Player Watch #18: Shaun Atley -

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Mcarcherey

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Exactly adas.

Cunnington has gone backwards.
Ziebell is still hit and miss.
Aaron Black was a beautiful natural player. Now he can barely coordinate a kick.
Bastinac a natural balanced ball winner who wore an opponent tight in his first games. Now he's desperately needing a defensive side.
Boomer is starting to miss targets.
Petrie looks all at sea half the time now.
Scott Thompson has gone from AA defender to rancid numpty.
Swallow's offensive impact has gone backwards from early in his career. What happened to the hardworking kid who could kick the occasional goal?
Lindsay is being made to act like a 5 foot tall key forward.
It'll be a matter of time before Dumont's natural nouse and appetite are diminished to senior standards.
Dal Santo has added nothing to his toolkit (not like that TT) in coming to Arden Street.
Atley is going nowhere. Ditto Harper.
McDonald the exciting long kicking kid was reduced to a turnover merchant devoid of confidence.
Majak is thrown to the wolves for 1 game per year then doomed to the VFL regardless of his or his peer's form.

These guys all have talent. Maybe, just maybe the environment isn't bringing out their best.
dat higgins doe....
 

Horizons_00

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If he is going to be a outside midfielder (which we really lack of) he needs to actually get possession of the ball first

We need his pace streaming out of the midfield but he doesn't get enough of it to have a impact
 
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Anyone catch pure footy on SEN this morning? Spoke about what a few of us on here have stated in the past.

Get Atley in the middle as an inside midfielder. It's the role he played as a junior and was why he was compared to Judd, can win his own footy, can burst from the contest and can spread really well. They said it's exactly what our midfield need but questioned if our coaches would be brave enough to make any moves because there is so much on the line.

I would love it if we changed a few things this week. That could be a good place to start. It would also mean we could get Ziebell and Cunners forward more
 

Orange Peanut

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Anyone catch pure footy on SEN this morning? Spoke about what a few of us on here have stated in the past.

Get Atley in the middle as an inside midfielder. It's the role he played as a junior and was why he was compared to Judd, can win his own footy, can burst from the contest and can spread really well. They said it's exactly what our midfield need but questioned if our coaches would be brave enough to make any moves because there is so much on the line.

I would love it if we changed a few things this week. That could be a good place to start. It would also mean we could get Ziebell and Cunners forward more
Yeah i heard it. How good was it to hear North being analysed as though we are relevant!
-Atley competed in 24 centre bounces in his first full year (didn't he come 5th in the B&F that year?)
-since then he has attended a grand total of 4!
-Even Luffy acknowledged Atley had a Judd-like game style at tac cup level (so it's not just Dodoro who thinks that)
 

Moti

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Yeah i heard it. How good was it to hear North being analysed as though we are relevant!
-Atley competed in 24 centre bounces in his first full year (didn't he come 5th in the B&F that year?)
-since then he has attended a grand total of 4!
-Even Luffy acknowledged Atley had a Judd-like game style at tac cup level (so it's not just Dodoro who thinks that)
He is not a great game thinker, he is an instinctive player. He has to have a role to focus on or be asked to get the ball on instinct. A wingman is not possible at this stage. So I am happy we are playing him there!

This "meat grinder" philosophy" in the middle is killing our ability to compete at the moment.
 
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He is not a great game thinker, he is an instinctive player. He has to have a role to focus on or be asked to get the ball on instinct. A wingman is not possible at this stage. So I am happy we are playing him there!

This "meat grinder" philosophy" in the middle is killing our ability to compete at the moment.
They pretty much agreed with you, in that he doesn't have the outside smarts to find the footy on a wing.

We desperately need a point of difference in our inside game.
 

muttley45

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What is this theory about cant find the footy ? the inside mids who do find it should be giving the footy to the run and carry/delivery men, Gaff is a good example, the main thing he has to find is space to receive it, seeing as they look to get it into his hands as often as possible, Suckling is similar, i wouldn't be backing either of them to find the footy, but their team mates make sure the footy finds them, same theory applies to Harper, i keep reading here that he cant find it either, but it's what he can do with it when it's in his hands is what the emphasis should be on
 

astrovic

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What is this theory about cant find the footy ? the inside mids who do find it should be giving the footy to the run and carry/delivery men, Gaff is a good example, the main thing he has to find is space to receive it, seeing as they look to get it into his hands as often as possible, Suckling is similar, i wouldn't be backing either of them to find the footy, but their team mates make sure the footy finds them, same theory applies to Harper, i keep reading here that he cant find it either, but it's what he can do with it when it's in his hands is what the emphasis should be on
The bold bit is the issue. Some players are just better at finding that space than others.

