dct66
Club Legend
- Jun 19, 2014
- 1,433
- 3,139
- AFL Club
- St Kilda
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Great review,H&A Season Review
Back in February after the first Marsh Series match against Hawthorn at Moorabbin I wrote ...
I thought Coff went OK last night. He did some good things but had a few howlers. Disposal and decision-making need to be better. He linked up well in the backline in the last quarter and helped us steady when the Hawks threatened to get within a couple of goals. It was probably his best quarter despite a very obvious clanger, but he was trying to take the game on so you can't fault him too much for that given it was just a practice match.
That turned out to be the only time I saw him (and the Saints) in person this season but it is fair to say that I saw his potential but also what many were saying that he could be a liability at times. Obviously he needed to improve and only the coaches knew if he had done enough to keep playing.
I didn’t see much of the second Marsh Series match against Collingwood in Morwell but from what others said, Coff only played the last quarter and I felt on that evidence that he probably wouldn’t get picked for R1 and that proved to be the case.
After the enforced break he was picked in the side. There was certainly not unanimous support for his inclusion and he made one horrific clanger (early in the game from memory) but otherwise did OK. I wrote at the time that 'He needs to play to improve and maintain/build his confidence’
The Collingwood (big) loss was not a good game for many Saints players. My summation of Coff included 'I liked that he still backed himself and didn't panic. He always tries to play his way out of trouble (like his draftmate Hunter Clark) rather than kick blindly and make it someone else's problem. We have had too many players play like that in the recent past and we need to back The Nick Coffield types to develop their skills and always look for the disposal to advantage. That's how Collingwood outplayed us. Flicking it around until they could get a controlled possession. That's our target. That's what we must become. I think Ratts has that vision and I'm confident Coff will hold his spot.’
Coff kept his spot and IMO played his most composed game to date with the senior side in the (big) win against Richmond.
He backed that up against Carlton the following week and was featured by the club's Social Media - '20 disposals (90% efficiency), nine marks and 461 metres gained. Can we talk about Nick Coffield.’ Even his harshest critics on BF were starting to come around to him being OK and perhaps ’not a bust’.
That terrible game against Freo followed then that first nervous 2020 visit to Adelaide Oval. Coff played one of his best games for the club and there was nothing but support for him on BF.
I wouldn’t say the followup visit to Adelaide against Port was particularly good for Coff but having put in a few good ones previously his spot was not in danger. Good games followed against Sydney and The Suns, and then the disappointment (as a team) of the Geelong game.
Good games resumed against Essendon and Brisbane and he wasn’t the worst against Melbourne and then was brilliant against Hawthorn.
He was good against West Coast but never should have been isolated 1-on-1 against Jack Darling. That was never going to end well.
Coff finished the year, like the rest of the team with a very even performance against GWS and marched into the finals.
I feel this is the definition of a break-out year. Early on, nobody was sure he would make it as an AFL player and some were quite prepared to declare him ‘a bust’. He looked nervous in his first few games and made a few blues but he always backed himself and over several games he got more accustomed to the speed of the game at the highest level and now after just 34 games he has cemented his spot in the backline and is probably one of the first picked in the 22 each week. We are seeing his dare and skills each week and he is setting up more and more attacks from half back and taking more and more intercept marks.
Now he gets to chance to play in finals. It is a just reward. He is one of the main reasons we are back in the Eight.
Well done Coff. Looking forward to what will hopefully be a 200+ game career with St Kilda.
He’s really been building the last few weeks still wish we’d let him take kick insCoffield played really well against the Hawks with 17 disposals including 9 marks . He also drifted down to Mark and kick an early goal , only his second so far for the Saints .
He’s really been building the last few weeks still wish we’d let him take kick insCoffield played really well against the Hawks with 17 disposals including 9 marks . He also drifted down to Mark and kick an early goal , only his second so far for the Saints .