Pre Season Draft and Rookie selections

[jetta2davey]

Yes i do and i dont appologise for it either.
I will back my judgment against most people simply becasue i have been in a position to see a lot more footy at all levels in the last 20 years than most poeple do and have worked on the skills to do so. Some people play golf or do whatever for a hobby, i have one hobby and it is football.Always has been from the days i played and made a litlle bit of cash from it , to being involved with coaching on and off and as someone who will see 4,5 or 6 games (AFL,VFL or Tac) live in a weekend and generally watch replays of SANFL, WAFL and VFL games during the week.
I keep detailed records of all the TAC Cup games i see. When i get to see a young player more than 3 times i get a detailed profile on them going that will go right down to the small points of what foot they will kick with the most under pressue to how good their tackling is, how well they can block or sheppherd, how hard they go at the contest. All the little things.
I don't really care if my attitude offends. I am confident in my ability as far as footy goes. Through some contacts i have it has lead me to do a few performance reviews on some suburban footy sides and to be involved as an assistant coach which i will be doing again next year.
I dont ever say that i get players right 100% of the time(even though my attitude sometimes says otherwise) and i very rarely declare a specific player to be a champion from day one or even that they will play 100 games of AFL for that matter.
If im wrong about a player in the long term i will admit it but i will also challenge anyone's opinion that simply says player x is better than player y.
At the end of the day if you dont like my style then put me on ignore

At the end of the day i usually like your input, every one of your posts are thorough and well backed up. I also respect you for the amount of time you put in going down to training and watching replays of up and coming kids that may make their way to the EFC, but it was just the way that you questioned my knowledge that irritated me......nevertheless we share the same interests in football and of course we both support the bombers, so i will respect your attitude and your years of experience.

BTW i would never put you on ignore......because i really like your training reports

 

[The Dustbin]

At the end of the day i usually like your input, every one of your posts are thorough and well backed up. I also respect you for the amount of time you put in going down to training and watching replays of up and coming kids that may make their way to the EFC, but it was just the way that you questioned my knowledge that irritated me......nevertheless we share the same interests in football and of course we both support the bombers, so i will respect your attitude and your years of experience.

BTW i would never put you on ignore......because i really like your training reports

Class reply.

So does anyone think Bellchambers will get a game in the Wizard Cup?

 

[GoDons]

There are way too many 'experts' around here.

Rather than rueing the club's decision to overlook guys that are extremely unlikely to make it anyway, how about we back the club's judgement (people that are far better placed to make judgements) and focus on what we've got?

In John Williams we've got a highly skilled midfielder with good pace and good size about him. Injury may have held him up a bit, but he has potential and it'll be interesting to see how he displays his natural ability at Bendigo and, hopefully at some stage during the year, Essendon.

In Tom Bellchambers we've snapped up a good physical specimen who isn't afraid to impose himself on a ruck contest. His skills are reliable and, given his apparant rapid increase in fitness, he's becoming a hard worker. 201cm is good for a ruckman and it would seem that he's still growing as he was measured at 199cm not too long back. As for whether he'll play NAB Cup, I think that's unlikely given the flawless pre-seasons to date for David Hille and Jason Laycock, but you never know. It's not like he's physically underdeveloped for it.

In terms of the rookie list I feel that we took a very good gamble on Rhys Magin. Rhys was one that I thought would be featuring in the first round at this time last year but followed his promising 2006 with a sleepy 2007. However, potential doesn't disappear and getting into the AFL system should get his head right. He's certainly never going to let us down with skill errors, his kicking is very good. He's not slow either.

I don't think we should be disappointed with Jarrod Atkinson. He's been constantly improving throughout his time at Bendigo and he brings to the table some handy skills. It may seem as though we have enough of his type, but Atkinson could well develop into something entirely different to what he was with Bendigo now that he's got the chance to train with an AFL club. His fitness will no doubt improve, and so should his decision making with the new innovations being introduced. He could well end up as a midfielder. The other thing that has to be considered is that no one knows his prospects as well as Matthew Knights, and I'm sure he knows things that we don't.

They're a pretty reasonable bunch in my opinion. Of course there are things that I would've done differently, but I don't have half the experience of the Essendon recruiting staff and nor do I have anywhere near the knowledge of the kids coming through. I'd be pretty certain that we're all in the same boat.

Also, I don't see why you're all going to such effort to ridicule bombersno1. Sure, he makes plenty of points that the majority of us disagree with, but I see it as far more appropariate to completely ignore what he says or try and respond constructively. If he doesn't get the point, just ignore him. It's that easy.

 

[Duckworth]

I say good luck to bombersno1, he's keeping you guys busy in the off season.

 

[dapto]

That will go down like a Bangkok prostitute.

How could you not know!!!

Are you telling me I should take up tennis on the weekends?

 

[Slattery_20]

Why so much more disappointment/debate/consternation at our 2nd & last rookie pick (read this as the absolute arse-end of our list) than our 1st PSD pick (& hence main list) who no-one seems to know anything about?

 

[DannyJames13]

Yes i do and i dont appologise for it either.
I will back my judgment against most people simply becasue i have been in a position to see a lot more footy at all levels in the last 20 years than most poeple do and have worked on the skills to do so. Some people play golf or do whatever for a hobby, i have one hobby and it is football.Always has been from the days i played and made a litlle bit of cash from it , to being involved with coaching on and off and as someone who will see 4,5 or 6 games (AFL,VFL or Tac) live in a weekend and generally watch replays of SANFL, WAFL and VFL games during the week.
I keep detailed records of all the TAC Cup games i see. When i get to see a young player more than 3 times i get a detailed profile on them going that will go right down to the small points of what foot they will kick with the most under pressue to how good their tackling is, how well they can block or sheppherd, how hard they go at the contest. All the little things.
I don't really care if my attitude offends. I am confident in my ability as far as footy goes. Through some contacts i have it has lead me to do a few performance reviews on some suburban footy sides and to be involved as an assistant coach which i will be doing again next year.
I dont ever say that i get players right 100% of the time(even though my attitude sometimes says otherwise) and i very rarely declare a specific player to be a champion from day one or even that they will play 100 games of AFL for that matter.
If im wrong about a player in the long term i will admit it but i will also challenge anyone's opinion that simply says player x is better than player y.
At the end of the day if you dont like my style then put me on ignore

Please don't see this as blowin smoke up ones bum, but it is much appreciated. I am usually one of the first to get asked whats goin on with the don's up here as I usually read anything Essendon I can get my hands on but often I am parsing on what I have read here.

 

[mick4]

We can debate this until the cows come home but Knights coached atkinson last year and must feel he is a realistic chance to make it.
The cold hard truth is Knights cant afford too many mistakes early as his appointment certainly raised some eyebrows and he feel heat for percieved errors.
I do hope Atkinson isnt a waste of space like Okeefe was though. I thought very little of him at calder and he didnt dispell any of my doubts during his short tenure at Essendon.

Hickmont coached Atkinson the year before that at Rumba.