Thomas had 34 possessions and 7 clearances in Norwood's 51 point semi-final win over West Adelaide in the SANFL yesterday.
http://www.sanfl.com.au/news/sanfl_news/2261/
sam lonergan does the same in the vfl that doesnt make him a good afl player.
the big body advantage they have is not there in the afl and he struggles. he struggles because the big bodies he goes up against in the afl have pace and good skills. his size is no longer a massive advantage.
hes 27 yo with basic deficiencies that will never ever be over come. we have enough players who have severe limitations and are limited in the roles they can play.
i think we all can agree he has limitations. i ask in all seriousness what outstanding attribute does he bring to the table that may offset these deficiencies.. name one anybody please.
theres a few positives
1/ get him for nothing.
2/ hes coming off a good season one of few good seasons hes had.
3/ hes a big body and thats means he can at least compete.
in 8 yrs of afl footy he regularly butchers the ball. he actually gets more outside ball than inside and he cant kick wtf are they thinking.
for an inside ball winning mid he goes at about 15 possesions a game at afl level in 8 yrs. ffs it isnt good enough.
but ya know what the club says hes bloody good so that must be the case. i really wonder if people actually watch opposition teams at all.
there is no way we can take this bloke and keep lonergan. what ever happened to the old adage of trying to find well rounded players who at least have adequate skills for afl footy.
why are there no alarm bells.
a mid whos 8 yr record at the level says he cant kick is slow and doesnt find a heap of ball.
8 yrs in the spotlight and we choose to ignore those deficiencies.
we really have to cut into our list of deficient players not add to em.
i can live with us taking him for nothing and we cut a dud to make way for him.
heres hartleys list of players he has taken from other clubs. i will grant him nearly all have filled a hole where we had no player of that type or they have been an upgrade on very ordinary underperforming players.
but if people are hanging their hats on what he taken as far as quality goes then im sorry i totally disagree.
a edwards - a last minute stop gap because we have failed in this area in the past. again he gets a game because there is no other like him on the list. we took him and i agreed with it because we had none of his typeapart from ohanlon who still isnt ready and may never be.
stephenson another stop gap barely up to afl standard. there were other options and we chose to ignore em.
grigg - bloody hell has one thing going for him and that is his run and spread is good. he is very poor in many areas including being one sided and as soft as butter.. he fails in most areas and would not get a game if we had adequate skillful running players. he was an upgrade that needs upgrading.
houli - slow one sided defensively poor and limited in the role he does.
knights - an injury prone player who remains injury prone.
lonergan - need i say more an out rihght hack at afl level very good at vfl.
maric - geez at last a success story. as far as ruckmen go hes well rounded and it shows in just how competetive he is week in week out.
petterd - another who is abysmal by foot.
blair hartley and his record. take maric the ruckman out and hes not delivered one well rounded player. hes delivered deficient players who have been upgrades on duds. players who are role players and limited in what roles they can do.and hes doing it again. most have served a purpose while better more well rounded kids have developed but it is time to upgrade on them.
why cant he identify a player who at least meets a decent skillset requirement for afl footy ie can kick. a player who has the physical attributes to play afl footy decent pace, and a player who has proven himself at the lower level. matt thomas ticks just one of these boxes . as such i hope we dont take him.
what i dont get is why we are solely it seems looking at players currently on afl lists.
why not target the state leagues as well michael barlow for example and so many others yet it seems we largely ignore this avenue.
when i hear such tripe like i trust blair hartley to get it right, i think the sheep are still blindly following what they are told insterad of looking for themselves.
