Player Watch #7: Ben Lennon

tunksy

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Ben Lenno does have talent and nobody has ever disputed that and you dont get to this level without talent BUT Talent alone doesnt make you an AFL player for a long time and you need to eventually produce that talent on a consistant level.

Lennon cant play as a small foward as he doesnt have the speed or the agility to do that role, His most suited Role is the HFF goal kicker ,Back in the 80's he would have been a star but these days the HFF cant just sit on the 50 and wait for the ball, The need to run up and down the gound from the foward pocket to the half back line to create options and to press up. Ben just doesnt work hard enough

Lenno also needs to build a tank to be able to play midfield as well , These days apart from the 6 KPP/Ruck all players will need to run through the midfield and offer rotational options - He is a big kid and MUST develop his midfield game by the way this Delidio replacement thing is just stupid extremely different players both in make up and playing style not to mention work ethic

Things Lennon does not do and unless he makes a dramatic change and starts working harder and doing these things will not get many games at 'ANY CLUB'
Run both ways and work alot harder when the ball is not in his area or he is not the person in play
Chasing not just token chasing but really putting pressure on the player thats hes trying to catch
Play midfield and to do that he needs to bust his ass now

He doesnt have a big tank and lacks speed as well as doesnt work hard enough without the ball, He needs to rid this self entitled attitude as he isnt a walk up start and is not even in our best 22 atm, Clearly no other team rates him as they virtually could have had him for nothing but didnt take /trade for him

What he needs to do this year to get an extentsion :- Play to the game plan and run both ways + Kick 30+ goals

Even though i bet against him making 100 games - I really do hope he does ( for Richmond ) otherwise he can eat shit as far as i care
Tl;dr haha
 

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Goldust

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Ben Lenno does have talent and nobody has ever disputed that and you dont get to this level without talent BUT Talent alone doesnt make you an AFL player for a long time and you need to eventually produce that talent on a consistant level.

Lennon cant play as a small foward as he doesnt have the speed or the agility to do that role, His most suited Role is the HFF goal kicker ,Back in the 80's he would have been a star but these days the HFF cant just sit on the 50 and wait for the ball, The need to run up and down the gound from the foward pocket to the half back line to create options and to press up. Ben just doesnt work hard enough

Lenno also needs to build a tank to be able to play midfield as well , These days apart from the 6 KPP/Ruck all players will need to run through the midfield and offer rotational options - He is a big kid and MUST develop his midfield game by the way this Delidio replacement thing is just stupid extremely different players both in make up and playing style not to mention work ethic

Things Lennon does not do and unless he makes a dramatic change and starts working harder and doing these things will not get many games at 'ANY CLUB'
Run both ways and work alot harder when the ball is not in his area or he is not the person in play
Chasing not just token chasing but really putting pressure on the player thats hes trying to catch
Play midfield and to do that he needs to bust his ass now

He doesnt have a big tank and lacks speed as well as doesnt work hard enough without the ball, He needs to rid this self entitled attitude as he isnt a walk up start and is not even in our best 22 atm, Clearly no other team rates him as they virtually could have had him for nothing but didnt take /trade for him

What he needs to do this year to get an extentsion :- Play to the game plan and run both ways + Kick 30+ goals

Even though i bet against him making 100 games - I really do hope he does ( for Richmond ) otherwise he can eat shit as far as i care
Great points Gun! I remember the club website and media such as The Age, Herald-Sun etc. saying at the time of his drafting that Lennon was a forward who would eventually step into a midfield role. He has not been anywhere near the midfield in his time at Tigerland, not even a small stint. He does not have the motor and the work ethic is absent. He's been a major disappointment even accounting for injuries. As I said in an earlier post, he has the one standout game against Essendon in round 22, 2015, but most would struggle to recall another 'good' game or even a piece of play where he looked classy or belonged.
 

Dr Tigris

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I am keenly waiting to see what Ben does in 2017. His 2016 was wrecked due to illness. After Glandular fever he was never going to do anything this year.

If he can knuckle down and work hard he has the ability to be a useful outside link up mid and dangerous forward. I cannot ever see him being the gut running type. But his overhead ability makes him very hard to match up on, and then his kicking is A grade. So if he is played in the right role, and works hard he could become a very valuable squad member.
 

