_RT_
Hall of Famer
- Sep 17, 2006
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- Furies Premiers 2010
Well constructed thoughts expressed here. Nank has been a hit, Caddy has had to play a role that he wasn't recruited for because of others falling over, I do believe that when we do get a second tall to stand up week to week that Caddy will go back to being a part of the midfield rotation. With Prestia, has started slowly in his career with us, never argued that, but there are valid reasons for it. He is a long term recruit, little point in running him into the ground when we know he has issues so we ease him in and use him in a suitable role. I fully expect that he will get better over time. As I mentioned in previous posts even Fyfe struggled to get back to his best after an injury. Granted his injury is different to what Prestia has, another player with a knee injury is Nick Reiwoldt who has carried a bad knee for years, he has found a way to perform at his best so there is no reason why Prestia can't do the same as long as he is managed the right way, which is what we've done IMO.When you look at the 3 trades done last year...Nank at 42(?) was a ripper. The bloke adds way more than Hammer's centre taps and Ivvy's goal square marks...big tick...all in 1 body.
I no longer look at Caddy as bolstering the midfield. To me he is a mayhem/mid sized forward. Tyrone was excess to needs as we didn't need a third tall and we needed to replace Lid's increasingly undependable brilliance. Caddy's competition for a spot in the team is Lennon & Lloyd...the fact that he & Jack are covering for Ben G means his work has had extra pressure. If he is in the midfield its because he is kick chasing or following his defender. And last I looked, every team has 6 nominal defenders...so I don't know how people can say he is adding value to our midfield...he is being stood by a defender.
So add Nank's work as a ruck, the defence growth in Dave A and Short, the defence strengthening in Mac and Houli and the pressure applied by the forward dwarves (compared to witches hats last year) and you have way more pressure on the ball going forward. The midfield is no longer being stretched ala 2016. Add Dusty's growing prowess and Lambert's emergence...midfield is definitely benefitting overall.
So how to view Prestia? We are paying $4m to a Pick 6 for 5 years. Could have gotten the best kid, enjoyed some sporadic good times (like Dion so far) and paid $100x2 (if that's the draft rate) & $400x3, total $1.4m and still have another 5 years left on him. This is the same argument that existed at the time of the draft last year. So he had to be bloody good to justify $2.6m (or whatever the numbers become) overpayment. He wanted the coin, so he has to earn it.
Apparently he needs a pre-season...like a Pick 6 does. Pity he didn't arrive in professional tip-top nick a high value trade ought to. You would have thought the FD had learnt from Conca, Knights, Lennon, CEllis & Yarran of the pitfalls of hiring blokes who can't do pre-seasons. So we will waste/invest a year on him getting a pre-season in the AFL, not VFL. He isn't holding Nugget out because Nugget needs to learn to run two ways, but Jacob must be scratching his head a tad.
So next year will need to be the first of four complete high performance years, at $975k a year because the $700k this ($800-$100) year was paid in advance. On similar coin as Trent, touch under Dusty if we keep him. At some point, all of us will have to measure him on his prime efforts, not this secondary "relieving pressure" rubbish.