Milne - Best Small Forward

[bunyip]

 ;D

[Justin Bieber]

What a Debate!!!!
I'll get to it sometime tommorrow ;D.
Read first couple of posts and bits and pieces here and there. So much writing :o.

[wooly]

What a Debate!!!!
I'll get to it sometime tommorrow ;D.
Read first couple of posts and bits and pieces here and there. So much writing :o.

Haha I do apologise for that; just thought the best way to explain it to ossie was to breakdown each point, as he didn't seem to understand what I was asking/saying... which is not surprising since he is a collingwood supporter :P

[ossie85]

Well, SO'S YOUR FACE! lol

Please don't misconstrue my disagreeing with you as not understanding! I understood, and moved on.....

[wooly]

Well, SO'S YOUR FACE! lol

Please don't misconstrue my disagreeing with you as not understanding! I understood, and moved on.....

Well... YOUR MUM! lol

[Master Q]

Sorry Wooly, but I have to agree with ossie.

[Master Q]

The Best Small Forwards are to good for their roles as Small Forwards, eg Brad Johnson.

[wooly]

The Best Small Forwards are to good for their roles as Small Forwards, eg Brad Johnson.

I agree and I'm not arguing that point, just asking the question: Name a player under 6ft (<183cm) who essentially played (or plays) their entire career as a small forward that had (or will have) a better career than Milne?

And as you would have seen I agreed with ossie that Brad Johnson is better. Is there anyone else?

[bunyip]

Cyril Rioli?

[wooly]

Cyril Rioli?

Could definitely end up having a much better career than Milne, but too early to tell. At his current pace (55 games, 61 goals; 1.1 goals per match) he won't.

[wooly]

Not a leader of his club. Goes missing in big games.

I agree with ossie. Schnieder as well

Was reading back through the earlier posts (see ossie! :P) and must have missed this whilst ossie and I were having our "intense" discussion lol.

I would tend to agree with you (and ossie) on these points, and it is extremely difficult for me to disput them however I will make an attempt.

First: Not a leader of his club. I would certainly agree that for the better part of his career Milne has not been seen as a leader of his club. However under Ross Lyon I think he has developed leadership (along with numerous other things like consistency, but I'll stick with leadership). Of course the only way you, ossie or I could tell if Milne is/ is not a leader of his club is if we were actually at the club for an extended period of time to observe Milne's leaderhsip. The best thing we have to go off is public comments made by his coach, Ross Lyon:

It’s a goal within the team parameters of leading, crumbing and pressuring. He’s a real team player and a real leader of the forward line

It is a special effort to play 200 games. For a small forward it is really tough, you try and identify the great ones like (Peter) Daicos, Brett Allison, (Darren) Bewick and (Phil) Matera. He certainly sits up around there somewhere

We value him internally, he’s got great character

He has stood up under real pressure. You can’t beat your critics, you can’t answer your critics, all you can do is persist and have some longevity in your career and keep producing, that is the ultimate revenge

Source: http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/96015/default.aspx

Now before you say "he was just saying that to defend Milne" think about the position Lyon is in: His comments will be heard by everyone including Milne's teammates (and the players he mentioned). He therefore is unlikely to state something that is untrue and that his players will disagree with. Comments like the one's above are not made lightly.

Second: Goes missing in big games. I tend to agree with this and given I have exams at the moment I have neither the time or patience to look up Milnes record in big games (and therefore prove whether this comment is legitimate or not). Based on the game on the weekend it appeared he has also overcome this shortfall, although it is only one game so it hardly proves that.

Interesting side note: as I searched for Lyon's exact quote in Google I also found this quote from Leigh Matthews:

Averaging two goals a game as a permanent small forward is a very good return

Some more quotes from the same article:

His best and worst are often a long way apart, but he plays a difficult position extremely well.

getting nine inside-50 marks - now that is something right out of the box, which is very much a one-off

Source: http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/95798/default.aspx

P.S. Sorry for the extra reading HP ;D

[wooly]

Sorry Wooly, but I have to agree with ossie.

No need to be sorry Q, this topic is extremely debateable and I have no issues with people disagreeing with me; in fact I welcome comment's like ossies'. A discussion like this one is always good fun.

[Master Q]

Cyril Rioli?

Could definitely end up having a much better career than Milne, but too early to tell. At his current pace (55 games, 61 goals; 1.1 goals per match) he won't.

What!?

[wooly]

Cyril Rioli?

Could definitely end up having a much better career than Milne, but too early to tell. At his current pace (55 games, 61 goals; 1.1 goals per match) he won't.

What!?

...?

[Master Q]

You claim that at his current goal scoring pace of 1.1 Per Game he won't be better then Milne? Since when is a Pocket judged on for how many goals they kick? Firstly, Rioli runs down players, adds defensive pressure takes marks, goes on runs. Were as for Milne, kicks 3-4 goals a game, most of them anyone could kick.

At Rioli's rate, he will overtake Milne next year.