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He said he loves playing at Optus in front of his family and friends. It is one of the intangibles that could really ignite this trade into the stratosphere. In this version of reality Shai electrifies the Katanning section of the stadium at significant moments in game and the energy conducts through the team and indeed the rest of the crowd like a magnificent late summer thunderstorm. Wishing for that one.
When you think about it, the Club must be very excited about the additional new members we will get thanks to Shai and the excitement that he will bring to our games.

I’m waiting to hear the roar that will ring out when his name is called out before the game.
 
If we are expecting some kind of magical, intangible essence of Optus to impact Shai's performance, we may find ourselves disappointed. I'm sure he'll be very good. But it's a footy ground.
Well, the reality is he played against us and a very mud West Coast when he played at Optus. Apart from turning it on for friends and family - which is a thing - it's more likely the lacklustre opposition that ramps his Optus stats than anything else.

Fortunately he still gets to humiliate West Coast twice a year. And given that sick little Meth Coast bogan, Baker, allegedly hates the natural magnificence of Bolton, there is extra spice.

You couldn't get more emblematic childhood supporters of both clubs, by the way. Baker is pure Slime.
And Bolton, well, his mum is a Pickett. His mum's mum was a Krakouer. His old man played for us.

He's Fremantle, baby.
 
Just jumping in from someone that's watched almost every game he's played, he has not peaked. 2022 was his 6th season on the list, but only his 4th actually playing a full season of AFL and that was his AA season where he really took a giant leap. You don't peak that early in your career and you just watching him you can see how he could still be so much better.

He reminds me of Dusty's in a lot ways. Both incredibly damaging offensive players, both can't be tackled, both genuine game winners, both had critics at the start of their careers about being 'lazy', not consistent and only impacting a quarter or two then going missing.

Dusty had a bit of a breakout year in year 4, then kinda stagnated for the next few years playing at an elite level but still felt like he could be more, then year 8 in 2018 he just took it a whole other level and had a 2nd 'breakout'
Im waiting for Boltons second breakout where he takes all the good things hes already doing and shreds the inconsistency and can put it together week after week. I really believe he has it in him.
Stop it.
My purple hopes can't take too much more.
😥
 
Just jumping in from someone that's watched almost every game he's played, he has not peaked. 2022 was his 6th season on the list, but only his 4th actually playing a full season of AFL and that was his AA season where he really took a giant leap. You don't peak that early in your career and you just watching him you can see how he could still be so much better.

He reminds me of Dusty's in a lot ways. Both incredibly damaging offensive players, both can't be tackled, both genuine game winners, both had critics at the start of their careers about being 'lazy', not consistent and only impacting a quarter or two then going missing.

Dusty had a bit of a breakout year in year 4, then kinda stagnated for the next few years playing at an elite level but still felt like he could be more, then year 8 in 2018 he just took it a whole other level and had a 2nd 'breakout'
Im waiting for Boltons second breakout where he takes all the good things hes already doing and shreds the inconsistency and can put it together week after week. I really believe he has it in him.
Dusty like eh?

How many Norm's should we pencil him in for?
 
I double checked the official list before posting.

Besides Clem Michael was selected at Pick 21 - No father son was selected that early in that era. It was clubs last pick then a third round pick - looks like it was a third round pick in 1997.

Clem Michael was a mature aged draftee which is literally the only reason I can think of. Stephen Michael played over 1.5x what was needed for Clem to be a father son through the old WAFL rules.
I have an idea it's because between 1995 and some point between 1999 and 2002 we didn't have access to father sons by WAFL affiliation along the same lines we came to know and used to select Peake. That rule came later, as I said I think some time between the end of the century and when he was actually selected (2003?).

This actually gets me off on a tangent about how the internet is patchy on details for everyday things that happened prior to the early noughties. Because everything was still in print then as the primary source its only been digitised if some egghead has an obsessive interest in it. Or only secondary sources exist online.
Hence the 'original' rule is quoted in many places: "Until October 31, 2015, Fremantle may include any player whose father made 150 WAFL appearances for East Fremantle, South Fremantle, Perth or Swan Districts." but never in its original context or saying when it applied from. We know that wasn't the rule in 1995, or Ben Cousins wouldn't have been eligible for West Coast. The way it appears around the net implies it was the rule from the beginning. I really should dig up some references and fix it...
 
That is just as true as the concern. However, a bigger concern is the reaction that some corner of fans on here are having. There has been some weird dog piling going on on people who haven't towed the majority line on Bolton. It's disheartening to see from what is usually a close forum.
To state the obvious, this is a forum where posts are put up to be read , but also invite responses. Ideally the responses are contesting ideas and don't attack the person.

I haven't been following your posts very closely , so apologies if there are some personal attacks that I haven't seen. If so contacting the mods is one way to manage it.

But if the majority of responses are dealing with the content/logic, it might be that you are best adjusting your emotional reaction to disagreements with your opinion.
 

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I double checked the official list before posting.

Besides Clem Michael was selected at Pick 21 - No father son was selected that early in that era. It was clubs last pick then a third round pick - looks like it was a third round pick in 1997.

Clem Michael was a mature aged draftee which is literally the only reason I can think of. Stephen Michael played over 1.5x what was needed for Clem to be a father son through the old WAFL rules.
According to Wikipedia the father son system was first linked to the draft in 1997. Before that player were just added to the list, which is how west coast got Cousins. From 1997 teams had to use their second round pick for a father son selection, and if they had multiple they would then use their third, fourth, etc. That's why in the 1997 draft Geelong drafted Marc Woolnough (Son of Michael) at pick 29 and Matthew Scarlett (Son of John) at pick 45. The next year Collingwood after finishing third last drafted Nick Davis (Son of Craig) at pick 19.

We finished 12th in 1997 which meant our second round pick would have been around 21 or 22. We ended up drafting Clem at 21 which means we got him for what he would have cost as a father son pick.

Perhaps we didn't nominate him because we were hoping for someone better to be available at that pick. It's possible we just missed a paperwork deadline due to the new system coming in.
 
Am I so old that ShaaaWing from Wayne's World isn't a gif??
schwing GIF

You just have to know where to look.
 
No idea why but Clem Michael wasn't selected under the father son rule.

My understanding of the old rules is that he was eligible.

In those days you basically got father sons for free so why we used an actual draft pick on him I don't know tbh.
I am sure he wasn't. I think the rules, set by the VFL, made it impossible to get the FS recruits.
 
According to Wikipedia the father son system was first linked to the draft in 1997. Before that player were just added to the list, which is how west coast got Cousins. From 1997 teams had to use their second round pick for a father son selection, and if they had multiple they would then use their third, fourth, etc. That's why in the 1997 draft Geelong drafted Marc Woolnough (Son of Michael) at pick 29 and Matthew Scarlett (Son of John) at pick 45. The next year Collingwood after finishing third last drafted Nick Davis (Son of Craig) at pick 19.

We finished 12th in 1997 which meant our second round pick would have been around 21 or 22. We ended up drafting Clem at 21 which means we got him for what he would have cost as a father son pick.

Perhaps we didn't nominate him because we were hoping for someone better to be available at that pick. It's possible we just missed a paperwork deadline due to the new system coming in.
I think Cousins had three choices , Fremantle, Geelong and West Coast. He chose, the latter.
The rules were badly set against the non VFL clubs in the early day, going back to the alleged beginning of a National competition.
 

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