- Apr 22, 2013
- 4,161
- 5,058
- AFL Club
- Sydney
I get the reason why people are so frustrated with florent - a lot of it is his kicking when in space. it was always average at AFL level and is probably worse than that now.
but he doesnt shirk a contest, doesnt hide from the ball, takes it under pressure and is genuinely evasive and puts himself into positions to deliver the ball well. his movement creates opportunities for others around him.
We dont need them to be stars. we just need them to play their role when they are selected. for hayward that means kicking goals when he has a chance and stopping easy exists and occasionally when he plays a run with role as a forward he will be expected to halve contests in those situations.
with florent we just need him to continue to be evasive, win the ball when its a hard ball, tighten up defensively so his man doesnt get easy exits and kick to advantage when going forwards.
both can be 200 game players for us and provided they arent super expensive players they will be key contributors. you win with 26-30 afl standard players not 4 and they have to fit within a salary cap. the criticism our players receive is over the top because we are setting the bar too high.
they key is to have a team which is all improving at the same time and a game plan which plays to that teams strengths.
both hayward and florent have been victims of their own success. they both had ripping early seasons. florent used to get caught a lot with the ball (like stephens does now) but this very rarely happens now. you can see how he has adjusted to the pace of ther game but now just needs to balance when kicking. Hayward started kicking goals again this season that held him back last year. he just needs to turn some of his games into the 3 goal matches instead of the 1 goal and he's also there.
PS sick to death of the reid bashing. he has clearly been playing injured for a number of weeks as evidence by the massive padding on his ribs. He rarely gets outmarked. He provides a contest down the line, goes into the ruck and competes there and when we didnt have him our forward line was completely dysfunctional.
sure he's not a world beating centre half forward but he does a job. we just seem to want to beat up on our forwards repeatedly without acknowledging how much harder it is to play forward of the ball - mccartin has shown that playing behind the ball - when you dont have someone trying to block your run and grab your arm and push you off the line every single time - does free you up to fly for the ball.
i just wanted to make those points because i am a bit frustrated with the endless criticisms. we dont need any of them to be stars but wto have a team where everyone just does their job
but he doesnt shirk a contest, doesnt hide from the ball, takes it under pressure and is genuinely evasive and puts himself into positions to deliver the ball well. his movement creates opportunities for others around him.
I've probably got rose coloured glasses on, but I'll bat for Hayward and Florent. I feel they still have their best ahead of them, and would fair much better with either 1. A better team around them, or 2. More experience under their belt.
Both could also be massive disappointments in 2-3 years, but for my own happiness I'll assume that they'll be stars by then hahaha.
We dont need them to be stars. we just need them to play their role when they are selected. for hayward that means kicking goals when he has a chance and stopping easy exists and occasionally when he plays a run with role as a forward he will be expected to halve contests in those situations.
with florent we just need him to continue to be evasive, win the ball when its a hard ball, tighten up defensively so his man doesnt get easy exits and kick to advantage when going forwards.
both can be 200 game players for us and provided they arent super expensive players they will be key contributors. you win with 26-30 afl standard players not 4 and they have to fit within a salary cap. the criticism our players receive is over the top because we are setting the bar too high.
they key is to have a team which is all improving at the same time and a game plan which plays to that teams strengths.
both hayward and florent have been victims of their own success. they both had ripping early seasons. florent used to get caught a lot with the ball (like stephens does now) but this very rarely happens now. you can see how he has adjusted to the pace of ther game but now just needs to balance when kicking. Hayward started kicking goals again this season that held him back last year. he just needs to turn some of his games into the 3 goal matches instead of the 1 goal and he's also there.
PS sick to death of the reid bashing. he has clearly been playing injured for a number of weeks as evidence by the massive padding on his ribs. He rarely gets outmarked. He provides a contest down the line, goes into the ruck and competes there and when we didnt have him our forward line was completely dysfunctional.
sure he's not a world beating centre half forward but he does a job. we just seem to want to beat up on our forwards repeatedly without acknowledging how much harder it is to play forward of the ball - mccartin has shown that playing behind the ball - when you dont have someone trying to block your run and grab your arm and push you off the line every single time - does free you up to fly for the ball.
i just wanted to make those points because i am a bit frustrated with the endless criticisms. we dont need any of them to be stars but wto have a team where everyone just does their job