Partridge said:
Yep I thought Egan was terrific today, by far his most impressive display thus far. By the way The Age referred to him yesterday as "Brad Egan" - good to see journalists are as accurate as ever. Unfortunately for our backline though, Jarad Rooke was there, and thanks to his supreme incompetence, Melbourne's only dangerous forward won the game for them. To think I actually thought that clown had improved too. Silly me.
Rooke has improved this year, but on Saturday he was simply outclassed. He is simply not good enough to shut down a player such as Robertson, and he may never be that good. Robertson has been sensational this year and will probably be in the AA team, Rooke is a solid defender who does well on average flankers. Robertson is not an average flanker, his high leaping style make him very hard to beat and he requires a top notch defender to shut him down. Had Ottens not been injured, I'm sure Mooney would've gone to Neitz and Scarlett to Robertson as Rooke is simply not good enough for that type of player. It's like when he had to play on Pavlich, he was never going to beat him, but he gives his all each week and on most HFF that's good enough because it means he can beat them. I think if we weren't so short on defenders, Rooke would probably spend more time in the forward line and this may well be a good position for him, as his courage at the ball and tackling would add some much needed agro to the forward line. You can't expect too much from players, Rooke gives his all and was simply beaten by a far more talented player.
As for Egan, very impressive. I think in a couple of years he will be a very good key defender.