And what was everyone's thoughts about Adrian Hickmott? Nothing but a hard hitting nobody?

I think AB is fine right now and people are far too critical. He aint and will never be Chris Judd.

The focus has GOT to be the senior players and their total lack of accountability and assistance to the younger players... I mean Stevens is on 1/2 a mil and is on the Ronaldo path to glory (overweight for a professional footballer and lazy). Lappin has done jack all year. Koutoufides struggles to bend over and hardly rouses the team, but will be captain again next year.

The senior leadership group are running the joint into the ground, but the younger guys who actually try are the ones who cop the abuse...

For what it's worth!

Unfortunately Bentick is too slow, just look at the last quater yesterday in the back pocket, he had 15 meters on his closest opponent and was still beaten for the ball.

Under the recruitment thread most have mentioned we need midfielders with pace, there is no way Smith, Bentick and Blackwell can play in the same side. You have to be very special to play midfeild if you are under 5ft 10 and lack pace.

I admire Bentick and Smith for their 100% committment but unfortunately it will not be enough. If you look at Benticks stats he tends to get most of his dispossals in the last quater when the game slows right down.

Both Smith and Bentick would have been very good players in the eighties. Both player are inside players and when they do get the ball they seemed to be rushed to get their kick away, they lack the pace to get a clear kick away.

Lifes about putting things into their true context.

If you cant do that i feel sorry for you Wangers...

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Don't feel sorry about me - I understand context, particularly when it comes to the Blues, my friend. I, as well as many others, expect nothing but the best for our club - we've been beaten from pillar to post over the past 5 years, and it's time to get tough in all areas of the the club, and no player is immune - if that means some healthy banter between us, then so be it

_________________
For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

I think before you all get way too ahead of yourselves, just slow down and take a breath for a minute. The kid realises he is just hanging on. He is just thinking about this year and next (he has a contract for next year). He realises he has a long way to go to cement his spot beyond that.

Having said that, he has some good scalps to his name this year (West, Harris, Braun and McLean). And to the bright spark that said he rakes up possessions usually in the last quarter, wrong again. It's usually because the coach tells him to forget the tag in the last quarter. So, you can't falter someone for following orders. It's not a democracy you know.............under Pagan you do as you are told, no questions asked.

I think you'll find he is visiting a surgeon tomorrow and that his season is probably over. Surely playing most of the year with a bad shoulder that most likely will require surgery, should count for something when assessing his season, don't you think so??????????

You are right its time to get tough, but remember Bentick is consistently improving each year and is only 21.

He is not the problem why we are shit

It’s the Board, Coaching staff, and the fully matured fringe players which are the problem eg Prenda, Chambers, Sporn etc

Picking on a young developing player is just weak

_________________
"Dont count the games, make the games count"

AB does the hard stuff that older, more seasoned players should be.
But they dont.
He puts his body over the ball and locks the ball in when required and creates space for team mates.

Dont underestimate the physicality he adds to our midfield. He never flinches at the tough stuff and his ability to neutralise stoppages that our opponents have control of is crucial to us.
Whilst AB puts his hand up to absorb the physical stuff, Murphy, Simmo and co. dont have to.

Occasionally he'll get cleaned up by players like Sam Mitchell but lots of good players have. If he learns from it and it adds to his game, fantastic.
AB has just turned 21. Lets not forget that Sam Mitchell wasnt a regular senior player at the same age.

Give him time, he'll address his deficiencies harder than anyone.

_________________
Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

This guy is only a kid trying to learn to learn the hardest position possible with a team who dont play for each other...considering all this he is doing extremley well...but this guy needs a rest ....and he should be told to have the rest of the year off...and get ready for preseason...

and bring blackers back and he and Jesse smith can carry the load for the rest of the year....oops I didnt mean to be logical...sorry Denis!!!

_________________
#sayerscouldbetheman!!

BV's right - AB's the ONLY bloke in our midfield prepared to sacrifice their body at clearances. Without AB the team would be losing clearances 60-2 every bloody game.

Fabulous, no player is immune from constructive criticism, particularly in the state our club and playing list is in at the moment. Besides I have an opinion, as does everyone else. That is not weak, just so that you know!!!

_________________
For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

Mitchell's an interesting comparison. Early on he copped loads of "too slow" etc.


