Your reliance on Mark Jamar

[Coledinho]

Must be a tad worrying. In all my life watching the game ive never seen a player so important to the success/failure of his side. Hes your best FF, best ruckman, best option to hit on the kickout amongst other things.

You might not want to hear it but Stefan Martin/Jake Spencer are so far from AFL quality atm its scary. Missing out on David Hale last year was big and IMO the fact you didnt trade for a resting forward/ruckman last year might prove to be costly. Jamar cant be the sole ruckman forever.

 

[d33my]

We did get Robert Campbell late in the year. Unfortunately he got injured but he was recruited to combat what you're talking about.

Yes it's scary, we all know how huge a cog Jamar is in our team. Hopefully Campbell will ease some of the pressure.

 

[Demon 86]

Agree about us being overly reliant on Jamar as a ruckman, but he's hardly our best FF. Green, Jurrah, Watts all play that position better than him- albeit differently. Disagree about missing Hale being costly- he's an absolute spud and not the answer.

Martin and Spencer aren't up to it yet, and probably never will be. Desperately need Robbie Campbell to come good, which is a big maybe. Big Max Gawn is still some time away from being ready, and there are no guarentees that he ever will be.

 

[AllenJakovich13]

Robbie Campbell was recruited but it's weather or not he can stay healthy, we also have Max Gawn but he is only in his 2nd year.

Martin and Spencer are rubbish I agree.

 

[RandB]

It is a worry.

I hope we don't risk him in the NAB challenge matches either. We need to expose Martin and Spencer to as much footy now as possible prior to round 1. Big year for both players but I think the heat will be on Martin more so. I fear we missed the boat though when we threw him in at CHB in his early years rather than developing his rucking and hardness. We can't afford to rush Gawn in either so a little short term rucking pain may have to be endured here.

Forget Campbell, if he plays it is simply a bonus.

 

[syl]

Green, Dunn, Jurrah are all better FF's than Jamar.

Martin may be up to AFL by the end of this year if we get as much time in to him as possible, for the NAB challenge Jamar should be rested.

Spencer is an absolute lost cause, I get embarrassed seeing him in a Melbourne guernsey.

 

[Demon 86]

Spencil is the new Al Nicholson- without any redeeming features.

We may get lucky and he may come good, but it looks highly unlikely!

 

[davey_magik]

He's our best FF? WTF?

I agree we rely on a lot on him as a ruckman though, but hopefully Campbell can help ease the load this year and Gawn in years to come.

 

[2 Dogs]

Spencil is the new Al Nicholson- without any redeeming features.

We may get lucky and he may come good, but it looks highly unlikely!

I feel a novelty beard would go some way towards at least finding a niche supporter group. Mainly beard enthusiasts.

 

[Demon 86]

Haha spot on. The lack of beards at Melbourne since Nicho's retirement is actually something of concern. Probably deserves it's own thread.

 

[Barnzy]

Agree about us being overly reliant on Jamar as a ruckman, but he's hardly our best FF. Green, Jurrah, Watts all play that position better than him- albeit differently.

Probably more talking about the fact that none of them are goalsquare monsters. This is what Melbourne needs. Jurrah for all his tricks is not that player and is more of tall flanker that is not going to win any one on one strength contests in the goal square. Watts is going to be a leading type CHF IMO. Green is not a KPF. Thus as soon as Mark Jamar is shifted to the goalsquare and you're bombing it in, he's your most dangerous option to mark it and create a contest. You saw it on the weekend. When the ball was being bombed into deep into F50 contests, Essendon managed to quickly run it out. Watts needs to stand up but I feel you lack a bustling type KPF.

 

[Supermercado]

Must be a tad worrying. In all my life watching the game ive never seen a player so important to the success/failure of his side. Hes your best FF, best ruckman, best option to hit on the kickout amongst other things.

If last night was anything to go by we don't actually play with a FF. But other than that I agree 100%, if he goes down we're ****ed - and let's not forget that last year was pretty much his first injury free.

In Russian we trust.

 

[CM Sean]

Speaking of Max Gawn... where is he anyway? Why's he not playing? When WILL he be playing? Any ideas/facts to this matter?

 

[Grimey Sylvia]

I actually thought that Stefan Martin showed some signs over the past two weeks that suggest he could be alright. He has clearly spent a lot of last year in the gym (with his injuries its probably all he did) as he was able to out muscle his opponents a couple of times in the ruck.

He still also shows great agility and leap for a big man. To top it off I thought he also seems to have improved his disposal and made some good decisions with the ball - didn't look as panicked, more confident.

If cambell stays injured I think he will be our substitute due to his versatility for ruck, def and attack.

 

[Tulip]

Speaking of Max Gawn... where is he anyway? Why's he not playing? When WILL he be playing? Any ideas/facts to this matter?

walked behind him, Tapscott, Jizz, Jordie and Scully to the train last night. The blokes a ****ing beast

 

[Tulip]

Spencil is the new Al Nicholson- without any redeeming features.

We may get lucky and he may come good, but it looks highly unlikely!

Spencer is no longer Spencil. He's finally gotten some muscle and held his own in ruck contests last night. Some good marks at the back too. i reckon he'll do alright

 

[melbournemartin]

Spencil is the new Al Nicholson- without any redeeming features.

We may get lucky and he may come good, but it looks highly unlikely!

Yeah, at least Big Al provided us with the odd thrashing of Richo.

 

[blured]

Must be a tad worrying. In all my life watching the game ive never seen a player so important to the success/failure of his side. Hes your best FF, best ruckman, best option to hit on the kickout amongst other things.

You might not want to hear it but Stefan Martin/Jake Spencer are so far from AFL quality atm its scary. Missing out on David Hale last year was big and IMO the fact you didnt trade for a resting forward/ruckman last year might prove to be costly. Jamar cant be the sole ruckman forever.

martin is quite adequate and jake spencer is coming along nicely, gawn is untried atm, but has potential. who is coming in for D cox when he winds up ?

 

[master bate]

martin is quite adequate and jake spencer is coming along nicely, gawn is untried atm, but has potential. who is coming in for D cox when he winds up ?

Nice try.

If Spencer keeps improving at the same increments each year by the time he's 30 he might be half decent. Ruckman take time and in terms of centre bounce hit outs he might be ok, but his kicking is shocking and even though he isn't a stick figure anymore he has zero presence for a big guy.

Martin is close to an adequate back up for the ruck but offers little when put forward so the overall package isn't great. As a first ruck he'd be very ordinary.

If Spencer or Martin can't dominate VFL whilst out of the side then we should go straight to Gawn and Fitzpatrick.

 

[Demon 16]

I agree with the OP that Jamar would be our best full forward.

We really need Robbie Campbell to get up!

 

[Bartram_Class]

If he went down...

The thought of a whole year with Spencer and Martin in the ruck. Ugh. Play another mid.

 

[Syrus]

Spencer is no longer Spencil. He's finally gotten some muscle and held his own in ruck contests last night. Some good marks at the back too. i reckon he'll do alright

Took some good marks but he cant kick though.

 

[demonfan9]

martin is quite adequate and jake spencer is coming along nicely, gawn is untried atm, but has potential. who is coming in for D cox when he winds up ?

Perhaps a kid called Naitanui?

 

[demonfan9]

4 weeks until Round 1. Rest Jamar next week, play him the following, no match the following week, then play Round 1.

Would like to see Martin get a game as starting ruck next week.

 

[Wise Guy Sam]

If he went down...

The thought of a whole year with Spencer and Martin in the ruck. Ugh. Play another mid.

lol. Give Sylvia another crack.