View Full Version : Efficient ball users at collingwood
Ok guys over the years i feel better when the ball is in a particular players hands. ie When they get it you can be 95% sure there will not be a critical error.
I dont know it just relaxes me a little, if you know where im coming from.
Nathan Buckley and Jimmy Clement were my old favourites. Those gents never made mistakes.
But since they have retired i have found 2 more. Tarkyn Lockyer is the best kick in our team without a doubt imo. Hes been a very efficient ball user for many years now.
My other player may suprise a few, but i just have a strong sense of security when dane swan gets the pill. Seems to use it well (except when going for goal!)
any of yours over the years???
unplugged
12 Jun 2008, 00:09
This year I've got a lot of confidence in Didak when he's got the ball (in his hands). He's a great kick of the footy and isn't afraid to trust his kicking abilities, proven by the fact he's leading the AFL kicking stats by 31.
Also, everytime I see Wellingham with the ball, already I see him as an unselfish player as he's always willing to look for options before going for gold himself.
Of course, when Dane Swan and Heath Shaw get it, you know the ball's going to be somewhat safe as well.
dalethomas13
12 Jun 2008, 00:13
Very hard to overlook Didak and Davis. Everytime they touch it something happens and they are touching it more often these days which is a plus. Pendles too.
I think overall the ball-use at Collingwood has undergone a rapid transformation from say 2004/2005, where all of our players can use the ball effectively. In those two particular years our ball-use was crap and we were renowned for clangers constantly- just ask Taz unfortunately. He would burn off his opponent only for the ball to be kicked over his head, drop short, wide of the mark or out on the full.
Credit to the coaching and recruiting staff for developing and improving the players' skill levels and for drafting correctly.
Pendlebury and medhurst for me
i know medders plays more in the forward area , but when he looks to give it off or set up another player its a deadeye kick.
pendles you just feel safe with.
leon a noteable mention, i love the way he lays the ball on his boot aswell lol so smooth
pendles
12 Jun 2008, 00:14
Given last years departures, pendles by a mile.
Dave The Man
12 Jun 2008, 00:15
Pendles is the Best we have:thumbsu:
magpies42
12 Jun 2008, 00:17
You cant really go past didak or davis pendles and marty clarke come in close. The rest are all really good too bar the few exceptions!
perhaps a better question is who would you rather not have the ball,
for me its. Obree and rhyce shaw! obrien can ____ it up running out of defense also! thomas can be poor at times, but that is usually after he has run flat stick for a hundred meters bouncing the ball 10 times....
All around I'd say Didak is the best kick and Lockyer the most efficient. Clarke's long 50 metre kicks out the backline are great too. Pendlebury is very clean and efficient. Johnson never misses a running shot at goal. Medhurst never misses a snap.
Palmer Stoat
12 Jun 2008, 00:40
I can't believe people are mentioning Dane Swan. The one thing that holds him back from being absolutely elite is his kicking. There have been times this year when his kicking has been dreadful. He seems to have regained a little more touch in the last couple of weeks, but his kicking has been subpar this year, even by his standards.
Safest kick at Collingwood is probably Shane Wakelin for my money. Doesn't have the tricks of Didak, Davis, or Medhurst, but he's the one I'd back to hit a regulation target (off either foot) if my life depended on it. Lockyer and Pendlebury are pretty reliable too. Despite putting one out of bounds on the full against the Dees, O'Brien has developed into a very safe kick too -- something I never thought I'd say about him.
PendlePie
12 Jun 2008, 01:12
Pendlebury's kicking accuracy for the season has been at around 82% - in the elite for an AFL player. It's safe to say that he's probably our most accurate kick.
Didak would definitely be up there also.
unplugged
12 Jun 2008, 02:16
Pendlebury's kicking accuracy for the season has been at around 82% - in the elite for an AFL player. It's safe to say that he's probably our most accurate kick.
Where does one obtain such a statistic?
magpies42
12 Jun 2008, 02:43
Where does one obtain such a statistic?
sometimes ur arse, but you can get them on AFL.com.au
chappo52
12 Jun 2008, 03:49
All around I'd say Didak is the best kick and Lockyer the most efficient. Clarke's long 50 metre kicks out the backline are great too. Pendlebury is very clean and efficient. Johnson never misses a running shot at goal. Medhurst never misses a snap.
on his left...was forced on the right on monday and its was shocking..
Invigoration
12 Jun 2008, 03:51
Pendles is a great kick, but tends to chip a little to often for my liking.
Based on consistency and a difficulty rating, I'd certainly say Leon. He would be up there with the best kicks in the AFL I think.
You see the ball in his hands and you generally know we aren't going to lose possession.
I also reckon Wellingham has and always has always been a beautiful disposer by foot, but being new to AFL level tends to be a bit handball happy and a bit more hesitant to turn it over by foot.
I can't wait to see him get really comfortable at AFL level and start backing himself to hit targets consistently.
Lol @ Dane Swan getting mentioned, the man lacks some serious penetration in his kicking, like Palmer said; it is what is holding him back from the elite level of players.
The Dawes
12 Jun 2008, 08:52
Pendles, Leon and Didak are all excellent by foot.
