Analysis The Matt Taberner effect

Apr 25, 2011
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I think we all acknowledge we need a tall forward, but gifting games to Tabs is not the answer. If Sandi is back next week I'd play Darcy at full forward, if not leave it as is or bring in Strnadica. I want to see Tabs fight for his spit, yesterday he did not do that and Strnadica did.

I don't care who does it, but for structure we need someone forward who can contest and both Cam/Kersten/Crozier have suffered from the lack of it. Darcy and Stradnica are options, but until they were even considered AFL ready, Tabs clearly should have been in.

On an individual performance, sure it makes sense to have dropped Tabs, a dropped mark that should have been taken in the forward 50 is a dropped mark in the forward 50. BUT, compare that to the situation in games without him, where we have an opposition marking instead of Tabs spilling the ball (with an occasional mark forward) - such as Harry Taylor routinely mopping up the ball on the weekend, it should be obvious that we need him in for structure until we have someone else.

For the most part we wouldn't have capitalised on a spilled ball anyway this year, as we didn't have anyone to crumb, but with Ballas back its a different matter.
 
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I'm not calling for Taberner to be delisted. But gifting him games just because he is tall isn't going to help the team nor him either.

He played well at Peel early in the year. Earned a call up. Played well in one game and then was poor from then on and got dropped. He hasn't done anything at Peel to deserve a recall yet. He's neither as good or as bad as most are making out in this thread.
to be honest tabs has to play this week. we need to give him a few more game to decide if we should keep him
 
Sep 22, 2011
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The last four games that Tabs played for Freo ,please refresh my memory on how many marks he pulled in..:rolleyes: He did stuff all to help out the forward half in those games. ;)
Has 20 marks over 5 games this year. Considering he played in that pathetic Adelaide demolition and Carlton wet game Not bad considering.

The last 5 rounds, Kersten has had only 10 marks- didn't even get a single one against Brisbane in Round 12. But yeah keep playing him
 
Jan 14, 2008
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Has 20 marks over 5 games this year. Considering he played in that pathetic Adelaide demolition and Carlton wet game Not bad considering.

The last 5 rounds, Kersten has had only 10 marks- didn't even get a single one against Brisbane in Round 12. But yeah keep playing him

You didn't answer the question, how was his form in his last 4 Freo games?
 

wayToGo_

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I don't mind if Tabs plays but please no more of this everyone kicked to player X so he didn't have a chance, or it was wettish weather so he wasn't suited to it, or he needs to be in as he is the only player on our team that can take contested marks or marks inside 50, or whatever other excuse/reasoning.

And completely over the bringing up of stats re Tabs. If you take just the one game against Essendon out of the equation his averages aren't anything close to being our best. Remember he took 7 contested marks, 6 marks inside 50 and 4 goals in that one game. His average for contested marks is 2.2 - so he's kicked 11 total - so that's just one per game for the next 4 games (and 3 of those 4 were against Richmond - where MJ also took 3 and plenty of others took 2). Wet weather blah blah. The key forwards for Carlton took multiple contested marks as did MJ (3), and same for Adelaide's tall forwards and Collingwood's tall forwards in the subsequent games Tabs played. It's like disregarding the 18 games he played last year because Pav was in the team as plenty of 2nd key forwards seem to do alright in the shadow of the primary target.

This is the problem with stats. Unless you provide context (eg small sample size of only 5 games with 1 being a massive outlier) they don't give you an accurate analysis of how someone has been performing.
 

meima

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Who cares , neither are worth a game at the minute. Cox as a pinch hitting ruck who plays forward is a better option than Taberner.
Agree Cam Mac ,fyfe ,Cox . Forward look promising. If work against St kilda . Tab ,Kersten can play peel rest of the season .
 

scon

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Has certainly hit the ground running that boy.Looks really promising with plenty to offer as a long term prospect.High level athleticism high level skills and reads the game like a footballer.
Brings the settlement and occupancy dates on the rebuild forward by a significant period.:thumbsu:
Be interested in his draft sprint times as he looks a little rapid for a big fella.

