..plenty of room for the big Setant, folks shouldna be gettin' ahead of themselves just yet.. it's not like we've got a premiership side 22 and we're lookin' fer holes to slot him in..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

KK you are a hard man...

The boys are doing unbelievable well for athletes that are just learning the game. I am not going to lie and say that I'm not biased about these two. I rate them big time. I have huge hopes for them. They are two massive gifts for a club that needed a few smokeys due to draft penalties. They will make. Setanta will play all year and Sake will break into the team at some point, and like Ryan says, he will raise some eyebrows.

My 3 week old baby received a Setanta signed Carlton teddy bear for Xmas... nicest guys.

I'll never question his level of committment and agree he will pretty much play all season (down back), however I wouldn't say he is a success.

We all love him as a person which makes it hard to criticise him.

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

Yo ma ma is so fat, she...

I disagree KK. I think he is a success, well, if you look at the true meaning of the term.

Hurling background, and in his youth, yet he has moved to the otherside of the world and played a game of AFL - the top grade in the foreign sport. Many plunder away since childhood and yet are deemed not good enough, but he is forging a career based on pure guts and determination.

My hats off the Setanta, I f$#^&%$ love him. He epitomises the navy-blue spirit, and given our ruck deficiencies wasn't able to continue his development in his prefered position. I bloody well hopes he gets a gig up front from time to time, as he IS starting to read the play perfectly well, and is now taking contested marks he once would have dropped. But for me it's the infectious way he celebrates each goal as if it was soccer - tell me that doesn't pull on your heart strings? The sky's the limit for these two brothers.

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--------------------------------------------------------"The only one that could ever love me..."

Is there room for Setanta? In short - YES! Ofcourse there is.

I've said all along I am not convinced yet - It's fine to say how committed he is and how much effort he puts in and he has come along way .
But it may be just me but I would expect that same level of commitment from every other player on the list . there is more to football than being a supreme athlete - Chambers and Prendagast are fine examples and they grew up playing the game .

Some of these Irish kids will make it and others won't for every success story they will be 5-6 failures - Lets hope that after all the time spent that these two or three we have on our list are successes

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

I understand you're not being harsh and merely expressing an opinion, but it's really hard to make an informed judgement on someone that isn't getting 20-30 possies when you're watching it on tv. The camera follows the ball carrier, and unless your a midfielder, then it's difficult to see what they are doing behind play. Nowadays, he's constantly screaming for the ball, runnning to position, and reading the play. Yet unless he's literally on camera, then how could you possibly see what's going on? If he's in defence then of course it looks grave as our midfield was giving no pressure with the ball flying in to the forwards advantage time and time again - to the detriment of Carlos and his colleagues.

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--------------------------------------------------------"The only one that could ever love me..."

Clearly he has been a success. As full back he contained Richo and Lloyd in tight games. He was beaten by J Brown with absolutely no support or pressure form upfield. Brown kicked 3. To put it in context when we played the Lions the next time Waite played on Brown and Brown kicked 10.

Setanta had to be moved into the ruck because Ackland was no good and Cloke was injured and did okay. His one full game up forward was against the Dees and I thought he was very good. He struggled in the ruck, understandably but showed how much his kicking has improved by snagging 11 goals from about 14 shots.

He should be compared to Hartlett, Kennedy, Edwards, guys who are younger than him in years but certainly not in footy. He has clearly performed better than any of them to this stage and despite his comparative age has much more development potential.

I think clearly he is our best key position defender prospect and ideally suited to CHB especially if he is encouraged to run and his team mates give him the ball. His disposal has improved enormously. I think the arguement is not about whether he will make it but rather whether he will be a serviceable player or a really good player. Who is a better option for CHB or FB (and maybe for CHF)?

The only problem with the O'hs is that we didn't recruit Sean Og who would have been a gun tagging midfielder with great leadership skills.

Good post gerry.

I think people have expected too much from Setanta so far.

We should have conceded the ruck last year rather than hinder his development in the backline.

