Gardiner almost certain to join us

[Embers]

Pagan is going over to watch him. If can't ruck, we don't take him. Very simple. We don't need any more forwards ... although he would more than cover Deluca as a marking forward.

If he went to watch today he wouldnt of seen him do any centre bouncedown work. He still has a foot injury. Im sure Pagan knows that. In the last qtr infact Claremont had a 180cm guy in the centre bouncedowns for pretty much the whole qtr

 

[Thunderstruck]

Effes raises some good points here, now just from a purely neutral perspective, Gardiner is past his best and it would be unwise to go near him in the draft when there are some EXCELLENT kids around.

Now you guys hold the #1 pick, and providing you don't trade that which I'm sure you wont, you can pick any kid up. Leunberger would be an exceptional pickup at #1. However Bryce Gibbs is the best kid going around and at the end of the day the wisest thing to do would be to pick him up at #1 and go for another ruckman like Renouf or Jacobs with your second pick or even later if they are still around. As good as Gardiner has been, it is very unlikely he will ever repeat that performance, with a combination of injury and off field dramas, he is too much of a liability. It is time to seize the moment and go for the KIDS!!! They might take time, but if you recruit correctly you will find a gem of a ruck in good time.

Pagan clearly has a history of recruiting recycled players, and the rucks he has brought to Carlton (and roos) havent exactly been flash. French is a good ruckman at times but he isn't a Cox, Lade, Clarke or Sandilands. McLaren is basically a waste of space. Bryan goes alright around the ground but struggles to break into your side and at his age that isnt a good thing. Porter was pretty good when he fired at Carlton but by the time he got to the roos, he was on the down and finished.

So definitely time to go with the kids, Jacobs is a terrific talent from SA playing league SANFL in the BEST side and holding his own with some great ruckwork. Big, tall and mobile and taps ball well to his midfielders. Gardiner might be able to do all that but his best days are behind him, only medicore days ahead, perhaps some good games but not the bloke he was. Plus you will only get around 4 years out of him, a period in which you will probably have not fully rebuilt as a club as good as some of ur young kids are like Murphy and Walker are, time to inject a young ruckman to work with them from the bottom to the top.

 

[Effes]

If he went to watch today he wouldnt of seen him do any centre bouncedown work. He still has a foot injury. Im sure Pagan knows that. In the last qtr infact Claremont had a 180cm guy in the centre bouncedowns for pretty much the whole qtr

Cheers Embers

 

[Silvagnis]

Pagan is going over to watch him. If can't ruck, we don't take him. Very simple. We don't need any more forwards ... although he would more than cover Deluca as a marking forward.

Is that supposed to be a recommendation?

I went to last year's Grand Final and he was terrible up forward.

Keating is another hasbeen we don't need.

 

[- PC -]

Heard he inured himself after kicking 3 goals to half time

Though one would imagine Pagan would go by medical advice and consider a 3 month layoff as good enough rest to heal the foot

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Is that supposed to be a recommendation?

Not at all, just an off the cuff observation. I said if he can't ruck, we don't take him because we don't need any more forwards. I then realised that we have Deluca as a tall forward almost exclusively. Gardiner would be far better in that role than Deluca but as we need a ruckman, that is a separate issue altogether. I wouldn't take Gardiner as anything but a ruckman, if he isn't capable, I definitely do NOT want him.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Heard he inured himself after kicking 3 goals to half time

Though one would imagine Pagan would go by medical advice and consider a 3 month layoff as good enough rest to heal the foot

Oh god, one would hope not.

My decision to get Gardiner was based on reports that he has been rucking in the WAFL, has been having some great games AND the fact that he worked his way back into the Eagles foremost thoughts before his latest indiscretion.

 

[Salaryman]

Effes raises some good points here, now just from a purely neutral perspective, Gardiner is past his best and it would be unwise to go near him in the draft when there are some EXCELLENT kids around.

