Real reason Shiel went to Essendon

[Scollop]

Don't worry we have guns and they can inflict a lot more pain than a pop gun when they go off

Ask Nat Fyfe if it felt like a piece of cork had hit him? It's not the first time Josh has gone full bore at a tackle or at his opponent and won't be the last. Joshy Battle has only played 12-13 games.

What about Benny Long and Matty Parker? Fancy standing in their way when they come at you at full speed and get down low with their shoulder pointing at your ribs? Jack Steele and Jack Newnes have been awesome with their tacckling too and we've got blokes inflicting pain on opposition clubs with their speed, disposal efficiency and overall hardness at the contest.

Steele and Billings are being talked about in the media by the better judges as being in All Australian form. Gresh is A grade as we all know and I'm hoping he can take a game by the scruff of the neck and pull off more miracles in years to come. He is starting to gain some consistency and will only get better. The Prospect is another beauty who is just starting his AFL career

I am not too worried or fussed with a so called big fish. In fact I'm a little tired and bored of the conversation. Perhaps if we'd landed Fyfe or Dusty or Kelly a few years back it may have meant that the old brigade of Rooy and co would have had one last opportunity to play finals, but I reckon the timing wouldn't have been right for us to be a top 4 contender. We need a player to come in that will blend in well with the group and won't be a star that gets paid overs or a bloke that is seen as a messiah because getting 1 or even 2 star recruits doesn't win you premierships.

Paddy Dangerfield didn't and hasn't so far. Buddy Franklin didn't win a flag for Sydney and although they've played in a Grand Final, Buddy in the end wasn't the difference and 1 or 2 players never are. The best team usually wins

We seem to have a good team at the moment and ably led by a good team in the football department. I reckon the recruiting team has also been fantastic and there are rough diamonds in State Leagues and many talented 18 year olds out there ( Sydney Stack comes to mind ) that our recruiters and the football club should be more focussed on getting into our club and creating the best environment for them to achieve their potential rather than trying to land a star or a big fish

[samoht]

Good post, scollop.

While it doesn't guarantee premierships, teams such as the Hawks, Geelong, Collingwood and Richmond by landing the big fish here and there over the last decade or so - these teams have nevertheless shared the premierships and/or have been sustaining their success in recent years.

Our recruiters need to land the occasional big fish.... I mean, if you own Mayfair and Park Lane it doesn't guarantee you'll win in monopoly - but it doesn't hurt your chances.

The other thing is - Long, Parker, Newnes, Bruce, Steele, McKenzie, Lonie, Battle etc.. are putting their bodies through a lot of pain, by throwing themselves into contests, and they need to play that way for us to be competitive against the strongest teams (with their multiple A graders) - and I'm not sure how long that can be sustained.
They may not be pop guns, but they can pop their own shoulder (or knock themselves out, as McKenzie did).