MVP Tommy Boyd - The Grand Final Enigma

[dish licker]

has won his flag and got a bank full of money, unmotivated and just going through his contract, if we could have Grand Final Boyd every week we'd make finals for sure.

 

[BrisDog]

has won his flag and got a bank full of money, unmotivated and just going through his contract, if we could have Grand Final Boyd every week we'd make finals for sure.

His flag was OUR flag - a life dream for me and my family.

I hope he is surrounded with supermodels drinking champagne off
theirs bodies for at least another 10 years.

I recently added to my Bont tatt with a
Toyd tatt (if features Toby Scrag)

 

[Norm De Guerre]

has won his flag and got a bank full of money, unmotivated and just going through his contract, if we could have Grand Final Boyd every week we'd make finals for sure.

Are you suggesting that the club has sidelined him from training as part of an elaborate face saving ruse so as not to admit failure?

If you are, thats an interesting hypothesis and one that I hadn't considered before.

 

[Mattdougie]

I hope the boy is saving his money coz at present he will be gong from a $7 million dollar contract to Deer Park.

If form doesn’t drastically improve this year the club has to start looking at ways to recoup some money if they can.

Maybe trade and we pay half or he just retires if he isn’t motovated

 

[ScragCity]

Funny, Bevo said after 2016 that if Boyd never plays another game he has still earned his contract. Seems like Boyd took that too literally.

 

[Mofra]

Are you suggesting that the club has sidelined him from training as part of an elaborate face saving ruse so as not to admit failure?

If you are, thats an interesting hypothesis and one that I hadn't considered before.

I'm hearing the opposite - Boyd is frustrated that his back issues aren't getting much better (if at all).
I wouldn't be surprised if Boyd doesn't get on the paddock at senior level this year. Thank god we rate English so highly.

 

[Dogs till i die]

I hope the boy is saving his money coz at present he will be gong from a $7 million dollar contract to Deer Park.

If form doesn’t drastically improve this year the club has to start looking at ways to recoup some money if they can.

Maybe trade and we pay half or he just retires if he isn’t motovated

Won't get that much less at Deer Park.

 

[Triple Baileys]

Won't get that much less at Deer Park.

High bar sales in the social club.

 

[Mattdougie]

Won't get that much less at Deer Park.

He actually might lol

 

[hoianbulldog]

His flag was OUR flag - a life dream for me and my family.

I hope he is surrounded with supermodels drinking champagne off
theirs bodies for at least another 10 years.

I recently added to my Bont tatt with a
Toyd tatt (if features Toby Scrag)

Id like to see that tat.

 

[Mattdougie]

Another 8-10 weeks until Boyd can join fill training

I love why he did in the finals 2016 but we have to be looking at avenues to get this bloke of our list or drastically cut his wages.

He is a 200k per year footballer at present getting over 3 times that

 

[Dazb86]

Another 8-10 weeks until Boyd can join fill training

I love why he did in the finals 2016 but we have to be looking at avenues to get this bloke of our list or drastically cut his wages.

He is a 200k per year footballer at present getting over 3 times that

Been thinking this for a while.

 

[Triple Baileys]

Another 8-10 weeks until Boyd can join fill training

I love why he did in the finals 2016 but we have to be looking at avenues to get this bloke of our list or drastically cut his wages.

He is a 200k per year footballer at present getting over 3 times that

I'm in the camp that suspects this will be his last AFL season, one way or another.

 

[ScragCity]

I do feel for Boyd. Im sure he would like to be playing. His prospects as a player are looking dire now. I hope he has managed his finances well and has a solid plan for life after footy.

 

[Golden_6]

Thank god we won the flag when we did because if he didn’t perform in those 2 games then this would be by far the worst contract in AFL history, and by a long way.

 

[Mofra]

I'm hearing Boyd is frustrated by his back situation, it's not like he doesn't care.

I honestly think by the time he's ready for senior football this year he doesn't get a game - Schache establishes himself as that 'high' forward, Trengove is Ben Hudson but an inch or two shorter, and English is a special talent we simply have to let do his thing at the highest level.

With those three playing we just don't have room for Boyd.

 

[doggies ftw]

I'm hearing Boyd is frustrated by his back situation, it's not like he doesn't care.

I honestly think by the time he's ready for senior football this year he doesn't get a game - Schache establishes himself as that 'high' forward, Trengove is Ben Hudson but an inch or two shorter, and English is a special talent we simply have to let do his thing at the highest level.

With those three playing we just don't have room for Boyd.

Agree but at least that takes pressure off him, for the first time since hes been here he's not absolutely needed. Its a long season, if he's back in the vfl by round 6ish, let him do his thing and find some form and hopefully he can be pushing to play some senior footy in the 2nd half of the year

 

[Anja_Nees]

I'm hearing Boyd is frustrated by his back situation, it's not like he doesn't care.

I honestly think by the time he's ready for senior football this year he doesn't get a game - Schache establishes himself as that 'high' forward, Trengove is Ben Hudson but an inch or two shorter, and English is a special talent we simply have to let do his thing at the highest level.

With those three playing we just don't have room for Boyd.

Depending on when he's fit this year might be a write-off for Boyd but I don't doubt that a fully fit and switched on Boyd would overtake Trengove and could well get picked ahead of Schache. You'd pick English ahead of him as a ruckman but certainly not as a ruck forward.

If he can't get it together physically then that sucks but I do tire of other posters in this thread (not you) periodically questioning his commitment. He hasn't had a season where he's really been physically right except his first season with us as a 19 year old.

A back injury hit him in mid-2017 - not sure if it's the same one that is now plaguing him but he's had these sorts of troubles for a while. I don't doubt he wants to be out there.

