Crab watch

[Yorkeys]

Rightly so. He never met his side of the contracts. Got away with murder under performing and being humoured. Well gone. Lucky we got Melbourne to fork out quarter of a mill. Excellent lay off.

[magnifisaint]

Nick Coffield having shoulder reconstruction and out for the next 3-4 months.

Shocking bad luck.

Not good at all but I think he is very over rated.
Bad luck for him.

[meher baba]

As I’ve posted before, some of the negativity towards Billings on here verges on the pathological.

How dare he not turn out to be as good as the Bont! F___ him!

I hope he just keeps going better and better at Melbourne (except when they play us) and continues to get up your noses.

[Moods]

As I’ve posted before, some of the negativity towards Billings on here verges on the pathological.

How dare he not turn out to be as good as the Bont! F___ him!

I hope he just keeps going better and better at Melbourne (except when they play us) and continues to get up your noses.

The only people mentioning the Bont are you and B.M. Has never really crossed my mind when being critical of Jack. And personally I've been skeptical about Jack virtually since the day we recruited him. Using pick 3 on a Collingwood 6 footer when even back then we were crying out for classy mids just didn't seem logical. I've said from the outset, he is a classic Shannon Grant type (who was a great player for North) but he (Jack) never lived up to expectations because his kicking was nothing like what we expected. He 'looked' classy but he kept skinnying the ball so it was often intercepted. He just doesn't have any real weapons, whereas his kicking and goal sense was supposed to be his weapon. His goal kicking was below average to poor for a small fwd.

On the back of a couple of great games in 2018/19 we paid him a fortune, BUT apart from one year finishing top 5 in our B&F he's never had a great season. And he played 10 seasons with us I think. His last few seasons he was basically a liability tbh, either couldn't get on the park and when he did had zero impact on the game. And we were paying him 600k a season. Ridiculous.

The only player in recent years who has made us look silly with trades is Acres. I will be genuinely surprised if Billings does as well given his age, injury history and inability to be consistent. But if he does and our kids continue to blossom I see it as the classic win/win situation.

I'll be watching the Dees v Port game this week with real interest. Should be a ripper game and I'll be curious if Jack can impact away from the G (where there are nice open spaces for him) against a quality opposition in a hostile environment. Not expecting him to get his 20 plus possessions but as a smallish fwd can still impact the game with a few good acts and a goal here and there

[meher baba]

Moods: "The only player in recent years who has made us look silly with trades is Acres."

I wouldn't have said so. He's a bit like Guerra: he was deservedly moved on by us and only blossomed later on (in the case of Acres, only after being moved on by a second club). And he's not exactly a superstar even now.

The only transfer of the past decade that doesn't look all that fantastic IMO was Stanley to Geelong for pick 21, which we used on Hugh Goddard. But what we can't entirely know is state of the relationship between the player and club at the time, which might have made the decision more or less inevitable. Geelong have gotten really good value out of Stanley, but, TBH, our lineup in the second half of the 2010s was so weak that he wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Billings will never make us look silly either, no matter how well he goes at the Demons. It is clear that his relationship with our coaching staff last year wasn't any good, and we need Lyon and our other current coaches a helluva lot more than we needed Billings.

[Moods]

Moods: "The only player in recent years who has made us look silly with trades is Acres."

I wouldn't have said so. He's a bit like Guerra: he was deservedly moved on by us and only blossomed later on (in the case of Acres, only after being moved on by a second club). And he's not exactly a superstar even now.

The only transfer of the past decade that doesn't look all that fantastic IMO was Stanley to Geelong for pick 21, which we used on Hugh Goddard. But what we can't entirely know is state of the relationship between the player and club at the time, which might have made the decision more or less inevitable. Geelong have gotten really good value out of Stanley, but, TBH, our lineup in the second half of the 2010s was so weak that he wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Billings will never make us look silly either, no matter how well he goes at the Demons. It is clear that his relationship with our coaching staff last year wasn't any good, and we need Lyon and our other current coaches a helluva lot more than we needed Billings.

Agree with almost all of that. Although we could definitely use Acres on the wing atm. His running up and down the ground, his height, size, age profile, is definitely a player we misjudged. At the time I thought we'd given him enough chances as well though. Good luck to him. I'm happy for him but disappointed for us.

