Cautious Optimism

[hird_god]

I still maintain the trade for Murphy was a good one, not just because of the player but because of who we gave up.
C McGrath had no role in our side except dominant reserves midfielder and to carry the oranges in the few games he played, although the gametime he got he probly didn't even do that too well, only just enough to get them out to Lloyd and Hird before coming back off again.
He's more a tagger than an attacking player McGrath, and with Pev taking that role and Bullen also pushing for it he really had no place. Murphy provided something we were missing in a ball carrier and goal kicking midfielder, and came at no cost to our list. He's had a reasonable season, in a slump now but you have to weigh up what the alternative was as well, McGrath still playing dominantly in reserves with the 'Play McGrath' bandwagon crying every team selection.

[dawson]

This year has been a good year and at 9-6 we could have finished top four but were incredibly unlucky in the three losses we had thereafter.

Geelong - great game unfortunately decided and ruined by the umpires.

Fremantle - Not only did Jeff Farmer not get rubbed out the hot-cold player decided to have his best ever game for Freo on the day we played them. They have lost four of their past five at Subi with us being the one.

Kangaroos - enough said.

In all likelihood we will make the finals and from there anything is possible but next year will some nice trading/drafting and a summer to get healthy no reason why we cant give it another huge tilt.

[cressakel]

Originally posted by hird_god
I still maintain the trade for Murphy was a good one, not just because of the player but because of who we gave up.
C McGrath had no role in our side except dominant reserves midfielder and to carry the oranges in the few games he played, although the gametime he got he probly didn't even do that too well, only just enough to get them out to Lloyd and Hird before coming back off again.
He's more a tagger than an attacking player McGrath, and with Pev taking that role and Bullen also pushing for it he really had no place. Murphy provided something we were missing in a ball carrier and goal kicking midfielder, and came at no cost to our list. He's had a reasonable season, in a slump now but you have to weigh up what the alternative was as well, McGrath still playing dominantly in reserves with the 'Play McGrath' bandwagon crying every team selection.

I think Corey McGrath suffered from the Michael Long syndrome with Essendon supporters, as every time an aboriginal player gets drafted with the same build as Long ( and with Sheedy pumping there tyres until they burst and blow up ) down bomber land, they are compared to Long and invariably fail to meet expectations.

Being a Keilor Park boy myself, do you like the impressive strike rate KP has had at Essendon in Mercuri, Misiti ( a better bloke you will not meet ), Peverill and Mark Harvey !?

There would have been a fifth player added to that list in Adam Price, Joey's best mate, as Pricey played Under 19's at Essendon with Mercs and Joey and had a big future there except for the fact that he was caught drinking and immediately kicked off the tour of Ireland with the Under 17 Australian team back in 1990 or 1991, whereby he was filed away in the too hard basket and never to be drafted/added to the senior list.

Little did they know that Joey and Mercs were drinking with Pricey 5 minutes before he was caught but they went off to another pub....

P.S. Don't believe reports that Harvey was a Keilor boy, as he played every year bar one ( the year Essendon recruited him from Keilor ) at Keilor Park.