- Apr 4, 2016
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Looking a certainty to finish the regular season leading the competition in contested marks. At 19. WTF?!
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Looking a certainty to finish the regular season leading the competition in contested marks. At 19. WTF?!
Well that's my sort of bet. You're on!I'm willing to bet that a 19 yo has never done that before and never will again.
Well that's my sort of bet. You're on!
Fine print:
You can be proved wrong if some 19yo does it again some time in the future but I can never be proved wrong - at least not until the end of time.
I'll have a bit of that action too!I'll also bet no team will ever concede 20+ goals in a row at marvel again. We've seen some rare things this year.
This!He’s a star. Played probably one of his worst games of the year against one of the games best defenders and he still had the chance to kick 5.
The only other teenagers to have 50+ contested marks in a season were Lance Whitnall and Nick Riewoldt and neither of those lead the league in those seasons so I'm pretty sure you're right there.I'm willing to bet that a 19 yo has never done that before and never will again.
Coming along nicely but his goal kicking is a real worry. Hope he can improve it
Thought he kicked perfectly on the weekend which is promising but the wind just played havoc, put just about every one of them where I thought he needed to but sometimes the wind would Take it like crazy and sometimes not enoughI wish he could kick accurately more often.
Alex Rance was once perceived as one of the worst kicks of the ball in the AFL. He went onto become a generational key-defender and probably the greatest attacking-minded key defender ever.
Were Fletcher Roberts, Joel Hamling and Dale Morris ever renown for their ball use? I wouldn't have thought so, but clearly they were good enough for Beveridge in 2016, and good enough to win a flag. Roberts kept superkicker Matt Suckling out of the side for a Grand Final too.
How about that Ryan Gardener? One of Beveridge's personal favourites, but also responsible for some of the worst kicks out of defence you will ever see. Doesn't stop the coach from picking him.
You don't have to be a high quality ball user to be an elite key-defender, or even an attacking minded one. Players just need to understand their limitations. What Naughton lacks in kicking technique he more than makes up for in power and athleticism. He would be much better suited to intercepting and creating drive out of defence similar to how Rance or Lake did, rather than playing forward all game and not knowing what to do half the time, because he doesn't have forward instincts.
Naughton up forward is important for structural reasons right now, but he shouldn't be bogged down there if/when Ugle-Hagan and/or Darcy are good enough to be the #1 target.
Where have I heard that before?... that's right, Jackson Macrae in his earlier years, a guy now widely perceived as one of the best ball users in the AFL and top 2 for goal assists.
You gotta be kidding here. You really think its that difficult for a professional player to tidy up their ball use a bit?
People were saying the exact same things about Alex Rance and Brian Lake, back when he was Brian Harris.
That's part of my point, his game is almost entirely based around marking the ball. He isn't nearly as dangerous when the ball hits the ground, which is actually an important trait for modern key forwards.
Yes, he "dishes off" some chances, but even those are frequently incorrect decisions or not executed well enough. Forward instincts aren't all about scoring goals, its also setting them up, and more importantly, knowing when to.
So?
You might notice I've actually been saying Naughton is vital to our structure right now, and should only be moved back when Darcy or Ugle-Hagan are ready to be #1 targets.
Who said anything about switching him back now?
Yes, Beveridge has had success switching player positions. I'd like to think he'll move Naughton back too when the time is right.
How anyone can watch him play every week and think he's anything but a forward is a mystery to me.I think you’re absolutely kidding yourself if you think Naughtys ever going back again (except for an emergency with no other options etc)
Surely we’re not still having this discussion
Once again, I am strongly against moving him out of the forward line at this moment in time. I agree he's our most involved forward, our #1 target and vitally important to our forward structure. He didn't finish the game against Geelong at Kardinia, and our forward line was completely useless, even as we were dominating possession in the 4th quarter. He wasn't playing forward in his debut 2018 year, and sure enough, our forward line was a complete joke all year, with Billy Gowers topping the club tally. Naughton going forward in 2019 was probably the biggest factor in our improvement that year. I'll say it again: I strongly believe Naughton should play up forward right now, and the near future.
I still think the long term plan should be defence, the same way it was for Michael Hurley, and going back further, Chris Tarrant.
I wasn't sure at first, but after you said the same thing again, I think I get it
I have no doubt he could be a gun CHB, I think he’s just an extremely good footballer with an insane attack on the ball and some of the best hands I’ve ever seen. When you’ve got a guy like that you play him where the ball is and with our supply you want him forward no doubt. Whilst key defenders definitely are more important than ever, I still think if you’ve got the choice you play a gun forward. As we’ve seen time and time again even as recently as Schache poor forwards can sometimes make good defenders, you just don’t get the other way around and as we know finding quality forwards is hard, there’s gun defenders all over the draftHow anyone can watch him play every week and think he's anything but a forward us a mystery to me.
I also don't see where the confidence that he'll be this generational defender comes from either. He's played one encouraging year as a key defender at AFL level where he had suspect ball use and barely played on a man.
This year seems an anomaly really. He had some pretty good goals from general play the last two years including some freakish soccers.Might have something to do with scoring only one goal from open play, having less than half the assists of guys like Hawkins, Riewoldt, Lynch. Just general forward instinct things.
Bailey Dale finished the final third of 2019 averaging 3 goals a game as a forward, I doubt anyone would've been tipping him to be a half-back two years later.
Who said he would be a generational key defender? Did you even read my post?
The only time I used the words "generational defender" was in relation to Rance, who started his career as a terrible kick.
No it's an anomaly he hasn't scored much from general play.It's an anomaly that he rarely looks dangerous when the ball hits the ground?
So we're supposed to wait a decade before Naughton starts playing like a natural forward?
Ben and Max King are younger than Naughton and they score plenty of goals from open play. Max has nearly double the goal assists of Naughton too. Neither of them get the Bulldogs midfield silver service either. It's almost like natural forward instincts actually do matter.
1. I don't want to move him now.
2. Seen little evidence? That might have something to do with the fact that he only played defence in his debut season. Considering he spent his entire youth career as a defender, all the development coaches and gurus touted him as a defender, and the fact he's already demonstrated elite traits expected from a defender, I think it's quite reasonable to suggest he could quite easily be a gun key defender.
Also I raise the Bailey Dale example again. Never mind "little evidence" - there was zero evidence to suggest he could play halfback flank at AFL level. Today he's the best halfback flank in the AFL.
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