Which rookies should be elevated?

TigerTime88 · Mar 14, 2010

Re: Remaining Spot on List: Rookie Elevation?

From what I have seen I am hoping at this years draft we delist:

McMahon, White and two more meaning we can upgrade all four of them!

CallMeAl · Mar 14, 2010

To not upgrade Relton Roberts would be foolish.

Fit or not, he kicks goals and sets them up with clean disposal. Actually he seems to create goals.

His body is mature.

His head is mature.

He is ready to go now. He will pick up his fitness playing with Richmond the same as he would at coburg, That would take maybe 5-6 weeks, then what? hope you get a long term injury so you can elevate him?

He has shown he can adapt to the pace of AFL footy so now, while he is confident is the time to play him.

Strike while the iron is hot, so to speak.

I'ts good to hear all these reports than everytime relton comes off the ground he is blowing his slit out. Means he's putting in and pushing hard.

Who are the blokes coming off the ground that are not blowing hard?

Billy Bob65 · Mar 14, 2010

As an outsider, if you don't elevate Roberts, there is something wrong. I've seen your last 2 games, and Roberts has looked much better than Taylor who I thought he would be competing for a spot with. His skills really shone, especially last week, when you had so many turnover merchants (like McMahon, White, Tuck and King) playing.

Yes Contin, was very good against Collingwood but you've got to remember the Pies were playing their B midfield group + Luke Ball. There was no Swan, Pendlebury, Davis, Didak and O'Bree, who all spend some time in the middle. He also didn't play yesterday.

Polak - Can't remember his NAB Cup game, but he was absolutely dreadful against Collingwood - barely touched the ball. Although from memory he had Presti, which probably explains it. If he gets elevated, either he's already been promised it, or you're really desperate for tall forwards.

Gourdis - Didn't notice him much yesterday tbh. Having said that, seeing he's a key back and I'm supporting the opposition unless he was regularly punching the ball away from our forwards, being a turnover king, or getting a ton kicked on him, I probably wasn't going to pay much attention to him in the first place.

_RT_ · Mar 15, 2010

After watching the pre season games I've come to the decision about who I want to see elevated, its Gourdis and Roberts. For most of the preseason I was on the Polak bandwagon but he just hasn't delivered on what I expected him to. Yeah he crashes packs and attracts a quality opponent but is that what we really want from an elevated rookie being nothing more than a decoy for Jack & Mitch.

For mine it has to be players that might actually go on to have an impact on how our future. For that reason I'm now on the Gourdis & Roberts bandwagon, yeah I know its a shock old RT has changed his mind again, but looking at the big picture these 2 have the great chance of being long term players IMO and the only way we're going to find out if that will be the case or not is to put gametime into them. As long as they hold their form they should be played as often as possible.

TigerTime88 · Mar 15, 2010

Completely Agree.

Gourdis was good on Saturday he took some great marks and spoiled alot.

He actually plays off his man slightly because he is so much quicker than any other KPD that he can draw the ball to them on an entry and then get there for the spoil quite easily. Perfect match up for the likes of Fev and Buddy...

TRAIN OF THOUGHT · Mar 15, 2010

Having seen Relton play a fair bit in the NT & GVFL he is a serious footballer with a lot of blue sky (many good NT judges will tell you he is the most skilled footballer up there)
He has never been conditioned at elite level and when he comes to hand is very capable of playing afl midfield
In the mean time Richmond would be mad not to utilise his x factor and elite kicking skills
He wont hurt your membership either - he will be a cult figure - if he isnt already

STALNI-TIGERS · Mar 15, 2010