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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

Did I go too far?

Agreed.
Apparantly Ratts claimed responsibility for moving Setanta into the ruck and I maintain it was a mistake to do so.
Should've been a year of learning the craft and settling as a key defender last year.

Carlos is in my few few picked.

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There's so much I could say...

I remember Gerard Healy writing that Setanta is learning his craft in the seniors while others like J stynes were making all his mistakes in the reserves at the same stage of his career. Don't know how accurate that is...

Setanta will get a lot of confidence from last year, and self-belief that he belongs there. So don't be surprised if he doesn't take it to another, as yet unseen level this year. Setanta is my favourite player.. .I don't know what it is. His determination I think, and his passion. He is a rough diamond who will soon shine.

And I can't wait to see more of Aisake.

It's amazing people are questioning Setanta's place in the side. I watched him in many games last year, and he impressed me with not only his commitment, but his instincts for the game are remarkable for one so new to the game.

If anyone gets the chance, go back to the Essendon* game and watch his reading of the play: it was excellent.

As for Aisake, I think he is going to be extraordinary. He has exceptional pace, excellent coordination for a man of his size, and he's stuck to Chris Judd like glue at every training session. On the family day, Aisake and Judd took off for a run around Princes Park, and there clearly seems to be a bond between the two of them. I can't imagine Judd would spend his time on someone that much if they didn't have great potential.

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

You're not alone Kax. PASSION, DETERMINATION and PERSISTENCE are words embodied by these guys.

Its not easy being champions in one sport then having to skill up again and perform in a foreign land under many scrutineering eyes.

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occidentally orientated

He finished in our best players only twice when 6-7 players are named each week and polled three times in the best and fairest 1 , 8 ,1 so my view over the TV must be somewhat similar to the people handing out the votes .

He has a long long way to go and not a lot of time to get there and if we weren't so bad he would struggle to even get a look in

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

apart from his potential (size etc) and his attitude - he isn't all that much different to Prenda.

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

Syd Blue - I think you'll find the players that poll a lot of votes are high posession winners, and someone like Waite who simply is amazing on a good day and gets to play one of the influencial roles due to his skill and vast experience. To Setanta's detriment he's a bit of a stop-gap kind of player still learning the trade, that was pinch hitting in the ruck, playing up forward, or doing a cameo in defense (where he should have been all season). I think he was very consistent, and the arguement here is whether he's in our best 22. They're only rating the top "6-7 players" each game and if there's 22, he can easily be the 10th most influencial player everyweek and not score a point. Some of the others that polled would've had a blinder one week and been the 15th most influencial player the following two, the combinations are endless.

I think he's in our best 22 - in fact I know it! I'm not saying he's our best player, he may not even be the 6th or 7th best, but he's certainly safe inside the 22 and will continue to improve remarkably.

That is with all things considered you're entirely happy with the top 6-7 players the match committee deem to be the best, along with the Age and Sun's in each match review.

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--------------------------------------------------------"The only one that could ever love me..."

P.S. Prenda? Palease!? You think he would've played fullback with anywhere near as much gusto...

2006 Prenda 0 goals in 3 games, av 15 disposals.
2005 Prenda 1 goal in 13 games, av 8.5 disposals.

2007 O'hAlipin 13 goals in 22 games, av 10.5 disposals.

Do you think Prenda still has as much "upside" as Carlos???

Palease!

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--------------------------------------------------------"The only one that could ever love me..."

KK, now you're really showing you nothing about football or recognising talent. Come on lets get a little serious now. He has played 4 years of footy in his life, he has played nearly 30 senior games already. Given his time on the field and roles when on the field, he has done exceptionally well. Prenda was a fav of mine for his work ethic, but co-ordinated and talented he was not.

btw, Sean Og was a little too old to recruite. If he was younger he woulda been a gun. He is a superstar in Ireland and an awesome bloke. One of the nicest you will ever meet. Is in Australia at the moment or may have just left.