Remember Butcher Said.....

[SleepingGiant]

He doesn't want to go to a club who deliberatly tanks to get him. Could this possibly mean he is deliberatly dropping himself down the pecking order a bit so he avoids such a club?

Quite simply we are desperate for a monster key forward who is a highly rated youngster and possible elite talent. Players like Putt, Gourdis, Patto, are rookie picks and will never become the elite forward we are looking for. Butcher looks to have slided down the pecking order a bit and that is perfect for us, it could really be a blessing in disguise.

If for some reason Butcher went before us we would be left with a Tengrove or Morabito or that SA key forward (cant remember his name but played better than butcher in u18 champs). For us this draft is a win/win situation as we need a key forward and another elite mid. Depending on what happens we will get one of the two.

 

[coke_zero]

the fact that he is the best KPF in the last draft before GC come in will mean he will probably go before us. and i dont think he was playing bad just so he can be taken by a team that isnt tanking.

 

[Roachy8]

He doesn't want to go to a club who deliberatly tanks to get him. Could this possibly mean he is deliberatly dropping himself down the pecking order a bit so he avoids such a club?

Quite simply we are desperate for a monster key forward who is a highly rated youngster and possible elite talent. Players like Putt, Gourdis, Patto, are rookie picks and will never become the elite forward we are looking for. Butcher looks to have slided down the pecking order a bit and that is perfect for us, it could really be a blessing in disguise.

If for some reason Butcher went before us we would be left with a Tengrove or Morabito or that SA key forward (cant remember his name but played better than butcher in u18 champs). For us this draft is a win/win situation as we need a key forward and another elite mid. Depending on what happens we will get one of the two.

Did he really say this?

If so, then that is a pretty provocative/topical (and mature) thing for a young kid to say when at his age many other dudes are pulling fingers & smelling farts!

Watched his draft video and although he looks good, it is always so hard to tell with 'gangly' but athletic young talls.

As their body develops they often turn into man sized AFL footballers but sometimes they also can remain unco string-beans.

Glad it isn't my call to pick who to draft!

 

[hyperfuzz]

pretty sure 99% of 18 year old kids would just be happy to be picked, not strategically worsening their performance to make sure they don't go to a team that might be tanking.

if he did say it, i'm guessing it means "i don't want to play for a team that's going to suck."

 

[CoggaRules]

He doesn't want to go to a club who deliberatly tanks to get him. Could this possibly mean he is deliberatly dropping himself down the pecking order a bit so he avoids such a club?

Quite simply we are desperate for a monster key forward who is a highly rated youngster and possible elite talent. Players like Putt, Gourdis, Patto, are rookie picks and will never become the elite forward we are looking for. Butcher looks to have slided down the pecking order a bit and that is perfect for us, it could really be a blessing in disguise.

If for some reason Butcher went before us we would be left with a Tengrove or Morabito or that SA key forward (cant remember his name but played better than butcher in u18 champs). For us this draft is a win/win situation as we need a key forward and another elite mid. Depending on what happens we will get one of the two.

we need what? dude...from where i sit we need 2 key forwards and 2 elite mids...not to mention another 5 non elite, but AFL standard players, as the fill.
ATM we are so far from anything remotely competitve it aint funny. I mean future prospects, JON, Hughes, Putt, Pattison that have been in the system for how long? and you suggest we need "a" key forwatd? LMAO......you kind of forget that we are about to show the door to at least 4 30+ players....unless a rabbit is pulled out of the hat, and a few times as well, we are in for a long dark decade at the very minimum.

 

[tugga]

He has no choice in the matter. He goes to wherever he gets drafted or he sits out of football.
He was probably asked the question 'What do you think of tanking' and he gave that answer to avoid trotting out the normal cliches.

 

[King_Mallee]

more likely his poor performance is irony that he thought he was the best player in the draft and it turns out he is not

 

[richoatthedisco]

So Butcher was tanking to avoid a team that tanks?

Better things said about him last year than this. If he's going to have problems kicking them from 30 out straight in front I'd prefer we get a blue-chip midfielder - and that's from someone who has been crying out for a key forward since forever. No point if they can't convert though. I want to have a look at Panos but at this stage with everyone calling it a midfielders draft, I'm leaning towards getting some more genuine quality in the form of Trengove, Rohan or Stevens.

 

[1980GFVideo]

Do you think these blokes want to go high up?

How many guys who have been drafted in the top one or two do you think have privatley wished they were picked up 9 or 10 instead.

