Traded #42: Adam Saad - Traded to Carlton for pick 8 (with some junk picks)

kleanr

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Dec 9, 2008
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Saw Cornes’ team of the week in AFL website and thought he probably deserved a spot for his shutdown job on the most dangerous small forward in the game. Cornes went for Laird, Lloyd, Bonner and Simpson who all had great games but surely, for the job Saad did he’d be well worthy.

I had him at my 8th best for us yet I’d have him in the team of the week. Shows the excellent, even spread of performances for us.

now that Corne's has his name to this team of the week article as well as the omission of a 39 possession Ablett, i shall no longer read this junk.
 
Jun 9, 2007
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now that Corne's has his name to this team of the week article as well as the omission of a 39 possession Ablett, i shall no longer read this junk.
I was thinking the same. I thought they did a reasonable job with it over the last couple of years. Cornes actually delegitimises it somewhat.
 
Ankle is "stable".... so I guess that's 'fine' by AFL standards.

Crow immediately quashed any concerns about dashing defender Adam Saad who rolled his ankle in a tackle against Fremantle late in the third term last Saturday.

“He was rewrapped, put back on the ground and finished the game.

“His ankle’s stable, after the flight it seems he’s in good condition as well and he’ll train this week and be available to play.”
http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2018-04-03/skins-injury-update-rd-3
 

BrunoV

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May 5, 2009
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Very happy with what Saad has been doing to this point especially as he's shown a purely defensive ability which is close to being elite (joining a handful of other players in the league as genuinely good small defender).

He'll end up with a better balance of defence and attack as the side settles and the midfield starts providing more cover.

He's my pick of the 'Ss' traded in. He checks the small defender and running half back roles which we'd otherwise have filled with Baguley, McNiece and Redman (which is a combination well past its use-by and unproven).
 

JayJ20

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Aug 28, 2016
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Agree Bruno. He's been the best of the S's for us so far (Smith a close second) simply because we've addressed a glaring weakness when it comes to small defenders.

We all know that he can run and provide an attacking option from defence, but his defensive game has surprised me very much. We have a winner here.
 
Lol. You idiot.

Don't get me wrong, I love what he brings, but if he doesn't want to bend over and pick up the ball I'm not playing him, and I'm not normally one to immediately hang guys either.

I don't think it's acceptable for a small defender to lose multiple contests purely because everyone else is diving in after the ball and he's content to stand up straight and just reach down for the ball.
 

Vander18

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Apr 22, 2011
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Don't get me wrong, I love what he brings, but if he doesn't want to bend over and pick up the ball I'm not playing him, and I'm not normally one to immediately hang guys either.

I don't think it's acceptable for a small defender to lose multiple contests purely because everyone else is diving in after the ball and he's content to stand up straight and just reach down for the ball.
It's not just Saad though ....I posted elsewhere yesterday that we have very few players who are consistently prepared to go in low and hard.

This is why we always seem to get the rough end of it from the umps. Other teams beat us to the ball all the time.

I imagine we have a rep as a soft team.
 
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http://www.essendonfc.com.au/video/2018-04-19/btv-inside-the-play-saads-multiple-efforts

This was my highlight of the match. So f***ing good, Dixon gave him no respect in the aerial contest
That segment is a fantastic addition to the website I reckon. There are a lot of casual observers who don’t ‘see’ the strategical/structural/tactical moments in a game. I love seeing what the footy department is assessing from each game. It should be a more regular segment.
 

naraku

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Sep 9, 2017
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Love his work , I hope he keeps improving because he will become a real weapon for us soon.
 
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