Pick 29: Shai Bolton

[Ndts]

He is not a leader. Never was and never will be. Not a criticism just reality. He’s a very good player but not the one we need right now. We need 2 elite midfielders with leadership qualities. I will take 2 top 10 picks with my eyes closed.

 

[Webbie26]

Least of our problems

 

[CarnTheTiges]

His head is somewhere else at the moment.

 

[UKTiger]

Does some good things off the ball and in build up but then goes all flashy and screws up. As I have said many times, he is an enigma and will only play as well as he wants to. When he wants to he is something else and we need more of him in that mindset

 

[toothless]

Funnily enough I’m ok with pick 2 or 3

Less pressure on player and club

Less need to overthink those picks in a way and potentially snooker yourself

bid on Ashcroft and or Lombard. Simples.

 

[thegdog]

Should play as a permanent wingmen. Has all the tools the great Peter Matera had

 

[momentai]

Expect Baker, Broad and Graham to go for value and after the trade of later picks to maybe Brisbane our picks to look something like 1, 8, 15, 21, 35, 39 and 40 (and PSD 1), with ideally Davidson and El Nour taken at 39 and 40.

Colina, Coulthard, Cumberland, Dow, Grimes, McIntosh and Naismith to be delisted.

Dan and Shai are both contracted and will stay.
Dusty loves us and will stay on, play the odd game and I hope coach.

 

[Coburgtiger]

Let me preface this by saying my view on Damien Hardwick has not changed. He is a poor coach and we need to move him on.

Yes, I've been bullish about the list. But I was wrong. At least, I underestimated the depth of our midfield in 2017. I now think we can't win a flag with this mob. We need a full rebuild.

Why? Because our midfield isn't good enough. We haven't recruited pure mids. Simple. We had many chances to do it. We didn't. So let's start again. By my reckoning there should be seven pure midfielders on the list helping Cotch and Dusty. Where did we go wrong? Not hard to see:

1) Brandon Ellis - a 200 gamer, but not a pure mid. Winger. I am a fan but in hindsight we needed a different type. Stuck in no-man's land now.

2) Nick Vlastuin - a 200 gamer, but not a pure mid (queries over tank). HBF.

3) Reece Conca - capable of 200 games pending injuries. Not a pure mid. Not really suited anywhere unfortunately. HBF is best go.

4) Corey Ellis - not big enough. not powerful enough. bust.

5) Ben Lennon - forward. will probably be traded / delisted if he can't pull his finger out.

6) Prestia - can't get his body going. every game off the park is a game we could be getting into the pick 6.

7) Caddy - thought he'd play mid but is too top-heavy and slow.

To play the high-press we clearly set up for at the start of the year we needed a high rotation of capable mids. We don't have it and won't have it unless we rebuild. Now we are stuck with a methodical tactical setup because we can't win the ball for long enough or apply mid pressure for long enough.

As widely noted, we have four once-in-a-generation players. Such a tragedy that we haven't been able to bolster their fine work with the requisite midfield quality.

To be clear, I thought we had chances to cement top four berths in 2013 and 2015. We botched them through poor tactics and selection. Over the journey Hardwick has had capable lists. No longer. Hardwick has to go, but the midfield issue is diabolical. A recruiting failure of the highest order.

We need to saddle up for some pain. It's tempting to suggest that because mids don't take forever to develop, we MIGHT be able to give our champions some joy while we can. But the realist in me suspects we are also critically deficient in a quality running half back and viable tall marking options.

We need to start again. New coach, new recruiting team. As much as it pains me to say it, we should trade off Dusty and Jack to facilitate high picks. Cotch and Rance should stay to provide leadership through the transition.

The rebuild is coming, of that I'm certain. Hopefully Balmey can see the writing on the wall. You can't win flags with only a handful of bona fide mids.

This was posted in early 2017. Probably unfair to post this Baron, we've all made errors over the years, but if you're going to deny that you ever thought we should trade dusty and Jack... It seems we never have enough young mids!

