Chris Mayne, a liability?

[Moo]

Mayne is a workhorse, you need a few of them in every team.....Dawson is another.

Chases, consistently presents and is one who has bought into the mantra of extended pressure, I thought at times this year he was almost our defensive forward. Vanilla is just a terrible descriptor for him.

We have forward line problems but that would start with a big mobile body to bring that chaos ball to the ground, and being able to pair Ballantyne/Walters for an extended period of time.

I rate him as a pretty good mid-ranger, if someone is good enough to get his spot ...great but who is that? Duffy, Crozier? ...don't see it.

Now Crowley ....I did start to see cracks, wondering if someone like DeBoer has the discipline/tank to challenge him?

 

[Silent Alarm]

Not at all.

He is probably the single hardest working footballer I've seen in my time as a mature enough (yeah yeah) footy follower at Freo. He and Ballas are integral in their ability to try out the 1% percenters, to run, and to lock the footy into the 50. And the difference between a mediocre 2014 and good 2013 was that pressure. He really has a lot to do it with, and with guys like Pav and Tabs too big to really chase and pressure, Mayney is worth a lot. Not to mention his beautiful kick when he's actually played as a genuine forward.

He's not vanilla. He works his guts out and the issue he has is his height: too tall and slow for a forward pocket but not tall enough for a key forward. I liked him on half back too and thought his entire season was very underrated. People give the benefit of the doubt to others, espouse "roles" about guys to blindly defend lowered performance, but old Mayney never copped that. People didn't talk about him or said he was s**t and should be dropped.

His best season was only a year ago. And that was very good. I'm confident he'll be a worthy player for us until he retires. He works his guts out, and guys like that are never going to be displaced in a Ross Lyon system. He's not a liability – a few others are, though.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Horrible idea. I don't know where this "mayne is a swingman" idea came from, but every time he went back that I can recall, he was terrible.

It's not a horrible idea. He hasn't been bad when he's gone back, played pretty well on Darling in one of the derbys.

 

[Kram]

Yep even when out of form he can still play a role in the side.

 

[Square Peg]

He is probably the single hardest working footballer I've seen in my time

Exactly!
No one that goes to live games could call Mayne a liability, unbelievable work ethic
And as Garry Lyon once noted, no one in the AFL halves a contest against two opponents as much as Mayne

 

[jerms]

What Silent Alarm said. So much so that I'll post it again:

Not at all.

He is probably the single hardest working footballer I've seen in my time as a mature enough (yeah yeah) footy follower at Freo. He and Ballas are integral in their ability to try out the 1% percenters, to run, and to lock the footy into the 50. And the difference between a mediocre 2014 and good 2013 was that pressure. He really has a lot to do it with, and with guys like Pav and Tabs too big to really chase and pressure, Mayney is worth a lot. Not to mention his beautiful kick when he's actually played as a genuine forward.

He's not vanilla. He works his guts out and the issue he has is his height: too tall and slow for a forward pocket but not tall enough for a key forward. I liked him on half back too and thought his entire season was very underrated. People give the benefit of the doubt to others, espouse "roles" about guys to blindly defend lowered performance, but old Mayney never copped that. People didn't talk about him or said he was s**t and should be dropped.

His best season was only a year ago. And that was very good. I'm confident he'll be a worthy player for us until he retires. He works his guts out, and guys like that are never going to be displaced in a Ross Lyon system. He's not a liability – a few others are, though.

 

[Steinfreo]

Not at all.

He is probably the single hardest working footballer I've seen in my time as a mature enough (yeah yeah) footy follower at Freo. He and Ballas are integral in their ability to try out the 1% percenters, to run, and to lock the footy into the 50. And the difference between a mediocre 2014 and good 2013 was that pressure. He really has a lot to do it with, and with guys like Pav and Tabs too big to really chase and pressure, Mayney is worth a lot. Not to mention his beautiful kick when he's actually played as a genuine forward.

He's not vanilla. He works his guts out and the issue he has is his height: too tall and slow for a forward pocket but not tall enough for a key forward. I liked him on half back too and thought his entire season was very underrated. People give the benefit of the doubt to others, espouse "roles" about guys to blindly defend lowered performance, but old Mayney never copped that. People didn't talk about him or said he was s**t and should be dropped.

His best season was only a year ago. And that was very good. I'm confident he'll be a worthy player for us until he retires. He works his guts out, and guys like that are never going to be displaced in a Ross Lyon system. He's not a liability – a few others are, though.

