Youngsters

[GoDons]

A growing trend on the weekly 'Ins and Outs' threads is to call for mass inclusion of first and second year players at the expense of veterans. I have read what appears to be an infinite amount of posts demanding the inclusion of Hislop, Houli, Gumbleton etc., often at the same time, at the expense of guys like Mark and Jason Johnson, Scott Camporeale, Mark Bolton etc..

It is this that has triggered this thread. I call for those of you demanding these changes to reassess. I'm in no way demanding you change your opinions, but have a think about it.

What's going to help us win a game of football? Is it going to be a kid that gets nursed through a game, can't be given full responsibility for an opponent and makes a few thoughtless decisions? Or is it going to be a guy that we can lay full responsibility on and count on making good, well thought out decisions more often than not?

I think it's great when we give young guys experience and when the opportunities arise, and they're ready, we should and have taken them. However, our primary concern is winning games of football and, should they be fit, guys like the Johnsons have to take priority on the selection table in my opinion. I don't see the point in playing masses of inexperienced guys on the basis of giving them experience.

The way I see it, when the right vacancy arises, a young guy shouold get a shot. Until then, they shouldn't play for the sake of playing. Let the experienced campaigners play it out as they have done it all before and will provide equal or more than the young guys coming into the side.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

I agree with the fact that we shouldn't start playing youngsters willy-nilly but when these youngsters have pace and skill then we have to seriously look at bringing them into the side - see Davey and Jetta round 1.

Not sure what MJ, Bolton or Heff have done this year to get us any wins.

They've been more of a liability and should start being phased out.

 

[GoDons]

I agree with the fact that we shouldn't start playing youngsters willy-nilly but when these youngsters have pace and skill then we have to seriously look at bringing them into the side - see Davey and Jetta round 1.

Not sure what MJ, Bolton or Heff have done this year to get us any wins.

They've been more of a liability and should start being phased out.

Davey and Jetta I can certainly see the argument for, hence I left them out of my post. However, others don't possess the qualities of those two.

Whilst MJ and Bolton haven't directly influenced wins (except for possibly Bolton against Sydney), I doubt whether we can find anyone else who could fill their roles any better without sacrificifing an important player. No young player could be asked to fill the Back Pocket position for the entirity of a match and there is no young player that I can see doing a better tagging job than Bolton.

They may not be perfect, but I don't see them as replaceable without sacrifice.

 

[fish_bowl]

I fully agree with you mate. im all for young kids in the squad, and i was wrapt as anyone when houli, jetta and davey made there debut. but there is no sense is throwing a bunch of kids into the deepend. if they get slaughterd, there confidence will be shot ala zac dawson. when they are ready sheeds will bring them in, but there is no point in playing them for the sake of it. im looking fwd to having jetta, dempsey and hislop in the team, but i would rather see rama nat-rat ahead of those guys.

 

[danzan22]

I wouldn't mind seeing Houli or Hislop get a game this week, both have been in good form for bendigo apparently.

 

[Azzballz Deluxe]

I wouldn't mind seeing Houli or Hislop get a game this week, both have been in good form for bendigo apparently.

Hislops in!!

 

[jodo27]

The youngsters drafted last year are the future of the football club...The sooner we get gametime into them the sooner we are successful again.

 

[Daytripper]

The youngsters drafted last year are the future of the football club...The sooner we get gametime into them the sooner we are successful again.

We're successful now.

Honestly, I reckon some posters here would be happier seeing us lose every week so long as our team consisted of U20's.

Bolton is a better player at the moment than Houli. That will hopefully change in the future but for now we play the best available team.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Bolton is a better player at the moment than Houli. That will hopefully change in the future but for now we play the best available team.

I reckon that is debatable.

Here's a comparison...

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?tid1=6&pid1=343&tid2=6&pid2=1760

Would Bolton have done what Jetta did in Round 1?

Davey?

Bolton should not be getting a game ahead of any youngster.

 

[ant555]

With Hislop making his debut this week we will have played 4 of our 6 2006 draftee's so we are getting a few games into the young players. I suspect they would like to get Gumby 1 or 2 games later on. I dont mind first year players only getting 3 to 5 games . It gives them a bit of a look without taxing them too much.

 

[jodo27]

We're successful now.

Honestly, I reckon some posters here would be happier seeing us lose every week so long as our team consisted of U20's.

Bolton is a better player at the moment than Houli. That will hopefully change in the future but for now we play the best available team.

They are different players ...Bolts is a tall run with player who will get minimal stats for a game. Houli is a small/midsized midfielder/forward with pace and the ability to rack up possessions. A better comparison for Houli would be MJ or Andrew Welsh.

