J Begley: quiet achiever

[spindoctor]

I've been quite impressed with his work in the backline in recent times. The only thing anyone has mentioned is that bad kickout, and that's it.

He has gone about his business with quiet efficiency, moved the ball well, nice skills and a good mover.

 

[DaveW]

Yeah Begley was good on Friday night.

I think he quietened down Burgoyne I think? Gave us a bit going forward too.

 

[-WWJD-]

He's go such clean skills that you don't notice the guy out there because he never fumbles and always spots the target. Again...except for that one kick out.

I've been a big fan of his since coming from the Saints and was dissappointed with his lack of game time last season and early this year, but things look to be on the up

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Originally posted by DaveW
Yeah Begley was good on Friday night.

I think he quietened down Burgoyne I think? Gave us a bit going forward too.

Not sure what he was up to Friday night, but he sure did shut down the dangerous S Burgoyne Saturday night. What I like about Begley is he is a smart footballer & you can't have enough of them. Looks like he is more suited in the backline.

 

[Jars458]

Has been tremendous in the past month.

A real quality addition to the list.

Our trading has been spot on most of the time (carey aside perhaps)

 

[Fergus]

Begley has been very good and has actually filled a void that opposition teams used to exploit us on - the very quick small forward. He plays it smart by keeping himself between his opponent and their goal which means they can't turn him inside out. He has collected some very nice scalps in the last month or so.

Kick ins worry me a bit but apart from one shocker he has done well.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Now they come out of the woodwork A lot of you were bagging him last year.

A real find who has good skills and is versatile. He is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to small forwards.

He has been terrific since he came back in but he is being wasted in the back pocket IMHO.

 

[MarksGirl-kbcrowgirl]

Personally........I have always admired the talents of James Begley!

k
xx

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
He has been terrific since he came back in but he is being wasted in the back pocket IMHO.

Disagree, as I reckon he has found his niche in the backline. IMO, we have harder running & better wingmen, so he should stay in defence.

 

[tribey]

With Massie and Begley on opposite HB-flanks we really do have the ability to run through the lines and create havoc turning defence into attack - something we haven't really seen since the halycon days of Smart and Goodwin.

 

[macca23]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
Now they come out of the woodwork A lot of you were bagging him last year.

A real find who has good skills and is versatile. He is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to small forwards.

He has been terrific since he came back in but he is being wasted in the back pocket IMHO.

Not guilty Stiffy!!

I'm a Begley fan, and after watching pre-season training predicted Begley to be one of the big improvers this year.

I'm with Kane though - he's not being wasted in defence at all. Because he can play tight and has speed, he's the answer that we've been waiting for a long long time to counter small speedy forwards like Milne, Matera etc, with a huge height advantage on them for good measure.

He's also a good HB flanker and a handy wingman, but at present, I wouldn't be even half tempted to move him.

 

[Stiffy_18]

What I am saying is that Begley is better than the back pocket position would suggest. As dyertribe said, Begley and Massie give us 2 attacking HBFers who can run the lines and deliver the ball to our forwards. Begley has better skills than Massie and his delivery would me more deadly. Thats what I was saying when I said he has been wasted in BP.

Having said that I agree that Begley has been fantastic on small forwards and already to date he has stood the likes od Milne, Farmer and Shaun Burgoyne and got the better of them. For now he should stay in BP but in the long run I think he will be played either as a HB flanker or a wingman.

 

[Crow-mosone]

Begley is a talent, and you can never have enough of that in your side.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
Now they come out of the woodwork A lot of you were bagging him last year.

A real find who has good skills and is versatile. He is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to small forwards.

He has been terrific since he came back in but he is being wasted in the back pocket IMHO.

You know I was reading the posts B4 yours and thinking the same thing.
Can't remember all this support in the PS chat.
In fact I don't think he was generally rated in our best 22.
But he is talented, will get better, and has leadership qualities, which although he may not obtain the AFC captaincy, you can never have enough leaders in good sides.

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
Now they come out of the woodwork A lot of you were bagging him last year.

