big man problems

[cairo tiger]

listening to aw call on the game we do not seem to have our big man mix happening just right...staff, knobel and simmonds all not good....maybe one of these blokes is due for a spell? simmonds has been dissapointing? thoughts?

 

[Tormented Tiger]

As much as I hate to bag a player whom I'm meant to support, I'm hanging out to see how Simmonds goes about playing against his old team. It might just be the game he needs.

 

[Bentleigh]

I actully thought the big fellers were better than in recent weeks.

Simmonds spent alot of time in CHB/loose tall in defence and I thought he was good. Not so much as a ruckman or forward.

Stafford was very good up forward and in the ruck. An underrated player for mine. Him and Richo give us mungrel and strighten us up. Id love to see him in 2006, our best ruck.

Knobel - stupid. However, the biggest plus with Knobel is it allows Stafford to play forward and Simmonds to rest/play back.

 

[madtiger2005]

knobel panics when he has the chance to get a possession lol. It's obviously a confidence thing because he has proven he can kick and he has a big leap and is fairly quick. He needs to gain confidence around the ground, because he only gives half an effort when he can mark or pick the ball up off the ground.

 

[Rodney Dangerfield]

He's not much chop Knobel is he. I would like to see Simmonds spend more time in the ruck,with Stafford up forward.

 

[Bojangles17]

listening to aw call on the game we do not seem to have our big man mix happening just right...staff, knobel and simmonds all not good....maybe one of these blokes is due for a spell? simmonds has been dissapointing? thoughts?

Id be looking to drop one of simmo or Knobel , between them id doubt they took a mark inside 50...stafford was more effective with his 30min game time....I see a spot opening for young Patto before sarge comes back

 

[beaver's army]

Id be looking to drop one of simmo or Knobel , between them id doubt they took a mark inside 50...stafford was more effective with his 30min game time....I see a spot opening for young Patto before sarge comes back

drop knobel he cant play forward any where near as good as staff and simmo. plus simmo and staff are better around the ground. i think terry has put pressure on himself by selecting him in the preseason draft and now feels he has to play him. i cant see any other reason why he would be out there

 

[tigerT]

no keep all 3, they are each impt to our structure and add to the team in more ways than just stats..


Stafford was looking lively but hurt his shoulder which stopped his impact. Simmonds IMO wasnt as bad today as ppl make out. Knobel not good but i reckon its worth perservering with them more, simmonds needs more ofd a gallop in the ruck and will once staff is firing on all cylinders and can be placed in the goal square


speaking of big men, how good was gas today? didnt turn the ball over once, blanketed and snuffed opponents everytime and rebounded beautifully, great turnaround from our number 1 defender

 

[1980GFVideo]

I didnt see enough of Simmonds when he was at Fremantle so I looked on the forum to get an idea as to what type of player he was at the Dockers

Unfortunately he is either:

being talked up by our supporters so as to make the point that we are glad to get rid of Ottens and to stuff it up Geelong supporters.

or

is being talked down by Fremantle supporters who are angry that he left.

Its hard to tell on these forums what type of player he really was at Fremantle as from what I have seen so far there is nothing to jump up and down about.

 

[Punt_Road_Roar]

Simmonds is struggling to Gel, but Terry did make a mention that in his View he has done alright, said he took 9 grabs against the Hawks last week. His view is Troy like himself is in it for the long haul.

Knobel is a waste of a pick, I felt he got beaten in the ruck and actually looked like a gumby around the grounds

We really need a fit Stafford to contest centre bounces because Simmonds and Knobel just dont win it enough.

 

[Bentleigh]

Knobel is a waste of a pick, I felt he got beaten in the ruck and actually looked like a gumby around the grounds
.

Knobels greatest value is the he allowed Stafford or Simmonds to get a rest or play key postion for the club.

Shyte footballer but adds a big body which gives us more options tactially. In that respect he was a fairly handy pick up.

 

[Harvey Leadpipe]

Knobel looks like a leper. A giant **** of a man with no skills, no pace, no idea. Was a dud at St. Kilda too. How long did we sign him up for?

The other two are handy. Not great games yesterday, but did enough.

 

[Nbrown7]

I actually think knobel is good for the ruck.Although he's a ******* when he actually gets the ball, i like the way he's holding down the ruck. He also has a bit mongrel in him which i like, didn't back down on darcy.

 

[smashm]

Simmonds is struggling to Gel, but Terry did make a mention that in his View he has done alright, said he took 9 grabs against the Hawks last week. His view is Troy like himself is in it for the long haul.

Knobel is a waste of a pick, I felt he got beaten in the ruck and actually looked like a gumby around the grounds

We really need a fit Stafford to contest centre bounces because Simmonds and Knobel just dont win it enough.

I think you are being a bit tough on simmo as you could count his ruck contests on one hand. TW plays him forward and then pushing into the backline. He makes position well but lack of vision from the ball carrier or from players trying to do to much, they seem to ignore him to a degree

 

[CJH]

Is anyone actually paying attention?

Yesterday, broke even in the hitouts but smashed them in clearances. This means that our rucks are working well where they are meant to.

Also note that Richo dominated again yesterday. This is because there is another tall in the forward line which forces the defence to split. They are not able to double/triple team him.

Also, the week before, Knobel/Snake/Stafford actually broke even in the ruck against Spider. It was only around the ground where Spider towelled us up.

 

[Punt_Road_Roar]

point taken CJH

but I'd like to know what was the centre bounce hit out numbers? Winning Clearences doesnt mean your winning the centre taps though.
you must admit expect for maybe the last quarter we looked shocking in this area.

 

[1980]

Knobel is another Ray Hall.

No football brain, and cant get away with it cos they lack Richo's athletisicm

 

[peejay]

Knobel clearly cannot kick but he has meet King/Ottnes, Spida and darcy in his first three hitouts.

His role is to keep our forward line tall.

 

[Bentleigh]

Knobel clearly cannot kick but he has meet King/Ottnes, Spida and darcy in his first three hitouts.

His role is to keep our forward line tall.

Spot on.

He's a poor footballer but gives you 50/50 at the ruck contest.

He allowed Stafford and Simmonds to rest/be used else where.

Untill Pattison matures he will be important in this role. Lets hope Patto is an upgraded verison.

 

[telsor]

One of the reasons we won yesterday was that we had their back line stretched and lacking in talls. Richo was double/triple teamed, but it was usually his direct opponant and a couple of smaller guys making up the numbers.

The doggies had most of their tall players playing back to man up on us meaning their were short up front and so their forward line was less effective.

The reason all this could happen is the sheer numbers of tall guys we were playing.

We were also able to rotate talls off the bench keeping them fit and rested while the doggies talls had to keep going, which probably helped in us coming back over them at the end.

Yes, they're not in great form, but their presence was enough for the doggies. Against better teams well need a better return around the ground to have a decent chance, but there is plenty of room for improvement there, which is always a good thing to say after a win.