Past #10: Ben Cunnington - will retire from the AFL after * game - 238 games/95+ goals/2x Syd Barker Medalist/Shinboner - thanks for everything Cunners

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shintemaster said:
With all the coaching hoo ha this dropped off the radar - I wonder if we're likely to sneak Ben back for a game or two at the end of the year.
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I’d doubt it
You’d assume he needs say 2-3 weeks full training which he hasn’t started yet

So let’s say he starts it next week which is optimistic round 19-21 full training

Then would need a VFL game on limited mins then a full VFL game

That’s round 22 and 23 season over
 
Val Keating said:
Depends how much the injury set back his fitness build.
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Agree but sounded like he was well on track bar the niggle... I'm torn, whilst in reality there is little point in bringing him back for 1-2 games from a looking at 2023 point of view I'd really like to see him back on the ground for him, us and the team as a whole. Be a nice endpoint to a challenging year.
 
I'd like to see him punch Bernie Vince in the guts again.
 

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the Ziebull said:
I’d doubt it
You’d assume he needs say 2-3 weeks full training which he hasn’t started yet

So let’s say he starts it next week which is optimistic round 19-21 full training

Then would need a VFL game on limited mins then a full VFL game

That’s round 22 and 23 season over
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Don't underestimate how much those last two games could mean to the club, the playing group, and of course, Ben and his family. It's been the toughest year for everyone and it would provide so much inspiration and hope to see him out on the field, even if it's only one game.
 
By the sounds of things he is aiming to play the last 2-3 games, barring any setbacks obviously.
I’m really hoping he can get back, it would lift the morale around the place like nothing else!
Imagine the first bounce… Goldy taps down Cunners throat for a fend off & laser handball to LDU for a running goal/behind from 50
I haven’t been going to many games of late, for obvious reasons… but I wouldn’t miss this one for the world!
 
Too Many Hyphens said:
Don't underestimate how much those last two games could mean to the club, the playing group, and of course, Ben and his family. It's been the toughest year for everyone and it would provide so much inspiration and hope to see him out on the field, even if it's only one game.
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VFL games?
 
shintemaster said:
Agree but sounded like he was well on track bar the niggle... I'm torn, whilst in reality there is little point in bringing him back for 1-2 games from a looking at 2023 point of view I'd really like to see him back on the ground for him, us and the team as a whole. Be a nice endpoint to a challenging year.
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It would be huge for him mentally if he managed to play this year.
 
the Ziebull said:
VFL games?
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Ben Cunnington does not need to play in the VFL, once he is ready to go. That's the place for good footballers to return through. Benny is a champion and will slot back in without any worries. He hails from Princetown remember.
 

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Horace said:
Ben Cunnington does not need to play in the VFL, once he is ready to go. That's the place for good footballers to return through. Benny is a champion and will slot back in without any worries. He hails from Princetown remember.
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Lol
There’s no way we’d play him after a year off straight into the afl without limited mins at VFL first and then even a full VFL game

Would only happen if he decided to retire so we just brought him in for a farewell game
 
Imagine jumping into this at 1.00 am in the middle of winter when the storms are blowing up all the way from the Antarctic and the rain and hail are p****** down around you. Benny's territory.

The-Gellibrand-River-Princetown.jpg
 
the Ziebull said:
Lol
There’s no way we’d play him after a year off straight into the afl without limited mins at VFL first and then even a full VFL game

Would only happen if he decided to retire so we just brought him in for a farewell game
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You can Lol as much as you like tZ. You don't know the boy.
 
Horace said:
Imagine jumping into this at 1.00 am in the middle of winter when the storms are blowing up all the way from the Antarctic and the rain and hail are p****** down around you. Benny's territory.

The-Gellibrand-River-Princetown.jpg
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Warm summers day for most of the world, H.

We don’t know what cold looks like here.

Now this my good friend was fresh… 123741F0-65A1-4D3C-9E56-82ED9AD274E2.jpeg
 
Usayed Givashe said:
Warm summers day for most of the world, H.

We don’t know what cold looks like here.

Now this my good friend was fresh…View attachment 1445695
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Indeed that's fresh.

That photo I posted does not do justice to the Gellibrand in the middle of winter on a cold overcast day. The water looks black and forbidding.

Not far from there are the Twelve Apostles, Lochard Gorge and the Blowhole. I grew up not far from there, about two miles from the coast as the crow flies and when the storms were at their worst, there was a continuous roar from the waves crashing against the limestone cliffs. We used to lie awake at night listening to the screams of agony from new born lambs on the farm across the road and wonder what we might face the next morning with our calving cows overnight.
 
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Val Keating said:
Disagree. I think they’ll ease him in through the VFL. Probably start off with half a game
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Pointless playing him in the VFL. Remember we are bottom of the ladder so there is nothing at stake. He might only play 50% game time but barring injuries, he can be managed through that. The morale boost the entire club should get with him returning will be huge.
 
Horace said:
Pointless playing him in the VFL. Remember we are bottom of the ladder so there is nothing at stake. He might only play 50% game time but barring injuries, he can be managed through that. The morale boost the entire club should get with him returning will be huge.
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I’d bet my house that he comes back through the VFL. He’s not coming back from injury, he’s coming back from cancer. He needs to be eased in. They’re even easing him in match sim at training. Bringing him through the VFL where they can manage his TOG and see how he pulls up. He’s barely had any contact.

I really doubt sending him to the wolves in the AFL would be good for him. Players coming back from knees don’t even do that.
 
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Fish Sticks said:
By the sounds of things he is aiming to play the last 2-3 games, barring any setbacks obviously.
I’m really hoping he can get back, it would lift the morale around the place like nothing else!
Imagine the first bounce… Goldy taps down Cunners throat for a fend off & laser handball to LDU for a running goal/behind from 50
I haven’t been going to many games of late, for obvious reasons… but I wouldn’t miss this one for the world!
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40000 North supporters in attendance when Cunners returns.
 
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