 

[GoDons]

With Hislop making his debut this week we will have played 4 of our 6 2006 draftee's so we are getting a few games into the young players. I suspect they would like to get Gumby 1 or 2 games later on. I dont mind first year players only getting 3 to 5 games . It gives them a bit of a look without taxing them too much.

3-5 games is great for them, as long as we're not bringing them in at the same time and for tough positions.

 

[GoDons]

I reckon that is debatable.

Here's a comparison...

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?tid1=6&pid1=343&tid2=6&pid2=1760

Would Bolton have done what Jetta did in Round 1?

Davey?

Bolton should not be getting a game ahead of any youngster.

Stats are pretty useless in a comparison for a tagging role.

For the tagging role, Bolton is streets ahead of Houli. If we drop Bolton for Houli directly, it means we're going to ahve to sacrifice a far superior footballer to tag so Houli can play through the midfield or half forward line. The opportunity cost of playing Houli instead of Bolton, and as a direct swap, is too great.

 

[GoDons]

I wouldn't mind seeing Houli or Hislop get a game this week, both have been in good form for bendigo apparently.

As long as it's an 'or' and not an 'and', I think it will be great to see Hislop get a go.

I hope he only gets a go at the expense of a player who's defensive skills lack.

 

[mathew ollaik]

I reckon that is debatable.

Here's a comparison...

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?tid1=6&pid1=343&tid2=6&pid2=1760

Would Bolton have done what Jetta did in Round 1?

Davey?

Bolton should not be getting a game ahead of any youngster.

Houli is already better than Bolton. lol.

 

[Daytripper]

Houli is already better than Bolton. lol.

If you want to win a game of football, right now I'd pick Bolton every single time.

 

[marcuz]

If you want to win a game of football, right now I'd pick Bolton every single time.

I doubt either are going to impact a game enough to influence a result.

 

[Merv]

The really annoying thing is the uneducated calls for inclusions.

Examples

Calling for Hislops inclusion , Yet he is suspended
Calling for Jettas inclusion , Yet he is injured
Calling for Gumbletons inclusion , Yet he is injured
Calling for Nash's inclusion , Yet he is injured
etc etc etc

Calling for any of the above and others when they have had 1 game back for Bendigo and maybe 2-3 quarters of footy under their belt after an extended lay off.

We have posters here who give reports on our training, VFL matches and injury reports.(Thanks for your time, it is appreciated by most)
We have a website that lists reports, injuries etc http://www.essendonfc.com.au/main.asp

Yet posters just start new threads or reply in existing threads with rediculous requests that with a small amount of research they would have already known the answer to their stupid question.

You would have hoped that if a lot of these posters are Essendon supporters they would want to keep up with what's going on in our club on a regular basis, not just post some inane question for the sake of it

/end rant

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Stats are pretty useless in a comparison for a tagging role.

For the tagging role, Bolton is streets ahead of Houli. If we drop Bolton for Houli directly, it means we're going to ahve to sacrifice a far superior footballer to tag so Houli can play through the midfield or half forward line. The opportunity cost of playing Houli instead of Bolton, and as a direct swap, is too great.

Tagging role? We already have Slattery, Pev and McVeigh as taggers.

How many taggers can you take into a game?

We don't need another one.

Our problem lies in the midfield where we don't get enough quality ball and disposal.

Bolton is no better than Houli, Hislop and the others in the area we need to improve.

 

[GoDons]

Tagging role? We already have Slattery, Pev and McVeigh as taggers.

How many taggers can you take into a game?

We don't need another one.

Our problem lies in our midfield where we don't get enough quality ball and disposal.

Bolton is no better than Houli, Hislop and the others in the area we need to improve.

The roles of Slattery and McVeigh vary a great deal. We've seen Slattery play on full time forwards (like Brett Burton) and full tiem midfielders (like Daniel Kerr). McVeigh has tagged at times but has been given freedom to play his natural game since Bolton came into the side.

We don't have 4 guys tagging in the midfield.

Bolton isn't better than Houli or Hislop in the area we need to improve, but he is better in the area that we're doing pretty well in at the moment. I think we would be borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and not paying Paul all that well.

 

[Duckworth]

The really annoying thing is the uneducated calls for inclusions.

Examples

Calling for Hislops inclusion , Yet he is suspended
Calling for Jettas inclusion , Yet he is injured
Calling for Gumbletons inclusion , Yet he is injured
Calling for Nash's inclusion , Yet he is injured
etc etc etc

Calling for any of the above and others when they have had 1 game back for Bendigo and maybe 2-3 quarters of footy under their belt after an extended lay off.

When will the selection committee get it right!!!! I think Darcy Daniher is well over due for a call up to the seniors....

 

[jodo27]

I think this thread is long overdue to be closed

 

[banana_bus]

How is Houli going? Do you guys think hell get many more games this season?