Quick write-up on a couple of players as requested by Arr0w:
Fogarty: did everything I want of our smaller mids/high half-forwards, just had some very basic turnovers very early on. His kicking action isn't super consistent, but I suspect that's in part a side-effect of the running work that he does.
Puts himself in dangerous spots, sometimes for himself, but doesn't hesitate or flinch in the slightest. Looking forward to see him work his way more into our setup because I think we've just picked up a promising hybrid of Murphy and Scotland.
Murphy: Elite read and vision are a massive hallmark of his game still. Isn't going to for super risky kicks at the moment and lacks a shade of explosiveness at times, which suggests he has ankle niggles still, and you could see the odd shank crept in for a body that's not currently at full fitness. Makes up for by making full use of any space afforded.
Not confident going in hard on some tackles for similar reasons (ie. can't plant his feet hard). If it's an ongoing issue after another 2-3 matches then it's going to be a problem given the pressure he needs to be applying either in midfield or as a forward. I'm confident he's blowing out the cobwebs, because he faded pretty hard in the last quarter (the whole half really).
I have Murphy and Fogarty ahead of Gibbons at present, and the only way I see that changing is if one of them gets bogged down with injury. Their game sense and timing is just way too good.
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I wasn't left with an impression that either made massive errors in decision making, merely in execution under pressure, with Murphy maybe holding back a bit physically in the name of continuity. My issue with Gibbons is he too often fails to identify when and where to put his body in given his physical dimensions... it's something he can work on, but progress has been slow.
Interesting how you have changed tact, from wanting to highlight Gibbons errors, in detail, to posting a summary on other players
I will start the ball rolling over the weekend after we beat the pies