Injury Jared Rivers - PCL strain

[dazbroncos]

To play Devil's Advocate though MC.

Horlin-Smith has had a similar sort of disjointed introduction to senior footy yet most people would say he grabbed his opportuntity and made it difficult to drop him.

Excellent against Sydney and then very solid against the Dogs.

Horlin-Smith played as a sub in his first game (iirc) and then was given the same Brown treatment against Hawthorn in Rd 1.

I understand they are different sorts of players and I understand that Brown missed a lot of footy at the start of his career but there will be people out there asking the question - "if 1 young player can grab his chance with limited opportunity, why can't another?"

I hope Brown is given a crack in light of Rivers' injury to show us what he's got but it is then up to the kid to MAKE it hard to drop him.

And if he does have the attitude of "well, it doesn't matter what I do, I'll be dropped next week" then, I'm afraid, he has already lost the battle.

Cue disagees.

Can't argue with the points. Reality is, this is probably Mitch's shot to take the chance and make the best of it over the next few weeks.

Go Catters

 

[Turbocat]

...
And he's a big bloke. Big blokes take time. Remember Liam Jones from last week? He was in Brown's draft and Dogs supporters are still waiting for him to string some consistent football together. Players that are Horlin-Smith's size not only seem to find it a bit easier to make the transition to AFL footy quicker than players that are Brown's size: they're expected to make the transition quicker. And they're expected to be able to contribute something when they play as the sub (I should add when they get a decent amount of game time, something that wasn't afforded to GHS in Round 1). Brown was given no chance to succeed in that game he was sub. Barely any time to get into the game on a cold, wet day. That old saying that a little man has five minutes to prove he can play; but a big man has five years to prove that he can't. A better comparison (if and when he does play senior football this year) would be Vardy, who's only 10 months younger than Brown.
.....

Big blokes do take time and we give them time.

Looking at his draft in 2008 , of the top 40 players only Lewis Johnston has played less games than Brown. And he is now at his second club

I look at 2007 draft , and there are a few failures in the top 40 but there is only one player who has played less than a 10 game tally and is still on a list at an AFL club. Dawson Simpson

Mostly , Geelong give players plenty of time. Some times players can be unlucky , sometimes a player struggles to standup to the rigors of AFL but at a certain point of time , a judgement happens , a tipping point is reached and a club will decided to move on. Whether Brown has reached this point yet , whether the extra year of contract will give him more time is not clear.. but he must be getting close. The numbers say so. If he doesn't do it soon , it wont happen at Geelong.

So I do hope he gets game time while Rivers is out , I'm not fussed which end even if it means Pods , Taylor and him moving around. If not now in the next 8 weeks , then when? Logic say's probably never.

 

[Pivo]

I look at 2007 draft , and there are a few failures in the top 40 but there is only one player who has played less than a 10 game tally and is still on a list at an AFL club. Dawson Simpson

Well, if we are frustrated with Brown just think what it must be like for Doggie supporters who have Jones from the same year and Grant from the year before?

At least Jones was taken at 32 so there is lower expectation.

Grant was taken at 5.

Draft position adds that little bit of extra pressure. Grant has shown glimpses but in his 6th year he must have Bulldogs fans tearing their hair out.

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

So if you think about it, not only do the big guys "take time", but the quality ones really don't get to Geelong through the draft very often due to us never having more than one (late) first round pick, so beggars can't be choosers. Despite injuries Dawson would have to be on his last opportunity to show something, and Brown not too far behind. We've already committed one spot on the list to a guy who may never play again in Menzel for at least another 12 months, We need these guys to be viable options for the AFL side.

 

[CharacterFirst]

From "we think it is pretty minor, chance for this week"; to "surgery and 8 weeks at least".

Sounds like a standard GFC injury report to me.

 

[Partridge]

That's the thing for me. He's played two games in a row a grand total of once in his career (his first two games). Certainly not all his fault. Injured during his second game. Came on as a sub in the Round 2 game against Hawthorn last year, got about 10 minutes and never had a chance. Certainly didn't do a lot wrong in his game at Metricon last year and was stiff to be dropped. People say that his problem is that he just doesn't have that steel, a bit of mongrel about him, a bit of arrogance. Well, can we blame him? His career so far has involved being injured, switching from key forward to key defence and basically working on the assumption that any time he plays in the seniors, he's just keeping the seat warm until an established player comes back.

Well said. But regarding the bolded part, unless you're a current player or work at the club - how the hell do people know that? It's nothing but pure unfounded speculation, based almost totally on personal opinions because fans are impatient that a 6 game veteran isn't a superstar.

I've got no doubt at all a comment will follow about how poor he was against North. Even though he wasn't. But fans on here see what they want to see and nothing else.

He needs to get better, but also needs any kind of extended run at senior level to show us what he's capable of. Tell him he's playing for the next 3-4 weeks and see what happens.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Well said. But regarding the bolded part, unless you're a current player or work at the club - how the hell do people know that? It's nothing but pure unfounded speculation, based almost totally on personal opinions because fans are impatient that a 6 game veteran isn't a superstar.

I've got no doubt at all a comment will follow about how poor he was against North. Even though he wasn't. But fans on here see what they want to see and nothing else.

Not from me. No doubt it's mainly due to his physique and his natural inclination to use his height and athleticism to play his role, rather than brute strength. Mackie and Taylor aren't exactly body-on-body types in defence either and I wouldn't say Taylor ever really shows mongrel/arrogance in his play (the steel comes from him going back with the flight to take another mark).

We shall see. But if there's more outs than just the expected Rivers and Caddy/Duncan, I'd be happy to see Brown come in with J.Hunt and Hawkins.