is a bull with a powerful long kick but his ball use and decision making are far from elite. Can't see him sticking around either unfortunately

Well, it won't matter anyway, based on what happened yesterday in the final Peel won. By now, you know he did his quad. If the club cut Smith because of being injury prone, no way they can justify keeping Mora. The skills I said Mora had was based on my own observation in the three games he played in 2014. I didn't have the benefit of watching him at Peel, as you did.

 

[freoextra]

Sam Menegola is playing alright footy for a pretty decent side. It's another nail in the coffin for the selection panel, and the stupid arrogance they have. Tanner never set the world on fire but he showed as much as any other young guy usually does within five games. It was a hard trip but honestly even when he was fit, the club was imposing stupidly long wait times for him before he was available for AFL selection – inevitably he broke down in the 10 months between ticking off the first and last thing the club wanted.

Honestly it could have gone either way but the club being so frigid with him in his first three years was the issue. That's what got him delisted as much as his chronic injuries.

Not completely correct. He came to Freo with a very poor training work ethic. He has certainly acknowledged this, he didn't get professional until he was rookie listed. Any blame goes to the recruiting staff rather than the match day committee - remember we are not in the position to see how much individuals are putting in during training.

 

[beetz]

At AFL level Menegola is an end to end gut runner. Like Hutchings for WC or Mzungu was for us before he slowed down / we fell off a cliff. They perform an important role in good sides. I think his limitations will still restrict his career in the end and if he gets to 100 games, like Mzu has, he'll have done very well (like Mzu has).

No doubt you are correct, but no opportunities presented. I think it was a combination of Freo having a fairly healthy squad in 2015 - injuries weren't as bad as they are this year. Plus I believe he had a few injuries himself?

 

[Eski3]

Menegola actually improved after we delisted him. He wasn't picked up straight after he was delisted, he played a season for Subi first (his best one ever). If he'd played like he did for Subi while on our list I reckon we would have kept him and he would have got a game too.

 

[Nodgey]

Any chance we'll redraft Tanner onto the rookie list with our final pick?

 

[Paracleet]

No doubt you are correct, but no opportunities presented. I think it was a combination of Freo having a fairly healthy squad in 2015 - injuries weren't as bad as they are this year. Plus I believe he had a few injuries himself?

He was with us 2012 to 2014, missed essentially all of 2013 with injury and then didn't set the world alight in 2014. No one batted an eye when he was and for every player you delist with his track record that goes on to be a success there are 100 that don't.

 

[freoextra]

Any chance we'll redraft Tanner onto the rookie list with our final pick?

Nil or possibly less. We really need to start getting some healthy people into this squad despite how brutal that sounds and yes I am including Mora in that comment sadly.

 

[beetz]

Any chance we'll redraft Tanner onto the rookie list with our final pick?

Doubt it, usually they mention their intentions to do that in the media release.

 

[couldhavebeen]

I'm feeling sorry for Tanner but glad that the Club made the decision to delist him not based only on the fact that he couldn't stay on the park but his football skills as well . Morabito did his quad on Sunday so he is ruled out for the rest of the finals so I believe he just played his last game for Freo and Peel.

 

[meima]

Mora is for sure delisted , with the amount of injury freo players had this season, i think another club will be good for him . A change of environment will do him good.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Menegola actually improved after we delisted him. He wasn't picked up straight after he was delisted, he played a season for Subi first (his best one ever). If he'd played like he did for Subi while on our list I reckon we would have kept him and he would have got a game too.

That's because he went to Subi – a good team. While it's probably not a great indication to only play well in a kick-arse side (ahem, Bradley Hill), Peel has some issues with being pretty shit and not being a great environment for our young guys to succeed. You look at Box Hill's domination and Hawthorn's and there's a correlation with the Hawks' never-ending depth, their kids who sit on the list for three years and come straight in and impact the AFL, and the general culture they have with selection. I know it's another issue entirely but if Menegola could be that sort of player in half a year, why wasn't he that sort of player ever at Peel? Or Freo? I think he probably was, but being groomed as a tagger or whatever stupid, limiting defensive shit he was taught clearly wasn't really beneficial to his development. The idea of developing a young player into the most limited, list-clogging, uncreative role possible is still absurd to me.

As for professionalism, it's so overhyped. What does that even mean?

Ross has a love for these guys who 'play a role.' He loves the hard-trainers, the guys who do well in the little tests at training, and the ones who probably hit gym and fitness targets really diligently. Those guys are the ones who try hard but are ultimately just plain shit footballers: Clancee Pearce, Nick Suban, Matt DeBoer. These guys try hard and train well but so what? They're still shit players. Dane Swan, Fev, these guys are barely athletes but were some of the best players their generation had seen.

I just think you can get tunnel vision with this 'professionalism' shit. Ross wants to see attacking players 'defend more' or whatever, and they never get a game. He asks everything of one player which is just unrealistic – footballers have their pros and cons, and like all humans, you're better off harnessing those positives and just wanting to see effort in an attempt at improvement in those negatives.

But then again, Danyle Pearce has no positives and gets a game, Zac Dawson has never improved his incredibly dumb ditziness...

If you get drafted to Freo you're probably just hoping old 'Plugs' Lyon likes the cut of your jib because decent player or not, that's what it comes down to. I'm not angry, surprised, or disappointed Tanner has come and gone – four years and four games spells delist – but ultimately it seems a bit odd to give the guy three games in his final few months. For his position, Tanner Smith is right to be delisted, but his position should have been way, way better than what it ended up becoming. For a team who screamed out for talls since he was drafted, you can empathise with the bloke if he wondered why he couldn't get a good shot at it. FFS Dawson is a spud and would be replaced by now in a Hawks/Sydney/Cats environment, and McPharlin was on his last legs when Smith was drafted.

And then throwing him forward this late... well you'd give him another year based on playing three matches this season in a brand new position. But because he's 22 or whatever, you can't do that.