Exactly my POV. I have nothing against Roberton personally, or how he plays, necessarily, just like I had nothing personal against Raph and I was one that was still backing him in mid-way through this year, but I just look at the alternatives and struggle to see how we couldn't have used that last spot on our list better and plugged another bigger hole, rather than just add to an area where we didn't really have a hole to fill at all and where bringing in someone like him could ****** the progress of someone talented and younger who we already have on our list, who plays in his position.
Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that we had traded for TDL, despite the fact we already have an abundance of others on the list and the starting 22 who play in his position (including Minchington, who by all reports is very talented, but who's progress could now be stunted by the addition of TDL) and are likely to be in front of him for a spot there and it just seems like more of the same with Dylan. In fact I'm not even sure why either of them would particularly want to be at our club, given how many are likely to be ahead of them for a spot in the position they play. Surely there are other clubs that have needs in those areas more than we do, where they would have been more of a chance to walk straight into their team?
I think we should treat every spot on our list like gold and these two selections seem like "coaches favoutites selections" (Watters having coached TDL at Subi and Micale having coached Roberton, or whatever), rather than essential selections that are genuinely going to either cover an actual need, or else significantly strengthen our list.
I mean does anyone see either of them being in our best 22 next year, once you've sat down and put a 22 on paper? Because if not, it just seems like a very questionable selection to draft two who are ready to go now, but who there isn't really a spot for, meaning they are quite likely to stagnate in the VFL. It's one thing to draft for depth, but it's a whole other thing to draft for depth in positions where we already have adequate depth.
It certainly doesn't mean that I'm not going to support Roberton, or TDL, though and I'm not going to say any of this stuff to them, or pretend it's their fault that the club recruited them and take it out on them if it doesn't work out, and saying all this will actually help me to get it out of my system, so that I am going to be more inclined to really support them. It also doesn't mean that I don't support the club, because anyone who reads what I say on here knows I do, but at the same time I'm not just going to mindlessly assume that everything the club does is going to turn to gold and cheer on every single thing they do, if I feel that the move they have made is not the best one they could have. There have been plenty of things over the years that the club has done that I thought at the time were very questionable, if not downright mistakes, which have proved to be that way, so I'm going to keep on backing my judgement on these things, just as I would expect the club to back theirs.
If anyone is perfectly OK with all the good things we say about the club, then they ought to also be able to take it if we question certain things the club does occasionally.
This is surely a place for debate and discussing the merits of what the club are doing, not just cheerleading.
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