Now for the silly season

[sydney-dog]

Rik E Boy

I agree, the SANFL is a similar example, players like Skipworth and Ladhams consistently play a high standard at SANFL level but fail to deliver at AFL level

Then their is a player like Scotty Hodges, kicked 150+ goals in an SANFL season but failed to consistently preform at AFL level.

[Rik E Boy]

Playing well in the VFL means diddly squat. Exhibit B for the prosecution..Matthew McCarthy. One of the things that I read about the VFL this year is that the Bullants had a 'numbers back' style for the majority of the year (correct me if I'm wrong becuase I haven't seen much VFL action). That type of game doesn't usually bring home the bacon come finals time. I'd suggest that Carlton have a lot of depth in relation to VFL standard players but bugger all when it comes to AFL standard players.

Again, I suggest you are underestimating the standard of the VFL - especially up the top. From memory the Bullants only played back when required - and why wouldn't you with such a good defence? If they'd had finals experience that sort of game would have been okay. It's not like they were flooding like Adelaide tended to (and got blown out of the water by the Eagles when they met at Footy Pakr during the home and away season).

Of course the Carlton listed players who spent most of the year with the Bullies weren't AFL standard. They're being developed for goodness sake! And if those sorts of players can take a VFL team to the top of the ladder at the end of the home and away season Carlton's doing something right (I regret to say because I would love to see the Blues flounder where they are right now).

That's diddly squat??

That's what I'm saying Phil. With so many of these non-AFL standard players in the Bullants, they still hardly lost a game all year. The gulf is huge and plenty of Geelong players who wouldn't remember what the ball looked like were doing well on a regular basis in the VFL. When I say diddly squat, I mean from an AFL point of view. The SANFL matches I have seen this year looked to be of a better standard than the two matches I saw in the VFL this year (again, not proclaiming myself to be a VFL expert, it's just my opinion based on the limited amount of VFL football that I have seen).

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Rik E Boy

I agree, the SANFL is a similar example, players like Skipworth and Ladhams consistently play a high standard at SANFL level but fail to deliver at AFL level

Then their is a player like Scotty Hodges, kicked 150+ goals in an SANFL season but failed to consistently preform at AFL level.

I always thought the Crows could have gotten more out of Scott Hodges, who I rate quite highly. It pi55ed me off no end that he had to be on fire against the bloody Cats (11 goals) at a time when we were top of the bloody ladder. Then he tormented me on numerous occasions as sunk the Redlegs regularly during the mid nineties. DOH.

regards,

REB

[sydney-dog]

Mal Michael has announced his retirement

Blakey has quit as Lions assistant and accepted an assistant role at the swans

The swans must be confident that either Horse has the Saints Job or Jonas has the Crows job, what if they don't, is their a vacancy for Blakey to fill ?

[PhilG]

..

[Rik E Boy]

Of course development doesn't mean diddly squat, it's something that every club has to do but not every bloke in the VFL is going to kick on. As for the gap..I saw James Byrne no less, cruising around the grand final playing what appeared to be a blinder (On his Pat Molone unfortunately) against Sandy when the guy was struggling to get a kick for the Yabs a few years ago. We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

regards,

REB

[PhilG]

..

[Rik E Boy]

My comment wasn't meant to be VFL bashing, even if it seemed that way. Like I said earlier, it was from an AFL point of view. I would also like to suggest that if you can't get a gig in the Blues' defence then the chances of those same guys going on to play over 50 games in the AFL would be remote. Yet these same blokes did the job consistently in the VFL, good example or not in your eyes..this to me suggests their is a fair gap.

I agree with your comments on Scott Hodges though, anyone who can kick 151 goals in the pre-Crows SANFL, play in flags and win a Magarey Medal has to have something going for him.

regards,

REB

[Booney]

After a monumental battle with Roylion,PhilG takes on REB in the much awaited clash of wits...or is that half-wits?

[Rik E Boy]

After a monumental battle with Roylion,PhilG takes on REB in the much awaited clash of wits...or is that half-wits?

Enough of that Mr Boon, just join our cricket league ya git.

regards,

REB

[PhilG]

..

[am Bays]

I remember asking a Glenelg recruit a couple of years ago the difference between the SANFL and the VFL/AFL reserves. His comment was that there are more mature footy bodies in the SANFL compared to the VFL because of the young draftees playing for the VFL clubs.

In the VFL/AFL reserves if you **** up he said you could run to space and await a cheap kick because of the relatively low skill level of the VFL players (not saying they weren't skilled but on average they were below the skill level of the average SANFL player) compared to the SANFL. He said another turnover was likely and you could be back in the play again. The SANFL he said if you **** up you may as well go back to your position for the ball up as a goal was the likely result. In other words you could afford to **** up in the VFL/AFL reserves, but in the SANFL the skill level was so much better that your mistakes inevitable cost your team a goal.

My observations this year residing in Victoria watching Fox Footy and the SANFL on ABC2 was that the skill level generally in SANFL games was better and cleaner compared to the VFL and the bodies on the whole are more mature. The gap is getting closer though as there are fewer VFL clubs now, the competition is improving and the good players in the VFL can more than match it with the good players in the SANFL.

However a chain is only as strong as it weakest link and I believe the strength of the SANFL compared to the VFL is that the depth of talent in the bottom five players at a SANFL club is greater than same players at a VFL club. In other words as the ex-player told me there are far fewer easy kicks in the SANFL as all the players can play but in the VFL if a bench player came on to you, you knew that it was an opportunity to boost your possession rate.

