Matt Little's debut .....

[MinerBoy]

Re: Matt Little

why hasnt dowler made his debut yet?

if this kid got a game before him thats saying something....unless of course he is injured

Dowler has played 2 games.

It was his 2nd game, he played a game last year, thats 2 games in 3 years, so it sugests to me that he isnt AFL ready now or ever !

Pretty sure it was his first.

 

[MinerBoy]

I dont know if youve noticed but Smith is playing some great footy atm, and was one player last night who actually added a bit of guts to the team's performance! While Dixon hasnt been great this year he has still provided the forwards with direction and leadership. On the forward line the Saints just have a quality team and a great backline particulary when they drop an extra in defence.. it wasnt so much roughy playing badly, it was the fact the saints had our measure!

Joel has been great recently but went back to bad habits on Saturday night. I hope it was just one bad game.

 

[Trueblueroo]

Was indeed Matt's first game and it's a bit had to prepare for a game when your given 30 mins notice, and to play on a gun like McGuire on debut! Give him another crack i say......

 

[Robber Baron]

Mate, the club knows exactly who I am. I post on this site and operate another Hawthorn supporters site (mightyhawk.net) under the same username. I was the person that orchestrated the Jeff Kennett appearance on MH last season. I know a number of past and present players personally and none of them would argue that I don't have the right to an opinion. This right is amplified by the fact that I buy an upgraded membership for myself and my partner every year and have put money into the club in the past through player sponsorship and the like. I don't bag players personally and you will find no evidence as such. I only ever critique the playing performance and provide both the positive and negaitives as I see them.

So now that I have again cleared up another of your ill-advised comments, I will ask for proof of where I have been negative "all the time." I have been an outspoked advocate of Danny Jacobs in the face of continued criticism of him by Hawthorn supporters. The same goes for Joel Smith whom I believe gets a bum wrap from the same supporters. I don't know either of these players personally so I have no hidden agenda in my comments on them. I am one of the more positive people here when it comes to playing up Hawthorn's finals prospects as well. I hope that this demonstrates for you that I am not continually negative.

In any event, I will not justify my position to yourself any further just as I will not retract my opinion of Matty Little, the footballer. I do not believe that he is an AFL standard footballer and I do not think that we will see him in a Hawthorn jumper next season.

Looks like youve blown a gasket mate. You are one angry bloke and its good that you give money to our club becaus we need it to make us strong. But I dont think your opinion is regarded by the blokes that count at the club or they would of given you a job. Best thing you can do is to encourage the kids so they play better for us and not be negative of them as there just kids trying there guts out for us. And stop criticising the coach for giving a kid a go at AFL level we never got to be a top family club with negative people. I never remember people makeing criticisms of Kennedy or Jeans so stop it with Clarksons hes gunna be the new Kennedy for us may be.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

Looks like youve blown a gasket mate. You are one angry bloke and its good that you give money to our club becaus we need it to make us strong. But I dont think your opinion is regarded by the blokes that count at the club or they would of given you a job. Best thing you can do is to encourage the kids so they play better for us and not be negative of them as there just kids trying there guts out for us. And stop criticising the coach for giving a kid a go at AFL level we never got to be a top family club with negative people. I never remember people makeing criticisms of Kennedy or Jeans so stop it with Clarksons hes gunna be the new Kennedy for us may be.

Please quote me where I criticise the coach for giving Matt Little a game.

As for the rest of the above, it is pure drivel. This is a public forum. My opinions, in the whole are no more positive or negative than anybody elses. You say that my opinion is not regarded by those that count and that is about the only correct thing that you have said. I have not one solitary issue with that. Yet, on the other hand you carry on as though my opinion is important because in a post above you are very quick to jump down my throat and tell me that some players read this site.

At no time have you addressed any of the questions I ask above which leads me to think that you either do not understand the valid points that I have made above or more likely, you have no logical answer to those questions. Instead you have resorted to making up rubbish and carry on over things that I have not said and opinions that I have not expressed in this thread.

 

[carntheroos4eva]

Please quote me where I criticise the coach for giving Matt Little a game.

As for the rest of the above, it is pure drivel. This is a public forum. My opinions, in the whole are no more positive or negative than anybody elses. You say that my opinion is not regarded by those that count and that is about the only correct thing that you have said. I have not one solitary issue with that. Yet, on the other hand you carry on as though my opinion is important because in a post above you are very quick to jump down my throat and tell me that some players read this site.

