John Meesen

[J-Ro-20]

Oh no, not at all bitter!

Not at all - how many times am I going to have to say this?

I hope he does become your saviour in replacing Jeff White when he finishes up. At the moment he is behind Johnson & Jamar, but give him time he is still developing.

His development in the SANFL was below par & the go home factor set in. I understand the "go home factor" Adelaide pick up "go home" players all the time.

 

[-VC-]

Oh no, not at all bitter!

What makes you say that? I suppose anyone who thinks Meesen isn't a walk up start for second ruck spot is a bitter Crows fan. I believe that attitude was his exact problem with his time in Adelaide and for his sake hopefully he has learnt from that.

We've seen him a lot more than I'm willing to bet you guys have and his second efforts and intensity are weak. The phrase built like Tarzan, plays like Jane comes to mind (hello Jamar) with Meesen but that's something he can improve as I beleive he was just getting used playing senior footy and to his growing body.

I didn't hear the interview but apparently he was on 5AA last week and he gave the impression that he pretty much expected to play AFL footy with the Crows and when the opportunities weren't coming he was disappointed (yet they did to a guy picked at #40 in the same draft as him, so it wasn't like they weren't there - he just didn't take it).

What I can see happening is that this will have sent him a rocket of sorts. I feel that he came to Adelaide a little too sure of himself and now he has a chance to start fresh. This can work out for him and if he improves his work rate then he'll end up being a steal for you guys and then you can be all like, "LOL'z OMG u guys r haxorz 4 trading him 4 pick 37" but the truth is that was his market value at the time due to his inability to seize the opportunity when he first got here and then later some unfortunate injuries.

 

[master bate]

The thing is, you guys probably rate Jamar and Paul Johnson as half decent ruckmen, where as most of us see them as useless, especially Jamar. So saying Meesen will get a game as our second ruck isn't pumping him up, because we think he isn't beating much, where as you Adelaide supporters say he wont get a game because you probably think Jamar and Johnson are semi decent.

 

[-VC-]

I have seen a fair bit of Jamar and Johnson for Melbourne and Sandy. Truth be told, I've seen more of them than I have of Meesen. Hopefully Meesen doesn't have the attitude that he can just walk in and everything will be OK because he'll get the best out of himself if he knows he has a battle.

I honestly think he does have a battle on his hands. He is in the prime position to win it, but the complacency that he seemed to have in Adelaide was what cost him breaking into the team when Maric did. He is not head and shoulders ahead of Jamar and Johnson at this stage, but his room for improvement is much, much greater, which is why he'll probably get it.

I just think it says a bit about his attitude that he was so keen to go to Melbourne because he'll get more opportunity. We'll be led by a 30 year old coming off a knee reco and backed up by two guys his age that have been in the system the same time as him. I'd just be a little worried that he picked Melbourne because there's less of a struggle for a spot in the 22, despite the fact our situation would have us as one of the easier teams to break into as a second, even first ruck.

But like he said, he needs a fresh start. In my mind he still needs to show that he can respond to challenges, which is something he hasn't done very much of in three years.

 

[Cap]

Oh no, not at all bitter!

No Crows fan would be bitter at Meesen, they are bitter at the AFC for wasting another top 10 pick on a guy with questionable mental application - (has the talent though)

3 years in the system - 2 terrible games of AFL and a few good ones of SANFL doesn't really give us much to be bitter about.

 

[J-Ro-20]

The thing is, you guys probably rate Jamar and Paul Johnson as half decent ruckmen, where as most of us see them as useless, especially Jamar. So saying Meesen will get a game as our second ruck isn't pumping him up, because we think he isn't beating much, where as you Adelaide supporters say he wont get a game because you probably think Jamar and Johnson are semi decent.

I actually do. I rate Jamar much higher than Meesen. Not so much Johnson, but he is still a step above Meesen in my opinion.

Id like to see Meesen develop into a quality player ala Peter Vardy did for you guys a few years ago.

 

[Dez!]

Ahhhhhh Peter Vardy, there was a man who could turn a game on it's head with one kick of the footy.

Meesen has started in the best possible fashion, having Jeff White as a mentor will definitely help him skillswise and he already seems to have the speed and endurance that we could use in a ruckman.

 

[-VC-]

I think we all miss Vards!

 

[Deenamite]

not at all i wish him all the best.

I just questioned his work rate at Adelaide.
I cant see him breaking Melbourne's ruck talent in White, Jamar & Johnson. Will be a handy 4th ruck though...

I'm better than Jamar.

 

[amer]

I didn't hear the interview but apparently he was on 5AA last week and he gave the impression that he pretty much expected to play AFL footy with the Crows and when the opportunities weren't coming he was disappointed (yet they did to a guy picked at #40 in the same draft as him, so it wasn't like they weren't there - he just didn't take it).

