Baby Bombers...

[BenDoolan]

Here is a quick assessment of 13 of our 10 games or under crop of kids. We had 7 of these guys playing against last year's Grand Finalists. Anyone expecting less than a 10 goal loss with a 1/3 of a team that inexperienced is seriously kidding themselves.

I went there expecting a big loss and we got it. I also went there with keen interest to see how these guys would handle the huge challenges ahead of them. Naturally, they were generally beaten by their opponents, but I walked away satisfied with the likes of Neagle, Daniher, Myers, Atkinson and Hislop.

Be prepared for further losses while these find their feet and establish some confidence at playing at this level. They are our future, and IMO, they certainly do have a future.


Jay Neagle

Positives: Strong / good grab / good set shot / hard at it / will be a player

Negatives: Fitness / injury prone



Scott Gumbleton

Positives: Big & strong / has huge potential

Negatives: Injury prone



Leroy Jetta

Positives: Slick / quick / creative / will be a player

Negatives: Injury prone



Courtenay Dempsey

Positives: Quick / skilful / smart decision maker / will be a player

Negatives: Hugely injury prone



Tayte Pears

Positives: Tall & mobile / close checking / composed / has potential

Negatives: Raw



David Myers

Positives: Confident / composed / good in the air / good at ground level / long kick / quick learner / looks a player

Negatives: Raw



Darcy Daniher

Positives: Quick for his size / hard at it / good pair of hands / long kick / looks a player

Negatives: Raw



Tom Hislop

Positives: Hard at it / decent skills / good awareness / will be a player

Negatives: Undisciplined at times / raw



Sam Lonergan

Positives: Hard at it / great endeavour

Negatives: Tad slow



Kyle Reimers

Positives: Hard at it / good skills / good goal sense / will be a player

Negatives: Hot head / undisciplined at times



Jarrod Atkinson

Positives: Backs himself / provides run / determined

Negatives: Takes a few risks / poor decision making at times



Heath Hocking

Positives: Hard at it

Negatives: Injury prone



Bachar Houli

Positives: Good awareness / good skills / lovely long kick / great endeavour & attitude / is a player

Negatives: Nil

[gringo]

Not a bad post there BD. The injuries to our younger players is a real concern, particularly Gumby. I heard a rumour on the weekend that he had a back injury that he didn't tell Essendon about prior to getting drafted? Can this be confirmed?

Houli is a gun. He's similar Stanton but a thousand times tougher and desperate.

[BenDoolan]

Not a bad post there BD. The injuries to our younger players is a real concern, particularly Gumby. I heard a rumour on the weekend that he had a back injury that he didn't tell Essendon about prior to getting drafted? Can this be confirmed?

Houli is a gun. He's similar Stanton but a thousand times tougher and desperate.

I do vaguely remember some mumblings about Gumby's problems but cannot remember what they were. I am very concerned about him, Dempsey and to a lesser extent, Neagle's ankle problems. While these kids are injured, they are not gaining valuable experience on the field. That's the frustration. We'd like to fast rack some of these guys, but they are being stymied in their development.

[Bishop Muzorewa]

Very good point Ben

now is the time for these youngsters to be out there, learning. Yes losses are bad, but if some of the promising young players can be getting experience then at least evcery cloud has a silver lining.

At the moment it is just some of our mid range over-rated, over-hyped duds (viz Mc Phee) who are just learning more about the art of getting pumped!

I do think David Myers looked very good. Didn't do much, but what he did was very composed and executed well...I think he NEEDS to be fast-tracked into their on-ball division.

Should Jobe Watson just be TOLD that for the remainder of this year he is to emphasise his kicking and become a weapon with his foot? Right now it is becoming very obvious to everyone (probably even Stevie Wonder) that he has no confidence with his feet. He kicked a goal on Sunday but that is ultra-rare for him and maybe he needs to be forced into doing it more??????

Please discuss

[dheal]

Further to your post re Gumby & his injuries, i also heard yesterday that he has lost all confidence in Essendons fitness staff (who has'nt) to manage his body & wants to return to WA. The West Coke Eagles have been in his ear about coming home & they have indicated they will take better care of him.

[Jazz_84]

well west coast are going to get a nice pick in next years draft so if gumby wants to go home then i say let him... Quinny isn't going anywhere *sigh* so better off somewhere else...

1 question id like to ask is why do we have so many injury prone players...... it's what hampers a season the most so why bother???

i used to hate thnking about the "hard decisions" but now i welcome and encourage it

[swoodley]

Good silver lining post there BD.

I was getting a bit concerned when I kept reading:

Negatives: Injury prone

but settled down after finding out it was just the regular medical room junkies.

[swoodley]

Further to your post re Gumby & his injuries, i also heard yesterday that he has lost all confidence in Essendons fitness staff (who has'nt) to manage his body & wants to return to WA. The West Coke Eagles have been in his ear about coming home & they have indicated they will take better care of him.

If TRUE, if that doesn't get rid of Quinn, what will it take....a #3 Draft Pick FFS.

Make that a #2 Draft Pick Filth

[BenDoolan]

Very good point Ben

now is the time for these youngsters to be out there, learning. Yes losses are bad, but if some of the promising young players can be getting experience then at least evcery cloud has a silver lining.

At the moment it is just some of our mid range over-rated, over-hyped duds (viz Mc Phee) who are just learning more about the art of getting pumped!

I do think David Myers looked very good. Didn't do much, but what he did was very composed and executed well...I think he NEEDS to be fast-tracked into their on-ball division.

Should Jobe Watson just be TOLD that for the remainder of this year he is to emphasise his kicking and become a weapon with his foot? Right now it is becoming very obvious to everyone (probably even Stevie Wonder) that he has no confidence with his feet. He kicked a goal on Sunday but that is ultra-rare for him and maybe he needs to be forced into doing it more??????

