Player Watch Pick #16 (2016) - Todd Marshall

As long as you don't mind your 2st key tall having 10 disposals at 60% DE, 3 marks, 0 Contested Marks, 0 attempted contested marks, 0 Marks on a Lead,, 0 attempted marks on a lead, 1 Mark inside 50, 0 tackles inside 50, 1 spoil, 0.1 Goals, 30% clangers, 20% turnovers

but on the bright side

24 - 7 Now.

1 sh*t hot inside 50 out of 3, 4 tackles and 5 score involvements (not his fault but I think they were were all points).

I don't doubt Marshall's skill or athleticism, and he has the height but he will not hold his position unless he starts to improve. Laddhams or Georgiades will overtake him as 2st KPP which will be a crime. Those stats just don't support the supposition that he is an effective decoy or leading forward to support Dixon.

I am sure I will I will get slammed for this but where exactly have I got it wrong?
He has to get more of the ball, no one is disputing that. Saturday wasn't the greatest day to be a KPF once the rain started in the 2nd quarter. Charlie got 4 disposals in the 2nd half, Todd had 2. His first half was fine.

Our forwardline is less of a dog's breakfast with Marshall and Dixon playing together than when he isn't. I want Georgiades in there to be a flanker - he is 192cm just like Burton and nobody says Burton should be playing FB or CHB. Can't see Ladhams playing CHF.
 

Powerage

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He has to get more of the ball, no one is disputing that. Saturday wasn't the greatest day to be a KPF once the rain started in the 2nd quarter. Charlie got 4 disposals in the 2nd half, Todd had 2. His first half was fine.

Our forwardline is less of a dog's breakfast with Marshall and Dixon playing together than when he isn't. I want Georgiades in there to be a flanker - he is 192cm just like Burton and nobody says Burton should be playing FB or CHB. Can't see Ladhams playing CHF.

I completely agree.

It wasn't a great day for forwards admittedly especially in the second half. His thumb may still be giving him strife. Several times he was within distance of at least contesting a mark and decided to crumb instead. I'm not sure he needs to play as far out as he always does either. His defender decides to double back on Dixon. If Stewart was his defender he got four intercept marks inside 50. Better to try and bring some of those balls to ground than play a Tom Lynch role all the time IMO, although I don't dispute his ability with the ball by hand or foot. Tom Lynch could play that role because the Crows had at least two other KPF.

Laddhams has got a long way to go before playing in the forward spine. I've see few rucks able to do that so I wouldn't be betting on Hayes being able to do it either.

Georgiades as a flanker yeah although with his aerial ability he will be more of a threat in the air hopefully, especially if he fills out as so many Greeks do.
 
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Harlott

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I completely agree.

It wasn't a great day for forwards admittedly especially in the second half. His thumb may still be giving him strife. Several times he was within distance of at least contesting a mark and decided to crumb instead. I'm not sure he needs to play as far out as he always does either. His defender decides to double back on Dixon. If Stewart was his defender he got four intercept marks inside 50. Better to try and bring some of those balls to ground than play a Tom Lynch role all the time IMO, although I don't dispute his ability with the ball by hand or foot. Tom Lynch could play that role because the Crows had at least two other KPF.

Laddhams has got a long way to go before playing in the forward spine. I've see few rucks able to do that so I wouldn't be betting on Hayes being able to do it either.

Georgiades as a flanker yeah although with his aerial ability he will be more of a threat in the air hopefully, especially if he fills out as so many Greeks do.
How has Ladhams got a long way to play in the forward lines? Against Richmond he looked very threatening the whole game.
 

Tibbs

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How has Ladhams got a long way to play in the forward lines? Against Richmond he looked very threatening the whole game.
I agree, He has just kept on improving in his forward craft IMO, and the coaches have said in interviews that they are focused on his training in that role, and getting him to improve. He has the weapons & the smarts ... just needs confidence at AFL level, which wont take long IMO
 

Harlott

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I agree, He has just kept on improving in his forward craft IMO, and the coaches have said in interviews that they are focused on his training in that role, and getting him to improve. He has the weapons & the smarts ... just needs confidence at AFL level, which wont take long IMO
I said in another thread I’m not sure what he can become but I have a feeling in my guts that he’s going to be unique.
 