At no time have you addressed any of the questions I ask above which leads me to think that you either do not understand the valid points that I have made above or more likely, you have no logical answer to those questions. Instead you have resorted to making up rubbish and carry on over things that I have not said and opinions that I have not expressed in this thread.

Any wonder they were all pretty negative. Any reason why you are so negative?

 

[carntheroos4eva]

I stand by my statement. You ask why Clarko would have given him a game if he's not going to be on the list next year? For the same reason he played guys like Harry Miller, to see whether or not he is worth persevering with. Let's face it, Little is not an 18 year old rookie. He is 21 and this is his third year in the system. If he has not made significant inroads into a senior career by now then he is very unlikely to do so in the future. He has been reasonable at Box Hill without setting the world on fire and he will resume his place in the queue behind Thorp, Williams and Boyle when these guys are available. Add Dowler to that group and then explain to me how exactly Little is going to fit in. Whilst you are trying to explain how Little stays on the list next season, do not forget to ask yourself the following two questions:

1) who are we going to delist and who is going to retire at the end of the season given that the AFL has rules in place regarding list turnover? I can't recall the MINIMUM number (6 perhaps, not exactly sure) of players that a club MUST delist (or retire) at the end of every season under AFL rules but what this means is that with tight list management, I'd like to know how this, in your opinion can be managed by keeping Little as well as the likes of Murphy, Dawson (just contracted for another 2 years), Dowler and Bailey (contracted 2008) plus the first year players that MUST be listed next year because of the rules regarding first year players.

2) with regards to your rather ignorant point above, do you think that Josh Thurgood will be on the list at the end of the year? Going by your rather illogical argument above, I suppose that you do. After all, AC would only play him if he was going to be on the list next year, wouldn't he?

Understand, I am not having a go at Matt Little. I have seen worse footballers than him and I am certain that he gives it 100% and is probably a lovely fellow. The fact of the matter is, and there is really no way around it, Matt Little is in his 3rd year of being on an AFL list and is very low in the queue of forwards at the Hawthorn Football Club. He is a one-dimensional footballer who has had his chance. He played on Saturday night only because Mitch Thorp was a last minute withdrawal and would have to do something exceptional at Box Hill to be given another opportunity. He will not be on the Hawthron list next season.

1)Did you ring the club and find out why Thorp was omitted from the side? I think you would be pleasently surprised mate.
2)Mate, Calm down. Ring the club on who you think should be delisted.
3) You really have it in for Matt Little. That's fine but you really ought to be careful with what you say. What happens if he comes on here and reads the comments that you have made and works out that you are the biggest clown on here all because you were negative about him? He might go and tell Jeff Kennett and then you would be in a lot of trouble.

 

[Chrissie90]

I think this is so unfair on Matt Little that he has been singled out by some people after playing jus one game.

CK, it is good you pay your money to the club for you and your bf to be members - but not fair to bet it on Matty leaving the club when he hasnt been given much of a chance. My mates tell me u were always so positive on mightyhawks. So why has this guy made u so angry???

I think ALL supporters should get behind Matty and see if he can show everyone how good he will be.

 

[Robber Baron]

Please quote me where I criticise the coach for giving Matt Little a game.

As for the rest of the above, it is pure drivel. This is a public forum. My opinions, in the whole are no more positive or negative than anybody elses. You say that my opinion is not regarded by those that count and that is about the only correct thing that you have said. I have not one solitary issue with that. Yet, on the other hand you carry on as though my opinion is important because in a post above you are very quick to jump down my throat and tell me that some players read this site.

At no time have you addressed any of the questions I ask above which leads me to think that you either do not understand the valid points that I have made above or more likely, you have no logical answer to those questions. Instead you have resorted to making up rubbish and carry on over things that I have not said and opinions that I have not expressed in this thread.

Mate your getting to upset, so Im not gunna say anything more. Godd luck to you.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

I think this is so unfair on Matt Little that he has been singled out by some people after playing jus one game.

CK, it is good you pay your money to the club for you and your bf to be members - but not fair to bet it on Matty leaving the club when he hasnt been given much of a chance. My mates tell me u were always so positive on mightyhawks. So why has this guy made u so angry???

I think ALL supporters should get behind Matty and see if he can show everyone how good he will be.