Please discuss

Too bloody right!

If Watson can add a couple of goals to his clearance work, we'd have a gun on our hands. At the moment, he's a very good footballer with some deficiencies. I'm confident enough to know that he will continually work hard to improve his game as he has since 2005. People forget that he used to be a big framed lad with a lot of soft tissue injury problems. He has since worked hard on his fitness to hardly miss a game through injury, and has worked hard on his abilities to be the best inside midfielder at the club. But he still needs to improve. At 23, he still has better years ahead of him.

[billyduckworth]

<<he used to be a big framed lad with a lot of soft tissue injury problems. He has since worked hard on his fitness to hardly miss a game through injury>>

Mmm, interesting. Maybe we should find out the name of his fitness advisor and get him to replace Hamquinn?

[BenDoolan]

<<he used to be a big framed lad with a lot of soft tissue injury problems. He has since worked hard on his fitness to hardly miss a game through injury>>

Mmm, interesting. Maybe we should find out the name of his fitness advisor and get him to replace Hamquinn?

Timmy took him to the same boxing coach he went to to regain his fitness for his 1993 comeback. Forgot his name.

[andrewb]

Here is a quick assessment of 13 of our 10 games or under crop of kids. We had 7 of these guys playing against last year's Grand Finalists. Anyone expecting less than a 10 goal loss with a 1/3 of a team that inexperienced is seriously kidding themselves.
...
Jay Neagle
...
Courtenay Dempsey
...
Sam Lonergan
...
Jarrod Atkinson
...

Hate to harp on about it but I love the fact that on the basis of a few poor games Monfries is suddenly not a baby bomber any more. Same draft as Neagle, Dempsey and Lonergan and 2 years younger than Atkinson. I know the list was for players with 10 games and under but if there is nothing I hate more on this forum it's the propensity for members to get stuck into kids that have shown inconsistency. Surely it's got to be expected.

[BenDoolan]

Here is a quick assessment of 13 of our 10 games or under crop of kids. We had 7 of these guys playing against last year's Grand Finalists. Anyone expecting less than a 10 goal loss with a 1/3 of a team that inexperienced is seriously kidding themselves.
...
Jay Neagle
...
Courtenay Dempsey
...
Sam Lonergan
...
Jarrod Atkinson
...

Hate to harp on about it but I love the fact that on the basis of a few poor games Monfries is suddenly not a baby bomber any more. Same draft as Neagle, Dempsey and Lonergan and 2 years younger than Atkinson. I know the list was for players with 10 games and under but if there is nothing I hate more on this forum it's the propensity for members to get stuck into kids that have shown inconsistency. Surely it's got to be expected.

I think I've made it quite clear that Monfries has declined since 2006. It's more than "a few poor games". 2007 was very disappointing, and hasn't done anything thus far this year. I don't see you sticking up for Stanton who cops a bloody hammering in here, yet has finished 3rd in the B&F in 2005, 4th in 2006 and 6th in 2007 and has only just turned 22.

[dom_105]

Further to your post re Gumby & his injuries, i also heard yesterday that he has lost all confidence in Essendons fitness staff (who has'nt) to manage his body & wants to return to WA. The West Coke Eagles have been in his ear about coming home & they have indicated they will take better care of him.

If TRUE, if that doesn't get rid of Quinn, what will it take....a #3 Draft Pick FFS.

Make that a #2 Draft Pick Filth

First round draft pick, no doubt about that. Being WCE, that will probably be top 5 at the very least.

That is of course if he wants to go home, which I hope is not the case.

[andrewb]

Here is a quick assessment of 13 of our 10 games or under crop of kids. We had 7 of these guys playing against last year's Grand Finalists. Anyone expecting less than a 10 goal loss with a 1/3 of a team that inexperienced is seriously kidding themselves.
...
Jay Neagle
...
Courtenay Dempsey
...
Sam Lonergan
...
Jarrod Atkinson
...

Hate to harp on about it but I love the fact that on the basis of a few poor games Monfries is suddenly not a baby bomber any more. Same draft as Neagle, Dempsey and Lonergan and 2 years younger than Atkinson. I know the list was for players with 10 games and under but if there is nothing I hate more on this forum it's the propensity for members to get stuck into kids that have shown inconsistency. Surely it's got to be expected.

I think I've made it quite clear that Monfries has declined since 2006. It's more than "a few poor games". 2007 was very disappointing, and hasn't done anything thus far this year. I don't see you sticking up for Stanton who cops a bloody hammering in here, yet has finished 3rd in the B&F in 2005, 4th in 2006 and 6th in 2007 and has only just turned 22.

That wasn't meant to be a go at you and you know I've been one of Stanton's most vocal supporters. You'll find, looking back, that I always usually stick up for the kids. I usually only get upset when our more senior players don't do their jobs. The only negative post I've ever made about Stanton was after his inglorious squib earlier this year.

The only thing that has declined with Gus is his confidence. The skills are still there somewhere and he knows how to get the pill which is the toughest part of footy.

[BenDoolan]

That wasn't meant to be a go at you and you know I've been one of Stanton's most vocal supporters. You'll find, looking back, that I always usually stick up for the kids. I usually only get upset when our more senior players don't do their jobs. The only negative post I've ever made about Stanton was after his inglorious squib earlier this year.

The only thing that has declined with Gus is his confidence. The skills are still there somewhere and he knows how to get the pill which is the toughest part of footy.

Ah, fair enough andrew (I've had a few brews tonight so I'm probably not reading straight ). I've indicated in another thread that I have probably been a little too harsh on Monfries based on the fact that he is still only 21.