Jarred Moore

[liz]

Moore has been a sensation and has easily been our best youngster this year by a mile.

1)Moore



2)Jack

3)Bird

Not sure its valid to compare those three. Moore's in his fourth year on the list and is 22. Bird is 19 and in his first year on the list.

[SimonH]

Moore is rebuttal #532 (as if yet another one were needed) to peddlers of the cyclical or 'bottoming out' theory of success. You know the one: 'the only way to win flags is to have a gun midfield, and the only way to have a gun midfield is to be really crap and win 3 games a year for a couple of years and accumulate a few top 2 draft picks'.

As noted earlier, Moore was a huge bargain at pick #29 or thereabouts. An absolute class gatherer and user of the footy, discounted simply because of concerns (which were probably valid at the time) about his body shape and scope for improvement against adult bodies. Now that he's dealt with those issues, we hopefully reap the rewards for 10 years!

And he also is yet another example of the Swans' philosophy of holding 'em back and not playing 'em 'til they're really ready. Which succeeds more than it fails.

It's great that Bird is getting this chance, but he's simply not mature or developed enough to have a big impact on games consistently, and most likely he won't be for a couple of years. No criticism of him-- that's just the way things are for 18/19yo mid-sized players, playing against mature elite professional athletes with several pre-seasons behind them. Exceptions to that rule are reserved for one-or-two-in-a-generation elite players. Even #1 picks like Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs-- they're already useful, but opposition midfielders hardly quake in their boots that they're playing on them. If all goes well for them, it will be different by 2010/11. But Carlton had and have no choice but to play these players (and lesser youth) from the first day they're available, because of their lack of grown-up alternatives. Sure it would be great if Bird could do all of his learning from here on in the AFL rather than Canberra, but realistically it's a part of list management (i.e. 40+ blokes and 22 spots) that he'll be in and out of the team as form and injuries of more senior players wax and wane.

Teams like Richmond and Carlton get thumped and embarrassed, and fall away at the back end of the season, because they're full of Craig Birds.

[Bear]

I'm not sure it's all positive at this stage.
He's definitely taken a step forward, but I don't think his skill is that great yet - e.g. has missed two very gettable goals to win games for us this year.
Stats is one thing but ball use is just as important.
Also not quick and his height is an issue in marking contests.
Not sure he will ever be anything special, but hopeful.
Jack is well in front of him as a prospect IMO.

[Nico]

Nice summation Simon but I still reckon he should have had more game and ground time last year than a couple of hacks who kept getting games while playing garbage football, and still are.