It's only an opinion. I genuinely hope that every single player that plays for the HFC has a long and distinguished career. The reality is that this is not the case and in order for the club to continue to improve we need to be very careful with how we manage our list. Matthew Little has not made me angry. I think that he is a very serviceable player at Box Hill level. Had he been any better than serviceable though and he would be making an impact at Hawthorn by now. His problem over the longer term is that he is not going to survive because of the depth of key forwards on our list. He was recruited as a leading full forward. He is currently in my opinion behind the following players: Franklin, Roughead, Thorp, Boyle, Williams, Dowler and Dixon. I have gone to great pains a couple of times above to state that I believe that there are worse footballers than Matty Little and that my opinions are not directed at him as a human being. We simply need to make room on our list. Dixon will possibly retire so there is possibly one spot. I think that it is obvious to all that Smith will go on next year at least. Crawford is close to signing for another season and Vandenberg, despite the murmurings is most unlikely to retire. So for all of that we have possibly one spot. Thurgood will give us a second spot. And before anybody jumps down my throat, this again is not a personal slight. I have heaps of time for Thurgood. I admire his courage and his endeavor and in reality he is a pretty decent footballer. His body type does not allow him to compete in a physical manner though and he is most likely gone at the end of the year. So that leaves us with maybe 2 spots. Tim Clarke might be in some strife but he has some collateral in that he is in the leadership group, has AC's support and has some runs on the board performance wise. We can't delist any of our first year players under AFL rules so can somebody please tell me who is going to go? We wont delist a guy like Jacobs (see above comments on Clarke). If he departs it would only be through a trade as he has some currency.

Some people are quick to shoot my opinion on this topic down but nobody has provided me with a solution to the problem. In an ideal world, you would like to keep a Matty Little on the list for one more season but the fact is that if a player is not making a serious impact at AFL level after three years, he is most likely on the chopping block. The AFL created this scenario through reduced list size and regulations regarding the draft. Unfortunately for a guy like Matt Little, he will most likely be one of the casualties of these regulations. And for what it is worth, if he is delisted I hope that another AFL club takes a punt on him.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

Mate your getting to upset, so Im not gunna say anything more. Godd luck to you.

I only get upset when people make up crap in relation to what I say. I never criticised AC for picking Matt Little and if you had any decency you would have retracted your statement instead of putting forward the pathetic reply above.

 

[carntheroos4eva]

I only get upset when people make up crap in relation to what I say. I never criticised AC for picking Matt Little and if you had any decency you would have retracted your statement instead of putting forward the pathetic reply above.

Bullshit mate.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8188742&postcount=67

 

[Chrissie90]

It's only an opinion. I genuinely hope that every single player that plays for the HFC has a long and distinguished career. The reality is that this is not the case and in order for the club to continue to improve we need to be very careful with how we manage our list. Matthew Little has not made me angry. I think that he is a very serviceable player at Box Hill level. Had he been any better than serviceable though and he would be making an impact at Hawthorn by now. His problem over the longer term is that he is not going to survive because of the depth of key forwards on our list. He was recruited as a leading full forward. He is currently in my opinion behind the following players: Franklin, Roughead, Thorp, Boyle, Williams, Dowler and Dixon. I have gone to great pains a couple of times above to state that I believe that there are worse footballers than Matty Little and that my opinions are not directed at him as a human being. We simply need to make room on our list. Dixon will possibly retire so there is possibly one spot. I think that it is obvious to all that Smith will go on next year at least. Crawford is close to signing for another season and Vandenberg, despite the murmurings is most unlikely to retire. So for all of that we have possibly one spot. Thurgood will give us a second spot. And before anybody jumps down my throat, this again is not a personal slight. I have heaps of time for Thurgood. I admire his courage and his endeavor and in reality he is a pretty decent footballer. His body type does not allow him to compete in a physical manner though and he is most likely gone at the end of the year. So that leaves us with maybe 2 spots. Tim Clarke might be in some strife but he has some collateral in that he is in the leadership group, has AC's support and has some runs on the board performance wise. We can't delist any of our first year players under AFL rules so can somebody please tell me who is going to go? We wont delist a guy like Jacobs (see above comments on Clarke). If he departs it would only be through a trade as he has some currency.

Some people are quick to shoot my opinion on this topic down but nobody has provided me with a solution to the problem. In an ideal world, you would like to keep a Matty Little on the list for one more season but the fact is that if a player is not making a serious impact at AFL level after three years, he is most likely on the chopping block. The AFL created this scenario through reduced list size and regulations regarding the draft. Unfortunately for a guy like Matt Little, he will most likely be one of the casualties of these regulations. And for what it is worth, if he is delisted I hope that another AFL club takes a punt on him.