[PhilG]

..

[Roylion]

Battles with trolls like Roylion don't count in that regard.

Perhaps you should look up the definition of a 'troll'. Clearly you don't know what that means either. I wasn't spouting provactive statements to engender a response from you. Nor was I posting inflammatory, messages designed intentionally to annoy or antagonize. I was merely responding complete with evidence to comments that were made. I was putting forward an argument about my club, in a thread about Fitzroy, which I didn't start. In fact it was you who made some inflammatory comments about Fitzroy. I disagreed with them and said so. More importantly I said why I disagreed with them and put forward specific concrete evidence to support those statements. You, on the other hand did not.

I'm entitled to have an opinion about my club, especially when I believe someone' statements about the club were incorrect. I'm also entitled to refute an opinion about my club I disagree with. I'm still waiting for your examples and answers to my questions that you were 'researching'. It seems I will be waiting indefinitely. However, if you ever get around to posting them I will be waiting. I read this forum most days especially in relation to the Lions, Fitzroy and the VFL. I may make some comments about the Lions' trades later in trade week and perhaps if Ben Hart goes to the Lions.

At least Reb isn't being the biased blinkered attention seeker that "it" was!

Biased, blinkered attention seeker now? And 'it' on top of that. And perhaps you could elaborate on how I was supposedly 'attention seeking'. Anyone daring to disagree with you on a public forum with you is an 'attention seeker'. Is that it?

And yet we're yet to establish exactly how I was 'biased' and 'blinkered' too. You did a pretty ordinary job of trying to prove that, with your uneducated, unsupported statements about Fitzroy. Still waiting.

I've forgotten all about that now.

Have you? And here's me hoping you were finally going to present the research to finally support your statements that you said that you were going to do. In fact I think you were just 'waiting' on that research. Clearly it's not going to be forthcoming. But still I live in hope.

It's just an insignificant part of my past that really didn't mean diddly squat!

Of course it didn't. You failed to make any sort of impression or convincing argument at all. No wonder it was 'diddly squat'. Hopefully you actually have some knowledge behind you, before you make further ill thought out and incorrect statements about Fitzroy in the future.

[GWW]

Battles with trolls like Roylion don't count in that regard.

Perhaps you should look up the definition of a 'troll'. Clearly you don't know what that means either. I wasn't spouting provactive statements to engender a response from you. Nor was I posting inflammatory, messages designed intentionally to annoy or antagonize. I was merely responding complete with evidence to comments that were made. I was putting forward an argument about my club, in a thread about Fitzroy, which I didn't start. In fact it was you who made some inflammatory comments about Fitzroy. I disagreed with them and said so. More importantly I said why I disagreed with them and put forward specific concrete evidence to support those statements. You, on the other hand did not.

I'm entitled to have an opinion about my club, especially when I believe someone' statements about the club were incorrect. I'm also entitled to refute an opinion about my club I disagree with. I'm still waiting for your examples and answers to my questions that you were 'researching'. It seems I will be waiting indefinitely. However, if you ever get around to posting them I will be waiting. I read this forum most days especially in relation to the Lions, Fitzroy and the VFL. I may make some comments about the Lions' trades later in trade week and perhaps if Ben Hart goes to the Lions.

At least Reb isn't being the biased blinkered attention seeker that "it" was!

Biased, blinkered attention seeker now? And 'it' on top of that. And perhaps you could elaborate on how I was supposedly 'attention seeking'. Anyone daring to disagree with you on a public forum with you is an 'attention seeker'. Is that it?

And yet we're yet to establish exactly how I was 'biased' and 'blinkered' too. You did a pretty ordinary job of trying to prove that, with your uneducated, unsupported statements about Fitzroy. Still waiting.

I've forgotten all about that now.

Have you? And here's me hoping you were finally going to present the research to finally support your statements that you said that you were going to do. In fact I think you were just 'waiting' on that research. Clearly it's not going to be forthcoming. But still I live in hope.

It's just an insignificant part of my past that really didn't mean diddly squat!

Of course it didn't. You failed to make any sort of impression or convincing argument at all. No wonder it was 'diddly squat'. Hopefully you actually have some knowledge behind you, before you make further ill thought out and incorrect statements about Fitzroy in the future.

Here we go again

[am Bays]

I'll go put teh kettle on and get a more comfortable chair, this could get interesting

[PhilG]

..

[Roylion]

I don't respond to trolls, especially when they are exclusively after me and me alone.

I'm not "after you". It was you who first labelled me a troll in this thread, not the other way around. I have made no comment on other posts you have made in this and other threads on other subjects, since you disappeared from the original 'discussion' by deleting all your posts in the thread on Fitzroy.

As I said, I read this forum most days and have made a couple of other posts in other threads, such as the one on club delistings.

He should just grow up and move on.

"He"? Well that's an improvement from "it".

And 'grow up'? I can assure you I am grown up. As a 'grown-up', I've requested a more sophisticated and better backed up argument from you on several occasions. It's you who reverts to the petty, childish insults, ("troll", "idiot", etc.) when the argument doesn't go your way.

Once again, I'm entitled to respond to your accusation that I am a troll. I'm not.

I'm also entitled to ask if you have done what you claimed that you were going to do and provide the hard evidence to back up your original statements. You said it would take some time. I'm quite prepared to wait. After all with your oh-so-superior football knowledge that you delighted in telling me that you had, it shouldn't be too much longer should it?