This is true. And i swear for the first half of the season he was walking wounded. He looked like tin man at times.

 

[jerms]

This is true. And i swear for the first half of the season he was walking wounded. He looked like tin man at times.

Gosh, I'm bored tonight:

 

[Unique Name]

For those that are saying his pre season injury was a major factor for his form slump. How exactly did the injury effect his kicking accuracy?

I think most people's issue with Mayne was his accuracy in front of goal not his fitness level.

 

[clogged]

I wouldn't call him vanilla.

My sole problem with him is the same as a number of players in the team. They do not consider the goals as their first option.

I know people like his "I'd rather 10 tackles than 10 goals" mantra, but Chris, YOU ARE A FORWARD. You are there to kick goals.

 

[clogged]

Agreed. Mayne is the sort of player that the coach, team mates and supporters love. Why, because he puts the team before his own performance.

Sorry, but this is just stupid back pocket player philosophy. How the self-worth of those who found themselves in the worst position on the ground because they were the worst player in the team came to define what makes a good "team player" is beyond me. I blame Mick Malthouse.

And I say this as a back pocket player. Saying you put the team before your own performance is just empty praise for the weakest link in the team.

The aim of the game is to score more than your opponent. If Matthew Pavlich kicks a few goals, he doesn't go home and say "I beat the opposition" - although he could if it was West Coast. He contributes to the team.

Ballantyne is not a selfish player because he attacks the goals. Neither is Walters. Any player who attacks the goal should be regarded as team players as much as anyone else, not jealously have their contributions dismissed by the philosophy borne out of those who were never good enough to play in the forward line.

 

[malpaso]

Horrible idea. I don't know where this "mayne is a swingman" idea came from, but every time he went back that I can recall, he was terrible.

No he wasn't.

 

[mike91]

We really shouldn't call it the silly season anymore, it's an insult to the word silly. Seriously, threads about Robinson/Petrenko and now a thread about Mayne being a liability, my god, it's going to be a long pre season.

 

[Patty_Moz]

Maynes 12/13 were great, his 14 not near that but by singling out 1 player it just becomes a BF yelling match about who loves/ hates that player the most.

My question is can we continue carrying multiple forwards who only kick a goal every 2nd week? My answer is NO.

Make whatever excuses you like for Mayne- injuries (??), change of role (I don't buy it), being played down back (only cos he was bad up forward) but IMO he wasn't performing his role to a high enough standard.

For me more pressure should be put on players to perform so my biggest criticism atm is selection. Too many players had average seasons yet still selected just cos they are senior players and there is real no pressure as long as you do a 'role'.

A '12/13 Mayne is definitely in my '15 side but a '14 Mayne isn't but he's not the only one.

Maybe I've been hanging round BF too long but I seem to recall Mayne being a whipping not that long ago.

 

[Rob]

Obviously not his best year in 2014, but still best 22.

 

[freoextra]

For those that are saying his pre season injury was a major factor for his form slump. How exactly did the injury effect his kicking accuracy?

I think most people's issue with Mayne was his accuracy in front of goal not his fitness level.

Mayne had a significant back injury. I would think a back injury could impact on all aspects of your game including fitness, kicking style, accuracy everything really.

 

[FFC4ME]

The most noticeable reason to me as to why Mayne lost his set shot accuracy this season was his ankle injury. Time and again during matches he would fail to make the distance from 40 out, which is where almost all of his shots are taken, and eventually I think this told on his mentality.

Pav was much the same during his Achilles issues - he lost the ability to bang it through from 55 where he previously could do so comfortably, but this did return once he had a full pre-season.

Mayne actually started losing form just before the finals in 2013, and he's never really got it back. Oddly, that was the exact point where he and Barlow almost totally reversed roles when it comes to goal kicking accuracy - where once Mick was dreadful, he's now almost our most reliable, as demonstrated when he goaled against Port in the semi when everyone else missed and eventually cost us the game.

 

[Alfonz]

Liability? I would go the other direction and say he is an absolutely essential part of the side. Obviously it wasn't his best year, but he was playing under a lot of duress. I'd expect to see Mayne fit and firing again next year, and calling him a liability will sound ludicrous.

 

[E Shed]

The most noticeable reason to me as to why Mayne lost his set shot accuracy this season was his ankle injury. Time and again during matches he would fail to make the distance from 40 out, which is where almost all of his shots are taken, and eventually I think this told on his mentality.