[wally]

Acres use may have been similar to Battle, never settling in a position and in our case & Freo used as a second ruck.
I don’t think Carlton ever used him in the ruck but could be wrong.
Our only real successful second ruck was Roma / Ryder.

[CQ SAINT]

As I’ve posted before, some of the negativity towards Billings on here verges on the pathological.

How dare he not turn out to be as good as the Bont! F___ him!

I hope he just keeps going better and better at Melbourne (except when they play us) and continues to get up your noses.

I hope we here from you when he falls up the steps and breaks a toe getting out of his car. You can talk about round 2 for the next 2 years.

[meher baba]

Acres use may have been similar to Battle, never settling in a position and in our case & Freo used as a second ruck.
I don’t think Carlton ever used him in the ruck but could be wrong.
Our only real successful second ruck was Roma / Ryder.

What about Jason Blake? One of the all-time great utility ruckmen.

[magnifisaint]

Fact of the matter is that Billings was never worth pick 3, even though he was highly rated.

[meher baba]

Fact of the matter is that Billings was never worth pick 3, even though he was highly rated.

Most observers at the time thought he had the potential to become a play-making mid. That never happened: I’m not entirely sure why. He’s too short and slow to be a major impact player anywhere else on the field. So what he has become is an B plus to A minus half forward.

So definitely not a pick 3. But not a total dud either.

[wally]

Yes I forgot Jason Blake of whom I was a fan I was meaning generally more recent

[Yorkeys]

Fact of the matter is that Billings was never worth pick 3, even though he was highly rated.

Its what happens when you can't think for yourself. Listen to sleeve tuggers, second guess. No talent amateurs. Who delegated such crucial decisions to such fools. How did they get their jobs. Makes a fan weep.

[B.M]

Coffield- Inj (season)
Gresham 8 possessions 0 goals
Billings 2 possessions at HT

[meher baba]

Billings had a first half he’d want to forget. Two good passes by foot, but also a couple of tackles that didn’t stick and far too much playing off his man.

[Scollop]

Coffield- Inj (season)
Gresham 8 possessions 0 goals
Billings 2 possessions at HT

Hang on

That's my job to post stats when Billings is having a poor game

[SaintPav]

I thought Billings was a super star half forward?



JFC

[SaintPav]

How come the Doggy Styles get to play s*** Toast twice in last 5 games with both games being in Melbourne?

[Scollop]

I thought Billings was a super star half forward?



JFC

Had 8 soft touches for 3 and bit quarters

Subbed off when the game is on the line.

Obviously no-where near being seen as a matchwinner or one of Goody's prime movers

[SaintPav]

I thought Billings was a super star half forward?



JFC

Had 8 soft touches for 3 and bit quarters

Subbed off when the game is on the line.

Obviously no-where near being seen as a matchwinner or one of Goody's prime movers

This thread isn’t called “Crab watch” for nothing.

[Bin Chicken]

How come the Doggy Styles get to play s*** Toast twice in last 5 games with both games being in Melbourne?

Lost me here. Looking at the draw, bullfrogs play egirls tomoz and that’s it for the year

[SaintPav]

How come the Doggy Styles get to play s*** Toast twice in last 5 games with both games being in Melbourne?

Lost me here. Looking at the draw, bullfrogs play egirls tomoz and that’s it for the year

They played them in the penultimate last season.

[Nick DalSanto Claus]

Aahh, Billings. The ultimate flat-track bully. The Graeme Hick of the AFL. Looks like a million dollars against ordinary opposition, but rarely performs when it's all on the line. Watch him dominate at Casey!

[Scollop]

Viney made mention of the sub in his post match interview just 15 minutes ago. He thought Taj gave them "strong options going forward" when he came on the ground

So... possibly the bloke he replaced wasn't giving them much at all ...for 3 and a bit quarters

[B.M]

I post his numbers when he has a poor game

And I posted when he had 24 and a goal

HFs are by there very nature a bit inconsistent

Tonight we had some HFs that never got near it.

To suggest Billings has never played good AFL footy is ignorant