We also said that last year about Gray. He looks fit again, but I believe he has a chronic issue (?knee, can't remember) and they're concerned giving him too much midfield time will put too much strain and cause further injury. That's why they play him forward despite the fact they obviously need him in the guts.
Port is definitely one to watch in the JLT. Looks like there will be some new names injected into that midfield this year. Powell-Pepper looks ready to take the next step. Joe Atley has been mentioned. Drew impressed in the intra-club. Some high picks coming in - Rozee, Butters, Duursma. Some other forgotten names around - Rockliff, Sam Gray, Amon, Trengove, Hartlett. There's still quite a few options and they're all good SC prices.
If Rocky played purely midfield and was fully fit, he could find himself amongst some of the top forwards I guess. Be a ballsy pick though.
Wow, what an essay.Dunkley.... *sigh*
I picked Dunkley last year at $296k. I picked him because as a contested midfielder he is a bull and a really good SC scorer in that role, even when he was a rookie. It looked like he was going to get that midfield time in the preseason, so I went with him. Therefore, I also watched him really closely up until he got injured in round 9 and I was forced to trade him out.
From watching him I can tell you:
- He's a terrible forward. Truly terrible. Gets in the wrong position most of the time, and when he did get an opportunity he'd miss more often than he'd hit. Numerous set shots he should kick, and he missed. He'd always find a way to muff things. Perfect example being the uncontested chest mark in the goal square to kick the match-winning goal against the Swans, that he dropped
- As a winger, he's also terrible. He was rolling up to the wing during the first half of the year for periods of a game. When he did, he was the sort of player who would always be on screen but never get the ball. He'd float around on the fringe of the pack, and the ball would bypass him time-after-time. It may have been bad luck, but I think it's more a positioning thing. It was almost like he was the decoy. Or he was the bloke who was stopping the opposition leaving the pack, rather than waiting to get the ball himself. Or they were planning to extract to one side, and he was the bloke on the other side. Whatever it was, he wasn't very good in that role either.
So he was purely playing forward with a little bit of push up to the wing, then he got injured in round 9 and missed a month. When he came back in round 14 he found himself with those midfield minutes. Initially he was doing a tagging role, running with Higgins in round 14 and Titch in round 16. Round 17 he was also mainly doing the wing role. These games he didn't score well. Every other game he seemed to play inside midfielder and tonned up every time.
I've heard it said he took McLean's role and that's why they seemed to swap. I think McLean dropped off because he copped a whack to his AC joint and wasn't the same after, but was still in much the same role. Wallis is the one who I think lost his midfield spot and got thrown forward instead. I've also heard it said they rotated them all around so there wasn't one bloke getting bashed and bruised in the midfield for the entire season.
I'd like to think in the last month or two of 2018 the Dogs work out that Dunkley is a really good contested mifdfielder and that's the only thing he's good at. But, it's Bevo we're talking about. There's so many other factors to consider. Dahlhaus gone. Libba back. Rule changes. Player availability. Progression of young blokes. How bad are the Dogs going to be this year? All of these can have an impact.
If he gets the inside midfield role every game, he'll be a fantastic pick. If he doesn't, he won't be. Simple as that. I don't see how anyone can predict that, even Bevo himself who's liable to change his mind a month into the season. If you see injuries and JLT signs that suggest it's likely then maybe. But, if he doesn't get that role he might struggle to average 85 and it's a Billings-type complete bust.
I picked him at $296k last year and he didn't really work out. There's no way I can justify paying $516k for him this time around.
Wowsers. Sounds like you’ve got some scar tissue there. I can understand your frustration. He’ll still be on my JLT watch list. Any listed Forward with a ceiling as high as Dunkley’s is worth a look. At the end of the day you’ve got to take a punt on one or two players if you want to separate yourself from the pack.Dunkley.... *sigh*
I picked Dunkley last year at $296k. I picked him because as a contested midfielder he is a bull and a really good SC scorer in that role, even when he was a rookie. It looked like he was going to get that midfield time in the preseason, so I went with him. Therefore, I also watched him really closely up until he got injured in round 9 and I was forced to trade him out.
From watching him I can tell you:
- He's a terrible forward. Truly terrible. Gets in the wrong position most of the time, and when he did get an opportunity he'd miss more often than he'd hit. Numerous set shots he should kick, and he missed. He'd always find a way to muff things. Perfect example being the uncontested chest mark in the goal square to kick the match-winning goal against the Swans, that he dropped
- As a winger, he's also terrible. He was rolling up to the wing during the first half of the year for periods of a game. When he did, he was the sort of player who would always be on screen but never get the ball. He'd float around on the fringe of the pack, and the ball would bypass him time-after-time. It may have been bad luck, but I think it's more a positioning thing. It was almost like he was the decoy. Or he was the bloke who was stopping the opposition leaving the pack, rather than waiting to get the ball himself. Or they were planning to extract to one side, and he was the bloke on the other side. Whatever it was, he wasn't very good in that role either.
So he was purely playing forward with a little bit of push up to the wing, then he got injured in round 9 and missed a month. When he came back in round 14 he found himself with those midfield minutes. Initially he was doing a tagging role, running with Higgins in round 14 and Titch in round 16. Round 17 he was also mainly doing the wing role. These games he didn't score well. Every other game he seemed to play inside midfielder and tonned up every time.
I've heard it said he took McLean's role and that's why they seemed to swap. I think McLean dropped off because he copped a whack to his AC joint and wasn't the same after, but was still in much the same role. Wallis is the one who I think lost his midfield spot and got thrown forward instead. I've also heard it said they rotated them all around so there wasn't one bloke getting bashed and bruised in the midfield for the entire season.
I'd like to think in the last month or two of 2018 the Dogs work out that Dunkley is a really good contested mifdfielder and that's the only thing he's good at. But, it's Bevo we're talking about. There's so many other factors to consider. Dahlhaus gone. Libba back. Rule changes. Player availability. Progression of young blokes. How bad are the Dogs going to be this year? All of these can have an impact.
If he gets the inside midfield role every game, he'll be a fantastic pick. If he doesn't, he won't be. Simple as that. I don't see how anyone can predict that, even Bevo himself who's liable to change his mind a month into the season. If you see injuries and JLT signs that suggest it's likely then maybe. But, if he doesn't get that role he might struggle to average 85 and it's a Billings-type complete bust.
I picked him at $296k last year and he didn't really work out. There's no way I can justify paying $516k for him this time around.
That's exactly my setup at the moment. Danger, Heeney, Kelly then kids. Plenty of forward rookies floating around this year. Playing 3 on field and 2 defence rookies should allow extra cash to splash out on the midfield.
Nah, he’s never been an elite SC scorer really, and misses way too many games. Pretty hard to turn that around when he’s about to turn 29 I reckon.
