A need for speed

[Mr Magic]

I have often thought over the past few years that players are chosen as athletes first and footballers second. Which is wrong (IMO). Greg Wlliams, Paul Broderick and Sam Mitchell (to name a few) were/are as slow as treacle, but they had/have footy smarts.
Our record of drafting tall basketball types (Elton, Astbury, Griffiths) hasn't exactly been a success.
Give me a footballer any day. Lance Whitnall would not get drafted today, but he had everything above the shoulders that made him such a good player.


PS: the chick sitting next to McKenna in the Gold Coast coaches box is smokin'.

????Elton, Astbury and Griffiths are not Athletes compared to Cox, White, Cameron, Hogan??? Part of being an athelete is having speed and agility, balance and poise. Fletcher is more an Athlete at the Bombers, it is not hard to see why he was good at tennis to with hand eye co-ordination etc... This is no doubt why some slipped in draft calculations


Our guys are not total elite physical specimens by a long shot IMO which is why some are largely confined to role positions because in a highly competitive environment they lack some physical component to match it with some opposition. I don't think it is because they lack football know how in all situations.

For example White will be vastly superior to Dawes at Collingwood because he is so physically superior as an athlete!

 

[Mr Magic]

Fast legs doesn't win flags, strong bodies and quick precise ball movement does.

For me its about winning it and secondly being able to use it!!

 

[RunningBounce]

I have often thought over the past few years that players are chosen as athletes first and footballers second. Which is wrong (IMO). Greg Wlliams, Paul Broderick and Sam Mitchell (to name a few) were/are as slow as treacle, but they had/have footy smarts...
Give me a footballer any day.

Couldn't agree more

Lance Whitnall... had everything above the shoulders that made him such a good player.

Couldn't agree less. It was a sad day for me when Saucy Whitnall left Carlton because it improved them instantly.

 

[RunningBounce]

Those saying Geelong didn't have any pace are forgetting guys like Varcoe, Stokes, Christensen and Wojcinski. I don't know how they compare to other players for pace but guys like Ablett, Chapman, Kelly and Mackie didn't exactly look slow in their prime either. The fact that they are all gun players certainly help.

The Hawks identified a lack of pace and got Isaac Smith and Brad Hill in recent drafts (who both played in last years flag and played their part) to add to Cyril Rioli. The Swans grabbed Jetta and Rohan.

That would be me saying Geelong didn't have much pace, and you're right, I was forgetting Varcoe and Wojo. I was thinking more of Bartlett, Chappy, Enright etc. Not so speedy, but jeez they moved the ball beautifully.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

OMG.
You guys are writing stuff which is making leg speed and football ability mutually exclusive!

Sure a good slow footballer will beat a fast but poor footballer 9 out of 10 times, but hey a good fast footballer will beat both of these comfortably!

What we really need is someone with lightning reflexes that can read the ball off the hands and have excellent foot skills that allow them to thread goals from almost any angle. Of course if they have foot speed and can put "perceived pressure" on opposition backmen making them rush their disposal, that would make them THE most useful addition to the team we could have right now.

Footballers that fit that description are more often than not indigenous, so we should be scouring the country looking for this sort of player in the next draft.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

That bloke who joined our VFL side - Ryan Batsanis? Apparently he has a bit of leg speed. If he impresses for the VFL side, maybe he might be worth a rookie elevation down the track?

 

[johnno77]

That would be me saying Geelong didn't have much pace, and you're right, I was forgetting Varcoe and Wojo. I was thinking more of Bartlett, Chappy, Enright etc. Not so speedy, but jeez they moved the ball beautifully.

My memories of Bartlett are that he was pretty quick. Oh, and he played for us in the 60's, 70's and 80's (probably the 50's too) not for Geelong.

I know who you meant though!

 

[RunningBounce]

My memories of Bartlett are that he was pretty quick. Oh, and he played for us in the 60's, 70's and 80's (probably the 50's too) not for Geelong.

I know who you meant though!

Haha, yep, pretty strong overhead for a shorter player, kicks more often than he handballs, handy in the wet. The solid head of black hair is the big difference, apart from the decades between them.

 

[Roachy8]

Our brain speed is more of an issue than our leg speed IMO.

 

[kozi]

Question is, is it easier to teach a pure athlete footy smarts? Or easier to make a footy smart bloke with poor athletic ability into an athlete?

 

[Cevap_Roll]

Question is, is it easier to teach a pure athlete footy smarts? Or easier to make a footy smart bloke with poor athletic ability into an athlete?

Lets just see how Majak works out that will be your answer

 

[theflea]

We look slow cause we keep bringing in those inside mids with average skills instead of class around the footy...

Who?

 

[RichoLedio]

Question is, is it easier to teach a pure athlete footy smarts? Or easier to make a footy smart bloke with poor athletic ability into an athlete?

Both extremely difficult

 

[sante]

Who?

Miles is one...the coaches love the players who give everything but lack the class to be a top team.

It's what separates us from the others, what happened in the elim final? Carltons class rose and we couldn't go with them

 

[Calcium Man]

I'd love some speed but its a rare and valued commodity and very few teams have a genuine and consistent player like that. Dangerfield is the only guy i could name who is consistent. Then there are a few more like, Stephen Hill, Rioli, Jetta (syd), Bennell, Motlop and Wells who are very very good a lot of the time but can be inconsistent. And the rest are hit and miss types like Yarran and Rohan.

One who could be interesting this year after the WA boys Jarrod Pickett and Clem smith, who are both on the small side at 177cm, would be Marlon Pickett. He is 21 or 22 and dominated his first 2 games at WAFL but i think clubs will be having a close look this year after South Freo just missed finals.

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

I think we look slow because we have people playing in outside midfield roles whose first instinct is to go behind the mark and kick side wards with non penetrating helicopter mungral punts . It is also IMO a contributing factor whilst our midfield gets burnt going the other way .

 

[RFCanalysist]

Early days yes but I am not sure if we have addressed this need completely and we were exposed a few times last year. any thoughts welcome.

Bachar Houli is fast. We should give him a run through the middle. Also Jake king, Deledio and foley (when fit) have good pace. Hopefully Nippa Gordon and Mcdonough can come in and add to this. But I agree pace is a concern, as we lost Matt White and Nahas, who were both really fast.

 

[theflea]

Miles is one...the coaches love the players who give everything but lack the class to be a top team.

It's what separates us from the others, what happened in the elim final? Carltons class rose and we couldn't go with them

sorry mate completely disagree. what inside mids have we brought in over the years? hardly any imo. imo we lost the ef v the blues because we had no insiders getting the pill. we have enough class just no enough grunt imo.

 

[Truetiger]

Agree we do have a need for speed. We will miss how quick white is. Heres some speed for you haha

 

[unfoley]

Yeah we could use it but we got a finals winning side already I believe but having that speedster with x factor is what I want for our club, I remember whitey kicking a few goals of the arc last year and it really lifted the team.

 

[TigermanM2]

White did nothing in the bits I saw. The stats would say he was pretty ordinary too looking at it.

Hearts not in it.

Already looking to be traded back.