Come on, it's not like we're struggling terribly in that regard.

..really..?.. ..we've been feeding the forward line with clean, crisp, stellar delivery..??.. ..we're dominating the clearances each game..?.. ..Juddles and Murphos aren't getting beaten pillar to post..?.. ..the fact that you say "we're not struggling", instead of "we're killing it in the midfield" is pretty much my whole point..

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

I'm not disagreeing with you precious, but I think in light of Sam's good post, Yarran was too good to pass on last year. Besides if you want stellar delivery to the forwards you may have noticed someones pass to Fish on their opposite foot. Yarran can play HF with a license to move further up the ground and provide that sort of finishing.

It's not like we'll be totally devoid of blokes to rotate through the midfield, Grigg and Robbo when he builds up his tank, don't disagree that one more will help, but they aren't that hard to come by, but Yarran brings too much that was badly needed to our side to pass on.

Likewise we're not killing it up forward should Fev fall over. Given we rated Yarran @2 in last years draft it was a no-brainer for the recruiting guys to take him.

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..hehe, gotcha.. .... ..and i agree Yaz has definately got skill and finesse, and a nice turn of pace.. ..hadn't seen him show that before.. ..and my earlier call of getting a flashy HFF later in the draft was a wee bit premature in Yaz's case, i don't reckon you'll get one as good as him.. ..but you still can get alot of class, lookit what number we picked up Hoops at.. ..in the 70's i think.. LeCras went high 30's, and he's really providing something for wce.. ..cats got Stevie J with pick 24, Chapman they got with a later pick than that..30?.. ..there's heaps of v.good mid-sized fwds found after the first round.. ..even if you don't find one as good as Yaz, a killer midfield will make them play better..

..i just think we still lack that edge to our midfield, and Juddles is playing too much inside game.. ..and this year again he's romping it in, in that role for us, but it can't be doing his body any favours.. ..lookit our midfield going forward, and he's most likely gonna be playing that role for us next year too.. ..our aim this year really needs to address this problem.. ..otherwise once Juddles starts getting injuries, they'll start battering Murphos more.. ..and he's already been copping it.. ..only half a first season, in his second yr stevo goes down and he cops the number 1 tag.. ..last year and this year he gets roughed up every game.. ..and Juddles plays with three guys hanging off him.. ..way to look after our top-line talent..

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

..sure, but Yaz ain't gonna help that in his first year, being so young.. ..next year will be a bit like it's his first year.. ..being so young players like him and watts and blease etc are gonna be a year behind their peers.. ..when you compare his age to Fev's, he's gonna need to get a wriggle on if he's going to help him out for any meaningful length of time.. ..without any power fwd coming through the ranks [Krooz the smokey], i'd say the idea is to start our flag tilt pronto, hence getting first Juddles, and then Knockers.. ..afterall we've got these 3 number ones and arguebly the best FF in the league..

.. ..adding the missing ingredient to our midfield with bonafide a-grade talent with a kid that's ready made in the selwood mold [Rich has definately got the lucky pick number seven down pat] would have addressed what i think is a greater worry.. ..for the reasons i mentioned in my previous post regarding juddles and murphy.. ..in regards to Rich, brownshaw has been feeding off his passes all year, Fev woulda enjoyed some of that action too.. ..his long kicking is incredible, hell with his kicks Cloke would have been loving it.... ..i reckon he's 'the selwood' of this draft..

..and i reckon this is becoming more of a debate over our list's actual needs, and which issues we think need addressing more than others.. ..umm, but to the original point, Yaz maturing like fine wine.. ..fine wine takes a while to mature.. ..and i don't think our list has that luxury, Fev certainly doesn't have the luxury of hanging around and waiting for support..

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

I think you have highlightd something to address for sure.....can't argue with that

Can you stop selling Yarran short and pumping up Rich after five minutes of their respective careers?

Who are you trying to convince with your arguments

Yarran has the talent, pace, vision and incredible skill on both sides to emulate the career of this Brownlow medalist, match winner and vital member of the fab four.

[youtube]Bb4hMZKtRA4[/youtube]

Yarran's touch and vision to hit Browne and Betts from the middle and CHB was sublime.


Anyone who compares Yarran to a Garlett, Betts or Ballantyne should be placed on your ignore list.

The one player Geelong can't afford to lose if they want to win the flag is Steve Johnson.

Inside midfielders are easier to replace than matchwinners with that sort of skill and ability.