EDIT:Found these
Combine test results: Repeat Sprint (secs) – 26.71. 20m Sprint (secs) – 3.05. Agility (secs) – 8.66. Beep Test (level) – 13.5. 3km Time Trial (min:secs) – 10:56.
 
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Agree Cam Mac ,fyfe ,Cox . Forward look promising. If work against St kilda . Tab ,Kersten can play peel rest of the season .

Dunno about the rest of the season, but Kersten needs to get his hands on the ball. A 20 possession game at Peel would do him a lot more good long term than another 6 possession game in the AFL.

But for some reason Ross is going to stick with him this week. I hope he's got this one right.
 

meima

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Dunno about the rest of the season, but Kersten needs to get his hands on the ball. A 20 possession game at Peel would do him a lot more good long term than another 6 possession game in the AFL.

But for some reason Ross is going to stick with him this week. I hope he's got this one right.
Not sure what to expect from Ross, recently he had been very quirky with journalist question.
 
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Not sure what to expect from Ross, recently he had been very quirky with journalist question.
He has actually. Don't remember what it was but I am sure he alluded to something in the presser last week or maybe two ago and then did the opposite.

I don't have a problem with Tabs playing this week for Kersten. Tabs is playing ok in the WAFL and Kersten not so good in the AFL. Long term I think Kersten has a place as the third tall but is not performing and should go back to build some form.
 

youmewe

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Dec 22, 2014
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The Tabs debate keeps bubbling along nicely on other threads.

This week's team hasn't been named. While we wait with bated breath to see if they do or don't select Matthew this week, I wonder what (that's seven words starting with 'w' in the one sentence...eight, wow...d'oh nine) Freo supporters believe his future holds.

At season's end, do we:

A. Keep him.

B. Trade him.

C. Delist him?
 

youmewe

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At season's end both FreoFC and Tabs need to make a decision on his future. The least likely possibility is delisting.

AFL senior list player delistings (2012-16)

Players delisted: 366.

Aged 23-25: 122.

Aged 23-25 and played 50+ games: 27 (12 were picked up by other clubs; 5 by Richmond).

Aged 23-25, played 50+ games and 195+cms tall: 2.

The two included Tippett who was by no means a genuine delisting. The who-ha surrounding the goings on between Adelaide and Sydney saw Tippett officially 'delisted'.

That means only one player (Cameron Wood) fitting the Tabs profile (age 23-25, 50+ games, 195+ cms tall) has been delisted in the past 5 years. And that was 5 years ago. Wood was eventually picked up by Carlton after spending a year in the VFL with Williamstown*.

Players fitting the Tabs profile are highly prized by the league (big guys with games experience and years in the AFL system). Delisting him would be a colossal waste. So what about trades? Glad you asked.

AFL senior list player trades (2012-16)

Players traded: 153.

Aged 23-25: 57.

Aged 23-25, played 50+ games and 195+cms tall: 10.


The Tabs template ten

Player // Trade involved // Nett player value (AFL Draft Value Index)

1. Stef Martin // Martin for #52 and #71 // #50.

2. Ben McEvoy // McEvoy and #24 and #59 for Savage and #18 and #19 // Savage and #18.

3. Shaun Hampson // Hampson for #32 // #32.

4. Jesse White // White for #44 // #44.

5. Rhys Stanley // Stanley and #59 for #21 // #26.

6. Liam Jones // Jones for #46 // #46.

7. Jake Carlisle // Carlisle and #18 for #6 and #29 // #10.

8. Ben Dixon // Dixon and #45 for #10 and #32 // #7.

9. Lachie Hendserson // Henderson for #17 // #17.

10. Zac Smith // Smith for #45 and #53 // #32.

Whilst Tabs will never project to Dixon or Carlisle territory there are useful possibilities. To maximise them we need to play him. If he succeeds we keep him. If we don't play him he may want out any way.

* Peter Faulks (yes that one) recently played his 100th game for Williamstown as the cornerstone of their defence. Assistant playing coach too.
 
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ydraw

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It might not be up to us either. Wouldn't surprise me if he left of his own accord after the way he's been treated here.
 
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