Daniel Cross - No Passengers Player Critique

DANIEL CROSS
Not much can be said about Crossy that all of you here do not already know.
A hard running, handballing machine who always puts his body on the line for his beloved club.

His biggest attribute is by far his fitness.
The fittest player down at The Kennel and one of the fittest players in the entire competition.
I have heard from a few sources who attend the training sessions of the Western Bulldogs that D.Cross does as much work as he can on the training track, especially running.
He will join other groups once his program is complete and he will always be one of the last players to leave the track.

This is great commitment and motivation from the lad and good signs from a future captain.

D.Cross averages:

2005: 94.6
2006: 100.4
2007: 92.6 (injuries scaled this down)
THIS YEAR: 103.4


He has only scored under 73 points 5 times in his past 66 games and 2 of these games were from an injury and from a first game back from the injury.
That is a ridiculous stat and makes him a very popular captain choice.

He is at the peak of his career and his scores are showing this.

It is quite evident to us that he will be in the Top 7 midfielders this year, well at least it is for me.
For this reason, he was an immediate "lock" for me pre-season due to his undervalued price.

It is very surprising to see that only 12,115 coaches have selected him.
Mind you, this number was A LOT lower before the season stared.

You should have had him from the start but he has raised $18,700 in value so far this year so he is not so juicy to the naked eye anymore.
Still undervalued but in my opinion, he will never drop below his starting value, barring injury.

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

Cross was in a surprisingly low number of teams IMO for what was arguably one of the 4-5 best value picks this season.

Initially only in 7% of teams, Cross was effectively underpriced by around 10 ppw due to a knee injury in the middle of last season which impacted on his scoring in the later rounds when he returned. Prior to the injury Cross was averaging over 100 ppw and heading for a similar season to 2006 when he averaged over 100.

Cross has often been described down at the Bulldogs as the next Scotty West because of his awareness of what is around him, quick hands and ability to win the contested ball. His DT scoring is sometimes impacted by the level of hanballs he has however he makes up for this with very high total possies, good tackle and mark numbers.

As one5 mentioned by far his greatest attribute is his aerobic capacity and ability to run all day. In 3 matches this season Cross has scored over 40 points in the last quarter including 53 against Melbourne. Against Richmond at 3 qrtr time he had 48 and finished with 90.

I have done very little further research on Cross as he was in my team at the start and (barring injury) will be there at the end. I would, however think that he will average around 100 - 105 (currently 103) so to bring into your team as a value pick would need to be priced in the mid 350s. Hard for him to get down there without an injury because of his level of consistency.

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

Was always a lock for me too, his obvious flaw is his k/hb ratio (1 kick : 1.51 hb this year, which is almost double most premiums who are more like 1:0.8). But as you've said his work ethic is his selling point.

Not sure about being top 7, although he should be around the fringes of that, but am happy to be proven wrong.

I would say the boat has sailed on him, and when players like Kornes, Swan and Scotland are so undervalued, you'd have to pick one of them over him purely on value for money. Those who have him should be glad, those who don't should probably look elsewhere atm.

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

I've had Cross from the start. Love this guy and was my 2nd lock, behind Chad. Severely underrated, and obviously undervalued this year. He was my only starting mid above $255k this year. Obviously, would love him to kick more, but I love the way he goes about his football (They're the best players to have!). He's starting to kick a few goals too, which would really solidify him as an elite Dt'er. As others have said, very, very fit and even if he's been quiet, will rack 'em up late. Count on it! Big ticker. Super reliable. You're probably not going to draft him in now, but I'm rapt he's a Mulligan, and (touch wood), barring LTI, will be for the rest of 2008!

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

i havent watched many bulldogs games yet, but in theory handballing first isnt overly bad
it creates the open for the 1-2
and a bad handball could lead to a tackle, whether cross has been doing this or not im not sure

at his price (at the start of the year) i thought he would be top 3 players selected
cant figure out why he wasnt?
absolute gun and nothing short of it

IMO on the cusp of the dreamteam gods in k/c cornes bartel

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

crossy is one of my fav players and he's been my main midfielder all season. i love his game but hate that now they're not playing him in the middle as much this season (damn you ryan griffen).

still, running loose on the wing allows him to take more marks. one thing i've noticed about cross too is that in a game he will EITHER take lots of marks OR get lots of tackles. it's the games he does both that he pulls in the big scores.

i went and saw him play earlier in the season and he just runs all day, particularly in the last quarter as mentioned. i was extremely surprised when he only had 1 touch in the last quarter against st kilda (rd 11).

the fact that he will never get tagged makes him that much more valuable!

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

Crossy was a bargain at only 400k. Needs West back in the team though, his scores struggle without him.

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

DonMania#5 said:

Crossy was a bargain at only 400k. Needs West back in the team though, his scores struggle without him.

Click to expand...

West hasn't been in the team much at all this year, yet Cross's average is at 103 at the moment, if anything I don't think it has mad much of an impact for Cross, although would mean the lesser midfielders would probably get more of it.

Re: Player Summary 6: D.Cross

flackjack said:

West hasn't been in the team much at all this year, yet Cross's average is at 103 at the moment, if anything I don't think it has mad much of an impact for Cross, although would mean the lesser midfielders would probably get more of it.

Click to expand...

With West in the team cross averages - 116.5
Without West - 92

So there is some connection