Dow was an undersized inside mid when he first started. The young, good inside mids are always the one's that are either guns from day one, Ashcroft, or the bigger bodied young ones like Horne Francis, Reid or further down the draft Worpel. So right from the start Dow was up against it size wise for his position. They tried him early on a flank and he never really got going in the middle either.
He needed a good year in the VFL to learn what it takes to play that position. He played one game in 18 months because he wasn't up to it, mentally or physically. Unlike a player like Edwards who was also light but had multiple positions due to his speed and clever footy brain, he wasn't gifted games because unlike the rabble we were when Edwards started, we were a triple Premierships side with a gun midfield. He was never going to break into that side.
Bide his time he did, and when he got 3 games at the end of the year, he could not have been much more impressive. His game against Port's pretty good midfield was a sign of what he might be capable of on a more regular basis. He has plenty of aspects of his game to improve on, but his hands off the deck and quick lateral movement really seperate him from anyone else in our midfield other than Bolton. He like Bolton needed to get stronger and fitter to play this position.
Yes he is far from pencilled in, but surely you can't right him off now and play a kid in his place just when he starts showing something. McAuliffe may replace him, but who right now he is being slightly over-egged. He only went at 18 disposals a game in the Champs, average for an inside mid, something you tend to judge a player by (RCD for example), and he fell to pick 40 so he has some work to do.
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