Our Top Ten and more...

[ThePuppetMaster]

Thought a bit of an exercise to keep the discussion off Scully was in order!

I have three questions;

1. Who were our 'top ten' players this year and are we happy with this?
- Moloney
- Jones
- Trengove
- Frawley
- Martin
- Watts
- Garland
- Sylvia
- McKenzie
- Rivers

I'm happy with that in some ways as it shows that we still have a lot of improvement left;
- Sylvia should be much higher
- Green, Jamar, Jurrah and Davey don't feature
- Watts, Trengove and McKenzie will only get better
- Gysberts, Blease, Howe, Tapscott, Strauss will all be pushing that list over the next few years.

2. Who are our four most important players going into this pre-season? Where will our improvement come from?

- Watts; only confidence can come from the season he had this year, and with more size to be put on in the gym I imagine his confidence can only grow. With him being ready to play on the best defender week in, week out and to be our main forward target our forward line will function much better.

- Gysberts; he needs weight, but he has shown some excellent signs in his short career. With him gaining another 5kg's he will be much more ready to impact the stoppages and help out Moloney, Trengove and McKenzie. He will be a big improver.

- Sylvia; elite output from him = Melbourne becoming a finals team. No question.

- Cook; he needs to hit the gym and give us some more structure up forward, there is no reason he couldn't be equivalent to Watts' 2011 size next season. He is also a much more ready footballer than Watts was. If Cook and Watts can pair together for a significant portion of next season it will do wonders for us.

3. Which three players do we NEED to make players out of (that have question marks)?

- Morton; has all the talent in the world and has amazing flexibility.... unfortunately he lacks confidence and as a consequence appetite for the contest (I think they are related). He could be a key piece to the puzzle.

- Fitzpatrick; it will take time but I think that if he can become a good player for this footy club we will benefit enormously. Has serious pace and athletic ability. If he learns to work within his limitations (ie. not trying to kick on the run on his left until he is competent at it) he will be a great target for us.

- Bennell; this lad has so much talent, we can't waste it. Skill, class and dash. We need to make him a Yarran type off half back.

 

[tap_my_scott]

In my opinion our 10 most important players for 2012 are -


1. James Frawley
2. Jack Watts
3. Jack Trengove
4. Colin Sylvia
5. Mark Jamar
6. Brent Moloney
7. Jack Grimes
8. Liam Jurrah
9. Jordan Gysberts
10. Aaron Davey

Garland and McKenzie are as equally as important as most of thise guys too.

 

[LeverPuller]

Depends on how you define a top 10, and by me it's the ten players most needed to be picked if both fit and in form. For me, they are:

- Watts
- Trengove
- Jones
- Frawley
- Garland
- Jamar
- Sylvia
- Bail
- Moloney
- Jurrah

There are a few on the fringes of this group (Blease, Martin, Gysberts) but they seem to be the constant ten.

Of course, Brad Green is picked either way, but that's another issue.

 

[Gazza_11]

I really do think Lucas Cook can be a Sam Reid or Lance Franklin type forward. Is a stellar mark and works very hard, uses his body well.

 

[fishardansin]

Hey guys. Not sure if this is the right thread but I want to ask a few Jurrah questions. My kids have a Warlpiri background through their mother and my nephew from up the bush lived with me last year and was on the phone to Liam all the time.

Why did he have the form drop off through the year? Is it a case of a finisher type player not getting enough supply or was their injury or something else holding him back?

 

[Logger]

Probably not the place, but its a bit of a mixed bag. There were rumours of a niggling calf injury that wouldn't go away, plus the fact that early in the season he was flying for anything that came his way, and then completely stopped going for marks and seemed to prefer trying to crumb off the back of the pack, then they sent him to Casey to get a bit more defensive edge, and by the end of all that he was probably confused as to what exactly he should be doing in the team. Fairly typical 2nd year blues at Melbourne, really.

 

[fishardansin]

Wow surprising to hear a Warlpiri having problems with a calf. You'd normally assume that you'd have to have something to have a problem with it!

Anyhow I'm hoping he can get back to his best. He means a lot to the people out there and him being drafted directly lead to Liam Patrick having a crack at the big time and others now doing the hard work to try to make it. My nephew for one.

 

[Logger]

Good luck to him. If he's got half the talent Liam has (and just a little more application) I'm sure someone here could pass on our List Manager's phone number