In 2003 aged 21 Mitchell won the Norwich Rising Star:

Mitchell 2003 Game Averages

Kicks: 9.48
Marks: 2.57
Handballs: 8.29
Disposals: 17.76
Goals: 5
Behinds: 2
Tackles: 4.24


Bentick 2006 Game Averages

Kicks: 9.48
Marks: 4.5
Handballs: 7.85
Disposals: 16.8
Goals: 6
Behinds: 1
Tackles: 4.20


On January 1st 2003 Mitchell had played 9 senior games and was 20 and 3 months.

On January 1st 2006 Bentick had played 14 senior games and was 20 and 7 months.


Now these are just stats but it seems fairly clear the kid knows how to get the ball and yet there are people who think this 21 year old kid who's been playing with a bung shoulder isn't worth keeping on the list?

That must be one seriously talented list if we can afford to cut guys like that.

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

I could really fire this up and quote Shane Warne "can't run and can't kick" but then that would not be constructive criticism of AB.

Go AB prove all you doubters (I included) wrong!

I watched Mitchell play junior footy and actually wrote to the club suggesting we recruit him but received no reply...later when he played for Box Hill I wrote again as he was overlooked...again no reply..
The kid was a standout in my books from an early age and showed plenty....too slow...anyone remember Greg Williams?

Kids who can get the footy are worth their weight in gold....Mitchell has actually got quicker and his disposal has improved..he can use both sides of his body and has the Robert Harvey break the tackle technique by swivelling the hips.....
Bentick has all the fundementals that Mitchell had/has but needs to work on the skills....thats achievable....teaching someone to consistently to put their head over the ball cant be taught..you either have it or you dont....with all the turtlenecks in the AFL at the moment I'm not about to get rid of a young player who has the capacity to get the footy when the heat is on....his skills will improve with age and playing on gun players like Mitchell...

_________________
"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Wow, 9 pages on poor ol' AB?

What about the fact that he's high up in the stats in our 1%ers and tackles etc yet down the bottom in errors .

He's a good kid and will play many games for us, get off his back!!

_________________
end of message

Don't let the stats get in the way of a good whinge Duke...

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

We all know stats don't have the same significance in today's footy as they did 10 years ago. Some are very overrated, and it's the quality of those stats that's important, not quantity. Can be very misleading.

It's all about the effective disposals these days not how well you do the 1%'s. What about the rest of the game, the other 99%? How good is the quality? I tend to think AB struggles when he's opponent-less where he has to make a decision on where to deliver the ball, and better in the in-tight situations. If that's all he can provide us, then we're in trouble.

_________________
For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

We desperately need players with foot skills in our team which is evident from after watching the match at the dome last sunday...

I've been a Carazzo fan but i am starting to go off him... I love Bentick for his attack on the ball at the stoppages but his foot skills still leave a bit to be desired.. especially when passing to forward targets like Fevola and such..

Players with poor foot skills in our CURRENT best team include..

* Bentick
* Carrazzo
* McGrath (in general)
* O'Hailpin (he's getting better)
* Wiggins (who has improved)

My thinking is a trade that would be something like this..

Carrazzo and Bentick are C Grade footballers who have some talent and ability..

We could do a trade with the Bulldogs that would go...

* Carrazzo and Bentick for * Daniel Giansiracusa (who i'd consider a B Grade footballer with good skills)

I've found watching or guys this year is that most of the time... we are more than competitive but luck the skills to make the most of our advances on the field... This is an area which has hurt us deeply... we can be 3 goals up on a side and then within minutes the scores can be cut back to level all due to our own mistakes and poor skills on the field...

Now I know we have a lot of young players who will get better with experience in that area but are we sure players like Carrazzo and Bentick will be part of our next premiership team on talent alone...

With a substantial membership loss this year and another poor performance on the field (plus 4 out of 5 years as cellar dwellers) I think its all the more important to deliver a message to the members that a competitive carlton unit is right around the corner.. so we can get our membership back up, which correlates to more profit from the club.. which will help our our club in some small way get back to the glory days when we were a rich and proud club...

What if next year our total membership drops to around 25k!!... That would be nothing short of a disaster and eventually one of the worst membership bases in the AFL...

Thats why I think it's important to pick up a couple of YOUNG players (Not an akermanis type!) with GOOD FOOT SKILLS and overall disposal in general...

_________________
Corinthians 9:6- 8

we would have to throw in AT LEAST our 3rd pick (which i wouldnt accept) there's no way the bulldogs will give us gia for carrazzo and bentick. no way.

_________________
Last edited by true_blue3 on Mon Sep 26, 1981 5:07 pm; edited 92 times in total

He may be injured.

does he need an op?

_________________
Last edited by true_blue3 on Mon Sep 26, 1981 5:07 pm; edited 92 times in total