Tim O'Brien: Corner turned. 2yr extension announced.

RIOLINWITPUNCHS

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Burton, Hardwick, Sicily, Brand, Impey, (Jiath) and now TOB.

We all know what these guys have in common and for some reason it just works.

Whoever came up with it is a genius.
 
Burton, Hardwick, Sicily, Brand, Impey, (Jiath) and now TOB.

We all know what these guys have in common and for some reason it just works.

Whoever came up with it is a genius.
Forwards turned defenders?

Schoenmakers dislikes this.
 
Burton, Hardwick, Sicily, Brand, Impey, (Jiath) and now TOB.

We all know what these guys have in common and for some reason it just works.

Whoever came up with it is a genius.

It's been going on for a long time, Collingwood famously turned Neon Davis and Chris Tarrant into defenders.
 

toomanysquibs

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He's almost completely around that corner. The mistakes are getting fewer, the positives more consistent. Heart in mouth stuff with his last kick inboard, but he hit the target.

And tonight he emphasised the possibility that he could become a high level swingman. Not just a bits and pieces swingman, but a high level one.

Sure it's only a possibility, but there was enough 'glimpses' there tonight to show that once he's around the first corner, he might well make it around the next one too.

His kicking for goal used to be the best part of his game, had he sunk that first one, he'd likely have kicked two goals in addition to blanketing the guys he played on.
 

toomanysquibs

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On topic, he's earning his place at the moment. Could develop into a very handy player with confidence

Confidence was the only thing missing from his toolkit. His annual breakout performance against Melbourne showed that it was mostly in between the ears with TOB.

Hopefully it's fixed, and stays fixed, and improves with more games.
 

burner1

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He played a great last quarter when shifted forward and actually stuck some marks (every other time this season he’s been shifted forward it hasn’t worked)

However he was very average for the first 3 quarters - some very shaky disposal (missed easy kicks and handpasses), dropped marks, kept losing his man etc etc. it helped that Cox was absolutely horrible all game. Was telling that he didn’t want to take the shot on goal and passed to a 2nd gamer - still lacks belief.

He remains an ‘almost’ player - continues to tease every week and season that with just a bit of improvement he’ll make it - but 7 seasons in he’s still teasing us.

Reckon he’s a good chance to go out for scrimshaw.

With Frawley only having a few seasons at best left we really need to find some kpd talent.
 

OnceKicked50

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He played a great last quarter when shifted forward and actually stuck some marks (every other time this season he’s been shifted forward it hasn’t worked)

However he was very average for the first 3 quarters - some very shaky disposal (missed easy kicks and handpasses), dropped marks, kept losing his man etc etc. it helped that Cox was absolutely horrible all game. Was telling that he didn’t want to take the shot on goal and passed to a 2nd gamer - still lacks belief.

He remains an ‘almost’ player - continues to tease every week and season that with just a bit of improvement he’ll make it - but 7 seasons in he’s still teasing us.

Reckon he’s a good chance to go out for scrimshaw.

With Frawley only having a few seasons at best left we really need to find some kpd talent.

No chance he gets dropped mate.

He was pretty poor by hand and foot in the first half, but *, who wasn't, for both sides. His reading of the play and marking was exceptional however. Did you not see him leave his man to intercept mark? That's a confident player. He took 7 marks.

So Cox has a terrible game, yet none of this can be attributed to O'Brien when he had him deep? Cox dropped one mark on him.

All in all, he is building fantastically as a back, dropping him now is outright idiotic.

If you think he remains an 'almost player' you've switched off this year. He is becoming a very valuable defender and his confidence is growing by the week. It's time to change the narrative on him brother.
 

toomanysquibs

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However he was very average for the first 3 quarters - some very shaky disposal (missed easy kicks and handpasses), dropped marks, kept losing his man etc etc. it helped that Cox was absolutely horrible all game. Was telling that he didn’t want to take the shot on goal and passed to a 2nd gamer - still lacks belief.

This is a fairly absurd assessment. He did good things all game. He gave Cox a bath, didn't let him get a sniff.

You notice his mistakes, because you look for them.

Sicily made some howlers, that led directly to goals.

Was he this bad as well, or is only TOB bad when he makes a mistake?
 
Jan 17, 2008
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Has built a really good last month or so. Despite the nonsense he cops on this board, he's turning into a very handy player. He's definitely best 22 at the moment.
He crashed the packs hat yesterday. Brought our ground players into the game when he didn’t mark it. Was great to watch him playing with confidence.
 

4THAWN

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Who knew this bloke had that sort of leap and aggressive marking ability. Really like the way he goes about it up forward, would like to see more of it.

His been solid in defense for a while now. Has room for improvement in his kicking but is generally a decent kick.
 

PhatHQ

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Confidence in himself is one thing, confidence from his team mates to go through him is another.
Plays pretty well as a defender but gee his forward play in the last couple of weeks paired with Lewis & the other young boys is looking ominous for any defensive unit
 
Jun 28, 2013
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It’s actually interesting how being a swingman is giving him confidence. Similar to Impey - the conversation for him has been “what position should he play” which in essence implies he is no good.

I have enjoyed him on both sides of the ground in the last couple of weeks.

I don’t have this with all players. I feel generally unhappy with the idea of Sicily forward - he is goddamn amazing in the backline. He’s like Brian Lake with pace and extreme footy nous. This could simply be that there is no one like Sicily and in the current game good intercept markers and HB game players are one of the most important positions on the ground.

Clarko must love moving Timmy around from one side of the ground to the other. That last quarter against Collingwood was a super headache with him forward along with Hodgey, Bruest and Nash

But he was more than serviceable in defence earlier.

He should own the identity of being a swing man and he has the best coach to play this role. Good on you Timmy
 
People should have known he had all the athletic tools. I've seen people surprised at his speed, his leap and sticky hands. They're not new, but the confidence to put it all together is.
I've long been a fan & always thought he could make it etc., so I knew of his athleticism & leap but not his flat out speed - I was pleasantly shocked watching him Saturday.

I agree with your (& others) point about confidence. He seemed to run with purpose, which likely gave the impression of speed/agility.

Fingers crossed he goes again this week against the Handbaggers.
 
Feb 10, 2008
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Impressed me watching him live yesterday. Boy did he hit some packs hard. They all didn't stick, but he took a couple of really telling marks. Presented well all day. Keep it up Tim.

There were a couple of time though, that he went up along with Big Boy and Nash, when at least one of them could have stayed down. Not a criticism of TOB, but a bit more talk and leaving players at ground level could have been more beneficial a couple of times. I'm sure this will get covered by coaches during the week though.
 
Jun 28, 2013
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Impressed me watching him live yesterday. Boy did he hit some packs hard. They all didn't stick, but he took a couple of really telling marks. Presented well all day. Keep it up Tim.

There were a couple of time though, that he went up along with Big Boy and Nash, when at least one of them could have stayed down. Not a criticism of TOB, but a bit more talk and leaving players at ground level could have been more beneficial a couple of times. I'm sure this will get covered by coaches during the week though.
Yeah well this has been an interesting year for the forwards hasn’t it?

Our midfield and forwardline is where improvement was required this year. Your question about how do the multiple talls work together is, weirdly enough, a good development as it indicates that we are working through issues like this.
 
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