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Event Horizon
Brownlow Medallist
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You obviously have more knowledge here than I do, which is why I am not really arguing the point - merely asking questions. If Dawson is indeed a potential A grade CHB and a D grade forward, then you would hope the likes of Barlow and Lynch, as well as Adcock would see that as well, and the experiment will be very short lived.Comben HAD played as a defender in his younger years and shown to be a promising one, he had shown plenty of the attributes required for that role.
A lot of his limitations as a key forward were ones that wouldn't be as exposed behind the ball also.
I have seen Dawson enough as a forward to know it will never work to the level we want at AFL level in the future outside of a very average "tall" lump sitting in the forward line like Josh Schache is.
I don't really see the comparisons with Comben, in fact they were the oppposite.
Comben was a B-B+ forward prospect that was a ? Defensive prospect. In fact he may have also been considered a B prospect in the ruck as he played a lot of good football there as a mobile ruck/forward at underage level. Again something that will never be tested
He has proven to be an A+ defensive prospect.
Dawson shows natural ability at CHB. He reads the ball fantastically behind the ball, he's aggressive, he is an excellent intercept mark when behind the ball (this is nothing like the ability to be a good mark as a CHF. Comben is the absolute personification of this point) and he's a great size and can spoil.
He's an A grade defensive prospect and one of the better ones u/21 in the entire league.
He's a D grade forward prospect. He has no leg speed for separation, he likes to body on body defensively, which he can't do as a forward, as he likes to occupy the rear spot and work forward and behind. He liked to push his opponent under the ball as a defender, which he can't do as a forward.
He's not a good mark on the lead and isn't a good mark with a defender all over him.
I know this will never work and we are hamstringing ourselves doing it when we have a 10+ year partner for Charlie just sitting there.
The other issue obviously is the fact we simply don't have a quality key forward on our list currently, and if we draft one this year, it would take a couple of years to develop him, whereas Dawson already has the body which could be AFL ready next season. And I don't see any realistic way way we can trade someone of quality in