Griff

[dplggr47]

if Griff succeeds, we won't need Moran and i can see him leaving at year's end...and in terms of intensity, i think Griff is 1-up on that.

 

[WALL-e]

Moran has shown a real desire to play for this team, can't see him leaving.

Will only add to the competition for spots.

 

[Pilchard_Adams]

Yeah Griff did look better than before, but I still like mid 2009 Moran...

 

[TheLeftFist8]

I was still disappointed with a marking contest early where he basically shirked it, you could tell he didnt want a bar of it. I was fuming. To be fair though he was one of the blokes who fired up when Filthy went down to give him credit for that.

Yes saw that...around the 50m mark at the northern end, slightly members side.

Very disappointing.

Next few weeks will be interesting to see if he can keep improving.

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Griff's work at the centre bounces has been excellent since his return and most importantly he is contributing more around the ground

I love the chemistry between Maric and Griff, they seem to be a team within a team

If Griff can have a great 2nd half of the year he could cement his place in our best 22, with this in mind I am not sure Griff would want to go to a new club and have to force his way in there best 22

 

[Pariah]

If he can reach his potential this year where does that leave Brad Moran?
I starting to change my opinion of him as an AFL player but I want to see him dominate a match before I completley convinced he has changed.

 

[King Elvis]

Apparently at the first switch of ruck duties, Maric grabbed Griff and gave him a quick brief on how Sandilands was rucking and where he was hitting it.

 

[spexau]

He definately showed more heart and fire than he did in round 1. His skills around the ground were neat and intelligent too. Maybe after all of these years of everyone saying "Ruckmen take the longest to develop, he could turn out alright" he'll actually turn out good.

 

[cmndstab]

I'm cautiously of the opinion that, no matter how well he plays or how many games he gets for the rest of the season, he is going to demand a trade regardless.

If this does happen, then at least we're half a chance to actually get some compensation for him if he keeps playing like he's been playing the last fortnight! Nothing dominant, but damn, he actually looks like he wants the footy, and wants to take on his opponent! His take, spin and dish out in defence towards the end of the match yesterday was just beautiful, and he actually competed in the ruck! Good stuff from the big #6!

I had pretty much rubber stamped Griffin after running out of patience with him in round 1, after so many disappointments in previous seasons, but he absolutely has a place in the side if he plays like he did on the weekend.


If he does stay it will be very interesting to see the internal battle for the two ruck spots between Maric, Griffin, Moran, Sellar, Craig and McKernan. None of them really screams out #1 ruck, but the first four all have some runs on the board.

 

[jackster83]

He should be licking his lips at the thought of this week's game. Renouf is an underrated ruckman and should have a pretty good battle with Maric, but Skipper is pretty damn ordinary (and at 193cm is undersized).

 

[rooboy]

Great to see both our ruckman giving their all. Both did very well, and it frees up Tippett to roam the forward line.

 

[Tex200]

Johns form gives AFC a win/win...if he plays well, stays in and stays at the club..happy days for all.

However if he wants to go we have at leasted created a price tag which was non existent a month ago. An even half ready to go AFL ruckman is a rare commodity and clubs will generally give over the odds eg Sydney with Mumford.

HIs only chance of going home will be to work a trade (assuming WCE dont finish bottom...how unlucky would that be) so we should get something decent.

 

[Vader]

Well with Griffin with heart, in form Maric, uninjured Moran, uninjured in form Sellar and in form McKernan and improving (hopefully) Craig.....we don't need any more rucks.

Something I've been saying all season...

 

[Ask Sandy]

I love this bloke!

I got to meet Griff on the weekend. My kids were playing chasey and they run straight into big Griff and bounced off - a funny sight to see! He was more than happy to talk to the kids and myself at length, I found him to be friendly and a genuine nice guy. Kinda hope he stays!

 

[sydney_crow]

Johns form gives AFC a win/win...if he plays well, stays in and stays at the club..happy days for all.

However if he wants to go we have at leasted created a price tag which was non existent a month ago. An even half ready to go AFL ruckman is a rare commodity and clubs will generally give over the odds eg Sydney with Mumford.

HIs only chance of going home will be to work a trade (assuming WCE dont finish bottom...how unlucky would that be) so we should get something decent.

I reckon at this stage Sydney will be (justifiably) saying that they didn't pay over the odds for Mumford at all...and Geelong may be thinking again about the choice they made in keeping Blake and letting Mumford go.

 

[Tex200]

I reckon at this stage Sydney will be (justifiably) saying that they didn't pay over the odds for Mumford at all...and Geelong may be thinking again about the choice they made in keeping Blake and letting Mumford go.

Sorry that post of mine was not meant to disrespect Mumford. Just an example of a trade whereby a ruckman without a massive CV was chased.