Now you guys hold the #1 pick, and providing you don't trade that which I'm sure you wont, you can pick any kid up. Leunberger would be an exceptional pickup at #1. However Bryce Gibbs is the best kid going around and at the end of the day the wisest thing to do would be to pick him up at #1 and go for another ruckman like Renouf or Jacobs with your second pick or even later if they are still around. As good as Gardiner has been, it is very unlikely he will ever repeat that performance, with a combination of injury and off field dramas, he is too much of a liability. It is time to seize the moment and go for the KIDS!!! They might take time, but if you recruit correctly you will find a gem of a ruck in good time.

Pagan clearly has a history of recruiting recycled players, and the rucks he has brought to Carlton (and roos) havent exactly been flash. French is a good ruckman at times but he isn't a Cox, Lade, Clarke or Sandilands. McLaren is basically a waste of space. Bryan goes alright around the ground but struggles to break into your side and at his age that isnt a good thing. Porter was pretty good when he fired at Carlton but by the time he got to the roos, he was on the down and finished.

So definitely time to go with the kids, Jacobs is a terrific talent from SA playing league SANFL in the BEST side and holding his own with some great ruckwork. Big, tall and mobile and taps ball well to his midfielders. Gardiner might be able to do all that but his best days are behind him, only medicore days ahead, perhaps some good games but not the bloke he was. Plus you will only get around 4 years out of him, a period in which you will probably have not fully rebuilt as a club as good as some of ur young kids are like Murphy and Walker are, time to inject a young ruckman to work with them from the bottom to the top.

Well put Thunder...another informed post , you're welcome to talk some sense to the people on our board anytime

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

We know we can get a young ruckman with pick 17. No guarantees with a ruck at that pick but a realistic chance. The problem is they won't be ready for 3 years or so and we are impoverished in the ruck right now. We will have the midfield and no rucks to get it to them.

 

[KnaveyBlue]

No No No Gardner

 

[WalkerTexasRanger]

if thats the road your gonna take... we'll trade him somewhere else for pick 70 just to annoy carlton.

Who are you but a fan? Or do you have some magical control over your football club? That's right I told Pagan not to trade Fev to West Coast just to annoy them and make them lose to Sydney on Saturday....Dip****

 

[bmaurizio]

Effes raises some good points here, now just from a purely neutral perspective, Gardiner is past his best and it would be unwise to go near him in the draft when there are some EXCELLENT kids around.

Now you guys hold the #1 pick, and providing you don't trade that which I'm sure you wont, you can pick any kid up. Leunberger would be an exceptional pickup at #1. However Bryce Gibbs is the best kid going around and at the end of the day the wisest thing to do would be to pick him up at #1 and go for another ruckman like Renouf or Jacobs with your second pick or even later if they are still around. As good as Gardiner has been, it is very unlikely he will ever repeat that performance, with a combination of injury and off field dramas, he is too much of a liability. It is time to seize the moment and go for the KIDS!!! They might take time, but if you recruit correctly you will find a gem of a ruck in good time.

Pagan clearly has a history of recruiting recycled players, and the rucks he has brought to Carlton (and roos) havent exactly been flash. French is a good ruckman at times but he isn't a Cox, Lade, Clarke or Sandilands. McLaren is basically a waste of space. Bryan goes alright around the ground but struggles to break into your side and at his age that isnt a good thing. Porter was pretty good when he fired at Carlton but by the time he got to the roos, he was on the down and finished.

So definitely time to go with the kids, Jacobs is a terrific talent from SA playing league SANFL in the BEST side and holding his own with some great ruckwork. Big, tall and mobile and taps ball well to his midfielders. Gardiner might be able to do all that but his best days are behind him, only medicore days ahead, perhaps some good games but not the bloke he was. Plus you will only get around 4 years out of him, a period in which you will probably have not fully rebuilt as a club as good as some of ur young kids are like Murphy and Walker are, time to inject a young ruckman to work with them from the bottom to the top.

Insightful and poignant , thanks Thunderstuck, much appreciated. Yep it's time for us to invest in a quality young ruckman and I like Jacobs too, no more quick fixes please Pagan..
By the way do you have reference to more info on Jacobs ?
What about a quality strong bodied hard at it center player in SANFL .