The old blokes Shane Wakelin and Scotty Burns are usually extremely reliable.
Harry O has improved his kicking a helluva lot in recent times.
In spite of what some would have us believe our overall kicking skills are pretty good, I certainly recall a time not that many years ago when watching most of the Pies' kick was like attending a Butcher's Convention.
Thommo 42
12 Jun 2008, 09:12
on his left...was forced on the right on monday and its was shocking..I was surprised it made contact with his foot, that was the first time I've ever seen him even attempt a right foot kick and it was just fugly!
I reckon Cloke's right foot kicking wouldn't be too flash either :o
The Dawes
12 Jun 2008, 09:17
Mate we have a plethora of players who are very one-sided.
H & R Shaw, Johnson, Fraser & Cloke to name a few.
...and you're right I can't ever recall Ben Johnson kicking with his non-preferred foot before.
I agree with the Swan thing, it is only his kicking that holds him back from being in the truly elite. What he does do though is take the correct option when he has possession. It's only the actual kicking itself that he doesn't execute well. I will say that his last month has been alot better than the early weeks of the season.
The guys I like to see with the ball in their hands are Didak, Pendlebury, Wakelin and Davis. Heater, O'Brien,Wellingham, Thomas (this year), Medhurst,Fraser and Burns are all pretty reliable too.
Didak (as a HFF), Pendlebury, Davis, O'Brien, Lockyer, Wakelin, Medhurst, Didak (as a mid).
Roughly in that order.
Thommo 42
12 Jun 2008, 09:28
Mate we have a plethora of players who are very one-sided.
H & R Shaw, Johnson, Fraser & Cloke to name a few.
...and you're right I can't ever recall Ben Johnson kicking with his non-preferred foot before.
Heath has a serviceable left foot, but usually just goes with the outside of his right (like Medders also), I can't recall too many left foot kicks from Rhyce so you are probably right there.
Disagree on Fraser, for a big man his left side is quite good. Probably only behind Macintosh and Cox in regards to skills off each foot, and I'd rate his preferred side the better of any ruckman, especially for set shot kicking.
Anyone ever seen a right foot kick from Bryan?
bradrowe#32
12 Jun 2008, 09:31
All around I'd say Didak is the best kick and Lockyer the most efficient. Clarke's long 50 metre kicks out the backline are great too. Pendlebury is very clean and efficient. Johnson never misses a running shot at goal. Medhurst never misses a snap.
Agree with all of that.
Clarke's skills are unbelievable considering he started very late. His foot skills are superb. He does hold the ball funny when he handballs though!
PendlePie
12 Jun 2008, 11:08
Where does one obtain such a statistic?
Was in the newspaper a few days back :thumbsu:
gav3039
12 Jun 2008, 11:32
i love the ball in didaks hands, rhyce shaw has improved a lot this year
Chase the Ace
12 Jun 2008, 11:35
Maxwell is always up around 80% efficiency.
Daisey is pretty good
magpiewarrior
12 Jun 2008, 11:55
It wasn't always so, but I rate Leons field kicking as cleaner, crisper and more reliable than anyone else in our squad at the moment. His vision is exceptional and his ability to disguise his intended target make his skills even more valuable. Once upon a time I would cringe if he got the ball anywhere other than near the goals in an impossible position, but these days even his set shots are fairly reliable. The close second would have to be Didak who has mastered the technique of kicking not to a player but to a position where the player can run onto it and create.
Rohan25
12 Jun 2008, 13:17
Where does one obtain such a statistic?
Footy Record
Big Bucks
12 Jun 2008, 22:26
Maxwell is always up around 80% efficiency.
Daisey is pretty good
He averages 9 disposals a game over his career.
For me, it`s Lockyer, Didak, Burns, Pendlebury, Davis.
chop_me
12 Jun 2008, 22:42
He averages 9 disposals a game over his career.
For me, it`s Lockyer, Didak, Burns, Pendlebury, Davis.
i guess for the purpose of this thread.. the fact that maxwell doesn't get a lot of it shouldn't affect his "efficiency"
Frederlick
12 Jun 2008, 23:25
Clarke was good last week but overall still needs some work. Heath Shaw people, when he gets it you know it will be to advantage most of the time. It is the back line that can really hurt with turnovers and to be honest I still get heart in mouth disease when Harry has it in the backline, although he is improving. Heath for mine, because clangers down there HURT.
Clarke was good last week but overall still needs some work. Heath Shaw people, when he gets it you know it will be to advantage most of the time. It is the back line that can really hurt with turnovers and to be honest I still get heart in mouth disease when Harry has it in the backline, although he is improving. Heath for mine, because clangers down there HURT.
Didak & Leon are my choices. Tarks is very effective but not as damaging as the aforementioned. Isn't H Shaw leading the clanger count this year??? He is certainly not as good by foot this year as he was last year.
Dynamics
13 Jun 2008, 12:01
Didak, Davis and Pendlebury.
If he keeps it up, Medders will join that group. Loving his work around the 50m mark ... he consistently spots players in running into space and puts in on a plate for them.