There is certainly every possibility Griffin could go elswhere and blossom. All I meant was that if he can establish himself as a player for the reaminder of the season, there will be no shortage of suitors looking for a trade. Unlike last year when he was languishing.

 

[crowralph]

i remain convinced that if you review his lone ruck effort against sandilands in rnd 1 it wasn't deserving of being dropped altogether and especialloy for the duration that he was. even worse when taking into account that maric was underdone from the moment he came in and should not have been sacrificed as a lone ruckman.

griff seemed to need far too many good games in sanfl for my liking during the period we persisted with maric as lone ruckman and robbing our full-forward to cover. i think craig was waiting for sellar to burn it up so that he didn't have to give griff another chance.

if you ask me right now who i want next year out of craig and griffin, it's griffin by an small margin. when a team gets up like they did for a player in a one-off type game, then there's a massive issue. to be successful they need to put in like that each week. if they can for a one-off, but not week in and week out, then we either shed a few players or shed a coach (or 2).

end rant (quarter drunken, but i've been calling for griffin for ages to support maric, deaf ears!!!)

 

[Gary17]

Interview with Griffin on the Crows website. Sounds like he is on the way back with his attitude.

http://www.afc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/4417/newsid/96118/default.aspx

 

[IddyBiddy]

Interview with Griffin on the Crows website. Sounds like he is on the way back with his attitude.

http://www.afc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/4417/newsid/96118/default.aspx

That's really great to read.

There was a moment in the last qrt last week after Porps took that grab, where Griff showed a heap of emotion. He grabbed porps and gave him a rev then yelled up the field at Stiffy who'd run the line to deliver the ball to Porps. It was great to see him animated and show that heart that he's been accused of lacking.

 

[macca23]

Interview with Griffin on the Crows website. Sounds like he is on the way back with his attitude.

http://www.afc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/4417/newsid/96118/default.aspx

That is a great article on Griffin.

More importantly it says he has every chance of succeeding from here on in, because he has finally realized that the reason he was not playing AFL footy was himself, not Craig, the selectors or anybody else.

He's got a heap of talent. We just might get to see it pretty regularly from now on.

 

[SellarStardom]

That's really great to read.

There was a moment in the last qrt last week after Porps took that grab, where Griff showed a heap of emotion. He grabbed porps and gave him a rev then yelled up the field at Stiffy who'd run the line to deliver the ball to Porps. It was great to see him animated and show that heart that he's been accused of lacking.

Agreed, this was a really noticable piece of team work by Griff, demonstrating a real desire to be part of the team and put his effort in. I think that was one of the first times I have seen that from Griff showing he is confident and really keen. He should be putting a good match in within the next couple of weeks I think

 

[cmndstab]

Interesting that he's come out and specifically said it's not the club that's the issue, but rather his mental application. If he can hold his spot this season you get the feeling he'll stick around based on that article.


If we can get a switched on Griffin it'll be a big help for us.

 

[King Elvis]

That's really great to read.

There was a moment in the last qrt last week after Porps took that grab, where Griff showed a heap of emotion. He grabbed porps and gave him a rev then yelled up the field at Stiffy who'd run the line to deliver the ball to Porps. It was great to see him animated and show that heart that he's been accused of lacking.

I think I remember that; did he point at Stiffy while he was gee'ing him up.

crowralph, I desperately want Griff to make it, even if it isn't with us, but he was flat out insipid in round one. You can tolerate a poor performance from a bad night, but not when a player quite simply doesn't try.

 

[Macjoe]

... I desperately want Griff to make it, even if it isn't with us, but he was flat out insipid in round one. You can tolerate a poor performance from a bad night, but not when a player quite simply doesn't try.

Not having a shot at you, KE, 'cos I know a lot of us thought that way at the time, but our assessment of attitude and performance in the early rounds was made when we still didn't understand where AFC was really at, nor where Freo was. We needed to find scapegoats for what seemed unacceptable losses.

Similar judgements have been fairly and unfairly made about other players from the early rounds - Will Young's unfairly judged debut comes to mind - and I think it is time to re-assess many of those early judgements, made in those times of high expectation.

If we "review the tapes" of those games with hindsight, I think we will gain better insight into who was fit and ready and who was switched on (not necessarily the same players) and who wasn't. At the time I didn't notice, but I'm sure watching those early games with a critical eye on our 2009 B&F would have me re-thinking.

Still, it is clear Griff was soundly beaten by Sandilands then, whether he was insipid or not.

On the positive side, the re-emergence of Griff makes me really happy for a simple, concrete reason: he is the tallest of our ruck stocks, not a tweener at all. The old adage: as the game goes on tall men never get shorter...

 

[WALL-e]

Fantastic read it was.

All I've ever wanted was determination and effort from him, the rest will come.