I hope he's able to get himself right in time for a launch at the second half of the season.

 

[AFDogs]

Sack him, use the money for Josh Kelly then we have the 3 best left footer footy players in the league.

Bont, Macrae and Kelly.

 

[Mofra]

Depending on when he's fit this year might be a write-off for Boyd but I don't doubt that a fully fit and switched on Boyd would overtake Trengove and could well get picked ahead of Schache. You'd pick English ahead of him as a ruckman but certainly not as a ruck forward.

If he can't get it together physically then that sucks but I do tire of other posters in this thread (not you) periodically questioning his commitment. He hasn't had a season where he's really been physically right except his first season with us as a 19 year old.

A back injury hit him in mid-2017 - not sure if it's the same one that is now plaguing him but he's had these sorts of troubles for a while. I don't doubt he wants to be out there.

I hope he's able to get himself right in time for a launch at the second half of the season.

My concerns are as much based on how highly I rate the other three players as they are over Boyd's injury.

I'm happy to admit I was pro-Tom Boyd at the time of the trade and I really don't believe we win the flag in 2016 if he didn't trade for him. I still think he was robbed of the Norm Smith. I also have serious doubts he gets even close to that level again, and certainly not this year as it's a very rare player that has a significant impact without a pre-season, let alone a 2m tall player still establishing himself.

I'll also admit I thought the Schache trade was panicked and I was on the fence with Trengove, but am now completely turned around. I think Schache was fantastic for us last year considering his age and circumstance, and Trengove is a better pick up than I credited at the time although I think Trengove is a far better ruck than he is a forward.

In terms of young talent internally we'd probably rate English on par with Bailey Smith and not that far behind Bont, yes I think the club is that committed to him.

 

[Northernsoul74]

My concerns are as much based on how highly I rate the other three players as they are over Boyd's injury.

I'm happy to admit I was pro-Tom Boyd at the time of the trade and I really don't believe we win the flag in 2016 if he didn't trade for him. I still think he was robbed of the Norm Smith. I also have serious doubts he gets even close to that level again, and certainly not this year as it's a very rare player that has a significant impact without a pre-season, let alone a 2m tall player still establishing himself.

I'll also admit I thought the Schache trade was panicked and I was on the fence with Trengove, but am now completely turned around. I think Schache was fantastic for us last year considering his age and circumstance, and Trengove is a better pick up than I credited at the time although I think Trengove is a far better ruck than he is a forward.

In terms of young talent internally we'd probably rate English on par with Bailey Smith and not that far behind Bont, yes I think the club is that committed to him.

Interesting to read the chat that English is impressing as a forward.

 

[Mofra]

Interesting to read the chat that English is impressing as a forward.

The coaching staff are on record (multiple years now) that we simply should not be getting outmarked in the F50 and that if we can't mark it we should bring it to ground. That makes sense as for years we have scored from contested situations more than other teams (having contested beast Clay Smith forward certainly helped in this regard).

English can fill this role without needing to be the next Bernie Quinlan. At 207cm there aren't many defenders that can stop him at least getting a hand to the ball if he times his leads correctly.

 

[BRWB]

The coaching staff are on record (multiple years now) that we simply should not be getting outmarked in the F50 and that if we can't mark it we should bring it to ground. That makes sense as for years we have scored from contested situations more than other teams (having contested beast Clay Smith forward certainly helped in this regard).

English can fill this role without needing to be the next Bernie Quinlan. At 207cm there aren't many defenders that can stop him at least getting a hand to the ball if he times his leads correctly.

Yep teckon English will play majority fwd this yr.

On Tom probably worth revisiting his future next yr or trade time I guess. He sure is denting our cap for not much output. Even fully fit he still has a marking problem and is behind English and Trengove as a ruck IMO.

 

[Virgin Dog]

Sack him, use the money for Josh Kelly then we have the 3 best left footer footy players in the league.

Bont, Macrae and Kelly.

1. Contracts are not that simple, you can't just sack someone for no reason
2. When you do sack someone, their salary still affects the cap, so you don't just free up that entire room
3. Boyd played arguably one of the best individual games of any player on our list at any point in their career. I'd hope the club wants him to start replicating that form rather than just ditching him
4. That would be an incredibly campaignery thing for the club to do, and would point to enormous issues with our culture and values

 

[doggies ftw]

I think the perfect structure to play considering the way the games moving and also our list is one genuine ruckman, one genuine KPF and ideally a 2nd ruck/fwd whose good at both (dont underestimate just how hard that is to find though)

Looking at our list, if all were fit and in form currently id rate them -

KPF - Boyd > English > Trengove
Ruck - Trengove > English > Boyd
2nd ruck/fwd - Boyd > English/Trengove

A few people reckon he wouldnt be playing at all even if fit but i dont believe that tbh.

Theres a massive opening there for him to take when hes ready, and i still see him getting there. Although this injury set back is frustrating.

I do think this could be a blessing in disguise though. It allows English the opportunity for game time that i dont believe he would be getting. Which is extremely important for us in both fast tracking his development but also keeping him happy in Melbourne. And i really do believe he has the attributes to really make that forward/2nd ruck position his own, im expecting big things from him this year in that role. Plus I think theres no pressure on Boyd whatsoever any more, hes no longer the great white hope and hes no longer required week to week, that should give him the freedom to get himself right, and when he is ready he'll have to earn his spot back like anyone else. Its all up to him now.

I like Trengove but if hes not rucking i dont want him anywhere near the first team. And ideally we want English to take over the first ruck as soon as hes ready. So ideally Trengove rucks this year, English breaks out as AFL ready in the forward/ruck role and Boyd has a big second half of the year pushing to take that role back. And then in 2020 English takes over the first ruck and Boyd slots in up front. Happy days