Its bad news but who will get the opportunity & take it?

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Thread starter #1
The injury to Nick Malceski is cruel and whilst I hope its not the case the early vibes are that it will be season ending.

Should the ACL prognosis become reality he will undoubtedly be place on the long term injury list and a rookie will be promoted to temporarily replace him on the list.

Which rookie will get that chance and who if they got the chance would be most likely to seize it?
 

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bedford

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#2
The injury to Nick Malceski is cruel and whilst I hope its not the case the early vibes are that it will be season ending.

Should the ACL prognosis become reality he will undoubtedly be place on the long term injury list and a rookie will be promoted to temporarily replace him on the list.

Which rookie will get that chance and who if they got the chance would be most likely to seize it?
o'dwyer
 
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#4
Out of all of the rookies, Matthew O'Dwyer was a standout, and could develope similiarly to Malcheski. As rookie listed players Matthew Beckmans, Aaron Bruce, Dean Terlich and Nick Smith were terrific.
 

liz

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#6
If you're looking for someone to stand up and take Malceski's role in the team, Laidlaw is the most obvious one given his attributes. It's really a shame for him that he's missing the pre-season games with a knee injury of his own.

It might be Barlow who is the most immediate beneficiary. With Mattner, Tiger and Malceski all fit and firing, one would have spent more time up the ground, on a wing. It is really that position that has come free now, and Barlow has a chance to fill the breach. He'll need to improve in the next few weeks on yesterday's showing but too soon to say he can't.

I don't see any of the rookie listed players seriously challenging for a senior spot soon. Bruce, Terlich and Beckmans are all very raw. The two who didn't play yesterday rawer still.

I really like Smith, and though he didn't get much of the ball yesterday, he did show his exceptionally clean hands. There was one pick up off the ground at speed that showed what he's capable of. He's probably still too slight, though, to make an impact at AFL level yet.

O'Dwyer had a pretty good game but I want to see him back it up. His speed and the odd party trick are not unknown. But he has a tendency to butcher - and I mean truly butcher - about 50% of his possessions. His use of the ball was much better yesterday but he'll need to show sustained improvement in that department before he's AFL ready.
 

FM0226

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#7
If you're looking for someone to stand up and take Malceski's role in the team, Laidlaw is the most obvious one given his attributes. It's really a shame for him that he's missing the pre-season games with a knee injury of his own.

It might be Barlow who is the most immediate beneficiary. With Mattner, Tiger and Malceski all fit and firing, one would have spent more time up the ground, on a wing. It is really that position that has come free now, and Barlow has a chance to fill the breach. He'll need to improve in the next few weeks on yesterday's showing but too soon to say he can't.

I don't see any of the rookie listed players seriously challenging for a senior spot soon. Bruce, Terlich and Beckmans are all very raw. The two who didn't play yesterday rawer still.

I really like Smith, and though he didn't get much of the ball yesterday, he did show his exceptionally clean hands. There was one pick up off the ground at speed that showed what he's capable of. He's probably still too slight, though, to make an impact at AFL level yet.

O'Dwyer had a pretty good game but I want to see him back it up. His speed and the odd party trick are not unknown. But he has a tendency to butcher - and I mean truly butcher - about 50% of his possessions. His use of the ball was much better yesterday but he'll need to show sustained improvement in that department before he's AFL ready.
Spot on!:thumbsu:
Laidlaw will definitely benefit (providing he can stay fit), and Barlow would probably spend more time on the flanks then on the forward line now that Mattner is likely stay mainly on the HBF. I think Thornton is another that could be given a go, he's a tad undersize as a flanker I guess, but I liked what I saw.

I thought Barlow was probably given too much of a free role today (similar to a role that Goodes had last year) and he seemed to struggle to find where he should be for most of the game. I think we are better off playing him in a more structured role (eg. stay on the flank) and work him into a free-er role once he gets more experience under the belt and start to understand/see where the footy is likely to go.

I fully agree with the assessment of the new rookies - they showed courage and competed, but their skills are extremely raw and right now, not AFL ready at all (and they shouldn't be, I guess).

I'm not as sold on O'Dwyer as most people. Yes, he had a 'flashy' game, he got a lot of possessions and 'looked good' doing so, but he didn't do a lot with his kicks, in fact, I thought his disposals were very poor (though the conditions didn't help). Even the goal he kicked, I thought the kick was fairly dodgy. Right now, I will put Moore, Bird, Jack, Thornton, Laidlaw all in front of him (and in that order) - maybe even O'Keefe and Versprimi (though the latter didn't play).

On another note, I thought Faulks played better than I expected (maybe it's due to the fact that I have close to no expectation for him whatsoever), and he seems more suited as a flanker than a KP.
 

liz

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#8
Right now, I will put Moore, Bird, Jack, Thornton, Laidlaw all in front of him (and in that order) - maybe even O'Keefe and Versprimi (though the latter didn't play).
I'm not sure about the order, but those 5 you've named seem the most likely smaller players to get a game in the immediate future. (You can throw Schmidt into the mix too - he'll be competing with Bird and Moore, in particular).

I hope O'Keefe gets some games over the next month with a few of the more experienced players in. I don't think that the rough and scramble of yesterday's game really suited him. That may be a bit of tough luck given the style Sydney play, but even with that style, there is still a need for players who can get into a bit of space and use the ball well. He may find that with some more experienced bodies and slightly more refined skills, others will help him create that space. I thought he showed a bit early before fading and seemed to be moving better than most of last season.