El_Scorcho

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As long as you don't mind your 2st key tall having 10 disposals at 60% DE, 3 marks, 0 Contested Marks, 0 attempted contested marks, 0 Marks on a Lead,, 0 attempted marks on a lead, 1 Mark inside 50, 0 tackles inside 50, 1 spoil, 0.1 Goals, 30% clangers, 20% turnovers

but on the bright side

24 - 7 Now.

1 sh*t hot inside 50 out of 3, 4 tackles and 5 score involvements (not his fault but I think they were were all points).

I don't doubt Marshall's skill or athleticism, and he has the height but he will not hold his position unless he starts to improve. Laddhams or Georgiades will overtake him as 2st KPP which will be a crime. Those stats just don't support the supposition that he is an effective decoy or leading forward to support Dixon.

I am sure I will I will get slammed for this but where exactly have I got it wrong?

You've got it wrong by assuming he's stagnating unusually or that he'll be overtaken by someone else on our list anytime soon.

Firstly, Ladhams is playing a different role as a ruck/forward. He's nowhere near Marshall in a pure forward role.

Georgiades might overtake him if Marshall simply stops developing physically and in terms of his forward craft, but it's a strange assumption to make.

The reason we don't have a readymade 2nd KPF and have to play a developing one is because we haven't made key forwards a priority in the Hinkley era. Marshall is performing in line with any talented KPF of his age and experience. The only way we get him to gun AFL quality level is to persist with him. If we switch him out for Georgiades, we'll still have to give Mitch 50+ games to get him up to speed. Marshall is already playing an important role. He'll only get better and the chemistry will only get better.
 
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If Stewart was his defender he got four intercept marks inside 50.
Stewart wasn’t his defender. Stewart parked himself inside the hot spot and barely left it the whole game. His hotspot map would look like a pinprick. He picked up Marshall when Marshall was deep but someone else (and * knows who cause he kept losing them) picked up Marshall when he left the fifty

stewerts role was obviously to park himself in the hotspot. He would have taken ladhams / lycett at times and at other times just been a spare. That’s modern football.
 

PJ Power

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Let's not forget here that we channel a lot of ball to Dixon and no-one wants Marshall (or Georgiades) flying against him the way that Westhoff did in some games earlier in the year.

Marshall is playing his role pretty well at the moment, although he could present more aggressively and consistently at the ball, even in a higher HF lead up role. He's still coming back from his thumb injury and I hope that he has at least one big finals game in him this year.
 
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People seem to have this obsession with offensive stats when it comes to key position players. I'll tell you what I look at - I look at Marshall's 2.8 tackles per game, his 2.3 inside 50s per game, his 1.1 marks inside 50 per game, his 3.6 score involvements per game and his 0.6 contested marks per game.

As long as the effort continues to be there, Marshall plays every game. This is about complementary football.
 
I completely agree.

It wasn't a great day for forwards admittedly especially in the second half. His thumb may still be giving him strife. Several times he was within distance of at least contesting a mark and decided to crumb instead. I'm not sure he needs to play as far out as he always does either. His defender decides to double back on Dixon. If Stewart was his defender he got four intercept marks inside 50. Better to try and bring some of those balls to ground than play a Tom Lynch role all the time IMO, although I don't dispute his ability with the ball by hand or foot. Tom Lynch could play that role because the Crows had at least two other KPF.

Laddhams has got a long way to go before playing in the forward spine. I've see few rucks able to do that so I wouldn't be betting on Hayes being able to do it either.

Georgiades as a flanker yeah although with his aerial ability he will be more of a threat in the air hopefully, especially if he fills out as so many Greeks do.

If Georgiades takes after his father, he won't fill out like "greeks". His dad stayed trim into his 50's.
 

Harlott

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He didn't look like a CHF. Ask REH
What does this mean? I'm not sure you can right off a guy playing forward, who has come into the side with a huge upside to become something unique.
His ability to extract the ball from clearances with his level of skill probably makes him more valuable in that role but i wouldn't put any limits on him playing anywhere. Together with Marshall and Charlie and maybe even Georgiades, that's a unique combo to have up your sleeve at different points of the game.
 