Going to a club that has problems in winning isnt realy a prize I would have thought. A guy like Butcher is keen to play anywhere but with every club keen on him he would love to have a choice of a top team or challenging team I would have thought.

 

[richoatthedisco]

I just watched Panos's youtube highlights (albeit from 2008 SANFL u/17s) and I like him better than Butcher. Vickery can cover what Butcher provides, while Panos looks much more like a true key forward. Strong mark, good kick, excellent at ground level and a knack for goals. Almost a hint of Pavlich about him. If he has gone up a notch this year as reported from the championships, we should take a good hard look at him. I've long thought we've suffered from a lack of wogs.

 

[thecotch]

He doesn't want to go to a club who deliberatly tanks to get him. Could this possibly mean he is deliberatly dropping himself down the pecking order a bit so he avoids such a club?

Quite simply we are desperate for a monster key forward who is a highly rated youngster and possible elite talent. Players like Putt, Gourdis, Patto, are rookie picks and will never become the elite forward we are looking for. Butcher looks to have slided down the pecking order a bit and that is perfect for us, it could really be a blessing in disguise.

If for some reason Butcher went before us we would be left with a Tengrove or Morabito or that SA key forward (cant remember his name but played better than butcher in u18 champs). For us this draft is a win/win situation as we need a key forward and another elite mid. Depending on what happens we will get one of the two.

I'm failry comfortable to say we're not tanking. We're not smart enough to know how. We're just schyte on field. Simple. Fitness not up to scratch, skills haven't improved in 7 years, still look like short people, no game plan.

 

[SleepingGiant]

I just watched Panos's youtube highlights (albeit from 2008 SANFL u/17s) and I like him better than Butcher. Vickery can cover what Butcher provides, while Panos looks much more like a true key forward. Strong mark, good kick, excellent at ground level and a knack for goals. Almost a hint of Pavlich about him. If he has gone up a notch this year as reported from the championships, we should take a good hard look at him. I've long thought we've suffered from a lack of wogs.

I agree... I just want a big mouther****er in our forward line. Both will be good!

 

[Roachy8]

I agree... I just want a big mouther****er in our forward line. Both will be good!

You got some pr0n star in mind or sumfink?

 

[oh_my_hat]

...Players like Putt, Gourdis, Patto, are rookie picks .....

I thought Patto was a 1st rnd pick but you'd be forgiven in thinking otherwise.

 

[rfctigerarmy]

Patto was one of the awesome 5 or whatever they called themselves; Deledio (1), Tambling (4), Meyer (12), Pattison (16) and Polo (20).

Something like that.

 

[cormick]

I'm failry comfortable to say we're not tanking. We're not smart enough to know how. We're just schyte on field. Simple. Fitness not up to scratch, skills haven't improved in 7 years, still look like short people, no game plan.

So when WCE and Melbourne play the kids it's "tanking", but when we do the same thing, we're just shit?

Surely having debuted (off the top of my head) Browne, Nahas, Vickery, Sylvestor, Rance, Collins and now Post, as well as continuing the development of the likes of Cotchin, whilst getting some games into Connors, JON etc constitutes "tanking" by most people's definition...?

 

[TheProwler]

Well he wont be going to WCE then, last week Cox had a sore groin(still not back) this week Kerr has "soreness", cmon if thats not the match committees attempt at tanking then I don't kow what is. Ha Ha they forgot to tell the players though.

Still Butcher............he is a ready made footballer in any under 20 comp going arround. 197cm & 87kg. He will have to have atleast a couple of AFL seasons to build some body muscle or the Glasses, Presti's, Scarletts etc will bump him off the ball with ease.

As a comparison Simmonds is 197cm & 99kg, Richo is 197cm & 103kg, Riewoldt 193cm & 87kg. Richo and Simmonds have the size to hold off the defenders whereas Riewoldt has to use his speed and agility to get the pill. Look at how Watts is getting thrown about at the moment.

We have several talls in our list some young some mid 20's. We should lower our eyes and have ago at trying to play our current list of talls and focus on someone to get the ball to them in this years draft.

At the rate the game is changing in 5 years a big strong key forward player wont be needed to take the contested ball, it will be all about running players kicking the scores.

just my two cents worth

 

[megladon]

From watching 2 games Butcher has played and dont want to be unkind to any young player if he is a top 5 draft pick this is the weakest draft ever, which it proberbly is anyway, certainley would'nt be looking to him to be any kind of short or long term answer at CHF

 

[richoatthedisco]

At the rate the game is changing in 5 years a big strong key forward player wont be needed to take the contested ball, it will be all about running players kicking the scores.