This is incorrect, can’t remember the Dusty thing either

I supported the list all though 2013-17, along with lamb22

I do remember wanting Hardwick gone after 2016 though, that one is true

 

[Mr Brightside]

Should play as a permanent wingmen. Has all the tools the great Peter Matera had

Best wingman I’ve seen , footskills of Matera were in a different stratosphere to Bolton’s , workrate a little different too imho , though I don’t mind the idea of Bolton on a wing

 

[Mr Brightside]

Least of our problems

IMHO he is one of the problems w26, arguably our best player and he’s producing nowhere near what a fully invested star should be , even on TV we see him just stop and bludge . His very much a senior player now and we need players like Bolton busting there guts to keep us competitive, , he consistently misses tackles , berates teamates.

I’d be very disappointed in our leadership group if they are not having a quiet word to Bolton re attitude and effort.

It’s not Bolton’s fault we are *smile* , however he is definitely part of the problem of this unit that dosent back their teammates , dosent run over to pick a teammate up , the non negotiables are now a shadow of what they were when we were great , Bolton can absolutely be a leader in getting us back up the ladder .

 

[Redford]

IMHO he is one of the problems , arguably our best player and he’s producing nowhere near what a fully invested star should be , even on TV we see him just stop and bludge . His very much a senior player now and we need players like Bolton busting there guts to keep us competitive, constantly misses tackles , berating teammates.

I’d be very disappointed in our leadership group if they are not having a quiet word to Bolton re attitude and effort.

It’s not Bolton’s fault we are *smile* , however he is definitely part of the problem of this unit that dosent back their teammates , dosent run over to pick a teammate up , the non negotiables are now a shadow of what they were when we were great , Bolton can absolutely be a leader in getting us back up the ladder .

That missed attempt on goal with plenty of time in the first quarter was ultra casual.

 

[Mr Brightside]

That missed attempt on goal with plenty of time in the first quarter was ultra casual.

Not hard to find examples of that over his career.

In Bolton’s defence his footskills are ok at best , I think his not quite as lacklustre as he appears , but geez it makes him look bad at times

 

[DuD_Delist]

IMHO he is one of the problems , arguably our best player and he’s producing nowhere near what a fully invested star should be , even on TV we see him just stop and bludge . His very much a senior player now and we need players like Bolton busting there guts to keep us competitive, , he consistently misses tackles , berates teamates.

I’d be very disappointed in our leadership group if they are not having a quiet word to Bolton re attitude and effort.

It’s not Bolton’s fault we are *smile* , however he is definitely part of the problem of this unit that dosent back their teammates , dosent run over to pick a teammate up , the non negotiables are now a shadow of what they were when we were great , Bolton can absolutely be a leader in getting us back up the ladder .

 

[Mr Brightside]

View attachment 23701

Great movie

 

[DuD_Delist]

Great movie

Indeed.
Jamie Lee Curtis in her prime.

 

[Little Ziggyadee]

Richmond End of Season Sale

 

[tha8ball]

Would love for him to stay. Genuine game winner. However if he wants to go to WA - well to me he looks a player that will just go through the motions until he gets there. Any signs of lack of effort or desire spreads like wild fire through a playing group.

I would do the trade whilst his value is sky high and freo are ready to pull the trigger on an elite talent that might possibly take them to the promised land.

 

[Carter]

This was posted in early 2017. Probably unfair to post this Baron, we've all made errors over the years, but if you're going to deny that you ever thought we should trade dusty and Jack... It seems we never have enough young mids!

I don’t mind at all burg, dunno why you’re that invested lol, but sure!

I’ve said repeatedly that I am a mug punter with no idea, but your time is your own

 

[spook]

He is not a leader. Never was and never will be. Not a criticism just reality. He’s a very good player but not the one we need right now. We need 2 elite midfielders with leadership qualities. I will take 2 top 10 picks with my eyes closed.

The only problem with that is Freo won't have two top-10 picks. They might not even have one. What if their first two picks are 11 and 14?

 

[Long Lost Hernaman]

Should play as a permanent wingmen. Has all the tools the great Peter Matera had

Except he doesn’t have the engine or the will to run both ways.