Re: If Mark Blake wants to leave....
i understand that blake's upset to miss the gf, but he's just got to suck it up - it's all about the team, and he wasn't good enough to make it on the day, simple.
i'm actually really concerned about the future with blake. he improved this year, but never looked likely to dominate a game, and let's face it, he's very unco. sure he's a ruckman, but if his skills around the ground stay as poor as they are, he'll be a major liability in the future, when teams start closing in on us, and we no longer have the luxury of the best ruck combination in the league - ottens/king.
also, despite seeing trent west play a few good matches in early season vfl, i'm concerned that he's a bit short - 198cm is a fair way off the bigger ruckmen like sandilands, or even our own 2 frontliners at 202cm.
oh well, i guess we just have to trust the track record of our recruitment department up to now. i'd really to hate to see a scenario in 4-5 years when the combination of:
* our current success leads to really low draft picks for several years
* salary cap pressures from this superstar list leads to less than favourable trade concessions
* the inevitable waning of our current stars' powers over time; and finally
* the retirement of ottens/king
leaves us with an inferior ruck combination for several years, as well as a list full of aging stars and few truly exciting young prospects to turn over to. perhaps if blake really wants to go, now's the best time for us to look for a young ruckmen with size, and better skills, who could fill the void by then...