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There is no shame in getting beat by Marshall. He is a seriously good player.

But, short of a strategic visit to Stephen Dank, I don’t see any scenario where SDK gets to anywhere near the level of his brother as a ruckman.
It was only 2022 when all supporters thought we had the best DeK.
Tom has been a decent ruckman the last 2 seasons. He's 26 in July.
Sam is just 24- I would still give him a bit of a chance to get there, but he does need to play as if there is no tomorrow.
 
Henry needs to be dropped. Has to learn a 2nd position or how to play his position differently. Was unacceptable last night
After watching him in the prelim last year, I am confident his form slump will reverse this week. He has undoubted talent and X factor- not sure what is wrong at present.
 

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Henry needs to be dropped. Has to learn a 2nd position or how to play his position differently. Was unacceptable last night
Not sure about dropping him. He can find the goals, and we don’t have any ready made replacement.
Absolutely agree with second part of your statement. Needs to find ways to stay in the game or get some new tricks. Definitely a challenge for him and the coaches. if they can reprogram those Irish guys, surely it is within their capabilities to tweak someone with his talent.
 
After watching him in the prelim last year, I am confident his form slump will reverse this week. He has undoubted talent and X factor- not sure what is wrong at present.

I've had a theory since the start of the season. We all know who his long time best mate is. I can't imagine he'd be dealing well with the possible news that's floating around.

He seems very on edge, and not in the game at all. Kept getting upset last night, which isn't like him. Definitely something going on.
 
I've had a theory since the start of the season. We all know who his long time best mate is. I can't imagine he'd be dealing well with the possible news that's floating around.

He seems very on edge, and not in the game at all. Kept getting upset last night, which isn't like him. Definitely something going on.
Agree. All will be revealed over the season.
 
He already has smarts in spades watch his sidestep from last week and some of his handballs. What he needs is bulk to stand up in tackles-but this needs to be done gradually if he tries to put on 15kg at once he will just end up with stress leg injuries. But if he does it gradually he will get there-hes for the brain for it if he has the right work ethic.
Clark is going to be a very slow burn.
He shows glimpses of why we drafted him but is body is sub par for an inside mid at the moment.
His attitude is first class and he has shown great decision making and skill on occasion.
Clearly we will persist and I really hope he makes it eventually 👍
 
I've had a theory since the start of the season. We all know who his long time best mate is. I can't imagine he'd be dealing well with the possible news that's floating around.

He seems very on edge, and not in the game at all. Kept getting upset last night, which isn't like him. Definitely something going on.
I think it's a bit more simple. Teams have worked out they can put a tall on him and he struggles. Needs to learn how to be the lead-up / connector marking forward when things are not working for him deep.

Things could go either way for his best mate. Hopefully it works out similar to Josh Giddey
 
Anyone else who may find this interesting… just to compare our 22 premiership starting midfield with our current starting midfield.

22 premiership grand final team-
Selwood(34)
Dangerfield(32)
Guthrie(29)
Stanley(29)

Rotating thru:
Blicavs(31)
Atkins(27)
Duncan(31)
Isaac smith (33)



2025 weekend side:
dangerfield(35)
Holmes(22)
Smith(24)
Dekoning(24)

Rotating:
Dempsey(21)
Clark(20)
Knevitt(21)
Clohesy(19)



Very big difference in midfield experience and body maturity…

I haven’t even looked at brisbanes from the weekend, but I imagine it’s a very different age demographic of senior bodies
 
2025 weekend side:
dangerfield(35)
Holmes(22)
Smith(24)
Dekoning(24)

Rotating:
Dempsey(21)
Clark(20)
Knevitt(21)
Clohesy(19)

I haven’t even looked at brisbanes from the weekend, but I imagine it’s a very different age demographic of senior bodies

Brisbane's midfield on the weekend was

Fort (31)
Dunkley (28)
Neale (31)
W Ashcroft (20)
McCluggage (27)

With a few attendances by

Rayner (25)
Day (32)
Bailey (25)
 
1 goal in the second half… What a waste when we were 32 up. We choked again.

Put a line through Clark and Bowes. I’m talking about their careers. Both dumb players. I’m certain they’ll never make it. What a disgrace using pick 8 on Clark.

Neale better hope that it’s his ankle that explained his career worst game.

SDK - I’d trade him. Soft dumb footballer who is irreparable from his mental demons since ‘22. He’s scared to mark with any contact and it’s cringe watching him.

O. Henry. An icing player that will never drag us over the line. I’m sick of his zero impact games in close matches.

Persist with Mullin.

Only ones that can hold their head high are Zuth, Humphries, Miers, COS, blitz and danger tried.
I know a few supporters of struggling clubs who think some Geelong fans are quite special.
 

