Half a year to go... which players are playing for their bomber career? Cole and Heff spring to mind. MJ might be a contentious one. Is Lee capable or is he just another Henneman? Buhagiar needs to lift his game...
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AFLW 2024 - Round 10 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
careers on the line
- Thread starter Blind Turn
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Yes I reckon Heffernan will retire at years end so to the both Johnsons, Camporeale. They are all at the age where no team would want them. Too slow and all past it unfortunately. Kepler is playing for his career in my opinion too he has been unable to cement a spot in the team after 4 seasons. I know Mark Bolton hasnt either but i would rather Mark than Kepler in the team. Cole wont go, Lee will be delisted.
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I've got faith in Kepler. Big fella's all arms n legs but has ability. They can't seem to find a spot for him to settle in. You gotta give these blokes time to develop. Hope they persist with Johnsy... learnin his trade in defence might be the making of him. The game seems to be passing Buhagiar by...
marcuz
Norm Smith Medallist
I don't think JJ will play past 30.
The guy has played like a human battering ram for 10 years and it has to take its toll on his body at some point and in fact it already has. That famous 10 metre JJ burst is now gone. MJ is another that will go earlier than most for the same reasons.
The guy has played like a human battering ram for 10 years and it has to take its toll on his body at some point and in fact it already has. That famous 10 metre JJ burst is now gone. MJ is another that will go earlier than most for the same reasons.
monty1104
Brownlow Medallist
I think Lee has another year left on his contract, so he will stay, much to my disappointment.
i wouldnt be so sure about the johnsons, JJ was wanted pretty badly by melbourne at the end of last year, they both can have a lot to offer...
i wouldnt think either would retire at the end of the year
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JJ had another interrupted pre-season. Still needs match conditioning. I respect him enough to think he can still offer another year or two. Not too sure where MJ fits anymore though. Is he a back pocket, onballer, forward. At the moment he is none of these and yet is expected to be all of them...
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When you look of the vast selection of young players that have either played under 25 games or have yet to debut,you get the feeling that regardless of what happens in season 2007 (Finals or no finals) there will be de-listings of older players for sure.
If Sheedy coaches on in '08,you can bet he will be drooling over the prospect of getting players like.....
Gumbleton,Jetta,Hocking,Houli,Nash,Reimers,Hislop,Neagle,Lee,Chartres,
Rama (maybe?),Dempsey,Lonergan and Dean D-ck on the ground.
We have an exciting list to draw from in the coming seasons.
Davey is 22,but I keep thinking he is a 18 year old draftee. Another 9 or 10 seasons for the little gun.
Laycock will improve,Johns will come back eventually and hopefully make an impact. Kepler should be able to find that form that is required to player senior footy. Cole is a good chance of improving. Slattery will be a long term player for the EFC imo.
Lee is an unknown prospect.
This thread did make me think who could possibly go out of the team after this year.
Maybes include.....
Pev...
JJ (if he's not right come seasons end)...
Bolton...
Mal...
Hird...
Campo...
and NLM will be traded..is my guess.
Mark Johnson still has lots left to offer this club...imo of course.
If Sheedy coaches on in '08,you can bet he will be drooling over the prospect of getting players like.....
Gumbleton,Jetta,Hocking,Houli,Nash,Reimers,Hislop,Neagle,Lee,Chartres,
Rama (maybe?),Dempsey,Lonergan and Dean D-ck on the ground.
We have an exciting list to draw from in the coming seasons.
Davey is 22,but I keep thinking he is a 18 year old draftee. Another 9 or 10 seasons for the little gun.
Laycock will improve,Johns will come back eventually and hopefully make an impact. Kepler should be able to find that form that is required to player senior footy. Cole is a good chance of improving. Slattery will be a long term player for the EFC imo.
Lee is an unknown prospect.
This thread did make me think who could possibly go out of the team after this year.
Maybes include.....
Pev...
JJ (if he's not right come seasons end)...
Bolton...
Mal...
Hird...
Campo...
and NLM will be traded..is my guess.
Mark Johnson still has lots left to offer this club...imo of course.
Hang on
If memory serves, he went alright in very limited opportunities (about 4 games?) last year, kicked a few, did OK down back for a while
This season he's had injuries which ruined his pre-season, so you can't really judge too harshly on that, can you?
NLM's injuries are starting to sound a little bit fishy to me.
He's been '1-2 weeks, groin' for about half a season now. Don't know about you, but that smells like OP to me
EDIT: And JJ's on a two-year contract anyway
monty1104
Brownlow Medallist
Just on Lee, we recruited him to be a defender, and he has been playing forward in the VFL. This is because he has struggled to get into any sort of form when he is in defense. He has been heralded as Fletcher's replacement in the past, and ATM he is nowhere near it. So either we hope he doesnt strugle with injuries and form in the future, or we have to look elsewhere. If he has been injury prone since he started (about 3 years ago I think), he is more likely to get injuries in the future. So IMO, it is time to look somewhere else to get a long term FB. That is what we should focus on in the draft this year I think. If we got a reasonable player this year, he will have 2-3 years to develop, so when Fletch is gone, he can fit straight in.
That's ludicrous
Yes we recruited him to be a defender, and he was good last year in the VFL in defence. He's into his third year now, so he's hardly past it.