Greg Williams won a Norm Smith not as a mid, but as a forward who kicked five and set up at least five playing as a forward.

Hawthorn won a flag by taking their best kick out of the midfield and playing him in the backline.

So much for having a great kick in the middle.

We need a big bodied midfielder in the middle to emulate Sewell, Mitchell and Lewis who get it out to the likes of Young, Birchall, Dew, Bateman, Crawford, Guerra, Ladson and Ellis to deliver the ball.

Their inside midfielders bar Hodge aren't great kicks in anyone's language.

Isn't using Rich as an inside midfielder and battering ram to protect Judd defeating the purpose of having a player with a great kick?

Rich isn't built like Goddard and Hodge who are generals in their sides.

Rich is the same size as Murphy.

Mitch Robinson will play on the ball and deliver it inside fifty.

Yarran running at the opposition flat out and not having a tell as to which foot he will use wil be harder to stop than Rich.

Rich has no right foot.

There's no set plan you need to follow to win a flag.

If Yarran was white, we'd be shaking our heads at the skill of the player and penciling him in as a matchwinner and 200 gamer.

It's unfortunate that Yarran is rated lower than midfielders and pigeon holed as a stay at home and potentially flaky HFF/forward pocket.

The more things change, the more things stay the same...

That Akermanis clip is ridiculous. Didn't realize both goals were in a minute of each other. FREAK

If Yarran = Akermanis I'll get over Rich. Sublime by either foot, fast, slippery, and a bit of lair waiting to come to the surface. Long way to go, and at this stage Rich = Rich, which is bloody good.

..Kouta, i have not once sold Yaz short, but rather i see us opting for such a young kid at this stage when we have in my opinion, more pressing concerns list wise, to be the action that i wasn't so pleased with.. ..as i've stated many times, i do think that Yaz should become a v.good player [and most likely more than that], my concern is mostly; a) how long will such a young kid take to come on [and whether they'll come on quick enough to provide years long support to Fev], and b) how can we address our problems in the middle.. ..simply put, if we don't get a-grade talent in the middle to offer a chop-out to judd and murph, then those two players will end up doing the inside grunt work cos they'll simply be doing it better, as evidenced so far..

..in regards to Stevie.J's huge importance to the cats winning a flag, he didn't help them get over the line last year.. ..and yes, inside midfielders are easier to replace than the best half forwards.. ..but the best inside midfielders are not easy to replace, take a look at j.selwood, he's the best in & under midfielder over the last 3/4 years i reckon.. ..and that's my point, lookit our in and under types.. ..bentick, hadley, bentley.. ..but each of those are cross your fingers and hope types, none a-grade and argueble they're even b-grade..

..as for diesel, he's just a freak and a real one in a million type.. ..and when i think of him, i think of him as a mid, who went forward more later on in his career, ditto the crows roo and lethal.. ..all champions of the game, and not easily replaced..

..the hawks in my opinion switch podgey down back for two reasons, primarily to play the Fletcher role [buggered if i know how podgey got credtied with it],, and also to mix up their game-style heading into the finals and catching alot of teams off-gaurd.. ..Podgey's year hasn't been anywhere as good playing that defender role once teams have worked him out.. ..and the hawks could afford to move him about cos generally they have a good kicking team skills wise.. ..better than ours..

.. ..as for big bodies in the middles, i agree.. ..we lack that, in Rich's case he provides it.. ..he's not as tall as say the Gibblet, but he's already v.well built.. ..hell he's already the big body in the brions stoppages, and they're not a skinny team.. ..and using him as a battering ram type is using him in his natural position/game-style.. ..using Juddles in that role isn't what i like to see.. ..and just cos a player is an in and under type, it doesn't mean they can get themselves a little room or be found in some space.. ..and there's nothing like a good, swift penetrating kick out of congestion to catch everyone out of position when going forward..

..yeah, i like the look of Mitch, and if he gets to a-grade that'd be sweet.. ..i reckon he's gonna be a solid player, and i could be mistaken but i don't think of him as being the answer to the problem we have in the middle.. ..and yes i agree fully that Yaz will propose problems for alot of teams to match-up on.. ..i'm not putting down one while propping up the other.. ..i'm going by what i've seen as facts on the ground, and also looking at the facts of our current list, and the problems we still have on-field.. ..also, Rich does have a right foot, and it's more than handy [seen him use it accurately, though admittedly haven't seen him go for the same distance as he does with the left].. ..i don't think of him as being one sided, yes he prefers his left but most left footers do try and get on their left if they can..

