Yes I did, it was clearly a case of leaving his best game to last. It left me wondering why he did not play like that in some more of his 6 year 79 games career, didn't it you?? I mean, Long obviously has talent to produce such a strong dominating performance as he did in round 23.Scollop wrote: ↑Wed 21 Dec 2022 5:53pm
Several very interesting observations there with your final statement
With Long you have to understand that the Saints played him as a forward for most of his career
Ben was challenged by Brett Ratten to change from the forward line to the backline and he delivered with a very good and consistent year in 2020. His numbers were as good as Coffield, Clark, and even Paton.
How is Ben any different to the players mentioned. They have all had interrupted careers for one reason or another.
Can I just say that Ben Long did find his mojo with the Saints and he proved during several games what he was capable of but the club has a history of losing talent to its competitors
Did you watch the round 23 match against Sydney?
I don't think it's right to characterise Ben Long's move to the Suns as a case of St Kilda "losing talent to its competitors", as the following article in The Age on 22 September explains, the club had put a new contract on the table, which Long declined:
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/eme ... 5bhvy.html
What I do agree with is that for far too many years young players seem to take an extraordinary long time to achieve their potential - the headline "Emerging Saint" for a player who's been at the club for 6 years says it all!
On the bright side, the debut this season of three 2021 draftees Windhager, Wanganeen-Milera and Owens gives us hope that under Damian Carroll, with support from the new coaching panel in 2023, that particular aspect of player development will be vastly better....