His first game back, he was sent forward and didn't really do much did he, look I am not the only one on this forum or in the media criticising his game/games. Don't you think by now he should be playing better than he does, do you also condone what he did on the weekend as minor as you may see it??
He has played 3 AFL games this season
His first game back was against the Swans as a tagger/defender on Goodes and he played very well. His second game was last week against the Cats and he didn't play forward in that game either. Played down back, wing and in the middle. Certaily wasn't the worst in that game.
Played yesterday as defender, ocassionally coming off the wing at the centre ball ups
Really he has only played a couple of practice games as forward; being the first NAB cup game where he played forward & back. ANd then in th eother she played forward and in the middle.
So I don't quite understand how you can say "
His first game back, he was sent forward and didn't really do much did he". When he hasn't played that role at all during the season proper.
I thought he had an average to poor game yesterday but he isn't the first and he wont be the last to have a bad game. I thought there were a couple of others who were worse from where I was sitting
Do I condone his puch - no I don't and he has copped the appropriate whack from the tribunal. Having said that I've seen a lot worse on the footy field than that. Certainly not reson to de-list
Do I believe he should be playing better. I think he does a lot of things off the ball defensively that people don't see or acknowledge because they are not deemed to be "stats" and as a result of that people think he doens't play well enough (he aint alone there). I think he's played some very good games that people wouldn't even know about. The defensive side of the game is so important and he has a great defensive game and a very good footy brain.
Finally, I beleive that all players are given a role each week and the reality is we as supporters don't know what those roles are. As a result we get critical because they don't get 20+ possessions and say the'y ve played badly. Tambling has been the perfect scapegoat in this I reckon during 2010. He has copped it again this week when it was clear at the game he was the link up man on the wing for kick ins but instead of using the first short option and then kicking it long to Tambling we persisted with these 50m+ kicks to a contest a kick ins. As long as they play the roles they are given then they have played in the eyes of those that matter and thats the coaches.
Personally I wouldn't be looking at trading the likes of Tambling or Polo - they are some others that I think have currency in the eyes of the industry that a dispensable on our list
