Roast Hayden Crozier

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beetz

beetz

Norm Smith Medallist
Veteran
Apr 30, 2014
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6,122
AFL Club
Fremantle
Open letter to Hayden Crozier.

Well son, Ballantyne gave you a huge opportunity to stake a claim for best 22 but so far he would be sitting back knowing he could slot straight back in.

After showing glimpses of your talent and goal kicking nous, you have failed to show up when given a full game since Ballaz got injured. Albeit unfair to single you out given the performance of the team as a whole it is just disappointing knowing what it is you are capable of.

Averages of 10 disposals and less than a goal a game is not enough.

Ballaz is still out for another few weeks, lets see what you can do!





*I looked for a Crozier thread but couldn't find one*
 
Reckon he comes out for C.Pearce this week...MdB to go back to his negating role in forward line I reckon
 
The fact is Crozier is a naturally talented offensive player. Ross has killed that in him by demanding the other stuff. It's fair enough as he has built a culture within the club and we are now top but place Crozier in an attacking team he would no doubt be scoring goals and seemingly having greater influence.

It sickens me to see spuds like Josh Hill, Dickson etc piling on goals but that's because they're allowed to 'cheat' their way forward.

I can't disagree with Ross's plan but Crozier is a product of a team mentality.

What I would give to see a goal out the back when our forwards drop the ball. It never happens because we structure up to always play defensively in front of it.

Crozier has offered as much as Ballantyne. He hasn't 'grabbed' his spot but he isn't exactly doing worse then Ballantyne who did SFA.
 

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To be fair Ballantyne hasn't set the world on fire this year either. Could just be the role Ross has given them.

Edit; I just basically said the same thing as Cobbler haha
 
Cobbler said:
The fact is Crozier is a naturally talented offensive player. Ross has killed that in him by demanding the other stuff. It's fair enough as he has built a culture within the club and we are now top but place Crozier in an attacking team he would no doubt be scoring goals and seemingly having greater influence.

It sickens me to see spuds like Josh Hill, Dickson etc piling on goals but that's because they're allowed to 'cheat' their way forward.

I can't disagree with Ross's plan but Crozier is a product of a team mentality.

What I would give to see a goal out the back when our forwards drop the ball. It never happens because we structure up to always play defensively in front of it.

Crozier has offered as much as Ballantyne. He hasn't 'grabbed' his spot but he isn't exactly doing worse then Ballantyne who did SFA.
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I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's interesting really, I read recently that we have scored the least amount of goals from within 15 m in the league.
 
calaisking said:
To be fair Ballantyne hasn't set the world on fire this year either. Could just be the role Ross has given them.

Edit; I just basically said the same thing as Cobbler haha
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That's right which meant it was a great opportunity for Crozier to stake his claim or even stay in the team with Ballantyne and Walters.
 
ilikepotatoes said:
I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's interesting really, I read recently that we have scored the least amount of goals from within 15 m in the league.
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I could imagine. Sadly that stat would likely be the same for least goals between 15-25, least goals for between 25-35 etc.

Perhaps I'm just being overly negative but when was the last time we 'crumbed' a few goals?
 
Cobbler said:
The fact is Crozier is a naturally talented offensive player. Ross has killed that in him by demanding the other stuff. It's fair enough as he has built a culture within the club and we are now top but place Crozier in an attacking team he would no doubt be scoring goals and seemingly having greater influence.

It sickens me to see spuds like Josh Hill, Dickson etc piling on goals but that's because they're allowed to 'cheat' their way forward.

I can't disagree with Ross's plan but Crozier is a product of a team mentality.

What I would give to see a goal out the back when our forwards drop the ball. It never happens because we structure up to always play defensively in front of it.

Crozier has offered as much as Ballantyne. He hasn't 'grabbed' his spot but he isn't exactly doing worse then Ballantyne who did SFA.
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I agree with this. He is such a natural forward and has the skills and x-factor to hurt a team yet he is restricted by the game plan. West Coast have some average players kicking more goals than him do to their oportunity to work to their strengths.
 
jedi mind tricks said:
I agree with this. He is such a natural forward and has the skills and x-factor to hurt a team yet he is restricted by the game plan. West Coast have some average players kicking more goals than him do to their oportunity to work to their strengths.
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I wish Ballantyne was allowed to play a stay at home small crumbing forward. Even Walters.

I would accept 10 possession games if it meant 80% were directly related to score involvement.

Obviously there would be games where he went completely missing but so what. A 40 goal season from 100 touches would be much better then 10 goals from 200 touches. Anyway, obviously we all don't coach and we are sitting top.

I feel there are some obvious adjustments we could make to score more but ultimately that needs Ross to recognise that the potential to be scored against also increases.

To me there is no secret. We were able to blast teams away due to frenetic pressure. Many teams came back at us not due to 'resting' but because we had no plan B and the players were shot.
 
Cobbler said:
The fact is Crozier is a naturally talented offensive player. Ross has killed that in him by demanding the other stuff. It's fair enough as he has built a culture within the club and we are now top but place Crozier in an attacking team he would no doubt be scoring goals and seemingly having greater influence.
Click to expand...

No I don't necessarily agree with this. Some of Crozier's more notable goals and moments have been as a direct result of his tackling. Which, despite an off day, I think is still an asset.

