Hurn hasn't been that bad but I always worried that Murphy was overrated...

But Hurn has only once had more than 35 poss in his first year. Judd burnt him off 1 time and Tredrea outmarked him also. I expected more. I know they are going to finish 1 and 2 in the best and fairest but thats not the point.

Maybe so but the fact that the kid told Tony Jones to go @#$%&! himself during that post match interview means he should be given a life membership of the club now.

I think in fairness to keogh he is just reacting to the raps given to Hartlett by others on this site, raps to which he hasn't lived up, probably mainly down to a serious knee injury. To be honest, I haven't been all that impressed with Hartlett yet, even factoring in injury, but I don't see why we should have huge expectations for him at this stage, hopefully in time he'll be a good player for Carlton.

I've seen Russell a bit more than Hartlett and my opinion to this stage is that he drifts in and out of games a bit too much, in that sometimes he looks really good but at other times you wouldn't even notice that he's playing. I like though how he has the pace and confidence to try and break through tackles and his kicking isn't bad. As I said, just going on what I've seen to this stage. I have no doubt that both boys are far from the finished products.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

The alarm bells are already ringing.
We may have drafted another dud.
Looked very ordinary BEFORE he got injured early in the year.
Comparisons with Simpson, Kouta and Ratten are not valid because they were all very good reserves players from day one.
Comparisons with Livingston, Sporn and Wiggins are disturbing because they were all very good VFL players in their 1st year. Even Murray Vance was better than Hartlett in his first year in the VFL.

difference is we no have one of the best bleeders of young talent in australia...murray vance might have been something if he was brought into it properly...

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R A D I C A L B R O T H E R S

Inspired by the One-Minute Sculptures of Erwin Wurm

"All in all is all we are..."

I was not aware that Hartlett played any football before getting injured this year. Care to fill us in on what games he played earlier in the year for him to be branded a dud?

What this thread should really be honing on is the development of our younger players. I truly believe we don't do this well and fast enough.

Cash and a fair bit of it needs to be spent to bolster the football department. Collo needs to loosen the purse strings - surely we are not in that much monetary strife........the young uns are our future.

I think you might have missed the point that Hacken is making.....Taking the "Mickey" ring any bells?

Hartlett's an unmade bed...

He'll soon tidy himself up and become Carlton's Kosi...

A bit of a young 'Sticks' about him...

Patience people, patience...

Yeah nah - I don't reckon that's taking the piss. If it is, my sense of humour bone's broke

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

What raps?

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

It is wraps not raps.

I'm NOT changing the sheets!

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"Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost

A guy his size and his age I prefer if he starts slowly with gradual and steady improvement rather than starting like a house on fire then deteriorate in performance (Livo).

He needs a big pre-season and a solid half year in the Bullants next season he is still 18 months away of cementing a spot in the senior side; big blokes like Hartlett mature later.

Patience.

Typical bullshit responses from many posters in this thread that is now to be expected on this forum.

At NO point did Keogh label hartlett a dud or a hack. Neither did he 'put down' the player. What was stated was that he hadnt stood out as yet. To have a number of sarcastic comments and oneline quips (ie im sorry, but this thread doesnt require a proper response...) are an insult to the original poster

For MickeyM who asked about hartlett playing earlier in the year - he did play a few games (albeit preseason) prior to going down with his knee - below are quotes from various posters on bullants games
27th Feb
The chief - Harltett did great down back for the first half on Holland, big body for a young kid and had a few great spoils.
Mrs Caz - Hartlett is quite a big boy, can see him muscling up nicely in the future. Did some good things across the backline.
SPF - *Fantastic pack mark on the goal line from Hartlett - plays on as getting to his feet - goal.

5th march
Mickstar - Hartlett was only so so but on a couple of occasions sunk his slipper into the pill to see it land near the centre square.Beautiful kick of the footy.

14th march
Cazzesman - Hartlett was okay but must learn to have contact on his opponent. Time and again he was lead to the ball by 2 metres after giving the forward a head start. Adam Hartlett must realise that if he is going to play as a KP backman he must be shoulder to shoulder with his opponent for 100 minutes. He does not have the explosive first 10 metre burst that can afford him the ability to play off his man like some can. The positives are that he puts his head over the footy and can kick it 60 fairly easily when he likes.

