Sydney Blue wrote:
It is your opinion that Livo was a mistake I would argue he wasn't given the opportunties that others have been afforded and his present form in the VFL would indicate that.
I still think if we had put him on and left him on he would be a quality fullback by now and thats something that is lacking in the team and I cant ever recall Livo having a bag kicked on him . We seem prepared to persist with Irish blokes that haven't played the game and give them plenty of chances but it your pick 4 look out .
Livo is twice the full back that Sentanta is/was
Unfortunately Luke Livingstone was the victim of a whole bag of circumstances not of his own making.
- He was drafted at Pick 4 in a draft as the next best tall - when most recruiters reckoned he was barely a top 20 pick.
- He sustained a life threatening illness in his first year that necessitated him having very serious surgery in order to save his life.
- He was thrown into the deep end at Full Back and CHB into some of the weakest Carlton Sides ever to grace the football field - when essentially he was recruited to Carlton as a marking forward - on the back of his very good form in that position during the Australian Under 18 Championships.
- He was always cruelled with injury at the most in opportune times just when he looked like he was going to establish himself as a member of the side.
In the end he was cut from the list after 7 seasons - as a First Round Draft Pick that never made it.
He should have been part of our 24/25 year old core group of players carrying us forward - but he is not.
Luke is a quality young man, having met him on a number of occassions but unfortunately was met with a set of circumstances which cruelled his ambition and opportunity.
The fact that he is playing good football at Port Melbourne is a credit too him - in the old days with lists of 48 he may have been afforded further opportunity at Carlton or perhaps have been picked up by another side - but that is not the case these days.
To compare him to Setanta or Aisake and diss those 2 players is hardly fair IMHO. For every reason I have given for Luke's unfortunate career at Carlton I can give 10 reasons why Setanta and Aisake O'hAilpin should be applauded for their attempts at playing AFL - and for Carlton's guts in perservering with them.
In fact Carlton are hardly trailblazers in the Irish experiment:
- Sean Wight
- Jim Stynes
- Tadgh Kennelly
Carlton were forced to go to these lengths to find players due to the reaming it was subjected to by the AFL.
In all honesty I think you can see the upside that Setanta and Aisake offer compared to Luke regardless of the opportunities provided.