Ciao

 

[mighty blues luke]

Date/Time Played For Opposition No Gls Bhds Kicks Mks HBalls HO
Sat 8/Apr 2:15 PM Claremont Swan Districts 34 1 - 14 10 2 9
Sat 29/Apr 2:15 PM Claremont Perth 34 1 1 6 3 - 4
Sat 20/May 2:15 PM Claremont West Perth 34 1 - 10 5 2 17
Sat 10/Jun 2:15 PM Claremont Subiaco 34 1 1 18 13 7 25
Sat 17/Jun 2:15 PM Claremont Swan Districts 34 3 1 17 11 2 30
Sat 24/Jun 2:15 PM Claremont East Perth 34 - - 12 7 1 37
Sat 5/Aug 2:15 PM Claremont Swan Districts 34 7 2 16 10 3 8
Sat 19/Aug 2:15 PM Claremont Subiaco 34 - - 14 11 1 33
Sat 2/Sep 2:15 PM Claremont Peel Thunder 34 4 - 11 6 2 29

Gardiners stats in wafl for this year last column of interest to me some good numbers 25,30,37,33,29

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Hmmm, he hasn't been getting all those possessions from the forward line I'd wager. What's the story?

 

[Effes]

Why all the missed games?

 

[Captain Kouta]

Gardiner is all but finished as a factor in AFL football.
He is a bad egg who has problems we don't need - we have enough of our own.
To recruit Michael Gardiner sends all the wrong messages to the rest of the playing group and will set this great club back ANOTHER two years.
If we bring in Gardiner .. we are cactus.

 

[Blues_Man]

Effes raises some good points here, now just from a purely neutral perspective, Gardiner is past his best and it would be unwise to go near him in the draft when there are some EXCELLENT kids around.

Now you guys hold the #1 pick, and providing you don't trade that which I'm sure you wont, you can pick any kid up. Leunberger would be an exceptional pickup at #1. However Bryce Gibbs is the best kid going around and at the end of the day the wisest thing to do would be to pick him up at #1 and go for another ruckman like Renouf or Jacobs with your second pick or even later if they are still around. As good as Gardiner has been, it is very unlikely he will ever repeat that performance, with a combination of injury and off field dramas, he is too much of a liability. It is time to seize the moment and go for the KIDS!!! They might take time, but if you recruit correctly you will find a gem of a ruck in good time.

Pagan clearly has a history of recruiting recycled players, and the rucks he has brought to Carlton (and roos) havent exactly been flash. French is a good ruckman at times but he isn't a Cox, Lade, Clarke or Sandilands. McLaren is basically a waste of space. Bryan goes alright around the ground but struggles to break into your side and at his age that isnt a good thing. Porter was pretty good when he fired at Carlton but by the time he got to the roos, he was on the down and finished.

So definitely time to go with the kids, Jacobs is a terrific talent from SA playing league SANFL in the BEST side and holding his own with some great ruckwork. Big, tall and mobile and taps ball well to his midfielders. Gardiner might be able to do all that but his best days are behind him, only medicore days ahead, perhaps some good games but not the bloke he was. Plus you will only get around 4 years out of him, a period in which you will probably have not fully rebuilt as a club as good as some of ur young kids are like Murphy and Walker are, time to inject a young ruckman to work with them from the bottom to the top.

Good post ...you have changed my opinion on the matter

 

[Funkalicous]

Gardiner is all but finished as a factor in AFL football.
He is a bad egg who has problems we don't need - we have enough of our own.
To recruit Michael Gardiner sends all the wrong messages to the rest of the playing group and will set this great club back ANOTHER two years.
If we bring in Gardiner .. we are cactus.

I'm not so sure that his arrival does send the wrong message. The players will see first hand that he had to travel the width of the country to get a second chance. They'll know better than to immitate his mistakes. On the other hand, I'm sure our senior group would welcome all the help they can get. They'll be very familiar with what Gardiner can do at his best.

The Blues will treat him with respect when he arrives. They'll support him, get to know him, and see that he can be an quality footballer for the club.