Not much has been said about Thornton's game but I thought he did pretty well. He showed his endurance is good, didn't make many mistakes, and was generally solid in his game. He doesn't have much flash about him but looks dependable.
 

bloods01

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#9
I would think that O'Dwyer would get promoted off the rookie list for Malceski. He has pace to burn and is a good user of the ball. Although he's not overly big, he could develop into a great running player for us and fill the void left by Schnieder going to St.Kilda.
 
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#10
If you're looking for someone to stand up and take Malceski's role in the team, Laidlaw is the most obvious one given his attributes. It's really a shame for him that he's missing the pre-season games with a knee injury of his own.

It might be Barlow who is the most immediate beneficiary. With Mattner, Tiger and Malceski all fit and firing, one would have spent more time up the ground, on a wing. It is really that position that has come free now, and Barlow has a chance to fill the breach. He'll need to improve in the next few weeks on yesterday's showing but too soon to say he can't.

I don't see any of the rookie listed players seriously challenging for a senior spot soon. Bruce, Terlich and Beckmans are all very raw. The two who didn't play yesterday rawer still.

I really like Smith, and though he didn't get much of the ball yesterday, he did show his exceptionally clean hands. There was one pick up off the ground at speed that showed what he's capable of. He's probably still too slight, though, to make an impact at AFL level yet.

O'Dwyer had a pretty good game but I want to see him back it up. His speed and the odd party trick are not unknown. But he has a tendency to butcher - and I mean truly butcher - about 50% of his possessions. His use of the ball was much better yesterday but he'll need to show sustained improvement in that department before he's AFL ready.
i was really impressed with o'dwyer, but obviously we need to see more, and i agree on smith, looked to have real good hands, delivered a few very nice, slick short handballs, one i think set up a goal
of the rookies, i though beckmans did well, there was a passage very late where he chased the ball as the hawks played it across their defence, from one side to the other, it was passed through 5-6 players and beckmans chased every one of them, just kept running, and i think it eventually forced the last hawk to kick it and brabazon marked on the boundary line
fitting reward for beckmans' efforts
 
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#11
I'm not sure about the order, but those 5 you've named seem the most likely smaller players to get a game in the immediate future. (You can throw Schmidt into the mix too - he'll be competing with Bird and Moore, in particular).

I hope O'Keefe gets some games over the next month with a few of the more experienced players in. I don't think that the rough and scramble of yesterday's game really suited him. That may be a bit of tough luck given the style Sydney play, but even with that style, there is still a need for players who can get into a bit of space and use the ball well. He may find that with some more experienced bodies and slightly more refined skills, others will help him create that space. I thought he showed a bit early before fading and seemed to be moving better than most of last season.

Not much has been said about Thornton's game but I thought he did pretty well. He showed his endurance is good, didn't make many mistakes, and was generally solid in his game. He doesn't have much flash about him but looks dependable.

i hope d o'keefe gets a haircut
 

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bradmanstandguy

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#12
Didnt see the game,but i would think,that his replacement,must be able to kick as well as Malc. No fancy stuff,just get the ball and pinpoint a pass!
And if you get a sniff on goal have a shot!!
 

liz

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#13
Didnt see the game,but i would think,that his replacement,must be able to kick as well as Malc. No fancy stuff,just get the ball and pinpoint a pass!
And if you get a sniff on goal have a shot!!

If we had blokes running around in the reserves with the abililty to kick like Nick, they probably wouldn't need to wait until he was injured. They'd already be in the side. He's by far the best (most damaging, anyway) kick in the senior team, let alone the rest of the club.
 
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Thread starter #16
Are people suggesting that we won't automatically promote a rookie and instead "dangle the opportunity" for a couple of months until one of the rookies has repeatedly shown that they deserve an AFL game and as such has earned a spot on the senior list ?
 

liz

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#17
I don't think it's a case of dangling an opportunity. More that there's no point in promoting a rookie unless you actually intend to play him. Based on what we've seen thus far, I don't think any of our rookies would come close to selection ahead of other young'uns already on the senior list. That might change once they've got a few Canberra games under their belts but there's no point doing anything promotion-wise until then.
 

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#19
I'd have to agree with Grimlock on this one.
Also,has anyone heard if we are going to promote rookies to cover Mal and probably Henry Playfair?
 
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#20
I see this as bad news all round. On past selection policy this merely gives serial hacks, McVeigh and Mathews the opportunity to continue proving how hopeless they are. I know I omiitted hack #3, Bevan. As Roos' love child he's an automatic selection anyway..
 
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#21
I see this as bad news all round. On past selection policy this merely gives serial hacks, McVeigh and Mathews the opportunity to continue proving how hopeless they are. I know I omiitted hack #3, Bevan. As Roos' love child he's an automatic selection anyway..
bevan went okay the other day, better than the other two
well, at least bevan's hard at it, and he can tackle and take a mark
also, there's some suggestion playfair's not as bad as they first thought, may be only 3-4 weeks out, i read it somewhere yesterday or sunday, i think
 

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#22
I see this as bad news all round. On past selection policy this merely gives serial hacks, McVeigh and Mathews the opportunity to continue proving how hopeless they are. I know I omiitted hack #3, Bevan. As Roos' love child he's an automatic selection anyway..
Bevan dont rate him, too many turn overs in our defensive 50, gives away to many frees, poor decision making and
average kicking. The three you mention should be under the pump for selection as well as a couple.
 
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