I would hate to see Eddie Betts pidgeon holed as a small forward for the rest of his career.
Why not give him a lengthy period of time (2006 season) learning the midfield role with Mitchell in the ants and see if he has what it takes. Evasive midfielders with breakneck speed, footy smarts and a bit of magic are hard to find so while we aren't very competitive at senior level atm why not give him a proper chance. It's worth a shot I reckon. Thoughts?

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There's so much I could say...

No

they can run him through there in the seniors for bursts.

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Love Cricket? Love me

I'm with Tyrant on this one. Eddie is one of the few burst pace players we have and will be needed in the seniors in 2006 to provide some pace. Whilst we've gone tall in the drafts, we're still a slow team overall. This is also why I think Russell will get 12-15 games this year, as he has some real zip.

I think he gives our forward line a dimension that we otherwise dont have so I hope he wont be playing much VFL.Hopefully a bit like at the end of last year he will be part of the midfield rotation in the seniors because the small forard role is limiting and is difficult because of the heavy tag.
Having said all that if he is relegated to the vfl agree that he should be played for some part in the midfield

Yeah but surely there's a bit of art to being an elite midfielder?
You can't just BE and compete as an elite midfielder at 19 years of age. He needs to learn the craft and we already have a few youngsters ready to step up in the midfield at senior level, and I know TLo isn't a favourite with some but surely he needs to be given an extended opportunity as a will-of-the-wisp forward before he's shown the door.
I think Eddie's got enough natural ability to be given the time to develop as an elite midfielder.
The potential benefits would be well and truly worth the wait for Eddie I reckon.

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There's so much I could say...

He'll never be a full time midfielder. Keep him where he plays best as an opportunist crumbing forward.

Fast Eddie was given a go in the guts last year and did pretty well.But with the size of the midfielders these days he has no hope on a regular basis.He would be lined up and pulverized.

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All my dangerous friends

Eddie gets paid to pick up crumbs and apply forward pressure chasing down the opposition. No need to move his position, plenty of other youngsters to try through the midfield first.

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Mjonc signing off at 8888

Let him take the year off and train with the Kenyan marathon squad.

I reckon we finally found a small zippy forward crumbing type - since who? Heaver? So how about we let him develop that craft for a few years.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

I'm kind of hoping that Fisher, Waite, Fevola, Whitnall et al, won't be allowing to many crumbs to hit the turf this year , but when they do I hope that Eddie will be waiting. .

Front and Square son, Front and Square.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

I don't think any player who is considered part of the future of the club should be learning anything in the ants. I think if he plays as a midfielder (I don't think he should though), he should do it in spurts in the seniors. At best, if he is going to be played in the midfield it should be as part of a rotation, but he should primarily play as the crumbing forward.

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So AB isn't part of our future? His apprenticeship in the ants was a waste of time huh?

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There's so much I could say...

the best school for him is "on the job".

Agree most of the points here. He's the ultimate burst player. He can burst on the ball, and burst up forward.... a full-time forward pocket could make him stale and easier to sort out (tactically). Always better to keep the opposition guessing by rotating him through different roles.

An Eddie who drifts forward from a rotation that hasn't been picked up on by the opposition... even more dangerous!

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Love Cricket? Love me

Our Eddie will be the only Eddie that matters on tele come 2007.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

Eddie is the only kind of his type of player we have.. so we need him in the firsts....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

He doesn't get much of the ball but when he does he is probably the most damaging player we have already. The best thing about him is even if he doesn't get a kick he puts more pressure on the oppositions backline than our whole forward line put together.

and thats why ABs will be in the ones for most of next year.

eddie is important, too important to try and progarm in the twos unless his form drops off and he gets starved up forward so, yes he should have runs through the middle, but he should do it in the ones.

he hasn't got the tank to run a whole game out in the middle, so bursts in the middle and time up forward and on the becnh should see him develop.
he's breif stints in the middle last year were good. his 1st qtr against the crows was great, but then his intenstity dropped off.

i'd just make him part of the rotation in the ones but dont give him much more than say 10 minutes in the guts at a time, to keep him fresh.

I think we have too many midfielders to be frequently giving Eddie a go in the middle. They should do what they did with him last year, occasional ten minute stints on the ball. He isn't a natural midfielder, and he hasn't got the tank to be in the middle all the time.

I think we have too few middies err I mean midfielders (sorry guys work drinks) to NOT give him runs in the middle.

On football ability and smarts this guy is in our top 10 so some stints on the ball when we need some speed would be good. I dont reckon he'll get stints when we're getting beaten in the middle, but in bursts on the wing he could be good with his tackling.

jack, you're right about the tank but dont worry about all of the time. Today's footy means no real team allows a midfielder in all of the team. kouta was a 2005 exception that we should look to rectify.

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