Ancient Tiger

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I am keenly waiting to see what Ben does in 2017. His 2016 was wrecked due to illness. After Glandular fever he was never going to do anything this year.

If he can knuckle down and work hard he has the ability to be a useful outside link up mid and dangerous forward. I cannot ever see him being the gut running type. But his overhead ability makes him very hard to match up on, and then his kicking is A grade. So if he is played in the right role, and works hard he could become a very valuable squad member.
Exactly. He must be utilized properly. He will never be a gut running mid. He reads the ball well, has a habit of being in the right place at the right time and is a good finisher.
 

ize_

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Great points Gun! I remember the club website and media such as The Age, Herald-Sun etc. saying at the time of his drafting that Lennon was a forward who would eventually step into a midfield role. He has not been anywhere near the midfield in his time at Tigerland, not even a small stint. He does not have the motor and the work ethic is absent. He's been a major disappointment even accounting for injuries. As I said in an earlier post, he has the one standout game against Essendon in round 22, 2015, but most would struggle to recall another 'good' game or even a piece of play where he looked classy or belonged.
His goals against Melbourne in his debut stand out for me. As well as his pearler against Collingwood when we hammered them in the last quarter last year. I agree he hasn't done enough, but he had a few good games around that Essendon one too. This year was a complete write off. Let's just give him a proper crack at it in 2017.
 

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His goals against Melbourne in his debut stand out for me. As well as his pearler against Collingwood when we hammered them in the last quarter last year. I agree he hasn't done enough, but he had a few good games around that Essendon one too. This year was a complete write off. Let's just give him a proper crack at it in 2017.
Laid a couple of big tackles in that first game too.

He has had more then 1 good game just that Essendon was his best.

But 22 touches and 9 against the Suns, 8 marks 14 touches against crows, 2 goals 6 marks and 13 against freo and 3 goals 5 marks and 12 touches against saints.

By no means brilliant but not nothing either especially the marking.
 

Sir_Loin

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Exactly. He must be utilized properly. He will never be a gut running mid. He reads the ball well, has a habit of being in the right place at the right time and is a good finisher.
He does need to be able to chase and tackle though. Something he has been completely shit at. Although not Robinson Crusoe there.
 

ize_

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Laid a couple of big tackles in that first game too.

He has had more then 1 good game just that Essendon was his best.

But 22 touches and 9 against the Suns, 8 marks 14 touches against crows, 2 goals 6 marks and 13 against freo and 3 goals 5 marks and 12 touches against saints.

By no means brilliant but not nothing either especially the marking.
**** I forgot about that Saints game. Some cracking goals. I thought he had sewn up his spot that day.
 

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Dr Tigris

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Exactly. He must be utilized properly. He will never be a gut running mid. He reads the ball well, has a habit of being in the right place at the right time and is a good finisher.
You've finished off my thoughts. I cannot ever see him being the complete player - hope I am wrong. But he has the unusual ability to be in the right place at the right time, great mark and kick. Superb skill set. But very limited. Entirely attacking, and outside. It also means that unless he is deliberately sought out by teammates he will be low possession.

If he can work harder, add defensive pressure, and run more he could easily become a very dangerous player that adds way more than he costs. Down to him and coaching group.
 

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I am keenly waiting to see what Ben does in 2017. His 2016 was wrecked due to illness. After Glandular fever he was never going to do anything this year.

If he can knuckle down and work hard he has the ability to be a useful outside link up mid and dangerous forward. I cannot ever see him being the gut running type. But his overhead ability makes him very hard to match up on, and then his kicking is A grade. So if he is played in the right role, and works hard he could become a very valuable squad member.
People carry on about glandular fever ruining his season .. where's the evidence. For every individual who suffers lasting affects there are just as many - likely more - who recover very quickly. There are severe cases, some that progress to chronic fatigue, but there are some cases that are mild. People here carry on as if Lennon had the worst case of glandular fever ever. Research indicates that recovery can often be linked to fitness, so one would assume Lennon had a reasonable base to not be impacted as heavily as someone who didn't. But again, each case is individual. But it's annoying peope here bang on about his year being ruined when there is no basis for it.
 