If u run a Hawks website, I dont thnik it is fair for u 2 single out one (or 2)hawks player and say that he should be delisted. Puts too much pressure on a guy that has put in 100% for 3 years for the club and earned minimum money. Your position of power should be used very carefully or problems might happen.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

If u run a Hawks website, I dont thnik it is fair for u 2 single out one (or 2)hawks player and say that he should be delisted. Puts too much pressure on a guy that has put in 100% for 3 years for the club and earned minimum money. Your position of power should be used very carefully or problems might happen.

I'm sorry but I don't follow. I seriously doubt that running website gives me any great decision making power when it comes to the Hawthorn Football Club and it's list management. What is allows me to do is get (from time to time) some insight and information from the club (eg, the Jeff Kennett review of the 2007 fixture) and some good conversation and opinion from other Hawthorn (and football) fans. Hence the reason that I post on BF as well. The mods here are excellent and I believe that we can co-exist. Plus I love the Hawthorn Football Club and enjoy good debate.

All I am doing is expressing a personal opinion as is my democratic right (as is yours to express a differing opinion). The club may see things quite differently from the opinions that I put forward. They have more information and expertise than me and may have a longer term plan in place for Matty Little. In any event, if the HFC makes decisions on our playing list based on the opinions expresses by me, you or anybody else on a public internet forum, then we are pretty much all rooted.

 

[Lance = The Man]

Re: Matt Little

why hasnt dowler made his debut yet?

if this kid got a game before him thats saying something....unless of course he is injured

Dowler has played a couple of games!

 

[Trickstar]

Gee people are quick to hang someone! While I admit he didn't have an impact, wasn't a standout and didn't win the game for us, I think you have to realise it was his first game, had a short time frame to get mentally prepared and it was a big occassion. I actually thought the few touches he got he showed some skills and potential.

I actually remember Franklins and Rougheads debut games and they didn't do much more than what Little did on Saturday night. I am not prepared to right him off based on that debut, give him some time and build a bit of size about him and then we can judge him.

 

[Robber Baron]

I only get upset when people make up crap in relation to what I say. I never criticised AC for picking Matt Little and if you had any decency you would have retracted your statement instead of putting forward the pathetic reply above.

I feel sory for Matty Little all hes done is try his best and all you can do is be negative and then you recon your a moderator and your being critical of people that are supporting the club no wonder Jeff stopped posing on your site. You should be happy that were a great club that gives all its kids a fair go and Littles never done anything wrong like get in drugs or trouble with the police, you should be saying how good a kid he is but you like to show off that you are a moderator of another web site that nobody reads so good luck to you mate and stop criticising posters when they say that you are negative when you are.

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

I feel sory for Matty Little all hes done is try his best and all you can do is be negative and then you recon your a moderator and your being critical of people that are supporting the club no wonder Jeff stopped posing on your site. You should be happy that were a great club that gives all its kids a fair go and Littles never done anything wrong like get in drugs or trouble with the police, you should be saying how good a kid he is but you like to show off that you are a moderator of another web site that nobody reads so good luck to you mate and stop criticising posters when they say that you are negative when you are.

I was told when I was younger to never argue with an idiot because people will not be able to tell the difference. So with that advice in mind I will stop arguing with you now and wont bother to read any of your future drivel. You are obviously a fool. I can only pity those associated with you. And by the way, if you are taking the ***** (and I suspect that you are), I know a guy by the name of Crannypete who does this stuff much better than you do. Your somewhat lame wind ups are very amateur by comparison.

 

[JezzHawk]

I do agree with Cryptkeeper on this one. With recent emergence of Boyle, Little will find it difficult to find a spot. If Boyle showed nothing this year, it would of been him to be delisted, for sure.

However, as a supporter, I was annoyed games given to Thurgood ahead of Little.

I hope he gets a better opportunity at another club via a trade.

