Analysis Post match Discussion

[jmac70]

True. And considering this his performance against Hawthorn has done him no harm.

He did well but still has a lot of work to do. He is not going to be gifted games.

 

[Quicky]

He did well but still has a lot of work to do. He is not going to be gifted games.

No he won't be. If he continues playing like he did on Thursday he won't need to be either.

 

[wednesdaywarrior]

I recall around 2011/2012 St.Kilda were spruiking their youngsters. Lose some older guns, then you see them for what they are. Some youngsters shine when they are just role players. However, when it's time to step up and become the guys that start the play, they get found out.

The other useful model for this discussion is the Essendon 2000 'Team of the Millennium'. After that year we were told the likes of Heffernan and Blumfield were budding superstars. People just get giddy with really good sides and start to inflate the abilities of role players.

Admittedly Hawthorn's best 22 looks virtually bullet-proof at the moment. But I'm interested in what happens when they finally start to get some injury or decline with that large section of elite 30+ year olds that have driven the team for the past 3 years.

 

[Ingy]

It's an elite sporting environment. Kennedy will have to perform at a standard that places him in the best 22 available players to win the game. The expectation is to play finals.

Agree that the expectation is finals.

I'd also like to think we'd be trying to acquit ourselves well in said finals once we have made them. As well as is possible.

Consider the possibility that Kennedy with 22 games of experience is less valuable to the team than Blair circa 2015, and Kennedy with 35 games of experience is more valuable. How does he get those games under his belt with Blair keeping him out of the team?

I don't think the match committee picks the best 22 every week. Not by a long shot. I think they manage old blokes who are best 22 but are rested anyway, and replace them with youngsters who aren't best 22 but need to be developed. They also bring in players to play specific roles against particular opponent players. For example Clarke tagging Stanton a couple of years ago.

There are times when it doesn't matter how well you play, you are going to get dropped the next week regardless. It happened on a number of occasions to Wood when Jolly returned from injury.

There are other times when a player is indeed 'gifted' games because the coach wants to see what they can produce over a fortnight or a month.

In my opinion.