Dempster and round 7 selections

[SimonH]

Originally posted by ugg
I thought Dempster played pretty well today, kicked a boooooming goal too. It would be very harsh on the kid to drop him next week.

How freakin' good was Dempster? Forget the stats (a moderate 8 disposals), even forget the goal. He looked like an integral member of the defensive unit, he didn't make mistakes, he created space when we were running the ball out of defence, he attacked the footy with about 20 times more confidence than Super Ted, the works. For a guy who should never have been dropped in the first place, this was an outstanding return performance. Don't want to put the mockers on the kid with either injuries or form, but I can't see why we don't have a 150+ game player on our hands. For him to be dropped again would be a travesty.

It's charming, but not realistic, to think that a fit Mathews would be sent to the 2nds to try to break his way back into the squad. So who should go next week?

My sad but genuine nomination as the least essential member of the team today, appears two paragraphs above. Other people's thoughts?

[ugg]

Well its going to be a real tight squeeze because I believe Nick Davis is due back next week as well.

[dendol]

Originally posted by ugg
Well its going to be a real tight squeeze because I believe Nick Davis is due back next week as well.

Unfortunately Dempster will go back to the 2nds for Mathews , and we'd likely lose Mcveigh or Malceski for Davis' return as well.

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by dendol
Unfortunately Dempster will go back to the 2nds for Mathews , and we'd likely lose Mcveigh or Malceski for Davis' return as well.

I think, however, that as the season progresses Mathews may start to become a 'matchup selection'. Sean is a better matchup if we want more speed and height from a defender, and Mathews is still a better tagger.

Having said that, I much prefer Sean in the side, as he has great disposal, and a cool head. Far less stupid cough-ups than Benny.

[NMWBloods]

I think it highly unlikely Mathews would be dropped if not injured. The coaching staff really seem to like him.

[motorace_182]

Id be stoaked with Mathews remaining out of the firsts team until he earns it back, and Richards being dropped for Davis. There is no use for this bloke in the team other than an extra tall utility. But today he gave a pathetic performance. He was a good 2 metres off the pace at the majority of contests and gotten beaten body on body too often.
I dont understand why he didnt send Aker into next week when he took the great grab. Ted could have fairly taken the grab and smashed the litlle bastard. Soft footy and he doesnt deserve his spot on form.

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I think it highly unlikely Mathews would be dropped if not injured. The coaching staff really seem to like him.

But then there always is the 'neverending' hamstring problem. Better known as the 'Schauble injury'

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by motorace_182
Soft footy and he doesnt deserve his spot on form.

Of course the number of times he beat Bradshaw in the square, and the couple of marks he took in contested situations dont count? He is a defender, and Bradshaw was moved to defence because of the good job Ted did on him.

[Glenn]

Dempster should be on the Interchange bench for next week, but more likely listed as a emergency.
Hard to accurately say how good he will be based on one game, but can only put your best foot forward and he certainly did. It wouldn't surprise me to see him in the Seniors on a regular basis, in the not to distant future

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by Glenn
Dempster should be on the Interchange bench for next week, but more likely listed as a emergency.
Hard to accurately say how good he will be based on one game, but can only put your best foot forward and he certainly did. It wouldn't surprise me to see him in the Seniors on a regular basis, in the not to distant future

Was this thread tongue-in-cheek? He did play 22 games last year, including the GF, after all.

[Glenn]

What I meant was, hard to say how he would go next week with the match ups.
But certainly this week did everything to justify selection for next week.

[Benevolent Ert]

But then who do you drop?

It was a pretty even contribution across the board today, and anyone dropped should rightly feel hard done by

[anne]

Dempster is better than Richards and should stay in the team. However doing that would be an admission of a recruiting error and Roos and co won't do it.

[dendol]

Give it a few more weeks and he'll find himself in similar shoes to Spriggs.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by anne
Dempster is better than Richards and should stay in the team.

For all his height Dempster is a runner, he's never even played KPP in the reserves.