davey_magik said:
If you don’t mind me commenting, I think having him lead up the ground more is a very good idea. This year I think his marking has improved and he is very quick on the lead, and would be a difficult matchup. Obviously if he played this role he wouldn't kick as many goals as he has this year, but would take a lot more marks and give space to Ottens, Nathan Ablett and co.
Just off the topic a bit, how do you find Playfair? At the start of the year I thought he had improved in leaps and bounds but has dropped off a little bit, can you see him being your CHF for the next 5 years?
You seem to be hanging around the Geelong board a lot lately, haven't switched teams have you?
As for Kingsley, I don't think his marking itself has improved this year, but he's probably getting into space better. He's always been a strong mark, but his tendency to take marks on his chest means that he needs to use his pace better, hence needs space to do it. With another year of experience, he may well make a good flanker as he has done at stages this year, but he needs to take on more responsibility. It seems odd, but when he is the third forward but takes on more responsibility is when he plays his best football. the past couple of weeks have been great from Kent as he seems to want to be a role model type and 'big brother' to Nathan Ablett. As a result of this he's doing more off the ball work and setting up plays, in other words, just working harder.
In the improvement section of Kent, I can't see him getting much better. His vision will probably improve with experience, so will probably improve his skills as a flanker working further up the ground, but I can't see his kicking improving, if it was, it would've improved this year. I think the key to Kingsley holding his place in the team next year will be his second efforts, but if his kicking does improve, then that will also hold him in good stead.
On Playfair, he started fairly ordinarily, got good, became sick and Bomber admitted he shouldn't have been playing for about 4 weeks, but came back well. He was doing well until he broke his jaw, but came back pretty average and is only now starting to get into the sort of form he was in earlier in the season. He is only 22 and has played about 40 games in different positions, he has even been shuffled around a bit this year. This is his first season at CHF and as a result he'll take a while to get back into the swing of things, not like a veteran who can just come straight back and be in form. I think he can be our CHF for the next 5 years, he has a lot of improvement in him, but being a 2m guy who is as mobile as him holds good stead for him to be our starting CHF for years to come. I guess the big thing is whether N.Ablett develops into a CHF or FF as he has more talent than H, but don't write him off on that, H is a very hard worker, and even if he doesn't end up at CHF, he may become our CHB in the future.