we cant get over the top of good sides because of the jacksons nahas kings etc etc they are the bottom 5 or 6 in the 22 and they fall away too much.
Put Jackson aside. He gives nothing. Youve mentioned Edwards as well before. Get rid of him, has zip going for goal but no poise and always sprays the ball. Has no zip going the other way. Doesn't like physical contact. Throw in white, no zip for a supposedly quick player and has had plenty of opportunities to prove himself. Should be a good player but isn't.
Nahas and King have been our best small forwards. They are in the top dozen players in the list. Not the bottom half a dozen.
When King fires up, we usually win games. Unlike more fancied players like Vickery who fold the moment they get a knock to their shoulders, King is still out there despite his injuries putting his body on the line. You won't win a flag with players who don't like physical contact. Thats guaranteed.
In terms of skill. Nahas is a very interesting player. Sometimes he can only kick 30m. But we have all seen him kick goals from outside 50. He is a very capable footballer. There is a gap between his best and his worst. But then, you could make that argument for Riewoldt and the rest of the forward line. You could make that argument for RIOLI. Thats a common trait amongst small forwards. Big part of it is delivery and performance of their bigger cousins. Plenty of players to delist or trade before you look at your best small forward. That is just common sense.
theres about a dozen players out of contract of which about 7 will be cut this yr. nahas is neither out of contract or one of the first 7 or 8 on the list that needs to go so we are not talking about this yr.
all im saying though is we need to do better than this glass half full that sums him up perfectly glass half full so so many deficiencies in his game. in time he does indeed need to go. we need to be actively looking for much better than the likes of king nahas white and edwards who i think has had a solid 8 or 10 weeks. imo theres a spot for just one of these 4 atm that would be edwards until he drops off again and he will.
sorry but i disagree about both king and nahas being top 12. kings performances have been in the main terrible for over a yr but hey we love battlers who have a dip.
the analogy i have for why they get games is they are the best of a poor bunch.
they are in the top 16 - 22 only because atm we dont have players good enough or developed enough to force them out.
when you think about it we only have three specialist sml/med forwards on the list who can push them out, and they are either worst performing maric,, walked out the door macdonald, sacked connors, rookie and not ready turner, or just not developed ohanlon. imo they are getting games by default. the simple fact we have such deficient players who lack any sort of polish in our regular 22 regardless of where you rate them is the reason why we fail to get over sides.
we also should look at why we cant find a quality sml/med forward. thats simple look at where every single one on the list has been taken. they are either late picks or rookie picks you never get much polish from there. edwards is the only one taken in the first two rounds and he was taken as a mid with a huge tank failed as a mid and now on his last chance as a forward.
the glass half full who does a bit then regresses then does a bit then regresses again are the exact types we have failed to cut and improve on over the yrs. we have regularly given them 7 8 9 yr careers hence we have remained mired in mediocrity. nahas atm may be a better option than others but he sure as hell is not the answer. if these types are on your list the temptation is to play them instead of develop another because at the time you get a bit more out of them yes they are in the best 22. cut them may mean a little bit of short term pain dont cut them and in the long term yoiu remin mired in mediocrity.
matt white does not have the ability to make it he never did. 7 yrs of not making a decision about his weaknesses which are the things that prevent him from ever being a good afl player we have to be better than that.
with nahas and king their deficiencies will always be there they will always revert to being vfl players because of them far too often with them too much of load will be left to other to carry which is what happens now.
again its just my opinion but imo now is the time to really start making some hard decisions on the glass half fulls.
