Past #18: Shaun Atley - delisted end '21 - 237 NM games / 44 NM goals - thanks Ats

[Billy Not Really]

Adam Saad is everything Atley wishes he could be.

 

[Moti]

Poster boy for bad coaching

 

[Roosurgence]

Needs a spell, providing next to nothing and he is scared to use his one weapon, his pace.

No good being quick if you hesitate and don’t take the game on.

 

[Snake_Baker]

Poster boy for bad coaching

Needs to go back to half forward.

 

[Horizons_00]

Is he down on confidence?

He’s a bit lost atm

 

[scottywiper]

Boy is he a riddle. all the tools and no willingness to use them

 

[tazaa]

He’s scared of the footy. It’s easy to say that as a supporter but he genuinely causes panic. He needs to be clean and he needs to understand he has to take hits.

 

[Devington]

I'm just fed up with him to be honest, as sad as that is to say. If a new coaching regime isn't enough to break him out of his 200 game rut then nothing will. Playing in the forward half has merit, but I just don't have confidence it would pay off.

 

[LB2Snake]

I’ve never seen a bloke almost give us when he’s tackled.....it’s really weird. It’s like we are playing tag and as soon as he is touched he kinda stops. Good players drive hard into the tackle to try and get their hands free.....he just freezes. Unusual.

 

[lockheed]

I honestly can't see Atley improving, and he doesn't represent our future. It will probably cost us in the short term, but I'd rather leave our young players forward.

 

[Devil Fish]

Has been played out of position his whole career. He should have always been a mid.

The End.

Disagree. The guy just ain’t a good footballer. He could play midfield all year and average 12-18 touches.
Doesn’t lay tackles. Can’t break tackles. Doesn’t hit the scoreboard. Fumbles under pressure. Poor decision-maker.
How do those attributes suggest he’d be a good midfielder????

 

[Devil Fish]

I sort of love Shaun. Just don't know if we can get any more out him now in terms of improvement.

He’s only played 201 games. He’ll come good.

 

[Roosurgence]

He’s only played 201 games. He’ll come good.

I heard somewhere that you play your best footy after game 201

But on a serious note watching this guy with his natural speed, being too chicken to take the game on is making me ill.

 

[see see]

I'm not sure why anyone thinks that moving this guy into the forward line is some sort of solution.

First, Scotts tried it a few years back and it wasn't very successful as his conversion rate was below average. What's the old saying about the definition of insanity?

Second, who's he going to replace? We need to prioritise getting games into the likes of Taylor, TT, Zuurhaar and Mahoney so it would be a big step backwards in developing our list. Apart from leg speed, Atley doesn't possess the attributes of a good forward i.e. footy smarts, quick thinking and a proactive mindset.

I think that it would be mutually beneficial for the club and Shaun to part ways at season's end. We just need to play him enough to make other clubs think he's a required player and hopefully suck one of them into paying overs for him - we'd be making out like bandits if we got a second round pick.

 

[Psychic Roo]

Disagree. The guy just ain’t a good footballer. He could play midfield all year and average 12-18 touches.
Doesn’t lay tackles. Can’t break tackles. Doesn’t hit the scoreboard. Fumbles under pressure. Poor decision-maker.
How do those attributes suggest he’d be a good midfielder????

has no lateral movement or awareness. Cant play in midfield if you dont see the game in 360degrees. The problem is that maybe is ok at halfback and so he is played there.

 

[King Corey]

His slow decision making and reaction time has stood out like dog's balls the last 2 weeks.

Not a player that routinely catches my eye but maybe games are zipping around even faster than normal, because you can almost set your watch to chains of play breaking down as soon as he's involved. Slow to realise he's about to receive, slow to react despite being zippy of foot.

He's like the Bizarro version of Cunnington. All pace and no speed.

I'd be looking at Bailey or anyone else with some football nouse and decent leg speed to stop gap that running HB role because there's an issue down there now.

 

[Snake_Baker]

He's become too regimented.

Brad Scott turned him in to a robot.

 

[scooby1279]

But he has speed...... no good to have speed if you turn the ball over and struggle to pick it up

 

[see see]

He's become too regimented.

Brad Scott turned him in to a robot.

That's a pretty good summation.

Remember a few years ago when Scotts made a big song and dance pre-season about giving Atley "licence" to use his pace and "take the game on"? He did it about five times in the early rounds and got pinged four of those times, then went back to being the same old Shaun. Scotts obviously cancelled his licence.

 

[tazaa]

The first goal Breust kick is even more bizarre on replay.
Im struggling to understand the slow reaction time.

 

[Hojuman]

The first goal Breust kick is even more bizarre on replay.
Im struggling to understand the slow reaction time.

Like he was thinking " ah, he won't get this "

 

[GarnerSmash]

That's a pretty good summation.

Remember a few years ago when Scotts made a big song and dance pre-season about giving Atley "licence" to use his pace and "take the game on"? He did it about five times in the early rounds and got pinged four of those times, then went back to being the same old Shaun. Scotts obviously cancelled his licence.

I think its more so that he isn't a creative footballer. If he wasn't such a good athlete would he have made the grade? Is he skilful enough? Does he seem to have a really good feel for the game? For me the answer to these questions is no. Ats is a role player, and that is and has always been his ceiling.

 

[tazaa]

Like he was thinking " ah, he won't get this "

More like a brain freeze H
Like his mind and his legs weren’t on the same page

bizarre

 

[muttley45]

At's, next time you decide to try and break a tackle instead of accelerating away from it, remember what the great Clint Eastwood once said "A man's got to know his limitations".

 

[LB2Snake]

At's, next time you decide to try and break a tackle instead of accelerating away from it, remember what the great Clint Eastwood once said "A man's got to know his limitations".

Interesting Mutts.....I feel like 9 times out of 10 he doesn’t accelerate enough. Like he's playing chasey out there and when he gets caught he gives up.