Past #10: Ben Cunnington - will retire from the AFL after * game - 238 games/95+ goals/2x Syd Barker Medalist/Shinboner - thanks for everything Cunners

[roos_fanatic08]

Yeah, if Ahern played more minutes in there we would have won.

Mitch Hibberd would’ve been handy as an additional inside mid tonight....

LDU should have played instead of Taylor, at least then we would have had an extra midfield rotation

 

[Horizons_00]

Needs to learn how to handle a tag

Almost like Sloane. Great player but has no impact once he has a lot of attention

 

[tazaa]

I dont get why he never went forward
Surely we have more to gain?? Considering what Taylor threw up forward and Larkey out of sorts with no Wood, it was a move we could afford.
Come on Rhys. We literally just accepted that Cunners would have no impact. Another fail.

 

[GarnerSmash]

As Pendles mentioned a few weeks ago, at a contest Cunners just stands there and goes to work beause he is so strong. However recent taggers have shown that to limit his impact around clearances they need to basically get tight to his back, stick to him like glue, impede his movement to the ball then jump him as soon as he gets a hand on it.

Bens confidence in his strength means he ain't changing his approach but this just makes a taggers job easier. He needs to move more at the stoppage to try to get more side on with the tagger, to mix up the angle of contest because he stands a far better chance of pushing the tagger off and creating space for himself by doing this. Right now the recipe for bunting his sttength is clear and he needs to adapt.

 

[Snake_Baker]

As Pendles mentioned a few weeks ago, at a contest Cunners just stands there and goes to work beause he is so strong. However recent taggers have shown that to limit his impact around clearances they need to basically get tight to his back, stick to him like glue, impede his movement to the ball then jump him as soon as he gets a hand on it.

Bens confidence in his strength means he ain't changing his approach but this just makes a taggers job easier. He needs to move more at the stoppage to try to get more side on with the tagger, to mix up the angle of contest because he stands a far better chance of pushing the tagger off and creating space for himself by doing this. Right now the recipe for bunting his sttength is clear and he needs to adapt.

We're a one man show in regards to A graders, whilst Higgins is missing.

Cunners suffers due to a lack of another elite midfielder. If Higgins is fit and we had another equally effective centre square midfielder, then no one would ever bother tagging him.

Jed's a role player & Jy and LDU are still developing. There's not much we can do about it at the moment. We need another elite midfielder. Right now.

 

[GarnerSmash]

We're a one man show in regards to A graders, whilst Higgins is missing.

Cunners suffers due to a lack of another elite midfielder. If Higgins is fit and we had another equally effective centre square midfielder, then no one would ever bother tagging him.

Jed's a role player & Jy and LDU are still developing. There's not much we can do about it at the moment. We need another elite midfielder. Right now.

Yeah understood. Nonetheless Cunners is still faced with this issue. He needs to add a tag breaking element to his kit bag cos the umps seem to be happy to allow his opponent to strap on a saddle and ride his back. If we get to a GF with him and its a wet, contested day I guarantee you he will get first tag regardless of who else we have as an elite mid. I want him to know how to adapt and flourish. Doing the same thing won't work.

 

[Only Forwards]

Yeah understood. Nonetheless Cunners is still faced with this issue. He needs to add a tag breaking element to his kit bag cos the umps seem to be happy to allow his opponent to strap on a saddle and ride his back. If we get to a GF with him and its a wet, contested day I guarantee you he will get first tag regardless of who else we have as an elite mid. I want him to know how to adapt and flourish. Doing the same thing won't work.

How does he do that?

Drag them forward?

He's simply not the sort of player to run them into the ground.

Could he ever be defensive enough to go and stand one of the opposition mids? I doubt it.

Dragging them forward is probably one of his only options.

 

[GarnerSmash]

How does he do that?

Drag them forward?

He's simply not the sort of player to run them into the ground.

Could he ever be defensive enough to go and stand one of the opposition mids? I doubt it.

Dragging them forward is probably one of his only options.

Change his angle at the stoppage so that they get more side on and use his strength to push off. A hold from that angle is far more likely to catch the ups eye too. Move around prior to the bounce so that the guy isn't dryrooting him as he goes to the fall of the ball.

That's just two options and I'm not a midfield coach.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

How does he do that?

Drag them forward?

He's simply not the sort of player to run them into the ground.

Could he ever be defensive enough to go and stand one of the opposition mids? I doubt it.

Dragging them forward is probably one of his only options.

Straight to FF where his contested marking can be utilised.

If he is getting tagged in the midfield he doesn’t have enough tricks in the book to get into the game

 

[SlyCunnington]

There's also the option of becoming a little less predictable with where the hit outs are going. Throw in an occasional punch forward rather than the standard drop it at the feet and utilise the extra space in the square that 666 has created. This obviously doesn't benefit Ben directly, but does help to inject some uncertainty in the opposition set up.

 

[iSmack]

Ziebs, Anderson, Simpkin need to be held more accountable.....