You had me in a mild panic there - but I just did a keyword search "BEGLEY" on my past posts and I've come through with flying colours

 

[spindoctor]

I've been impressed with him since his first game in Crows colours.

Interestingly a good source has told me he doesn't spend all that much time with the Crows 'boys club', likes to do his own things with non-Crows mates. Possibly why we never hear much about him.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by dyertribe
You had me in a mild panic there - but I just did a keyword search "BEGLEY" on my past posts and I've come through with flying colours

No you were right. It was a few others that had a dig or 2 and made a mountain out of a mole hill.

Begley has talent and leadership qualities. Has nice skills and will become a very good player with more experience. I think Begley and Massie are capable of providing us with a lot of run off HBF.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
No you were right. It was a few others that had a dig or 2 and made a mountain out of a mole hill.

Begley has talent and leadership qualities. Has nice skills and will become a very good player with more experience. I think Begley and Massie are capable of providing us with a lot of run off HBF.

He has been supplying the run out of the backline, usually done by Hart.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by Wayne's-World
He has been supplying the run out of the backline, usually done by Hart.

He has BUT not to the extent that he can be. I think if played further up the ground he could provide ****loads of rebound and his foot skills are generally good. His skills would mean better delivery to the forwards.

As much as I LOVE Kris Massie and he would make my team ANY day, his foot skills aren't as good as Begley's and as a result his disposals are wasted at times. But you can't doubt him. He is just a goer who gives 110% week in week out.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
He has BUT not to the extent that he can be. I think if played further up the ground he could provide ****loads of rebound and his foot skills are generally good. His skills would mean better delivery to the forwards.

As much as I LOVE Kris Massie and he would make my team ANY day, his foot skills aren't as good as Begley's and as a result his disposals are wasted at times. But you can't doubt him. He is just a goer who gives 110% week in week out.

I agree I Love Kris Massie.
Could he graduate to a tough midfield role in the future?

Can't believe people were calling Begley slow.
He gives the team a lot of flexibility, and his foot skills are excellent.
Was always of the opinion he was never fit, at St Kilda.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by Wayne's-World
I agree I Love Kris Massie.
Could he graduate to a tough midfield role in the future?

Can't believe people were calling Begley slow.
He gives the team a lot of flexibility, and his foot skills are excellent.
Was always of the opinion he was never fit, at St Kilda.

I don't think Massie will be a full time midfielder but he could be a pinch hitter. He is best suited to HBF I reckon

Begley is far from slow and you are right he has really struggled with injuried with St. Kilda. He has had a lot of shoulder problems with Saints but he said that in the last 2-3 years his body has been fantastic and he only missed 6 games of footy with a busted thumb. I reckon he is one of those late draft steals at #68

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
I reckon he is one of those late draft steals at #68

There was a bit of talk that the crows were interested in begley, prior to St Kilda drafting him. But at the time he was pretty skinny, and questions were asked whether he would be physically strong enough.

 

[just maybe]

Funny how the tide turns and people are sniping Begley and calling for him to be top of the chop at season's end.

 

[Mong]

Looks like this guy knew what he was talking about.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2805978&postcount=120

Sorry, I shouldn't gloat but when you only very rarely turn out right it's nice to advertise that fact.

Edit: I should add, there's still time for him and I hope he ultimately proves me to be wrong. It's not looking good at the moment though.

 

[tribey]

Funny how the tide turns and people are sniping Begley and calling for him to be top of the chop at season's end.

Possibly because we're in a rebuilding phase and Begley has clearly gone backwards in the past two years after his initial strong start with the club back in 2003 and glimpses of class offered in 2004.

He's 24 (25 in July), has been in the system since 1999 and is still performing like an inconsistent rookie - you could argue his tilt at journalism via Channel 9 isn't helping either - as Denis Pagan once told a young Eddie McGuire at North U19 training, "it's one or the other son, you can't do both." Is he fully committed to the club or does he already have one eye on life after footy, which in all seriousness could begin in under four months?

So while it's honourable of you to fly the flag for Begs - as you've done in the past with our mediocre brigade - I'm not sure what you're getting at. The onus is on Begley to step up and save his (football) career now, we should be saving the gold passes for the members.