Paul Hunter delisted

[magnifisaint]

Just more poor team management from our club

Literally left with two ruckman, and now the saviour I guess is the 29yo Campbell who at best is a poor mans McKernan

I am left astounded by what our strategy (if any ) is?

PS And god forbid we go for Mason Cox, that could just about be a straw looking for a camel

Is your name David King? It's easy to hurl abuse.
That have Max Heath in the wings.

Yeah true that we have Heath. But we did go for Xerri and missed. So there's clearly a need there. Tom Campbell?????? I seriously hope not. The delisted ruckman fifth in line at the bottom team. Sure to be a winning strategy.

Got to be better than Tim English

[bangaulegend]

Don't get me wrong I don't rate Hunter but apparently we are targeting the 4th back up ruck man from the team that won the wooden spoon .

[damienc]

I am somewhat dismayed at the naysayers who crank into life the minute the club's tries its best to solve an ongoing problem.

We need a backup ruckman for Paddy who is in the twilight of his career and can't be expected to play every game next season.

The club looked around for a quality backup ruckman, a big ask at the best of times.

We tried for Trystan Xerri but NM wanted too big a price.

Paul Hunter clearly cannot cut the mustard.

Tom Campbell did a pretty job double teaming with Goldstein. Good enough to keep Xerri out of the Kangas best 22 for almost all of 2021.

He is available to us for nothing and a proven AFL performer.

Campbell is a dramatic improvement on Hunter.

Heath hasn't played VFL let alone AFL.

Whatever the club does in this space it will never satisfy some.

Similar negative remarks were made when we recruited Paddy and he made all the naysayers eat their words.

I am not suggesting Campbell is in the same league as Paddy, but if the club signs him then we should get behind the decision.

[skeptic]

Don't get me wrong I don't rate Hunter but apparently we are targeting the 4th back up ruck man from the team that won the wooden spoon .

Yeah it does seem underwhelming not that I care that much I guess if he’s better than Paul

Still feels like we could do better. Surely there’d be a better option somewhere in the various state leagues

[bangaulegend]

I am somewhat dismayed at the naysayers who crank into life the minute the club's tries its best to solve an ongoing problem.

We need a backup ruckman for Paddy who is in the twilight of his career and can't be expected to play every game next season.

The club looked around for a quality backup ruckman, a big ask at the best of times.

We tried for Trystan Xerri but NM wanted too big a price.

Paul Hunter clearly cannot cut the mustard.

Tom Campbell did a pretty job double teaming with Goldstein. Good enough to keep Xerri out of the Kangas best 22 for almost all of 2021.

He is available to us for nothing and a proven AFL performer.

Campbell is a dramatic improvement on Hunter.

Heath hasn't played VFL let alone AFL.

Whatever the club does in this space it will never satisfy some.

Similar negative remarks were made when we recruited Paddy and he made all the naysayers eat their words.

I am not suggesting Campbell is in the same league as Paddy, but if the club signs him then we should get behind the decision.

IMO Tom Campbell is hardly better than Paul Hunter I hope he proves me wrong

[nostalgicsaint]

A real highlight for me is people looking at North Melbourne's ladder position to judge their ruck depth.

Most teams play one maybe two genuine rucks and they had/have goldy.

It's like saying stuart MacGil was an ordinary spinner because he rarely played for Australia.

[nostalgicsaint]

As for the comparison...

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_ ... 2=S&type=A

[shanegrambeau]

So we assume someone has already signed, and hence this delisting?

[st.byron]

I am somewhat dismayed at the naysayers who crank into life the minute the club's tries its best to solve an ongoing problem.

We need a backup ruckman for Paddy who is in the twilight of his career and can't be expected to play every game next season.

The club looked around for a quality backup ruckman, a big ask at the best of times.

We tried for Trystan Xerri but NM wanted too big a price.

Paul Hunter clearly cannot cut the mustard.

Tom Campbell did a pretty job double teaming with Goldstein. Good enough to keep Xerri out of the Kangas best 22 for almost all of 2021.

He is available to us for nothing and a proven AFL performer.

Campbell is a dramatic improvement on Hunter.