Goldust

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You've finished off my thoughts. I cannot ever see him being the complete player - hope I am wrong. But he has the unusual ability to be in the right place at the right time, great mark and kick. Superb skill set. But very limited. Entirely attacking, and outside. It also means that unless he is deliberately sought out by teammates he will be low possession.

If he can work harder, add defensive pressure, and run more he could easily become a very dangerous player that adds way more than he costs. Down to him and coaching group.
Been in the right place nine times in 19 games .. hence 9 goals ;)
 

JAKLAUGHING

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People carry on about glandular fever ruining his season .. where's the evidence. For every individual who suffers lasting affects there are just as many - likely more - who recover very quickly. There are severe cases, some that progress to chronic fatigue, but there are some cases that are mild. People here carry on as if Lennon had the worst case of glandular fever ever. Research indicates that recovery can often be linked to fitness, so one would assume Lennon had a reasonable base to not be impacted as heavily as someone who didn't. But again, each case is individual. But it's annoying peope here bang on about his year being ruined when there is no basis for it.
If I wasn't recovering from a bout of glandular fever and had the strength I would tear your post on Lennon apa...apaaa...part.......
 

Ancient Tiger

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Hawthorn has barely wona practice match in five years, yet has a bunch of premierships too.
Yes but he did look good kicking them. We all know he has to work much harder but instead of calling him useless, I think that giving him a chance to show why he was a highly rated junior and encouraging him probably will be a more effective strategy......
 
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People carry on about glandular fever ruining his season .. where's the evidence. For every individual who suffers lasting affects there are just as many - likely more - who recover very quickly. There are severe cases, some that progress to chronic fatigue, but there are some cases that are mild. People here carry on as if Lennon had the worst case of glandular fever ever. Research indicates that recovery can often be linked to fitness, so one would assume Lennon had a reasonable base to not be impacted as heavily as someone who didn't. But again, each case is individual. But it's annoying peope here bang on about his year being ruined when there is no basis for it.
You're not wrong. Only thing that really impacted him in a major way was probably the interruption in his pre-season. Wasn't ideal, but not season decimating either.

All fairness to Ben though, we played him out of position early on through the backline.
 

Goldust

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Yes but he did look good kicking them. We all know he has to work much harder but instead of calling him useless, I think that giving him a chance to show why he was a highly rated junior and encouraging him probably will be a more effective strategy......
WHERE did I call him useless? Please enlighten me.
Haven't we given him a chance for three years?
Oh I forgot, we have to talk every player up and ALL are immune from scrutiny.
Probably explains our mediocre season.
Have no doubt he was a highly-rated junior and has some good attributes, but geez he's shown little and even less when you consider he's a first round pick. But Richmond ... we're ok with first round picks being decent, just ok, or forever showing potential.
 

ize_

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People carry on about glandular fever ruining his season .. where's the evidence. For every individual who suffers lasting affects there are just as many - likely more - who recover very quickly. There are severe cases, some that progress to chronic fatigue, but there are some cases that are mild. People here carry on as if Lennon had the worst case of glandular fever ever. Research indicates that recovery can often be linked to fitness, so one would assume Lennon had a reasonable base to not be impacted as heavily as someone who didn't. But again, each case is individual. But it's annoying peope here bang on about his year being ruined when there is no basis for it.
Glandular in the pre-season, then multiple concussions and two lower leg injuries. No one is just pinning it on the glandular so I dunno why you singled that out. Did he play three games in a row at any level this season?
 

Ancient Tiger

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WHERE did I call him useless? Please enlighten me.
Haven't we given him a chance for three years?
Oh I forgot, we have to talk every player up and ALL are immune from scrutiny.
Probably explains our mediocre season.
Have no doubt he was a highly-rated junior and has some good attributes, but geez he's shown little and even less when you consider he's a first round pick. But Richmond ... we're ok with first round picks being decent, just ok, or forever showing potential.
I didn't say YOU called him useless. It was a general description. FFS the guy has played 19 games and we are on page 131!!!! How the fu*k do you think he has been immune from scrutiny? All I'm saying is after all this criticism I'm looking at positive reinforcement rather than the usual berating. That's all.
 
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