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Not sure about dropping him. He can find the goals, and we don’t have any ready made replacement.
Absolutely agree with second part of your statement. Needs to find ways to stay in the game or get some new tricks. Definitely a challenge for him and the coaches. if they can reprogram those Irish guys, surely it is within their capabilities to tweak someone with his talent.
You could just play shorter with Mannagh coming in.

I would like to see him around the ground more. You see Cameron not getting near it and then he's pushing up the wing. Would rather Ollie Henry be doing that
 
I think it's a bit more simple. Teams have worked out they can put a tall on him and he struggles. Needs to learn how to be the lead-up / connector marking forward when things are not working for him deep.

Things could go either way for his best mate. Hopefully it works out similar to Josh Giddey
Hopefully the justice system comes to the correct adjudication whatever that is.
 

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One thing I just noticed was for his 15 disposals (9 kicks, 6 handballs), Oisin went at 100% Disposal Efficiency.

Not exactly huge numbers, but also not bad on a shitty night like last night. Though I suppose that sort of wet slog might be the perfect sort of "Irish" conditions (save for the 90%+ humidity, of course!)


The Big Lettuce (Connor O'Sullivan) went at 100% for his 10 touches, too.
 
Yeah but TDK was flaky until about 18 months ago and he's been a ruck on Carlton's list for the last 7 years.

Sam has had one pre-season at it.
I'll just jump in here and say TDK was categorically flaky, that is true.

But...

TDK's issues were a bit different to SDK. TDK was an airhead with the footy IQ of a turkey. He was always aggressive in terms of how he played, but he was just as dumb as dogs*** in terms of how he matched up against certain opponents. He also really struggled with the fitness side of things for a while. I think he's a bit more of an explosive athlete than Sam so probably lacks some of the natural endurance Sam has.

Sam's issues are purely around physicality and intent imo. He seems to have the IQ part of the game down pat which took TDK a lot longer to figure out, he seems fine in terms of raw strength in the contest and his fitness base is excellent for a fairly fresh ruck. He just seems timid and a bit afraid of copping a belting.

Whether that can be fixed with more experience is an interesting discussion, personally I think you're either born with it or you're not, a bit like forward smarts. But I'm just a nuffy on BigFooty so what would I know?

If the club is fully committed to him making it as a ruck, I really think you should go after Pittonet or at least a similar type. Even if its just for Sam's development, having a big lumbering brute to match up against at training every week would do him a world of good. Much like it did for TDK, just for different reasons. Atm he's up against Stanley and Conway at training and then has to face up against a Xerri or Briggs type who are just miles more physical than anything he's used to. Tom got to train against Pitto for years and has slowly learnt how to deal with the Xerri's of the world through that.

Still think he ends up down back where his attributes are better utilized. COS and SDK for a decade would be fantastic, even if SDK isn't quite as awesome down there as he was in 2022 before the face smashing.
 
Stengle and Henry need to lift
With Stengle, I don't think it's a lack of effort on his part. He was going for everything last night.

But when Jezza and Ollie aren't working hard enough and Neale gets left behind a bit due to the ankle, it makes Stengles job a lot harder.
 
Could always try Stanley in the ruck with SDK up forward to see how he goes with his goal kicking

Or if we have Mannagh good to return this week, we don't replace Neale with a tall, instead backing in Cameron & Henry up forward to pull out their fingers and surround them with a mosquito fleet of smalls

It's a configuration we could try on the smaller KP
It'll be just our luck that Lever returns :(
 
I'll just jump in here and say TDK was categorically flaky, that is true.

But...

TDK's issues were a bit different to SDK. TDK was an airhead with the footy IQ of a turkey. He was always aggressive in terms of how he played, but he was just as dumb as dogs*** in terms of how he matched up against certain opponents. He also really struggled with the fitness side of things for a while. I think he's a bit more of an explosive athlete than Sam so probably lacks some of the natural endurance Sam has.

Sam's issues are purely around physicality and intent imo. He seems to have the IQ part of the game down pat which took TDK a lot longer to figure out, he seems fine in terms of raw strength in the contest and his fitness base is excellent for a fairly fresh ruck. He just seems timid and a bit afraid of copping a belting.

Whether that can be fixed with more experience is an interesting discussion, personally I think you're either born with it or you're not, a bit like forward smarts. But I'm just a nuffy on BigFooty so what would I know?

If the club is fully committed to him making it as a ruck, I really think you should go after Pittonet or at least a similar type. Even if its just for Sam's development, having a big lumbering brute to match up against at training every week would do him a world of good. Much like it did for TDK, just for different reasons. Atm he's up against Stanley and Conway at training and then has to face up against a Xerri or Briggs type who are just miles more physical than anything he's used to. Tom got to train against Pitto for years and has slowly learnt how to deal with the Xerri's of the world through that.

Still think he ends up down back where his attributes are better utilized. COS and SDK for a decade would be fantastic, even if SDK isn't quite as awesome down there as he was in 2022 before the face smashing.
Yeah i mean we wouldn't be playing him in the ruck if we had another ruckman
 

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