Heath hasn't played VFL let alone AFL.

Whatever the club does in this space it will never satisfy some.

Similar negative remarks were made when we recruited Paddy and he made all the naysayers eat their words.

I am not suggesting Campbell is in the same league as Paddy, but if the club signs him then we should get behind the decision.

Like we should have got behind recruiting Dan Hannebery? Campbell is fifth ruckman in line at the bottom team. Goldstein, Coleman-Jones, Xerri, Edwards ahead of him. The issue is not so much recruiting Tom Campbell, but continuing to recruit past it players instead of younger fellas. Is it a fair argument to say that Hannebery, apart from not being able to get on the park has taken a chunk of the salary cap that could have been deployed elsewhere? That and we paid way overs for Hill as well. Outcome? Not in a position to make a genuine play for Ladhams.
I hope Campbell does a great job. I hope he's more than serviceable. But it's not just nay-saying to look at the club's old bloke / past their best/ superannuant recruiting pattern with a critical eye. Especially if it's cost us opportunities to make a play for good young prospects that could become long term players.

[st.byron]

A real highlight for me is people looking at North Melbourne's ladder position to judge their ruck depth.

Most teams play one maybe two genuine rucks and they had/have goldy.

It's like saying stuart MacGil was an ordinary spinner because he rarely played for Australia.

Do you think it's irrelevant that Campbell is fifth choice at the bottom side? Yes they have Goldy, but there are 3 others there ahead of Campbell. They had five ruckman and the one they're not keeping is Campbell. Just frustrates me that the club keeps on picking up past it old blokes to plug gaps.

[bangaulegend]

As for the comparison...

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_ ... 2=S&type=A

I he was 24 maybe but almost 30 it's a no from me

[Wayne42]

This is probably the type of thing that makes an ex Saint suggest we are not in the Premiership business but simply playing AFL.

[mad saint guy]

Tom Campbell has always been a solid backup ruck option. Paul Hunter was losing ruck contests to mid-sized utilities.

Think Hunter ever would have had a game like this? https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_ ... s?mid=9419

[saint6709]

There’s a fair bit of s*** that gets posted here and I don’t need to quote lines - but Hunter unfortunately wasn’t that great and Cambell wasnt last guy in the squad in the bottom team
(We might not get him anyway) We do need a break glass in emergency guy and hopefully we have one lined up who is better than Hunter

But good on him and thanks - how many blokes get to boast an afl career ?

[Devilhead]

Maybe we have someone else in mind ...... a rabbit out of the hat?

[avid]

yeah -- Paul Hunter worked pretty hard at it, and played with heart.
Thanks, and well done.

[avid]

yeah -- Paul Hunter worked pretty hard at it, and played with heart.
Thanks, and well done.

[lewdogs]

Tom Campbell's stats look half decent for a back-up. 30 isn't even that old for a ruckman.

The club clearly identified that Hunter just wasn't up to it. I don't mind the move at all of getting Campbell in, while young Heath develops for a few years.

As for Paul, thank you for your time at the club. Was asked to play some tough roles for us. All the best.

[Ghost Like]

I think damienc hit the nail on the head that Campbell was chosen in front of Xerri last season, so he must be OK. Yes he's 30 but then again I wish Paddy was 30.

In an ideal season he will only play when we want to rest Paddy, he won't be signed to take the place of Paddy or RoMa. He's our emergency, not our future. That's for the likes of Heath and maybe Xerri next season.

Seem a good move if he is Hunter's replacement. I don't know who else there is / was, we certainly couldn't afford to waste money buying one, well not this year.

[damienc]

Maybe we have someone else in mind ...... a rabbit out of the hat?

Who?

[happy feet]

Maybe we have someone else in mind ...... a rabbit out of the hat?

Who?

I hope it’s not Mason Cox.

[Banger9798]

He had a decent game against Freo
Good luck to him, but not AFL standard.

We need someone who can come in and at least hold their own in the ruck.

[ace]

https://www.saints.com.au/news/1027000/ ... ank-hunter

"Hi Paul, just a phone call to say thankyou".

"Does that mean I am cut".

"Yes, you better get to hospital before you lose too much blood".