When Ben is tagged out of the game, there seems, those 3 need to stand up....

Common theme in the Essendon and GWS games... Ben was tagged out and our other inside mids didn't show up.

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[archereleven]

He needs to line up on the oppos best clearance mid and drag the tagger with him. That way we have a loose at the stoppage that can hopefully impact more often than not.

His opponents have had 30 tackles in the last 2 weeks, he is getting molested and the maggots are condoning it.



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[muttley45]

Maybe if Ben wasn't almost totally static at centre bounces, and instead on the move a bit, any grabs or holds by the tagger would be a bit more obvious to the whistleblowers, this does not guarantee they will pay a free kick, but increases the pressure on them to act, as far as constantly ignoring blatant transgressions v one individual goes.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Yeah understood. Nonetheless Cunners is still faced with this issue. He needs to add a tag breaking element to his kit bag cos the umps seem to be happy to allow his opponent to strap on a saddle and ride his back. If we get to a GF with him and its a wet, contested day I guarantee you he will get first tag regardless of who else we have as an elite mid. I want him to know how to adapt and flourish. Doing the same thing won't work.

He's 28.

This will never happen.

 

[koshari]

Yeah understood. Nonetheless Cunners is still faced with this issue. He needs to add a tag breaking element to his kit bag cos the umps seem to be happy to allow his opponent to strap on a saddle and ride his back. If we get to a GF with him and its a wet, contested day I guarantee you he will get first tag regardless of who else we have as an elite mid. I want him to know how to adapt and flourish. Doing the same thing won't work.

Dillemas like this really bring out the strategic side of coaching, iam not surprised woosha followed simmos lead given the impact cunners was having in the middle recently, buckly and richo was almost negligent in this regard. in the collingwood game though i suspect bucks was backing his outside mids to do the job. none the less i think like mentioned earlier he will be a bit like sloane going forward copping a tag more often.

Will be interesting to see how Rhyse responds.

 

[Royal Flush]

Ziebs, Anderson, Simpkin need to be held more accountable.....

When Ben is tagged out of the game, there seems, those 3 need to stand up....

Common theme in the Essendon and GWS games... Ben was tagged out and our other inside mids didn't show up.

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This is where we miss Higgins.


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[Passmore]

Yeah understood. Nonetheless Cunners is still faced with this issue. He needs to add a tag breaking element to his kit bag cos the umps seem to be happy to allow his opponent to strap on a saddle and ride his back. If we get to a GF with him and its a wet, contested day I guarantee you he will get first tag regardless of who else we have as an elite mid. I want him to know how to adapt and flourish. Doing the same thing won't work.

If we were to get a GF I’d expect one of our fire pissers to tenderise the tagger around the rib cage.

 

[Val Keating]

I noticed the taggers have been tackling him as soon as the ball leaves the ruckmans hands. We need to swap our clearance setups imo, play Cunners as the defensive cover and use the others like Simpkin, Ziebell, Anderson, Ahern as the primary target. If the tagger still tackles Cunners as the ball is tapped it should be a free for holding the man because the ball will be directed somewhere else.

At the moment we’re too obvious. I agree that he’ll have to learn to beat the tag, (which he will) but let’s not make it easy for them by still expecting him to win the ball whilst being piggybacked.

Even put Cunners on their best mid. What are they going to do? Allow us to have a spare in the contest? Doubt it.

Show us what you’ve got Shaw.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Needs to move.

 

[archereleven]

He has mastered the art of the 'bicep punch' apparently.

No, I'm not making this s**t up...

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[Event Horizon]

Cunners, I love you mate, but spend the best part of next week or more learning how to (legally) shake a tag, you know you can just about expect one every week now.

I am not sure he can. Other than removing him from midfield, not a lot can be done. He is not the bloke to run the tag off, and as such, he'd be one of the easier players to tag. You know exactly where to find him, and you don't have to be a marathon runner to keep up with him, nor do you need to be Usain Bolt to catch him. His main strength is winning the ball, but if you sit on him at every contest, his effectiveness diminishes greatly. Anyone who chooses not to tag him from now on is either an idiot, or an arrogant prick, thinking he can go head to head with one of the best pure clearance players in the comp.

 

[ZEV]

He has mastered the art of the 'bicep punch' apparently.

No, I'm not making this s**t up...

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Posting here because I just watched that...

Tries to knock the ball out of a blokes hands but could be in trouble for looking mean whilst he did it....

This rubbish is out of control

 

[north_lad]

Posting here because I just watched that...

Tries to knock the ball out of a blokes hands but could be in trouble for looking mean whilst he did it....

This rubbish is out of control

Essendon fans prefer games that look like circle work

 

[Twinkletoes]

Essendon fans prefer games that look like circle jerk

EFA mate

 

[gokangas]

Love the radio report on Cunnington - "North Melbourne's Ben Cunnington has escaped punishment for striking". Ummmm, no - he didn't strike FFS.