SOS wrote:
Having listened to some audio of Pagan's comments, he didn't say he was the next Deledio though, Synbad. I'm not sure that he even mentioned Deledio, as I can't remember what he said precisely. But he certainly wasn't saying he will be the Rising Star, nor that he will be head and shoulders above the other draftees this year, nor that he is as good as Deledio. Not every No. 1 draft pick plays every game, and some don't play much if at all like Luke Ball.
He didn't even say that Murphy would play every game - as you can see from the above excerpts, he doubted it, and merely pointed out that he is ready to go now.
I don't know whether Pagan made a point of mentioning Murphy. I would think he was responding to media questions. Inevitably, Murphy will be compared for better or worse to Deledio, Cooney, and Ball as well as any other of the most recent crop of draftees who does well this year. I'm sure that some of the stuff in the articles says more about the thoughts of the scribes writing the stories and their desire to draw these comparisons than Pagan's. If Pagan had stonewalled them, that would have been the story right there.
He did say that he is the future for us. This might be spun a number of ways, but I took it to mean that he isn't the present but the hope is he will continue to develop into an influential player.
And Kouta had shared the limelight in his interview with one of the papers in which he remarked on Murphy and his attitude and ability. I don't think this was a cat we could keep in the bag.
But why should we have tried? He IS a much needed boost to our hopes. Even if Pagan hadn't talked about him, Carlton fans would still be carefully scrutinising his game. Membership is down, and what is wrong in putting out a bit of positive info regarding our future?
well said SOS!