What does this mean? I'm not sure you can right off a guy playing forward, who has come into the side with a huge upside to become something unique.
His ability to extract the ball from clearances with his level of skill probably makes him more valuable in that role but i wouldn't put any limits on him playing anywhere. Together with Marshall and Charlie and maybe even Georgiades, that's a unique combo to have up your sleeve at different points of the game.

I think it refers to his hair cut and groomed eyebrows. He's just too pretty for CHF.


oh and are you suggesting a quadrangle of death in the forward line?
 

Duckimus Prime

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Stewart wasn’t his defender. Stewart parked himself inside the hot spot and barely left it the whole game. His hotspot map would look like a pinprick. He picked up Marshall when Marshall was deep but someone else (and fu** knows who cause he kept losing them) picked up Marshall when he left the fifty

stewerts role was obviously to park himself in the hotspot. He would have taken ladhams / lycett at times and at other times just been a spare. That’s modern football.
Stewart was Marshall's man. That why Marshall was "losing his opponent" the whole game, because Stewart was playing back and not bothering to defend him up the ground. It kinda works against the argument that Marshall drags a defender away from Dixon, since he clearly didn't.
 
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Stewart was Marshall's man. That why Marshall was "losing his opponent" the whole game, because Stewart was playing back and not bothering to defend him up the ground. It kinda works against the argument that Marshall drags a defender away from Dixon, since he clearly didn't.

it’s not 1997 anymore. Defenders don’t get assigned to 1 bloke. Clurey has a zone and he picks up the defender in that zone. When that defender moves up the ground someone else takes responsibility for him (ie Jonas) rather than clurey pushing up.

that’s clearly what happened with Stewart. He was assigned a zone, he picked up Marshall at times and someone else at others

essendon would have had a plan for someone to take Marshall, there wouldn’t have been a plan to leave him unchecked, but Marshall often lost him. It’s fairly easy to lose defenders when you push up and back again. Small defenders do it all the time by pushing up into the midfield then back and taking advantage of lapses in defensive assignments.
 

Powerage

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Stewart was Marshall's man. That why Marshall was "losing his opponent" the whole game, because Stewart was playing back and not bothering to defend him up the ground. It kinda works against the argument that Marshall drags a defender away from Dixon, since he clearly didn't.

I dont understand why people don't get this. I rewatched the entire game. Marshall was halfway up the ground. Seconds later Stewart was taking an intercept mark in front of Dixon. Thats not clearing space for Dixon. Stewart took four intercept marks, and probably contested many more in two on one contests against Dixon. Dixon was still in too many contests against two on one opponents. Ladhams was more effective as a decoy when he was up forward.
 
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I dont understand why people don't get this. I rewatched the entire game. Marshall was halfway up the ground. Seconds later Stewart was taking an intercept mark in front of Dixon. Thats not clearing space for Dixon. Stewart took four intercept marks, and probably contested many more in two on one contests against Dixon. Dixon was still in too many contests against two on one opponents. Ladhams was more effective as a decoy when he was up forward.

You’re literally admitting here that Marshall was a chf playing up the ground but that you still hold him responsible for being stewerts man lol

You might as well blame someone in the stands.

Marshall wasn’t playing as a defensive forward with a job on stewert (who wasn’t even known to be going back lol)

Stewert was playing a zone.
 

robbo1981

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I think he saved himself in the 2nd half but wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if Hoff got his spot.
He will definitely make it has alot of upside still to come still real young in key forward terms.
 

Byron!!!

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I think he saved himself in the 2nd half but wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if Hoff got his spot.
He will definitely make it has alot of upside still to come still real young in key forward terms.

Spot on. When he took that first mark inside 50 then was called to play on whilst looking to pass off instead of shoot, then turned it over when playing on, I thought for sure bring in Westy next week in his spot. But he got a little better as the game went on and importantly kicked a goal. Wouldn’t be fussed either way.


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