“My first year and a half I probably wasn’t ready and didn’t have the body for AFL footy

Bzzzt, next.

 

[old_clint]

I actually do. I rate Jamar much higher than Meesen. Not so much Johnson, but he is still a step above Meesen in my opinion.

Id like to see Meesen develop into a quality player ala Peter Vardy did for you guys a few years ago.

Meesen has been starved of opportunity whereas the big South Australian has had more than 50 games to reveal that he is indeed a very ordinary footballer. Give him a go.

 

[-VC-]

Bzzzt, next.

Ivan Maric wasn't ready and had much less of a body for AFL, but he did enough to earn a spot when it opened up. That is what I'm talking about, the fact that he lost out to someone less physically developed taken in the same draft as him.

To be honest, that quote just sounds like an excuse to me anyway because he's always had a good sized body and was as close to an AFL ready ruckman as you'd hope to expect from someone at 19 (when that AFL spot first opened up for one of Meese or Maric). Sure, his body wasn't exactly ready, but it was a hell of a lot more ready than the bloke that took that spot.

 

[amer]

Ivan Maric wasn't ready and had much less of a body for AFL, but he did enough to earn a spot when it opened up. That is what I'm talking about, the fact that he lost out to someone less physically developed taken in the same draft as him.

To be honest, that quote just sounds like an excuse to me anyway because he's always had a good sized body and was as close to an AFL ready ruckman as you'd hope to expect from someone at 19 (when that AFL spot first opened up for one of Meese or Maric). Sure, his body wasn't exactly ready, but it was a hell of a lot more ready than the bloke that took that spot.

Did you see Meesen play when he was 18/19?

 

[-VC-]

Did you see Meesen play when he was 18/19?

I didn't see him once in his first year on Adelaide's list but I saw him in TAC Cup action. He was always considered one of the most "AFL ready" ruckmen from that crop, but never looked like threatening for a game from the numerous reports I've heard from SANFL watchers. Sure, they were other people's opinions and not mine, but it was a pretty wide consensus.

I don't get your angle. Are you somehow trying to say that Meesen never lost his spot to someone less developed than him? Maric didn't even play that much footy as a junior, concentrating more on basketball before taking footy seriously later.

 

[master bate]

I didn't see him once in his first year on Adelaide's list but I saw him in TAC Cup action. He was always considered one of the most "AFL ready" ruckmen from that crop, but never looked like threatening for a game from the numerous reports I've heard from SANFL watchers. Sure, they were other people's opinions and not mine, but it was a pretty wide consensus.

I don't get your angle. Are you somehow trying to say that Meesen never lost his spot to someone less developed than him? Maric didn't even play that much footy as a junior, concentrating more on basketball before taking footy seriously later.

I don't know what Meesen did as a 18 year old, but maybe he was a gun at under 18 level and is thinking that he Adelaide stuffed him up and now hes back in Melbourne he might dominate. Thats what I'm hoping!

 

[-VC-]

He absolutely was a gun junior, but if he didn't understand that it's not all that easy to just get into the AFL as a big guy then he needs a reality check. I'm sure the coaches at Adelaide got on his back and let him know he was way off track and maybe he just didn't respond well. He'll have every opportunity to do that in a new environment, but he walked away from what I believe was a genuine crack at a #1 ruck job to go to a club where the potential to be #1 ruck was slightly better (after White retires). That raises some queries with me, that's all.

Best of luck to him and to you guys with that. Talent wise, you've got something. Application wise...TBC.

 

[AAMI]

He has had big wraps on him but, at the end of the day, I'm sorry to say he is just not up to it. If I had to describe him in one word, it is DUD.

 

[CaptainDavey]

He has had big wraps on him but, at the end of the day, I'm sorry to say he is just not up to it. If I had to describe him in one word, it is DUD.

The same can be said about Brad Moran no doubt?

 

[melbournemartin]

At this stage, I'd rather have a question over application than talent. Melbourne needs something more than just a hard-worker with decent skills to improve and we can't all be like McLean with the silky skills and amazingly high work ethic.

 

[DeeMan27]

There is but a few that can liken themselves to Mclean. Soon none will be able to match his prowess.

 

[Goffa]

Meesen and Jamar are likely to be the direct competitors for number two ruck - I like to think Paul Johnson has a bit of extra versatility which means he'll find his way into the team via multiple routes - filling in as KP forward or back. He may even be marked for a full position change, becoming only a pinch-hitter ruckman.
Both Meesen and Jamar have fallen short of hopes in the last few years, one of them needs to stand up, and fast, because the Demons can't wait forever for a quality ruckman to succeed White, and won't be as patient as they were in the last few years.

 

[Gets!]

haha Meesen