Our problem in recent years seems to be that the players who are good at finding space (Anthony, Gibson) aren't necessarily the ones who we want to have the ball in hand in space (Wells, Harvey). Of course, opposition teams (but. not. us.) are usually smart enough to realise that good ball user + space to use it in = heavy tag to stop it happening.
 
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Ats was on Marngrook last night and was asked where he thinks he's best suited. He mentioned he's been playing further up field, off a wing, but HB is where he's perhaps more suited as "it's where I can read the play better and use my run to the team's advantage".

I was also reminded that he BFNAAK and that he has two younger brothers, aged 15 and 17.
 

Roo Beauty

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Ats was on Marngrook last night and was asked where he thinks he's best suited. He mentioned he's been playing further up field, off a wing, but HB is where he's perhaps more suited as "it's where I can read the play better and use my run to the team's advantage".

I was also reminded that he BFNAAK and that he has two younger brothers, aged 15 and 17.
He said he BFSTKAAK (barracked for St. Kilda as a kid) in an interview once - he said his baby sitter was a Saints diehard and that's how he started following them. I could be wrong though.

Are his brothers any good at footy?
 

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He said he BFSTKAAK (barracked for St. Kilda as a kid) in an interview once - he said his baby sitter was a Saints diehard and that's how he started following them. I could be wrong though.

Are his brothers any good at footy?
They made a point of him being able to play for the team he supported last night. Not sure if his brothers are any good RB.
 

The Big H

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Atley is the type of player who would thrive under a Ross Lyon type of coach. Reason? He's athletic and can run, has reasonable skills and not overly bright (in a football sense). Ross has the ground divided up into around 18 sections and each player has a specific role that they must play at anyone time and be in their "zone" when the ball is in another zone. As the release player on the outer wing he'd be unstoppable.
 

Benno_900

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Atley is the type of player who would thrive under a Ross Lyon type of coach. Reason? He's athletic and can run, has reasonable skills and not overly bright (in a football sense). Ross has the ground divided up into around 18 sections and each player has a specific role that they must play at anyone time and be in their "zone" when the ball is in another zone. As the release player on the outer wing he'd be unstoppable.
Yeah, but he'd never win a flag.
 

The Big H

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NEEDS TO BE PLAYED IN THE CENTRE ******* SQUARE!
Shown that he can't find it enough at this level as a mid (yet). Needs to take the game on more from half back- having said that its hard to do that when your mids put on no defensive pressure and you get burnt going the other way.
 

TennisPlayerAndy

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Shown that he can't find it enough at this level as a mid (yet). Needs to take the game on more from half back- having said that its hard to do that when your mids put on no defensive pressure and you get burnt going the other way.
Needs to be at centre bounces. Not the the wing. Not some quasi half-back midfield no mans land role.

In. The. *******. Guts.
 
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Shown that he can't find it enough at this level as a mid (yet). Needs to take the game on more from half back- having said that its hard to do that when your mids put on no defensive pressure and you get burnt going the other way.
Different role though. He's shown he can't find the ball on the outside as a winger, inside he has to go in and win the thing. Bit more see ball get ball, not worry about who's going to win the ball and where the best place to be to receive the handball when the bloke on the inside looks to dish it off.

I think it's an instinct thing that some guys are just born with. Some can be taught it, but not at our club. We've been trying to develop a decent receiver for years. So far no good
 

The Big H

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Different role though. He's shown he can't find the ball on the outside as a winger, inside he has to go in and win the thing. Bit more see ball get ball, not worry about who's going to win the ball and where the best place to be to receive the handball when the bloke on the inside looks to dish it off.

I think it's an instinct thing that some guys are just born with. Some can be taught it, but not at our club. We've been trying to develop a decent receiver for years. So far no good
Maybe, but its not like we haven't got enough inside mids! Just looks like a guy who needs someone around him to tell him what to do. Hopefully JMac will fill that role, as he takes me as someone who could help him "run to the right spots".
 
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He said on Marngrook that his best role is on the half-back line creating run and carry. I'd have loved for him to say he's champing at the bit to become the attacking ball-carrying mid we all crave, but he didn't. :( Looks like we've got to throw big money at a free agent, or invest a first round pick to get an attacking mid if we want to get one, cos he isn't on our list currently. One genuine jet mid, with McMillan, Atley, McDonald and Higgins shooting around the place and we start to look much more dangerous, the one-paced midfield currently is just painful to watch.
 
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