19th march
hegarty (CSC) - Hartlett came on late and looked better today.He was up on the forward line and kicked a nice long goal from a leading mark and then missed another from a nice grab running backwards

The knee injury occured on the 26th march

Personally I'm not expecting genuine contributions from either russell or hartlett before the 2007 season. No issues with either player on the list atm however neither have overly impressed from the limited games that I have watched (all the televised matches, also listened to all the SEN calls) - for mine, blackwell is ahead of both players atm as I have seen more clean/standout pieces of play (ie clever knock ons, handpasses, marks, spotting targets etc) from him than either of the other 2 combined - blackwell just needs consistency. Russell has shown some good signs but I suspect him to be a year behind blackwell in development.

For mine hartlett is more of a concern, partly because of concerns about attitude prior to drafting (though thankfully it hasnt appeared to be an issue at this point in time). However the main cause of concern is his knees and whether there might be long term issues related to that - From the footy draft profile for hartlett - A knee injury plagued him towards the end of the 2003 season and that continued into 2004, yet after representing South Australia in this year's National Bank's AFL under-18 championships, Hartlett returned to West Adelaide at under-19 level and booted 16 goals in three finals. Therefore thiis appears to be the THIRD successive season where hartlett has had knee problems of one description or another (although the 2003-2004 season one might be an ongoing through that time frame). If the injuries are unrelated and on different knees then it is not an issue - however if it has been on the same knee and it happens again in the next year or so then it becomes a very real problem for the club and player - under that scenario, I would favour trading hartlett back to another club (say back to SA) in order to try to gain some sort of return on investment rather than carry a player with a history of knee problems by age 20 and losing him for nothing by age 23.[/quote]

Chicken you legend.I hope both players become regular senior players,but from the evidence this year,that seems a fair way off at the moment.Lets have a forum same time next year when there will be a more definite response.The VFL finals will hopefully shed some extra light on these 2 as well.Last week I was impressed more with Blackwell who should play next year in the seniors.

Russell is well ahead of Blackwell.
He has pace, an excellent defensive side to his game and more than adequate disposal.
He will play 10+ games next year.
Blackwell wont.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Blackwell had a stint playing against men in the WAFL before being picked up and is not afraid to put his thin frame around whereas Russell does not go in.Blackwell's primary focus will be to build his body to handle the physical nature of being an inside midfielder amongst men. Very creative and football smart from what I have witnessed to balance out his lack of leg speed. Can't expect him to contribute in the seniors until 2007 but I predict will do well competing in an era dominated athletic types.

Russell does not get enough of the ball and hence does not figure prominantly in any of the games I have seen him play for the Bullants including the intra clubs. Not picked as a hard in and under type and his frame is too light at the moment to handle the more physical demands of AFL football. In the few times he has got the ball I have seen his exceptional skills including disposal, damaging pace and overhead marking. HE has the one important ingerdient our side current lacks and that is class.

They both need nurturing but have quality written all over them. Rest assured they will provide a lot better dividends to Carlton than a Wiggins or Sporn.

As for Hartlett, I remember seeing him tag Kouta an an intra club at the start of the year. Impressed with his size, great booming kick and ability to read the flight of the ball and fly in packs. He backs himself (unlike Livo who can only spoil at this stage) which is what I like to see in our emerging talent. Big kids tend to realise their potential a lot later than midfielders and until that turn the puppy fat into muscle we must be patient. I have read that he may have a attitudional issue but I an not privy to the basis behind that opinion. Does seem a little sluggish during training but lets give the kid a break as it was only last year he was playing with the kids in at West Adelaide and his injury has disrupted his development.

For me I very satisfactory pick 25 that needs to be nurtured before repaying our faith. Predict him to be the most influential of this years picks in years to come.

Satisfied with this years picks not so in the previous years. I have given Wayne Hughes the benefit of doubt

Interesting that Pagan should name Blackwell as the player he would have given a game to is not for the broken jaw.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!