His 3 premierships trump everything else. He needs to be in the team. He doesn't need to kick heaps of goals or get 20 possession. It is what he does without the ball that sets him apart and it is what our game plan and success has been built around.
Three premierships some would suggest he was lucky to play in two of them.
Winning a premiership is the whole point of the exercise but it doesnt over ride everything.If that were the case no premiership player from any team would ever get dropped no matter how poor the form.
Why does he need to be in the team we won three flags in romps they were a walk in the park him or Aarts or Ross or who ever it would not have made a difference it would still have been a walk in the park.
If i have this wrong i apologise, awhile ago i looked into how many games we have played without him and how many we won & lost.
If memory serves me right he had up to that point missed 22 games and we won 16 lost 6 and four of the losses were interstate.
This really does suggest we dont miss him when he is there and he doesnt need to be in the team.
Finally i disagree he plays as a permanent fwd. 35 goals a season would be nice and a not unrealistic expectation imo.
No one is asking for 20 disposals that is just deflection on your part. What is he doing with out the ball very freakin little in this he has been poor for ages. But hey hes a three time premiership player and as such has to be defended at all costs.
Just my opinion but blokes like Graham Edwards Bolton and Lambert all should rotate thru the fwd half collectively becoming the third small fwd.Fmd they did alright against Stkilda between the 4 kicking what 5 goals ?? This then allows us to play One of the young mids we desperately need to get games into. just my opinion but Rioli is costing a young mid a game atm.