 

[jaydub]

It's only an opinion. I genuinely hope that every single player that plays for the HFC has a long and distinguished career. The reality is that this is not the case and in order for the club to continue to improve we need to be very careful with how we manage our list. Matthew Little has not made me angry. I think that he is a very serviceable player at Box Hill level. Had he been any better than serviceable though and he would be making an impact at Hawthorn by now. His problem over the longer term is that he is not going to survive because of the depth of key forwards on our list. He was recruited as a leading full forward. He is currently in my opinion behind the following players: Franklin, Roughead, Thorp, Boyle, Williams, Dowler and Dixon. I have gone to great pains a couple of times above to state that I believe that there are worse footballers than Matty Little and that my opinions are not directed at him as a human being. We simply need to make room on our list. Dixon will possibly retire so there is possibly one spot. I think that it is obvious to all that Smith will go on next year at least. Crawford is close to signing for another season and Vandenberg, despite the murmurings is most unlikely to retire. So for all of that we have possibly one spot. Thurgood will give us a second spot. And before anybody jumps down my throat, this again is not a personal slight. I have heaps of time for Thurgood. I admire his courage and his endeavor and in reality he is a pretty decent footballer. His body type does not allow him to compete in a physical manner though and he is most likely gone at the end of the year. So that leaves us with maybe 2 spots. Tim Clarke might be in some strife but he has some collateral in that he is in the leadership group, has AC's support and has some runs on the board performance wise. We can't delist any of our first year players under AFL rules so can somebody please tell me who is going to go? We wont delist a guy like Jacobs (see above comments on Clarke). If he departs it would only be through a trade as he has some currency.

Some people are quick to shoot my opinion on this topic down but nobody has provided me with a solution to the problem. In an ideal world, you would like to keep a Matty Little on the list for one more season but the fact is that if a player is not making a serious impact at AFL level after three years, he is most likely on the chopping block. The AFL created this scenario through reduced list size and regulations regarding the draft. Unfortunately for a guy like Matt Little, he will most likely be one of the casualties of these regulations. And for what it is worth, if he is delisted I hope that another AFL club takes a punt on him.

good post, being honest instead of like everyone lese where they are beimng too protective of the players. We all have the right to say what we think of a player, and if you reckon someone should be delisted soon then say it.

 

[Ranno]

I was told when I was younger to never argue with an idiot because people will not be able to tell the difference. So with that advice in mind I will stop arguing with you now and wont bother to read any of your future drivel. You are obviously a fool. I can only pity those associated with you. And by the way, if you are taking the ***** (and I suspect that you are), I know a guy by the name of Crannypete who does this stuff much better than you do. Your somewhat lame wind ups are very amateur by comparison.

I can't believe you wasted so much of your time on robber barron, in your attempts to sound intelligent you wasted valuable minutes of your life. You failed to assess him as an idiot even though in his first reply there was no grammar, punctuation or logical thought pattern.

In the future you need to be more judgmental on here, robber barron please go away!

 

[The Cryptkeeper]

I can't believe you wasted so much of your time on robber barron, in your attempts to sound intelligent you wasted valuable minutes of your life. You failed to assess him as an idiot even though in his first reply there was no grammar, punctuation or logical thought pattern.

In the future you need to be more judgmental on here, robber barron please go away!

Mate, you could have warned me yesterday.

You must be laughing you head off that this goose sucked me in.

 

[RustyHawk]

In the future you need to be more judgmental on here, robber barron please go away!

Ranno, Robber Barron is an institution around this forum. Always "perky" and positive. Nobody else here reminds us of the great work of Chris Pelchen and Ian Robson as much as RB. You keep on posting RB

 

[carntheroos4eva]

I was told when I was younger to never argue with an idiot because people will not be able to tell the difference. So with that advice in mind I will stop arguing with you now and wont bother to read any of your future drivel. You are obviously a fool. I can only pity those associated with you. And by the way, if you are taking the ***** (and I suspect that you are), I know a guy by the name of Crannypete who does this stuff much better than you do. Your somewhat lame wind ups are very amateur by comparison.

You mate are the idiot. Anywonder you have trouble getting people to join your forum. They have to go through some lengthy test before joining. What a crock of crap.

 

[Robber Baron]

I was told when I was younger to never argue with an idiot because people will not be able to tell the difference. So with that advice in mind I will stop arguing with you now and wont bother to read any of your future drivel. You are obviously a fool. I can only pity those associated with you. And by the way, if you are taking the ***** (and I suspect that you are), I know a guy by the name of Crannypete who does this stuff much better than you do. Your somewhat lame wind ups are very amateur by comparison.

I dont care what you think mate I support the Hawks and I go nearly every week and I support our players and administraters that are doing a great job. Were 3rd on the ladder and doing better then any one said we woudl of done and Matty Littles a part of that by training hard and making the more senior players play harder or hell take there place. Littles been really good for us and I hope he gets another game to prove to you that hes worty of playing for us.