..as for that line about 'if Yaz was white'.. ..who cares, we all applaud the silky skills of Hoops, how creative he is, sublime skills on both sides of his body, his vision and agility [and when younger he was a bit quicker too from memory], and hoops isn't the darkest of skin.. ..and hoops wasn't pigeon-holed at all, he was used all over the ground and say of us lament the very way he was used in that manner.. ..it's bogus to try and turn this into something it isn't, and has nothing to do with.. ..i'm not too concerned with any cultural shock to Yaz, he's youth is the concern for me, pure and simple.. ..in the year we got the Gibblet, that was a good time for us to go after such a young extreme talent.. ..i've said several times that IF yaz was partly drafted to give Fev support, them the timing is off to my way of thinking.. ..and that's not any of Yaz's fault either.. ..like i said, i'm not putting him down.. ..he can't help how old he is, nor what number he's drafted and by which team.. ..i just think we solved the wrong problem on our list.. ..maybe that's the better way of saying it..

edit-- ..it's not that i don't care CARE about cultural shock for any of our young players, it's just i feel confident in our club's way of easing them in to melbourne life, afl rigours and media hype etc etc and i factor that into my thinking..

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

..agreed, IF yaz turns out to be as good as either an aker, or stevie-j then sure we have definately hit the jackpot, if he takes 5/6 years to get that good then i still think we're ahead cos he's so young now.. ..though taking so long [worst care scenario, will be twitching if it does take so long] will be meaning he's a lesser impact while we have Fev up and about.. ..IF he reaches such dizzying heights of potential then i'll be dancing a jig while admiting how completely and utterly stupidly wrong i had it all.. ..and i'll be apologising with a huge smile cos hell, we as a team have him.. ..but that's a whole lotta 'potential' to reach.. ..especially in aker's case [brownlow, 300+ games]..

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

If Yaz persists half as much as his critics he'll be an awesome player

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Bawditawaba

If you're looking at making the most of the Fevola years I think you should spend more time promoting the idea of adding some senior players who fit that career path. Hasleby, Kerr and O'Keefe could be that inside player you're talking about or if you want someone to help Fev, we could try and get Pavlich before his contract expires next year, surely even a shocking kick inside 50 would lead to a goal with Pav and Fev there. I'm sold on some of those ideas, and is achievable.

In three or four years we'll have about 12 or so quality players who would hit their prime or are still in prime time years, right now we may have around seven (Carrots, Waite, Fev, Judd, Thornton, Wiggins and Houlihan), so those years down the track is what we should be more concerned about. You have to be mindful that we could lose precious years trying to rebuild a Fev-less forward line covered mostly with B-Grade forwards. Hardly are there ready made young forwards you can slip in and you see results, especially without much support.

..samblueboy, not sure what we can offer to get a kerr,pav,ro'k.. ..naturally picks will be at a premium but that's what we kinda thought for last year as well, and a record low trades got done.. ..i'd be v.happy with any of those 3 to be honest, but i've got no idea what we'd have to part with to even get those teams thinking about a treade, especially out west considering we already got juddles and knockers from 'em.. ..and as fer swines, would they wanna go thru the whole ro'k to hometown thingy all over again..??.. ..i dunno, weirder things have happened i guess, and would love any of those 3..

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

Good call Sammy...........actually Hasleby is very gettable as he is having contract probs.Another one that i would have a BIG go at would be Harding from the Lions.He is a super up and comer who seems to be strangely out of favour for some reason.The beauty of Harding,apart from being very young,is that he plays inside or outside,whichever is required as each matchup dictates.

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All my dangerous friends

God he was good. i reckon a few posters are so firmly in the Rich camp that they're ignoring Yarran's third quarter skills and pressure. he was fantastic, evenmoreso as a first year player.

The whole discussion is so pointless. We made a call, we picked a player. Does he look good? Its Round 16 in his first year and he has shown a little bit, and that little bit has been average to amazing. Since when were first year players expected to domiante?

Friggin' Judd. he's changed it for everyone.

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Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

Oh and while Rich might win the NRS this year when the panel overlook Otten, come 2010 Yarran will be eligible and win his own!!!

But by then Carrazzo will also be eligible, oh well...nice problem to have.

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#DonTheStash

damn it, forgot about Carrots.

Dare i say it*..........

but...........i seeing a McLeod'esq player in Yarran...............!


kindest regards tommi

















*......unless of course someone else has already said it............!

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that'siti'mnotchangingthistagain......!