Ah yes, the old 'demise of the key forward' theory. Been debunked many times already. Quality key forwards have always and will always be worth their weight in gold, unless they change the rules so you can run the ball through the goals. As long as you get a free shot at goal whenever you take a mark within range, blokes who can do that will be essential. Failure to understand that signifies a lack of understanding about the nature and reality of the game.

 

[TheProwler]

Ah yes, the old 'demise of the key forward' theory. Been debunked many times already. Quality key forwards have always and will always be worth their weight in gold, unless they change the rules so you can run the ball through the goals. As long as you get a free shot at goal whenever you take a mark within range, blokes who can do that will be essential. Failure to understand that signifies a lack of understanding about the nature and reality of the game.

Debunked or not the reality is that the top four teams this year don't rely on a key forward. Is this start of the evolution of the modern game where the bigger less agile forward is replaced with smaller 190cm running players as the prime source of goals? Who knows?

Last year two players kicked 100 (or just under) goals. One side was the premier the other didn't make the finals. This year both sides will struggle to make the finals due to less goals being scored by them. Problem? the mids now struggle to get the ball down to them.

I for one love the way the old game was played, but with the demise of the contested mark (due to numerous rule changes and the game speed) also places a cloud over sides with numerous talls.

For mine Butcher can go to the Dees or whoever, Ii would like to see more skill in the midfield.

If that means I have a lack of understanding for the game then so be it

 

[richoatthedisco]

If you don't think Riewoldt and Kosi are essential for St Kilda's success then you definitely don't understand the game. Riewoldt is arguably the most important player in the game and the Saints' fortunes have long swung with Kosi's form and fitness. He's on track for his best season, as is Riewoldt, as are the Saints. Sure their entire team is at a new level but that is my point. A football team can no more be a collection of 22 190cm runners than it can be a team of ruckmen. That's why Terry Wallace works for SEN.

Geelong lost the flag last year because its key forwards failed. The Dogs won't win one because they don't have a key forward. They know it, which is why they reached for Jarryd Grant in the 07 draft. They'll draft another one this year, you watch.

The Hawks' mids are struggling, but Buddy and Roughy have still each kicked 15 goals more than any Richmond player and the Hawks are a game out of the eight.

Aiming for a greater spread of goalkickers is hardly new but even Collingwood, which exemplifies this as well as any side, has Cloke as a target and Anthony who can take a mark and convert.

The Swans had Hall and O'Loughlin, West Coast had Hansen (target) and Lynch (converter) who combined for 5 of WC's 12 goals in their premiership. Who was off his tucker that day? The same man who'd been the difference the year before - Barry Hall. O'Loughlin did his part with 3; a single goal from Hall would have been the difference.

I could go on but surely I don't need to. Lynch-Brown-Bradshaw, Carey-Longmire, Dunstall-Brereton, Kernahan-Spalding-Pearce, Lloyd-Lucas etc etc are all premiership combinations.

The MCG is about 170m goal to goal. The game is about ball movement. The faster you move it the quicker you score. The fastest way to get the ball from one goal through the other has and will always be via three long kicks punctuated by two good marks and two quick handballs.

That's why Riewoldt and any leading CHF is so important - they're so often the target of the second of those kicks. They win the contest and link the final phase or turn the ball over and watch the opposition do it.

(Sidebar: Richo should be known as one of the all-time great CHFs but too often had to play FF because we didn't have one. I would have loved us to have got Modra when he left the Crows, even if only for a couple of years. It would have been great to watch and would have drawn the fans in, and just as importantly showed the Richmond team and those in charge how footy is meant to be played. Might even have convinced them to take a chance and draft Buddy.)

My final point is these blokes are so important simply because they are so good. They are physically superior: bigger, stronger, faster, can jump higher, kick further and have incredible skill. When the game gets down to the blood and guts, as it inevitably does, at some point beyond game plans and modern tactics, they are simply too good for their opponents. It's also why they're so rare, and by extension, precious.

When the pressure and congestion of the 'modern game' are such that pristine, clean possession and linking run are impossible to find, when it's time on in the last, you're four points down, your players are dead on their feet and all you can do is get it, pump it forward and hope...

You want to hope you've got one, otherwise all you have is hope.

Commentators who know how to use the phrases "It's a simple game", "That's the value of playing in front", and "Little guys get tired, big blokes don't get any shorter", will never be out of work.

 

[BILC]

I dont think Mr Butcher has much say in where he goes!

 

[emperor]

So the 17 yr old, not yet draftees are running hte show now are they! Though to be fair probably not his exact words or sentiment.

God help us when free agency comes in .....