Blake v King

[scottydeewah]

I didnt think Kings tap work was too bad, in fact I thought it was reasonably good.

I dont think we are comparing him to the right player, I am not convinced Blake would have done any better.

 

[Furious_G]

2 more games in King and I think most people will be changing their opinion. Everyone knows that Ruckmen mature and develop later, so even in theory, a match fit King will be better than Blake.

But more importantly, while King only had one kick against the Roo's, it was a kick in to the forward 50 in front of Mooney. Blake isn't going to do that.

Plus, King makes second efforts in the ruck, even if it is jumping on the ground to keep the ball tied up. Blake stands out there watching stuff happen. King has proved that he has the smarts to drift back and help in defence or forward to stretch the oposition.

In the finals, King is more valuable than Blake, because he has more strings to his bow.

 

[darren forssman]

Plus, King makes second efforts in the ruck, even if it is jumping on the ground to keep the ball tied up. Blake stands out there watching stuff happen. King has proved that he has the smarts to drift back and help in defence or forward to stretch the oposition.

like when macintosh took that mark in front of him which he should have punched away.

i would like to see him go well, but i think his best days are behind him and he is really struggling.

right now he is playing on reputation of 5+ years ago.

 

[sarah.13]

like when macintosh took that mark in front of him which he should have punched away.

i would like to see him go well, but i think his best days are behind him and he is really struggling.

right now he is playing on reputation of 5+ years ago.

Must agree with you.Have been a King fan all of his career but realized on Sunday the game has gone past the great man.His tapouts were generally ineffectual,can no longer jump and take a mark,and can hardly bend over to pick up the ball.
No denying his willingness but Blake offers a whole lot more than that.

 

[GeeCat]

I didnt think Kings tap work was too bad, in fact I thought it was reasonably good.

I dont think we are comparing him to the right player, I am not convinced Blake would have done any better.

I actually thought King's ruckwork was pretty subpar. He displayed the concrete boots he has on quite a few times as well - he looked ridiculously slow and immobile (which has got to be a worry). Granted, he was up against McIntosh, who is just about one of the best moving, athletic, skilled bigs in the game at the moment, but even standing back and looking at it all objectively, he's struggled to exert any sort of influence on the game during the past few weeks. He hasn't really involved himself in the play all that much (which, again, is a worry, given his supposed superiority over Blake in that aspect of the game), and while he's been getting some much needed minutes into the body (about the only positive for him I'm drawing on here), he's really done nothing to suggest he'll be nothing but insurance for Blake or Otto come September.

And on the Blake matter, on the contrary, I'd suggest Blakey would have faired much better in the ruck contests, given his own ability to leap in contests and win tap-outs in stoppages. Perhaps the value of this would be magnified given that, arguably, McIntosh's main weakness (although he's certainly no dud) is in genuine rucking contests.

I can understand resting/priming Blake's body up for the even more physically demanding September campaign, and pumping in as many minutes into King's own body for insurance purposes, but come September, there really shouldn't be any question regarding the pecking order based on the past 3 weeks.