This season he had VIRTUALLY NO PRE-SEASON, and struggled for fitness when he came back into the VFL side - I believe about round 4. The coaching staff have seen fit to try and turn Courtney and Neagle into defenders, and with Cloke and Reimers down there as well, there's not too many spots for tall defenders. Hence, Lee has been playing forward. Capiche?
Interesting info... there's a good shot of him running away from Eddie Betts on his player profile. I can't work out who he reminds me of in that particular shot...
monty1104
Brownlow Medallist
So where does that leave Lee? NOWHERE! I can see him ending up like Bradley of 6 weeks ago. The coaches cant find a spot for him that he is good at, so they will just keep trying him in spots until they find a solution. Unfortunately, Lee doesnt have as much going on fir him in the athletic department as Kep does, so his positions are limited. I just reckon Lee will be delisted at the end of next year. It happens, players get delisted all the time. Nothing against him, but I just dont see him being part of our future. I hope he proves me wrong though.
Despite many key players showing indifferent form I doubt many are playing for a contract. With Hirdy definitely leaing us at years end I doubt we will delist/trade much of our leadership group.
Expect Heffernan, Camporeale and Hird to retire/get delisted.Guys like Johns, Bradley, Cole, Laycock and Lee will be seriously looked at given we would need to delist 3-4 of them to take all our draft picks.
Whilst I don't see us getting rid of Mal Michael it will be interesting to see if he is still keen to play on or wishes to get involved in charity work full-time.
Expect Heffernan, Camporeale and Hird to retire/get delisted.Guys like Johns, Bradley, Cole, Laycock and Lee will be seriously looked at given we would need to delist 3-4 of them to take all our draft picks.
Whilst I don't see us getting rid of Mal Michael it will be interesting to see if he is still keen to play on or wishes to get involved in charity work full-time.
Don't worry about careers on the line ...the rest of this year will sort em out anyway. If we play finals look at the players who stand up and perform on the big stage and those that dont. It is premature to worry about these things now.
Pardon my ignorance but who is Buhagiar?
Lee was actually recruited as a forward with good hands and a nice kick. Over time he's been turned into a defender but his origins certainly were as a forward.
That in itself will mean Lee will get some time to develop in to the role. On top of this, he missed the entirity of his first season with OP and missed this year's pre-season with injury. For a third year player, not much could have been expected of him.
Lee has a lot of improvement in him and hopefully we will see evidence of it as the season continues and next year.
In regard to Lee supposedly playing as a forward for Bendigo, that's not as concrete as you've implied. Lee's moved between defense and the forward line and isn't a 'set' forward so to speak.
Also, I think it's a bit too much to ask of a draftee to step into full-back after just 2 or 3 seasons. As a key-position player, you'd be happy with 10 solid games in that period of time. Paddy's an exception but developement in general is a much longer process.
Given how much opportunity to play at his best Lee has had, that's a call that's been made with very little behind it. Give the guy a chance before you call for his delisting at the end of next year.
monty1104
Brownlow Medallist
You mean like how Fletcher stepped into the role while still playing school footy? I know there are exceptions, but if after 3 years a guy cant step into the FB spot and do a decent job, then we have to look at delisting him. And yes, I have given him a chance. He has had 2.5 years at the club now and has done nothing. Sure he has had his fair share of injuries, but so has CJ. At least he has shown some promise when he plays.
Fletcher was a freak and is an outlier here. You can't expect to find a guy as good as Fletch. If it happens we're extremely lucky.
It generally takes guys a while to mature before they can hold down Full-Back as it did with guys like Glass, McPharlin, Carroll and Harris. To have a guy that can do it at 20/21 years of age would be quite incredible. Of course, there are exceptions but we can't expect exceptions.
Lee has to be given special consideration. You can't count Lee's first year because he didn't play at all. All that happened was that he got a year older. So, in Lee's first season he cracked it for 4 games. It's not brilliant but it's better than a lot of KP. He showed he could kick and mark. So far, without a pre-season, Lee has found the going tough. It's only nartural for a young footballer. I suppose you think Hawthorn should delist Beau Dowler as well because he hasn't shown anything in 1.5 years of football.
I'm not saying he's going to become a star, with only 1.5 years of football at Essendon, it's too early to say he won't.
monty1104
Brownlow Medallist
Dowler was drafted a year later than Lee. If he was to get delisted, it would be this year, after 2 years on the list. With Lee, it would be after 4 years. They are 2 seperate cases. But yes, If Dowler hasnt shown anything after 4 years, then Hawthorn should delist him. Sometimes, when a player is clearly injury prone, it is a waste of time, effort and a spot on the list to keep them around. There are times where you just need to cut your losses and axe people. And before you ask, I reckon Melbourne should do the same with Brent Moloney and St.Kilda with Aaron Hamill
My point is that Lee has had the equivalent of 1 and half years on the list given that he didn't play any football in his first year. Hence, he's had the same development time as Dowler.
As for axing injury prone players just on the basis of being injury prone, it doesn't happen. Clubs look for talent and talent will keep guys on the list regardless of whether or not they're injury prone. Guys like Tim Walsh are prime examples. At the end of the day, it's hard to find guys that are up to AFL football as can be seen from the amount of hits and misses in the draft. Clubs don't let guys go that they think are up to it. If Lee's thought to be up to it, and I think he is thouhgt of that way, he won't be cut on the simple basis that he's injury prone.