Pav was much the same during his Achilles issues - he lost the ability to bang it through from 55 where he previously could do so comfortably, but this did return once he had a full pre-season.

Mayne actually started losing form just before the finals in 2013, and he's never really got it back. Oddly, that was the exact point where he and Barlow almost totally reversed roles when it comes to goal kicking accuracy - where once Mick was dreadful, he's now almost our most reliable, as demonstrated when he goaled against Port in the semi when everyone else missed and eventually cost us the game.

Not sure if you are talking about goal kicking or general form but I recently re-watched our final against Geelong when we pulled off that miracle win and Mayne was fantastic. It actually really brought home how poor he was this year in comparison.

As to the thread (not directed at you FFC4ME), you know we should remember RTB's mantra when we have these kind of discussions, its never as good as you think or as bad as you think. Its quite possible to say Mayne had a bad season and at times was verging on being a liability without that meaning I hate Chris Mayne and think he should be de-listed. He is a really good player and team driver when he's up and about but he was very poor at times this year. If he continued to play like his worst games this year then he would find himself out of the team eventually as that type of form isn't good enough. The fact that RTB backed him in over the year is evidence of the high regard he's held in internally and rightly so. Lets hope he has a strong pre-season and comes back playing like we know he can.

 

[Mr Peabody]

Not a liability but well short of his best in '14. For varying reasons, Mayne (form/fitness) Walters (fitness) & Ballantyne (discipline/fitness) were missing too often this year. In the case of Mayne, he did not have sufficient influence.

The upside is in these proven performers to be at their consistent best in 2015 together with the potential for improvement from the injection of youth up forward in the form of Crozier, Taberner & Duffy. Who knows what ceilings these boys have.

We fell short of the top of the ladder by a game and percentage this year. That has been overshadowed by a poor finals campaign and the retribution continues for that, but I see great prospects in 2015 given how much improvement there is in the likes of Mayne & Co compared to their 2014 campaign.

 

[Freodoc]

Not a liability but well short of his best in '14. For varying reasons, Mayne (form/fitness) Walters (fitness) & Ballantyne (discipline/fitness) were missing too often this year. In the case of Mayne, he did not have sufficient influence.

The upside is in these proven performers to be at their consistent best in 2015 together with the potential for improvement from the injection of youth up forward in the form of Crozier, Taberner & Duffy. Who knows what ceilings these boys have.

We fell short of the top of the ladder by a game and percentage this year. That has been overshadowed by a poor finals campaign and the retribution continues for that, but I see great prospects in 2015 given how much improvement there is in the likes of Mayne & Co compared to their 2014 campaign.

I take it that "fitness" equals injury?

 

[Mr Peabody]

I take it that "fitness" equals injury?

Yes. And to the extent that an injury results in a lack of preseason preparation and/or match fitness, then I meant that too.

 

[Reginald Perrin]

Numbnuts suggests Mayne is a liability... has Colin Sylvia in avatar.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Liability is far too harsh a word. He had a quiet year in 2014, kicked only 13.11, well down on previous years 37.12 in 2013, 39.7 in 2012, 25.23 in 2011 .. etc.

I can only assume he was playing with an injury for much of the year. Enough to hamper him but not enough to keep him out of the side.

 

[Noobrifle]

Let's face it, Mayne was great in 2013 but we carried him through much of 2014, a year in which he went massively backwards (injury or no). Mayne turns 26 next month, he should be coming into his peak as a player.

A key part component of forward pressure is the ability for a player to win contests and kick/create goals. Mayne can chase all day in the forward half but if defenders are zoning off him due to the lack of a threat and beating him in 1 on 1's then he is a liability to the team.

Mayne only averaged 0.6 goals per game in 2014 , down from 1.5 goals per game in 2013 and 1.7 goals per game in 2012. His marks, disposals, I50's and goal assists were all down as well.

In our two finals Mayne had a massive 9 and 11 disposals, with only the 1 behind in each game. It's difficult to win finals when your forwards have games like that.

Look at the massive gap between Mayne's 2014 return of 13 goals to that of Bruest and Gunston of the hawks, who kicked 57 and 58 goals respectively. Hell, everyone's favourite spud Jack Darling had a return of 39 goals for the season.

In short, as much as Mayne bleeds purple and works his arse off, unless he improves massively in 2015 he is a liability and shouldn't form part of our best 22.