Analysis Boak v Cotchin

[Kingfish73]

Boak to me was always ahead of Cotchin. What happened? Cotchin year has been unbelievable. So much credit to him and Hardwick. I always saw Cotchin well below Boak. Not now. Boak 2018 where will he fall? Is he just cliches towing coach message or a serious game changer? Have my doubts...

 

[PA88]

In terms of skill and talent I've always thought Cotchin is better. It was just Cotchin's leadership that was questionable. Now he's better in both.

 

[PJ Power]

In terms of skill and talent I've always thought Cotchin is better. It was just Cotchin's leadership that was questionable. Now he's better in both.

I think this is pretty fair.

 

[Visenfest]

I find Boak pretty meh as a leader, and do feel like he just tows Hinkley's message. Unpopular opinion, but I don't feel that Ollie will be much different if we give the captaincy to him. I'd relieve Boak of the captaincy and tell him to focus on his game, but I'm actually not sure who should replace him.

 

[Doctor Feel]

Boak has looked cooked for two years. Very strange fall from grace. Reflective of the clubs performances though.

 

[PJ Power]

He still plays 3-4 inspiring games a year, but has almost certainly fallen out of our best five players. It's been a bloody quick fall from grace considering he was All Australian in 2013 and 2014, and fairly consistently ranked in top 20 player lists competition wide.

 

[Scholz Supremacy]

Cotchin has been much better than Boak this year, but throughout their careers Boak has been the better player.

Boak's prime was 2013-2015 and that's better than Cotchin's best, even his 2012 season, and Boak stood up and delivered in the 2013 & 2014 finals whereas Cotchin went missing. Unfortunately Boak has had a fall from grace from 2016 onwards and Cotchin has since caught up.

 

[Forzaport]

Boak has looked cooked for two years. Very strange fall from grace. Reflective of the clubs performances though.

He's a true Port Adelaide player then

Should be a 300 gamer but not sure he'll get there.

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

It's just unusual Boak's decline

I think his speed and intensity is still there but progressively his skills have just declined. Was such a jet in free space, now I expect him to fumble or muck up his kick.

 

[rainwizard39]

Boak was once a top 10 ranked player now he looks finished.

 

[LP7_]

I've always rated Cotchin pretty highly. Boak playing out of position doesn't help.

 

[1954]

Probably equal playing ability, but unfortunately Cotchin has surpassed Boaky as a captain, and by a fair margin.

 

[Dave Omsby]

I was the same , always thought Boak was better but not now .
Think next year will confirm if he's cooked or not .
I haven't given up on him yet, but I'm worried about him

 

[El_Scorcho]

Boak is far from finished.

Interested to see how he goes under a different fitness coach. There are definitely question marks about Burgess's ability to maintain durability as players age.

 

[PowerLil]

Boak is far from finished.

Interested to see how he goes under a different fitness coach. There are definitely question marks about Burgess's ability to maintain durability as players age.

Me too.

 

[tribey]

Boak is far from finished.

Interested to see how he goes under a different fitness coach. There are definitely question marks about Burgess's ability to maintain durability as players age.

That's if we're to assume Mackers and co aren't meatpuppets, implementing Burgess' systems/plans left behind.

Unless it was just fluff designed to save face upon him leaving for Arsenal, there was a lot of talk of him keeping up with us as a sort of indirect consultant?

 

[El_Scorcho]

There's also the consideration that Boak changed his role this year and we might see the benefits of that next year when he's more settled into the role.

He still works his arse off every game.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

It's just unusual Boak's decline

I think his speed and intensity is still there but progressively his skills have just declined. Was such a jet in free space, now I expect him to fumble or muck up his kick.

His fumbling has been the biggest decline in his game. Second is he tries to side step and get out of trouble especially close to goals and usually gets hammered in the tackles and is completely stopped, ball and all whilst still standing or is slammed to the ground.

 

[Dalfino]

2013/14 Boak > 2017 Cotchin.

Cotchin's career > Boak's career.

Cotchin has gone through a lot of criticism over the years, some deserved, but still managed to find another gear that made him a premiership captain. Also has the controversial 2012 Brownlow medal to his name. Boak on the other hand was 5 votes away from winning the Brownlow in 2014 and a major factor in our on-field revival in 2013/14, but has since failed to come close to those heights. I'm no Cotchin admirer by any stretch but his inside work this year has been pretty elite. An integral part of Richmond's premiership push this year was Cotchin getting down and dirty in the middle, as I always thought he was a bit of a softie.

It hurts me to say it, but I reckon Cotchin is better player than Boak.

 

[Port85]

Our on-field leadership is probably one of our weaker points - it's not solely Boak's fault but ultimately as captain he's accountable for that.

I'd love to see him given a crack at a year without the #1 to see if he can really step up focus without all the external commitments captaincy brings.

 

[TheFVK]

Cotchin's a star, been a huge response from him following some of the justified criticism. Brownlow medallist and a premiership captain, good for him, we could only dream of a response to criticism like that from some of our players.

 

[Harlott]

Out of all the captains in the finals this year, he set the tone for his teammates. Was a physical beast and the stat I took notice of that Hardwick mentioned after the GF was he had 15 or so 'smash ins'. Kicked some team lifting goals in traffic as well. Puts him ahead of Boak at this stage for me.

 

[Willsy10]

Boak wasn't great this year but he was far from awful, and I don't think he is cooked. I thought he started slow but slowly got better and better and I think he was starting to click in his new role by seasons end. His stats for a half forward were actually not too bad. Will probably finish around 7th in our best and fairest.

Having said all that cotchin is a really good player and better than Boak at the moment.


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[RussellEbertHandball]

Boak to me was always ahead of Cotchin. What happened? Cotchin year has been unbelievable. So much credit to him and Hardwick. I always saw Cotchin well below Boak. Not now. Boak 2018 where will he fall? Is he just cliches towing coach message or a serious game changer? Have my doubts...

Cotchin got really aggressive this year. Decided he was sick of losing. The jumper punch incident against Freo's Lache Neale, and punch to the guts of St Kilda's Jack Lonie, pushing the boundary of a suspension both times, he got away with it both times, the attack on the ball and the hullabaloo about his hit on Dylan Shiel in the PF are indicative of that aggressive mindset. His whole attack on the ball has been so much more aggressive this year. That attack on the 50/50 ball with Shiel and that goal he kicked against Geelong late in the game in the QF have been good examples of how hard he has hit the ball and contest this year. Remember when Kane Cornes used to annoy him and tag him out of the game? Not any more does a tagger get away with it. Shit Kane Mitchell did a bloody good job on him last year at Adelaide Oval.

When was the last time Boak got so aggressive and put himself on the edge of getting reported. Sure he has gotten a few melee fines over the years but how many times has he got really agrro since 2014?

This goal against Geelong in the QF is a good example of how hard he hits the contest. It actually needs about 3 or 4 more seconds at the start to get a full appreciation how good a piece of play this was.

 

[Seanybruz]

Boak is far from finished.

Interested to see how he goes under a different fitness coach. There are definitely question marks about Burgess's ability to maintain durability as players age.

Yeah I don't think he's finished either, will be keen to see how he goes alongside Rockliff (if we get him) who's better at getting the ball out in a scrap & whether he can get a bit of that spring back in his step we saw in about 5-6 games this year.