The official Sam Reid/Daniel Currie Memorial Eker Thread

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eke

eke
2 to manage with difficulty to make (a living, livelihood etc) The artist could scarcely eke out a living from his painting.

'Ekers' is a term I use for players who are great at eking out a career. Please don't confuse my ekers with list cloggers though.

List cloggers include players who once were guns that are no longer worth their spot on the list. The term relates to their value here and now.

Being an Eker is based on:
- Whole career: Never being a gun/All-Australian/Best and Fairest winner etc.
- Just doing enough to survive.
- Unlike the term 'list clogger', Eker does not imply you should be delisted (however it does help). You can actually be an Eker and a valuable member of your side.
- Pure ekers survive by finding playing a role that their side really struggles to fill.
- The longer the survive, the great an Eker you are.
- Special bonus points for being able to survive despite being delisted/traded away for nothing.

The delistings that come with list lodgements are the worst time of the year for these Ekers. Many has fallen but that means even more eker respect for those who survived.

Anyways, after my super laborious explanations, here are my nominations for each club's greatest current Eker.

Adelaide: Michael Doughty
Brisbane: Brent Staker
Carlton: Simon Wiggins
Collingwood: Leigh Brown
Essendon: Nathan Lovett-Murray
Fremantle: Antoni Grover
Geelong: Josh Hunt
Hawthorn: Simon Taylor
Melbourne: Mark Jamar
North Melbourne: Leigh Harding
Port Adelaide: Jay Schulz
Richmond: Jordan McMahon
St.Kilda: Sean Dempster
Sydney: Henry Playfair
West Coast: Ashely Hansen
Western Bulldogs: Nathan Eagleton

lol....


girlfriend busy 2nite Rocco?

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Originally Posted by Throughandthrough

lol....


girlfriend busy 2nite Rocco?

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Watching Sopranos DVD.

If, as expected, he runs around again in 2010, Eagleton will have 'eked' out a career spanning near enough to 300 matches. That's a longer career than such luminaries as Carey, Buckley, Brereton, Flower and Skilton amongst others.

Simon Wiggins has indeed done a good job of being able to sustain a career spanning 9 seasons so far and 100+ matches with the talent he has been given.

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Originally Posted by Sedat

If, as expected, he runs around again in 2010, Eagleton will have 'eked' out a career spanning near enough to 300 matches. That's a longer career than such luminaries as Carey, Buckley, Brereton, Flower and Skilton amongst others.

Simon Wiggins has done a good job of being able to sustain a career spanning 9 seasons so far and 100+ matches with the talent he has been given.

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Yep. I find players who keep on finding ways to extend their careers very interesting. Simon Wiggins is an Eker in it's purest form.

Doughty is as good as a footballer as you can be and still be an Eker at the moment. I was suprised to hear he is 30. 166 games for 3 Brownlow votes. Crows delisting Nick Gill was very harsh on this exercise.

All hail the great Eker of all time!

http://www.blueseum.org/img/wiki_up/losullivan.jpg

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Originally Posted by Rocco Jones

Anyways, after my super laborious explanations, here are my nominations for each club's greatest current Eker.

Adelaide: Michael Doughty
Brisbane: Brent Staker
Carlton: Simon Wiggins
Collingwood: Leigh Brown
Essendon: Nathan Lovett-Murray
Fremantle: Antoni Grover
Geelong: Josh Hunt
Hawthorn: Simon Taylor
Melbourne: Mark Jamar
North Melbourne: Leigh Harding
Port Adelaide: Jay Schulz
Richmond: Jordan McMahon
St.Kilda: Sean Dempster
Sydney: Henry Playfair
West Coast: Ashely Hansen
Western Bulldogs: Nathan Eagleton

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IIRC, at least half of those are playing with at least their second club. Coincidence or part of your theory?

If you're at a loose end, a list of Ekers who are premiership players over the last 15 years would be interesting - I'd bet most flag winning clubs had one.

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Originally Posted by Dry Rot

IIRC, at least half of those are playing with at least their second club. Coincidence or part of your theory?

If you're at a loose end, a list of Ekers who are premiership players over the last 15 years would be interesting - I'd bet most flag winning clubs had one.

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Part of my theory DR, it's a sign of being able to barely survive. I must not that there are many more Ekers running around, they are just the best at their club. Crows are rather bereft of them. There are a few up and coming Ekers too. I like the look of our very own Steven Tiller.

Shane Ellen is part of the Eker Alumni.

My first thought when I saw this thread was of the multitude of Kevin Sheedy 'special projects' to have eked out 8+ season careers for the Bombers - the likes of Kevin Walsh, David Flood, Dean Wallis, David Grenvold, Mark Bolton and Aaron Henneman.

Of past Dogs, I would think that the likes of Nigel Kellett, Greg Eppulstun and Todd Curley all fit the 'eker' criteria quite well. Luke O'Sullivan is 'eker' royalty.

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Originally Posted by Sedat

My first thought when I saw this thread was of the multitude of Kevin Sheedy 'special projects' to have eked out 8+ season careers for the Bombers - the likes of Kevin Walsh, David Flood, Dean Wallis, David Grenvold, Mark Bolton and Aaron Henneman spring to mind.

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Listing some of the greats. Daniel McAllister is another one. Mark Bolton is vintage Eker.

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Originally Posted by Rocco Jones

Part of my theory DR, it's a sign of being able to barely survive. I must not that there are many more Ekers running around, they are just the best at their club. Crows are rather bereft of them. There are a few up and coming Ekers too. I like the look of our very own Steven Tiller.

Shane Ellen is part of the Eker Alumni.

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Looking from their draft year onwards, perhaps they're a little better than they are given credit for.

IIRC, only 30-50% of first round draft picks are successful and that figure gets a lot worse very quickly round by round. But 5 or 10 years on, the Ekers are still listed, battling on.

In this sense, they should be celebrated - they've done a lot better than most of their draft peers.

I suppose another factor is the salary cap - it would be great for a team to have a list of stars, but no club can afford them. Ekers are essential!

Bred Miller is ekeing out a pretty long career relative to his limited ability and the one trick he has in his repertoire of leading hard to present - a bit of a modern day (and a poor man's it must be said) 'Galaxy' Glenn Coleman

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Originally Posted by Sedat

Bred Miller is ekeing out a pretty long career relative to his limited ability and the one trick he has in his repertoire of leading hard to present - a bit of a modern day (and a poor man's it must be said) 'Galaxy' Glenn Coleman

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Yeah Miller is an Eker. Jamar and Johnson vs Campbell and Taylor in the ruck this year was Eker bliss (not sure they even played in the same game but it suits the thread).

For those playing at home; Eagleton, Callan and Tiller are the Bulldog Ekers.

Ekers that spring to mind

Sam Power - amazed (and good on him) he played over 100 games of senior footy
Josh Mahoney - traded & delisted by 2 seperate clubs, played in a flag with club 3

Tom Williams currently ekeing out a career on potential - and I say that being a massive fan of his