Michael Johnson vs Graham Polak

[estibador]

Ok there's been a massive amount of discussion about Polak recently, with Freo fans claiming he's only looking good because he's playing loose and Tigers fans countering that he's doing exactly the same job as Johnson at Freo.

So lets throw it out there to the wise judges of bigfooty. Who would you rather have playing in your team? Johnson with his sublime skills and creativity or Polak with his incredible marking prowess?

 

[lids2004roar]

Why was I not surprised a Freo supporter started this thread?

Motivation to start this thread speaks wonders about the true answer of the question

 

[estibador]

Motivation was I was interested to see the general consensus. Since the two are always being compared in the Polak threads it seemed like a logical poll. A lot more logical than some of the random players people throw together in these polls.

Not trying to prove anything. Having seen every game of both their careers (besides a couple of Polak's this year) I'm pretty comfortable in the knowledge of who is the better all round player. If the Tiges are happy with Polak that's great. Hope he goes on to have a decent career. But I certainly wouldn't trade him for Johnson.

Just interested in everyone else's opinion.

 

[lids2004roar]

But I certainly wouldn't trade him for Johnson.

Nobody asked. You are jumping at shadows

Why would you be jumping at shadows at a player you don't miss?

 

[estibador]

Nice try benny.

Don't worry about us missing Polak. There's a reason why one came 2nd in our best and fairest while the other couldn't even get a game by the end of the year.

 

[Ripper]

Lets see:

One is was a 34 game player who was taken after the draft proper and came equal 2nd in the F&B with Peter Bell with only Matthew Pavlich in front of them.

The other was a 77 gamer who was taked pick 4 in the 2001 "superdraft" that never made top 10 in the F &B ever and whinged about not getting a game because the aforementioned player had taken his spot.

Hard decision.

 

[_RT_]

Voted for Polak as he is the Richmond player in the poll. However as I was one of the main participants in some of the discussions I can say that I would have no qualms having either player in the side. Both play the role they are asked to play well, Johnson is a bit more of a line breaker but takes less marks, while Polak is good at totally defusing a situation by more often than not taking the mark. Both will end up as good players for their clubs and to say they wont either smacks of ignorance or you are blinded by stupidity.

 

[lids2004roar]

I think this is dependant on Polak's ability to hold forwards in the future.

If Polak begins to stop players 1 on 1 then he suddenly becomes a lot more valuable than he is now. I'll give him till midway through next year to prove if he can do this, maybe another pre season before writing it off.

He'll be a good KPP player for 10 years either way though and these are hard to find (especially cheaply).

 

[dipper86]

I think this is dependant on Polak's ability to hold forwards in the future.

If Polak begins to stop players 1 on 1 then he suddenly becomes a lot more valuable than he is now. I'll give him till midway through next year to prove if he can do this, maybe another pre season before writing it off.

He'll be a good KPP player for 10 years either way though and these are hard to find (especially cheaply).

Won't happen, far to slow, he'll be exposed.

 

[Calcium Man]

Won't happen, far to slow, he'll be exposed.

Has a sub 3 sec 20 metre sprint. I would suggest he is quicker then most think.

Really lacks fitness ATM to go with guys like Riewoldt and pavlich.