The fact is that he is an inexperienced player and we have to wear the off days and indeed the off fortnights for all those young players except the truly elite. I don't think we can consistently argue for the selection of younger, more inexperienced players over the elder 'role players' without being prepared to wear the kind of down streak he's had.

Personally I would keep him in the team, and I still maintain he is more of an outside mid than a small forward. That is the role he generally plays for Peel and one I feel which he would be more effective in at AFL level.
 
TheMcManusNose said:
No I don't necessarily agree with this. Some of Crozier's more notable goals and moments have been as a direct result of his tackling. Which, despite an off day, I think is still an asset.

The fact is that he is an inexperienced player and we have to wear the off days and indeed the off fortnights for all those young players except the truly elite. I don't think we can consistently argue for the selection of younger, more inexperienced players over the elder 'role players' without being prepared to wear the kind of down streak he's had.

Personally I would keep him in the team, and I still maintain he is more of an outside mid than a small forward. That is the role he generally plays for Peel and one I feel which he would be more effective in at AFL level.
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Yes I agree. As have many of Ballantynes or Maynes. What I'm saying is we don't get cheap goals and someone like Crozier would thrive in a team where getting cheap goals was permitted. His notable goals due to tackling are just that. I'd rather 10 no flare run into the goal square or crumb at the pack goals then having to stick a tackle and get his goal the hard way.

it's a balancing act and its obvious we are extreme camp defense. Once again as stated that is fine because we are top, but it's not fine for Crozier.
 

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Could there be a case for Crozier playing Pearce's role and Pearce to be the small forward. Pearce does have a sense around goal unless it's a set shot, or running into an open goal or if having to use his right.

A dribbler from the pocket is Pearce's forte and those quick snaps.

Crozier has arguably a better kick on him.

Whose with me!?
 
SHill Shall said:
The annoying part of this is that there is no-one on our list that I would rather have lining up for a vital a set shot in a PF or GF. Has ice in his veins and also the skill to kick them from all angles. And this is a relative weakness of ours when the pressure is on.
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Best set shot at the club IMO
 
ydraw said:
What a stupid post, criticising a bloke playing deep forward for not getting enough touches.
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Deep forward? I think you find deep forward today often means you are around the centre square on rebound. Crozier I've seen at the half back line also.

The year freo made the GF some games our forward pockets were racking up possies similar to some mids. In fact one game our forwards in Ballas, Mayne and Walters had over twice the possessions as Carltons forwards in Betts etc

I like Crozier but he has struggled to make an impact. I'm not going to write him off though I think he has a great attitude.
 
Please give us more son we need it at least would love to see him fly for hangers like we saw so much of when he was drafted.
 
Cobbler said:
Yes I agree. As have many of Ballantynes or Maynes. What I'm saying is we don't get cheap goals and someone like Crozier would thrive in a team where getting cheap goals was permitted. His notable goals due to tackling are just that. I'd rather 10 no flare run into the goal square or crumb at the pack goals then having to stick a tackle and get his goal the hard way.

it's a balancing act and its obvious we are extreme camp defense. Once again as stated that is fine because we are top, but it's not fine for Crozier.
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I think that's more of a wholistic game plan result, than a 'Ross has beaten it out of X player' result. So I may have taken the wrong idea from your post.

That said, I think the more potent forward lines (as far as talent goes) like WCE and the Hawks allow guys like J Hill and Puopolo/Bruest more freedom. If you're worrying about JJK, Darling and LeCras, or Cyril, Roughie and Gunston, you're giving the others more freedom. With us it's kind of Pav, Walters and... a ruckman? Mayne?

Cobbler said:
Could there be a case for Crozier playing Pearce's role and Pearce to be the small forward. Pearce does have a sense around goal unless it's a set shot, or running into an open goal or if having to use his right.

A dribbler from the pocket is Pearce's forte and those quick snaps.

Crozier has arguably a better kick on him.

Whose with me!?
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You know that's actually not the worst idea in the world. Remember Pearce's first game for us against the Eagles?

But I think that's unlikely to happen unless we take the mini rebuild path next year.
 
jedi mind tricks said:
I like Crozier but he has struggled to make an impact. I'm not going to write him off though I think he has a great attitude.
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You actually are writing him off pretty quickly since he's had 1 bad game and you made a post roasting him.

You shouldn't be expecting forwards to get midfielder type numbers.
 
I've been calling for Croz to come in for a while. I'd want him in the position that MDB plays, with the exception of going into the centre at bounces - let Barlow do that more often if you have to. In other words play him with Balla not instead of. Croz is a natural scorer and creator of scores and we desperately need that. Let him be that link, pushing up and down the corridor player that is also a defensive fwd, and let Balla play closer to goal. MDB goes back to being on the emg list.

Having said that, no doubt he's underperformed on my expectation. Not by a heap mind you, it's a tough gig for a young player to play his position and impact for long periods. But yeah, a bit more 'in the game' would be nice. Still reckon his end of 2014 was the best form I've seen - I don't think he's in the same head space he was then, but he's on the field so you expect to play to a level ... come on Croz, start getting it done.
 
He's been disappointing, but, he's not alone. Most of the team has been average at best over the last month or so.

Can't expect the kid to do much with the delivery he's getting. He's good but he's no Walters.
 
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