Have to agree - Sam's boyd can't be relied on - not being able to see out a season in 6/7 years doesn't bode well for him.
However I'll disagree on the defensive side. At the start of the year I commented how comfortable and assured he looked under the high ball. He also is one of the few who when he had th eball in defence looked like he had time to find a target.
The one thing that works in Sam's favour - is he is still only 24 - so he could potentially have 6 seasons in him - and he could do a Banfield for us - by being that mature body on the last line.
I love Beau for all his toughness - but he is a liabilty with the ball - especially coming out of defence.
I like what Freo do with their blokes who can't kick. Guys like JVB and De Boer play a role in the forward line where there job is to get involved a little - but largely just tackle and tackle some more.
1) I agree that Butler is a composed player no matter where - its why WC like him. Like you I hope he comes good but history suggests players who are injury prone tend to remain so
2) I also agree that Watters is a liability coming out of defence with his kicking. Unfortunately becuase he was one of the senior players back there last year, he demanded the ball and was given it and the result was inevitable. It is why in another thread I suggested that Hurn and Sheppard play HB and leave Watters for BP where not only is the play slower and more condensed (allowing him to use his aggression) but it stops him for being seen as the distributor from the backline. I dont have a problem with him being a HFF (cant be a FP cause he cant kick) as he can cause mayhem through the HF line and hinder clean ball out
3) JVB played mainly defense last year with DeBoer playing fwd giving them the tackling strength they needed in both sections. If you want Watters fwd then Mcginnity or Selwood plays BP and no where else - and their job is to hand the ball off to Hurn and/or Sheppard.
Actually when you think of Watters, Selwood snr, Glass, Mackenzie, Mcginnity and Schofield all playing backline its no wonder
a) that Butler was played back and
b) WC had massive trouble finding good quality ball to midfielders.
Has there ever been such a bunch of useless kicks confined in one part of the field ever ?