Blue Vain wrote:
jim wrote:
When blokes are out injured for a while we forget how good they are often.
And sometimes when they're out, their abilities and output increase in the eyes of some. Waite is nowhere near 2nd most important on our list.
When he was out, our forward line hardly missed a beat.
Yes he's a good player but we've gone past the stage of players holding us to ransom. Either he accepts what we think he's worth or he can syphon someone else IMO.
I'd say he's that not far off it given the roles he can play. One or two more may have stepped up ahead (eg Murphy) but it's few. Waite's still right up there.
Didn't miss a beat? Come on! While it looked great against Essendon*, Melbourne and Freo our forward struggled with the lack of a KP forward when games become "locked up" and more contested like against the Hawks and Eagles. Looks at the difference Jammo made when he went forward against Hawthorn to start with. Looks how badly we missed a KP forward against the Eagles in the SF. That hurt at times and if one thinks we can get away without one in big, heavily contested finals then you are dreaming. So, yes, Waite is a very important player to us, he knows it, the club knows and we know it. Up there with our most important. The long bomb to Eddie Betts will never really be a winner.
Who's your suggestion to fill the role? So see anyone else. Throw out your best forward and you throw away a shot at the flag. Bulldog's learned how hard it is to win flags without KP forwards. Got big Bazza when the window was shutting unfortunately for them.
If you're looking at blokes who have "improved our of sight" while injured Hampson would be that man, at least as a forward. We all know he can ruck well but of a sudden he was our answer up forward despite the fact he can't mark there, kick at goal or play the position, something we have seen a million times but people conveniently forget in times of need.