When these guys get 60-80 games under their belt we will see them add another dimension to their game, which is hopefully kick a few goals here and there!Hopefully this time next year they will have improved their
strength and ball skills. I can see a little bit of a Ratten and Riciutto in Bentick.Hopefully he turns out half as good!

Ratten spent 3 seasons in the back pocket before Ken Judge convinced David Parkin to let him loose in the mid-field (1995 ), AB is getting the benefit of being thrown into the coalface right away - he has excellent penetration with his kicking and his strength in close is every bit as good as Brett Ratten. He will be our diamond in the rough?

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

Winston Churchill

So we went into last weeks game with Kouta, Lappin, Bentick all under injury clouds and doubtful of playing?

I realise players play every week with injuries, but to have at least 3 guys who realistically could have been pulled from the game is a little dangerous in my mind.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

I think it is easy to underestimate Bentick's ability and what he has achieved so far. At 20 years old he is playing a role normally reserved for a seasoned midfielder and in my opinion making a very good fist of it.

I said A grade....not B grade Drive by players....Campo had his day when we had Williams, Bradley, Fraser Brown, Ratten etc....
Campo if you watch him with the Dons is struggling to hit targets unlike Dal Santo who seems to get himself out of heavy traffic and find a player everytime....we need that type of player..too many of our players cant hit targets or make poor decisions...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

What sort of annoys me is the comments and implications from some that players like Bentick, Carrazzo, even Simpson are only 'B graders', blue-collar workers etc, plodders who will always try hard but are not the real quality that we need. Why is this so? Why can't they become top AFL players? How do we know that they won't be anything better than 'B graders'? Because they didn't go top-10 in the draft?

Yes I understand that maybe someone like a Murphy has more genuine class than players like Bentick, Carrots etc but I just don't like the suggestions that players like Bentick and Carrots are merely 'good ordinary performers' when I personally think they can become really good AFL players. It's as if there has to be a caveat that these guys can play footy but there has to be a 'but' attached onto the end.

To me they can become great footballers for this club and we need to remember that just because they weren't top draft picks doesn't mean that this isn't possible. They also haven't played that many games yet of senior footy and are still young so have plenty of time to become very good for us. Yeah they might never take the game by the throat and dominate the competition but I sometimes get annoyed by comments implying that they are merely just better than battlers who will be overtaken when more top draft picks are added.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

Generally a B grader is a good AFL performer, so I don't see anything wrong with that description for Bentick, Carrots and Simmo.

Sure, they all have the potential to be a top shelf player, but they're thereabouts for now.

TBB, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you, but I'll say this. The coach expects them to play hurt. That's why he clashed with McKernan so much because McKernan would fall over as if he had been shot when he received a decent hit.

Also, Livingston has been on the end of the odd outburst from DP for similar acts of over exaggerating injuries. The one that comes to mind is Luke last year going down in a pre season game with an ankle injury. He came off as if his foot had been severed yet in the rooms after the game he was all smiles - well, DP tore into him and told him that he stays out there and plays unless of course his foot is actually broken.

That's just the way the guy is. I see that AB took two very hard hits on that shoulder tonight. He carried the right arm for the entire game. Came off a few times to have a jab but played the game out.

They had a laugh about the Livo thing preacher.

"He threw his crutches away after that" is what they said in the MC.


But a couple of years ago at Port when Simmo broke his hand... its alleged they said"If his hand isnt broken he wont play another game at Carlton"... it was... so simmo has...
Its not only that he wants them playing like Spartans .. but he has no idea how to rotate his bench.

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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.

I believe you. Clearly they're playing, hurt, Stevns did it last year, Fev as well. You could see last week Lappin had trouble marking the ball.

My question was more about whether we can really afford that and if it is the right policy.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010