Neither the Blues or Gardiner can afford one slip up though. The media will be ready...

 

[BlueBelle]

Eagles pair face police questions.

The other player with him was Ben Cousins who, if I remember correctly, did another thing wrong at the start of this year as well and lost the captaincy over it.

Are you telling me that because he has been in trouble with the cops twice that you wouldn't recruit him to our club? NO WAY!

If Pagan recruits Gardiner then I assume it will be on Carllton's terms and I am guessing Pagan will be smart enough to include a clause regarding his off field behaviour, etc.

I think this could be a good thing for us as Gardiner does want to play footy again and knows this is his last chance. He will definately be out to prove something!

I would take the chance... if he doesn't perform then he'll play at the Bullants. Simple. We won't be paying him big money either.

 

[DIG]

The other player with him was Ben Cousins who, if I remember correctly, did another thing wrong at the start of this year as well and lost the captaincy over it.

Are you telling me that because he has been in trouble with the cops twice that you wouldn't recruit him to our club? NO WAY!

If Pagan recruits Gardiner then I assume it will be on Carllton's terms and I am guessing Pagan will be smart enough to include a clause regarding his off field behaviour, etc.

I think this could be a good thing for us as Gardiner does want to play footy again and knows this is his last chance. He will definately be out to prove something!

I would take the chance... if he doesn't perform then he'll play at the Bullants. Simple. We won't be paying him big money either.

Yeah - people are getting so cut up about this issue. If all we give up is a pre-season draft pick or a very late national draft pick (via trade), who gives a toss - may come off, may not, costs us buggerall to find out either way.

If his body's shot, it won't pass the medical and we won't consider him.

 

[gadj1976]

Fact is, Gardiner may be a bad egg, but we need a ruckman to pinch hit whilst someone develops underneath him (or another ruckman).

We can't go into 2007 with Bryan or De Luca as our lead ruckman. Both those guys are back up ruckman at best, so we need a no1 ruckman.

Gardiner fills the bill fortunately or unfortunately.

Where McLaren fits in is anyones guess.

 

[OZBomb]

So much water to go under the bridge as far as PSD picks, it's not worth talking about.

Matt Moody is holding out on signing a deal at Brisbane, I'm not even sure a new deal has been offered to 28 year-old Beau McDonald who should be our number 1 rucking target. That's just at Brisbane.

More and more names will come up as clubs start to evaluate their lists and contracts are offered, or not.

 

[Bluebear]

I'm coming round slowly. I still think Gardiner may have something to offer, but two thing concern me.
He is raking up stats in the WAFL that we would want in the AFL. Should he be doing better?
And I agree (Sigh) with Effes - the missed games are a concern.

My arguement for getting him is looking thinner, and if there is a youngster wih potential then we should get him. If there is nobody - at worst he'll be a good training tool for Batson and Aisake, at best he'll give a couple of years of (interrupted) good service to the young up and comers in the midfield.

 

[Silvagnis]

The other player with him was Ben Cousins who, if I remember correctly, did another thing wrong at the start of this year as well and lost the captaincy over it.

Are you telling me that because he has been in trouble with the cops twice that you wouldn't recruit him to our club? NO WAY!

If Pagan recruits Gardiner then I assume it will be on Carllton's terms and I am guessing Pagan will be smart enough to include a clause regarding his off field behaviour, etc.

I guess Denis was smart enough to put a clause in Angwin's contract.

I think this could be a good thing for us as Gardiner does want to play footy again and knows this is his last chance. He will definately be out to prove something!

I would take the chance... if he doesn't perform then he'll play at the Bullants. Simple. We won't be paying him big money either.

A leopard doesn't change it's spots.

I wouldn't hold my breath that we won't be paying him big money because a name player managed by Joseph wouldn't come cheap. $100,000 is big money for Carlton ATM and that's what a player like Gardiner would earn next year.

At least.

Laycock or a mid for the PSD.

 

[BlueBelle]

A leopard doesn't change it's spots.

So based on this theory, would you deny Ben Cousins a spot on our list as well?