The good from Dermie's article in today's HS.
Dermott Brereton: Eagle Jeremy McGovern is more valuable than Danger, Fyfe, Dusty and Buddy
Others are better regarded as pure footballers, but if we take into account the way the game is tracking, McGovern is the most valuable player in the AFL. He’s the new No.1.
He intercept marks like few before him.
In general play, he stalks the line of the players further upfield and normally takes an intercept mark that should go down in the stats’ as a contested mark, but the others don’t read the flight well enough, so McGovern marks the ball without contact.
To watch him in isolation is extraordinary.
He pays zero regard for his direct opponent. They end up trailing him into the marking contest that their teammate has kicked the ball to.
He reads the opposition player’s eye-line further up the field as well as their body front, knowing where those kicks are going to land.
And the bad.
At the other end, the Eagles have the best key forward combination in the comp — Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy. But it is their hybrid forward Liam Ryan who has me spellbound and confused.
I cannot decide whether I love watching him play or despise it.
On one hand, he can take a screamer. Against Collingwood this season he launched on the goal line, tapped the ball back into Darling from a certain rushed behind situation and the play results in a goal.
In the Grand Final he took a fantastic contested mark and delivered the ball to Dom Sheed for the winning goal.
Kennedy and Jack Darling form the most dynamic one-two forward line punch in the AFL. Picture: Getty Images
On other occasion’s when the ball is on the ground and in dispute, he will deliberately run himself off the line of the footy for fear of contact.
He can cower away from laying a heavy tackle.
These are issues that the Eagles must rankle with. They obviously believe his football exploits as a craft outweigh his lack of physical effort when the chips are stacked against him.
In last year’s Grand Final, Magpie Brayden Maynard stood under the drop of the ball in the middle of the MCG.
Ryan put the crosshairs on him and poleaxed him while Maynard was wide open and completely vulnerable.
But in the third quarter, Ryan was tested with a ball that was over his head but reachable. Running back Ryan was almost as vulnerable as Maynard had been earlier.
Except this time when it was Ryan’s time to go, he didn’t. He opted for self preservation over a sacrifice.
If you consistently evade physical contact and you are non-competitive when the contest is in dispute and you are vulnerable, you eventually will lose your place in the team.
Still only 22 years of age, he has a lot to learn.
His footballing wizardry is wonderful, especially while the team is winning.
But the coaching box and selection committee will be tested if the team loses as many as they win.
Dermott Brereton: Eagle Jeremy McGovern is more valuable than Danger, Fyfe, Dusty and Buddy
Others are better regarded as pure footballers, but if we take into account the way the game is tracking, McGovern is the most valuable player in the AFL. He’s the new No.1.
He intercept marks like few before him.
In general play, he stalks the line of the players further upfield and normally takes an intercept mark that should go down in the stats’ as a contested mark, but the others don’t read the flight well enough, so McGovern marks the ball without contact.
To watch him in isolation is extraordinary.
He pays zero regard for his direct opponent. They end up trailing him into the marking contest that their teammate has kicked the ball to.
He reads the opposition player’s eye-line further up the field as well as their body front, knowing where those kicks are going to land.
And the bad.
At the other end, the Eagles have the best key forward combination in the comp — Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy. But it is their hybrid forward Liam Ryan who has me spellbound and confused.
I cannot decide whether I love watching him play or despise it.
On one hand, he can take a screamer. Against Collingwood this season he launched on the goal line, tapped the ball back into Darling from a certain rushed behind situation and the play results in a goal.
In the Grand Final he took a fantastic contested mark and delivered the ball to Dom Sheed for the winning goal.
Kennedy and Jack Darling form the most dynamic one-two forward line punch in the AFL. Picture: Getty Images
On other occasion’s when the ball is on the ground and in dispute, he will deliberately run himself off the line of the footy for fear of contact.
He can cower away from laying a heavy tackle.
These are issues that the Eagles must rankle with. They obviously believe his football exploits as a craft outweigh his lack of physical effort when the chips are stacked against him.
In last year’s Grand Final, Magpie Brayden Maynard stood under the drop of the ball in the middle of the MCG.
Ryan put the crosshairs on him and poleaxed him while Maynard was wide open and completely vulnerable.
But in the third quarter, Ryan was tested with a ball that was over his head but reachable. Running back Ryan was almost as vulnerable as Maynard had been earlier.
Except this time when it was Ryan’s time to go, he didn’t. He opted for self preservation over a sacrifice.
If you consistently evade physical contact and you are non-competitive when the contest is in dispute and you are vulnerable, you eventually will lose your place in the team.
Still only 22 years of age, he has a lot to learn.
His footballing wizardry is wonderful, especially while the team is winning.
But the coaching box and selection committee will be tested if the team loses as many as they win.
